Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories

The podcast looks at the police investigation into the murder of Alfred Swinscoe, a coal miner who vanished without a trace in 1967. What do the police do when faced with a 50+ year-old cold case? The Psycho Killer team investigates.

Jack the Ripper. The unknown serial killer murdered and mutilated at least five women in the East End of London in 1888.

Every time he gave the police the slip. He only made one mistake – dropping a piece of apron ripped from his fourth victim.

Catherine Eddowes was murdered in Mitre Square in the City of London. A copper found the apron piece in Goulston Street, less than half a mile away in Whitechapel.

So, what was the East End like at the time of the killings? And how would a modern homicide team investigate them?

Jacques Morrell and Simon Ford joined Ripperologist, Mick Priestley, on a tour of Jack the Ripper's backyard.

Jack the Ripper – the serial killer who murdered at least five women in London's East End in 1888 – is the subject of a special Psycho Killer investigation.

M.P. Priestly is the author of 'Jack the Ripper – One Autumn in Whitechapel' and Jack the Ripper tour guide.

Mick kindly agreed to answer some questions from former major crime detective Jacque Morrell about the reliability of the witnesses who came forward.

Were they attention seekers? Were they profiteers? Or were they, perhaps, covering their tracks?

1. Take an unremarkable, working class man, who idolises the soldier father he never knew.

2. Steep in military doctrine until rejected by the army.

3. Set aside while he retreats into a fantasy world and allow resentment to simmer for several years.

4. Then flambé his personal life, garnish with an illegal firearm, and serve to an unsuspecting copper – or three.



Acknowledgements

Featuring the song ‘Barry Prudom’ by Combat 84 (re-released by Splattered! Records, 2019) and extracts from the documentary, ‘Manhunt: Phantom in the Forest’ (ITV, 2002).

Barry Prudom was a loner. A quiet bloke, obsessed with the army.

But the army wouldn't have him. So he made up his own fantasy world where he pretended he was in the special forces. And instead of a toy gun, Prudom had smuggled in the real thing.

His little friend was a Beretta Jaguar – his pride and joy – and they played happily together until one day, on manoeuvers when Prudom pulled the trigger. In a policeman's face.

Prudom went on the run. He killed again. And again. That summer of 1982 witnessed the biggest armed police operation the UK had ever seen.

For weeks, Prudom gave the cops the slip. But they cornered him in the end and blew his hiding place to pieces. When the gunsmoke cleared they found that the electrician from Leeds had already killed himself.

Ex-detective Jacques Morrell followed Barry Prudom's bloody footsteps to Girton – an isolated village on the banks of the River Trent in Nottinghamshire – where he met fellow Psycho Killer host and true-crime investigator, Simon Ford.

Journalists Pip Watts and Simon Ford join retired major crime detective Jacques Morrell to investigate the life and crimes of one of Scotland's most reviled serial killers.

Peter Tobin, who died in October 2022, was exposed as a paedophile, rapist and murderer of at least three young women.

As he rotted in jail, Tobin's name became linked to a spate of sex murders in Glasgow in the 1960s – the so-called Bible John killings.

In this podcast, the team unearths evidence of unspeakable evil and cruelty in their search for answers.

* This podcast contains topics related to suicide or self-harm.

It started as a family outing to pick juniper berries. It ended with the discovery of a charred body on a wooded mountainside near Bergen in Norway.

The Norwegian police ruled out murder and the coroner recorded a verdict of suicide. But speculation about the grisly discovery refused to go away.

It was 1970, the height of the Cold War. Stories of espionage started circulating. And the more amateur sleuths probed the mystery the more baffling the story became.

So Psycho Killer decided to unravel the case – and lay to rest the so-called Isdal Woman once and for all.

Watch the video on YouTube https://bit.ly/bess-sheppard-murder

Bessie Sheppard lived a hard life in perilous times. That life was snatched from her after 17 years by a vagrant ex-soldier called Charles Rotherham. The crime horrified the community. So much so that they raised a memorial stone at the spot where Rotherham battered Bessie to death. The year was 1817. And as Simon Ford explains, Bessie's murder is the beginning of a story spanning more than two centuries.

Legend has it evil stalks the backwoods of West Virginia — a blood-thirsty psychopath dressed in a rabbit suit. Generations of parents in Fairfax County have warned their children: 'Be good, or the Bunnyman'll get you!'

So who was this murderous character who became part of American horror folklore? Was Bunnyman a real serial killer or a figment of someone's imagination? And is he still out there — somewhere?

We went looking for answers. And you'll be surprised by what we found.

Travel back in time to the London of Jack the Ripper and meet one of his psycho peers – Walter Chadwick. Following in the footsteps of renowned crime writer Jan Bondeson, the Psycho Killer team probes the backstreets and alleys of a city teetering on the edge of lawlessness. We go in search of answers – and what we find will shock you!

Doctors promise to do no harm. Dr Buck Ruxton did the opposite. The crimes of this Lancashire physician justified the sensational headlines. The case marked a watershed in the acceptance of forensic science as we know it today.

Music credits
'Who's Been Polishing The Sun?' performance by Ambrose and His Orchestra, Decca Records, 1935.
'Lovely To Look At' performed by Eddy Duchin (vocals by Lew Sherwood), Victor Records, 1935.

Dorothea Waddingham was a wicked woman. She poisoned an elderly widow and her disabled daughter for money. A jury found the Nottingham care-home owner guilty and she was hanged for murder. That was in 1936. But why was this mother sent to the gallows, leaving five young children to fend for themselves? Was the death penalty necessary? Why wasn't her sentence commuted to life imprisonment? And does the backstory cast doubt on the safety of Dorthea Waddingham's conviction? The Psycho Killer experts go in search of answers.

The way police forces in England investigate unexplained deaths is to change in response to a "large number of very serious and very basic investigative failings" during the investigation into the serial killer Stephen Port.

Four new categories are to be made "to provide absolute clarity to officers", the Metropolitan Police and the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) have said.

Journalist Simon Ford and ex-serious crime detective Jacques Morrell, discuss the implications.

Mahatma Gandhi said: 'the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members'. In this case, the murders of a mother and daughter in Nottingham represent a damning indictment of British society in the 1930s. Nursing homes were unregulated, doctors played God, and their decisions went unchallenged. It was a toxic soup that nourished the likes of Dorothea Waddingham and Ronald Sullivan, as former homicide detective Jacques Morrell explains.

A detective's powers of investigation. A journalist's nose for a story. Put them together and what have you got? The most authentic true-crime podcast out there!

Psycho killers come in all shapes and sizes. This fellow fancied himself as a poet. His rage and resentment built up over the years. Then, in a carefully-planned murderous rampage, he set about annihilating his neighbours. Ex-homicide detective, Jacques Morrell, and journalist Simon Ford investigate Kosei Homi, Japan's 'Haiku Killer'.

Featuring special guest Pippa Phillips: @IpsaHerself https://ko-fi.com/pheagan

Acknowledgement: ABC News Australia

Dr Sam Shepphard had it all – a brilliant career, a beautiful wife, a young family, and a gorgeous house overlooking Lake Eerie. Then, on Independence Day 1954, his dream life came tumbling down.

A bushy-haired burglar broke into the Sheppard residence and beat pregnant Marilyn Sheppard to death while she slept. At least, that was Dr Sheppard's story, and he stuck to it.

But the police and the courts were dubious – and the events of that summer night in Bay View, Ohio, would echo down the decades. The Psycho Killer team has been taking a fresh look at the evidence.

Acknowledgement: 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', ITV/Granada Television, 1984-94

He was suave, sophisticated, and a psycho killer through and through. Arthur Warren Waite's get-rich-quick plan involved the systematic murders of his parents-in-law, his wife, and any of her relatives who got in the way.

Waite was as audacious as he was ruthless. But could his jaw-dropping legal defence save him from the high-voltage embrace of Ol' Sparky? Step back in time to New York in its heyday – and the dastardly deeds of the Deadly Dentist!

Why did Lee Harvey Oswald shoot JFK? We’ll never know. Jack Ruby saw to that. But we do know why Sirhan Bishara Sirhan assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Sirhan was captured. And over the course of his life sentence, he’s gone on record about what motivated him.

Patrick Magee, the Brighton bomber, is less talkative. Magee tried to blow up Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet in 1984 – and he almost succeeded. Magee was a terrorist, a member of the Irish Republican Army. But was he a psychopath? And was Sirhan? We’ve been looking for answers.

The Metropolitan Police is without a Commissioner following the resignation of Dame Cressida Dick as London's police chief. A recent report about racist and sexist officers was one of many controversies she faced. Among the cases covered by Psycho Killer are:

- The murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, a serving police officer (https://bit.ly/sarah-everard-wayne-couzens)
- The murder of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman by Danyal Hussein (https://bit.ly/danyal-hussein)
- The investigation into Stephen Port, the Gridr Killer (https://bit.ly/grindr-killer)

Former West Yorkshire DCS Bob Taylor is a critic of Dame Cressida. In an interview with Simon Ford recorded in October 2021, he held her responsible for the Met's failings. Simon Ford asked DCS (Ret) Taylor: what would he do to put the Met's house in order?

Advisory: injury detail

Not much is known about William Sheward, a Victorian tailor-turned-pawnbroker. He loved the company of women – except, it seems, his wife. Did he marry her for love, or for money? Was William climbing the social ladder, or cooking up a get-rich-quick scheme?

The couple had a fiery relationship that flared up when they hit hard times. Their fall from grace preceded possibly the most gruesome crime ever committed in Norfolk — the Norwich Tabernacle Street Murder.

Featuring Graham Lewis from Anglia News as the voice of H. Woodcock.
The March Of The Women, by Ethel Smythe, is performed by the Rainbow Chorus.
English Folk Music (live performance) recorded by David Ward and the Gibraltar Pub in Harpenden, Herts, and available on YouTube.

In the fortnight before Christmas 2006, the bodies of five missing women were discovered at locations near Ipswich in Suffolk. There was a serial killer on the loose and the police had to act fast. God only knew what he'd do if he wasn't stopped – and stopped quickly.

This podcast goes behind the scenes of the hunt for the psycho killer Steve Wright, with insight and analysis from our resident homicide investigator, Jacques Morrell. And we remember the women whose lives Wright cruelly cut short: Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls, and Paula Clennell.

It started with the unexplained deaths of four young, gay men, whose bodies were found in Barking, East London. It led to the conviction of Stephen Port, whose warped fantasies drove him to administer lethal doses of the date-rape drug, GHB.

But the case of the Grindr Killer is far from over, with calls for a Public Enquiry into allegations of
institutionalised homophobia at the Metropolitan Police.

But why did the 'catalogue of errors' come about? How were crucial errors made? Were processes, not people, to blame?

In this podcast, former major crime detective, Jacques Morrell, and journalist, Simon Ford, examine the evidence.

Part 3 of 3

Question: you've just killed someone; what's the quickest way to dispose of the body? If you live in northern Queensland, Australia, a simple answer presents itself. Dump the corpse in a crocodile-infested river. The "salties", as Australians call them, will do the rest.

That was Matthew White's plan after he murdered Donna Steele in Cooktown. But the plan backfired spectacularly thanks to advances in forensic science and a one-in-a-million DNA match.

The third and final part of our series about familial DNA looks at the 2017 murder of Donna Louise Steele and how familial DNA helped crack the case.

Part 2 of 3

16-year-old Colette Aram had her whole life in front of her. But on Halloween 1986 she encountered Paul Stewart Hutchinson as he cruised her home village in Nottinghamshire in a stolen car. Hutchinson abducted Colette, raped and murdered her. Then he simply disappeared.

25 years later, police reopened the investigation. In this podcast, we go behind the scenes of the Colette Aram cold case with Psycho Killer's Jacques Morrell. He was part of the team that collared Hutchinson thanks to advances in DNA testing — and an incredible coincidence.

Part 1 of 3

This psycho killer made Jack the Ripper look like a choirboy. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. committed at least 13 murders, 50 rapes, and 120 burglaries across California between 1974 and 1986.

Born on 8 November 1945, DeAngelo served in the US Navy during the Vietnam war. Afterwards, he joined the police but was fired for gross misconduct.

Before he was unmasked, DeAngelo was known as the Night Stalker, the Original Night Stalker, the Visalia Ransacker, and the East Area Rapist. But the name that stuck was the Golden State Killer.

DeAngelo committed his last rape/murder in 1986 and disappeared into the shadows. But the FBI reopened the case in 2016. Two years later, DeAngelo, then aged 72, was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, based on DNA evidence.

This podcast tells the story of the Golden State Killer in the context of advances in forensic science – in particular, the use of familial DNA to solve cold cases.

Advisory: violence, strong language.

When three young men disappeared in a small Yorkshire town, the finger of suspicion pointed to the local troublemaker. Paul Anthony Hobson was the president of the West Riding chapter of the Hell's Angels. He and his rag-tag gang of impressionable followers were behind most of the antisocial behaviour in Garforth, near Leeds. But was loud-mouthed Tony Hobson a killer? Even hardened detectives were shocked by what they found.

Pre-sentencing reports are being prepared on David Fuller, the self-confessed murderer who also admitted sexually abusing more than 100 dead bodies in a hospital mortuary.

Fuller was unmasked s the 1987 Tunbridge Wells Bedsit Killer by DNA evidence. He'd lived a normal life under the noses of the police for more than three decades.

Detectives stumbled upon evidence of his other, sickening crimes when they raided his home in East Sussex.

Simon Ford, writer and journalist, and former major crime detective, Jacques Morrell, discuss the case and its fallout.

Acknowledgement: Kent Police/Sky News

David Fuller, an electrician from Kent, will go into the history books as Britain's most prolific necrophile.

He confessed to nearly 80 offences at the hospital where he worked for three decades. Fuller, 67, was on trial for the murders of two women in the 1980s.

He'd been living an outwardly normal life until DNA evidence put him in the crosshairs of a police investigation.

Jacques Morrell was a major crime detective for 30 years. He worked on homicides and complex investigations into institutionalised sexual abuse. Simon Ford is a journalist and former crime reporter.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Psycho killers Danyal Hussein and Wayne Couzens should be executed for their crimes, according to DCS (Ret.) Bob Taylor, the former head of West Yorkshire CID.

This week, teenager Hussein was jailed for 35 years for stabbing to death two sisters at a park in Wembley, north-west London. He murdered Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in a supposed "sacrifice" he believed would give him a lottery win.

Met Police officer Wayne Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Ms Everard was selected at random by Couzens wh spent months planning the vicious attack.

Speaking exclusively to Psycho Killer's Simon Ford, Bob Taylor says the time has come to bring back the death penalty for Britain's most evil criminals.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Firearms regulation in Great Britain is among the strictest in the world. So it's hard for us to comprehend the accidental shooting of a crew member by the film star Alec Baldwin using a 'prop gun'.

What is the difference between a supposedly harmless prop and a real, deadly firearm? What are the laws governing gun ownership in the UK? How are British TV shows and movies regulated? Why don't British Bobbies routinely carry guns?

Jacques and Simon discuss these and other questions relating to firearms and the British public.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Last week a new name was added to the roll-call of British parliamentarians who've died violent deaths in the course of their duties.

Sir David Amess MP, who was 69, was fatally stabbed while meeting people in the constituency he represented.

A man has been detained and is being questioned in connection with Sir David's murder, which police are treating as a terrorist incident.

Jacques and Simon discuss the case and its implications for policing in the United Kingdom.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

This episode contains graphic content of a sexual nature that you might find upsetting. We know because we were. But we decided the story needed to be told straight, for the record.

The dictionary is full of adjectives to describe child rape and murder. None comes close to the experience of the children and families Robert Black tormented.

If you have kids (as we do) please give them a hug when you've listened to our podcast.

Robert Black is dead. But the law of averages says there are others like him out there, biding their time.

So if you believe in a god, or none at all, pray they're stopped before they inflict this kind of suffering on the world.

Acknowledgements: BBC Crimewatch UK; BBC Look North; BBC TV Documentaries; ITV Central News; ITN/ITV News; ITV Night Stalker

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Kenneth Noye has a way of dealing with people who p*** him off. He stabs them to death.

The first time it was an undercover surveillance officer hiding in the grounds of his mansion. Noye's guard dogs brought down PC John Fordham. Then Noye shanked him 10 times and left the officer to bleed to death.

Noye pleaded self-defence — and got off!

The next time was during a road rage fistfight. Noye took a beating from Stephen Cameron. So he stabbed the younger, fitter man in the heart to teach the whippersnapper a lesson.

Noye's a free man again – hanging around his old haunts in Kent – after serving 20 years for murder. Let's pray the Probation Service is keeping a close eye on him.

This is the story of Kenneth James Noye, a gangster and psychotic killer who uses lethal force to settle trivial disputes.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Wayne Couzens was a disgrace to the police uniform he wore. Somehow, this sexual deviant managed to secure employment with the Met's elite diplomatic protection squad.

He was licenced to kill – and kill he did. Posing as a plainclothes officer, Couzens raped and murdered Sarah Everard after kidnapping her under the guise of an arrest.

Couzens erstwhile colleagues were soon onto him. He confessed and on 30 September 2021, a judge told him he'd spend the rest of his life in prison.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Britain’s most prolific female killer. That’s one description of Bev Allitt. But to the families whose babies and children she murdered, she is a monster – the embodiment of evil. And to those who seek to analyse her, an enigma.

Allitt was a pathological liar who was allowed, by a series of grievous errors, to join the nursing profession. She claimed her first victim – a seven-week-old baby – within days of starting work at Grantham Hospital in Lincolnshire.

Assigned to the children’s ward, children became the targets of her perverse personality disorder – Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy. Allitt murdered four babies and children. She tried to kill three others and caused a further six grievous bodily harm.

Allitt’s crimes spanned just three months – February to April 1991. In this episode, we go beyond the wilting floral tributes and sympathy cards. We revisit Allitt’s crimes with archive recordings. And we give a chilling insight into the grotesque mind of Beverley Gail Allitt – the killer nurse.

Warning: contains testimony you may find upsetting.

See our website https://psycho-killer.co for videos, photos and articles about our investigations, plus profiles of the Psycho Killer team.

Acknowledgements: ITV, World In Action - Murder on Ward Four; ITV, Trevor McDonald and the Killer Nurse; Nick Davies/Chatto Press, Murder on Ward Four, The Story of Bev Allitt, and the Most Terrifying Crime Since the Moors Murders.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Taylor was instrumental in bringing some of the UK's most notorious killers, rapists and kidnappers to justice.

In the second part of our exclusive interview, he tells Simon Ford about the part he played in the 2002 Soham murder investigation.

Plus, he expands on what makes a psychopath; developments in forensic science; and the impact of terrorism on police procedure.

Simon starts by asking DCS Taylor about the questioning of John Humble, the 'I'm Jack' hoaxer who sent the Yorkshire Ripper investigation on a wild goose chase — with fatal consequences.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.
See our exclusive picture gallery https://bit.ly/parker-murder-images

Thomas Parker’s mother doted on her little boy. This spoilt brat grew up to be a workshy, wife-beating drunk. And he repaid his parents by turning a shotgun on them.

Parker’s father survived with slight injuries. But his mother lingered for weeks with a festering head wound.

The year was 1864. Elizabeth Parker fell into a coma and died in April. Four months later, her son also met his maker — at the end of a rope in front of 10,000 citizens.

Thomas Parker was the last person to be hanged in public at Nottingham. This is his story.

The Six O'clock Knock© is a Psycho Killer production.

See our news article https://psycho-killer.co/psycho-killer-true-crime-podcast/news for photographs of the crime scene as it is today, contemporary court documents and the post mortem sketch prepared for the coroner.

With contributions from Emmaline Severn, a distant relative of Elizabeth Parker, and Paul Mann QC.

The traditional folk songs in this episode are performed by Catherine Earnshaw and Keith Clouston. 'The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood' is a traditional tune with lyrics by Richard and Mimi Fariña. 'Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk' is also traditional, with the last verse written by Linda Thompson. 'False, False' is a traditional Scottish song collected in 1962 by Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting we begin at the end [Music] a cool dry morning in august a Wednesday a 29 year old man in the prime of his life stands on a scaffold the roar from the crowd arrayed below engulfs him like flood water buffeting and deafening him with abuse [Music] for the first but not the last time today tom parker tilts his head back and gasps for air he is surrounded by a sea of faces so many it's impossible to count them all some are contorted in rage and scorn some are giddy with excitement others turn away afraid to look upon the condemned man's face out of respect or superstition but then there are those men just like him or like he used to be full of drink leering and braying as if revelling in a day at the races pressed in a doorway a youth and a maid steal an unlikely embrace her bare breast hidden only by her lover's needing hand their passion inflamed by the bloodlust of those thronged before them some have been here all night keen to take a prime spot from which to enjoy the day's grisly spectacle i am the resurrection and the life saith the lord he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live the chaplains words are drowned out by another wave of impatient jeers a hush descends now though as the white hood is placed over the prisoner's head in the distance the barking of dogs and the striking of a clock it is eight o'clock parker's eyes are swimming his heart beating as though to break free from his rib cage a hot dark bloom spreads in his trousers betraying his terror [Music] those closest can see and smell his shame some hurl obscenities at him fanning the air melodramatically the dirty bastard shat himself i know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand on the latter day upon the earth parker mouths the verse almost in unison desperate to display his newly restored faith in the almighty the summer breeze fills the chaplain's surplus like a sail and snatches at the brittle leaves of the prayer book he had fretted that the expected rain would make the scaffold slick any slip up here would be greeted with a very public type of ridicule that...

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Bob Taylor retired as Detective Chief Superintendent of West Yorkshire Police with an unprecedented 100% clear-up record. In a career spanning 31 years, Taylor and his team were responsible for putting some of Britain's most evil criminals behind bars. That's why his officers called their guv'nor 'Crimebuster'.

Taylor cut his teeth on the Yorkshire Ripper investigation. Then he tracked down some of the country's most notorious psychopaths and murderers, before becoming head of operations at the elite National Crime Squad, the UK's answer to the FBI.

In this exclusive interview with Simon Ford, Bob Taylor talks about the Ripper enquiry, the shoe-fetish killer Christopher Farrow, the interrogation of psychopath Michael Sams, and the chilling case of the sadistic serial rapist, Clive Barwell.

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Michael Benneman Sams was one of life’s losers, a little man with big, bad ideas. He snatched his victims and held them to ransom locked in a wheelie bin. Birmingham estate agent Stephanie Slater walked free when her employers paid £175,000. Julie Dart, a teenager from Leeds, wasn’t so lucky. She escaped from the wheelie bin, triggering Sams’s silent alarm. He murdered her before she could break out of his workshop in Newark, Nottinghamshire, and dumped her body in a field in Lincolnshire. But the police caught up with Sams. His ex-wife and son had long memories. When they recognised him on BBC Crimewatch they were quick to turn him in. Sams, now 79, will die in prison.

This podcast features an exclusive interview with Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Superintendent (retired) Bob Taylor of West Yorkshire Police.

The Six O'clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[MUSIC] Hello and welcome to the Six O’Clock Knock. I’m Simon Ford, a journalist and broadcaster. And I’m Jacques Morrell a former major crime detective who just can’t hang up his boots!

Put us together and what have you got? A series of insightful, provocative and challenging new ‘takes’ on cold cases and landmark investigations. Jacques spent 30 years on the force, and I’ve spent as long chasing scoops and scribbling in courtrooms. About a year ago we shook hands, sat down and started comparing notebooks. And I can honestly say that deciphering Simon’s shorthand is the most difficult piece of detective work I’ve ever done.

Read more: https://bit.ly/michael-sams-transcript

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

In straight-laced Victorian Britain, the railway line between London and the seaside town of Brighton was a bordello on wheels. Inevitably, the secret trysts and dodgy deals conducted in its curtained carriages led to some unsavoury crimes. A series of murders on the Brighton Line shocked polite society and some remain unsolved to this day. Others saw their perpetrators sent to the gallows. Brighton’s reputation as a Bohemian playground was matched only by the town’s notoriety for violence. The curious characters of Grahame Green’s novel Brighton Rock were typical of those Simon Ford and detective Jacques Morrell encountered on this journey through the archives.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
Hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock, the true-crime podcast that takes a fresh look at murder I’m Jacques Morrell I served as a police officer from 1985 to 2015. my last 12 years in the job was spent exclusively dealing with homicides as a detective sergeant and I’m Simon Ford a journalist and writer I have years of experience in radio and broadcasting I still have a nose for a good story and Jacques is still keen to apply his copper's brain to cases whether solved or not that's right and this episode will focus on murder on the railway of course we touched on the railways a few episodes back didn't we the Frederick Deeming case serial swindler and bigamist with a parshan for murdering his wives yes indeed he used the opportunity to travel that steam trains and steamships gave 19th century society he travelled extensively and he used a different name in every town the Victorian era meant that travel was so much easier and quicker the railways had revolutionized transport replacing those horse-drawn stage coaches that up to then were the quickest way to get from one town to another right mass travel had arrived passengers were less conspicuous traveling in greater numbers the commute had arrived and with it the travelling criminal yeah we're looking at this subject after someone suggested a particular case known as the murder on the Brighton line but when we started digging we found two others on the same stretch of railway line between London and Brighton well as your fellow journalist the late Sir Harry Evans said keep digging the truth is down there somewhere wow it's not often I mentioned in the same breath as the late great Harry Evans so um thanks for that mate and in terms of the truth yes it certainly is so we're going to dig into all those grisly crimes and trust me they are grisly Jacques did you ever deal with any railway cases well not really because railways in the UK have their own police the British Transport Police, or BTP, we occasionally asked them for information or made inquiries relating to people moving through railway premises but to be honest we really saw BTP officers at our police stations well the British transport police force has its roots very early in the history of British policing the earliest record of railway police predates the formation of the metropolitan police usually recognized as the first modern police force in England and Wales by at least four years no one knows just how many individual railway dock and canal police forces existed in the 19th century but they probably numbered over a hundred largely unsung and in many cases unremembered I suppose a modern equivalent would be private security firms in the united states safeguarding the interests and assets of corporations these early forces combined to form the modern BTP we looked at the recent crime figures for the BTP there was a significant rise in all crimes of 12 percent in 2019 Adrian Han stock the deputy chief constable said the record number of passengers using the railways was behind the jump in crime...

Visit our website https://psycho-killer.co for exclusive videos, photos, articles, and transcripts.

Part 2 of a two-part UK true-crime documentary

Donald Neilson was born Donald Nappey. He changed his name to get the bullies off his back. But he couldn’t shake the jealousy that drove him to rob the vulnerable at gunpoint. He murdered defenceless victims in the pursuit of greed. And he tethered a teenage girl naked in a drainage shaft, demanding £50,000 for her release. Lesley Whittle died in that shaft, throttled by the metal cable Neilson shacked around her neck. But did he fall or was she pushed? That was for a jury to decide.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] this podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Help me for god's sake he's got a gun pc Stuart McKenzie staggered out of the patrol car two lads stood open-mouthed on the pavement outside the junction fish and chip shop in Rainworth Nottinghamshire time seemed to stand still then 18-year-old Paul Cullen and his friend Derek Smart sprinted to the corner phone box and dialled 999. it took 12 minutes for one day's policeman and a gang of have-a-go heroes to restrain Donald Neilson his coat came open during the struggle revealing knives and the bandolier of shotgun cartridges Paul Cullen remembers the melee outside the chip shop I could just see a load of people gathering around and helping the policeman what was not took in a bishop that was trying to help him to restrain him to the railings like and when we got back down there he wasn't quite at the railings but everybody was trying to get involved the best they could to help the policeman because it was on his own at that point I was just thinking that we were looking to be alive being a double-barrelled sawn off shotgun if that gun would have gone off in our direction we'd have been blown through the wind of me and derry what's the one thing that you'll remember above everything else about what happened that night the one thing that really sticks with you well there's actually two I’ve got the voice of the policeman him for help just disease he slammed his brakes on and also the noise from the gun so we could pick one out of the two there George Collins was an RAF serviceman at the time he left the Robin Hood pub across the road to see what the commotion was about in an email he told the Six O’clock Knock when I arrived on the scene one of the two PCs I think McKenzie was holding the shotgun trying to open the breach I asked if he needed help and he moved it towards me I operated a lever on top of the breach and the gun opened as it did the two cartridges popped out a short way McKenzie kept hold of the gun and I took hold of the cartridges they were placed in bags then put in the boot of the police vehicle along with the gun Neilson was handcuffed to the railings between the toilet block and the chippy he had a Black eye I’m not sure which side I went into the chippy then headed home the next day I travelled back to Edinburgh where I was stationed in the RAF none of my details were taken at the time of the incident some weeks later I had a call from not CID someone had obviously done some leg work and came up with my name I was reported in the local paper as the missing link i.e. how did the gun get in a safe state and the cartridges end up in the boot I had to travel to Nottingham to give a statement and have my fingerprints taken for elimination purposes you're listening to the Six O’clock Knock the true crime podcast that examines historic crimes through a modern lens in part two of our review of the Black Panther case we'll look at the trial of Donald Neilson the prosecution of his wife Irene and the repercussions for policing in the UK were lessons learned from the hunt for the Black Panther remember he was free for 11...

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Part 1 of a two-part UK true-crime documentary

It was the culmination of a reign of terror climaxing in a crime that horrified a nation. Between
1967 and 1974, an athletic, shadowy figure carried out a series of nighttime raids on sub-post offices in the English Midlands. The masked robber, who always wore dark clothing, was as ruthless as he was physically fit. These characteristics earned him the nickname ‘The Black Panther’. Before long, the Panther turned to cold-blooded murder. Then, with the same chilling disregard for life which characterised his earlier crimes, he kidnapped and murdered a teenage girl. The girl, who he believed to be heiress to a vast fortune, was Lesley Whittle. The Black Panther was eventually unmasked as Donald Neilson, a psychopath with a massive chip on his shoulder.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock the podcast where we combine a journalist's curiosity with the detectives powers of logical deduction I’m Simon Ford writer broadcaster and former BBC reporter and I’m Jacques Morrell a former major crime detective I might have left the job but I can't leave the job alone it's in our blood you see so we decided to get together and compare notes about old cases cold cases and just plain weird cases and boom the Six O’clock Knock was born we're going to get under the skin of one of the most violent sinister and mysterious British criminals of the 20th century the expression reign of terror could have been coined to describe his career of crime so little is known about this mercurial murderer and kidnapper we've reimagined some moments from his life using eyewitness testimony court transcripts and accounts from the period his name was Donald Neilson but in the 1970s he was known and feared by the nickname bestowed on him by the press the black panther [Music] Donald Neilson was born with the different and slightly unfortunate name of Donald Nappey on Saturday the 1st of August 1936 he was just 10 when his mother died he was bullied at school and he soon found himself in trouble with the law it was military service that interrupted his downward spiral the teenage Donald Nappey had met the love of his life the British army it was more than a love affair though it was an obsession [Music] oh Nappey rash golly flags it was the kind of stupid remark Donald Nappey was used to hearing from his fellow conscripts in the king's own Yorkshire light infantry a zealous non-smoker lance corporal Nappey drew himself up to his four five feet four inches and bellowed gets a bloody move on you lanky streaks of piss before I put you both on a charge all because he turned down his cigarette ration instead of sharing it with the other soldiers what do you want striker [ __ ] short ass Nappey his surname had been a source of torment from almost the day he was born bullied at school the taunting continued when he enlisted in the army for national service but despite having to repeat his basic training and a uniform that always appeared a size too big the army life suited young Donald it was regimented and orderly you knew where you were with orders in a year he'd gone from an orphan delinquent to a young man with a purpose he'd hardly started shaving cue more teasing when they promoted him to lance corporal now he got to issue a few orders of his own not that his obsessive list making nit-picking and penalties for petty infringements earned him much respect from his subordinates humour the squad his best friend was how they coped with his type Nappey two pubes Nappey one ball Nappey the 18 year old jogged across Strensil Camp high on the north...

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More than 50 years have passed since the fatal stabbing of publican George Wilson in Nottingham and his family members are still seeking closure. The pub was called the Fox and Grapes, but local folk knew it by another name, the Pretty Windows, on account of its ornate stained glass. It was late one Saturday night in 1963. George Wilson locked up and took his dog for a walk. The next time his wife saw him he was lying on a pool of blood, the victim of a frenzied knife attack. Who killed George Wilson and why? Simon Ford and ex major-crime detective Jacques Morrell investigate.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to The Six O’clock Knock with me Simon Ford and me Jacques morrell and for the first time we're coming to you from the National Justice Museum in Nottingham the museum is housed in a former Victorian courtroom jail and police station it's where you'd have been arrested tried sentenced and back in the day executed you can learn more at nationaljusticemuseum.org and once we've settled in we'll have a housewarming episode of The Six O’clock Knock where we show you around and introduce you to some of the other inmates but for now to business an unsolved murder that took place a stone's throw from where we are now [Music] it had been a typical Saturday night for George and Betty Wilson George had been to the football match in the afternoon his local team Nottingham Forest had beaten Wolverhampton wanderers 3 nil during the evening everyone had been in good spirits the children were in bed asleep probably looking forward to doing something exciting on the Sunday the schools had just gone back after the summer holiday the family had been in their new home for over a year and they settled into life in Nottingham George and Betty got a night cap for their three guests they sat down in the lounge with their drinks at about midnight two of the friends headed home and George arranged a taxi for the last of the guests when it arrived about 15 minutes later George decided to take Blackie the family dog for his regular evening walk so he left at the same time as the taxi collected his friend he locked the door as he left Betty remained indoors and retired to the bedroom approximately 30 minutes later Betty heard Blackie barking outside she went to check and opened the door where Blackie was standing he was behaving differently Betty looked out into the night there seemed to be no one around and no sign of her husband something made her glance down at the ground there was something there lying motionless it was George he was barely alive and unable to speak lying on the floor next to him were his keys suggesting he was at the point of returning home and there was blood a lot of it too Betty knew one thing her husband needed an ambulance so she called for one the life had drained from him before the ambulance arrived George had been ferociously attacked he had 14 knife wounds to his face neck and back one wound was nine centimetres deep for 57 years the local community have asked the question why the date is Saturday the 7th of September 1963. George Wilson was the landlord of a Nottingham public house his killer has never been found the motive for his death is unclear despite the involvement of Scotland Yard detectives no one has been charged with his murder it remains one of Nottingham's most talked about cases today we'll not only be returning to the location of the crime but also to the swinging sixties the case was actually suggested to us by a listener there's a lot of material online about it including several forums where theories are discussed however we've concentrated on a blog post...

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Two musicians; two murders, separated by hundreds of miles. On the face of it, ex-Beatle John Lennon and Reggae star Peter Tosh were gunned down in very different circumstances. Lennon was shot by an obsessed fan; Tosh a victim of 1980s Jamaican gun culture. On closer examination, however, their deaths have more in common than first meets the eye, not least because they were both peace-loving men who wanted mankind to live in harmony. Jacques Morrell and Simon Ford unpack the archives and their vinyl collections in this investigation.

Featuring the voices of C.C. Anderson, Tim Bryn Smith and Denroy Shakespeare.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock the true crime podcast that takes a fresh look at murder I’m Simon Ford a journalist and broadcaster with 20 odd years in the business and I’m Jacques Morrell 30 years of British police officer and detective I spent many an hour on the press benches of various courts reporting on the kind of crimes that Jacques spent his career detecting now the English legal system has influenced many others around the world our system of common law or case law originated in the practices of the courts of the English kings following the Norman conquest in 1066 and to be clear Scotland wasn't conquered by the Normans which is why the Scottish legal system is different from the one in England and wales absolutely and comparisons as the saying goes are odious now the British empire imposed that English legal system on its far-flung colonies many of which retained the common law system today these systems give great weight to judicial precedent today of course there's no British empire but one third of the world's population lives in common law jurisdictions including Jamaica and that other former colony the united states of America [Music] Jamaica declared its independence from Britain in 1962 but remained a member of the commonwealth and it's to Jamaica that we are heading today then we'll look at a second case also from over the Atlantic both cases are very different but both involve the murder of prominent musical artists and both involve firearms our main focus is that of the murder of Winston Hubert McIntosh better known as Peter Tosh Jamaican reggae artist [Music] Peter Tosh was the baritone who left Bob Marley and the Wailers went solo and worked with the Rolling Stones among others the one who learned how to ride a unicycle and rode onto the stage on it that's him his other claim to fame he was shot and killed in 1987. We’ll compare his murder to the fatal shooting of John Winston Lennon British musician founder member of the Beatles shot and killed seven years earlier in 1980. I suppose everyone remembers where they were when a celebrity gets murdered I’ll be honest though Peter Tosh was less well known in our household but John Lennon now his murder took place on the evening of Monday the 8th of December 1980 in New York five hours behind London time so I woke up to the news on Tuesday the ninth now my dad had bought a colour tv in time for Christmas and John Lennon’s murder was one of the first stories I saw in colour on the tv news John Lennon is dead shot several times by a young American as he was going into his home in New York the former Beatle who was 40 was returning home from a recording studio with his wife Yoko Ono when he was murdered it took a few days for the enormity of what had happened to sink in the significance of the talent that had been lost but there was a school assembly I remember where John Lennon’s music was played in tribute and even some of the teachers were moved to tears it was one of...

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Part 3 of a three-part British true-crime documentary series

John Samuel Humble killed nobody, but he had blood on his hands, and he knew it. He was the hoaxer who pretended to be the Yorkshire Ripper. Dubbed Wearside Jack by the newspapers, his infamous ‘I’m Jack’ tape sent the Ripper investigation on a wild goose chase, during which the real killer, Peter Sutcliffe, claimed more victims. One of them, Jayne MacDonald, was a 16-year-old school leaver walking home from a night out. Humble said he goaded detectives with the intention of spurring the enquiry. His plan failed spectacularly. Like many hoaxers, he thought he was safe under a cloak of anonymity, but he reckoned without the determination and long memories of West Yorkshire CID.

This podcast features an exclusive interview with a member of the Yorkshire Ripper incident room, Detective Chief Superintendent (retired) Bob Taylor of West Yorkshire Police.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock the true crime podcast where we look at old cases through a modern lens and draw our own unique conclusions I’m Simon Ford a writer and broadcaster with more than 20 years in the business and I’m Jacques Morrell I spent 30 years as a major crime detective with an expectation to ask those awkward and yet obvious questions I felt a few collars in my time and whilst I’ve hung up my boots my yearning for the truth is as strong as ever so the two of us got together decided to do some sleuthing and make podcasts from our enquiries we call it the Six O’clock Knock because that's when a detective likes to pay their suspect a visit first thing in the morning when they're least expecting it this podcast is about a Six O’clock Knock that was 25 years in the making it showcases the kind of dogged police work and dedication to duty that mean criminals always need to be looking over their shoulders and it shows how advances in forensic science coupled with determination professional pride and long memories mean there is no hiding place for criminals especially those who think just because of the passage of time that they've got away with it [Music] we're going back into the story of Peter Sutcliffe the Yorkshire Ripper and one of the most bizarre and baffling aspects of that case the letters and tape recordings sent to assistant chief constable George Oldfield by a man purporting to be the Ripper as soon as Sutcliffe confessed the whole charade was exposed as a wicked hoax the senior detectives on the Yorkshire Ripper case were faced with the realization they'd pinned their hopes on a wild goose chase a wild goose chase which diverted precious resources and cost three women their lives so how was the hoaxer able to enthral the leading detectives George Oldfield and dick holland and why did they ignore other avenues of investigation in their pursuit of a phantom [Music] it started with the letters George Oldfield received the first postmarked Sunderland in march 1978. Dear Sir I’m sorry I cannot give my name for obvious reasons I am the Ripper I’ve been dubbed a maniac by the press but not by you you call me clever and I am you and your mates haven't a clue that thought were in the paper give me fits and not bit about killing myself no chance I’ve got things to do my purpose is to rid the streets of them [ __ ] my one regret is that young lassie MacDonald did not know because change routine that night up to number eight now up to seven but remember Preston 75 get about you know you are right I travel a bit you probably look for me in Sunderland don't bother I’m not daft just post a letter there on one of me trips...

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Part 2 of a three-part British true-crime documentary series

‘Wicked beyond belief’, is how the trial judge summarised the character of Peter William Sutcliffe. Between 1975 and 1980 he murdered 13 women and attempted to murder seven others. The north of England was gripped by fear during a reign of terror the police were unable to terminate. Simon Ford joins former major-crime detective Jacques Morell in an examination of Sutcliffe’s life and crimes. Sutcliffe (who changed his name to Coonan in prison) slipped through the net nine times before being caught almost by accident. Simon asks Jacques: would today’s policing methods have stopped the Yorkshire Ripper sooner?

This podcast features an exclusive interview with a member of the Yorkshire Ripper incident room, Detective Chief Superintendent (retired) Bob Taylor of West Yorkshire Police.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music]This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock the true crime podcast that re-examines historical cases through a modern lens I’m Simon Ford a writer journalist and broadcaster and I’m Jacques Morrell an author and former major crime detective in case you're wondering the Six O’clock Knock is police jargon for a dawn raid 6 am being the time a suspect is most likely to be at home and off guard it's the time when we make an arrest on our terms it could be a knock at the door or sometimes we'd go in with a sledgehammer or a battering ram we used to call that the enforcer in this podcast we're going back to the 1970s and a series of murders and attacks on women that transfixed the north of England the perpetrator was one Peter William Sutcliffe or to give him the title chillingly bestowed on him by the press at the time the Yorkshire Ripper when Paul’s teacher asked him about his three favourite things the ten-year-old would say Leeds united David Bowie and going on round with our Alan this Thursday morning Paul was in his element cramming a doorstep jam buddy into his mouth and wrapped up against the autumn chill he was riding shotgun on Alan's milk float never mind that Leeds had lost to Manchester united last Saturday never mind that Art Garfunkel was keeping David Bowie off number one he was Starsky and Alan was Hutch the electric float hummed down Scott Hall Avenue the empty milk bottles jingling like sleigh bells Alan slowed to take the right turn into the Prince Phillip playing fields it was hard to see in the fog and the milk floats headlights dimmed unpredictably Alan stopped outside the caretaker's house lit an embassy and jumped out Paul clambered down beside him hoping the caretaker might say hey up and slip him a packet of sweet cigarettes the red-tipped candy sticks were a treat but Paul was collecting the football cards inside he was desperate to get his idol Leeds midfield hotshot Peter lorimer it was then he noticed something on the grass someone's left a guy out he shouted dashing into the mist shh hissed Alan how many bloody times it was twenty to eight Paul ran over to where the object was lying anticipating a Guy Fawkes effigy like the ones his mates touted round the back streets before bonfire night then he came racing back Alan noticed his expression had changed something made the older brother freeze the bones of Paul's face had rearranged themselves to make room for two enormous eyes it's a body was all he said [Music] the dead woman was Wilma McCann she was 28 and mom to four children all under nine she was the first woman killed by the Yorkshire Ripper although there had been three other assaults on women earlier that year which bore the hallmarks of Wilma's murder crushing blows to the head with a hammer...

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Part 1 of a three-part British true-crime documentary series

Peter Sutcliffe's heinous crimes made him one of the UK's most notorious serial killers. In 1981, the gravedigger turned lorry driver from Yorkshire was found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was serving a whole life term when he died on 13 November 2020 aged 74.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to this special edition of the Six O’clock Knock the true crime podcast presented by me Simon Ford and me Jacques Morrell I’m a retired major crime detective and now with my friend and sparring partner we reinvestigate historic homicides on our quest to find the truth whatever that may be it was announced this morning that peter Sutcliffe alias the Yorkshire Ripper Britain’s most prolific serial killer had died in jail Sutcliffe was 74 he'd been serving a whole life prison sentence for the savage murders of 13 women in and around the cities of Leeds Bradford and Manchester in the 1970s Sutcliffe had a deep-seated hatred of women he claimed that god told him to rid the streets of sex workers in fact his crimes were indiscriminate his M.O. his modus operandi was the same though blows to the head with a hammer followed by frenzied stabbing one case involves strangulation between 1975 and 1980 the Yorkshire Ripper as he was styled by the media inflicted a reign of terror on northern England for years women were afraid to go out alone after dark proposals for a women-only curfew sparked outrage coupled with the failure of the police to catch the killer that failure is the subject of two future episodes of the Six O’clock Knock why was Sutcliffe allowed to terrorize and butcher women in the dead of night with impunity how did Sutcliffe escape a police dragnet that involved hundreds of officers cost millions of pounds of public money and generated so much paperwork a police station had to be reinforced to stop it collapsing under the weight it's all the more incredible when you learn that in that terrible period Sutcliffe was questioned an astonishing nine times by detectives we've also spoken to a senior police officer who was a rookie when the Yorkshire Ripper claimed his first victim Bob Taylor was a detective constable and later a detective sergeant in the Ripper incident room he retired a few years ago as detective chief superintendent of west Yorkshire police in the 70s Taylor could only watch as the then assistant chief constable George Oldfield a hard drinking hard-bitten and hard-biting Yorkshireman botched bungled and bullied his way through the biggest manhunt in British history Bob Taylor says Oldfield's handling of the Ripper investigation was disastrous from beginning to end i think what i learned from working on the cases that George Oldfield was in charge of was uh of how not to do it there was no room for anybody to make suggestions from the lower ranks uh and there were several good suggestions i mean one of the detectives who i worked with detective constable they said why don't they look at what was known as the Canadian system which was a geographical plotting system the principle behind it was that the offender would travel to avoid detection so the first attacks were more likely to be close to home the other thing about working on the Ripper case they couldn't conceive they couldn't get their head around the fact that some of the victims could have survived and of course not recognizing that there was a massive loss of evidence one of the victims in chapel town she did the artist's impression of ‘Dave’ he used the name Dave and she was just dismissed that was...

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Frederick Bailey Deeming was many things – a bigamist, a swindler and murderer of two women and four children. But was he also Jack the Ripper? Journalist Simon Ford and former major-crime detective Jacques Morrell plunge into the life and brutal times of this Victorian enigma. Deeming’s career spanned the globe – Australia, South Africa, Latin America – under a catalogue of aliases. He was an unscrupulous psychopath who would stop at nothing to cheat the wealthy and defend his freedom. A contemporary of Jack the Ripper, some theorize he was Jack. But does the evidence support the theory? What propelled Deeming on his international rampage anyway? And how was he stopped?

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock, coming to you from the National Justice Museum in Nottingham, England I’m Simon Ford a writer and broadcaster and I’m Jacques Morrell a former major crime detective the National Justice Museum is based in Nottingham’s former courts and county jail you've probably seen it on tv and not even realized it because when they need a grand Victorian courtroom this is where they send the cameras and our case today would have been tried in a court like this it's a murder hunt that spanned the British Empire at a time when Britain's imperial power was at its zenith Britannia ruled the waves and Jack The Ripper terrorized the alleyways of Whitechapel indeed the murderer in our story could have been Jack The Ripper so come with us as we step back in time to the closing decades of the 19th century john Samford stood with his back to the bedroom door a pickaxe over his shoulder and a look of grim determination on his face not only had his tenant left the rented house without notice but the woman who was lined up to replace him had backed out complaining of a disagreeable smell in the second bedroom Samford butcher and landlord was determined to get to the bottom of it he and the estate agent Mr Connop faced the fireplace the agent held a handkerchief over his nose and mouth his face was the colour of putty Samford swung the pickaxe into the fresh concrete underneath the hearthstone it yielded like a pie crust instantly the smell became stronger Connop choked blurted something about breathing and turned towards the open window Samford swung again a chunk of concrete came away another swing the fluke of the pickaxe found something softer despite the unbearable stench Samford bent down and using both hands shifted a substantial slab of concrete what he saw had auburn hair and the remains of a face [Music] the date is the 3rd of march 1892. the place Andrew street Melbourne in the then colony of Victoria Australia john Samford had just discovered the remains of Emily Mather who'd been living in the house with a foreign gentleman representing himself as a toolmaker's engineer Samford had been attracted by the fellow's respectable heir and the fact that he paid six weeks rent in advance but then he'd left suddenly and reports of a lingering odour started soon afterwards a post-mortem examination found that Emily made his skull had been bashed in and her throat had been cut the hunt for the killer spanned the British empire from the beginning the press connected the murder with the despicable crimes of Jack The Ripper the age newspaper reported that from the outset a suspicion of insanity is almost suggested and a tinge of the white chapel murders is hinted the body hacked and mangled the cool manner in which the cementing was carried out the taking of a house etc the laborious obliteration of all traces of the crime all these things suggest the malevolence and craft of which can scarcely...

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Mild-mannered, handsome and geeky were all terms used to describe Neil Entwistle. Yet this British computer engineer was convicted of shooting dead his wife and baby daughter at their home near Boston, Massachusetts. Entwistle fled the scene, jumped on a plane and ran home to mum and dad. The American authorities caught up with him in London and put him on trial in the United States, where he was found guilty. Despite the weight of evidence stacked against him, Neil Entwistle continues to protest his innocence, denying any part in the fatal shootings of 27-year-old Rachel and 9-month-old Lillian in January 2006.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock, the true crime podcast presented by me Simon Ford and major crime detective Jacques Morrell hi Jacques how you been hi Simon I’m much better thank you uh better for getting out and about again uh just like in the green bicycle case from the other week yeah I think we set a new standard for socially distanced investigations with that one didn't we yeah so today we are in the heart of Sherwood forest the legendary home of robin hood on the trail of an equally enigmatic outlaw yes and thanks to the notorious British summer weather we've taken shelter not in a hollow tree but in the historic forest lodge hotel at Edwinstowe across the road from the 9th century church where tradition has it Robin Hood married Maid Marian anyway apart from a drop of locally brewed ale what else brings us to royal Sherwood Simon oh well I was coming to that today's case is a modern one from right here in old Sherwood in fact I covered this story as a journalist and a news presenter with the BBC in Nottingham and it stuck with me ever since because you know I’ve been around a bit but this is my old stamping ground it's where I grew up and it involves an i.t expert Neil Entwistle from the nearby town of workshop he was found guilty in 2008 of shooting to death his wife Rachel and baby daughter Lilian rose at their home in the united states to be precise Hopkinton Massachusetts a small town in the Boston commuter belt Neil Entwistle was 28 and Rachel was 27. little Lilian was just nine months old the killings in January 2006 were the subject of a transatlantic media frenzy and we'll get into why shortly but first it's important to note that throughout the trial and his subsequent incarceration Neil Entwistle and his family have protested his innocence in fact a couple of years ago Neil Entwistle's father Clifford published a book called Neil's story trial by media that's right Simon and I do recall the case although it's not one I had any involvement in so coming at it fresh for me really and it's one of three books you asked me to read before this meeting today there was heartless the true story of Neil Entwistle and the brutal murder of his wife and child and that was by a woman called Michelle R. McPhee and there was a further book Neil Entwistle’s Day In Court by Michael Wells Gleuck now I want to point out that the McPhee book was published right at the start of the trial in 2008 and Cliff Entwistle cites this as an example of what he calls trial by media he alleges that coverage like this made a guilty verdict to foregone conclusion and in the face of this media bombardment he claims his son didn't stand a chance and here is Cliff Entwistle as he speaks to reporters outside the court in 2008 we will continue to fight for our innocent son with the hope that one day justice will prevail and our little granddaughter lily may rest in peace okay then those are our sources along with contemporary records and transcripts let's get into it and ask the...

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The farmer who found Bella Wright’s body thought she’d been knocked off her bicycle. Hours later the police realised she’d been shot in the face. Bella was 21 when she met her death on an English country road in July 1919. Detectives brought a man to trial, but he was acquitted by the jury and walked free and the identity of the murderer is unknown. Simon Ford and Jacques Morrell visit the scene, at Little Streeton in Leicestershire, where they reveal the result of their investigation into the Green Bicycle Murder.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. So, hello and welcome to episode five of the Six O’clock Knock the true crime podcast that takes a fresh look at murder the Six O’clock Knock is presented by me Simon Ford and former major crime detective Jacques Morrell in this episode we look at the mystery surrounding the death of Bella Wright in 1919 a case that continues to baffle armchair detectives now what got you onto this particular case Jacques a listener suggested it which was great after a bit of research it sparked my interest yeah I’ve read your brief and it covers an interesting period in Britain politically as well as culturally there was the end of the great war the status of our returning soldiers the suffrage movement women demanding equality some women becoming jurors the old school class system there were many firearms in circulation and the military must have built up a lot of expertise in the science of a bullet and the damage that it can do so this green bicycle case has struck a chord with you then that was also at the end of the great war and Bella Wright's family didn't get justice they just had to get on with it suck it up and live with it Bella Wright was the same age as my grandmother was so I’ve been able to reflect on the attitudes of the time where working-class women were expected to know their place and not to challenge the authority of uh the men in power okay let's set the scene for this fresh look at the case from 1919 that has become known as the green bicycle murder we've read a recent book about the case by author Anthony Brown and the title of that is the green bicycle mystery now I don't know what the listeners will think about this but I don't see much of a mystery at all. All I see is a travesty and that's a travesty of justice so Jacques we must be pretty close to the spot where Bella’s body was found now isn't we we're on the right footpath and ah there's a gateway and we're in the middle of a cornfield even today it's a field of wheat yeah but it's getting into the evening now sun's sort of dropping ahead of us now as we're looking over the cornfield towards um where she was found [Music] the text from the green bicycle mystery helps to set the scene for us on the evening of Saturday the 5th of July 1919 near the village of little Stretton in Leicestershire just down there beyond that hedgerow in the main road a solitary bicycle lies on its side its metal frame catching the glow of the fading evening Light the back wheel turns slowly about its axle producing a soft clicking a rhythmic sound soothing like the ticking of a study clock next to the bicycle lying at an angle across the road as a young woman she's partly on her back partly on her left side with her right hand almost touching the mud guard of the rear wheel her legs rest on the roadside verge where fronds of white cow parsley and pink rose bay rise above luxuriant summer foliage on her head sits a wide brimmed hat daintily finished with a ribbon and a bone she's dressed in a pastel blouse and a long skirt underneath a Light raincoat the pockets of which contain an empty purse and a box of matches the...

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He saw her at a bus stop and thought, ‘she’ll do’. That was how Wakefield shoe fetish murderer Christopher Farrow chose his victim, Wendy Speakes. He followed her home, where he tied her up, raped her and stabbed her 11 times. Farrow evaded justice for six years. He was caught thanks to advances in forensic science. Detective Jacques Morrell witnessed the introduction of the National Automated Fingerprints Identification System (Nafis) which provided the breakthrough. He explains how technology is closing the net on killers who thought they’d got away with murder.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
*Warning: explicit sexual content unsuitable for under-18s*

[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to episode four of the Six O’clock Knock I’m Simon Ford and as ever I’m joined by former major crime detective Jacques Morrell and today we are looking at foot fetishes and fingerprints yep that's right you heard it here first foot fetishes and fingerprints now in my copy of the chambers student dictionary from the 1970s which dates me a little bit a fetish is defined only by it being an object that is regarded with irrational reverence a spiritual charm in fact it derives from the Portuguese word for magic did you know that I had no idea hmm well done the chamber student dictionary of course we now associate the word with sexuality and fetish is defined as an abnormal sexual desire linked to a particular object so the early definition related to a talisman then I guess the key words from what you've just said there are irrational and abnormal I know this is speaking from a police angle yeah that's pretty much the size of it now we'll be looking at one particular case in detail and then we're going to refer to a couple of other cases that have a foot or a shoe fetish angle to them now I don't advise anybody to go on the internet looking for this stuff because it can make for a very peculiar browsing history even in the interests of research to start with our main case is a dreadful murder from 1994 but it wasn't solved for six years when a breakthrough came from a fingerprint at the scene and in fact I must declare an interest I was a reporter at the time in West Yorkshire and I covered this case so before we look at it in detail Jacques did you have any interesting cases solved due to fingerprints yourself I remember one in particular from about 1990 and I remember it because I actually got a call from the fingerprint expert he was actually excited about it and he wanted to tell me in person I know it sounds a little bit odd but it was unusual in itself it's worth reminding really I suppose and for the listeners benefit that an automated fingerprint system was not introduced until I think the late 1990s wow late is that a computerized one yeah because that's something it's a mainstay of every detective television program isn't every who done it is the fingerprint so yeah not until the late 1990s hmm yeah the automated system wasn't till then prior I mean prior to that fingerprints were dealt with manually and in a very methodical process there was a series of documents going backwards and forwards in the internal mail first you'd receive a form from the bureau about fingerprints known as marks that related to your case you would then eliminate any people who may innocently have left their fingerprint and then you would consider any potential suspects you would submit to form asking the fingerprint officer to compare the mark with the fingerprints and it was only rare look thinking back that officers would actually visit the fingerprint bureau now I was working on a series of crimes that involved was the issuing of stolen...

The UK has just experienced the horror of its first mass shooting in decades. The first indications are that Jake Davison killed his family before turning the gun on himself.

What drives some men – and it is mainly men – to murder their families? The motivation for familicide is only partly understood but seems to be linked to a ‘loss of control over masculine domains’, even where there is no prior evidence of domestic abuse. Detective Jacque Morrell takes reporter Simon Ford on a disturbing journey into the dark side of gender identity, where lives unravel with catastrophic and unimaginable consequences.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] this podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello and welcome to episode three of the Six O’clock Knock, the true-crime podcast that takes a fresh look at murder the Six O’clock Knock is presented by me Simon Ford and former major crime detective Jacques Morrell in our previous episodes we looked at some unsolved British cases from the 1940s and the 1960s and you asked for our analysis of some more recent cases these are tragically all detected cases that we're going to talk about now there's no mystery associated with them but they do illustrate our topic and the topic is familicide [Music] we started looking at a case from 1993 where a father inexplicably killed his grown-up daughter and this made us look at other cases and how we as a society deal with the really difficult topic of murder within the family so murder in the family is termed familicide right is this something that you dealt with in your police career quite a lot or is it unusual well no unfortunately yes on a number of occasions we in the police never use the Latin terminology though each case that came before us was different you know I can remember them all I’ve included a reference to one of them in this episode too but looking back I think it's the family secrets and the what ifs that make these cases so intensely tragic it's bad enough having a family member violently killed don't get me wrong but uh when it's done by someone within the family when the killer is someone who was supposed to care for them it becomes so inexplicable and it's no surprise I suppose in most of these cases they never explain their actions so we started looking at these familiar side cases and we came across a recent one in Australia and it's a stark reminder that familiar sides occur in every society across the world this first case involves Camp Hill in Queensland in Australia which is a pleasant residential suburb of Brisbane and the houses are spacious and the roads are lined with trees and grass verges and in this lovely setting an unimaginable tragedy took place on the morning of Wednesday the 19th of February 2020 what happened in Camp Hill will affect the community there for a long time at 8 25 am during the school run emergency services received a number of calls to an incident on a quiet suburban street as with all incidents that take place in full view of the public numerous calls are made by people who witness things differently often calls are made from people who are passing by who may be confused or unsure about what's happening they just know that they need to call the emergency services in this incident there was a mention of an explosion then another of a fire involving a vehicle it was even a report that there'd been a road traffic collision so when the emergency crews arrived they found a car on fire a woman with severe burns and a man with fatal stab wounds once the fire had been extinguished those at the scene discovered the really horrible reality of the situation on the back seat of the car were the remains of not one but of three kids they were all under 10 years of age and they'd been burned alive in what had been a ferocious fire this was a chaotic scene but the officer in charge began...

The press dubbed this killer ‘Jack the Stripper’. He was never caught but left behind a trail of bodies and struck fear in the heart of London in the Swinging Sixties. The six female victims were found undressed in or near the River Thames in 1964 and 1965. Two earlier murders, committed in 1959 and 1963, have been linked to the same perpetrator. Despite intense media interest and one of the biggest manhunts in Scotland Yard's history, the case is unsolved. All the evidence is reported to have been destroyed or lost.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music]This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Hello, Jacques how are you at the moment? Very well thanks Simon uh busy spinning a few plates what about you what have you been up to oh you know bit of this bit of that ducking and diving bobbing and weaving some good feedback for the valentine's day murder piece I think these uh old village murders seem to grab people's attention don't you especially with those big hitting Scotland Yard detectives descending on the place yeah especially when they return to London without finding the killer yeah there is that as well big city senior detectives they might bring some experience but not necessarily what would you say the determination to finish the job maybe they had one eye on retirement and writing those uh those lucrative memoirs what case are we looking at today Simon well today Jacques we're moving into the realm of a London serial killer who was never caught here's your briefing document ah the swinging 60s so we've gone from 1940s war weary village to the hedonism of 1960s post-war London that's about the size of it mate and this one has a real twist at the end bringing things right up to date linking it into a case right back in the 1920s so there's some time travel involved in this and guess what you could even throw in your favourite Scotland Yard team getting involved great now let's see the Hammersmith nude murders it was a series of six murders in London England in 1964 and the victims all prostitutes found undressed in or near the River Thames leading to the press giving the nickname to the killer Jacques the stripper a reference to Jacques the ripper two earlier murders committed in 1959 and 1963 have also been linked by some investigators to the same perpetrator despite intense media interest and one of the biggest manhunts in Scotland Yard’s history the case is unsolved all forensic evidence gathered at the time is reported to have been destroyed or lost yep that's about the size of it it's probably worth me giving you the names of the eight women as well and of course we never forget that in all of these cases these are real people who were deeply affected by these cases all eight women had their own hopes and dreams family and friends some of them obviously still alive so we do respect that I guess many of them were from other parts of the country that their parents probably didn't even know that they drifted into prostitution yeah exactly well none of the families ever had closure on who killed their relative or why and their names were Elizabeth Figg, Gwyneth Reese, Hannah Taylford, Irene Lockwood, Helen Barthelemy, Mary Fleming, Francis Brown and Bridget O’Hara on the 17th of June 1959 age 21 the body of Elizabeth Figg was discovered at duke's meadow in Chiswick in west London she'd been strangled her body was found at 5 10 am by police officers on routine patrol in the park on the north bank of the River Thames funnily enough this is my old stamping ground from a few years ago so I do know the locations the park had a reputation as a lover's lane and prostitutes were known to take their clients there fig's body was found on scrubland between dan mason drive and the rivers towpath that's about 200 yards west of Barnes bridge her dress was torn at the waist and opened to reveal her breasts and her...

This unsolved, brutal murder happened in a sleepy, secretive village hidden in the heart of rural England. Apparently motiveless, folklore and legend have linked the killing of Charles Walton to witchcraft and satanism. His body was found lying – some say ritually posed – in the shadow of Meon Hill, an Iron Age fort. As detective Jacques Morrell and reporter Simon Ford discover, an area cloaked in the supernatural, mixed with a deep-seated mistrust of outsiders.

The Six O’clock Knock is a Psycho Killer production.

Transcript
[Music] This podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting on valentine's day in 1945 a brutal murder took place which remains unsolved 75 years on now this murder isn't some gangland killing where people are afraid to speak out and it isn't a domestic crime of passion where the suspect got off on a legal technicality no it's not a tragic death where the actual case is in doubt or open to interpretation it is a savage and brutal murder with no apparent motive not only that it occurred in a sleepy village in the heart of England if that isn't enough to get you interested then let's throw in some local folklore and superstition with stories of witchcraft all right let's find out some more about the location lower Quinton is a small and unassuming Warwickshire village just six miles from Stratford-upon-Avon according to the 2011 census the population of the two villages in the parish was under two thousand it lies on the heart of England way a long distance walk of around 160 kilometres through the midlands of England sounds like a beautiful setting to visit spend a few hours doesn't it well it is actually yeah but it does have as we will find out Jacques a sinister episode in its past indeed English villages like this aren't complete with at least one ancient pub oh yes and a medieval church and we're outside since St Swithin’s right now if you visit Lower Quinton you will notice the imposing plateau of Meon hill Meon hill is 190 meters above sea level and is visible above the farms and villages in the area while it's not that high and has fields and hedgerows on the slopes it has an odd look that makes it stand out so anyway that's the ancient history if you like let's talk about the more recent and more sinister history of lower quinton Jacques tell me a bit more about this spooky place yeah thanks Simon having learned the introduction and the history of this uh this area let's bring ourselves more up-to-date to 1945 and the events that took place at fern's farm on the slopes of Meon hill it's a case that's even baffled the former Scotland Yard detective of the era chief inspector Robert Fabian so Wednesday the 14th of February 1945 the second world war had been raging for over five years and the war had obviously taken its toll on the country even in quiet farming communities like lower quinton the farms were providing essential food for the people but farm workers were obviously in short supply most young men were serving in the armed forces and women were taking on the roles usually done by men Edith Walton was 33 years old and lived in a small cottage with a 74 year old uncle named Charles Walton Charles was an agricultural worker and that lived at lower quinton all of his life in fact he'd occupied the cottage at 15 lower Quinton since world war one he was a widower his wife had died in 1927 and they had adopted Edith from the age of three after her mother had died Edith’s father Charles’s brother was still alive and lived at 30 Henley street in nearby Stratford Charles Walton would give Edith one pound per week housekeeping he also paid the three shillings per week rent on the cottage as well as buying their coal and meat he received an old age pension of 10 shillings a week but also took him some casual farm work for a local farmer named Alfred Potter at furs farm okay Jacques you've asked me to drive you to the top of me on...