This week, Iain looks at the unbelievable true story of Juan Catalan, who was falsely accused of murder in August 2003. Iain takes us through the journey that Juan’s hardworking lawyer, Todd Melnik, went on to see his client freed, which involved tracking down some TV footage that would blow the case wide open.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura looks back at a murder that took place on Bonfire Night, 1930. Alfred Rouse is a philandering playboy, with multiple girlfriends on the go. After a few years, he decides his relationships are costing him too much money. So he hatches a plan to fake his own death and disappear into the night.

Check out this article to see a picture of Alfred Rouse (but be warned that it contains details about the case): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-35165038

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

This week, Iain looks at a Parisian prison escape with more flair than Celine Dion singing on the Eiffel Tower.

In 1986, Michel Vaujour made one of the most daring prison escapes in French history. One that he and his wife Nadine had been carefully planning for almost three years. But can this couple (and their two children!) stay hidden? Or will their penchant for outlandish criminal escapades come back to bite them?

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

This week, Laura looks at a 180-year-old murder mystery that served as inspiration for Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘Alias Grace’.

When Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery (his housekeeper and mistress) are found dead in the basement of Thomas’ grand mansion, suspicion immediately falls on his two young servants, Grace Marks and James McDermott. But when Grace and James are caught crossing the border from Canada to America, their conflicting confessions leave the authorities completely confused.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

In September, 1935, two tourists make a gruesome discovery on the banks of a Scottish stream. When the police arrive, they know immediately that there’s been a brutal murder. But catching the killer won’t be easy, as they have used meticulous, surgical-like precision to hide their victims’ identities and cover their tracks.

Iain takes a look at a case that came to be known as The Jigsaw Murders – and delves into the pioneering forensic techniques that helped bring the killer to justice.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Details of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

A warning that this episode contains some violent scenes and scenes that some listeners may find upsetting.

With Halloween just around the corner, Laura looks at a 1920s murder case involving high-society parties, heartbreak… and hauntings. This is the story of William Francis Rattenbury, a well-respected (but pretty unpopular) architect who found himself in the middle of a deadly love triangle.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Details of help and support with addiction, suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Find out the real life story before the 2015 movie ‘Masterminds’. When $17 million goes missing from a Loomis Fargo vault in October 1997, the FBI are tasked with unravelling a complex case that culminates in a murder-for-hire plot.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura is travelling to Germany this week to look at a 1906 murder case involving love, betrayal, family tensions… and a couple of very mysterious telegrams!

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Details of help and support with suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

This week, Iain takes a look at a movie-esque showdown in a New York diner. It’s December, 1927, when two men hold up an establishment on Kossuth Place in Brooklyn. Hear how one police officer manages to save the day – even after being fatally wounded on the job.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura looks at the 170-year-old mystery of Maria Kirwan’s death, which took place on an uninhabited island off the coast of Dublin.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]