A stranger snatching a child off the street is thankfully a rare thing. But throughout the 70s and 80s, in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, a number of young girls disappeared as if into thin air while walking alone. Most went missing in broad daylight. Some were found – their bodies dumped hundreds of miles from home. Some remain missing, presumed murdered.
In 1990, police in Scotland realised that many of these cases were linked. A delivery driver living in London was responsible for them all. Despite getting into trouble throughout his youth for sexually motivated attacks on younger children, Robert Black had been free to roam the country and target girls for decades.
*Episode Image: Jennifer Cardy (via The Irish Times Archive)
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Theme Music:
Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Additional Music: Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Sources:
C.L Swinney, Robert Black: The true story of a child killer from the United Kingdom (Toronto: RJ Parker, 2015) Purchase here
Robert Church, Well Done Boys: The life and crimes of Robert Black (London: Constable, 1997) Purchase here
Ray Wyre and Tim Tate, The Death of Childhood (London: Penguin, 1995) Purchase here
“The Disappearance of Genette Tate” by DevonLive.com http://genettetate.devonlive.com/?_ga=2.216723730.521717693.1573263562-772761478.1572713433#group-police-hunt-SdsU2ZvdDN (August 2018)
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-disappearance-of-genette-tate/id1425038532
Alan McEwen, “Caroline Hogg murder: City scarred 30 years on” in The Scotsman https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/caroline-hogg-murder-city-scarred-30-years-on-1-2992923 (8 July 2013)
Laura Burns, “Remains of serial child killer Robert Black lie unclaimed in mortuary as family members fail to come forward” in The Daily Record https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/remains-serial-child-killer-robert-7193277 (17 January 2016)
Claire Hayhurst, “Police were set to charge serial child killer Robert Black with murder of Genette Tate within weeks” in The Daily Record https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/police-were-set-charge-serial-7174544 (13 January 2016)
“Jennifer Cardy accused Robert Black is multiple killer” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-15215541 (7 October 2011)
“Archive of Robert Black’s trial for the murder of Jennifer Cardy” from Lisburn.com http://lisburn.com/archives/info/news-2011/jennnifer-cardy.html#2 (2011)
“Child killer Robert Black to serve 25 years for murdering Jennifer Cardy” in The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8943177/Child-killer-Robert-Black-to-serve-25-years-for-murdering-Jennifer-Cardy.html (8 December 2011)
“Jennifer Cardy: A 30 year wait for justice” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-15434091 (27 October 2011)
“Susan Maxwell ‘ seen alone before disappearance’: Triple murder trial told of surprise at sighting” in The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/susan-maxwell-seen-alone-before-disappearance-triple-murder-trial-told-of-surprise-at-sighting-1370277.html (16 April 1994)
Michael McHugh, “Serial child killer Robert Black who murdered Jennifer Cardy died from a heart attack, inquest finds” from IrishNews.com https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2018/12/07/news/serial-child-killer-robert-black-who-murdered-jennifer-cardy-died-from-a-heart-attack-inquest-finds-1504044/ (7 December 2018)
Robert Black wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Black_(serial_killer)#Susan_Maxwell