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Walter Chadwick: A Rival Of Jack The Ripper?
Jack the Ripper was the Devil incarnate. He rose to notoriety from among the countless demons who preyed on the poor and vulnerable of Victorian London. But whereas Jack was driven by unexplained, dark urges, his contemporaries killed and mutilated their victims in the course of more mundane crimes.
These were the robbers and housebreakers who plagued the metropolis. They were quick to resort to violence and the homicide rate soared. London's police struggled to contain an epidemic of lawlessness unrivalled until the rise of the gangsters in 1920s America.
Two cases, in particular, horrified the citizens of London. Both were senseless acts of violence, committed by a psychopath who clearly killed for the sake of killing. One man was suspected of both murders. But would the Metropolitan Police find enough evidence to hang him?
Listen to "Jack The Ripper's Rivals: Did Walter Chadwick Get Away With Murder – Twice?" on Spreaker.
Dr Buck Ruxton: The Jigsaw Murderer
A peaceful country walk turns into a waking nightmare for a young woman and her brother when they stumble across parcels of dismembered human remains at a Scottish beauty spot. The evidence leads to the door of a charismatic and well-liked general practitioner 100 miles away in Lancaster.
Dr Buck Ruxton's patients loved their attentive, if slightly eccentric, physician. Born in India, Ruxton changed his name and cultivated the air of an English gentleman. Tragically, his gentlemanly behaviour didn't extend to his wife, Isabella, or Mary Jane Rogerson, the nanny of the Ruxton's three children.
During the autumn of 1935, newspaper reports of the jigsaw murders held readers spellbound – in horror. Ruxton's ghastly deeds turned out to be significant as well as sensational. For the first time in English legal history, forensic science tipped the scales of justice and sent a man to the gallows.
Credits
'Who's Been Polishing The Sun?' performed by Ambrose and His Orchestra, Decca Records, 1935.
'Lovely To Look At' performed by Eddy Duchin (vocals by Lew Sherwood), Victor Records, 1935.
Listen to "Buck Ruxton: The Jigsaw Murderer" on Spreaker.
Dorothea Waddingham: A Miscarriage Of Justice?
12,000 protestors gathered outside Winson Green Prison in Birmingham on the morning of Dorothea Waddingham's execution, 16 April 1936.
The 'nurse' had poisoned two vulnerable women in her care to fraudulently inherit their estate. Despite Waddingham being a mother of five, including a six-month-old baby, appeals for her death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment failed. "Stop this mother murder" chanted the protestors. The execution went ahead anyway.
Did Dorothea Waddingham get a fair trial? Was this a miscarriage of justice? Join Psycho Killer's investigative team as we go in search of answers!
Listen to "Dorothea Waddingham: A Miscarriage Of Justice?" on Spreaker.
The Nottingham Nursing Home Murders
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 an elderly mother and her disabled daughter in Nottingham stand as 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. Former homicide detective Jacques Morrell tells the story.
Listen to "The Nottingham Nursing Home Murders" on Spreaker.
Kosei Homi: Japan's Haiku Killer
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
Acknowledgement: ABC News Australia
Listen to "Kosei Homi: The Haiku Killer" on Spreaker.
Dr Sam: Who Murdered Marilyn Sheppard?
'In every dream home a heartache.' Neurosurgeon Sam Shepphard had everything: a glittering career; a beautiful wife; a seven-year-old son, and another baby on the way.
Then, one night, the Sheppard family's world was torn apart. Somebody broke into their lakefront residence near Cleveland Ohio and battered pregnant Marilyn Sheppard to death while she slept.
The finger of suspicion soon turned to her husband, despite his protests that a bushy-haired intruder was responsible.
Was Dr Sam a homicidal maniac, or the victim of a miscarriage of justice? The Psycho Killer team investigates!
Listen to "Dr Sam: The Mysterious Murder Of Marilyn Sheppard" on Spreaker.
Arthur Warren Waite: The Deadly Dentist
He was suave, sophisticated, and a psycho killer through and through. Arthur Warren Waite's get-rich-quick scheme involved the systematic murders of his parents-in-law, his wife, and any of her relatives who got in the way.
A conman par excellence, Waite was as audacious as he was ruthless. He concocted a mysterious alter ego; an inner demon he blamed for his homicidal ways. But could his jaw-dropping legal defence save him from the high-voltage caress of 'La Chaise'? That was for the judge and jury to decide.
Step back in time to New York in its heyday – and the dastardly deeds of the Deadly Dentist!
Listen to "Arthur Warren Waite: The Deadly Dentist" on Spreaker.
Political Murders: Are Assassins Psychos Too?
What aspect of a fervent belief drives a believer to commit murder? We study two cases – Sirhan Sirhan who shot to death Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, and Patrick Magee, who blew up the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984.
Magee was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) targeting Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Sirhan was motivated by a personal, political obsession. Were there similarities between the two assassins? And can we explain their behaviour as psychotic?
Acknowledgements: ABC News Archive
William Sheward – The Misoginyst Murderer of Tabernacle Street
If you thought Jack the Ripper was the most fiendish killer of the Victorian era, think again. William Sheward's crime horrified the country twice – the first time when he committed it, the second when he confessed.
This is a tale of a psychopath who developed a conscience – a despicable villain dogged by guilt.
It took more than a decade for the full horror of his crime to catch up with him. When it did, he bought himself a first-class ticket to the gallows. And a grim mystery was solved.
Advisory: graphic content
Listen to "William Sheward: The Misogynistic Monster Of Tabernacle Street" on Spreaker.
Steve Wright – The Suffolk Strangler
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.
Listen to "Steve Wright: The Suffolk Strangler" on Spreaker.
Matthew Ross White – The Aussie Croc Killer
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.
Listen to "Matthew White: The Aussie Croc Killer" on Spreaker.
Paul Stewart Hutchinson – Convicted By DNA After 25 Years
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 Morell. He was part of the team that collared Hutchinson thanks to advances in DNA testing — and an incredible coincidence.
Joseph DeAngelo Jr: The Golden State Killer
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.
Listen to "Joseph DeAngelo Jr: The Golden State Killer" on Spreaker.
Tony Hobson: The Psycho Biker
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.
Tony Hobson (L) Andrew Watson (third from L)
Listen to "Tony Hobson: The Psycho Biker" on Spreaker.
Hussein, Couzens: Death Penalty Is Not The Answer
By Jacques Morrell
I have the greatest respect for Bob Taylor, but I disagree with his call for a return of capital punishment. Our revulsion and anger that a fellow human being like Danyal Hussein can do such a senseless crime, is natural.
It doesn’t surprise me that in polls about crime and punishment, the majority of respondents wish for harsher punishments and for extreme murder cases, they support the death penalty.
The argument for it stems from us wishing for two things, revenge on behalf of the victim and not having any sympathy for the offender. It’s a natural reaction but for me, it lacks depth. Read more
Join the debate on Twitter: @PsychoKillerPo
Exclusive: "Hang Danyal Hussein and Wayne Couzens!" Says Former Homicide Chief
Psycho killers Danyal Hu
ssein 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 who 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.
Listen to "Hang Danyal Hussein and Wayne Couzens!" Says Former Homicide Chief" on Spreaker.
Comment: When Is A 'Prop' Gun Not A Prop Gun?
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.
Special Episode: The Murder Of Sir David Amess MP
In the aftermath of the murder of the Member of Parliament for Southend West, Jacques and Simon discuss the implications of the politician's murder for policing in the United Kingdom.
Listen to "The Murder of Sir David Amess MP" on Spreaker.
Robert Black: The Prolific Paedophile Child Killer
There's a special place in hell reserved for criminals like Robert Black.
He was convicted of abducting, raping and murdering four little girls, but he was suspected of many more offences.
Black, a delivery driver, roamed Britain and Europe looking for his defenceless quarry. What the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley started, Black finished. He exploded an age of innocence, ushering in an era of anxiety.
Robert Black represented, in the words of his trial judge, "a man at his most vile".
He was jailed for life and died in prison without revealing the extent of his crimes. Some say his case is the best argument for the return of capital punishment in the United Kingdom.
Advisory: This episode contains disturbing descriptions of death and violence.
Acknowledgements: BBC Crimewatch UK; BBC Look North; BBC TV Documentaries; ITV Central News; ITN/ITV News; ITV Night Stalker
Listen to "Robert Black: The Paedophile Child Killer" on Spreaker.
Kenneth Noye: The Road Rage Psycho Killer
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 watched the cop bleed out.
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 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.
Listen to the shocking, true story of Kenneth Noye, a nutter who uses lethal force to settle petty disputes.
Listen to "Kenneth Noye: The Road Rage Psycho Killer" on Spreaker.
Are You A Psychopath? Take The Test To Find Out
Welcome to Psycho Killer: Shocking True-Crime Stories
Welcome to Psycho Killer. If you’re obsessed with authentic true-crime stories you’ve come to the right place. Psycho Killer is a podcast made by real homicide investigators for true-crime connoisseurs like you.
Psycho Killer combines a detective’s powers of investigation with a journalist’s nose for a story to bring you insights and exposés from the darkest corners of the human psyche.
Our British sleuths pore over the evidence, challenge contemporary decisions and take nothing for granted. We reveal what really happens in a murder hunt — the triumphs and the tragedies.
So go ahead. Get closer. We'll see you on the dark side.
Wayne Couzens: The Killer Cop Caged For Life
Couzens was a sexual deviant. His colleagues found him weird. Women thought he was creepy. But somehow he managed to get a job with the Met's elite diplomatic protection squad.
Couzens 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.
But his erstwhile colleagues were onto him. Couzens confessed and on 30 September 2021, a judge told him he'd spend the rest of his life behind bars.
In this podcast, Jacques Morrell, a former homicide detective, reacts to the case and its fallout.
Beverley Allitt: The Killer Nurse
Between February and April 1991, Beverley Gail Allitt attacked at least 13 babies and children in her care, murdering four of them.
She poisoned or smothered her victims. One, a baby girl, had the life crushed out of her. Allitt squeezed her tiny chest so hard her ribs broke.
And yet for weeks, nobody at Grantham Hospital was able to pin these awful crimes on the killer nurse, despite an avalanche of fatal and near-fatal incidents where Allitt was the only common factor.
Why wasn't she stopped sooner? How were warning signs overlooked? What drove her to harm the defenceless? What was going on inside the mind of this monster?
And – with her 30-year jail term due to end in 2023 – could Beverley Allitt ever be released from Rampton secure psychiatric hospital?
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.
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