How Grindr serial killer uncovered his guilt

A body language expert has revealed how Grindr serial killer Stephen Port betrayed his guilty conscience in interviews with police.

‘The Grindr Killer Scandal: A Faking It Special’, available to stream now on discovery+, also unveils never-before-seen stills of the murderer, who was handed a whole life term of imprisonment in 2016.

Footage from the psychopath’s interviews are examined frame by frame as the Faking It experts – behavioural specialist and body language expert Dr Cliff Lansley, linguistics professor Dawn Archer, and forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes – who collectively pinpoint the body language, vocabulary use and nervous tic which demonstrate Port’s guilt. 

With additional first-hand accounts from Port’s neighbour, the documentary also analyses widespread criticism of the Met Police, who failed to join the dots to identify the common patterns and locations of the murders of the young men at the hands of Port.

It was only in September 2015 after the murder of Port’s fourth victim, 25-year-old Jack Taylor, again in similar circumstances, that he was arrested on suspicion of murder and brought in for police questioning the following month.

The revolting killer is seen in a new photo discovered by the team who made the programme

In another new image he bizarrely clutches a toy fire engine laughing as he stares ahead

Video clips of Port being quizzed by detectives are shown on the new true crime programme

During his interview, Port’s stomach-churning internet search history is put to him. The officer queries why Port had been searching for terms such as ‘boy’, ‘drugged’ and ‘rape’ in the early hours of the morning, whilst at the same time it was thought that victim Jack Taylor had died or was dying. Port responds to the officer that he was ‘just generally looking for just general porn.’

Analysing the interview footage, Dr Lansley highlights Port’s high levels of anxiety when being questioned about this, rapidly shaking his leg. ‘Just look to his left arm, you can see the leg’s up and down, so this is high anxiety time. We’ve got a hand clamp underneath the table, the “minimiser” of the word “just” and a double-sided hand shrug’, he comments.

Dr Lansley points out that Port’s use of the word ‘just’ is important, as it shows he is trying to convince the officer that his internet searches were not anything untoward. 

His shrug highlights how little confidence he has in what he’s saying.

Dr Lansley points to the cumulative effect of Port’s numerous body language tells in this interaction as a demonstration of his guilt, saying ‘we’ve also got the head shakes… six micro head shakes, ‘no’s’ contradicting the affirmative message. So with only seven seconds, from only five words – ‘just searching for random videos’ – we’ve got seven indicators of deception. This is definitely a lie.’

During the same police interview with Port in October 2015, he is also questioned about the circumstances surrounding Daniel Whitworth’s murder in September 2014. 

Victims Daniel Whitworth, Jack Taylor, Anthony Walgate and Gabriel Kovari (l-r)

Sex predator Port gave fatal doses of date rape drug GHB to four men

Whitworth was the second of Port’s victims to be found in the churchyard only 400 yards away from Port’s flat. 

He was also found with a questionable suicide note, which implicated himself in the murder of Gabriel Kovari, whilst also going suspiciously out of its way to absolve Port of any blame for the murder.

In the police interrogation footage, we see Port’s reaction when presented with a map of his home address, and the close proximity to the churchyard where his victims were found. 

When presented with the map, Dr Lansley points to Port’s body language to show how uncomfortable he is. ‘We’re already getting a reaction from Port. Now this is getting near the knuckle now… if you look down here at the trousers, you can see that vibration. 

‘We call this a psychogenic tremor, and this tremor is trying to release the pent-up energy in the large muscles of the legs that’s been created by the spike of anxiety by being presented with a picture of the crime scene, the church yard around the abbey’.

The officer then presents the supposed suicide note of Daniel Whitworth, and asks Port whether he had in fact written it himself and planted it on his victim. Dr Lansley highlights how Port’s leg continues to display a psychogenic tremor, but that he also ‘moves back away from the table, probably a good 30cm’. 

‘So that retreat is moving away from this dirty evidence that, if it’s proved that I’ve written this, I’m in serious trouble’, he adds.

Daynes laments the lack of thorough analysis given to the suicide note by the Met at the time, arguing that the line absolving Port of blame should have been a clear indicator that something wasn’t right. 

‘Why would you bother in a suicide note to point out something that is irrelevant? It’s ridiculous, it should have immediately rung alarm bells and that would be the first person that I would want to look at having read this suicide note.’

The series also examines police failings much earlier in their investigations.

Analysing an audio recording of Port’s phone call to the police, linguistics expert Professor Archer immediately spots the signs from Port’s word choices that this was a faked 999 call. 

As Port reports to the operator that a young boy looks like he’s collapsed ‘outside’, Professor Archer questions Port’s choice of words, asking ‘why does he have to say outside? He could have just said Cooke Street, there’s a young boy, looks like he’s collapsed. So for me, I interpret it, “outside”, to make a difference between where Port is and Anthony is. Because he does that, I think Port’s inside his home.’ 

After being asked by the telephone operator what number Port is calling from, Professor Archer notes how Port becomes ‘evasive’. ‘There’s a two-second pause, and then he says,”err, I’m just going to get in my car”.’ 

The expert adds: ‘Now this is an example of switching topic, because the operator is asking for something very specific, and I think the parking, and the car, is a way of him being able to put the phone down, but also explain why is he in that area at that time, in order to find Anthony.’ 

Having highlighted some key indicators that Port was lying in his phone call to the police, Professor Archer points out ‘I would have thought, ok this is odd, let’s, let’s do a little bit more digging.’

Port was later interviewed by police, but quickly changed his story, saying he had found Walgate dead in his bed and panicked, so put him outside. ‘Like you would do a used milk bottle. It’s ridiculous’, Daynes says, frustrated.

The police, however, didn’t investigate Port for this killing. They instead charged him with perverting the course of justice for lying about where he had discovered Anthony Walgate’s body. He was given bail. 

The documentary argues that this was the first of many failures by the Met to spot the red flags from Port’s behaviour. 

‘When Anthony Walgate was found with his underpants on back-to-front and the wrong way round, why did nobody think, “that’s bloomin’ strange”. Nobody thought to think, ‘there’s something fishy here’,’ says Matt Parr, HM Inspector of Constabulary. 

‘The most obvious failing was that they opted to charge him with perverting the course of justice, as opposed to investigating him being the killer. That is quite clearly a massive, massive failure by the police,’ agrees Gay Times journalist Conor Clark. 

‘I don’t think that they cared enough about Anthony because they immediately stereotyped him as a gay, drug-user,’ adds Daynes.

STEPHEN PORT VICTIMS – WHAT HAPPENED IN EACH CASE? 

Stephen Port murdered four young men during a 16-month period between 2014 and 2015, luring them to his one-bed flat in Barking before fatally plying them with date-rape drug GHB and then dumping their bodies nearby.

Port was initially arrested days after he killed his first victim, but was not charged with murder until after he struck for a fourth time.

Police said they were inexperienced to deal with such cases and were struggling with a large workload at the time of the deaths.

Here is what happened in each investigation:

Anthony Walgate

Anthony Walgate, June 19 2014

It was Port himself who called 999 to report ‘finding’ Mr Walgate unconscious outside his flat, although he later admitted dumping his body after the pair met for sex. He killed three men by the time he was jailed in March 2015 for perverting the course of justice in the Walgate case.

Fashion-conscious Mr Walgate was found with his underpants on back to front and inside out, but police said this was ‘unusual, not necessarily suspicious or sinister’.

Investigators at the scene were not told of a previous allegation of rape against Port on the police national computer from 2012, who was traced as being the person who called 999 to report the body.

In fact, police only checked the national database for Mr Walgate, not Port.

Another officer deduced there was ‘nothing to suggest the victim had been assaulted’, despite bruising under Mr Walgate’s arms, while sex swabs taken from his body were not submitted for DNA testing.

Perhaps most crucially, police failed to submit a laptop belonging to Port for forensic analysis for 10 months after it was seized in the wake of Mr Walgate’s death, and then missed repeated searches for drug rape videos contained on the device.

The Crown Prosecution Service was also not given information that Port was a suspected sex offender when they ruled out a homicide charge over Mr Walgate’s death.

Police soon knew that Port had lied to them from the outset, eventually charging him with perverting the course of justice. But they did not follow up information he volunteered during his initial interviews about his previous involvement with police on suspicion of sexual assault.

Requests from the local police officers for the Met’s specialist murder investigation team to take over the investigation were repeatedly dismissed, meaning inexperienced officers were in charge of the case.

Two of Mr Walgate’s friends were convinced his death was suspicious and aired their concerns, but said they believed police assumed he had overdosed on drugs simply because he was a gay sex worker.

Sarah Sak, the victim’s mother, told police she was convinced it was ‘murder’, but said police told her ‘it was probably drugs’.

Gabriel Kovari

Gabriel Kovari, August 28 2014

Aspiring English teacher Mr Kovari was found slumped in a graveyard near Port’s home. But the scene was not declared suspicious, so his body was not subjected to a forensic post-mortem examination.

His clothing was not seized and so was not analysed, and no samples were taken from his body.

Police did not follow up leads to trace Mr Kovari’s friend, Karl Kamgdon, who Mr Kovari sent pictures to from inside Port’s flat when he arrived there, and was the last person he spoke to.

John Pape, Mr Kovari’s friend, effectively turned detective to find the victim’s boyfriend in Spain, Thierry Amodio, who had been contacted by Port masquerading as another man.

Both men supplied the police with information which would have led them to the serial killer, but they were repeatedly ignored.

A family liaison officer assigned to the Kovari case failed to contact the victims’ loved ones at all, and even referred to him as being from Lithuania rather than Slovakia.

Daniel Whitworth

Daniel Whitworth, September 20 2014

Detectives failed to carry out key forensic tests including on the bed sheet on which chef Mr Whitworth was found, his clothes, so-called sex swabs taken from his body, and the drugs bottle planted on him – all of which carried Port’s DNA or fingerprints.

Perhaps most crucially, the ‘suicide note’ planted by Port on Mr Whitworth’s body taking responsibility for Mr Kovari’s death appeared to be taken on face value by police.

Only a section of its contents was sent to Mr Whitworth’s family, with disputes over whether his father was able to identify the handwriting as that of his son.

The note was not shown to Mr Whitworth’s long-term boyfriend, Ricky Waumsley, for a year, and he said he felt cut out of the investigation entirely.

He later raised concerns about the ‘really impersonal’ nature of the content, that it did not mention any family members and that he could not be sure it was his partner’s handwriting.

The note also contained a veiled reference to Port, asking police not to ‘blame the guy I was with last night’ in case the investigation eventually linked the victim with the serial killer. However, police arriving on the scene thought ‘the guy’ was a homeless man sleeping in the graveyard where Mr Whitworth was found.

It was much later that a handwriting expert concluded the script matched Port’s while the notepad on which the suicide note was written was recovered from Port’s address.

There was no evidence Mr Kovari and Mr Whitworth had ever met or contacted each other.

Police also failed to obtain full phone data that would have shown Mr Whitworth was not in Barking on the night of Mr Kovari’s death – creating an inaccuracy with the suicide note that claimed Mr Whitworth killed Mr Kovari.

Mr Walgate also showed signs of bruising under the arms consistent with being moved or carried before or after his death.

Bizarrely, dog walker Barbara Denham, who discovered Mr Kovari’s body, was also the first on the scene for Mr Whitworth’s death.

She told police: ‘I was the same woman that found the other body a few weeks ago … I found another young boy.’

Jack Taylor

Jack Taylor, September 14 2015

The final death was not linked to the previous three until a chance discovery nearly a month later – this was despite similarities that all four victims were young, gay men, with no links to the area, who were found dumped in public, within a short distance of each other.

Mr Taylor’s family shared with police their concerns that the death might be linked to others in the area, as did the coroner.

In fact, his sisters kept notes of their own investigations, establishing similarities between the four deaths, referencing GHB and identifying Port’s address in Cooke Street.

The family were particularly suspicious that Mr Taylor – who wanted to become a policeman and was said to be resolutely anti-drugs – had apparently taken something on the night he died.

But their suggestions were dismissed by police who said there was ‘no reason to think they are connected’.

It was only when a detective working on the Walgate investigation chanced upon a print-out of a CCTV still of Mr Taylor with a ‘mystery man’ on the night he was last seen alive that he recognised him as Port and made the link with Mr Walgate’s death.

Another officer then linked them with the Kovari and Whitworth investigations.