The Diamond King | Telegraph Investigates

When Julie Ward vanishes mysteriously in the Masai Mara in 1988, her father begins a hunt for answers that stretches from a safari lodge in Kenya to MI6’s headquarters in London. The case was never solved.

Nearly four decades on, The Telegraph Deputy Investigations Editor Katherine Rushton pours over classified documents, interviews the people tangled in the case, and travels to Kenya to try to understand who tried to stop her murder being solved.

What happened to Julie Ward, why did the Kenyan authorities try to cover it up, and why were MI6 agents involved?

Murder in the Masai Mara: Coming Friday 28th November.

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When the charred remains of a young British woman were found in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in 1988, the Kenyan authorities tried to convince her father – and the public – that she had been killed by wild animals.

It soon became clear that 28-year-old Julie Ward had been murdered. But no one was ever convicted.

This is the story of how the crime was covered up by the Kenyan authorities, and of the Ward family’s belief that the Metropolitan Police did the same. Plus, of newly emerged evidence which puts the son of Kenya’s former president in the frame for Julie’s murder.

In this episode of The Daily T Investigates, the Telegraph’s Katherine Rushton revisits the cold case as part of a months-long investigation.

Read: Former president’s son implicated in safari murder of British woman: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/09/presidents-son-implicated-safari-murder-julie-ward/

Producer: Lilian Fawcett

Executive Producers: Louisa Wells, Cara McGoogan and Venetia Rainey

Mixed by Elliot Lampitt

Studio Operator: Meghan Searle

Original music by John Cadigan

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Peace walls, segregated schools and old enemies living on the same street. Cara returns to Northern Ireland to see how, today, The Troubles are far from forgotten history. A victim of Stakeknife breaks his silence and, like so many others, he wants to know the truth about his father’s murder. As her investigation draws to a close, Cara examines the legacy of Britain’s terror spy network and asks, has justice been served – or is the state getting away with murder?

Archive in this episode: Getty, ITN, PA, Infowars, BBC, RTÉ

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan 

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A family forced to flee abroad. A young soldier killed by a car bomb. Two teenagers gunned down in a mobile shop. As Cara exposes the cold-bloodedness of both sides in the Troubles, she finds out the extent of the state's lethal spy network. Bereaved families hunt for justice, and the truth is shrouded in secrecy as killers walk the streets.

Archive in this episode: RTE, Getty

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan 

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

IRA spycatcher Freddie Scappaticci has been outed as FRU agent Stakeknife – but he’s not going to disappear without a fight. The British state takes unprecedented measures to make sure their spy gets away with murder. Cara teams up with veteran reporter John Ware to reveal just how high up the cover-up goes. Their reporting leads to a key organisation that has so far remained in the shadows: MI5.

Archive in this episode: Getty, Parliament TV

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan 

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

Brian Nelson is finally in the dock for his campaign of murderous violence, but will he face justice? The question sends shivers through the British government, and the answer causes even more of a stir. But Brian is just the tip of the iceberg – there’s a new battle, shocking revelations, and a landmark apology to come. 

Archive in this episode: Getty, ITN, UK Parliament

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan 

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

Cara tracks down soldiers from the covert unit of the British army at the heart of her investigation. As these people who handled spies in the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries spill their secrets, it becomes clear that Agent 6137 and Scap are just the tip of the iceberg. Betrayal, sex, murder. Was it really all for the greater good?

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan 

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

The IRA creates a new unit to root out informers – or touts – and kill them. A man known as Scap quickly rises to the top of this ‘Nutting Squad’ and builds up a fearsome reputation for cruelty. But he is hiding a dark secret – and the implications of the truth being exposed are enormous.

Archive in this episode: Carlton TV, ITV, BBC, Getty, ITN, RTÉ

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan 

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

Facing life in prison for murder, a key loyalist makes a surprising confession: he is Agent 6137. When he targeted people for the UDA to assassinate, he was also working for the British. The daughter of one of his victims hunts for the truth about his life as a spy – but as she and Cara dig deeper, they find documents are missing and proof is hard to pin down. 

Archive in this episode: Getty, ITN, BBC

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan

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

Top detectives race to untangle a web of lies behind the murders. But just as they’re about to arrest a key loyalist suspect, their secure office containing top-secret evidence goes up in flames. They hear whispers that a clandestine unit of the British army could be behind the sabotage. All to protect one man – a man Cara reveals is a vicious fighter with a shadowy past. 

Bed of Lies, Series 3: A taxi driver is shot dead in front of his children. A high-security room goes up in flames. Then terrorists are unmasked as spies. And behind it all, a shadowy unit of the British Army, who ran the notorious agent Stakeknife. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan investigates the biggest cover-up of the Northern Ireland Troubles and asks: is the British state getting away with murder?

Follow the Bed of Lies feed: https://linktr.ee/bed_of_lies

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

Get in touch: [email protected] and on social media @cjmcgoogan 

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