Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling

In October 1969, Raffaele Minichiello boarded a flight in LA with an M1 rifle disguised as a fishing rod. He told the pilot that they weren’t going to San Francisco, as planned. They were going to Italy. What followed was one of the longest and most elaborate plane hijackings in history. Check out this article for photos of Raffaele Minichiello and more information about the case: https://www.bbc....

In the second of this two-part special, Laura looks at the details surrounding the Tate–LaBianca murders, the downfall of the Manson family, the infamous court case, and the lasting impact that Charles Manson and his followers had on LA – and the world. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at...

In the first of a two-part special, Laura takes us back to the very beginning of the Charles Manson story. This week’s episode starts by looking at Charles Manson’s mother, Kathleen, before unravelling the details of Charles’ childhood, his troubled teenage years, his time in and out of prison, and what led him to establish his ‘family’, which would later become a murderous cult. Murder They Wrote...

This week, Iain looks at the unbelievable true story of a bank heist that was inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Red Headed League’. This story includes an outlandish break-in, an intercepted radio frequency, and even a potential royal scandal. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode....

This week, Iain tells the story of Gregor MacGregor, a 19th-century trickster who took con artistry to a whole new level. In 1820, Gregor invented his own country – complete with a national flag and even a currency – and managed to convince hundreds of British people to uproot their lives and move thousands of miles away, under the false pretence of a prosperous new life in South America. Murder T...

This week, Laura looks at perhaps one of the most unbelievable cases we’ve covered yet. When a missing boy from Texas turns up halfway around the world, no one can quite understand what happened to him. But, once the story starts to unravel, the answer is more shocking than we could have ever imagined… Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subsc...

This week, we’re in Boston, where Iain is digging into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the Isabella Gardner heist. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk .

Laura looks at the crimes of ‘Jolly’ Jane Toppan, the woman believed to be America’s first female serial killer. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk .

This week, Iain looks at an extortion plot involving a homemade bomb, a confusing ransom note and an unusual father-son dynamic. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk . Details of help and support with domestic abuse, gambling addiction and some other issues raised in...

This week, Laura looks at a murder case involving a possessive lover, a diabolical brotherly pact, and a mysterious cooler box bobbing in the Atlantic ocean. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk . Details of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.c...

Here at Murder They Wrote, we think there’s no better way to celebrate the bank holiday than hearing about some good old fashioned bank robberies. This week, Laura dives deep into the case file of one of history’s most prolific bank robbers – a man who earned himself a spot on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Expect high-stakes heists, unbelievable prison escapes – and a lot of laughter f...

When businessman Maxwell Garvie goes missing from his home in May, 1968, the last place police expect to find him is in an underground tunnel beneath one of Aberdeenshire’s most picturesque tourist attractions. But, as the circumstances around his murder begin to unravel, investigators are plunged into a murky underworld of sex, scandal… and deadly secrets. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore an...

This week, Laura tracks the rise and (spectacularly dramatic) fall of a famous 18th-century courtesan. Sally Salisbury’s client list runs the gamut of London’s rich and famous (think secretaries of state, future kings, and so on). In other words, she’s living the high life. That is until one fateful night in December 1721 when she flies into a jealous rage over one of her lovers – and stabs him in...

It’s December, 1968, and Frank Sinatra Jr. has just been kidnapped by two strangers in the night. But these aren’t your regular kidnappers. In fact, they’re total amateurs. What follows are bungled ransom negotiations, a confusing money drop, and a very controversial statement made on the stand. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe no...

This week, Laura is visiting a diamond shop in Paris that was robbed not once but TWICE by a shady international jewel thief group. Learn how the group got its name – The Pink Panthers – and how it pulled off two such audacious heists in the space of just 15 months. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode...

This week, Iain looks at a case that was blown wide open by an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. When a man named Elmer DeBoer is found dead in a field near Waterford, Michigan, police are pretty sure that a local couple – an ex-convict and his teenage runaway girlfriend – are responsible. But, for ten months, they struggle to find any leads. That is until the case is featured on an episode of Unsolv...

This week, Laura is diving into a grisly murder case that took place on a remote island off the coast of New Hampshire. Smuttynose Island is a picture-perfect – albeit rugged – landscape. On the evening of March 6th, 1873, a small boat arrives on its shores. By the morning, the boat is gone. And two of the island’s resident are dead. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is avail...

The Mona Lisa might just be the most recognisable painting in the world. But did you know that, in 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s priceless portrait was stolen from the Louvre? Find out how a humble house painter pulled off this incredible theft – and why police brought Picasso in for questioning – in Iain’s episode this week. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly...

In this bitesize Easter special, Iain covers the case of the Cadbury Creme Egg theft. Find out what happened when, in February 2023, a Leeds man broke into a warehouse and made off with 200,000 of the chocolatey treats. The picture discussed in this episode can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-66254085 . Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is avai...

How far would you go for your favourite teacher? This week, Laura is travelling to 1990s Wisconsin to find out how a group of teenagers got landed with a very deadly homework assignment. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk .

The Brinks-MAT robbery is one of the most famous in British history. This week, Iain takes an in-depth look at the heist and asks: how did a group of gangsters manage to break into a high-security warehouse and walk away with solid gold worth £26 million? Plus, he digs into the complex police operation that took investigators from London to Bristol to Tenerife and back again. Murder They Wrote wit...

This week, Laura is digging into a very famous case from Irish history: Bridget Cleary. In 1895, Bridget’s body was found buried in a shallow grave near the town of Ballyvadlea in County Tipperary. And as police begin to dig into Bridget’s backstory, they learn that she had recently been accused of being a “fairy changeling” – a dark, mythical creature that was believed to wreak havoc on human liv...

This week, Iain digs into a 1992 murder case that took place in Lincoln. When two people are found dead having been attacked with an axe, police begin an unusual investigation to catch the killer. An investigation that involves paint fragments, an infrared light machine, and a 3,000-mile trip around Europe. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds....

Patty Hearst was the heiress to a multi-million-dollar media company. In 1974, when reports emerged saying she’d been captured by the Symbionese Liberation Army, the world held its breath. But no one could have expected what happened next. This week, Laura digs into the details of the case, analysing what exactly happened to Patty during her time with the SLA and whether her decision to join their...

After a two-week break, Iain is back in the driving seat this week. His case takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, during the 1930s. When William Kappen is found dead on the day he is due to get married, police are immediately suspicious of his estranged sister Marie. Find out how a patch of poison ivy helps break open the case and lead investigators to track down William’s killer – or killers, shou...