Police have revealed a chilling 999 call that sparked a race against time to save a woman in danger, before her boyfriend claimed he had “brain fog” surrounding her attack.
In tonight’s episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody on Channel 4, Bedfordshire Police receive an initial anonymous call from a woman before the line mysteriously clears up.
As they struggled to find the caller’s address, they received another emergency call seven minutes later, this time from a man who said his “girlfriend” was “blue in the face” and “unconscious.”
After tracing both calls to the same address in Luton, police raced against time in a bid to save the woman.
Upon arrival, none of the callers could be found at the address, but 29 minutes after the first emergency call, they broke into a nearby apartment and found a man lying on top of a woman, who was unconscious and not breathing.
While the woman was taken to the hospital in a coma, the man only responded that he had “really serious mental confusion” and that he was “completely lost” due to having diabetes.
What’s more, neither party had local links in the UK, leaving police with a baffling mystery to solve based on “absolutely nothing”.
The episode presents the shocking moment when the police first received a call alerting about the emergency.
Jorge Blanco made an anonymous 999 call to police and said his girlfriend was ‘unconscious’
Police managed to trace him to an address in Luton and arrested him on suspicion of murder (pictured). But Blanco said he had ‘brain fog’ due to his diabetes.
At 4:35 in the morning a female voice was heard saying: ‘Leave now or I’ll call you.’
Seven minutes later, a second call came, this time from a man. He said he “needed police and an ambulance,” before saying: “She kept threatening me.” I’m safe, she’s not. Oh God, his face is blue.
Police arrested the man for murder and after initial investigations discovered his name was Jorge Blanco, who was originally from Mexico but had been living in Nevada.
The woman, who he claimed was his “girlfriend,” was identified and her family found, although she is only known as “Jane Doe” on the show.
At only 26 years old, the only information known about her was that she was a ‘foreign student’.
When the police arrived, Jorge seemed confused and asked, ‘What time is it?’ and repeating only that he needed his diabetes medication.
Later, when he was arrested, he told officers: “I have a lot of mental confusion, I’m diabetic, I’m completely lost,” adding that he didn’t know why he had been arrested.
In police interrogations, Jorge appeared to fall asleep and become “dizzy” in his cell, saying he needed to visit the nurse. But officers soon began to wonder if he was simply “manipulating” them in hopes of escaping a formal charge.
In police interrogations, Jorge appeared to fall asleep and become “dizzy” in his cell, saying he needed to visit the nurse.
The officers saw that he had scratches on his face, which indicates that someone used self-defense measures.
Little by little, they began to piece together the baffling case. After receiving phones from both parties, they realized that Jane Doe had pressed the SOS button on her phone five times at 4 a.m.
Meanwhile, Jorge had marks on his body consistent with having been scratched by someone trying to defend himself from an attacker.
Text messages between the couple sent five weeks before the attack revealed valuable information about their relationship, showing that it had been coerced and controlled by Jorge.
Jorge’s messages read: “I miss you” and “I’m going on a flight,” while Jane’s responses read: “I never asked you to come” and “You’ve done things I can’t forgive.”
SOCO photographs taken of Jane in hospital showed a mark on her neck, suggesting the suspect had been holding something around her neck. And when they revisited the crime scene, police found a bag with a strap, close to where they had been found after the initial 999 call.
Then police discovered shocking body camera footage that changed everything.
A rambling Jorge had confessed everything to the police when he was arrested. He said he had gone outside and tried to grab Jane’s phone. When she refused, he ended up grabbing her and strangling her.
DI Jenny Riddy led the investigation but admitted the team had “nothing to go on”.
DC Suzanne Seagrove of Bedfordshire Police’s major crime unit said the victim had “almost escaped”.
He then issued his explosive confession, admitting: “I should have let her threaten me.” I did it, I did it. She was begging and I didn’t know he was so strict with her. He was lying on her.
Tragically, Jane’s CT scan results showed a large hemorrhage in her brain and extensive swelling.
This meant that doctors were forced to conclude that his injuries were an end-of-life event due to severe brain trauma.
A pathology report determined that Jorge Blanco may have strangled his victim for up to five minutes after she became unconscious. He died with his family at his bedside a week after the incident.
Jorge and the victim had apparently known each other for about two years, and a judge described him as “a controlling, manipulative and jealous man with narcissistic characteristics.”
They added that the murder was motivated because he felt he could no longer control his victim.
Jorge Blanco was convicted of murder and sentenced to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison.
DC Suzanne Seagrove of Bedfordshire Police’s major crime unit said: “She was a brilliant woman with a bright future ahead of her.” And he almost ran away.
24 Hours in Police Custody: The Murder of Jane Doe airs Monday December 9 at 9pm on Channel 4.