Son of Bathgate man who buried wife’s body under cellar floorboards slams killer dad for never revealing truth about mother’s death

The son of a man who murdered his wife and buried her under the floorboards of their West Lothian home has slammed the killer for never revealing the truth about his mum's final moments.

Harry Jarvis hid his mistress Rita Heyster in his garden shed before he killed wife Carol and left her decaying body in the cellar in 2009.

Jus-Rol pastry heiress Heyster, who inherited and squandered a £2.5 million fortune, helped him to conceal the body at his home in Bathgate.

The cause of 47-year-old Carol's death could not be determined due to decomposition to her body and Jarvis claimed she died of a fit before he buried her at home to be close to her.

Tragic Carol Jarvis and killer husband Harry.

Detectives were initially worried there was not enough evidence to take the case to court. However, police found love letters that Jarvis wrote to Heyster indicating he was drugging his wife and was planning on killing her. One note from Jarvis said: "Drugs are doing job. Just took longer than I thought but going fast now. See you in Paradise soon."

Jarvis never spoke to his four children about their mother's death and died of heart failure in prison aged 67 in 2017 after being convicted of murder.

In a new Crime+Investigation channel documentary Killer Britain, presented by Dermot Murnaghan, Jarvis' son Graham, 39, said he could never forgive his father.

He said: "I don't think I will ever forgive or forget dad for what he has done because there is no rhyme or reason to it.

Secret lover Rita Heyster

"Even though we wanted to be civil and understanding there was the whole trial and the way he handled himself.

"If he had put his hands up and we knew what actually happened there's potential you can not so much understand and accept it but you can process it more.

"Now there will always be that question of what actually happened and what got him to that stage. Nobody is going to know that and because of that I can never forgive him for it.

"The trial was the last time we saw dad, I don't think any of us got in contact with him.

"When he died it was like it was closed off but then again it's never really closed off.

"It still plays on your mind after 11 years, it's still as fresh and it's like it was yesterday."

Mum-of-four Carol, who had several medical problems, was reported missing by her children.

They didn't believe their father's account that she had taken a trip to Dundee or gone into respite care.

Former bus driver Jarvis was jailed for a minimum of 15 years in 2011 and died while serving his sentence at Addiewell prison.

Heyster, from Coldstream in the Borders, inherited a £2.5million fortune from her adopted father, Jus-Rol founder Tommy Forsyth.

But she fell on hard times and blew the cash before starting an affair with Jarvis. She was jailed for four-and-a-half years for helping to conceal Carol's body.

Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan will be shown on Crime+Investigation at 9pm on June 4.

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