In August 2002, two ten-year-old best friends left their homes in the quiet Cambridgeshire town of Soham to buy some sweets. It was a warm summer evening during the school holidays, and the sort of trip they’d made plenty of times before. But when Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman didn’t return home, a simple errand quickly turned into one of the biggest missing persons searches Britain had ever seen. Two little girls had seemingly vanished without a trace.

Holly and Jessica had grown up side by side. They went to school together, played together, and spent most days wandering around with the kind of freedom kids in tight knit communities often have. But one evening, something went terribly wrong. Within days, the entire country was watching as the search unfolded, and at the centre of it all stood a local school caretaker who claimed he might have been the last person to see the girls alive.

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The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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In the early hours of the summer Bank Holiday weekend in 2016, a young man lay unconscious on a quiet street in Blackheath, south east London. Just minutes earlier, he’d been laughing with friends, chatting to strangers, waiting for a taxi home. Then a single punch knocked him to the ground. Within 24 hours, he was gone.

Oliver Dearlove was 30 years old. He had a solid career in banking, a long-term girlfriend he adored, and future plans for a house, a baby, and a big birthday trip to Las Vegas. He was the sort of lad who avoided trouble rather than invited it, yet on a night out that should have ended with nothing more dramatic than some food and a hangover, everything changed in seconds.

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Disclaimer:

The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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In September 2023, police officers walked into house on Pump Hill in the village of Great Baddow, Essex. Standing in front of them was 35-year-old Virginia McCullough, who appeared calm and composed. But within moments, she was telling them her parents were dead, and that their bodies were still inside the house.

For four years, John and Lois McCullough had seemingly vanished. Family was told they’d moved to the seaside. Friends were told they were unwell. Birthday cards and text messages still arrived. Pensions were still being paid. To the outside world, it looked like two elderly parents enjoying a quiet retirement, but behind drawn curtains, a very different reality had been sitting undisturbed since June 2019.

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Disclaimer:

The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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In this episode, I’m joined by two former Crime Scene Investigators, Angela Davies and Dionne Watson, the hosts of The Crime Scene Insiders Podcast. Between them, they’ve worked countless real-life investigations - the kind you don’t see neatly wrapped up in 40 minutes on television.

We talk about what crime shows actually get right (if anything) and the many things they get completely wrong. From forensic myths and unrealistic lab results to the realities of working long hours inside taped-off properties, Ange and Dee take us under the barrier tape and into the real world of CSI work.

We also discuss some of the more unusual and unexpected discoveries they’ve made at crime scenes, moments that have stayed with them long after the evidence bags were sealed. If you’ve ever wondered what really happens once the police cordon goes up, this episode gives you an honest look behind it.

Check out 'The Crime Scene Insiders', a true crime podcast with a CSI twist, that will take you under the barrier tape of real criminal investigations:

Podcast Feed | The Crime Scene Insiders

Facebook | The Crime Scene Insiders

Instagram | @thecrimesceneinsiders

YouTube | @TheCrimeSceneInsiders

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The views and opinions expressed by my guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the podcast or its host. This episode is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only.

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On May 12, 2020, during the first Covid lockdown, police were called to a quiet stretch of road in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Officers had already stopped a car for breaching lockdown rules and issued a fixed penalty notice. But just a short distance away, sitting at the side of the road in the darkness, were two suitcases. Inside were human remains.

At the centre of this story are two women living in a shared house in Lozells, Birmingham - Phoenix Netts and Gareeca Gordon. Phoenix had taken Gordon under her wing, and to the outside world, they were simply friends sharing accommodation during a national crisis. But behind closed doors, tensions were rising, boundaries were being crossed, and one of them was becoming increasingly afraid.

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The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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Fifty-two years have passed since Donald Neilson committed his first known murder - that of 54-year-old Donald Skepper on 15 February 1974. What followed was a violent campaign that would stretch across four English counties and culminate in one of the most infamous kidnappings in British criminal history.

In the mid-1970s, sub-postmasters were targeted in a series of calculated and ruthless attacks. Then, in January 1975, 17-year-old Lesley Whittle was abducted and held for ransom - a crime that gripped the nation and ended in devastating tragedy.

This episode revisits my November 2024 coverage of the case, now re-released from the archives. It’s a story of lives stolen, families devastated, and the relentless manhunt that brought one of Britain’s most notorious serial offenders to justice.

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Disclaimer:

The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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On a quiet Monday evening in May 2018, emergency services were called to a large Victorian house on a busy street in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough. At first, it was reported as a burglary gone wrong. A front door left open. A woman found unconscious on the living room floor. But very quickly, it became clear that this was something else entirely.

At the centre of this story are Jessica and Mitesh Patel. To the outside world, they were a respectable, hard-working couple. Married since 2009, both were pharmacists well known in their local community. On the surface, their life looked settled, even idyllic. Yet behind closed doors, secrets were piling up, tensions were building, and a double life was quietly unravelling.

If you’re experiencing domestic abuse and feel frightened of, or controlled by, a partner, an ex-partner or family member, it’s important to remember that it’s not your fault, and there is no shame in seeking help. Free, confidential support and advice is available to victims and their concerned family members or friends, 24 hours a day:

England | Refuge | 0808 2000 247

Scotland | SDAFMH | 0800 027 1234

Wales | Live Fear Free | 0808 80 10 100

Northern Ireland | DSA | 0808 802 1414

UK-wide | Men’s Advice Line | 0808 801 0327

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Disclaimer:

The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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More than 25 years after the crime was committed, a man already serving a whole life order for five murders has pleaded guilty to killing again. This admission dates back to 1999, years before Ipswich became a crime scene, and years before his name was known to the public. This afternoon, serial murderer Steven Wright stood at The Old Bailey once more, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for a murder that lay unresolved for decades.

This is the story of a person whose violence didn’t begin where most people think it did. Long before the discovery of were Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls, and Paula Clennell in and around Ipswich, there were warning signs, near misses, and unanswered questions. Some of them were reported at the time. Others only make sense in hindsight. But together, they paint a picture of behaviour that was escalating quietly, went largely unnoticed, and was ultimately catastrophic.

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Disclaimer:

The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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In January 1977, a quiet Manchester neighbourhood was shaken by an act of sudden and brutal violence. Annie Walsh, a woman described by those who knew her as kind and unassuming, was found murdered inside her own flat. The scene left behind was one of extreme force, but very little clarity.

What followed would become one of the most troubling chapters in British criminal justice. A teenage boy would be arrested, tried, and convicted of Annie’s murder, but years later, serious questions would emerge - not just about the evidence used to secure that conviction, but about whether the right person was ever in the dock at all.

If you have any information about the murder of Annie Walsh, please contact Greater Manchester Police on 101, or reach out anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Disclaimer:

The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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In July 2001, the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio on a remote stretch of Australia’s Stuart Highway became one of the most high-profile missing person cases in modern criminal history. The case drew international attention, sparked an enormous police investigation across the Australian Outback, and would later result in a murder conviction - despite the fact that Peter’s body has never been recovered.

At the heart of the case is the survival of Peter’s girlfriend, Joanne Lees, whose account of what happened that night has been scrutinised, challenged, and debated for more than two decades. From questions around forensic evidence and memory, to the treatment of victims and the role of public opinion, the Falconio case continues to divide opinion and raise uncomfortable questions about justice, truth, and how certainty is reached when key answers remain missing.

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Disclaimer:

The case discussed in this podcast episode is real and represents the worst day in many people's lives. I aim to cover such stories with a victim-focused approach, using information from publicly available sources. While I strive for accuracy, some details may vary depending on the sources used. You can find the sources for each episode on my website. Due to the nature of the content, listener discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.