Reporter

The Story Begins

06.24.2019 - By the times and the sunday timesPlay

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In the first part of a major new true crime series we introduce the story of Wendy Sewell, who was murdered in the picturesque English town of Bakewell, in the Peak District National Park, in 1973. Wendy was attacked in broad daylight in the town's cemetery. Stephen Downing, the 17-year-old groundskeeper with learning difficulties and a reading age of 11, was the prime suspect. He was immediately arrested, questioned for nine hours without a solicitor present, and pressured into signing a confession full of words he did not understand.

Twenty-one years later local newspaper editor Don Hale was thrust into the case. Through a series of brand new interviews, listeners will be given a unique insight into Wendy Sewell's murder, with members of the Bakewell community coming forward for the first time to reflect upon a case that remains unsolved.

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If you want to read Don Hale's account of the murder, and his campaign to free Stephen Downing, it's available on Apple Books here;

https://books.apple.com/gb/audiobook/murder-in-the-graveyard/id1466731625   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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