A new documentary is airing on Channel 4 on Monday evening, investigating the mysterious death of a British nurse in Saudi Arabia 46 years ago.
Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery tells the story of Helen Smith, who moved to the city of Jeddah in 1978 for a nursing post and seemed to be enjoying her new life.
But months later, in May 1979, police informed Helen’s parents that their 23-year-old daughter had died.
Helen’s death was officially classified as an accident. However, writer and director Keely Winstone has since obtained hundreds of previously classified government documents, which may point towards a different story.
Who was Helen Smith?
Helen Smith was from the north-west Leeds suburb of Guiseley, where she attended private school.
She was the eldest of four children to parents Ron and Jeryl. Her three siblings were called Graham, David and Beverley. A year before her death, Ron and Jeryl separated.
Helen moved to the Middle East in 1978, and seemed to be pleased with the financial rewards of her work in the region, according to letters she wrote to her family.
That was until 1979, when police informed Helen’s parents that their daughter was dead.
How did she die?
Helen had been at a party hosted by Richard Arnot, a surgeon, and his wife Penny. Other guests included Dutch tugboat captain Johannes Otten, New Zealand diver Tim Hayter, French marine biologist Jacques Texier, four German salvage operators and other unnamed guests.
The guests had reportedly been drinking alcohol, which isn’t allowed in Saudi Arabia. Helen and Johannes Otten are said to have gone to the balcony on the sixth floor of the apartment block at some point during the evening.
Some time after, their bodies were discovered 70 feet below the apartment balcony. Helen’s corpse was on the road, while Johannes’ had been pierced by a spiked railing. Their bodies were fully clothed but their underwear had been partially removed.
A local investigation said that the couple had fallen from the balcony while intoxicated. But Ron Smith, Helen’s dad, refused to accept that conclusion. A former police officer, Ron travelled to Jeddah four days after his daughter’s death, launching a campaign to have an inquest into her death in the UK.
An inquest is a public inquiry to establish who the deceased was, when and where someone died and what the cause of death was.
Initially, the West Yorkshire Coroner declined to hold an inquest, stating that the case was outside their jurisdiction. Ron appealed this decision with a lawyer named Ruth Bundey, leading to an inquest going ahead in July 1982.
Helen’s body was transported back to the UK, where it was kept in a morgue at Leeds General Infirmary for over 30 years. Six post-mortems were conducted, as well as forensic examinations, which pointed to a different version of events that led to the 23-year-old’s death.
Some post-mortems indicated that Helen had been a victim of sexual assault, causing an open verdict to be delivered, instead of a verdict of accidental death.
The inquest established a legal precedent for coroners to investigate deaths abroad after the body has been returned to England and Wales.
Writer and director Keely Winstone has since sought to uncover more information about Helen’s death.
Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery airs on Channel 4 on Monday 23 at 9pm.
