Toxic Relationship: The Tracie Andrews Story | Part four

(Tracie Andrews, now known as ''Jenna Stephens Goldsworthy'' with her new husband. Photo credit: Daily Mail)

Continued from part three...

The police wasted no time and as soon as Tracie was well enough to leave the hospital she was interrogated at the police station. She continued to plead her innocence and when she was released on bail she had organised a press conference to to take place on the 5th of February 1997 with her lawyer, Tim Robinson.

Tim Robinson requested that reporting restrictions were lifted on the case because he wanted the public to hear all of the details of Tracie's supposed innocence and evidence of that night and thought it would help his client's case. She appeared to the cameras with her hair and makeup done and sat straight faced with no emotion.

On Wednesday the 19th of February 1997, Tracie's lawyer presented a photo fit of a man she claimed to be one of the killers. The picture looked surprising like one of the police officers who had attended the scene that night.

Tracie was still sticking to her story and on Monday the 30th of June 1997 she appeared at Birmingham Crown court to plead not guilty to Lee's murder.

On the first day of her trial she pointed at Lee's family who were sat in the gallery and shouted ''I want to be where they are sitting so I can see justice done too.'' Over the next few days she would glare at the family and showed no remorse.

On Tuesday the 15th of July 1997, the police laid out their evidence at Birmingham Crown Court, They claimed that Tracie had stabbed Lee in the back and neck 42 times as he was trying to walk away from her and end the relationship. They claimed that Lee and Tracie had attended a pub that night and Lee was driving her home. They said there was an argument between the pair which was witnessed by a couple who saw the car drive past them. They saw the car come to a halt then turn sharply. No other car was following them. This was not a road rage incident. They also mentioned that they believed that a Swiss army knife that belonged to Lee was the murder weapon. He had brought three of these knives home from a holiday in Spain and gave two to relatives, the third was always kept in his car. Tracie then disposed of this knife in a hospital toilet. In the inside of her boot, Lee's blood was found in the shape of the Swiss army knife. They also mentioned the background of Lee and Tracie's relationship.

On Wednesday the 16th of July 1997, Tracie Andrews took the stand and to the surprise of everyone in the courtroom, she pointed at Lee's mother and screamed ''get her out of here.''. The jury had seen how she had gone from being the quiet victim to exploding out of nowhere in anger with the outburst on the first day of the trial against Lee's family and now at the mother of the supposed love of her life which echoed what witnesses had told the police before about her and her Jekyll and Hyde behaviour.

She was cross examined and didn't have a leg to stand on. Her story was picked apart and all the lies were coming undone.

On Tuesday the 29th of July 1997, Tracie Marguerite Andrews was found guilty. She was jailed for life with a recommendation that she serve a minimum of 14 years in prison before she would be considered for parole.

Two years later she wrote a letter in her prison cell confessing that she had murdered Lee. She said that they'd had an argument as he was driving her home which got physical when she got out of the car. She said that Lee grabbed her and tried to choke her. She claimed the murder was in self defence.

When Maureen heard about this she assumed that Tracie was trying to have her sentence reduced, which she was. Tracie tried to have her sentence reduced but failed.

During her time behind bars she saved a fellow prisoner's life and had various same sex relationships. She befriended Jane Andrews, who murdered her boyfriend Tom Cressman and Maxine Carr who was girlfriend to the Soham murderer Ian Huntley. Maxine was jailed for providing a false alibi for Ian on the day the girls that he murdered were reported missing. She was later released with a new identity.

A former cell mate told a newspaper that Tracie didn't talk much about Lee Harvey but when she did, she said ''It's no good crying over spilt milk.''

She was reported to be a model prisoner and even had day release where she went shopping and drank cappuccinos in little cafes. There was outrage when she had plastic surgery (costing the taxpayer £5000) to reshape her jaw. She also wanted lifetime anonymity like her friend Maxine Carr but was refused this. In prison she changed her name to Tia Carter.

To the anger of Lee's family, Tracie was released from prison after serving 14 years of a life sentence. She changed her name to Jenna Stephens and was moved to an unknown location. She dyed her blonde hair black.

Over the years she has tried to change her look from different hairstyles and shades but seems to have settled on black. No matter what she does with her hair the newspapers always seem to know where she is. She can often be seen in sunglasses but again, people still seem to recognise her.

She is still close with her daughter Karla and has since become a grandmother.

In 2017, Tracie or Jenna as she calls herself these days, did her best to keep her upcoming wedding to a bouncer (nightclub doorman) private but the newspapers soon found out. His ex wife said that he had left her and her three children because he became obsessed with a barmaid that worked at their local pub. His ex wife said that he knew she was Tracie Andrews and it gave him some kind of thrill.

The newspapers dubbed him ''The bravest groom in Britain''. Tracie/Jenna's wedding was splashed all over the newspapers and Lee's family were sickened. Lee's sister said that she should be in prison for life. Lee's daughter Danielle had written a letter to Tracie whilst she was in prison and asked her why she killed her father, she got no reply.

Tracie/Jenna had her hen night on father's day and dressed up as naughty police woman. Danielle saw this picture in a newspaper and couldn't believe her nerve.

Danielle has since tracked down Tracie's daughter Karla on Facebook and they've become friends. Karla had apologised for what her mother had done to Lee and Danielle doesn't blame her for what her mother did. She does hope that Karla will be able to persuade Tracie to talk to her and explain why she did what she did. So far, Tracie is refusing to talk about it.

Friends close to Tracie/Jenna say that she refuses to talk about what happened that night. As far as she's concerned she says that she has done her time and the slate has been wiped clean.

A few years after Tracie's release from prison a man came forward to do a ''kiss and tell'' piece in a newspaper. He claimed that he met Tracie outside of a nightclub where she was waiting to pick up her daughter. Her daughter didn't show up so they got chatting and he ended up back at her house where they had sex. He said that they talked afterwards and he didn't know who she was till he saw her face in the newspapers. He said that she was a nice woman who talked a little bit about her past but not too much. She said that she had made mistakes that she wasn't proud of and that she would go back and change things if she could. He said that she looked sad as she was talking like there was something in her past that she deeply regretted. Was this Tracie Andrews finally showing remorse for Lee's death? who knows.

Karla also said of her mother in a newspaper interview ''If you knew her like I know her, you wouldn't see her as the psycho killer she's been made out to be.''

As I mentioned in part one, some people still feel strongly about this case which took place in 1996. Some people believe that she's served her time and has moved on, others believe that she should be behind bars for the rest of her life. Lee's family have struggled to move on and have never fully come to terms with Lee's death and it angers them to see how well Tracie seems to have done.

Lee's mother wrote a book with the title: Pure Evil - How Tracie Andrews Murdered My Son, Deceived The Nation And Sentenced Me To A Life Of Pain And Misery.

Maureen still lives with her husband and has seven grandchildren now but she still struggles with Lee's death as does his family and friends. She visits his grave regularly and sometimes tells him off for ever getting together with Tracie Andrews. Danielle misses her dad and has had five children of her own.

Do I believe that Tracie Andrews should still be in jail? I would say yes. She took Lee's life and abused him during the relationship. She was a ticking timebomb that seemed to go off out of nowhere and she'd physically assaulted previous partners. The way she acted the night of Lee's death and the lies she continued to tell right up to the moment she was found out, before she murdered Lee by viciously stabbing him 42 times. She had issues and would fly off the handle, that was who she was and if she's totally changed today I'd be very surprised. As for her daughter speaking highly of her, well that's to be expected. A lot of the time you'll find that murderers have a different approach to their own children and family because they see them as an extension of themselves. From Tracie's background I can imagine that she's spun a story for her new husband and friends. I can imagine her telling them that she was in a domestic abuse situation and defended herself to survive.

Lee didn't deserve to be killed but there are questions that still remain about what happened that night which will probably never be answered. What where they fighting about? Where did Tracie get the black eye and injuries from? Why did Lee have a clump of Tracie's hair in his hand. There may have well been a physical fight between the pair of them. Tracie's injuries could be the result of him trying to defend himself? One thing is for sure, she stabbed him in the back and neck 42 times so she really wanted to kill him and waiting for 7 minutes before calling for help was sadistic.

Tracie once told Maureen that if she couldn't have Lee then nobody could. Maureen mentioned a time where Lee and Tracie were sat in her livingroom watching the movie Fatal Attraction (Starring Michael Douglas as a married man who has an affair with a work colleague who tries to get revenge after he dumps her) and Tracie grabbed a cushion and began to hit Lee very hard with it and said ''If you ever do that to me, I will kill you.''

What are your thoughts on this case? Let me know in the comments below or send me a tweet.


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11 comments:

  1. Tracie own behavior in court proves a lot more than some of the evidence, to her trying to sit with Lee's family, so her trying to throw Lee's mom out of the court room. What is crazy she that she tried to blame Lee's murder on him, and she could have done it potential because he isn't here to defend himself. She planned the murder and should have gotten more time, because she will do this again.

    The fact that she was released with a new identity I think is bullshit, she wasn't a child when this happened, she should have everyone know who she is for the rest of her life, it's should be owned so that people don't get into any type of relationship with a murder. Anyone who did any plastic surgery on her for anything other than medically necessary is crap in my opinion. Thank heaven for the newspapers though.

    I feel really bad for her daughter, I would hope that she would keep her distance from her mother, but it's not always that easy with family.

    The bravest groom in Britain sounds about right, it sounds like Tracie loves the pseudo-celebrity status she has right now, which is pretty gross considering why. By what his ex-wife says it makes me thing that he is as fucked up as she is. It sucks because both Danielle and Karla are victims of Tracie, and it is good to hear that Danielle doesn't hold any of this against her, because sometimes that is hard to practice. Yet, the fact that Tracie considers herself wiped clean is gross, she will never get the blood off her hands.

    What her daughter said about her now it does make me wonder if she had help in prison to be a healthier person when she was released, or is she just a better manipulator learning how to do it better in prison.

    http://loveiszero.net

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    1. Brilliant comments! I'm not usually a fan of the press but when it comes to proven murderers who've been given the red carpet and let out of prison early, I think it's good that they don't let them away with it. I think to have stabbed someone so many times and then carried on lying, especially holding the mother of tour victim's hand and playing the victim is cold and tells a lot about who she is. I agree that her new husband must be as cold as she is and I do think that some people have a fetish for murderers x

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  2. Life should be life not 14 years Lees sister had it right she did guess that tracie had killed Lee. tracie had some really bad issues and should still be locked up.

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  3. Yeah she did it ...he may have provoked her. But that doesn't warrant 42 wounds .I think he was ending it ...big mistake .

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  4. She did it and meant it you don't stab a person 42 times if you dident won't him dead she was a jelouse woman and I think she will do it agen

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  5. She should of had life never to get out I feel sorry for Lee's family noing she's out enjoying her self

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  9. She did the crime and then here time.

    Job done, move on. No amount of gutter press harassment will change history

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  10. I no trace I served 10 years with her it was my self that was pictured taking trace out on her very first day release in York. I'm probably one of the only people that trace ever yd her side of the story to. I don't define what she did but I do know that there's a lot more to her story than people are lead to believe she was once asked by the sun news paper to tell them her side of the story she refused and because of this they told her well we can always print what we want to print if you don't tell us. I do no what happens according to trace. I had no reason to disbelieve her I new her well we were close friends. Nobody nos that on and coming up to the anniversary of less death trace would go deep in to her self cry for days lock her self in her room in the dark not eat not sleep shed not cone out for days I saw this every year for 10 years I saw the remorse the pain she carried the guilt she carried she doesn't talk about lee because she can't talk about him its heartbreaking for her to I just have to tell you she's not the monsterthrpress have made her out to be sorry but i know this foe sure lisa

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