The date, July 28, 1996.

The place, 60 feet beneath the English Channel, off the coast of Devon, England.

A fisherman was about to haul in his nets.

His catch of the day would unearth a gruesome secret.

Buried among the sea bass and crabs was a very large catch,

a dead man with no apparent identification.

The Nets had disturbed a watery grave, revealing a mystery that would cross an ocean.

When John Copac, the fisherman of 30 years, pulled a dead body on board, he had a decision to make.

A floater is a bad omen.

I can do one or two things here.

I can pull this codline, and he goes back over the side, and we go on fishing.

Or we take him in, in which case where fish is going to be condemned, you're going to lose the day's wages.

The victim was an unidentified male between the ages of 40 and 50.

From the amount of decomposition, the pathologist determined that the body had been in the water

for less than a week.

The victim was wearing a blue and white checkered shirt, leather belt, and green corduroy trousers, with the pockets pulled inside out.

When I first examined the body, I noticed a tattoo on the back of the hand.

I thought it was a cluster of stars, and that's what I said in my original report.

In any case, I've never seen a tattoo like that, not in British subjects.

There were several injuries noted on the body, bruises on his left hip and lower leg,

and a four-inch gash on the back of the head.

Most likely the head injury caused unconsciousness,

...