Was Rachel Nickell Pregnant When She Was Killed? Partner Andre Reveals Heartbreaking New Details

Nearly 35 years have passed since a two-year-old Alex Hanscombe witnessed his mother, Rachel Nickell, get brutally stabbed to death. Now, a new generation is revisiting one of the most horrendous British true crime cases through Netflix’s The Witness and The Murder of Rachel Nickell. 

With new details emerging about the late British model’s life, some of the most emotional revelations have come from Rachel’s longtime partner, Andre Hanscombe, and her son, Alex, who finally spoke up about the deeply traumatic and personal chapter of their lives. Now, after the Netflix documentary, Andre has shared even more heartbreaking details about a secret that Rachel may have taken to her grave.

Andre reveals a never-before-shared tragic detail about Rachel Nickell’s murder

Rachel Nickell was just 23 years old when she was brutally killed in broad daylight on Wimbledon Common in July 1992 while walking with her nearly three-year-old son, Alex. According to the toddler’s account, a stranger dressed in a white shirt and blue trousers emerged from behind and launched a frenzied attack on his mother.

In a new interview tied to Netflix’s documentary, Rachel’s partner, Andre, and their son, Alex, revealed some more heartbreaking details about her final months. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Andre revealed that Rachel had previously become pregnant with their second child around eight months before her death. However, given their financial struggles at that time and exhaustion as young parents, the couple made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy. Alex shared:

“For all the responsible reasons, my parents decided to have an abortion. It was something my mother never fully recovered from emotionally. And something my father has regretted his whole life.”

Andre admitted that while it seemed like a necessary decision at that time, it remains one of his biggest regrets to this day. After losing the love of his life on the fateful summer morning, all he wishes is that the consequences could be undone. Andre explained:

“We were exhausted. But looking back, it was the wrong decision, and the consequences can never be undone…You don’t have objectivity in moments like that – but now I know we could have got through it. I hope that message makes a difference to someone today.”

Was Rachel pregnant again when she died?

Rachel’s second pregnancy happened about eight months before her death, but according to Andre, she may have been pregnant again at the time of her murder. While there was no specific confirmation, he shared that Rachel had recently suspected she was expecting. Needless to say, the new revelation has added yet another heartbreaking layer to a case that continues to send chills down the spine. Andre told the outlet:

“It was very early on and I’ll never truly know. But I know she never would have wanted us to make the same mistake again.”

Andre recalls the moment he learned about Rachel’s murder

On the day that Rachel was killed, Andre was out of town for work, blissfully unaware that his world had turned upside down. Like he always did when he was on the road, he called home later that morning to check in. But instead of Rachel answering, a police officer picked up the phone. It didn’t take him long to understand that something terrible had happened. Andre recalled the policeman’s call in the documentary:

“He said, ‘There’s been an accident.’ I asked, ‘Is she dead?’ and he said, ‘I can’t tell you that.’ The policeman paused. I said, ‘You just did.'”

And just like that, within seconds, the ordinary life he had shared with Rachel and their young son was shattered forever. Almost immediately after learning about Rachel, Andre started worrying about Alex, fearing something terrible may have happened to him as well. He shared:

“Everything came crashing down, I fell to my knees and collapsed to the floor. The pain of losing her was indescribable, and my heart was breaking. There was nothing I could ever do to bring her back. How could I have allowed this to happen?.. At first, I didn’t believe Alex would have survived. But the moment I knew he had, my only desire was to get to him and protect him.”

The murder of Rachel Nickell

On July 15, 1992, Rachel was on one of her daily walks through Wimbledon Common in southwest London with little Alex and their dog, Molly. It seemed like an ordinary summer day until a stranger emerged from nearby bushes and launched a brutal attack in broad daylight. She was sexually assaulted and stabbed 49 times in a frenzied assault that shocked the nation. What makes the case even more unnerving is that the attack happened in a frequently busy spot, just about 200 yards from a popular park where many other parents were walking with their children. After the killer fled the scene, little Alex remained seated beside his mother, and onlookers said he refused to leave her side.

The case sparked one of Britain’s most controversial murder investigations. Police initially focused on Colin Stagg, who spent more than a year in custody before the case against him collapsed amid criticism of a controversial undercover “honey trap” operation. Years later, advances in DNA testing identified Robert Napper as Rachel’s killer. Napper eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2008 and remains detained at Broadmoor Hospital. 

After all these years, revisiting Rachel Nickell’s story is no longer about revisiting that life-altering tragedy. For Andre and Alex, sharing these memories sends out  a message about “love, hope, and survival.”

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