A man is hanged for the murder of his child, and presumed to be the his wife’s murderer, too. But three years later, in the same house that the couple had lived, more bodies were found.
Six More.
Including the wife of the man who had been the Crown’s star witness against Tim Evans in his murder trial.
This is the story of the serial murders of John Reginald Christie at Ten Rillington Place.
Casper Wyoming is a quiet town. But in 1973, it was marred by an horrific crime. Two girls, sisters – Becky Thompson and Amy Burridge – were snatched off the street, attacked and driven 35 miles to an iron bridge over Fremont Canyon. Then the two men that took them threw them over.
But one of the girls survived the 112 foot fall and identified Ronald Kennedy and Jerry Jenkins as the men who attacked them. Still, tragedy would follow her.
Women have been disappearing from, or ending up found dead in, the Wicklow Mountains for over 30 years. In this bonus episode we look at a man that is suspected to have committed some of these abductions and murders, look back on a number of unsolved rape and murder cases in the 80’s, and bring the story right up-to-date with that latest unfortunate woman to have been killed and dumped in what is called “the vanishing triangle”.
So, what the heck is going on in the Wicklow Mountains?
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.
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.
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.
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.