Murdertown

This episode explores two terrible crimes that left a lasting impression on Hull - and reveals how complex investigations into one case finally led to both mysteries being solved. The story begins with the apparent kidnap and murder of Christopher Laverack, a crime that initially had police stumped. It would remain unsolved for years. We also tell the story of the disappearance of Joanne Nelson, who vanished from the city on Valentine’s Day, 2005. It was a story that had the whole city on edge and led to the biggest search in Humberside Police history, before a breakthrough led police to finding her killer, and the whereabouts of her body.

In this episode explores how one boy left an entire city living in fear. Aged 15, Robbie Mcintosh walked into a fish & chip shop to announce that a woman had been killed on the iconic Law Hill. Locals were terrified as the news spread. Police revealed the victim had been stabbed dozens of times. But police never imagined that the culprit was a 15 year-old. As cops swooped to arrest him, Mcintosh fled to Glasgow airport, buying a ticket to Canada when he was placed under arrest. Was Mcintosh a local youth who had committed something shocking, or a serial killer in the making, stopped in his tracks? Dundee would find out in 2017, when Mcintosh was allowed out of prison on home leave. He lasted 5 days. Then he took a walk into nearby woods, spotted a female dog walker, and attacked her with a large heavy dumbbell. The woman survived, and police arrested Mcintosh just an hour later. In Dundee, lightning had struck twice terrifyingly, Mcintosh will be eligible for release in 2022.

In 2014 a local woman goes missing after a night drinking in the pubs of the town. CCTV finds her walking home, arm in arm with another local drinker. He just happens to be a former butcher. Police soon realise he has put his trade to use, by dismembering his poor victim and hiding her body parts around the town. Its a crime with no obvious motive, and one which shocked the whole community. He was a man with a past – he once set fire to his primary school, and was found by firemen sat in the middle of the blaze paying the piano. Its a dark story – that were still unpicking. Pontypridd is labelled the murder capital of Wales for the volume of crimes there in recent years.

In 2000 a young woman is stabbed to death while walking her dog in a picturesque park in the town. Shes a twin, a woman known in her local area. A suspect is seen running semi-naked across the M1 motorway and makes his escape. Cops initially suspect the killer of Rachel Nickel might be responsible...and it takes detectives weeks to identify the real killer is a local man called Leon Amos. They find out his family are known criminals, who have been covering Leons tracks, and that the killer may have mistakenly carried out an act of retribution on the wrong twin.

Throughout the early 90s young boys would be found dead after sniffing glue and being trapped in derelict buildings which caught fire. But when it kept happening, cops got suspicious. They soon found they were actually being systematically murdered by a man called Steven Grieveson, dubbed the Sunderland strangler in a case which still haunts the town. His is a name few will know, but hes regarded as one of the most dangerous killers in the UK.

Examining two murders committed in Portsmouth on Dec. 12 of different years by Allan Grimson, and possible links to the disappearance of Simon Parkes.

In Middlesbrough we look at the story of a man who believed he had committed the perfect murder, and how diligent police work uncovered his identity and his plans for further violent crimes.

This is the shocking story of Julie Patersons tragic murder, and the gruesome details of the attack which shocked the local community and drove her partner to drastic measures.

When a murder is committed, you hope that the suspect is caught as quickly as possible, but in the case of Elaine Doyles murder in Greenock, a lack of evidence meant that justice would not be served for several years, until advancements in technology made it possible.

Devastated father Keith Vincent retells the story of the sequence of events that led to his son Adam living on the streets of Grimsby, and the circumstances which eventually led to his brutal murder at the hands of a notorious drugs gang.

Rachel Manning had been to a 1970s-themed fancy dress party and Chicagos nightclub with boyfriend Barri White before going missing in the early hours of 10 December 2000. The teenager was found dead in undergrowth at Woburn Golf Club two days later. She had been strangled and her face disfigured with a steering lock, which was located 500m (546 yards) from her body.

The story of Wigan teenager Louise Sellars, who vanished in 1995. The next day, her body was found in a field near her home, leading to a hunt for a killer in Appley Bridge. 

Melanie Road, 17, was murdered on her way home from a nightclub in Bath in 1984. She had been out with her boyfriend and friends, but Melanie had been sexually assaulted and brutally stabbed 26 times on her way back home. A milkman found her body the following day. After multiple lines of enquiries and arrests, the police werent able to find the killer, and despite recovering a large amount of DNA evidence at the scene, the case went cold. Over the next 30 years, the police continued to review the case and check the DNA database for any matches but no real breakthrough. There were 100s of potential suspects who were checked against the database but not a match. The real breakthrough came in 2014 when the DNA database returned a familial match, leading the police to married father Christopher Hampton. This man had brutally murdered Melanie on the night in 1984 and had been at large for 30 years.

Vikki Thompson went missing in Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire, while walking her dog on 12 August 95. The dog returned home without her, raising the alarm. After a frantic search, she was found alive but badly beaten - she died 6 days later. Mark Weston emerged as the prime suspect, the Police set about building a case, with enough evidence to charge him with the murder. When the case went to trial, Weston was found not guilty by the jury. A decade after the murder of Vikki Thompson, the double jeopardy law was changed in 2005, allowing a person to be tried for the same crime twice; the Police decided to look at the case again. Westons boots were resubmitted for testing and tiny traces of blood were found on the boots. The blood was a match to Vikki Thompson. In 2009 Weston was arrested again and faced another trial, and this time he was found guilty. The first time that the double jeopardy legislation was used to secure a conviction.

In July 1999, the remains of Wendy Upton were found in nearby woods; she was identified using dental records. Upton had been reported as missing nine months previously.

With first-hand testimony from family members, police officers, witnesses and reporters, Murdertown shines a light on some of Britain’s darkest murder locations, examining the crimes that rocked these communities and the impact they have had on the people living there.

In April 2015, 24-year-old student Karen Buckley went missing whilst on a night out with friends in the West End of Glasgow. Emilia visits the location where Karen was last seen and learns about the investigation that tried to find her.

Joan and John Stirland, a couple in their fifties living on the Lincolnshire coast, were found murdered in 2004. The investigation into the deaths eventually led to the downfall of one of Nottinghamshires most feared underworld figures.

Emilia uncovers details surrounding the brutal murder of Rosie Darbyshire. Witnesses and CCTV were key to solving the case that shocked the local community.

Emilia examines three murders which shook Beenham in the 1960s. One of the murders went unsolved for 40 years, until detectives vowed to finally seek justice.