This is a case that would obsess the British media for decades to come. Furthermore, the circumstances of Stuart’s death still remain a mystery to this day. The only people who knew what happened and could make sense of the tragedy, where a father of two young children had lost his life, were those individuals who attended the party that night. Frustratingly, the accounts they have given of Stuart’s final hours are a puzzle that has yet to be pieced together in any coherent way…
Read moreREPLAY - Cromwell Street / Fred & Rose West (Full Series)
When asked if they wanted to visit the property on Cromwell Street, the jury were unanimous in their decision. They were transported to the scene by bus. The windows were covered, and jurors were told not to talk to anyone. The route they would make on foot, from the rear of the house, into the building, was shielded from view. It was vital the numerous camera crews still filming the property did not record the jury. They walked, single file, from the top of the home, moving down, floor by floor, until they reached the cellar and the horrors that were perpetrated within it. White ribbons marked where each body had been found…
Read moreUnsolved / Penelope Mogano
As Carlo approached the house, he found one of his children sitting outside. The boy explained to his father why he was lingering in the cold. 14-year-old Adrian had been waiting for over an hour. He couldn't get inside because the doors were locked, and no one was answering. Using his key, Carlo walked through the front door and immediately began looking for his wife. He went into the dining room. It took a moment for Carlo to comprehend what he was seeing…
Read moreMissing and Murdered / Where Are Renee & Andrew MacRae?
Emergency responders were relieved to find there were no casualties. The car had been abandoned. Puzzlingly, the vehicle was traced back to a mother who had left Inverness with her three-year-old son hours earlier. What initially seemed to be a burnt-out vehicle left after a joyride turned out to be so much more. It remained a mystery for over four decades…
Read moreFentanyl Poisoner / Luke D'Wit
Ellie and her partner Marcus walked around to the large conservatory at the back of the house. Through the glass doors, they could see the silhouettes of two familiar figures sitting in their favourite armchairs, although something did not seem right with Carol and Stephen Baxter…
Read moreSuicide or Murder? / Ryan & Sandra James
The Burton Mail published the article in March 1990. A local couple had the good fortune of winning a Vauxhall Astra with two years' worth of free petrol. The accompanying picture is fuzzy. Sandra and Ryan James pose almost formally and rigidly while standing behind the vehicle with the garage owner poised to hand over the keys. The next time the couple were mentioned in the newspaper, it would not be for such joyous reasons…
Read moreNeighbour From Hell
A man in his mid-sixties wearing a light-coloured casual jacket and dark trousers caught the couple’s attention. Concerningly, he was clenching a piece of wood in his hand. Stephen slammed the brakes and got out of the vehicle. He realised another man was lying horizontally on the pavement, being struck about the head repeatedly with the length of wood. Blood was pooling on the path surrounding the injured man. Stephen instinctively yelled out, telling the assailant to stop. The attacker wrapped the wood in a plastic bag and turned to walk away. As he left the scene, he hollered back to the man he had just attacked: “You’ll not fucking do that again”...
Read moreBlack Widow / A Killer's Tangled Web
From the path, that quiet spot on Redcar Beach in North Yorkshire was concealed by sand dunes. As the tide was going out on the crisp morning of April 30th 1977, the body of a man was held in place by the saturated sand. Eventually, hours after the sun had come up, he was found. There were no apparent signs that he had been injured, and bystanders wondered what happened…
Read moreA Long Road To Justice / The Murder Of Suzanne Greenhill
Tony Wesson was looking forward to spending time with his fiancée, Suzanne. They both enjoyed working out at the local leisure club, and weightlifting was the perfect way to blow off some steam at 6 pm on a Friday evening. It was July 1st, 1988, and the sun was still shining over Tewkesbury Walk in the Shaftesbury area of Newport, Wales. Despite the nice weather, the curtains were closed inside Suzanne’s home. Using the key that Suzanne had given him, Tony unlocked the door to the flat and walked inside. The only light in the hall came from the sunbeams that shone through the bathroom window across from Suzanne’s bedroom. The rays of light drew Tony’s attention to something on the bedroom door, a bloodstain…
Read moreKiller In The Driver's Seat / Alice Wood / Ryan Watson
Theresa Colborne wasn’t expecting visitors at her home in Rode Heath, Stoke-On-Trent. It was shortly after 11:30 pm on Friday, May 6th 2022, and someone was pounding frantically on the front door. When Theresa answered, she saw a young woman hysterically crying and begging for help. The woman sobbed, “Please phone an ambulance. I think I've run over my boyfriend”...
Read moreMonster Working In The Morgue / David Fuller
A forensic review of the unsolved murders of two young women who were killed in 1987 turns up new evidence. Genetic genealogy tests lead to one man who left DNA at both crime scenes. During a search of the suspect's home, investigators learn that he not only evaded justice for the murders for over three decades, but the killer had continued to offend in the most horrific manner…
Read moreSerial Killer? / Bible John - Part 2
After being linked to the murders of three women in Glasgow, the perpetrator seemed to be able to evade capture despite having one of the most well-known faces circulating in the press. Tens of thousands of statements were collected, and nearly one thousand suspects were interviewed. Due to the religious texts he quoted to a victim's sister, the nickname given to the prime suspect was Bible John. He was undetectable, but far from forgotten (Part 2 of 2)…
Read moreSerial Killer? / Bible John - Part 1
It was around 8 am on February 23rd, 1968, when a man walked down a service lane behind Carmichael Place in Glasgow. Every exhale immediately condensed into a cloud of mist that hung in the freezing air. The man’s car was parked in a lock-up on the lane, and he was looking forward to the last day of the working week. Before he could reach the vehicle, the man was stopped in his tracks by a strange sight... (Part 1 of 2)
Read moreREPLAY - Unsolved / Tina Bell
One of the most significant murder investigations in Cleveland police history remains unsolved after three decades. But some believe they know who is responsible, and the killer or killers are likely to have committed more crimes. Will the truth ever be uncovered?…
Read moreA Nun Maimed And Murdered / Sister Josephine Ogilvie
A quiet nun in a central Aberdeen Cathedral was dealing with some paperwork when she had a visitor. She neither knew the person nor did she have any way of knowing she wouldn’t leave her office alive...
Read moreMurdered After A Christmas Party / Lorraine Benson
Women in southwest London lived in terror after a string of sex attacks on lone commuters travelling from Waterloo to Kingston. The police were desperately trying to locate a man believed to be responsible for half a dozen rapes over a three-month period in late 1988. Just days before Christmas, it seemed the rapist had crossed another line: he was now a murderer…
Read moreBizarre Love Triangle / The Murder Of Paul Spickett
In February 1974, a two-and-a-half-year-old went missing. For four hours, dozens of police officers and relatives of the toddler searched the area. His older brother had been looking after him while they were out playing, but came home not knowing where his sibling was. The youngster was eventually found, peacefully asleep in the long grass, a short distance from his home. It was an incredible relief for his worried family. Unfortunately, this happy ending wouldn’t be granted in the case of another boy who went missing around 40 miles away, a day earlier…
Read moreBuried Alive / The Attempted Murder Of Michelina Lewandowska
Dan Brockley was driving along Woodside Road, close to Woodsome Hall Golf Club in Huddersfield, when a woman stumbled out of the tree line and into the road. It was dark and quiet when the female suddenly appeared, shortly before midnight on Saturday, May 28, 2011. Dan instinctively slammed his foot against the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt. The woman scrambled to the passenger side door and pleaded with him to let her in. She was visibly distressed and dishevelled. When Dan took a chance and opened the door, the woman said her name was Michelina, and someone had just tried to kill her…
Read moreThe Killamarsh Killings / Damien Bendall
The Probation Service and Parole Boards are meant to safeguard our communities. However, no organisation or independent body is immune to errors or shortcomings. If they fail in their duty, then dangerous people can be released straight into the path of innocent victims…
Read moreDouble Jeopardy / Jacqui Montgomery / Dennis McGrory
Double jeopardy is a legal principle that somebody cannot go on trial for the same crime more than once. The rule, over 800 years old, was put in place to protect the innocent against judicial misconduct that could see them convicted, even after being found not guilty. A pivotal shift occurred twenty years ago, with the UK's double jeopardy law undergoing a significant transformation through the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This introduced substantial reforms, particularly for serious crimes. The amendment allowed the possibility of retrial for someone previously acquitted, if "new and compelling" evidence surfaced…
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