Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 60 i Crime Monthly

Welcome to the March issue. This month, the father of missing five-year-old Harmony Montgomery is found guilty of her murder, and a woman is convicted at retrial of killing her mother and sister. We also look at how an abduction turned into a living nightmare for one couple, and a cyberstalker who terrorised his online victims for years. Plus, we talk to Raphael Rowe about how anyone can be accused of a crime, and investigate the Hells Angels. Plus, there's our usual round-up of all the latest crime TV, books and podcasts. As usual, do email us at Crimemonthly@bauermedia.co.uk. See you next month.…

CRIME NEWS CASES UPDATE Adam Montgomery – the father of missing five-year-old Harmony Montgomery – has been found guilty of second-degree murder The verdict comes after Montgomery declined to appear in the courtroom throughout a trial in which his defence blamed his estranged wife Kayla for the little girl's death. After the verdict, Allen Aldenberg, the police chief of Manchester, New Hampshire, said, “This isn't about winning or losing. This is about a girl that was murdered by her father. I can think of no worse crime.” ADMISSION Harmony was living with Montgomery and Kayla when she disappeared in December 2019. She was not reported missing for two years, when biological mother Crystal Sorey alerted the authorities. It had been alleged that Montgomery, 34, beat Harmony to death after she…

HISTORIC CRIME Natasha Cornett's mother Madonna Wallen was, by her own admission, not a model parent. Separated from Natasha's father, she found life with her teenage daughter incredibly difficult. She was consumed with frustration, and Natasha was often subjected to her abuse. Natasha had her own mental health problems, so life at home was intolerable. And at school, she was bullied, labelled a freak for the way she chose to dress. Madonna believed her daughter – who had a long history of self-harm – exhibited signs of bipolar disorder, and eventually admitted Natasha to a psychiatric hospital for 11 days. During her stay, Madonna's concerns about her daughter's condition were confirmed, and she was placed on Prozac and Lithium. Medics urged Madonna to allow Natasha to stay in hospital, believing…

Finding Sophie IMRAN MAHMOOD (RAVEN, £14.99) When teenager Sopie goes missing, her parents suspect the neighbour who refuses to answer their questions. As their pain engulfs them, they each take matters into their own hands with terrible consequences. Compelling. The Devil You Know NEIL LANCASTER (HQ, £16.99) Six years ago, a woman arranged to meet her lover in Glasgow, then disappeared. Now, crime boss Davie Hardie has offered to take the police to her body. But when things go awry, DS Max Craigie wants to know why. Thrilling. The Wrong Sister CLAIRE DOUGLAS (PENGUIN, £14.99) Exhausted with motherhood, Tasha willingly accepts her sister Alice's offer to swap homes for a break. A vicious crime then sees Alice attacked – but who was the real target and will a killer strike…

Felonious Florida: Innocence Sold Wondery/Sun Sentinel Innocence Sold forms one sixpart season of hit franchise Felonious Florida, which shines a light on the dark side of the Sunshine State. This latest season aims to expose the failures of the justice system when protecting children in the US, with David Schutz and his investigative reporters researching cases of child sex slavery. The third episode is an especially eyeopening listen, examining the case of Shanika Ampah, who was abducted into sex slavery when she was 11. She experienced unthinkable horrors for years, until an unlikely ally in the form of a crack addict saved her life. Shanika, now a married mother and nurse, shares her story through a series of interviews that are equal parts inspiring and harrowing. Sarah O'Byrne Surviving El Chapo…

FAMOUS FELONS THE CRIMINAL SIDE OF CELEBRITY In the past few years, Natasha Lyonne has carved out an impressive career. The actress co-created hit mystery series Poker Face, which earned her an Emmy nomination, after a star turn in another co-creation, Russian Doll. But her new-found A-list status comes after some early years of trouble. A former child star and model, she had been working from the age of seven, but like others who hit stardom early, she was drawn to alcohol and drugs, and the early noughties saw her spiral into addiction. In 2001, she was arrested in Miami for driving under the influence of alcohol. She pleaded guilty in 2002, and was fined, given six months’ probation, and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service. In 2004,…

A woman who ran over and killed her fiancé because he chatted to another woman at a birthday party has been sentenced to life in prison. On 2 February 2024, philosophy student Alice Wood, 24, was told she must serve at least 18 years for killing charity support worker Ryan Watson, 24, in 2022. During her trial, the court heard that the couple had been at a party in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on 6 May, where Ryan got chatting to a woman, who felt Wood was “glaring” at her during the exchange. The couple left together and allegedly argued over who would drive, before Wood accused her partner of flirting with the woman. Wood then drove Ryan's car to their home in Rode Heath, Cheshire, but when they arrived at around…

CRIME screen YOUR GUIDE TO THE MONTH'S UNMISSABLE ENTERTAINMENT FIRST LOOK TV Based on an award-winning non-fiction book by James L Swanson, this new seven-part limited series is part conspiracy thriller, part historical drama about one of the most impactful crimes of the last 200 years: the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, and the astonishing story of the hunt for his killer. The story centres on Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies, The Crown), the man tasked with tracking down Booth, after he gunned down Lincoln in a theatre in April 1865. The President's death came at a pivotal time for the US – General Robert E Lee had just surrendered to Union forces after four years of bloody civil war, and Lincoln faced the daunting task of reuniting the…

What was the inspiration behind your new novel? In Jericho's Dead, Showman detective Scott Jericho is facing not only a baffling case of serial murder, but fundamental questions of life, death, and what might lie beyond. Some of the inspirations are the conflict between belief and science, the desire for revenge versus justice, and the exploitation of the bereaved. More personal inspiration came from my late great-aunt, a fairground medium with an uncanny knack of knowing things. My own opinion is consciously or not, she possessed highly-developed deductive abilities – a gift I gave to Scott Jericho. Her opinion, that spirits communicated with her, I have left somewhat open… What attracts you most about writing crime? As a genre, it gives the broadest range to examine all aspects of life…

Would you be able to live somewhere that seems perfect, if it weren't for the ghosts of its past?” This is the question each episode of this pod strives to answer, as host Matt Marinovich examines a different property with a dark history, interviewing witnesses and experts to uncover the shocking stories of the last places on earth these victims expected to be unsafe. Varying from infamous crimes to paranormal occurrences, Matt covers everything from the notorious story of 92 Second Street in Fall River, Massachusetts, where Lizzie Borden allegedly murdered her father and stepmother, to the farmhouse in Villisca, Iowa, where eight members of the Moore family were brutally murdered. This is a particularly spinechilling episode, proving this podcast is best suited to listeners who are drawn to the…

MADDIE SUSPECT BACK ON TRIAL The prime suspect in the 2007 abduction of Madeleine McCann has gone on trial over multiple sexual offences. Christian Brueckner, 47 – who is serving seven years for a 2005 rape – is accused of three counts of rape and two of child sexual abuse, all alleged to have been committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. The trial was due to start in Germany early last month, but was halted after nine minutes as allegedly discriminatory tweets from a lay judge were read out. Proceedings restarted on 21 February, and were expected to last up to 12 weeks, although at time of press, potentially damaging allegations had been presented claiming Brueckner's prison cell had been bugged, which could affect what is admissible. Brueckner is…

In the news In a shocking crime, social media influencer, bodybuilder and personal trainer Débora Michels, 30, was murdered in January 2024, and her body left outside the home of her parents in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Débora's husband Alexander Gunsch, 50, was captured on camera leaving her on the pavement before fleeing the scene. Gunsch reportedly confessed to the killing as soon as police arrived at his home the following day. He told them he had attacked his wife of ten years during a row, lifting her by her neck and throwing her into a wardrobe. He claimed she was still alive when he put her in his car to drive to hospital, but realised she had died on the way, and drove to her parents instead. It's…

It was a spring afternoon in New York City in 2020 when two members of the Bronx-based chapter of the Pagans biker gang, including leader Frank Rosado, 51, emerged from an apartment block out onto the street. But before they had the chance to mount their bikes, they were ambushed. Two masked men wearing black hoodies and brandishing pistols with silencers came out of nowhere and, in broad daylight, opened fire. The Pagans separated and ran for their lives, but the assassins pursued Rosado on foot and felled him with a volley of fire. Then, as he lay bleeding in the middle of the road, they shot him again. He didn't survive the attack, which was chillingly captured on CCTV, and within days of the murder, the New York Police…

INTO THE FUTURE Leave No Trace JO CALLAGHAN (SIMON & SCHUSTER, £16.99) Jo Callaghan's debut novel In The Blink Of An Eye might have been released over a year ago, but it ’s still ma king waves, now, with the paperback launch recently occupying the coveted Waterstones Thriller Of The Month slot– and rightly so. The story of police officer DCS Kat Frank returning to work after the death of her husband, only to be asked to lead an experiment that sees her paired with Artificial Intelligence Detective Entity Lock, who manifests as a human figure via hologram, was startlingly original, working as a compelling procedural, an examination of how far artificial intelligence has come – and could d go – and an exploration of very human grief. Now, the…

Crime writing has never been as popular as it is now, with everything from tartan noir to police procedurals topping bestseller lists. But it can be hard to break into, so we teamed up with Orion Fiction and A.M. Heath literary agency to launch Criminal Lines 2023, looking for the freshest unpublished voices. We received 400 entries, all vying for the prize of £3.5k, agency representation, and the chance to be read by the editors at Orion. It was a huge task to whittle down the entries, but with the help of acclaimed authors Mari Hannah and Vaseem Khan, we unanimously chose our winner… BEASTS BY ADAM GORDON Adam's synopsis read, “In Glasgow in 1871, a series of grotesque murders is seemingly inspired by Charles Darwin's newly published The Descent…