Murder Most British

 “A masked man had attacked them inside their own home. At least, that was the story.”

On a December morning in 2008, emergency services were called to Rowan Hill, an affluent home overlooking Howth in County Dublin. Successful businesswoman Celine Cawley was lying unconscious on the patio, while her husband, Eamonn Lillis, told Gardaí that a masked intruder had attacked them both.

The attacker had supposedly escaped through the garden, leaving police searching the roads around Howth Head for a stranger in a balaclava.

But as Gardaí began examining what had happened inside Rowan Hill, the story they had been given would become increasingly difficult to explain.

This week, the Archive examines the death of Celine Cawley — and the investigation into the story told by the only other person who was there.

There was a killer on the loose in Howth.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast       

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish

SOURCES https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/efecc6a0b61b31efac05664c55632563

“Eleven-year-old John Johnston went out with nine newspapers to sell. He never came home.”

In June 1923, John Johnston disappeared from the streets of Coatbridge. His family searched through the night, unaware that only a short distance away, something terrible had already happened.

The following morning, a woman and her six-year-old daughter were making their way towards Glasgow with a broken-down go-cart and a large bundle. When a passing lorry driver offered them a lift, he thought nothing of what they were carrying.

He had no idea what was inside.

This week, the Archive examines the extraordinary case of Susan Newell — a child's disappearance, a deeply strange journey through Glasgow, and the crime that would ultimately make her the last woman ever hanged in Scotland.

It began with nine newspapers and a missing boy.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast       

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish

SOURCES

https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/e0b536976d8f4aed027031d424da3039 

“Two men were shot dead. The gunman escaped. And the money he had apparently come to steal was left behind.”

In March 1949, a masked man carrying a pistol entered the manager’s office of the Cameo Cinema in Liverpool. Minutes later, manager Leonard Thomas and his assistant were fatally wounded — while their attacker disappeared into the city without taking the night’s takings.

For months, Liverpool police searched for the masked gunman. Then two witnesses came forward with a story about a robbery supposedly planned inside a local pub — and two names entered the investigation.

This week, the Archive examines the Cameo Cinema Murders — a double killing, a desperate investigation, and a case that would prove far more complicated than anyone could have imagined.

Liverpool wanted to know who pulled the trigger.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast       

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish

“The fire began with a pushchair in the communal hallway. Upstairs, five people were trapped.”

On the night of 19 October 2012, Liam Timbrell called 999 from his flat in Prestatyn, north Wales. Below him, a fire was spreading through the building — while inside the upstairs flat, his partner Lee-Anna, their young son Charlie, and Lee-Anna’s niece and nephew were unable to escape.

The investigation would uncover a bitter neighbour dispute, accusations of threats, and a decision made in a moment of anger that would have devastating consequences.

This week, the Archive examines the Maes y Groes fire — the family who were trapped upstairs, the woman accused of starting the blaze, and the question of how an ordinary dispute could end in the deaths of five people.

It began with a pushchair in a hallway.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast       

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish

“By December 2021, Taylor McIlvenna was already on bail for two separate offences and subject to a probation order.” Days before Christmas, 30-year-old mother-of-four Caoimhe Morgan was found dead inside her north Belfast home. Beside her was one of her three-year-old twins, touching his mother and calling, “Mum, mum, mum.” The investigation would lead police to a man Caoimhe had known for years — a man with a long history of violence, dozens of previous convictions, and who was already being dealt with by the courts when she was killed. This week, the Archive examines the murder of Caoimhe Morgan — the relationship, the violence that came before, and the disturbing sequence of events that led to that December night. He was on bail. He was on probation. And Caoimhe still ended up dead.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast       

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish

SOURCES - https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/d12f65cc1eb8347ffd0d1317ed4c72d7 

Domestic Abuse Resources - You are not alone

England

Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline—for women 0808 2000 247

Scotland

Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline 0800 027 1234

Wales

Live Fear Free 0808 80 10 800

Northern Ireland

Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline 0808 802 1414

UK—Men

Respect Men’s Advice Line 0808 801 0327

Republic of Ireland

Women’s Aid 1800 341 900

United States

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233.

Australia

1800RESPECT 1800 737 732.

Canada

ShelterSafe—directory of local shelters and support for women and children sheltersafe.ca 

 “The man sitting in Bournemouth police station called himself Group Captain Rupert Brook. Police were beginning to wonder who he really was.”

In the summer of 1946, former Wren Doreen Marshall disappeared during a trip to Bournemouth. The last man known to have been with her was a charming RAF officer who voluntarily walked into a police station and offered to help.

But Britain was already searching for another man in connection with the brutal murder of a woman in a London hotel — and Detective George Suter was beginning to notice something strangely familiar about the officer standing in front of him.

This week, the Archive examines Neville Heath — a story of false identities, military uniforms, disappearances, and a performance that could only last for so long.

Some men run when the police are looking for them.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast     

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish

SOURCES - https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/fa135b81e8d96de27823b03e346fd21f 

“As Thomas Ogilvie lay dying, he became convinced that his own wife had poisoned him.”

In 1765, Scottish landowner Thomas Ogilvie became violently ill after his young wife Katharine brought him a bowl of tea. Within hours, he was dead — but not before accusing Katharine of giving him poison.

What followed was a case of alleged adultery, arsenic, suspicious letters and bitter family accusations. But beneath it all was a troubling question: had Thomas actually been poisoned at all?

This week, the Archive travels to eighteenth-century Scotland for the extraordinary case of Katharine Nairn and Patrick Ogilvie — a story in which almost nothing is quite as straightforward as it first appears.

Some deaths leave behind evidence.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast     

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish  

SOURCES - https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/ff00dc13ee20f1b99508d2c4c336f578 

“Joanne Penney wasn’t part of the feud. She was simply the person who opened the door.”

In March 2025, two knocks sounded at a flat in Talbot Green, South Wales. Joanne Penney got up to answer. Seconds later, she had been shot at close range.

Behind that single gunshot was a drug war between rival groups, a revenge attack, and a plan in which Joanne herself had never been the target. She had been staying at the flat for only about a week — and happened to be the person who answered the door.

This week, the Archive examines the murder of Joanne Penney — the feud that led to her death, the extraordinary trail of evidence left behind, and the six people ultimately convicted of her murder.

Some people open the door to danger.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast     

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish  

SOURCES - https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/f73186aa6a1f2675eecc18e481332549 

“Helen McConville left to collect dinner. Twenty minutes later, she returned to find her mother gone.”

In December 1972, masked men and women entered Jean McConville’s home in the Divis complex of West Belfast.

They told the widowed mother of ten to put on her coat. They assured her frightened children that she was only being taken away for questioning and would return within hours.

She never came home.

Jean’s children were left alone inside the flat, with little money, no explanation and no one willing to tell them what had happened to their mother. As the siblings were separated and taken into care, accusations began circulating that Jean had been passing information to the British Army.

For decades, the IRA denied responsibility, while the McConville family waited for an admission, a grave and the chance to clear their mother’s name.

This week, the Archive examines the abduction and murder of Jean McConville — the night she vanished, the children who were left behind and the silence that followed one of the most notorious disappearances of the Troubles.

Some families are given answers.

The McConvilles were told to keep waiting.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast     

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish  

SOURCES - https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/4b23e89fb268eda85d4ba549395c2de9  

“In Wexford, a car was found burning — and inside it was a secret someone had tried to destroy.”

In October 2009, 30-year-old Rebecca French was killed in County Wexford. Her body was later discovered in the boot of a burning car, turning what first appeared to be a vehicle fire into something far darker.

As investigators traced her final movements, the case led back through a night of violence, fear, and silence. But proving who was responsible for Rebecca’s murder would become far more complicated than discovering what had happened.

This week, the Archive examines the killing of Rebecca French — the attack, the burning car, the investigation, and the convictions that followed, while the murder itself remained officially unresolved.

Some fires are set to destroy evidence.

Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/murdermostbritishpodcast     

Links to our socials and Discord! https://linktr.ee/MurderMostBritish  

SOURCES - https://gist.github.com/murdermostbritish/568e4b0634b602672e31d3eea130c15a