Lucy Letby was “cool” and devoid of “emotion” when she spoke of the murder of babies in her care, the police officer who interviewed her told the Mail today.
Detective Sergeant Danielle Stonier said interrogating Britain’s most prolific child killer was “surreal” and “intense” at times.
And she said she believed the calculating neonatal nurse only spoke to the police because she wanted to know what evidence they had against her so she could try to outwit them.
“The Lucy Letby you saw in court was the Lucy Letby I interviewed,” Mrs. Stonier said. Her tone, her approach to answering questions, even the pauses, were pretty much the same.
“Some of the evidence and statements we presented to her were very, very graphic in detail, the allegations were horrific.
Letby is interviewed by police in July 2018, when she admitted that she had been confronted with the increased number of infant deaths during her watch
Detective Sergeant Danielle Stonier said interrogating Britain’s most prolific child killer was ‘surreal’ and ‘intense’ at times
“Some people would turn the tables, knock over the chairs, slam the doors and say, ‘Look, you need to go talk to so-and-so. I shouldn’t be here, this is all wrong,” (but) Lucy Letby was calm, she was pretty cool, she answered the questions, she was confident in the answers. She talked but there was no emotion.’
Letby, 33, was arrested and questioned three times by Cheshire Police officers, in July 2018, June 2019 and November 2020, when she was finally charged. In total, she was interrogated for more than 21 hours over eight days.
Suspects often refuse to cooperate when they are arrested for serious crimes.
But Letby spent a long time talking to Detective Stonier and her colleagues, often explaining complex medical procedures and terms, and giving them details and information they could eventually use to build the case against her.
Asked why Letby had not simply replied ‘no comment’ to their questions, Ms Stonier said: ‘We presented her with witness statements and medical evidence, she wanted to hear that clearly.
If she was gone, no comment, would we release more information? She wanted to get more information from us. She wanted to know what we’d found out about her.’
DS Stonier, who has years of experience interviewing serious criminals with the Cheshire Force’s Major Investigation Team, including questioning ex-football coach and prolific child sex offender Barry Bennell, described Letby’s interviews as “surreal.”
“The interviews with Lucy Letby were like nothing I’ve ever done before,” she said. “It was intense, challenging at times, I definitely felt the pressure.
“Your adrenaline is pumping, every answer she gives is ticking through your head and you’re like, ‘How is that going to fit into the study?'” It was kind of surreal.”
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Letby, responding to her lawyer Ben Myers’ final questions
Undated handout photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary of a cot that a baby refers to as Child G in the Lucy Letby lawsuit. The black circles were added by the police
DS Stonier said the ‘big moment’ came when officers released blood test results to Letby, which showed that two of the babies had been deliberately poisoned – eight months apart – with insulin.
The 33-year-old later had to admit on the witness stand that the drug could not have been accidentally given to the children, although she claimed neither had been poisoned by her.
“She didn’t know much about that,” Mrs. Stonier added. “I remember reading those results and I don’t think she knew what it meant.”
Even when Letby was charged, she remained calm, Ms Stonier said.
“It was the same Lucy Letby we saw,” the officer added. She listened to all the accusations.
“A third of the way through you felt some emotion coming from her, but was it an emotion of the seriousness of the transgressions or a sense of, ‘I’m not going home?'”
Ms Stonier said Letby ‘didn’t cry or cry’.
“She seemed calm,” the officer added. ‘She stopped. You see all kinds of emotions (in that situation) of people.
“The natural thing is to cry and then it becomes uncontrollable, other people put their fingers in their ears and ignore it completely.
A note found in Letby’s house with the word “hate” circled and added: “I’m bad, I did this”
Letby murdered boys and girls between June 2015 and June 2016
“She has the ability to mentally switch off, to detach herself, just to get through it.”
Other senior officers have described Letby as “beige and vanilla,” and Mrs. Stonier agreed that being anonymous helped her get away with her crimes.
“Lucy Letby is indescribable, if you passed her on the street there’s nothing special about her, she wouldn’t stand out,” she added.
“She mingled in that neonatal ward, befriending some of the families and colleagues and keeping herself abreast of what was going on, day by day.
“Even if she was off duty, I’m sure if you had asked her what babies were on the ward at the time and who was looking after them, she (would know).
“She was always in the thick of it. Her life was neonatal nurse.”
DS Stonier said Letby’s crimes were ‘so heinous’ as to be beyond comprehension.
“After interviewing her and spending time with her, thinking she’s responsible for all those parents’ grief, thinking she did this, I still can’t fathom it.”