A respected FBI agent last night dramatically claimed that the Cambridge graduate who suspiciously died at Pete Doherty’s house party had been ‘murdered’ and must have been thrown from the first floor balcony.
In Channel 4’s new documentary, Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son? FBI instructor Grand Fredericks reveals how he used groundbreaking 3D technology to recreate aspiring actor Mark Blanco’s final moments at a drug-fueled party in an east London flat in 2006.
Mark died after falling from a first-floor balcony during the party hosted by drug addict Paul Roundhill and attended by rock star Doherty, who was Kate Moss’ drug-addicted boyfriend at the time.
The documentary explained how Mark briefly left the party the first time before returning. He was later found unconscious under a first-floor balcony on the street.
CCTV footage then showed Doherty fleeing the scene with another friend, 19-year-old Kate Russell-Pavier, and Jeannevol, callously waving Mark’s body goodbye.
Nearly seventeen years after her son’s death, Shelia Blanco remains convinced that her son was pushed off that balcony – with experts such as FBI instructor Fredericks suggesting he was ‘thrown off’.
Fredericks uses groundbreaking technology to suggest that someone else had been on the balcony before Mark died. After examining the original footage of the fall, the FBI expert then used a 3D and reverse projection, overlaying the new film over the original footage as a way to “step back in time.”
He said: ‘The reverse projection clearly shows that there cannot be just one person on the balcony.
‘What I would see is that Mark has come out and someone has taken Mark and put him over the balcony. If the measurements and distance are correct, Mark was thrown over the balcony and Mark was murdered.’
The expert further claimed that he had asked the Metropolitan Police to carry out reverse projections more than a decade ago, but they had been unable to do so.
Renowned FBI agent Grand Fredericks has claimed there must have been ‘more than one person on the balcony’ the night a Cambridge graduate was allegedly thrown to death
After examining original footage of the fall, Fredericks then used a 3D and reverse projection, overlaying the new film over the original footage as a way to ‘step back in time’.
Fredericks said the ‘reverse projection clearly shows that there cannot be just one person on the balcony’
Also present at the party was rock star Pete Doherty, the drug-addicted on-off boyfriend of model Kate Moss at the time, with whom he dated between 2005 and 2007.
CCTV footage of Pete Doherty running from the apartment block where Mark Blanco died
Pictured: Mark Blanco, actor, with his mother Sheila, on graduation day in June 1997
Meanwhile, John Kennedy, a forensic video analyst who worked on the James Bulger case, also said the footage suggested Mark had been pushed to his death.
“He didn’t seem to be in control of his fall,” he said during the documentary. “I had the impression that he was unconscious when he came off the balcony.”
One of the six guests at the party has also claimed for the first time that she too has reason to believe Mark was murdered.
Naomi Stirk recalls that there was a ‘sinister’ atmosphere that evening as she recalled physically escorting witnesses Roundhill and Doherty’s ‘nanny’ Jonathan Jeannevol Mark from the flat.
“From where I was sitting you could see down the hallway and into the kitchen, and there’s a point where I can’t figure out where everyone is,” she says. “I don’t know what happened, but I know something terrible happened.”
These developments have led to Mark’s mother Shelia calling on police to reopen their investigation and re-interview those present that tragic night.
“I’ve always believed that everyone who was in that apartment that night knows what happened,” she said.
Shelia is unwilling to give up the search for the truth about her son’s death.
‘All I want is to find out who is involved in Mark’s death and how he died. There is no vendetta against anyone,” she said.
Determined to find out who was responsible and bring them to justice, the heartbroken mother spent years compiling evidence files and speaking to experts, which has become the focus of the Channel 4 documentary.
“It was my last promise to him,” she remembers. ‘I said I would find out what happened at all costs.
‘I have to do this so that what happened to Mark doesn’t happen to other people. Every death like his deserves a fair trial.
Naomi Stirk, pictured on the BBC in 2012, spoke in the Channel 4 documentary tonight
FIGHT FOR LIFE: Mark Blanco in the hospital after the tragic events unfolded
‘The police really need to be held accountable. Not just for my son, but for anyone who has an unexplained death.”
The documentary ends with Shelia picketing outside the Royal Albert Hall, holding a sign reading ‘Pete Doherty, Who Killed my Son?’
She has insisted she has no revenge against the Libertines frontman, adding: “All I want is to find out who is involved in Mark’s death and how he came to be dead.
“There is no vendetta against anyone.”
A brief statement from Doherty was released at the end of the documentary. It said: ‘I am sorry for the loss of Mrs Blanco and I welcome any help people can give her to come to terms with what has happened.’
Doherty, 44, now lives in France with his singer Katia de Vides and their daughter.
Paul Roundhill, who organized the party, said: “Mark was my good friend. I wouldn’t protect anyone who played a role in his death.’
‘My sympathy and support go out to Shelia Blanco. Mark and his family deserve justice,” he added.
A statement from the Met Police said: ‘Our sympathies remain with the family of Mark Blanco. After his death, police launched an investigation into all available evidence.
‘Following the initial investigation, the death has been subject to various reviews by the Met; Where areas for re-investigation were highlighted, these have been pursued by homicide detectives and we have carried out expert analysis of the CCTV footage.
‘The investigation into the death remains ongoing and any new evidence or information will be assessed by detectives.’