43 – The Abduction & Murder of Sarah Payne

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. 

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The Featured Podcast Promo this week from the fabulous Michael at Murder Mile! Be sure to check this podcast out if you haven’t already.

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:
Sara Payne with Anna Gekoski, Sara Payne: A Mother’s Story (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2004)  Purchase here

The Murder Of: Sarah Payne – Sarah’s Law  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6WnnrU4fr4

“Timeline: Roy Whiting on trial” in  The Argushttps://www.theargus.co.uk/news/6768618.timeline-roy-whiting-on-trial/ (12 December 2001)   

Sam Webb, “Lost Angel: What happened to Sarah Payne, when did she disappear, who is Roy Whiting, and how old would Sarah be now?” in The Sunhttps://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4035555/sarah-payne-roy-whiting-age-crime/ (7 May 2019)   

James Rodger, “Sarah Payne killer Roy Whiting ‘ set to sue prison chiefs over being attacked FOUR times in jail” in The Birmingham Mailhttps://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/sarah-payne-killer-roy-whiting-15948540 (9 March 2019)   

Emma Dodds, “Siblings of murdered 8-year old Sarah Payne speak out for the first time about their guilt over her abduction” from Closer.co.ukhttps://closeronline.co.uk/celebrity/news/sarah-payne-siblings-speak-witnessing-abduction/ (18 July 2017)   

Peter Griffiths, “Sarah Payne’s mother on hacking list – charity” from Rueters.comhttps://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-newscorp-hacking-payne/sarah-paynes-mother-on-hacking-list-charity-idUKTRE76R4QR20110728 (28 July 2011)   

Sarah Hall, “Whiting breaks silence in Sarah Payne trial” from The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/05/childprotection.society (5 December 2001)   

Mark Oliver, “Whiting found guilty of Sarah Payne murder” in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2001/dec/12/childprotection.markoliver (12 December 2001)   

Paul Peachy, “I suffered a memory blank, says accused in Sarah trial” in The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/i-suffered-a-memory-blank-says-accused-in-sarah-trial-9241320.html (5 December 2001)   

Cathy Gordon, “Paedophile murderer Roy Whiting’s minimum jail term reduced” in The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/paedophile-murderer-roy-whitings-minimum-jail-term-reduced-1995299.html (9 June 2010)   

Helen Weathers, “Roy Whiting’s first victim” in The Daily Mailhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-95390/Roy-Whitings-victim.html (undated)   

“Trial told of trip to funfair Whiting denies prowling for child” in The Herald Scotlandhttps://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12133206.trial-told-of-trip-to-funfair-whiting-denies-prowling-for-child/ (5 December 2001)   

“’Sarah’s Law’ sees 700 paedophiles identified” from BBC.comhttps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25489541 (23 December 2013) 

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sarah_Payne & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Whiting

37 – St Patrick’s Day: Crimes & Mayhem

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 Crime;
Gone Cold – Texas True Crime; and
Unresolved
for your kind contributions!

Continue reading “37 – St Patrick’s Day: Crimes & Mayhem”

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 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)”

30 – Sharon Collins: Lying Eyes, Hitman4Hire, & attempted murder

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 computer and between searches for weight loss and diet tips, she looked for a hitman. And she found one. 

Continue reading “30 – Sharon Collins: Lying Eyes, Hitman4Hire, & attempted murder”

28 – Murder on Ireland’s Eye

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 a motive for murder.

Continue reading “28 – Murder on Ireland’s Eye”

27 – Archibald Hall: Thief & Serial Killer (Part 1)

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 close to the status he desired, and the belongs that went this, that he could steal.

How did this supposed high flying and often hapless thief turn murderer?

Continue reading “27 – Archibald Hall: Thief & Serial Killer (Part 1)”

26 – Fiona Donnison & Mothers who Murder

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-partner, Paul.

In this episode, we tell the story of Fiona Donnison, and explore the reasons why some mothers turn murderous. What was Fiona’s excuse?

Continue reading “26 – Fiona Donnison & Mothers who Murder”

25 – The tragic murder of Catherine Cooper

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 was killed on the roadside.

But was Manning legally responsible for her death?
 

Continue reading “25 – The tragic murder of Catherine Cooper”

24 – Bruce Lee: Murder by Arson

In December 1979, 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, the police picked up 19 year old Bruce George Peter Lee.

He admitted to setting the Hastie fire. And then shockingly admitted to another 10 arsons in the Hull area. No one had suspected these fires were malicious. But should the police believe this young man with a troubled background?

Continue reading “24 – Bruce Lee: Murder by Arson”

23 – Colin Norris: murderous nurse, or wrongfully convicted?

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?”