Crime World

CHESHIRE, England 1996, Howard Ainsworth violently bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer before taking his own life. Three years later in the same town, Donald Ward beat his wife to death with a ceramic hot water bottle before using the shards of glass to take his own life. At least that’s what the police report concluded. In 2020, Cheshire coroner Stephanie Davies re-examined the deaths, and other similar cases, and concluded that they were not murder-suicides, but rather the work of an enigmatic serial killer who would go on to be dubbed 'The Silver Killer'.Today, journalist and author David Collins tells Crime World’s Clodagh Meaney about the inconsistent crime scenes, the report that rocked Cheshire police and the hunt for the serial killer you’ve never heard of.This episode is graphic in nature and discusses suicidal ideation, listener discretion is advised.

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

When the Criminal Assets Bureau was set up in 1996 after the brutal murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was its first target. A known drug dealer and with a string of convictions, Bomber was then running a lucrative business along with his cousin Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh. They were dealing whatever they could get their hands on and making a pretty penny as a result. Hatchet would be shot dead in Marbella in 2014, a hit understood to have been sanctioned by Kavanagh and organised by his then business partner, Daniel Kinahan.But when David Byrne took a bullet meant for Daniel at the Regency Hotel in February 2016 — it changed everything and cemented a blood bond between Kinahan and Kavanagh that would set them in the sights of international law enforcement. Now, in a Crime World special, we reveal the rise and spectacular fall of Bomber's empire and why he became one of Ireland's most-feared mob bosses.

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

When the Criminal Assets Bureau was set up in 1996 after the brutal murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was its first target. A known drug dealer and with a string of convictions, Bomber was then running a lucrative business along with his cousin Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh. They were dealing whatever they could get their hands on and making a pretty penny as a result. Hatchet would be shot dead in Marbella in 2014, a hit understood to have been sanctioned by Kavanagh and organised by his then business partner, Daniel Kinahan.But when David Byrne took a bullet meant for Daniel at the Regency Hotel in February 2016 — it changed everything and cemented a blood bond between Kinahan and Kavanagh that would set them in the sights of international law enforcement. Now, in a Crime World special, we reveal the rise and spectacular fall of Bomber's empire and why he became one of Ireland's most-feared mob bosses.

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

When the Criminal Assets Bureau was set up in 1996 after the brutal murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was its first target. A known drug dealer and with a string of convictions, Bomber was then running a lucrative business along with his cousin Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh. They were dealing whatever they could get their hands on and making a pretty penny as a result. Hatchet would be shot dead in Marbella in 2014, a hit understood to have been sanctioned by Kavanagh and organised by his then business partner, Daniel Kinahan.But when David Byrne took a bullet meant for Daniel at the Regency Hotel in February 2016 — it changed everything and cemented a blood bond between Kinahan and Kavanagh that would set them in the sights of international law enforcement. Now, in a Crime World special, we reveal the rise and spectacular fall of Bomber's empire and why he became one of Ireland's most-feared mob bosses.

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

DAY seven of the cross examination of Jonathan Dowdall came to its conclusion, as it was put to him that he had a role in a botched gun attack on the Kinahan mob at the Red Cow Hotel months before the Regency, and that he was trading bombs for protection with dissident Republicans in the North.Dowdall continues to deny any wrongdoing, save for talking nonsense and taking tablets while under stress.Today, Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald as the Regency trial draws to a close for Christmas and a defiant Dowdall appeals his four-year sentence for facilitating the murder of David Byrne.

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

Jonathan Dowdall’s evidence to the Special Criminal Court is now centred on his own 10-hours of bugged conversation in a car with Gerry Hutch.Dowdall is flagging in the witness box after six gruelling days under cross examination, yet, he still manages to do battle with Brendan Grehan SC, Hutch’s defence barrister.Nicola Tallant talks with Niall Donald about 'mass murder, bomb making' and the '12 gang members' he says carried out the Regency.

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

THE takedown of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh can be directly linked to a decrease in the gangland murder rate in Ireland, the country's most-senior officer fighting organised crime has said.In a documentary to be shown on Virgin Media on Wednesday night, Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland says Kavanagh was the most significant conviction in his 33 year career.Nicola Tallant chats with crime correspondent Stephen Breen about the Dublin criminal who rose to become the second most important figure in the Kinahan Cartel and who ruled through fear and murder for decades.

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

THE Special Criminal Court watched two faces of State witness Jonathan Dowdall during his fifth day under cross examination, as tapes of his arrest were played and he was asked to comment on the lies he told gardai back in 2016.The complexity of Dowdall's character played out on the video recordings and in the answers he gave from the witness box, where he has said Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch told him he shot David Byrne.Today, Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald after another dramatic week at the Regency Trial.

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

Jonathan Dowdall watched from the witness box at the Special Criminal Court at videos of his arrest from 2016 on firearms offences, where he told gardai that Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch never told him anything about the Regency Hotel.Dowdall was also played tapes where he says Hutch is 'very private' and not a friend of his and reveals that 'The Monk' wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell him even if he was involvedToday Nicola Tallant and Niall Donald discuss Day 4 of the gruelling cross examination of the former Sinn Fein councillor.

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

Jonathan Dowdall said he wanted to make stories more "beefy" for Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch and was only trying to impress him with tales of bomb making, ordering a shootout at his Uncle Jimmy's home and pointing out possible kidnap opportunities on their doomed trip north.Dowdall also told the Special Criminal Court that he was disgusted with himself on the bugged conversations recorded by gardai, saying that none of what he said was true, that he talked too much, and when there were uncomfortable silences he filled it with bravado and pub talk.Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald and discusses the Regency Hotel murder Trial and what the witness will say next.

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