Killed as he made his way home after a quiet night out, Robin Chard is one of the rare murder victims to have his life taken by someone he had never met before.
While the majority of killers know their victims, sometimes a chance encounter can lead to the most evil of crimes.
In 2020 177 people were murdered by strangers in England and Wales.
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Now the legacy of grief and heartache left behind by these harrowing slayings is being explored in a major new true crime series.
Murdered at First Sight, a 10 part documentary series, began on Sky Crime last week.
And Robin's story will be told in an episode due to air at 9pm on March 30.
Today his widow Angela told the Chronicle of her hopes that the documentary would make people realise the true impact such senseless violence has on the families left behind.
The 64-year-old said: "I just hope this documentary makes a massive impact. It's coming up to 19 years since Robin was killed but it doesn't feel that long ago.
"We have just got to get on with things, but it never goes away."
Caring dad-of-two Robin did not stand a chance after he crossed paths with thugs Joseph Mee, then 27, and Christopher Smith, then 24, who kicked and stamped on him in a ferocious, unprovoked attack near his Gateshead home.
The pair targeted the 47-year-old as he made his way home after going for a quiet drink in Newcastle while his wife, who is a professional singer, was working.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how the attackers boarded the Metro Robin was on at Gateshead.
The pair were both high on a cocktail of amphetamines, cannabis, cider and lager, and targeted Robin from behind, before launching a frenzied attack during which the defenceless victim was repeatedly kicked and stamped on.
Robin’s body was discovered by a neighbour the following morning, after Angela had reported him missing to police.
He was so badly beaten he was barely recognisable.
Detectives were able to trace Smith and Mee’s movements before Robin was killed on CCTV.
The pair also left damning forensic evidence in the form of a microscopic amount of blood in Robin’s pocket which was matched to Smith.
Detectives believe it got there as Smith stole Robin’s personal items.
Smith, of Pankhurst Gardens, and Mee of Whitemere Gardens, both in Wardley, Gateshead, were jailed for life after pleading guilty to murder.
Retired Northumbria Police detective, Steve Wade, who led the murder investigation was also interviewed for the documentary.
Last week the Chronicle told how Angela and her family were struggling to come to terms with the fact that both of Robin's killers could soon be back on the streets.
Mee was freed in 2019 despite an impassioned plea from the innocent victim’s loved ones.
And after a parole hearing last month it was recommended that Smith be be moved to a low security ‘open’ prison, a decision that has left Robin’s wife, Angela, devastated.
However, the Parole Board said Smith was not yet safe to be be released into the community and would not be moved to open conditions without the approval of the Secretary of State for Justice.
Murdered at First Sight also features the death of 20-year-old Tashan Daniel who was murdered at a London Tube station in 2019, and the 1993 killing of 35-year-old businesswoman Debbie Buxton who was attacked while walking her dogs in the village of Marston-on-Dove in Derbyshire.
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