Behind the Crimes with Robert Murphy

Behind the Crimes with Robert Murphy

Robert Murphy

### WINNER 'Outstanding Indie Podcast at the True Crime Awards 2024. ### What makes a criminal? What makes a truly great detective? Award-winning TV crime correspondent Robert Murphy speaks with people involved with some of the most fascinating true crime cases of recent years: detectives, victims, experts and sometimes even the criminals themselves. What drives a person to ignore the morals, laws and conventions of normal society and pushes them to perform the darkest acts? Sex? Money? Revenge? Love? Humiliation? Are criminals born bad or are they a creation of their circumstances? How can detectives catch people who are intent on causing truly...

Drug Wars

Drug Wars

Neil Woods spent fourteen years as an undercover police officer, helping dismantle some of Britain’s most notorious drug gangs.Yet after his biggest victory he came to the conclusion: was it worth it?He started to feel that the problem was helped by repeated failures of governments to tackle the cause of Britain and America’s drugs epidemic. In fact by handing control of drugs supply to criminals governments were the cause.‘A doctor controlling it (drugs supply) with a prescription pad has no in

Dec 10, 2024 • 31:09

Lord Lucan, his nannies and a fifty-year mystery. A three-part podcast.

Lord Lucan, his nannies and a fifty-year mystery. A three-part podcast.

On November 7th 1974, a children’s nanny Sandra Rivett was murdered at the home of the family in which she was in service.It was the Lucan family.Lord Lucan - her suspected killer - may have been targeting his estranged wife. But a man who had squandered his family fortune at Belgravia’s gaming tables proved to be as inept at murder as he was at gambling.And he killed poor Sandra. This is the perceived wisdom - and the finding of an inquest.But with so little known for sure, conjecture fills the

Nov 7, 2024 • 1:55:50

Deep Undercover: Neil Woods

Deep Undercover: Neil Woods

Neil Woods spent years as an undercover police officer. He says his techniques in included ‘weaponising empathy’ - using the good nature of society’s most vulnerable.And as Britain was being hit by a wave of cheap drugs and a rise in heroin and crack cocaine addicts, Neil had the most staggering results.In just one operation against Britain’s most notorious gang - The Burger Bar Boys - his work led to 96 arrests.But what impact did living a double-life have on this family man? What was it like h

Oct 29, 2024 • 43:15

In Cold Blood - A century of Truman Capote

In Cold Blood - A century of Truman Capote

Subscribe for free: robertmurphy.substack.comIn Cold Blood started as a study in how a heartbreaking killing impacted a Mid-West community. But Truman Capote got sucked into the story.At first, the folk of Holcomb, Kansas, distrusted the flamboyant writer.But slowly, he won the small city round.And when the killers were caught, he built an unbelievable and controversial bond with them.In this episode, Capote’s friend and biographer, Gerald Clarke, describes the awful murders of the Clutter famil

Sep 25, 2024 • 41:41

The crime writer who made £1 million from Nicole Kidman

The crime writer who made £1 million from Nicole Kidman

Subscribe for free at Robertmurphy.substack.comMaxim Jakobowski has sold millions of books. But you may not have heard of him.After releasing a book aged 16, he moved into publishing and worked with Patricia Highsmith (‘an incredible talent… a very difficult lady…’) he then turned to crime writing.When ‘50 Shades of Grey’ was released, he was drafted into writing a series of erotica - which sold millions of books.And how did he sell the rights of a novel to Nicole Kidman… for a fortune?A quick w

Sep 11, 2024 • 38:47

Billie-Jo Jenkins and her accused foster father: Wanted man or witch hunt?

Billie-Jo Jenkins and her accused foster father: Wanted man or witch hunt?

Billie-Jo Jenkins was a talented 13-year-old schoolgirl who had found what appeared to be the perfect foster family: four daughters, a mum who was a social worker and a dad who was a deputy headteacher.Sion Jenkins was an upstanding member of an affluent town’s community. But he had secrets. Like the lies about his academic qualifications and the affair with a teenage girl who looked a lot like Billie-Jo.When Billie-Jo was found dead in her garden in 1997, it was Sion who called 999. Detectives

Aug 14, 2024 • 36:58

Jackie Kabler: The Life Sentence

Jackie Kabler: The Life Sentence

#Subscribe for free: robertmurphy.substack.com #Jackie Kabler met one of Britain’s most notorious killers for her job as a breakfast TV correspondent. Years later, she used her experience covering crime for her fictional thrillers.Her psychological drama The Perfect Couple has sold over 400,000 copies and she has sold nearly a million books in total.Her latest story, The Life Sentence, is based on a case of wrongful prosecution which she heard about on a true crime podcast.You can find out more

Jul 23, 2024 • 24:10

Jackie Malton: The Real Prime Suspect. Ep 2

Jackie Malton: The Real Prime Suspect. Ep 2

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE: ROBERTMURPHY.SUBSTACK.COMBy the late 1980s, Jackie Malton seemed to have it all. She was one of only three female detective chief inspectors in the Metropolitan Police. She had worked on major inquiries and was a noted leader.But she had also stood up against the force’s grey male authority, against corruption, misogyny and freemasonry. Bruising encounters which left her unliked by some, stymied in her career and battling with alcohol.Then she received the phone call which ch

Jul 16, 2024 • 35:10

Jackie Malton: The Real Prime Suspect. Ep1

Jackie Malton: The Real Prime Suspect. Ep1

#Subscribe for FREE: robertmurphy.substack.com #Jackie Malton was a policing pioneer, joining a British provincial force in 1970, then transferring to the Metropolitan Police where she served in the Fraud Squad, Flying Squad and murder squads. She was often the only woman serving in each team.In this episode, she describes how she overcame homophobia and misogyny, clashed with corrupt officers and worked on one of London’s most controversial inquiries: The New Cross Fire investigation. Jackie’s

Jul 9, 2024 • 53:13

Lynda La Plante: Prime Suspect, DCI Jane Tennison and the importance of true crime

Lynda La Plante: Prime Suspect, DCI Jane Tennison and the importance of true crime

It was the early 1990s and Lynda La Plante was desperate. She had a few TV drama successes under her belt, but everything she was pitching was greeted with a ‘no’ from commissioners.Then, in a pitch meeting, she dreamt up Prime Suspect when the TV boss said she wanted a ‘cop show with a female detective and a murder.'But to create Det Ch Insp Jane Tennison, Lynda needed to research true crime. Enter Met detective Jackie Malton - and months of research.This interview coincides with the release of

Jul 2, 2024 • 40:42

The Science of a Manhunt: crime analysis

The Science of a Manhunt: crime analysis

For extras subscribe at: robertmurphy.substack.comSamantha Robins was the Intelligence Manager on the Major Crime Team at Surrey Police in May 2010 when, late in the evening, the call came in: a young mother had been murdered in her home.What followed was a multi-pronged inquiry.Sarah Thomas was a 38-year-old mother of three who was found in her flat in a quiet English village.Her boyfriend raised the alarm - and was arrested. But when it became clear he was not responsible for Sarah’s death, su

Jun 25, 2024 • 1:08:03

Janice Hallett: The fiction best-seller based on 'true crime research'

Janice Hallett: The fiction best-seller based on 'true crime research'

Janice Hallett has created three of the most inventive crime books of recent years. When I first started reading ‘The Appeal’ I was a bit dubious. How could a crime novel with big characters really be told through emails and messages?Then I got into the book…Next came The Twyford Code with a main character, a prisoner Steve Smith who can neither read nor write, who reveals his story through transcripts of audio recordings. It is GENIUS!And now there is the Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels,

Jun 18, 2024 • 24:24

The Fall: The Skydive Murder Plot ii: Lead detective Paul Franklin

The Fall: The Skydive Murder Plot ii: Lead detective Paul Franklin

#To watch this interview - subscribe at robertmurphy.substack.com#Det Insp Paul Franklin was in charge of the inquiry to bring the murderous, cheating husband Emile Cilliers to justice.But it wasn’t easy. There was little direct evidence that Cilliers had tampered with the parachute of his wife, Victoria.There was no CCTV nor DNA.And Victoria did not support the investigation into her husband.A new docudrama about the case is being broadcast in the UK. To coincide with this, Paul has given this

Jun 12, 2024 • 1:08:17

The Fall: The Skydive Murder Plot. Interview with Det Sgt Maddy Hennah

The Fall: The Skydive Murder Plot. Interview with Det Sgt Maddy Hennah

#To watch this interview - subscribe at robertmurphy.substack.com#Emile Cilliers made global headlines in 2018 when he was convicted of the attempted murder of his wife Victoria.He was an upstanding army sergeant, a family man, who led a debaucherous double life of sex clubs, girlfriends and payday loans.He tried to murder Victoria by tampering with the gas meter in their home. When this failed, he sabotaged her parachute - both her main and reserve canopies.Somehow, Victoria survived the 4,000-

Jun 11, 2024 • 55:57

Laura Lippman: why crime fiction has a 'sidewinder approach to empathy.'

Laura Lippman: why crime fiction has a 'sidewinder approach to empathy.'

#Subscribe for free: robertmurphy.substack.com#Laura Lippman spent more than 20 years as a journalist working in Texas and Baltimore.She has won Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Barry, Nero and Shamus awards (among many others) for her 25 novels - which include 12 featuring the private investigator Tess MonaghanHer latest, Prom Mom, has a loose inspiration by the 1997 case of Melissa Drexler a New Jersey teenager who gave birth during her prom, but then something truly awful happened…Laura discusses the

Jun 4, 2024 • 52:37

To Kill a Husband: Abuse or Excuse. Ep 2: Defence

To Kill a Husband: Abuse or Excuse. Ep 2: Defence

#Subscribe for free at robertmurphy.substack.com #This was Penelope Jackson’s final chance. The evidence against her seemed overwhelming: the glib 999 call admitting the killing of her husband, her further confessions on police body worn footage.In court, even her friends had described her as overbearing and domineering.Now it was her turn to take to the witness stand to give her version of events.In the words of her lawyer: ‘She could see no way out, She replaced invisible handcuffs for real on

May 28, 2024 • 48:37

To Kill a Husband: Abuse or Excuse? Ep1: Arrest

To Kill a Husband: Abuse or Excuse? Ep1: Arrest

#Subscribe for free: robertmurphy.substack.com#To friends, David and Penelope Jackson were like most other retired couples living in the West Country.They had a good life: a nice home, an active social life and a penchant for foreign cruises.But in February 2021, Penelope killed her husband after a birthday celebration.She then called 999 saying ‘I stabbed him once, then he said I wouldn’t do it again so I did it twice more.’Had she been suffering in silence for years at the hands of a silent ab

May 21, 2024 • 33:23

Denise Mina: walking down 'the mean streets' of Raymond Chandler

Denise Mina: walking down 'the mean streets' of Raymond Chandler

Subscribe for free: robertmurphy.substack.comAward-winning crime novelist Denise Mina has written the latest Philip Marlowe book: The Second Murderer. To research the book, she spent months studying Los Angeles in 1940, deconstructing Raymond Chandler’s distinct sentence structure and recreating his unique humour.Denise’s career straddles both crime fiction and true crime. She has won many awards - including the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year two years running and has been induc

May 14, 2024 • 30:40

Decoy: Going undercover to catch a killer

Decoy: Going undercover to catch a killer

To coincide with the launch of my true crime book ‘Decoy’ I’ve updated and reissued this podcast featuring a rare and exclusive interview with Chris Gould.In the 1970s, the city of Bristol was terrorised by a man nicknamed ‘The Clifton Rapist.’ The stranger-attacker assaulted seven women over a two-year period.PC Chris Gould suggested a daring honeytrap: Avon and Somerset Police should set up an innovative undercover sting, using young rookie police officers as decoys to catch him.This was a mon

May 3, 2024 • 47:23

Hilda Murrell Ep 2: Cold Case

Hilda Murrell Ep 2: Cold Case

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit robertmurphy.substack.comSubscribe at: robertmurphy.substack.comNearly 20 years had passed and forensic scientist Dr Colin Dark received a call asking if he’d like to take on the case of Hilda Murrell.What clues had been left at the scene? How could they be analysed using modern techniques? And what truths would emerge about the theories surrounding her murder?This is a short p…

Apr 16, 2024 • 2:27

Hilda Murrell Ep1: Conspiracy theories

Hilda Murrell Ep1: Conspiracy theories

Subscribe at robertmurphy.substack.comOn March 21st 1984, Hilda Murrell disappeared. It would take police three days to find her - yet her body was in the obvious place.She had been murdered.But by whom?Now the conspiracy theories started: Did the British government want Hilda dead because of her awkward questions about a new nuclear power station? Was she killed because of her links with naval intelligence?And was the phone line disconnection in her home the work of a bungling amateur or a prof

Apr 16, 2024 • 32:24

Lord Lucan Pt3: The other Lucan nanny

Lord Lucan Pt3: The other Lucan nanny

SUBSCRIBE: robertmurphy.substack.comScreenwriter George Kay (Hijack, Lupin, The Long Shadow, Criminal UK) was talking with his mother about a potential project: would he be interested in writing a script about the Lord Lucan mystery?Then, she dropped the bombshell: he had a personal link with the other Lucan nanny Christabel Boyce.George wanted to speak with Christabel - she would be a primary source and knew the main characters from ‘74.This was impossible, his mother said. Christabel had herse

Apr 2, 2024 • 33:25

Lord Lucan Pt 2: A different class of Murder - Aftermath

Lord Lucan Pt 2: A different class of Murder - Aftermath

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE: robertmurphy.substack.comIn her book ‘A Different Class of Murder: The Story of Lord Lucan’ writer Laura Thompson suggests six possible scenarios of what happened on the night of November 7th 1974.Was Lady Lucan the target? Did Lord Lucan carry out the killing himself or - as with the rest of his life - did he get help?And speaking of help, did his rich, powerful gambling friends at the Clermont Club aid his disappearance? Or were they - like he - a target of 1970s society?Yo

Mar 26, 2024 • 36:53

Lord Lucan: A Different Class of Murder. Pt1 Prelude to a Killing

Lord Lucan: A Different Class of Murder. Pt1 Prelude to a Killing

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE: robertmurphy.substack.comWithin a few moments on the night of November 7th 1974, Lord Lucan killed his children’s nanny, tried to murder his wife - and then disappeared.But that attack had been brewing for months, years even. And still - half a century on - people argue about what really happened.Was his estranged wife really the target?Was it Lucan in the cellar with the lead piping? Or a hitman? Had he somehow bungled an attempt to kill his wife? And what about his rich, po

Mar 19, 2024 • 43:54

Countryside homicide

Countryside homicide

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit robertmurphy.substack.com#Subscribe for free at robertmurphy.substack.com #Margaret Backhouse survived - it was a miracle. The car bomb seemed amateur but it was effective.Why would anyone want to target an elegant farmer’s wife in a quiet, safe English village?Detectives then heard about a hate campaign against her husband Graham. Dark notices left on the farm forewarning murd…

Feb 27, 2024 • 3:55

To Hunt a Killer

To Hunt a Killer

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE at robertmurphy.substack.comIn June 1984, 17-year-old Melanie Road was murdered as she walked home from a nightclub in the beautiful city of Bath, England.The investigation became Britain’s biggest manhunt, yet despite 96 arrests, her killer was never found.Twenty five years later, Det Sgt Julie Mackay joined Avon & Somerset Police’s cold case unit.‘I always knew I would find Melanie’s killer,’ she says.It would take seven further years of trying. The investigation saw incredi

Feb 13, 2024 • 37:53

The Trap

The Trap

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit robertmurphy.substack.comThis suspect had already escaped from police custody once. Now he was wanted for a triple murder. He was living wild off the land and Britain’s newspapers had joined the police hunt. The suspect was even taunting the inquiry, writing to journalists describing police as ‘boy scouts.’Then a detective had an ingenious idea to set a trap.Subscribe at robert…

Jan 30, 2024 • 2:04

REPLAY:Unlocking the murder of Jenny King

REPLAY:Unlocking the murder of Jenny King

In October 1998, Jenny King vanished. The 22-year-old had been on a night out at a club near her home in Kingswood near Bristol, in the South West of England.Police realised the office worker was in a good, stable relationship. She had no enemies. And no-one would want to harm her.But a friend of Jenny’s came forward. In the hour before Jenny disappeared, she had said something about a ‘psycho ex boyfriend’ being in the nightspot.Behind the Crimes is a reader-supported publication. To see eviden

Jan 22, 2024 • 1:04:26

REPLAY: The World's first detective

REPLAY: The World's first detective

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit robertmurphy.substack.comEugène-François Vidocq was the real-life Paris detective who inspired Sherlock Holmes, Edgar Allen Poe’s Dupin and Maurice Lablanc’s Lupin stories.He revolutionised criminology: developing undercover techniques, using science and surveillance to bring Paris’s crimewave under control and setting up a system of card indexes which would be used for well over a century.The department he created - the Sûreté - was

Jan 21, 2024 • 4:13

REPLAY: The Secrets of the Nuclear Bunker

REPLAY: The Secrets of the Nuclear Bunker

It was the occasional smell of weed which made detectives suspicious at first. Then a mystery delivery alerted police to the former nuclear bunker in the middle of the English countryside.But when detectives mounted a raid on the underground fortress, they had no idea if they could get through the atomic blast doors. And when they did - what would they find?What followed was a moment of high-tension as the team had just seconds to catch an organised crime group in the act. And detectives uncover

Jan 20, 2024 • 55:07

[REPLAY] Love triangle: Fatal Attraction

[REPLAY] Love triangle: Fatal Attraction

To welcome new listeners to Behind The Crimes, every day this week I’m highlighting some of the incredible stories we have covered in the last year. This is a replay of an episode from June 2023.In the early hours of October 4th 1922, a woman who was about to become Britain’s most notorious murder suspect walked home from the theatre with her husband.Edith Thompson was 28, she was beautiful, had a career, a good social life… and a lover 8 years her junior.Freddy Bywaters leapt from the shadows a

Jan 19, 2024 • 36:45

REPLAY: Fantasy To Kill

REPLAY: Fantasy To Kill

NB. As a welcome to new Substack subscribers, this is a reissue of an episode released in 2023.Roy and Joan Clarke are found dead in their home in rural England in December 2004. They’ve been stabbed in a ‘ritualistic-style’ attack.Det Ch Supt Paul Howlett’s suspicions fall on one man. But does his prime suspect have the opportunity to kill? There is little evidence at first.But the country’s top forensic psychologist warns Paul if the suspect is the murderer ‘it’s not a question of if he will k

Jan 18, 2024 • 1:01:37

REPLAY! Cold Case: Solved from a single sheet of paper

REPLAY! Cold Case: Solved from a single sheet of paper

NB. This is a replay episode - first released in July 2023.What does it take to be a cold case detective? How do you solve a case from the past when all the files have vanished?All Julie and Gary had was one sheet of paper: a laboratory submission form.Nothing else.They didn’t know the details of the attack, who the victim was, what or where it happened. But by methodically reviewing the case Julie and Gary were able to rebuild the investigation.There was a DNA hit linking the attack to another

Jan 17, 2024 • 54:54

Uncovering Banksy

Uncovering Banksy

Who is Banksy? It is a question that has taunted the art world for two decades.As a graffiti-artist, he has committed criminal damage. Which is why I’m including him in Behind the Crimes.I uncovered a ‘lost’ interview with the secretive stenciller.When researching the artist’s background, I came across an old report which had lain in a tape archive for more than a decade and a half. Even the journalist who had interviewed the then-unknown Banksy had forgotten about it - even though he had seen t

Jan 9, 2024 • 23:02

The Policewoman's Secret - video interview

The Policewoman's Secret - video interview

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit robertmurphy.substack.comThis is a video interview for Behind the Crimes paid subscribers. It features a three-minute preview. Visit robertmurphy.substack.com for access to the full video.How long would you wait for justice? What about fifty years? Liz Roberts was assaulted as an eight-year-old girl. She didn’t tell her parents - even though her father was a high-ranking murder…

Jan 2, 2024 • 3:00

The Policewoman's Secret

The Policewoman's Secret

#Subscribe for free extras - robertmurphy.substack.comHow long would you wait for justice? What about fifty years? Liz Roberts was assaulted as an eight-year-old girl. She didn’t tell her parents - even though her father was a high-ranking murder detective.A decade later Liz became a policewoman herself. But Liz still kept the attacks a secret, thinking her force wouldn’t believe her.After all - she had no proof.It took fifty years before Liz was able to bring herself to confront her abuser - he

Jan 2, 2024 • 55:44

The murder confessions - on network news

The murder confessions - on network news

I have been privileged enough to cover some of the biggest, most absorbing trials in recent British history: for example the serial killer Christopher Halliwell defending himself in court or the drama of hostile-witness-victim in the Cilliers case of the sabotaged parachute.As this trial has just happened, this is lesser-known. But I am sure it will weave its way into the crime documentary/podcast/drama repertoire.In 2012 Claire Holland - a mother of four - vanished in Bristol in the south west

Dec 27, 2023 • 6:51

The clues are on the map - Geographic Profiling with Dr Kim Rossmo

The clues are on the map - Geographic Profiling with Dr Kim Rossmo

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit robertmurphy.substack.comNB - This is the same episode as the bonus podcast interview with Dr Rossmo - just in-vision!

Dec 13, 2023 • 3:37

Manhunt: Catching The Ghoul. (Operation Lynx)

Manhunt: Catching The Ghoul. (Operation Lynx)

For fourteen years, a man described as looking like ‘a Ghoul’ terrorised a huge area across the North and East Midlands of England. Detectives thought he was behind at least seven attacks on women.In one case, he even superglued his victim’s eyes shut so she wouldn’t see him.He was forensically-aware and left few clues at the attack-sites.Desperate, three forces combined to run Operation Lynx. And they hired Dr Kim Rossmo who was a mathematician-turned-cop from Vancouver.How could the new scienc

Dec 12, 2023 • 43:21

'Naked Villainy' - solving the cold case of Dr Brenda Page

'Naked Villainy' - solving the cold case of Dr Brenda Page

Isla Traquair, the TV presenter and journalist, has made history with her ground-breaking podcast ‘The Storyteller: Naked Villainy.’ In this interview she tells Behind The Crimes host Robert Murphy about the case of murdered geneticist Dt Brenda Page, how her killing was overshadowed by her work as an escort and how Isla has been granted audio recordings from a British trial for the first time to produce her podcast.You can find ‘The Storyteller Naked Villainy’ here: https://audioboom.com/posts/

Nov 28, 2023 • 1:01:14

I was an Agent Provocateur

I was an Agent Provocateur

In the 1970s, the city of Bristol was terrorised by a man nicknamed ‘The Clifton Rapist.’ The stranger-attacker assaulted seven women over a two-year period. PC Chris Gould suggested a daring honeytrap: Avon and Somerset Police should set up an innovative undercover sting, using young rookie police officers as decoys to catch him.This was a monumental gamble, putting the lives of their youngest, least-experienced female officers on the line.But 12 women volunteered.As the weeks passed, with no f

Nov 14, 2023 • 46:30

Deadly Deception: Box set reissue

Deadly Deception: Box set reissue

If you’ve found the ITV drama The Long Shadow compelling, you’ll be fascinated by this box-set podcast.My mini series, Deadly Deception - about ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ Peter Sutcliffe - was so well-regarded it was promoted globally by Substack.It features an interview with former Det Chief Superintendent Chris Gregg. Chris has a unique story having worked on both the 1970s ‘Ripper’ inquiry and then brought the ‘Wearside Jack’ hoaxer to justice more than two decades later.Chris is a character in tonig

Nov 6, 2023 • 1:54:37

'The Long Shadow' - the making of a true crime drama

'The Long Shadow' - the making of a true crime drama

## Subscribe at robertmurphy.substack.com to see trailers, video interviews and images from the drama. ##How do you dramatise for television the story of Britain’s most notorious serial killer? How can you devise and write compelling scenes while remaining faithful to the facts, respectful to his victims and mindful of the families left behind?Behind the Crimes is an independent reader-supported publication. To receive bonus features including video interviews, images and long-reads, please con

Oct 17, 2023 • 45:57

The Spy, his Wife, her Lovers... and the Dead-Letter Drop

The Spy, his Wife, her Lovers... and the Dead-Letter Drop

Subscribe for free: robertmurphy.substack.comFor ten years, a spy operated in the midst of suburban Yorkshire. Secrets were passed to Soviet Bloc agents about Britain’s V-bomber’s radar-jamming device. But was the real spy the prime suspect - a Royal Air Force engineer? Or was the main player his beautiful, unfaithful wife?The case was finally solved after Det Sgt Michael Burdis discovered the operation’s ‘dead-letter drop’ - the location where messages were passed between spy and handlers. In t

Oct 10, 2023 • 37:14

Cold Case: Solved from a single sheet of paper

Cold Case: Solved from a single sheet of paper

What does it take to be a cold case detective? How do you solve a case from the past when all the files have vanished?All Julie and Gary had was one sheet of paper: a laboratory submission form.Nothing else.They didn’t know the details of the attack, who the victim was, what or where it happened. But by methodically reviewing the case Julie and Gary were able to rebuild the investigation.There was a DNA hit linking the attack to another unsolved crime scene.And the attack had been so terrifying,

Jul 4, 2023 • 54:54

Love triangle: Fatal Attraction

Love triangle: Fatal Attraction

In the early hours of October 4th 1922, a woman who was about to become Britain’s most notorious murder suspect walked home from the theatre with her husband.Edith Thompson was 28, she was beautiful, had a career, a good social life… and a lover 8 years her junior.Freddy Bywaters leapt from the shadows and stabbed her husband to death. Edith was terrified. She didn’t want her husband dead, she hadn’t held the knife.But why did detectives charge her with murder?In what ways did her love letters s

Jun 13, 2023 • 36:45

Unlocking the murder of Jenny King

Unlocking the murder of Jenny King

In October 1998, Jenny King vanished. The 22-year-old had been on a night out at a club near her home in Kingswood near Bristol, in the South West of England.Police realised the office worker was in a good, stable relationship. She had no enemies. And no-one would want to harm her.But a friend of Jenny’s came forward. In the hour before Jenny disappeared, she had said something about a ‘psycho ex boyfriend’ being in the nightspot.Behind the Crimes is a reader-supported publication. To see eviden

May 30, 2023 • 1:04:26

The Secrets of the Nuclear Bunker

The Secrets of the Nuclear Bunker

It was the occasional smell of weed which made detectives suspicious at first. Then a mystery delivery alerted police to the former nuclear bunker in the middle of the English countryside.But when detectives mounted a raid on the underground fortress, they had no idea if they could get through the atomic blast doors. And when they did - what would they find?What followed was a moment of high-tension as the team had just seconds to catch an organised crime group in the act. And detectives uncover

May 2, 2023 • 55:07

Deadly Deception Ep 3 - Between two slides of glass

Deadly Deception Ep 3 - Between two slides of glass

West Yorkshire, 2004.Chris Gregg is now at the height of his career - a detective chief superintendent establishing West Yorkshire Police’s elite Homicide and Major Enquiry Team.The next few months are busy.But at the back of his mind is unfinished business: tracking down Wearside Jack, the Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer from nearly 30 years previously.Chris has failed to persuade senior officers to re-investigate the case over the years.Now he is the senior officer and what he says goes.But scientists

Apr 18, 2023 • 33:46

Deadly Deception: Ep 2 - Wearside Jack

Deadly Deception: Ep 2 - Wearside Jack

June 1979. The tape recorded by the man known as ‘Wearside Jack’ is played to the Yorkshire Ripper team.‘I could feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck’ says Chris Gregg - a detective constable at the time - as the chilling Sunderland accent fills the room.The inquiry pivots.Unbeknown to lead detective George Oldfield, the lines of inquiry have already got the serial killer in the net. ‘But there was a hole in the net’ says Chris.Three separate investigative strategies have highlighte

Apr 18, 2023 • 35:28

Deadly Deception: Ep 1 - The letters

Deadly Deception: Ep 1 - The letters

March 1978. Britain’s biggest manhunt. West Yorkshire Police detectives are desperate to find the man who has killed seven women. The man nicknamed ‘The Yorkshire Ripper.’Det Con Chris Gregg is a rookie officer in the incident room when a letter arrives, claiming to be from the serial killer.The handwriting is spidery. The language is taunting.Chris doubts that it is from the genuine killer, but a series of catastrophic coincidences persuade the lead investigator, Asst Ch Constable George Oldfie

Apr 17, 2023 • 38:52

The Dating App Killer

The Dating App Killer

In June 2014, Anthony Walgate was found dead in a street in Barking, East London. The Metropolitan Police Service said there were no suspicious circumstances: it was another sad overdose. But the 23-year-old fashion student’s mother, Sarah Sak, and his friends refused to believe detectives.Then, months later, two more young men were found dead nearby. Still, the police refused to link the deaths of Gabriel Kovari and Daniel Whitworth with Anthony’s.Detectives were suspicious of Stephen Port, a c

Apr 4, 2023 • 1:00:43

Fantasy To Kill

Fantasy To Kill

Roy and Joan Clarke were found dead in their home in Melksham, Wiltshire, in December 2004. They’d been stabbed in a ‘ritualistic-style’ attack.Det Ch Supt Paul Howlett’s suspicions fall on one man. But does his prime suspect have the opportunity to kill the loving parents?And a deep-dive of the suspect’s computer reveals a sinister fantasy to kill.Twenty years on, and Roy Clarke’s daughter is still seeking answers.Click here to subscribe to Behind the Crimes. This is a public episode. If you wo

Apr 4, 2023 • 1:01:37

Behind The Crimes trailer

Behind The Crimes trailer

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Mar 19, 2023 • 2:21

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