True Crime with Elli Mac

On April 2nd 1993, Ellie Nesler took the law into her own hands in a Northern California courtroom, by shooting to death Daniel Driver in the head and neck 5 times.

35-year-old Daniel Driver was a Christian camp employee who in the summer of 1988 allegedly abused the then 6-year-old son of Ellie Nesler, Willie Nesler.

Ellie Nesler was praised by some as a protective mother, driven to act by the prospect of having her traumatised son testify against Driver in open court.

Others criticised her for brushing aside the legal system and taking the law into her own hands, which would then spark a national debate about Vigilantism.

The sympathetic portrait of Ellie Nesler painted by her defence team began to disappear however within weeks of the crime when tests found Ellie to have been high on methamphetamine at the time of the shooting. It had also come to light that Ellie had a criminal record with a conviction at 18 for auto theft and had served several months in a California Youth Authority facility.

Had Ellie Nesler gone too far, or was she simply protecting her son and the world from a very dangerous man?

On the evening of the 11th September 1994, a gang of at least three men, one wearing a clown’s mask and a boiler suit, brandishing a knife, broke into Carol and Gordon Wardell's home in Bonneville Close, Meriden. Only Carol was home during the break-in.

When her husband Gordon returned home from the pub later that night, he was attacked and drugged. He was overpowered and knocked unconscious with a chemical, and when he came around he found himself bound and gagged on the floor, alone, his wife Carol missing.

Only a few hours later Carol Wardell was found dead in a lay-by and the building society where she worked, had been robbed.  A devastated Gordon Wardell would then go on to make a public plea to try and help catch the men who had brutally murdered his wife. 

Choking back the tears he said “I still don’t believe this has happened. We must catch these men. I think they are evil”….

When 22 year old Janet Chandler was abducted whilst working her Night Shift at the Blue Mill Inn, detectives first believed it to be part of a robbery.

However, when her naked body was found at 1am (2am?) in a wooded area buried in the snow, it would become clear to investigators that foal play was involved. Janet had died of strangulation, with clear evidence she had been bound and gagged for long periods before her death.

Law enforcement would interview hundreds of people over years, chasing dead ends and finding no significant leads.

The case would go cold for nearly 25 years. What happened to Janet Chandler in 1979? And how did what started out as just a documentary project for a film school class, lead to the world finally getting some answers.

Terry King loved being a dad and always wanted to be a good father to his two sons, Derek and Alex, but the family was destroyed when Terry died in a mysterious fire and the boys went missing.

Who bludgeoned Terry King to death and then set the house on fire to cover it up?

And were his two missing sons safe?

Were they in danger, or even worse also dead?

As the case would unfold, a twisted world of lies and deceit would be revealed.

This is the chilling case of the King Family.

All week, Tyler had been telling his friends that he was going to throw a house party, but nobody believed him.

He had never thrown a party before and there was no way his strict parents, Blake and Mary Jo would give their consent.

However, the hours leading up to the party, Tyler confirmed that It was indeed happening over Facebook, saying that his parents would be out of town. 

Where exactly were Tyler’s parents and where had they travelled to?

This is the shocking and horrible story of a troubled Florida teen and his wild house party.

One of Britain's youngest killers walks among us today, completely anonymous.

After serving only 11 years in jail for the brutal manslaughter of 4-year-old Martin Brown, and 3-year-old Brian Howe, she was released at the age of 23.

No one will ever know the whereabouts of a woman who, at the tender age of 11, took the lives of 2 young boys.

This is the story of child killer Mary Bell.

17-year-old Jessica Dishon is missing, and all that’s left behind at the scene are her mobile phone, purse, backpack and 1 of her shoes.

Who abducted and killed Jessica Dishon?

Unfortunately, the world would have to wait fifteen years for her case to be solved due to issues such as police misconduct, contamination of evidence and false accusations...

This is the story of the tragic murder of Jessica Dishon.