This Much is True Crime

How deadly is it to have a target on your back if you’re a high profile prisoner? Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins has been murdered in jail with two fellow inmates charged with his death. In this episode we discuss is it simply karma that wicked convicts (mainly sex offenders) are singled out on prison landings or do they deserve protection like everyone else no matter the heinous crimes they’ve...

Its Number one on Netflix, Monsters - the Ed Gein Story, but what does a world leading criminologist make of this controversial re telling of the original American serial killer and body snatcher? Professor David Wilson loved all eight hours of dark, macabre and depraved behaviour carried out by the ultimate mummy's boy who's fixation with her led to his bizarre collection of body women's body par...

You'll have heard of Scandi Noir, well, now comes Tartan Noir! Why does Scotland have an unhealthily rich heritage of serial killers, gangsters, bloody violence, turf wars and television detectives? All will be revealed when This Much is True Crime takes to the road next year with journalist and broadcaster Martin Frizell and emeritus Professor of Criminology David Wilson. In this episode we recor...

Will predatory paedophile Christian Brueckner strike again now he's been released from jail? Very possibly, and will he get away with one of the biggest crimes of our lifetimes, the abduction and murder of Madeline McCann, ( if he did it) that's now very likely. World leading expert on men who abduct and murder children, ex Surrey senior detective Graham Hill, now a PHD criminologist, presented an...

Want new insights into 20 crimes of the century from Jack the Ripper to the dreadful murder of Sarah Everard? Our in house Professor of Criminology, David Wilson, has researched and written ‘A History of Modern Britain in 20 Murders’. Order it on Amazon now and have a listen to our discussion in this episode about a  fascinating concept that charts our progress and decline through the most heinous...

She’ll likely die in jail an old woman after her sentence for poisoning to death her in-laws but what was Erin Patterson’s motive? Britain’s top criminologist Professor David Wilson examines her behaviour before and during her court case and how she almost committed the perfect murder cooking up a deadly Beef Wellington. Now she has her just desserts, a life of solitary awaits but will she take he...

Is this the real life, is this just fantasy? Queen legend Freddie Mercury is at the centre of bizarre allegations that he fathered a secret love child to whom he left seventeen volumes of highly revealing diaries, unpublished Queen songs and millions in inheritance in gold bullion and artwork. It's all contained in a new book that promises to show a side of Freddie never seen before, however, wher...

Will it never end for the family of Meredith Kercher, the British student raped and murdered in her Italian university town in 2007? Flatmate Amanda Knox from  Seattle was convicted of her murder twice then cleared. She’s written two books and taken part in a documentary and now, much to the disappointment of Meredith’s family, she’s produced an eight part mini series on her ordeal - from her pers...

What was Sarah Fergusons role in the Prince and the Paedophile scandal? Dramatic new transcripts from an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell in jail have been released as she tries to reduce her prison term for sex trafficking. Epstein suicide, Trump, secret client files, she answers it all as do we in this episode. But also another high profile criminal soap opera serves up another chapter as the mu...

Doubt Taggart ever studied criminology but it's currently the new hot topic in Universities and schools. What would Jack Regan and George Carter from The Sweeney have made of studying the societal impact of the little toe rags they'd nicked? Why is it on trend and who better to explain than an emeritus Professor of Criminology who, let's face it, has done alright studying it! In this bite size edi...

Did multi millionaire Jeffrey Epstein hang himself or was he silenced before he could incriminate the rich and powerful men who indulged in his sex abuse ring? It's a conspiracy theory that refuses to disappear and now, for the first time, a world leading criminologist has studied the case notes and delivers his verdict. In this episode, broadcaster Martin Frizell and emeritus Professor of Crimino...

Has the main suspect in Britain's biggest ever missing person case cruelly taken his secrets to the grave? Detectives are convinced serial rapist and murderer John Cannan abucted and killed Fulham estate agent Suzy Lamplugh on a summers day almost 40 years ago but never had evidence to charge him. This week a Prison inquiry found Cannan died of natural causes and had been managed with respect and...

Could a mum really be behind one of the UK's biggest drug smuggling families, teaching her children the dark arts of trafficking? Grannies and mums are more prolific than ever on the British crime scene, one jailed just in the last few days. Not just coerced partners but genuine Dons or Donnas of UK mafioso whose 'quiet lady next door' image belies the dedicated and determined Granny gangster. And...

Why can't we deport 28 year old prolific burglar Dorian Puka back to Albania? He's been convicted twice of burglary in the UK, sent to prison and and kicked out back to Eastern Europe twice and yet he'a arrived back for a third time by illegal means and now he's claiming asylum. That allows him to move around freely until his claim is processed and in doing so he's flaunting spectacular wealth pos...

What's the latest on the Salt Path controversy? It's seven days on from the original bombshell accusations in The Observer that accused Raynor Winn and Moth of not being 'unflinchingly honest" in their multi million best seller The Salt Path. Raynor, real name Sally Walker, has rebutted the criticism, meanwhile the Observer journalists have unearthed another character from the past who claims Moth...

A bumper edition with allegations that the worldwide bestseller The Salt Path is fabricated in parts plus our take on the guilty verdicts for Erin Patterson, the Beef Wellington multiple killer. The Observer newspaper in the UK is either going to win awards or be sued out of business by Raynor Winn and her terminally ill husband Moth. It alleges the couple made up big parts of their triumph over a...

Bryan Kohberger this week  escaped execution by firing squad by sensationally changing his plea to guilty of the murder of four students as they slept in their beds in Idaho in November 22. But why the PHD Criminology student, from a different University, picked on these particular victims is still a mystery as he’s refused to explain a motive. In this episode, Professor of Criminology David Wilso...

P Diddy's own admission that he's a violent thug that attacked his former girlfriend was instrumental in a Manhattan judge refusing bail at the end of an historic showbiz show trial today. Multi millionaire rapper Sean Combs was found guilty on two counts of transporting prostitutes across state lines but cleared of racketeering and sex trafficking, however, he could still be sentenced to 20 years...

Second part of our discussion with ex prisoner Kevin Lane and this time it’s personal. Frank and honest about kidnapping, torture and his disgust of sharing prison space with paedophile inmates, it’s a window into the world of a lifer - ‘fitted up’ as a contracted hit man for a murder he maintains didn’t commit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wow, have you seen The Mortician, can you ever forget it? The true crime story of David Sconce and the Lamb Family Funeral Home and Crematorium in Pasadena is gripping, jaw dropping and all the more astonishing as Sconce himself tells the story of burning multiple bodies, harvesting organs, pulling gold teeth and even more! It's coincidental that this week (June 25 2025) Yorkshire funeral director...

Kevin Lane is no angel but he says he’s not a killer. Growing up he was known as Lights Out Lane, settling scores, usually with violence. For much  of his adult life, Kevin was in prison, first for kidnapping, which he accepts, then for a brutal murder, which he denies. He was convicted of being a callous hitman and sentenced to life but Kevin claims he was ‘fitted up’ and wrote 10,000 letters in...

Government lawyers are at the High Court demanding a massive payback from a company linked to Michelle Mone - £122 million pounds of taxpayers cash for faulty PPE that’s never been used. Almost thirty million pounds in profit from controversial deal, was put into a trust to benefit Baroness Mone and her children. Separately, detectives from the National Crime Agency are investigating the Baroness...

Erin Patterson was either a calculating poisoner or, as she claimed, an appalling cook who accidentally killed three of her in laws with a Beef Wellington lunch laced with toxic mushrooms. Six weeks into the triple murder trial of the Australian mum of two and we are still no nearer to finding a clear motive for bumping off her estranged husband's parents and an aunt. Was it disputed family financ...

Britain's top criminologist assesses the trial of the century as Sean Diddy Combs , the Hollywood Hip Hop tycoon , fights for his empire and his freedom. Professor David Wilson explains the prosecution's gamble with a controversial charge against Diddy usually reserved for mob bosses. Have the years of brushes with the law finally caught up with the world famous rapper? Diddy's a violent thug who...

Britain's top criminologist Professor David Wilson has studied the abduction of three year old Madeleine McCann for more than a decade and now, 18 years later since her vanishing from her bed by the Portuguese seaside, he says it's time to end the police search. The Met police still have a team of three working away funded by the taxpayer whilst the most likely suspect, Christian Bruckner could be...