Due to the violent nature of today's crimes,

listener discretion is advised.

Extreme caution is advised for listeners under 13.

Today is Thursday, April 16, 2020.

On this day in 1996, James Patterson Smith walked into a police station in Manchester, claiming that his teenage girlfriend

drowned in the bathtub. Subsequent investigations showed that the death was far from an accident.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Today we're covering James Smith to today in True Crime, a Parcast original.

Today we're covering James Smith's brutal murder

of Kelly Ann Bates.

Let's go back to April 16, 1996, as the police in Manchester go about their business unaware of the

unspeakable crime they will soon uncover. police station. He had long hair and spectacles, but was otherwise an unremarkable

looking person, seemingly nearing middle age. His voice was steady as he spoke to the

attending officer.

His name was James Patterson Smith,

and he was there to report a horrible accident.

He explained to the officers that earlier in the day

he had an argument with his girlfriend

Kelly Ann and had shoved her head under the water in her bath. When she

resurfaced he discovered that she wasn't breathing.

Smith claimed that she often pretended to be unconscious to toy with him,

but after checking, he realized this was no act.

...