Always True Crime

This is Part One of Two of The 'Taxi Driver' Murders. On Thursday 18th of October 1945, the bloodied body of veteran taxi-driver Frank Everitt was found wedged on the bridge in a hole at the pump house on Lambeth Bridge, which he could hardly fit into. At first, it seemed like he was either stuck or sleeping, but was this just a crude attempt to conceal a corpse, or a meticulously planned executio...

Billie-Jo Jenkins was a bright and lively 13-year-old with her whole life ahead of her. But in February 1997, her world was cruelly cut short in one of the most perplexing and heartbreaking unsolved murders in the UK. While painting the patio doors at her foster home in Hastings, East Sussex, Billie-Jo was brutally attacked and left for dead in broad daylight. The horrific crime shocked the nation...

In just one week three people had been murdered in the West Midlands and others had been attacked by the prime suspect, Anthony Russell. The local community were scared by what had happened and naturally concerned for their own safety. Detectives knew they needed to find Russell quickly and launched a major manhunt - before he could kill again. In this episode of the UK True Crime Podcast I look a...

#268 - The Savaged 'Prince'. On the evening of Monday 18th of September 1989, 40-year-old Christoph Schliack, an eccentric German who many only knew as 'The Prince' left the White Horse pub with two men. 30 minutes later, he would be brutally stabbed to death. But why? Was it political, personal, was it a robbery, or was it a known homosexual? Date: Monday 18th of September 1989 at roughly 10pm Lo...

In 2011, the peaceful town of Haslemere, Surrey, was shaken by a horrific crime that shattered a family. Heather Cooper, a former detective constable and devoted mother, was killed by her partner - the father of their two young children. In a chilling act of violence, Heather's life was taken in front of their three-year-old son, while their newborn, a daughter who was only weeks old, was left hel...

Ninety one year old Bill Reilly was a retired builder and a popular resident on the Tower Gardens Estate in Tottenham having lived there with his family there since 1977, although he was not originally a Londoner. In fact, Bill was born in Balla in County Mayo as part of a large family. A builder by trade, he had a strong work ethic and despite the manual nature of his job, he continued working ri...

Evil, once it is inside a person, never really goes away - it may remain dormant for many years, but it is always there. To the horror of a Peterborough family back in 2018, the evil that was dormant in one such individual stirred with the most horrific of consequences - at the same time, reactivating the nightmare that a Derbyshire family had spent almost four decades trying to deal with. The epi...

#267 - Sadistic Cruelty. Shakira Spencer was a loving mother-of-two, who lived to be loved and gave it back in spades. But when her “best friend” became her worst enemy, her life no longer became her own, she was reduced to being little more than a slave, and across the weekend Friday 9th to Monday 12th of September 2022 – out of boredom or spite - her so-called friends subjected her to what the j...

Emma Faulds was a woman who loved her friends, her work, and her loyal dog, Maverick. But in April 2019, everything changed when she was last seen with someone she trusted - a man she had known for almost two decades. When Emma failed to show up for work on April 30 and left her beloved West Highland Terrier unattended at home, her family knew something was wrong. That day, her parents reported he...

I know, I know you don't use a travel agent any longer. But the service offered by Lyne Barlow, an independent travel agent in County Durham was incredible - way cheaper than everyone else and when you asked her why she would say that the bigger players ripped you off. And all your family and friends were using her and getting great deals on dream holidays. Why not get yourself a deal? But unfortu...

I welcome author, filmmaker and investigative journalist Tim Tate to the show in this interview episode. TRUE CRIME recently announced the premiere of a new, original series following the story of a serial identity thief and murderer, Elaine Parent, who is known to have stolen more than 20 identities as she moved around the world and conned people out of personal information and money. 'The Hunt f...

This is Part Two of Two of The Fearmonger. On Monday 4th of November 1985, a three-week spree of rape and murder culminated, as at 9:50pm, a silvery-blue Montego sped north up Park Lane towards Marble Arch, zigzagging like a crazed loon across both lanes at a suicidal 80mph. Inside, two terrified women screamed, as John Steed, the M4 Rapist shot one of his hostages dead. But why did it end this wa...

Nicole Duke was the kind of teenager every parent hopes for - trustworthy, responsible, and well-behaved. She had never caused her parents any trouble, but on Christmas Eve 1975, after a rare request to stay out late, Nicole never came home. That night, she had attended a disco in Eastbourne, where she was last seen in the company of a boy, with whom she shared a kiss. Hours later, on Christmas Mo...

Julie Hill was a nurse working in the endoscopy unit of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield. Also working there at this time was Doctor Colin Shawcross and the obvious attraction between the couple led to a sexual relationship developing. There was a slight issue as both were married and living with their partners. However, the relationship continued to deepen and by the summer both realis...

This is Part One of Two of The Fearmonger. On Monday 4th of November 1985, a three-week spree of rape and murder culminated, as at 9:50pm, a silvery-blue Montego sped north up Park Lane towards Marble Arch, zigzagging like a crazed loon across both lanes at a suicidal 80mph. Inside, two terrified women screamed, as John Steed, the M4 Rapist shot one of his hostages dead. But why did it end this wa...

Steven Donaldson was the kind of person everyone needs in their life - selfless, thoughtful, kind, and always bringing a smile to the faces of those around him. In June 2018, however, a twisted and sadistic plot to take his life was set in motion by the one person he trusted the most - his girlfriend. With the help of two local brutes, she lured Steven to a park where a vicious assault began. But...

It was a man with an Irish accent who made the warning call with a recognised code word to British Rail at Waterloo at about 8.50pm, saying that a bomb would go off at The London Stock Exchange in 20 minutes. But there was no bomb at the Stock Exchange. At 9.23om, a huge bomb exploded at The Baltic Exchange, half a mile from where the caller had said the attack would take place. The result was ter...

#264 - 'Shock Tactics' On Monday 24th of October 1966, Dr Abdullah a noted psychiatrist walked into a clip joint in Soho and shot a hostess (Rita Rothery) in the chest from 3 feet away. Four days later, on Friday 28th of October 1966, he shot art Student Diane Spencer in broad daylight outside of Euston Station. Neither of them he had met before. So, why was he hellbent on killing them? Date: Mond...

Eve Stratford seemed to have it all - a promising modelling career, a rock star boyfriend, and a future full of possibilities. But on a cold March day in 1975, her life was brutally cut short when an unknown attacker took everything from her in her own home. Just six months later, 16-year-old Lynne Weedon, rushing to beat curfew after a night with friends, took a fateful shortcut through a dark al...

Local man 38 year old Graeme Woodhatch was at the Royal Free hospital in London for a routine operation when he collapsed and died whilst on the phone outside the ward. But when medics looked more closely at Graeme's injuries, it turned out that he had been shot four times, seemingly by a professional contract killer. But who would have wanted to kill Graeme and why? In the episode this week we fo...

#263 - Sweethearts On the night of Saturday 4th to Sunday 5th February 1984, in the workshop of Courier Display Systems on Union Street in Southwark, teenage lovers (Robert Ian Vaughan & Michelle Anne Sadler) were brutally murdered by their work colleague David Carty. But why? Date: Sunday 5th February 1984, at 1am (estimated) Location: Courier Display Systems, Union Street, Southwark, London,...

Julie Harrison had always dreamed of becoming a mum, so when she finally welcomed her daughter Maisie into the world, her heart overflowed with joy. To those on the outside, they were the perfect mother-daughter pair, inseparable in every way. But behind closed doors, Julie endured a private hell at the hands of her partner - Maisie's dad. In a courageous act of defiance, Julie left him in Novembe...

Last week we heard how Marian Bates was murdered at her jewellery shop in Nottingham in front of her husband Victor and daughter Xanthe during a botched armed robbery. One of the criminals who was sent to prison for 13 years in connection for conspiracy to rob Marian’s jewellers was Craig Moran. And in April 2017, Moran was out of prison and looking to make up for the lost years behind bars. ...

Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic Dial M For Murder is a celebrated work that has been remade for both the big and small screen, and the stage, and which concerns the tale of a cheating wife, a scheming husband, and an elaborate murder plot. In 2007, a court in South Wales was to hear it's very own version, and just how life imitated art... The episode contains details and descriptions of crimes and...

I welcome Dean Wheeldon to the show in this interview episode. Dean spent 8 years in the Royal Navy before leaving in 1986 and joining Derbyshire Constabulary, where he spent the next 25 years. As Detective Chief Inspector, Dean worked on several high-profile cases, but perhaps the most notable was that of serial killer Andrew Dawson, who murdered three people between 1982 and 2010. Dean was the S...