‘The Real Manhunter’ Recap: ‘The Murder of Clare Bernal’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘The Real Manhunter’.
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One common misconception when it comes to police work, is that there are such things as open and shut cases. Where it is so obvious what happened when law enforcement walks through the door, that the detectives on the case can quickly put together a report and move onto the next case no problem. But in reality, every case has a great deal of facts that need to be revealed, regardless of how obvious it seems, simply because when it seems too perfect and too easy, there’s a chance something darker could be waiting in the wings. So, it is best that due diligence takes place, and the facts are brought into the light, regardless of how ugly and sorrowful they might be, and this is of importance today, simply because this kind of case and investigation is featured in the next episode of The Real Manhunter on Acorn TV.

For ‘The Murder of Clare Bernal’ is a case that brought Colin Sutton and his team to an unlikely place for a murder/suicide case. For young Clare Bernal was shot and killed at an upscale store in London known as Harvey Nichols, by a man named Michael Pech and well… having someone die in such an odd place immediately had Colin and his squad wondering… if by chance this was indeed a crime that had far more depth than it seemed. Because if Michael was this disturbed and this desperate to harm one person, he easily could have harmed others. Which in turn led the team to investigate the status of Clare’s roommates and thankfully, it appeared that no one else was harmed by Michael. But even still, the police needed to know what led to this and that brought about some unfortunate facts. 

Because it didn’t take long for the police to learn that Clare and Michael worked together at Harvey Nichols, in fact that is how they met. And the bubbly Clare, once gave Michael a chance romantically. But his poor behavior and incompatibility with Clare motivated her to break it off with him… with disastrous results. For Michael quickly became obsessed with her and what they briefly had and that motivated him to try and reconcile with her and make her see that he was worthy of her attention. But Clare was done with this and since he wouldn’t take no for an answer, she got her superiors involved and even that had little impact on Michael’s ‘love’ for her. Which in turn led to Pech’s dismissal from the store and that’s when things became far more dangerous for Clare. Because he would, of course, wait for her after her shift ended and follow her home and that left Clare with little recourse but to get the police involved.

Which should have been the end of the matter, since she was able to easily prove what kind of a threat Michael was to her and that he was absolutely making her uncomfortable and scared on a regular basis. But alas, the system failed Clare. Because despite being incarcerated for his actions, Pech was quickly back on the streets post haste and once the gravity of his situation sunk in, he made the decision that if he couldn’t have Clare… no one could, and that led to the sorrowful night in question. But while Clare Bernal’s end is sorrowful and tragic for certain, this is a case that led to some reforms in the United Kingdom. Because Michael’s actions and the failure of the system, exposed a need for laws and programs that could prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again and that’s precisely what Clare’s mother worked to make happen and believe it or not, she was successful in her endeavors.

Because the story of her daughter, brought about laws that protect victims of stalking. In fact, such crimes can put a person in jail in the U.K. for years on end, ensuring that the victim has a sense of justice and safety when someone crosses that line. But it is unfortunate that it took the end of a life to bring about those kinds of reforms, but it is wonderful that good did come out of this situation and clearly, the thorough investigation of Colin’s team undoubtedly helped with this as well. For they were truly able to paint a complete and harrowing picture of what led to Clare’s untimely end and that definitely speaks to the value of quality police work and the need to investigate the details of every crime, regardless of how obvious it is what happened, in one unfortunate moment. Until next time.  

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