In October of 1995, Mary Doogue was beaten to death. She lay in her bed in her cold dark home for 12 hours before she got any medical attention, and died shortly after. Her partner 19 year old Stephen Davis was arrested two days later.
He would tell the court that he had been provoked. Would a jury buy his excuse?
Continue reading “92 – No Excuse: The murder of Mary Doogue”In 1992, a murder unlike any other happened in the quiet seaside town of Malahide. Grace Livingstone (56) was bound and then shot in the head in her own home.
Gardai initially suspected that the culprit was someone close to her – Grace’s husband, Jim. But Jim himself suspected that whoever was responsible had taken their displeasure for him, and his position at the Irish taxing authority, out on poor Grace.
Her murder remains unsolved.
Continue reading “57 – Unsolved: The murder of Grace Livingstone”In the summer of 1992, the McCann Family endured a series of gas leaks in their home, and a spate of threatening phone calls. These nuisances escalated quickly though, and culminated in a raging fire in their Rathfarnham home. Esther McCann and her foster daughter, Jessica, died in the blaze.
Investigators ruled that this was a case of arson, and gardai quickly discovered that Frank McCann – the grieving father and husband – had some dark secrets.
Continue reading “55 – Murder by Arson: The McCann Family”This week, we delve into the world of the paranormal – sort of.
In 1974, in the small town of Ossett, northern England, Michael and Christine Taylor found religion. They became born again after attending a small Fellowship meeting in their community.
The meetings had a profound effect on Michael, and he began to act oddly. His behaviour led local clergy to suspect that Michael had been possessed by demons, and so an exorcism was in order. But, before the end of that process, someone would be dead.
Continue reading “53 – Exorcism: The death of Christine Taylor”Mary Gough tragically fell down the stairs in her home, only 6 months after her wedding day. Or, at least that’s what her husband, Colin Whelan, said. When Mary was rushed to the hospital after this purported accident, the Gardai did not take him at his word.
His story did not add up, and Colin Whelan was charged with with Mary’s murder. But when Whelan’s car was discovered at the top of Howth Head near the seaside cliffs, people thought that there would be no justice for Mary.
But they were wrong.
Continue reading “52 – Betrayal: The murder of Mary Gough”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 murder of Debbie Sue Carter and the wrongful convictions of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz.
Ron and Dennis had very different journeys through their appeals processes, but both of their fates lay in the testing of DNA evidence. Would new science finally exonerate them?
Continue reading “32 – Ron Williamson, Wrongful Convictions & Murders in Ada (Part 2)”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 murder of Debbie Sue Carter and the wrongful convictions of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz.
Ron Williamson was an eccentric and unstable character. Was it this nature of his that made him a target for the Ada Police Department?
Continue reading “32 – Ron Williamson, Wrongful Convictions & Murders in Ada (Part 1)”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 would there be enough evidence to convict him?
Continue reading “23 – Colin Norris: murderous nurse, or wrongfully convicted?”
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 authorities would attempt to curb their enjoyment of their assets. But would they be held responsible for Veronica’s death?
Continue reading “21 – Veronica Guerin: Gangland Murder of the Media (Part 2)”
But despite this, Ireland was still a country inhabited by people, with all their failings. Despite the bans on contraception and abortion, both services were sought and obtained by the citizens.
It was into this that 34 year old Mamie Cadden moved in 1925, when she left Mayo to become a midwife in Dublin. She would soon be successful, and soon find herself treating women with procedures that were on the wrong side of the law.
Join us this week for the story of the Notorious Nurse Cadden, Dublin’s backstreet abortionist.
Continue reading “20 – Mamie Cadden: Abortionist & Murderer”