Season 1

The seemingly admirable and respectable middle class man, John Haigh, guilty of six grotesque murders in which each victim was drained of blood and later dissolved in acid. Haigh’s calculated disposal of the bodies was an attempt to acquire their wealth in belief that this would prevent any risk of conviction. Was he a blood thirsty Satanist or one of the most cunning and callous killers who would do anything for money to feed his greed for money.

Graham Young is the reoffending serial killer fascinated with deadly poisons and toxic chemicals who began his fatal experiments at the mere age of fourteen after poisoning his entire family. Released from jail 15 years later he up-scaled his study, this time lacing cups of tea with deadly poison to an entire factory of workers.

The heartless bigamist murderer George Joseph Smith left his victims with broken hearts, empty bank accounts and in some cases, dead. Drowning three of his seven wives, Smith was hanged for his murderous greed. Fred Dinenage examines how the early use of forensics helped police unmask the killer.

Scarred by a traumatic and unstable upbringing, Donald Neilson was the serial burglar turned masked murderer obsessed with weapons and military conduct. The meticulous nature to his three murders, became increasingly violent ending in the kidnapping and brutal murder of seventeen year old heiress Lesley Whittle.

Fifteen year old killer Harold Jones brutally murdered two young girls in 1921 giving the reasons for the murders as a 'desire to kill'. After narrowly escaping prosecution on his first attack, Jones was eventually caught red handed when the mutilated body of his second victim was discovered in his attic. Not yet 16 Jones escaped hanging merely by the virtue of his age. We’ll examine new evidence that shows Jones may have later gone on to become ‘Jack the Stripper’, an unidentified serial killer in the 1960’s.

The extraordinary tale of deceitful compulsive liar John Christie, who murdered six women and stored them in his home in Rillington Place between 1943-53. Christie initially framed his neighbour, Timothy Evans, who was consequently hanged for the supposed murder of his wife and child, leading to a strong public outcry upon discovery and the eventual abolition of capital punishment.

A brutal crime of passion that gripped the nation and saw Ruth Ellis hanged after murdering her estranged lover at the violent climax of a destructive relationship fuelled by jealousy. We’ll examine what punishment may have been dealt out to Ruth had she committed the murder in today’s modern age.

Derek Bentley, the nineteen year old executed at Wandsworth prison, for his part in the murder of PC Sidney Miles during a break in at a warehouse in Surrey. As a minor Bentley’s accomplice Christopher Craig, who actually shot the officer, escaped execution and a long sentence leaving Bentley alone to take the fall. With the help of Criminologist Professor David Wilson we’ll discover how his case changed the law.