In the summer of 2000, 8 year old Sarah Payne was out playing in the evening sunshine with her two older brothers and her little sister. After falling, she ran out of the field and into a lane to head back to her grandparents with brother Lee following behind. But then, Sarah vanished. Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! If you would like to support the podcast, head on over to Patreon.com The Featured Podcast Promo this week from the fabulous Michael at Mur...
Jun 09, 2019•57 min
Celine Cawley was a model, a former bond girl, an advertising producer and a successful business owner. But in December of 2008, she was attacked in her own home and died of her injuries. Her husband, Eamonn Lillis, said that there had been an intruder in their exclusive Howth home, but was he telling the truth? Promo: The Murder in My Family Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! If you would like to support the podcast, head on over to Patreon.com Theme Music...
May 26, 2019•1 hr 11 min
In April of 2015, two countries were gripped by the disappearance of a 24 year old nurse. Karen Buckley, from Co. Cork had gone on a night out in Glasgow's busy West End. But she didn't return home. Quickly a police search for the missing woman was up and running. But it would prove to be too late. Karen's fate was sealed mere minutes after she told her friends goodbye. Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! If you would like to support the podcast, head on ove...
May 12, 2019•48 min
In September of 2006, Melissa Mahon (14) went missing in Sligo Town. She was supposed to in the care of the Health Service, but she had developed a habit of running away. That summer, she had met some new friends. The Dunbar girls. And through them, their father, Ronnie Dunbar. Nearly two years later, Melissa's remains would be found in the nearby River Bonet after a shocking confession of her friend. Featured promo this week is from our friends over at Moms and Murder! Go check these ladies out...
Apr 28, 2019•1 hr 10 min
In 1988, a routine flight took off from London Heathrow. It was the second leg of a transatlantic flight that would stop in JFK, before heading even further west, to Detroit. In fact, Flight 103 had started off in Frankfurt. But something got on the flight in the German airport that shouldn't have. It was a brown samsonite suitcase, filled with clothing and a Toshiba cassette tape player. Inside the electronics was a pound of semtex and a timer. Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish count...
Apr 14, 2019•1 hr 1 min
Early on a December morning, in 1992, Suzanne Capper (16) was found wandering on a quiet laneway south of Manchester. She was half naked, and her body had been burned badly. She was brought to hospital, but died 4 days later of her injuries. It quickly emerged that she had been held in a house, tied up and tortured for nearly a week before her death. These horrific acts were committed by people she had considered friends. She was able to name them before she died, and they were held responsible ...
Mar 31, 2019•1 hr 9 min
It's St Patrick's day. Worldwide, buildings are being "greened". Shamrock shakes are being consumed. Guinness is being poured, and we're drowning the shamrock. But, this time of year sees a lot of bad behaviour. Some directly as a result of our celebration of all things Irish and some... a little more premeditated. This week, I'm joined by 4 other fabulous podcasts to tell the story of some St Patrick's day crimes for you. Special thanks this week to: All Crime No Cattle ; Southern Fried True Cr...
Mar 17, 2019•46 min
In 2002, two ten year old girls - Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman - went missing in the quiet and idyllic English town of Soham. It quickly became apparent that the girls had not simply wandered off. What followed was two week search for them, and the revelation that a terrible crime had taken place. The shocking truth was that the girls had been murdered by a member of their community, someone they knew. And someone they trusted. The featured promo this week is from the lovely Courtney at The C...
Mar 03, 2019•1 hr 17 min
On Friday the 22nd September 2012, Jill Meagher left work after a long week and went out for a night on the town in her adopted home of Melbourne, Australia. She spent the evening in a number of bars and pubs with work friends. But that night, there was a predator out on the streets too. One who had spent nearly a decade in prison for violent assaults and rape, and was still on parole and bail. Because of him, Jill would never make it home that night. Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks ...
Feb 17, 2019•1 hr 15 min
In October 1971, on a rural lane south of the village of Ratoath, Co Meath, Una Lynsky disappeared while walking a short distance from a bus stop to her home. Around that time, screams were heard and a strange car was seen driving up and down the lane. But three local lads, Dick Donnelly, Martin Kerrigan, and Martin Conmey found that they were the ones who had drawn the attention of the notorious Murder Squad of the Garda Siochana. By the end of the year, two young people from Porterstown Lane w...
Feb 03, 2019•1 hr
On the afternoon of the 6th January, 2005 Robert Holohan rode his brand new silver BMX bike down his drive and out onto the roads of Ballyedmond, a townland north of Midleton in rural East Cork. When Robert didn't return home that evening, and had not answered his new phone, a search began that would bring people from all over the country to the area to volunteer to look for the 11 year old, alongside the Gardai and the army. But, just over a week later, Roberts body was found in a deep ditch, c...
Jan 20, 2019•1 hr 13 min
The small town of Ada Oklahoma was rocked in the early 80s by two unrelated murders of young women in the town. But by the mid 90s, that would change. The town would come under scrutiny for miscarriages of justice, where two and possibly more men were convicted of crimes they did not commit. Last month, Netflix released The Innocent Man, a 6 part series looking at these crimes and their aftermaths. This week on the podcast, we take an in-depth look into just one of those cases, that of the murde...
Jan 06, 2019•55 min
The small town of Ada Oklahoma was rocked in the early 80s by two unrelated murders of young women in the town. But by the mid 90s, that would change. The town would come under scrutiny for miscarriages of justice, where two and possibly more men were convicted of crimes they did not commit. Last month, Netflix released The Innocent Man, a 6 part series looking at these crimes and their aftermaths. This week on the podcast, we take an in-depth look into just one of those cases, that of the murde...
Jan 06, 2019•46 min
Happy Holidays! As a special bonus and thank you, this patreon-exclusive episode is now out for everyone to listen to. Thank you for sticking with me through 2018, and wishing you and yours a very happy and prosperous New Year! In this episode, we take a closer look at a case that devastated a family, a community and shock the public at large. An entire family was wiped out, and by one of its parents. What had happened in this popular and prominent family in Castlerahan, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cava...
Dec 23, 2018•26 min
In 2006, Sharon Collins decided that what she had wasn’t enough. She was a divorced mother of two, living with a long term partner, PJ Howard, who also had two sons. He also owned a multi-million euro property business, which he wanted to pass to his sons. So much so that he wouldn’t marry Sharon in order to ensure this. But despite the lavish lifestyle Sharon lived – nice houses, a penthouse apartment in Spain, a boat, basically anything she wanted – Sharon wanted more. So, she got on her compu...
Dec 23, 2018•1 hr 9 min
The small town of Ballygar was shocked when 73 year old bachelor farmer William Mannion was found stabbed to death on his kitchen floor. A local youth was responsible. He was brought to trial, found guilty and received the mandatory life sentence. How was it then, that 17 years later, the same man would be able to kill another elderly resident of Ballygar, Nancy Nolan (84) in a senseless and motiveless crime? This week, we look at the murders committed by Thomas Murray in East Galway and how lif...
Dec 09, 2018•41 min
In 1852, Sarah Maria Louisa Kirwan was found dead at the Long Hole on Ireland's Eye as the tide receded. Her husband, William, had been painting a sunset scene of the Dublin Mountains and told the boatmen who returned to get them from the craggy island in Dublin Bay that he had no idea what had happened to her. An inquest found that the poor woman had drowned. But in Victorian Dublin, rumours spread quickly, and it was discovered William Burke Kirwan was living a double life - one that provided ...
Nov 25, 2018•50 min
In the final episode on the life and crimes of Archibald (Roy) Hall, we chart his activities over the final months of 1977 and into 1978. He had gone from butler and thief to murderer, when he turned against his lover and ex con David Wright. But that was far from his last murder, and the next couple of months he would kill employers, associates and family members, and drive thousands of miles across the UK, criss-crossing England and Scotland. But eventually his crimes caught up with him, and R...
Nov 11, 2018•55 min
In the first of a two part series, we take a look back on the life and crimes of Archibald Thompson Hall, aka Roy Hall, aka Roy Fontaine, the monster butler. Roy was born to a working class family in Glasgow, and from an early age wanted to live an extravagant lifestyle. One that he could not (or would not) achieve through hard work and graft. Roy preferred to take what he could. He became a thief and spent many years in and out of prison. In between these stints, he worked as a butler, to be cl...
Nov 11, 2018•53 min
On the morning of Wednesday, 27th January 2010, 45 year old mother of four Fiona Donnison walked into a police station in Heathfield, East Sussex. She was distressed, had what appeared to be self inflicted wounds and was making little sense. But then, she shocked police by telling them that she had killed her two small children, Harry (3) and Elise (2). They were found soon after in the boot of her car, parked around the corner from the home that she had once shared with her children and her ex-...
Oct 28, 2018•37 min
In 1954, Nurse Catherine Cooper (64) lived and worked in Limerick city as a home sister, visiting the ill and infirm at their bedsides. She was originally from County Clare, but had spent much of her working life in London, until the outbreak of World War Two. On the night of November 19th, 1954, she decided to walk back to her hospital from her last home visit. On the Dublin Road, she was spotted by a 24 year old carman, Michael Manning, who had been drinking all day. He attacked her, and she w...
Oct 14, 2018•50 min
In December 1989, the Hastie home on Selby Street in Hull caught fire in the early hours of the morning. Three of Hastie boys would die of their injuries. It was apparent from the beginning that the fire was arson: there were matches left and a trail of paraffin at the front door, and there was the smell of accelerant in the air. In an attempt to find out who would want to hurt the family, it became apparent that they were strongly disliked, but still there were no real leads. Until, that is, th...
Sep 30, 2018•1 hr 5 min
In 2002, Colin Norris was a young man at the beginning of his career in his chosen field of nursing. But the sudden death of an elderly patient, Ethel Hall, who had been under his care prompted a police investigation which scrutinised the 18 months that he had worked in Leeds General Infirmary, and he was accused of 4 murders and an attempted murder. Authorities said he had maliciously administered injections of insulin to elderly patients, police said because he didn’t like old people. But woul...
Sep 16, 2018•47 min
The year 1998 was a particularly difficult one for the small town of Omagh, in Northern Ireland. There finally seemed to be a workable plan in place to bring about the beginning of a peace process, but along with that, emotions were heightened. Just days before the agreement was signed, Sylvia Fleming (17) was out celebrating her first paycheque from her first job. She visited her ex boyfriend that night, and was never seen again. Her sisters, with whom Sylvia was very close, realised that somet...
Sep 02, 2018•44 min
Veronica Guerin took on Ireland's booming gangland criminals in 1994, who were flooding the country with cannabis and other illegal substances and engaging in an all out war with their competitors. When she approached John Gilligan, the man in charge, at his home, she set in motion a series of events that would lead to her death, and to the downfall of the criminal set she had set her eyes on. The events of 1994 changed the landscape of organised crime in Ireland forever, as well how the authori...
Aug 19, 2018•1 hr 26 min
In the 1990's, Ireland saw a boom in organised crime and the importation of drugs that it had not experienced before. Criminals set themselves up at the head of drugs empires and reaped the benefit of their crimes to the tune of millions of pounds a year. Gardai struggled to keep up with these developments, and had no recourse to the extravagant spending of the crime bosses, who set up shell companies and owned expensive homes, vehicles and lived lavish lifestyles. When Veronica Guerin, crime co...
Aug 05, 2018•1 hr 22 min
Between the early 1920s and the 1950s, Ireland was a newly established developing country. The state and its society were going through many changes, and many growing pains. The establishment and new politicians were anxious to present Ireland as a good catholic place, taking it’s place on the international stage as a beacon of wholesome goodness, newly independent and thriving. But despite this, Ireland was still a country inhabited by people, with all their failings. Despite the bans on contra...
Jul 22, 2018•1 hr 13 min
This week, we take another trip back in time and have a look at three vintage murders. First, we crack open the 1832 autobiographical account of John Holloway, who murdered his first wife Celia and buried her body, hidden in a trunk, down a lovers lane. Over 100 years later, two more trunks filled with murder victims' bodies were found again in Brighton. One of these cases remains unsolved to this day, while the culprit for the other Toni Mancini, was never punished for his crime. Podcast Promo ...
Jul 08, 2018•48 min
In honour of Pride month, and with the Dublin Pride Parade only a week away, this episode discusses the tragic case of the beating death of Declan Flynn in Fairview Park in 1983. Declan was a victim of a gang known to stalk the park at night, "queer bashing". We also chart the changes in Irish law since that point in terms of rights for the LGBT+ community, which culminated in the passing of the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015. Happy Pride ya'll! Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks ...
Jun 24, 2018•59 min
Thomas Hamilton was a loner. He decided to dedicate his life to running boys' clubs to keep kids off the street, but its quite likely he had ulterior motives for this. His strange, erratic and inappropriate behaviour meant that he was not well liked, his his passion, his boys' clubs, came under scrutiny. He also had a persecution complex, and as his life fell apart due to his own actions, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Thomas Hamilton became the man responsible for the Dunblane M...
Jun 10, 2018•57 min
