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 incentive to find new customers and so the market doesn't develop. So what happened is it becomes a pyramid scheme. If you're organised crime, you want to find new customers, you find someone who's addicted and you say, ‘Look, if you find five more customers and you sell to them, they'll pay for your habit’ and the pyramid scheme explodes.’

Neil’s views are controversial views. But they are compelling. In this interview Neil describes:

* How the world used to experience two competing drug policies: The American System and The British System - with the American System winning.

* How following criminalisation in the 1960s, addicts fell into the hands of organised crime.

* How some schemes decriminalising drugs have worked in recent years.

To find out more about Neil and to get copies of his books ‘Good Cop, Bad War’ and ‘Drug Wars’ click here: https://www.neilwoods.net/

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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 gaps facts leave behind.

What really happened on November 7th 1974?

This is a compendium episode - a trilogy re-released to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Sandra’s murder.

In the first two episodes, I’ve interviewed the brilliant author Laura Thompson - who has written a wonderful book A Different Class of Murder about the run up and aftermath of the killing.

And in episode three, I speak with screenwriter George Kay about the nanny who could have been on-rota that night, managed to swap shifts - and cheated death.

Yet Christabel Boyce met a dreadful end a decade later - leading some to believe there was a curse of the Lucan nannies. George has a personal connection with this second tragedy.

You can find out more about Laura, her writing and her books here:

http://www.laurathompson.co.uk/

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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 having knives held at his throat?

And why does he now believe undercover policing should only be used in the rarest and most extreme cases?

Neil Woods has written two thought-provoking books. Links to them and him are here:

https://www.neilwoods.net/

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In 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 family in 1959, how Capote spent six years writing his masterpiece and its legacy on true crime and non-fiction literature.

You can get a copy of In Cold Blood here.

You can get a copy of Gerald Clarke’s Capote here.

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Maxim 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 warning… if True Crime is your thing, this episode may not be for you. But fiction fans may find it fascinating.

But Maxim speaks in detail and depth about how to publish crime, the state of the book industry and fiction trends which have come and gone.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com/subscribe

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 first arrested a mysterious figure, known as Mr B.

But then they turned their attention to Billie-Jo’s own foster father.

He had just a three-minute window to have killed the 13-year-old. Could he have done it? And why?

What followed was a roller-coaster of a police inquiry, prosecution and series of trials.

For her series ‘Who Killed Billie-Jo’ podcaster Naomi Channell has gone back to the schoolgirl’s friends, family and the inquiry team to find out more about what happened.

You can listen to her series here:

To learn more about Naomi and her podcast, click here:

https://linktr.ee/realtruecrimepodcast

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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 about Jackie here: www.jackiekabler.com

@officialjackiekabler and @jackiekabler

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By 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 changed her life.

After retiring, Jackie has continued to work with television firms. She advises TV drama producers and is an expert used for crime analysis on shows and podcasts.

She also works in prison to rehabilitate killers. In this episode she speaks about her work helping to reform murderers: how its done and the successes and failures she has encountered.

Jackie’s book is The Real Prime Suspect. You can grab a copy here.

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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 book is The Real Prime Suspect. You can grab a copy here.

Please rate and review Behind The Crimes wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com/subscribe

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 Lynda’s final Jane Tennison book, Whole Life Sentence which takes readers to the detective’s life before Prime Suspect.

In this episode, Lynda talks Tennison, Jackie Malton, the importance of grounding her fiction in fact and research.

Whole Life Sentence is released on July 4th 2024. You can grab a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whole-Life-Sentence-pulse-pounding-Detective-ebook/dp/B0CSTSGNS8

To learn more about Lynda, click here:

https://lyndalaplante.com/

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com/subscribe