Pete Doherty tells heartbroken mother of 'murdered' Cambridge graduate who was 'thrown off balcony at house party' in 2006 that he 'hopes she can come to terms with what happened' - as Channel 4 documentary airs new testimony about suspicious death
- Mark Blanco, 30, was found dead on the ground after falling from a balcony
Pete Doherty has told a heartbroken mother of a Cambridge graduate who died after allegedly being 'thrown off' a balcony at a drug-fueled house party that he 'hopes she can come to terms with what happened'.
In Channel 4's bombshell new documentary, Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son? , FBI instructor Grand Fredericks reveals how he uses groundbreaking 3D technology to recreate aspiring actor Mark Blanco's last moments at a drug-fuelled party in an east London flat back in 2006.
Mark died after falling from a first-floor balcony during the party hosted by drug addict Paul Roundhill and attended by rock star Doherty, who at the time was Kate Moss's drug-addled on-off boyfriend.
The heartbreaking documentary details Mark's grieving mother's desperate attempt to find out what happened to her son that tragic night, almost 17 years ago. It remains unknown how Mark was found unconscious on the floor, just minutes after returning to the party for a second time but Shelia Blanco has remained convinced that someone pushed her son off the balcony.
Responding to the relaying of the tragic event, Doherty handed a one-line sentence to Channel 4 that read: 'I am sorry for Mrs Blanco's loss and I welcome any assistance people can give her to come to terms with what happened.'
Doherty, 44, now lives in France with his singer wife, Katia de Vides, and their baby daughter.
Pete Doherty has told a heartbroken mother of a Cambridge graduate who died after allegedly being 'thrown off' a balcony at a drug-fueled house party that he 'hopes she can come to terms with what happened
Mark's mother Shelia Blanco is now trying to get to the bottom of her son's death
CCTV footage of Pete Doherty running from block of flats where Mark Blanco died
CCTV footage from the night showed Doherty with another girlfriend, 19-year-old Kate Russell-Pavier, and Jeannevol fleeing the scene, callously swerving Mark's body.
Officers investigated the case and Doherty was implicated after an inquest into the actor's death but there have been no charges to date.
For the last 17 years, Shelia has compiled a dossier of experts and evidence in her quest for justice.
CCTV footage from the night back in December 2006, shows Doherty leaving the party with his 19-year-old girlfriend Kate Russell-Pavier, callously dodging Mark's unconscious body.
After the fall he was rushed to the Royal London Hospital where in the early hours of Sunday morning his parents were told by a neurosurgeon he would not survive his head injuries.
Renowned FBI agent Grand Fredericks has claimed there must have been 'more than one person on the balcony' the night that a Cambridge graduate was allegedly thrown to his death
Pictured: Mark Blanco, actor, with his mum Sheila, on graduation day in June 1997
Police investigated the case, and Doherty was implicated after an inquest into the actor's death, but there have been no charges to date.
Throughout the documentary, Shelia recalls that the 'last promise' she made to her son was that she would 'find out what happened at any cost'.
An FBI agent dramatically claimed that the Cambridge graduate who suspiciously died at Pete Doherty's house party was 'murdered' and that he must have been thrown from the first floor balcony.
Grand Fredericks revealed in the programme how he uses groundbreaking 3D technology to recreate aspiring actor Mark Blanco's last moments at a drug-fuelled party in an east London flat back in 2006.
Almost 17 years after her son's death, Shelia Blanco remains convinced that her son was pushed off that balcony - with experts such as FBI instructor Fredericks suggesting he was 'thrown' off.
Fredericks uses groundbreaking technology to suggest another person had been on the balcony before Mark died. After examining original footage of the fall, the FBI expert then used a 3D and reverse projection, overlaying the new film on the original images as a way to 'step back in time'.
He said: 'The reverse projection clearly shows there couldn't be just one person on the balcony.
'What I would see is that Mark has come out and somebody has taken Mark and is putting him over the balcony. If the measurements and the distance are correct, then Mark was thrown over the balcony, Mark was murdered.'
Naomi Stirk, pictured on the BBC in 2012, has spoken to the Channel 4 documentary on tonight
FIGHTING FOR LIFE: Mark Blanco in hospital after the tragic events unfolded
The expert went on to claim he asked the Metropolitan Police to carry out reverse projections more than a decade ago but they failed to do so.
Meanwhile, John Kennedy, a forensic video analyst who worked on the James Bulger case also said the footage suggested Mark had been pushed to his death.
'He didn't appear to be in control of his fall,' he said during the documentary. 'I formed the view he may be unconscious when he came off the balcony.'
One of the six guemark sts at the party has also alleged for the first time that she too has reason to believe that Mark was killed.
Naomi Stirk recalls that there had been a 'sinister' atmosphere that evening remembering how she had witnesses Roundhill and Doherty's 'minder' Jonathan Jeannevol physically escort Mark out of the flat.
'From where I was sitting you could see through to the hallway and the kitchen, and there is a point for which I cannot account for the whereabouts of everyone,' she says. 'I don't know what happened, but I know that something horrid went on.'
These developments have led Mark's mother Shelia to call for the Met Police to reopen its investigation and re-interview those who were present that tragic night.
'I have always believed that everyone who was in that flat that night knows what happened,' she said.
Shelia is not prepared to give up on finding the truth about her son's death.
'All I want is to find out who is involved in Mark's death and how he came to die. There's no question of a vendetta against anybody,' she said.
The heartbroken mother, determined to find out who was responsible and bring them to justice, has spent years compiling dossiers of evidence and speaking with experts, which has become the centre of the Channel 4 documentary.
'It was my last promise to him,' she recalls. 'I said I would find out what happened at any cost.
'I have to do this so what happened to Mark doesn't happen to other people. Any death like his deserves proper due process.
'The police really need to be accountable. Not just for my son, but for everyone who has an unexplained death.'
The documentary closes with Shelia picketing outside the Royal Albert Hall, with a placard reading 'Pete Doherty, Who Killed my Son?'
She has insisted she has no vendetta against the Libertines front man, adding: 'All I want is to find out who is involved in Mark's death and how he came to die.
'There's no question of a vendetta against anybody.'
A short statement by Doherty was released at the end of the documentary. It read: 'I am sorry for Mrs Blanco's loss and I welcome any assistance people can give her to come to terms with what happened.'
Doherty, 44, now lives in France with his singer wife, Katia de Vides, and their baby daughter.
Paul Roundhill, who hosted the party, said: 'Mark was my good friend. I would not protect anyone who had a part in his death.'
'My sympathy and support is for Shelia Blanco. Mark and his family deserve justice,' he added.
A statement from the Met Police read: 'Our sympathies remain with the family of Mark Blanco. Police conducted an investigation of all the evidence available following his death.
'Following the initial investigation, the death has been subject to various reviews by the Met; where areas for re-investigation were highlighted, these were progressed by homicide detectives, and we have undertaken expert analysis of the CCTV footage.
'The investigation into the death remains ongoing and any new evidence or information will be assessed by detectives.'
