The producer of a documentary series into the Clydach murders has spoken of the huge division in the community over the killings over whether the right person was convicted of the crime.
Sky Crime's Murder in the Valleys examines the circumstances surrounding the killings of three generations of the same family in the Swansea Valley village in 1999. The first of the four-part series was broadcast over the weekend.
Mandy Power, 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, and her mother Doris Dawson, 80, were bludgeoned to death at their home on Kelvin Road, Clydach, before the property was set on fire in a bid to destroy evidence.
David Morris, who was twice convicted of the killings, but always protested his innocence, died in prison last August. His family have vowed to continue their campaign to clear his name.
The documentary series includes interviews with many of those who had been involved in the case, including police, prosecution and defence lawyers, and family and friends, many speaking publicly for the first time. Those senior police officers interviewed insist the right man was convicted for the crime - a position supported by Mandy Power's family.
The series was made by Owen Phillips, a journalist and producer from Neath, who attended school in Ystalyfera, a few miles from Clydach in the Swansea Valley.
It is the latest in a series of high profile documentaries he has worked on examining controversial criminal allegations, including Leaving Neverland, Michael Jackson and Me, which interviewed alleged victims of the pop giant's sexual abuse. He also worked on Barrymore: Body in the Pool, which looked at the death of Stuart Lubbock, whose lifeless body was found at the home of television presenter Michael Barrymore.
Mr Phillips said: "I spent a lot of time in California doing Leaving Neverland, when the central question with Michael Jackson was, what was the truth? It was the same with the Michael Barrymore and Stuart Lubbock documentary. They were both big, unresolved questions, and there was a degree of conflict. There were questions remaining.
"With documentaries on true crime, I don't want to tell the basic story for the sake of it. They are awful stories and there is no point re-opening those, but I want to go behind them.
"I went to school in Ystalyfera and I'd go out in Pontardawe, in Neath and I know Craig Cefn Parc, where David Morris was living. After working on those other documentaries, people who know me would say to me, 'why don't you look at the Clydach murders?'
"David Morris always said he was innocent and there was a sense it is unresolved and questions remain. Then the pandemic hit and I had a chance encounter with film producer Nick Mirsky, and I told him how big this story is in Wales.
"I spoke to Nick Ross, the presenter of Crimewatch, and he told me he had been genuinely shocked by the Clydach murders. He would deal with deaths week in and week out, but the case did not get the profile it deserved in England.
"So we wanted to try and answer some of those questions".
The campaign by David Morris's family, which is supported by more than 30,000 people, argues there has been a miscarriage of justice.
But the film-makers wanted to make sure they talked to as many people as possible who had been involved in the case.
Owen Phillips said: "We spoke to the family of Mandy Power who believe David Morris is guilty and want to be able to grieve. They are private people who did not want to be interviewed.
"We also spoke to the family of David Morris who believe he is not guilty. They say if they thought he was, then he would have been dead to them. One family want the whole thing to stop, the other has vowed to carry on their fight.
"We were working on the series when the BBC documentary, with two new witnesses, was broadcast. There were forensic issues that were raised by David Morris's family, including issues about the DNA on a sock and the pole.
"South Wales Police acknowledged issues around trust and that people questioned the conviction. There had historically been miscarriages of justice with South Wales Police, most notably the Cardiff Three. That was the context. It was not just us, the police thought it should be looked at again."
He said persuading people to be interviewed was "much, much more complicated than a lot of other cases I have done".
"With police officers Martyn Lloyd Evans and Wynne Phillips, they were happy to talk. They believe David Morris is guilty and they had never been given the opportunity to tell their story before. In their view, the first suspects the Lewises were investigated thoroughly, without fear or favour and had their lives turned upside down by the detectives. We asked every question we could conceivably think of."
Stuart Lewis, his police officer brother Steve Lewis and Steve’s wife Alison Lewis, who was having an affair with Mandy, were all arrested in the early stages of the murder inquiry. Alison and Steve were arrested on suspicion of murder, and Stuart on perverting the course of justice but all three were later cleared.
"Alison Lewis was interviewed [for the programme]. Stuart Lewis gave a statement. But some people, for entirely legitimate, personal reasons, declined, and we had to respect that. We are not in the position of forcing interviews. We are doing this without fear or favour. Some people believe David Morris is guilty, some people believe he is not guilty. Ideally we would have liked to interview everyone because that is the way we get a better understanding on this.
"And there are a lot of extraordinary details with this case; the relationship between Mandy Power and Alison Lewis; the international rugby; the identical twins".
Alison Lewis told the programme how she feared for her life after being released on police bail and lay on the floor of a car driving her away from Morriston Police Station after being questioned by police about the deaths, with baying crowds gathered in front of the building.
"I remember lying on the floor in the car thinking, 'I am going to die here, in the back of this car and I will not be able to prove I am innocent. I won't be able to show that I have not done this," she said.
"I really thought that I was going to be killed."
Stuart Lewis has also spoken about the impact of the case on him.
In a statement given exclusively to the Mirror, Stuart said he believed police officers made a catalogue of errors – fuelling speculation his family was responsible for the tragedy. He said: “The evidence identified at the outset to exonerate myself was lost, unobtainable, or destroyed. It is tragic that all involved in this high profile investigation were let down by a litany of mistakes and unprofessionalism. These failures have resulted in constant speculation of the safety of the conviction.”
Mr Phillips added: "In Wales, everyone has an opinion on who should be playing for the Wales rugby team, and it is the same with the Clydach murders. I know a lot of people still in the area; in Cwmgors, in Pontardawe, and a lot of them know people intimately connected with the case. I have friends from Clydach who do not speak to me about it, it is too personal.
"I don't want to take sides. For many it is unresolved, there are still questions.
"South Wales Police have decided not to release the report [from the force's recent Operation Dolomite review into forensic evidence linked to the murders] and say it has been handed to Criminal Case Review Commission, who have also not released it to the public. For the family of David Morris, they think how can we trust this? By not releasing it opens up a new chapter, there is a shadow over it all.
"Alison Lewis and Stuart Lewis say their lives were destroyed by the investigation. Mandy Power's family want to grieve and for it to go away, but on the other side David Morris's family say they can’t let it go and will fight to get the police to hand over the report.
"We approached this with openness and followed the evidence. We have to open with everyone, it is the only way to win their trust.
"The story is not as clear cut as others I have worked on. You can come to a conclusion with the Stuart Lubbock story or the Michael Jackson children sexual assault allegations. But this is so raw, people’s views about what happened that night in Kelvin Road wildly conflicted.
"It was hard. A lot of people believe David Morris was guilty; the police, the prosecution. But on the other side there is a real passion that David Morris did not do it".
ACC Dave Thorne, of South Wales Police, said: “South Wales Police has shown a commitment to providing evidence-based answers to the issues which have been raised about this case over many years.
“This commitment resulted in a forensic link between the convicted killer David Morris and an item of great significance which was recovered from the murder scene. South Wales Police commissioned a review in the hope that we could in some way provide closure for those most affected by the murders. In particular, those who lost three generations of the same family and have had to revisit those painful memories time and time again over the last two decades.
“ The findings from Operation Dolomite have been shared with the Criminal Cases Review Commission to complete the due process and demonstrate transparency. However, in the knowledge of the conclusions drawn from this review, South Wales Police would like to show respect to the family and those affected by these terrible crimes by finalising this case.
“Our thoughts as ever remain with the family of Mandy Power, her children Katie, aged 10, and Emily, eight, and her 80-year-old mother Doris, who still experience such painful memories even to this day.”
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