Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 70 i Crime Monthly

JOB IN UK Need my ex dead – must look like an accident. Order has been placed through the order page. Have home and work addresses if needed and social media information asked on Jul 05, 2022 12:25 PM by Obsessed87 JOB IN US Requesting someone to rid me of my husband – needs to be done before custody case in August. Money paid. Make it look like a mugging, make sure doesn't come back to me asked on Mar 20, 2023 13:45 PM by Widow5 JOB IN AUSTRALIA Looking for someone to kill my parents – can tell you where they will be on any given date. Willing to pay big once I get inheritance asked on Sept 09, 2021 08:15 AM by Daughter99 When British journalist Carl Miller…

In November 2024, Thomas Kwan was sentenced to 31 years and five months behind bars for attempting to murder his mother's partner. The 53-year-old doctor had gone to 'extraordinary lengths' to inject Patrick O'Hara with poison in a dispute over an inheritance. Having created a fake ID using the name Raj Patel, Kwan wore a disguise and pretended to be a community nurse when he visited Patrick's Newcastle home on 22 January 2024, under the guise of giving him a COVID booster jab. Instead, Kwan injected his 71-year-old victim with a toxin that caused the life-threatening flesh-eating disease fasciitis, which led to Patrick having part of his arm removed. Kwan, who was a well-respected GP before his suspension from the General Medical Council, claimed he only wanted to cause 'pain…

To the residents of the small town of Alba in Texas, Erin Caffey is a criminal mastermind who orchestrated the murder of almost her entire family. But for one man, his belief that Erin is herself a victim is the only thing that allows him to live with the events of that fateful day in 2008. That man is her father Terry – the sole survivor of a murder plot that resulted in the massacre of his wife and two young sons. CONFLICT A bright, bubbly blonde, Erin was what many would consider a typical American teenager, who hung out with her friends and was interested in clothes, make-up and boys. As well as 16-year-old Erin, her parents Terry and Penny also had two younger sons, Matthew, 13, and Tyler,…

PREVIEW PARAMOUNT+, EARLY JANUARY New six-part psychological thriller based on the Scandi-noir trilogy by Swedish writer Erik Axl Sund and produced by the team behind Irvine Welsh's Crime and Marcella. It begins with the gruesome discovery of a teenage boy's body discarded in plain sight. DCI Jeanette Kirkland (the great Eve Myles, Keeping Faith) picks up the case, and soon other bodies of young men, who have all been drugged and beaten, start popping up. Convinced they are not random, DCI Kirkland teams up with psychotherapist Katherine Kelly (Mr Bates Vs The Post Office) to hunt down the killer, and the pair are soon dragged into a mire of historic abuse and police corruption. With a supporting cast that includes Dougray Scott as Kirkland's obstructive boss, and the producer's previous…

BINGE TV NETFLIX, FROM 1 JAN Once the festive season is over and the New Year rung in, we find ourselves staring down the barrel of the longest month of the year. Thank God, then, for Netflix treating us to a New Year's Day thriller from Harlan Coben. Coben's collaboration with Netflix has proven to be a fruitful one, producing consistently successful adaptations of his signature twisty thrillers, including The Stranger, Stay Close and last year's Fool Me Once. The latter starred Michelle Keegan as a woman grieving her dead husband only to see him alive on a nanny cam, and it racked up 98.3million views, making it Netflix's biggest UK hit of 2024. Now, here's Missing You, a five-parter starring Slow Horses' Rosalind Eleazar as Detective Kat Donovan, who…

HARD-HITTING DOCUMENTARY BBC2/IPLAYER, MON 5, TUES 6, SUN 12 & MON 13 JANUARY On 7 July 2005, four terrorists detonated bombs on London's transport system, killing 52 people and leaving hundreds injured, leading to the biggest police investigation in British history. Another series of attempted bombings followed two weeks later, and in the subsequent manhunt, the police shot dead an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes. This four-part documentary follows events hour by hour over three weeks that shook the UK – from the initial deadly attacks to the frantic search to find those responsible – and pieces together the emergency services' reactions as first responders scrambled to act in the epicentre of the crisis. Interviewees including then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, then-Home Secretary Charles Clarke, and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir…

In a world where women are increasingly feeling unsafe in familiar surroundings, it was to be a heartbreaking discovery on 22 February 2024, and one that cemented the belief that, for a lone woman, there is no such thing as a truly safe place. When Laken Riley's body was found in woodland on the University of Georgia Campus, it sent shockwaves around the globe. How could an innocent young woman, who had a bright future filled with promise ahead of her, have her life cut so devastatingly short? LYING IN WAIT Laken Riley, 22, was beautiful inside and out – her long brunette locks framing sparkling eyes and a beaming smile. She was not only popular with her fellow nursing students, but beloved by all who met her. When news…

A South Carolina mother convicted of killing her children 30 years ago has been denied parole. Susan Smith was just 23 on 25 October 1994, when she told authorities she had been carjacked and her sons Michael, three, and Alex, 14 months, kidnapped. She went on TV pleading for their safe return for over a week, before finally confessing she had rolled her car into a lake with her boys strapped into their car seats inside, allegedly because she was having an affair with a man 'who didn't want kids'. She applied to be freed in November, telling the Parole Board, 'I know what I did was horrible, but I'm a Christian and God is a big part of my life. I know he has forgiven me and I know…

On 26 December 1996, Patsy Ramsey woke early to get her two children ready for a trip out of town. But while making her morning coffee, she noticed a note on the staircase of the family home in Boulder, Colorado. To her horror, it claimed her six-year-old daughter JonBenét had been kidnapped. 'If you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions,' the note read, alongside a demand for the strangely specific amount of $118,000. Patsy and husband John called in Boulder Police, and they descended on the scene. However, after conducting a search of the property and taking statements, they found nothing and most left. Only detective Linda Arndt remained in case the kidnappers called, and to give an understandably scared John something to do, she suggested…

On 15 March 2023, 43-year-old Angela Craig began feeling dizzy and experiencing a terrible headache. Her worried husband James, 45, drove her to the local hospital in Aurora, Colorado, where a nightmare would unfold. Angela began to deteriorate fast and was rushed to intensive care, where she was placed on a ventilator to help her breathe. Tragically, three days later, she was declared brain dead, and her life support was turned off. It seemed like an unfathomable chain of events for her distraught husband – but something wasn't quite right. Mother-of-six Angela had been experiencing similarly debilitating symptoms of nausea, headaches and dizziness for over a week – resulting in multiple hospital visits, before that last tragic one – yet doctors couldn't find any reason for her puzzling symptoms. After…

On 24 February 2020, Sarah Boone, 46, called the emergency services to say her boyfriend was dead. When investigators arrived at her Florida home, they found Jorge Torres' lifeless body zipped inside a suitcase. Boone claimed her partner's death had been a tragic accident, but she was soon the subject of a homicide investigation that would see her convicted of second-degree murder in October 2024.…

MATHEMATICAL THRILLER APPLE TV+, FROM 22 JANUARY Starring SAG Award-winner Leo Woodall (The White Lotus, One Day), this new eight-episode thriller tells the story of brilliant young maths graduate Edward Brooks, who is working on an equation that, if successful, would be a major breakthrough. If he can show there is a pattern in prime numbers, it will hand him the key to every computer in the entire world. Unsurprisingly, this gets the attention of the NSA, particularly agent Taylah Sanders (Quintessa Swindell, Black Adam). Together, they start to unravel a troubling conspiracy. Jordan Rix…

PREVIEW ITV1/ITVX, SUNDAY 5 JANUARY, 9PM This four-part adaptation of JP Delaney's bestselling novel of the same name puts forward a nightmare scenario. Two couples – Pete (James Norton, Happy Valley) and Maddie (Niamh Algar, Malpractice), and Miles (James McArdle, Andor) and Lucy (Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown Findlay) – discover their babies were switched at birth in a hospital mix-up. Now, they face a horrifying dilemma: do they keep the sons they have raised and loved, or reclaim their biological child? With everyone being seemingly upstanding citizens, an amicable agreement is reached, but it soon becomes clear that not everyone is being totally honest in their intentions and things start to spiral out of control. Set against a sweeping Cornish landscape, which makes a suitable backdrop for the atmosphere of…

Chilling CCTV footage taken on the morning of 4 April 2023 showed 29-year-old Derek Daigneault purchasing several suspicious items at a local Walmart. Packing a shovel, a plastic storage container and a gas container into the boot of a car that didn't belong to him, Daigneault was planning to dispose of the body of his 26-year-old cousin Mandy Rose Reynolds. As Daigneault carried out his vile plan, security cameras filmed him getting into her red Honda Accord. They also captured a dog innocently sticking his head out of the window as the breeze caught his curly white fur. The labradoodle had sat in the passenger seat many times, but on this day, in the boot of his beloved owner's car, were her remains. SEASONED OFFENDER Career criminal Daigneault already had…

Authorities have arrested a 23-year-old woman accused of being one of the most feared assassins in Colombia. Known as 'La Muñeca' -or 'The Doll' – Karen Julieth Ojeda Rodríguez was arrested over her alleged involvement in multiple gang-related murders, including the killing of her own former boyfriend. Rodríguez is suspected of leading a network of hitmen in Barrancabermeja, Santander, allegedly organising killings for the Los de la M gang. It's been alleged that on 23 July, she lured her ex, Deyvy Jesús García Palomino, to a secluded area under the pretence of resolving a financial dispute. But when he arrived, he was fatally shot by assailants on motorcycles. Authorities allege that Rodríguez was paid around £800 to facilitate the attack. Police arrested Rodríguez and an accomplice, identified only as 'Leopoldo'…

Jay Z has hit out at a civil lawsuit filed against him for rape, calling it a 'blackmail attempt'. The rapper, real name Shawn Carter, was named in the suit last month, with an anonymous accuser alleging she was assaulted at a Manhattan house party after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, when she was 13 years old. The lawsuit was first filed in October 2024, and named disgraced mogul Sean Combs, but it was later amended to include Jay Z. Referred to as Jane Doe, the woman alleges she was given a drink that made her dizzy before going into a room to lie down. According to the claims, Combs, Jay Z and 'a female celebrity' entered the room, before she was assaulted. Both men deny the claims,…

The mother of a school shooter is challenging her conviction, after being sentenced to 15 years for involuntary manslaughter. Jennifer Crumbley was convicted alongside her husband James in April 2024, after their son Ethan opened fire at Oxford High School on 30 November 2021. Students Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling died, and six other students and a teacher were injured. Now, Jennifer is seeking to have her sentence overturned, with lawyer Michael Dezsi claiming she was denied a fair trial when witnesses entered into deals to testify. He said, '[Her convictions] stem from a trial riddled with legal errors, where key evidence was withheld, and cooperation agreements were peddled and suppressed to secure testimony for the prosecution, to convict an individual who committed no crime.'…

JOHN MARK KARR Karr worked as a teacher, and in 2002, he got in touch with journalism professor Michael Tracey, allegedly claiming to have had a 'sexual relationship' with JonBenét. For the next four years, he communicated with Michael, eventually revealing what he claimed happened that night. In disturbing audio in the docu, Karr says the garrotte was a 'special necklace' he used for autoerotic asphyxiation, and claims he was in a 'trance' when he used it, and by the time he snapped out, JonBenét was not breathing. He claims he then put duct tape on her mouth, covered her with a blanket and hit over the head in case she was 'brain dead, but her body was still alive'. He was tracked to Thailand and extradited, but no charges…

For many in and around Southern California, the late 1970s were a vibrant, carefree time of skating and surfing on sunsoaked boardwalks and beaches. It was a time when young people hitchhiked without a second thought, so when 17-year-old West German exchange student Markus Grabs wanted to see more of the coast on 5 August 1979, he headed to the Pacific Coast Highway and stuck out his thumb. A van stopped and Markus hopped in. He fell into conversation with the driver, who asked the teenager if he 'knew any gay people'. Markus admitted he was gay, and the driver asked if he'd like to hook up. Markus allegedly agreed and the driver headed for an isolated spot, where they parked up and got in the back. But then his…

It was on 18 July 2012 that authorities descending on a rural farm in the Outback, four hours outside of Sydney, discovered a scene of sheer horror. Accompanied by welfare workers, police were responding to reports of a family cult living in extreme filth, and they found the squalid farm compound littered with open buckets of urine and faeces, makeshift sleeping areas, and more than 20 dogs loose on the sprawling property in Boorowa, New South Wales. It was two years earlier, in 2010, that several reports of a family living in the woods were made to police. Despite multiple visits to the farm, where the family had been asked to make improvements to the horrifying living conditions, it was not until now that police would forcibly remove the endangered…

'IT IS UNCERTAIN IF TRUMP COULD PARDON HIMSELF' Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,' wrote Baron Acton, an English politician and historian, in the 1880s. He added, 'Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority. Still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by authority. The greatest names are coupled with the greatest crimes.' In the complicated legal minefield currently faced by Donald Trump, Acton could yet be proved to be right. Trump is the first former US president to be charged and convicted in a criminal court. In May 2024, he was found guilty on 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records. Despite this conviction, he won the 2024 presidential election and is set to…

TRUE CRIME The Amazon Review Killer CHANNEL4.COM, FROM MONDAY 6 JANUARY Chilling two-part docuseries exploring the case of Todd Kohlhepp. A former real-estate agent, Kohlhepp was a convicted kidnapper and sex offender who killed at least seven people in Chesnee, South Carolina. After his arrest, it was discovered he had left a number of disturbing product reviews on Amazon for items such as padlocks and a shovel. Featuring interviews with police, along with crime-scene footage, the series delves into Kohlhepp's troubled past, from his creepy behaviour in school to his psychiatric evaluations, revealing early signs of his dangerous tendencies. James Walford EMOTIONAL EXAMINATION Lockerbie: A Search For The Truth SKY ATLANTIC/NOW, FROM THURSDAY 2 JANUARY The bombing of Pan-Am flight 103 in December 1988 over Lockerbie in Scotland remains the…

NEW SERIES BBC1/IPLAYER, MONDAY 6 JANUARY, 9PM In a world full of uncertainty, it's good to know Silent Witness is out there offering dependably engrossing detective-based drama. Now in its 28th (yes, really) run, this new series sees another five stories played out over two-episode instalments. Series veterans Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and Jack Hodgson (David Caves) are joined by two new characters. Maggie Steed (Rivals) plays new Lyell Centre director Harriet Maven, while Francesca Mills (The Witcher: Blood Origin) plays Kit Brooks, a crime analyst who works with Jack. The series opens with the disturbing death of an elderly woman found in a cave. James Walford…

ONE-OFF SPECIAL ITV1/ITVX, MONDAY 6 JANUARY A special edition of the much-loved show, in which the team search for missing offspring believed to be part of Spain's stolen baby scandal. Since 2011, a huge number of women have come forward to claim that their children were taken from them at birth and given – or sold – to other families, with allegations that thousands of babies were trafficked by an organised network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns. Among those looking for answers is Ruth Appleby, who gave birth to her daughter Rebecca in northern Spain in 1992. 'I believed for 19 years that my daughter had died. And then, suspicions came to light that my daughter may not have died, and was stolen at birth,' she said. Plus, Maria…