Murder Mile UK True Crime

Justice for Martine Vik Magnussen: On the morning of Sunday 16th March 2008, the body of 23 year old Martine Vik Magnussen was found raped and strangled in the basement of 222 Great Portland Street, London. And although the Police know who her killer is, where he is and can prove he was guilty, he has never been arrested. Why? Date: Friday 14th March 2008 Location: Seaford Court at 22 Great Portla...

On Sunday 14th June 1964, in the bar-room of The White Horse public house on Rupert Street in Soho, 21 year old Larry Winters shot 44 year old barman Paddy O'Keefe to death, having never met him before. But why? Date: Sunday 14th June 1964 Location: The White Horse, Rupert Street, Soho, London, W1 Victims: 1 (Paddy O'Keefe) Culprit: Lawrence Costigan "Larry" Winters Nominated one of the BEST BRITI...

Love, Loss and the Lingering Death of Helen Mary Pickwoad : 27 year old Helen Mary Pickwoad thought she’d fallen in love with the man of her dreams, an Army Captain called Edward Tickell, but on Wednesday 20th May 1942, in Room 365 of the Mount Royal Hotel (now called Amba Hotel) at 508/540 Oxford Street, she died a very slow, painful and lingering death, and her boyfriend wasn't even in the room....

The Several Assassinations of the Exiled Iraqi : Abd ar-Razzaq Said al-Naif; an exiled Iraqi national, living in the West End, found himself the target of several assassinations. And yet, as high up as the orders to have him killed came, his death sentence was possibly conducted by a very unlikely firing squad. Date: Thursday 18th February 1972 Location: Flat 21, 35 Bryanston Square, Marylebone, L...

Brian Alexander Robinson and the D’Arblay Street Death : On Friday 29th August 1964, Brian Alexander Robinson, a 19 year old part-time DJ who murdered a man he had never met before, for no financial gain nor personal malice. And yet, although he was found guilty, Brian should never have been tried for murder. Date: Friday 29th August 1964 Location: The Limbo Club, 11b Wardour Mews, Soho, London, W...

Jacques Adrian Tratsart - The Corner House Killer : On Friday 20th April 1945, at the Lyon’s Corner House tearoom on Oxford Street, 27 year old Jacques Tratsart attempted to murder his mild-mannered father, his epileptic sister, his disabled brother and then himself. But what drove this hard-working and ambition man to commit mass-murder? Date: Friday 20th April 1945 Location: Lyon's Corner House...

The Blackout Ripper - The Full Story Parts 5 to 8. As promised, this is the full story of The Blackout Ripper with all of the rubbish taken out; no admin, no extra mile, no credits, just the full untold story of The Blackout Ripper. Murder Mile is a true-crime podcast and audio-guided walk of 300+ untold, unsolved and long-forgotten murder cases, all set within one square mile of the West End. Eac...

The Blackout Ripper - The Full Story Parts 1 to 4. As promised, this is the full story of The Blackout Ripper with all of the rubbish taken out; no admin, no extra mile, no credits, just the full untold story of The Blackout Ripper. Murder Mile is a true-crime podcast and audio-guided walk of 300+ untold, unsolved and long-forgotten murder cases, all set within one square mile of the West End. Eac...

The Blackout Ripper Part 8 (of 8): Who was Gordon Frederick Cummins? What incidents in his childhood made him kill? And why would he go on to murder four women in four days in London's West End? Find out in this exploration of the childhood, career, loves and personality of The Blackout Ripper. Date: Monday 9th to Thursday 12th February 1942 Location: West End , London, W1 Victims: 6 Culprit:...

The Blackout Ripper Part 7 of 8: On Friday 13th February 1942, Gordon Frederick Cummins was arrested for assault, and as the evidence mounted, it became clear that to the Police that in their cells was The Blackout Ripper. But could they prove it, and could they make him confess to his crimes? Date: Friday 13th February 1942 Victims: 6 (Evelyn Hamilton, Evelyn Oatley, Margaret Florence Lowe, Doris...

The Blackout Ripper Part 6: On the morning of Friday 13th February 1942, The Blackout Ripper was caught and arrested, but not for the brutal murder of four women in London’s West End, and the Police had no idea who he really was. Date: Friday 13th February 1942 Location: West End Central police station, Off Regent Street, London, W1 Victims: 6 Culprit: The Blackout Ripper Murder Mile is a true-cri...

The Blackout Ripper Part 5: Before the brutal murder of 34 year old Doris Jouanett on Thursday 12th February 1942 at roughly 11pm, The Blackout Ripper had attacked two more women in London's West End - Greta Hayward and Kathryn Mulcahy - but why did his killing spree abruptly come to an end? Date: Thursday 12th February 1942 Location: St Alban's Street & 29 Southwick Street, Piccadilly, London...

The Blackout Ripper Part 4: On 12th February 1942, 32 year old Doris Jouanett was found strangled, posed and mutilated in her flat at 187 Sussex Gardens in a murder strangely similar to Evelyn Hamilton, Evelyn Oatley and Margaret Florence Lowe, over four nights prior. So who was The Blackout Ripper? Date: Thursday 12th February 1942 Location: 187 Sussex Gardens, Paddington, London, W2 Victims:&nbs...

The Blackout Ripper Part 3: The Blackout Ripper Part 3: In the early hours of Wednesday 11th February 1942, 43 year old Margaret Florence Lowe was found strangled and posed in her flat on 9/10 Gosfield Street (Fitzrovia), but her murder was uncannily similar to the murders of Evelyn Hamilton and Evelyn Oatley just two days before. Was a sadistic spree-killer on the loose? Date: Wednesday 11th Febr...

The Blackout Ripper Part 2: On 10th February 1942, 34 year old Evelyn Oatley was found strangled, posed and mutilated in her flat at 153 Wardour Street in a murder strangely similar to Evelyn Hamilton, just one night before. Was this coincidence, or was there a sadistic spree-killer on the loose in Soho? Date: Monday 10th February 1942 Location: 153 Wardour Street (now demolished), Soho, London, W...

The Blackout Ripper Part 1: On 9th February 1942, 41 year old Evelyn Margaret Hamilton was found strangled and posed in an air-raid shelter in Montagu Place (Marylebone). Police had no idea who had murdered her, or that this was the start of a vicious killing spree of The Blackout Ripper. Date: Monday 9th February 1942 Location: Montagu Place, Marylebone, London, W2 Victims:  1  (Evelyn...

PART 2 OF 2: On 19th February 2001, ten dismembered body-parts of an unidentified woman were found submerged in the Regent's Canal, in a sickening attacked which matched that of a headless torso found in a Rotterdam Canal a decade earlier. But who were they? And what connected them? Date: Monday 19th February 2015 Location: Regent's Canal / Battlebridge Basin, Kings Cross, London, N1 Victims:&nbsp...

PART 1 OF 2: On 19th February 2001, at Battlebridge Basin, ten dismembered body-parts, belonging to an unidentified woman, wrapped in six separate bags, were found submerged in the Regent's Canal. But who was she? And who had murdered her? Date: Monday 19th February 2015 Location: Regent's Canal / Battlebridge Basin , King's Cross, London, N1 Victims:  1  (Melissa Halstead & Paula Fi...

On the afternoon of Sunday 10th May 2015, a suitcase was found floating in the Grand Union Canal in Little Venice containing the folded-up corpse of 23 year old Marta Ligman. But how had she got there, who put her there, and why? Date: 28th April to 10th May 2015 Location: 5 Buckingham Road, Harlesden, London, NW10, Old Oak Bridge and Little Venice Victims:  1  (Martusia "Marta" Ligman)...

On the evening of Tuesday 22nd September 2015, Italian tour-guide and English teacher Sebastiano Magnanini was last seen alive walking by King’s Cross Station. Two days later, his decomposing body was found dead in the Regent’s Canal, having been tied to a shopping trolley. But what happened? Date: Tuesday 22nd September 2015 Location: Regent's Canal / Islington Tunnel (and Wharfdale Road), King's...

On 1st November 2006, Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was assassinated in the heart of London’s West End, by two of Russia’s top assassins, using one of the most bizarre and deadliest poisons ever, and yet, from day one, his brutal murder was a textbook case of incompetence. Date:  Wednesday 1st November 2006 Location:  The MIllennium Hotel  (Grosvenor Square), Mayfair, Londo...

On Tuesday 25th July 1933, 27 year old Frederick Field fully confessed to the murder of West End prostitute Norah Upchurch who was found strangled inside a locked empty shop in Shaftesbury Avenue. And yet – in a bizarre twist of fate - even today, her murder remains unsolved. Date: Tuesday 29th October 1931 Location: 177 Shaftesbury Avenue (now demolished), Bloomsbury, London, W1 Victims:  1...

On Friday 2nd October 1931, West End prostitute Norah Upchurch was found strangled inside a locked empty shop in Shaftesbury Avenue; with no sign of a break-in, no-one knows how she got in or how her killer got out. 87 years since her murder, her killer has never been caught. Or was he? Date: Tuesday 29th October 1931 Location: 177 Shaftesbury Avenue (now demolished), Bloomsbury, London, W1) Victi...

On Christmas Eve 1982, 36 year old David Ralph Martin was charged at the Marlborough Street Magistrates Court on twelve counts including armed robbery, theft, fraud and attempted murder, but his bungled arrest would led to one of the Metropolitan Police’s worst miscarriages of justice. Date: 5th August 1982 to 13th March 1983 Location: 22 Portman Close , Marlborough Magistrates Court and 1 Crawfor...

On Saturday 27th October 1956, 26 year old Canadian sailor Richard Rhodes Henley committed armed robbery for the first and very last time, but he didn’t steal money, or booze, or drugs to feed his habit, he stole pornography to fuel his addiction to masturbation, and yet, so desperate was his carnal needs that it would drive him to commit murder. Date:  Saturday 27th October 1956 Location:&nb...