Soon after midday, on Tuesday, January 19th, 2021, the London Ambulance Service received a hysterical phone call from Susan Oliver. Susan lived in Mottingham, South London, with her 74-year-old husband, David. She hysterically told the operator that her partner had been stabbed at their home…
Read moreBad Science
On this episode of They Walk Among America… There is nothing more terrifying for a parent than watching your child become critically unwell and knowing there is nothing you can do to help them. We hand our children over to doctors and trust that they know how to treat whatever is making the child sick. It’s important that doctors report any suspected abuse to the authorities, but what if their judgement is based on inaccuracies? To lose a child is an unthinkable tragedy, and to be accused of causing their death is another…
Read moreArdoyne Claw Hammer Murder / Eamonn Ferguson / Louis Maguire
It was quiet in Ardoyne on Saturday, March 15, 2014. However, during the early morning hours, a woman living on Ardoyne Place was awoken by the sound of shouting. It was coming from somewhere in the neighbourhood, but at first, she couldn't make out the exact location. The loud voices sounded like several men who were upset — it was difficult to decipher what they were yelling about. As she lay in bed, the Ardoyne resident then heard a rhythmic thumping sound. She got up out of bed and glanced out the window. Illuminated by the street lights, a man could be seen kicking the front door of a property, adjacent to hers…
Read moreThe Trap
On this episode of They Walk Among America… The rest of the neighbourhood were preparing for the day ahead, much like the Post family were. Many were eating breakfast, while others were reading the daily newspaper or sitting down to watch some television. As they carried on with their daily routine, a thunderous explosion erupted in the neighbourhood, smashing windows and sending objects crashing to the floor…
Read moreShoe Fetish Killer / Christopher Farrow
Residents of Balne Lane were settling in for the night, preparing dinner and searching for something good to watch on television. It was March 15th, 1994 — a quiet Tuesday evening in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Some employees at Green’s Printers, which overlooked the neighbourhood, were working late. Shortly after 6 PM, one of the silk screen print workers noticed a man approaching a red-brick, end-of-terrace property. The home belonged to 52-year-old Wendy Speakes…
Read moreDark Side
On this episode of They Walk Among America… Bountiful is among the top 20 most populous cities in Utah. It’s a desirable area for families, and boasts of having one of the best school systems in the state. The city is ranked 23rd of the safest cities in the entire state, and it’s only a short drive away from Salt Lake City. The short commute makes Bountiful the perfect commuter city for those who want to be close to the hustle and bustle but still far away enough for a peaceful and quiet life. Among the residents of Bountiful in 1984 was 40-year-old Patricia York…
Read moreEssex Lorry Deaths
Desperation can lead people to flee the country they call home in search of somewhere safer, a place where they might have better work prospects and a better quality of life. In some cases, they feel they have no choice but to turn to traffickers to get them out. When they arrive at their intended destination, they know they will be financially indebted to the traffickers, perhaps for the rest of their lives. But sometimes, the trafficked do not make it that far...
Read moreTrick or Treat
On this episode of They Walk Among America… Betty strained to hear the conversation down the hall from their bedroom. She heard someone emphatically reply, “no,” but she thought the person sounded like a man impersonating a woman. The supposed trick-or-treater had their hand inside a paper bag, which they raised and pointed at Peter. A single gunshot echoed through the house, and by the time Betty got to the front door, her husband was lying on his back with his hands clutched to a wound that was bleeding profusely on his chest…
Read moreA Nightmare In Petrol / The Murder Of Eileen MacDougall
It was difficult to see, but as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, something caught his eye. It was a plastic bag floating in the remnants of the petrol. Billy hollered to Mick, telling him to look at what was inside the bag. Mick waded through the sludge and approached the out-of-place object. It was evident by the shape and the way it moved that there was something inside. As he lifted the plastic bag, the contents fell out. Like something from a nightmare, the large object that was now in the sludge appeared to be a human torso…
Read moreThe Disappearance Of Shaun Ritchie
Some say the perfect time to visit Scotland is in the Autumn, around the Halloween period. Halloween originates from the Celtic festival of the ‘Feast of Samhain’, celebrated in Scotland, Ireland and on the Isle of Man from October 31st until November 1st. During this festival, people lit bonfires as a way to ward off unwelcome spirits. Many of these traditions were carried on through the centuries and influenced what is known as Halloween today. Each year, thousands of tourists flock to Scotland. But on Halloween night, 2014, a mystery was beginning to unravel, a mystery that still endures eight years later…
Read morePatchwork
On this episode of They Walk Among America… In late August 1989, a crime hotline in Nebraska received a call from a man who claimed to have information about shocking crimes committed on a farm near Mooresville, Missouri. The owners were already being investigated for conspiracy and fraud charges, but the tip changed the course of the investigation entirely. Once the owners were arrested and charged with conspiracy to steal cattle with bad checks from an employee's account, a search of their 40-acre property began…
Read moreJoss Stone Kidnap Plot
It was shortly before 10 AM when several locals spotted an old, damaged red Fiat Punto. It appeared as though the vehicle had recently been in an accident. Two men were inside the car, one driving and one in the front passenger’s seat. The vehicle was slowly navigating the remote country roads throughout the village and the surrounding area, so unsurprisingly, it caught the attention of several people. The strange behaviour of the men, combined with the damage to their vehicle, raised concerns that they could be burglars, looking for a large countryside home to break into…
Read moreWho Murdered Billie-Jo Jenkins?
Lower Park Road is a leafy residential area located in the large seaside town of Hastings in England. Fronted by the picturesque Alexandra Park, the area boasts large Victorian-era style homes, surrounded by shops and parks, a short distance from the beach. In 1997, Hastings no longer saw the volume of tourists it once did — some old empty properties had been turned into flats and hostels; others were a base for patients released under the care in the community scheme. Although some parts of the once popular resort town had been neglected, Lower Park Road remained a desirable area to live. However, residents began to raise concerns about prowlers in the area…
Read morePremeditated
On this episode of They Walk Among America… Earlville is a small city of around 800 residents located in Eastern Iowa, Delaware County. The city is surrounded by farmland, and the bustling farming industry is how many of the residents earn a living. The size of the city gives Earlville a real small-town-like feel. It’s the kind of place where people raise their children, and then their children go on to raise their own children there. It was just after 12 noon on November 10th, 2019, when police in Earlville received a frantic 911 call from a local man named Todd Mullis…
Read moreUnsolved / Allan Graham
On a cold and crisp winter's morning, January 25, 1970, the body of a young boy is found in a watery ditch at a farm near Ponteland in Northumberland. Just two years earlier, two little boys had been strangled by another child, and although the culprit had been caught, investigators wondered if something eerily similar had happened to Allan Graham…
Read moreDisarmed
On this episode of They Walk Among America… Manassas, Virginia, is an independent city in the north of the state. Manassas was an evolving city, 30 miles from Washington, DC, with historical links to the American Civil War that drew enthusiasts to the site of the Battle of Bull Run. With a population of just under 30,000 people in 1993, Manassas was thrown into the spotlight, and the city would forever be linked to one of the most sensational cases of our time…
Read moreSuicide Or Staged? / Lesley & Derek Potter
On April 28, 2018, a woman nervously went to the police station to report a disturbing conversation she’d had with a co-worker a few days earlier. She was drinking with her friend's father — a man she believed had just lost his wife to suicide. As he consumed his first pint of the evening, the widower made a startling confession. However, it was less than a week before his partner's body was due to be cremated, and vital evidence would be lost forever…
Read moreGainesville Ripper
On this episode of They Walk Among America… On any given day, Gainesville is teeming with students, many of whom flock to the sunshine state from states far and wide. The summer holiday was coming to an end in August of 1990, and students from the University of Florida began to prepare for the new school year. It’s a time of much anticipation, a time for fresh starts, new friendships, unfamiliar faces, and different classes. But the air of excitement in the university city isn’t to last. It quickly transforms into fear, as a sadistic serial killer begins to target unsuspecting students in the sanctity of their very own homes…
Read moreMurder At The Hotel Metropole / Sidney Harry Fox
“The prisoner is probably the youngest person actively concerned in the investigation of this case. You may build round a case of this kind, a mountain of motive, you may surround it with suspicion, but if you do not prove the person - whose death you are investigating - was murdered, your mountain of motive and all your suspicion are without value” - James Dale Cassels, Sussex Assizes, March 1930.
Read moreLast Stop
On this episode of They Walk Among America… Chowchilla was a rural town in Madera County, California. In 1976 the population of the farming community was around 5,000, spread across sprawling acres of land. Most of those living in Chowchilla had been born and raised there, in the Central Valley. The isolated countryside didn’t provide much for kids to do during the summer months, so many enrolled in summer school. Dairyland Elementary had been assigned as the location for classes in the summer of 76 and over 125 children signed up to attend. 26 of those pupils would become victims of one of the most notorious mass kidnappings in US history…
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