Real life crime and murder

[sassmaster3000]

I think we all probably look a bit weird when we’ve had a few on a night out and someone takes a picture.

agreed. There’s nothing in the photos in that article that make her look like a weirdo - just some scumbag from the dailyfail stalking her social media.
to add, for what it’s worth- it does seem she’s guilty, I’m in no way sticking up for her. Just think that a few drunk photos from Facebook genuinely add nothing in terms of whether she looks like a serial killer or not...would be different if there was a photo of her skinning a cat, but chugging a cocktail...pretty sure the vast majority of us here are guilty of that.

 

[LIVINGMYBESTLIFE1]

I am fully obsessed with the Crime Junkie podcast.

 

[Apple In My Pie]

I really like Forensic Files on Netflix UK - there’s about nine seasons and 400 episodes, quick 20 minute true life ‘whodunnit?’ style show. And more are being filmed in February! It’s my guilty pleasure, I also really enjoy Britain’s Darkest Taboos but I think that was removed from Netflix a little while back
I find it fascinating and harrowing in a sick sort of way, especially from a psychological sort of viewpoint. There is one episode of forensic files which sticks with me, a man murdered his neighbour (IIRC) and took over his life, sending birthday cards to family under the dead man’s name, paying his bills so went totally undetected for ages! only found out through a forensic linguist analysing the handwriting on the birthday cards he had sent the daughter!

and I just sit and think well, I could never, my guilty conscience would have me Rumbled in seconds

(I also really want to become a forensic linguist!)

 

[quinzel]

There’s been a murder in a house not two minutes from where I live! All very hush at the moment but I know a bit through the grapevine.

 

[What's your point]

New to the thread but an avid true crime reader/watcher.

The case review is a really upsetting read. Obviously dont condone what happened to the children but the family were failed time and time again by the system (how many times do we hear this).

On reading the tabloids you would think the mum was a monster but dig a little deeper and you realise how much she tried to get help and support for her children and must have just totally lost control of the situation and did something so terrible.

Of course they both deserve to spend many years in prison for what they did and the responsibility for the boys death is firmly on them but cant help but feel like the authorities have to shoulder the blame for not intervening the warning signs were there that the children were at risk.

Truly a sad case for both the murdered boys and the remaining children who I hope are now safe happy and loved.

 

[MissTeddy]

Sarah Everard is the ‘perfect’ victim for the media but I’m completely invested in it - having done that walk many time. I know people who know her (in a professional capacity). There are always cases that we relate to as individuals as we feel ‘that could have been me’. This is very much one of those cases. And I think the police are most definitely fearing the worst.

I never ever walked with headphones on though. South London goes from gentrified/middle class areas to quite dangerous areas without much of a boundary line. It’s advisable to remain alert and aware of your surroundings.

 

[Whatsallthis]

In my hometown (Paisley) in 1999 there was a young woman, Laura Donnelly, murdered waking home from a night out. She only lived about a 10/15 minute walk from the nightclub. Her parents reported her missing the next morning and later that day some boys I went to school with (we were around 16) found her body whilst cutting through bushes to get to the cricket club at the other side.

Crimewatch done a reconstruction which was chilling to watch. Door to door enquiries and DNA testing was carried out.
They eventually caught the monster. IIRC he was caught as his brothers DNA was similar. His Dad & brothers were apparently hiding him in the loft.

Turns out he had been stalking Laura for some time and brutally murdered her. He’s still in prison now and I’ve heard unlikely to ever be released.

According to police and prison staff I know there’s details that have never been made public as they were so brutal.

It’s something that has stayed with me all this time. It had a big impact on all young local woman at the time and since.

 

[113980]

I think I'm right in saying it was a largely residential area, and Ring cameras weren't invented then. It's not inconceivable that the CCTV evidence is so limited.

Such a sad case. I really hope the mystery is solved for her family. It's unthinkable to go through that.

I live very close to where she lived in York and one of the pieces of CCTV they ran an appeal to find the people in the video. They even set up a massive screen playing it in York city center! I don't think they ever found who they were looking for but I get chills every time I think about it!

CCTV of man near Claudia Lawrence's home

Ten years on since Claudia Lawrence vanished, police still want to trace a man seen on CCTV near her home.

www.bbc.co.uk

There's plenty of rumours round York of what happened to her and things that weren't widely reported about her life but the most common rumour is her disappearance is linked to the building of the new university campus very close to where she was last seen. I fully believe that someone, somewhere will overhear a conversation in a pub a few years down the line and everything will be revealed!

 

[MissTeddy]

I totally disagree, she cut a baby out of a womb of a woman that was still alive whilst she did it. Yes her life was shit and she was let down but if that is not pure evil then what is?
I hate that MH is held as a trophy card for why a person should not be locked up/executed/etc

i believe she should be punished, her crime is horrendous - the worst - but most civilised nations agree that executing the very mentally ill is untenable. Her mental health issues arent just depression. I’ve read quite a lot about her now, she had such extreme trauma inflicted on her from birth - every day of her life. It actually damages the brain - like the babies in Romanian orphanages. The damage to brain development is permanent. She is rightly locked up for life. I don't believe killing someone who didn’t have the mental capacity to understand what she was doing is right.

 

[quinzel]

Anyone watch Murder in a Small Town on Channel 5 last week? was a 2-parter about the murder of Jodi Jones in Dalkeith. I would like to know full details of all the evidence in this case but going on what I know, I don't think Luke Mitchell killed her.

 

[Peter Griffin]

The murder of April Jones. I remember watching a documentary about it and the dad was talking about his daughter, it was heartbreaking.

Murder of April Jones - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I hope there's a special place in hell for those people who harm children.

 

[MyHeartisBlack]

I just read that article I feel sick, that poor girl how someone can be so evil is beyond me

It’s so so sad in the early days of the investigation the media made out she was a weirdo basically saying in not so many words she probably provoked them. The boys are both detained in the most cushy detention centre have access to PlayStations , TV and games rooms. The Irish media always hero worship men, there was a case a few years back where a man butchered his family and I mean butchered them with a hatchet than committed suicide the media placed pity on this man so much so they never even mentioned his wife a hashtag movement ended up giving her and her sons the attention as the victims they deserved.

 

[MissTeddy]

Sorry it’s a bleak read isn’t it. The mother is out, remarried and living her best life.

 

[sleepflowers]

So sad and scary, I also live in zone 2 in London but I would never walk through a park at night alone even though my area is relatively safe. If I ever do walk after dark, it's usually to/from the tube station and I stick to the main roads which are always busy. It's so awful that we still have to police our own lives like this. Really hope there's not too many victim blamers saying it was her own fault, we should concentrate more on teaching men not to hurt women ffs.

 

[PennyCrayon]

I've just watched The Disappearance of Luke Durbin, which was on C5 last night

I've always had an interest in this case as I lived in Ipswich when he went missing, about ten minutes drive from the Zest nightclub actually. I was well over my clubbing days by then and I knew nothing about the 'scene' but the club was well known for being a "drug club" - it was actually closed for good not long afterwards when a lad from London was shot dead there. I'm not from the area originally - just bought a house, because it was cheaper, and basically went to work (in Essex) and slept there - consequently, I didn't hear any local rumours about the case.

I'd always assumed Luke must have taken drugs, to go to that particular club, but he was last seen at the bus station which is quite a way from it so I didn't think it was connected.

But now we find out that he was not only using drugs but actually a drug dealer with a county lines drug debt! Why the hell have we had to wait FOURTEEN YEARS for this VERY pertinent information? Well, we know why - because he wasn't the nice, quiet boy who loved music who just worked at a greengrocers - he was a drug dealer and it changes people's view of them. And the car they have repeated appealed for information on - it was seen on CCTV close to where Luke was last seen - had connections to the drug world.

I do really feel for his mum, Nicki, as she looks like a broken woman who has worked tirelessly to find him, but she had obviously lost control of him (the programme stayed he started drug dealing when he was sixteen) knew nothing about this secret life and wanted to keep this information hidden from the public. But should have been made known at the very start. I am really angry.

Missing Luke Durbin 'had a debt to county lines dealers'

Luke Durbin, who disappeared in 2006, was a drug dealer who owed money, a documentary reveals.

www.bbc.com

I’ve recorded that to watch. But you’re right, it was pertinent information.

Going back to the Claudia Lawrence case, the police had no hesitation in talking about her private life because it was deemed as pertinent. This is a woman who is very likely dead and they open her life for all to see, yet a drug dealers life would appear to be sacrosanct where details can’t be told. If Claudia’s life was opened (a victim) then why wasn’t his?

 

[Lulu Goss]

I read the Serious Case Review and it made me think about this differently.
The older boy had started sexually assaulting other kids including the little sister and the next eldest was getting obsessed with porn. Sarah asked and asked for help from social services but she got more ans more scared she had made her kids monsters. She had been sexually abused as a child and she couldn't stand to see it again.
Really really difficult read.

Do you have a link to this please?

Do you have a link to this please?

Ignore me, found it on google.

That shows a completely different side of what happened... obviously there is absolutely no justification for what she did, but it sounds like she was scared of their behaviour and struggling for support. The over sexualised behaviour of the children makes me wonder if they were being/had been abused? Very very sad all round

 

[bubbletea123]

I always got John Wayne Gacey vibes with Slivko. The arousal by death of a young man, hiding his own sexuality, drugging young men, killing young men. They look similar too. Very disturbing pictures, it makes me sad that the boys did not know what he had done and then were essentially silenced.


Have you watched the Dr.Phil interview with the brother as an adult. It just seems he is smirking through it.
I definitely agree with you, too many things pointed to the parents and brother knowing but it’s very telling how the adults ‘protected’ the brother after.

Yes I saw that too. His behaviour was very odd.

Does anyone else remember Claudia Lawrence? It is so strange...i wonder what happened to her and if we will ever find out? She disappeared into thin air, much like Maddie.

Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[PennyCrayon]

Kindly directed here by 50’sGirl after another thread went off on a tangent. I love true crime, especially podcasts. I don’t particularly ‘like’ murder but more the human psychology that makes people do stuff like this and also trying to solve the mystery of it all.

The Golden State Killer was one that really peaked my interest many years ago. The fact that he was only caught two years ago through DNA, and listening to the Casefile podcast is fascinating. God knows if and when the trial will go ahead.

Closer to home, the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence puzzles me greatly.

 

[purplepixie_3]

I've been fascinated with murder for as long as I can remember and I read and watch a huge amount of material on the subject.

Since I medically retired five years ago, my interest has only grown, especially with local newspapers reporting live from court on bigger cases and the ability to look at victims and defendants on social media, it's probably at obsessive levels now. In the UK, we don't actually find out the full details of the case until the first day of trial (which is absolutely how it should be) when the prosecution lay out their case but I do like to try and piece things together before then if I can. Social media is an absolutely goldmine for this. That's what interests me to be honest - people's relationships, interactions and motives.

The way I work is that I will read about a new murder on the BBC news website or maybe I'll see something on one of the local newspapers if I'm following a trial. I then have a look at Facebook and see if I can work out if it's likely to interest me. You can usually work out what kind of case it it - I'd say 85% of the time it will turn out to be drug related in some way. I'm particularly interested in cases involving the homeless community and vulnerable victims as I tend to feel these are the people that have been maybe forgotten in some way by society. I'm pretty hardened but those are the cases that really get to me and obviously child murders. I also really enjoy (if that's the right word) purely circumstantial cases and no body trials.

If it piques my interest, then it goes on my "trial calendar" (like I said, no judgement ) and I'll follow it through until conclusion. I had to start this as I was losing track! Certain local newspapers - Liverpool Echo, Essex Live, Teeside Live and Coventry Live are very good - usually do live reporting on bigger cases where one of their journalists sits in court and reports what's going on every day. I love this! It really gives you a feel for the case and the whole court process. I like to think I have a good understanding now of the legal system and sentencing guidelines (all self taught)

I check court listings to keep track of my trials and read judge's full sentencing remarks once the case is over (they are usually published in high profile cases and are very illuminating) I also have a list of unsolved cases, missing people, cases waiting for charges to be brought and inquest outcomes which I check on periodically.

I only have one active trial I'm following at the moment, which is due to restart again tomorrow after the Christmas break, and I have one new one starting tomorrow which I suspect will turn out to be drugs related. The week after, I have six new trials scheduled to start! Happy to share details and discuss if anyone is interested.

As for TV, I love 24 Hours in Police Custody. There's a two part special on tomorrow and Tuesday about a trial I actually followed so I'm looking forward that. Also, I don't usually follow cases in Scotland (or Wales) - I'm busy enough with England - but I did follow a no body trial there involving a vulnerable victim with learning difficulites. There is a programme on BBC2 this week about it on Wednesday - Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming.

ITV did a couple of really good real life crime dramas last year - Manhunt and A Confession - and have a new one starting on Wednesday called White House Farm about Jeremy Bamber. I think it will be interesting to see what slant they take on it given Bamber still proclaims his innocence. I'm not sure he is but I do believe his conviction is unsafe.

My favourite USA real life crime shows are:

Cold Justice
The First 48
Disappeared
On The Case with Paula Zahn
Shattered
Reasonable Doubt
48 Hours
Dateline

So, there you go. My obsession laid bare.

Let's get chatting

I completely felt the same until I began working at a law firm. I’m friendly with my colleagues in the criminal department and one of the girls showed me various photographs of a murder scene. I can honestly say the photos still haunt me to this day and will be forever etched in my brain. The victim was a girl I went to school with, her infant daughter witnessed the murder and her ex-boyfriend was the killer.

I really don’t know how my colleagues or even those on jury duty are able to cope with such imagery!

 

[Prgirl_cesca]

Did anyone else follow the Becky Watts murder trial in 2015? She went missing the week my youngest was born and so I basically spent my nights when feeding on social media following the case. It was the first time I had ever deep delved into something so intimately via facebook - all her family had open facebook accounts (including her murderers) and it was quite vouyeristic. I am glad she got justice but I don't think we know the whole story. Poor girl. Horrible way to die.