An Australian serial killer has been granted parole after almost three decades behind bars. James Vlassakis was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 26 years for committing four of 11 murders in South Australia between 1992 and 1999.  

The case became known as "the bodies in the barrels" serial killings, because the dismembered bodies of the victims were found in barrels of hydrochloric acid in the vault of a disused bank in Snowtown, a remote community 93 miles north of Adelaide.  

As Simon Ford reports, Vlassakis was jailed with three other men after one of the longest and most publicised trials in Australian legal history.

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Psycho Killer's Jacques Morrell. Thirty years as a copper, first on the beat, then a major crime detective, specialising primarily in homicide.

In this new true crime series, Jacques opens his casebook to reveal gripping stories from a lifetime investigating murders, cold cases, and criminal minds. From serial killers to psychopaths, he shares behind-the-scenes insights into real police work and the psychology of killers.

The Detective’s Files offers a rare glimpse into the dark heart of crime, told by someone who’s seen it all. Subscribe now for must-hear true crime stories, interviews, and expert analysis from the front lines of justice.

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Explicit

In our last episode, we met Henri Désiré Landru: serial seducer, swindler, and killer — a man who lured lonely women to his villa at Gambais and turned them into ash.

Now, the net is closing. In this second instalment of The Bluebeard of Gambais, we follow the tenacious detective who pursued Landru across a war-torn France — and finally brought him to justice.

We’ll take you inside the courtroom where Landru stood trial for eleven murders — and the public couldn’t look away.

With forensic precision and historical rigour, we examine the evidence, the gender politics, and the media frenzy that gripped a nation. From the witness box to the guillotine — this is true crime at its most shocking.

You'll find our back-catalogue of gripping episodes on Spreaker and wherever you get your true-crime podcast fix.

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Explicit

This is the chilling true story of Henri Désiré Landru — France’s most infamous serial killer. He posed as a lonely hearts suitor… but behind the doors of his villa at Gambais, women disappeared without a trace.

It took one of the most painstaking investigations in French criminal history — and a detective who refused to give up — to expose the horror Landru was hiding in plain sight.

At Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories, we don’t just recount the crimes. We go deeper. With forensic accuracy and historical integrity, each episode is crafted by veteran journalist Simon Ford and former major crime detective Jacques Morrell. Subscribe now — and discover why, over 60 episodes in, Psycho Killer has become true crime’s most addictive descent into darkness.

Slake your thirst for intelligent true-crime coverage at our website.

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Update

Lori Vallow Daybell, the doomsday cult follower who killed two of her children, has been handed two additional life sentences for a plot that led to her ex-husband's murder and the attempted murder of her niece's ex-husband. 

It marked the end of the road for the Arizona mother with doomsday religious beliefs who claimed evil spirits had possessed her family members. Simon Ford has the details.

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Update

Police in Cornwall have quashed speculation that multiple bodies have been found in woods near the town of St Austell.

The County’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez, has apologised for misleading remarks she made during an online meeting.  

On Friday, 25 July, Alison Hernandez told a streamed meeting of Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel that “dead bodies” had been found in Paramoor Woods near the village of Sticker, approximately three miles southwest of St Austell.

Simon Ford has more details.

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A man described as "a budding serial killer" by a District Attorney has been jailed for 40-80 years for stabbing a homeless man to death and seriously wounding another in Philadelphia. 

As Simon Ford reports, Dshawn Crawford disguised himself as a wrestler known as The Undertaker to carry out the attacks in 2023.


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Bryan Kohberger has been given four consecutive life sentences for the murders of four University of Idaho students on 13 November 2022. The 30-year-old former criminal justice doctoral student agreed to life in prison without the possibility of parole or appeal under a deal that spared him the death penalty. Simon Ford has the details.

Love true crime with a psychological twist?
Explore dozens more gripping episodes in the Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories archive — from infamous serial killers to criminal minds you’ve never heard of.
👉 Listen now on Spreaker.

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Explicit

A murderer who cut up his victims, packed their remains into suitcases and threw the remains off Clifton Bridge in Bristol, has been told to expect a life sentence.

Yostin Andres Mosquera, of Scotts Road, Shepherd’s Bush Green, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of the murders of Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso.

The pair were killed at their Shepherd’s Bush flat on 8 July last year in what police described as a "brutal and callous" attack – as Simon Ford reports.


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Explicit

In the final part of our Ian Huntley trilogy, Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories asks: can a psychopath ever truly feel remorse? And if they can’t be cured—can they at least be taught to reform?

We explore Huntley’s prison behaviour and recorded expressions of regret, set against the pioneering research of British forensic psychologist Dee Anand. His group, Beyond Diagnosis, argues that even psychopathy can be addressed—if we ask not “what’s wrong with you?” but “what happened to you?”

Featuring real psychological insight, forensic rigour, and professional expertise, Psycho Killer continues to set the standard for intelligent true crime storytelling.

🎧 Catch up on Parts 1 & 2 now, and support the show on Patreon.

🔗 Discover 70+ gripping episodes at psycho-killer.co

Acknowledgements & Source Material

• BBC 10 O'clock News (2003). Huntley and Carr sentenced – Duncan Kennedy reports. Watch on YouTube

• BBC Six O'clock News (2002). Police retrace the last-known steps of the missing ten-year-olds – Clarence Mitchell reports from Soham. Watch on YouTube

• CNN (2002). News report on Soham murders: police announcement that two bodies had been found. Watch on YouTube

• Good Morning Britain/The Sun (n.d.). Huntley 'apologises' for Soham murders. Watch on YouTube

• The Independent (2022). Journalist Brian Farmer recalls the Soham killer’s suspicious answers 20 years on. Watch on YouTube

• ITV News (2013). Soham 10 Years On – includes Jeremy Thompson's interview with Maxine Carr. Watch on YouTube

• ITV News (2010). Ian Huntley recovers after prison attack. Watch on YouTube

• ITV News at 10 (2002). Ian Huntley will stand trial next summer. Watch on YouTube

• ITV News (2002). Jeremy Thompson's interview with Ian Huntley. Watch on YouTube

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