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Presented by journalist and true crime author Geoffrey Wansell, Murder by the Sea examines strange murders recorded at famous seaside resorts in the United Kingdom.
2018
A profile of the prolific young serial killer Stephen Akinmurele, who was only 21-years-old when he murdered his victims.
The case known as the Garage Murders, which sparked a nationwide manhunt that saw Terry Clifton repeatedly evade the police before he was jailed for murdering two mechanics.
Looking at the case of the 'Vampire Killer' Mathew Hardman, who cut out the heart, and then drank the blood of 90-year-old Mabel Leyshon of Anglesey in 2001.
When Joan Stirland's son Michael O'Brien murdered Colin Gunn's nephew in 2003, she and her husband's lives were in danger. They went on the run, but their son's past soon caught up with them.
The case of Paul Longworth, who murdered his wife by strangling her with sailing rope and arranging her body in their home, then claimed it was suicide.
The case of Steven Grierson, a serial killer who murdered four teenagers and terrorised dozens of others, becoming known as the Sunderland strangler.
2019
Michael Ross was just 15-years-old when he shot Shamsuddin Mahmood in the face and fled, but police caught up with him a decade later.
The case of the killer Malcolm Green, who murdered women and dumped their dead bodies in bags.
A secret love triangle led to Jack Campbell murdering his love rival in a siege which shook Orkney Island.
A profile of the serial killer John Cooper, who murdered four hikers and terrorised camp sites for decades, raping and robbing campers.
Looking back at the case of the murderer Graham Fisher, who stabbed and then ate two of his young victims in the summer of 1998.
Looking back at the case of Lithuanian murderer Vitas Plytnykas, who killed a fellow worker in Scotland, leaving her severed head to be found on a beach.
2019
True crime author Geoffrey Wansell looks into the case of a killer whose violent fantasies lead him to pray on vulnerable people.
Deadly tales from the coastlines of the United Kingdom.
The discovery in 1961 by three cavers of a sack containing human bones in a disused lead mine close to the town of Caswell near the Gower Peninsula, South Wales, would finally resolve a mystery more than 40 years old.
59 year old landlord Alec Warburtorn was savagely beaten, by what was in the view of the pathologist, most likely a hammer. His assailant David Ellis,41, then coolly drove the body over 140 miles to a disused quarry in North Wales that he had visited as a child, and thought was the perfect spot for disposing of his victim's body. He attempted a getaway to Northern Ireland by ferry, but was arrested there by the Garda after the victim was reported missing by his brother, some 3 days later. Most remarkably though, the heartless Ellis tried to claim self defence due to unwanted sexual advances from the older man, a claim that was not to sway the jury who were told by a forensic pathologist that the attack consisting of at least three heavy blows, was most likely from behind and there were no defensive injuries.
The strange relationship between mother and son Penelope and Barry Rogers, with eyewitness reports of overly close contact, leading some to believe incest was a possibility, was overshadowed by a much more sinister crime. The two planned and eventually murdered Penelope's own mother Betty Guy, intoxicating her with booze and drugs before callously smothering her. A rare case of both a mother and son involved in matricide.
A look back at the 1953 poisoning of Blackpool resident 79 year old Sarah Ann Ricketts by her new housekeeper , Louisa May Merrifield aged 49. Lousia was married to a much older man of 71 who was famously described as a simpleton , leaving the jury at Manchester Assizes unable to reach a verdict for his involvement. Louisa however was not so lucky and was dispatched by Albert Pierrepoint who coincidentally had honeymooned in the town.
2020
An arrogant Bournemouth hotelier called Peter Taylor gets away with murdering his wife in 1982; but when he conspires to kill his son-in-law nine years later, his luck runs out.
George Smith, an Edwardian man who married a string of women, only to drown them in a bath and steal their money, was eventually caught and hanged in 1915.
In 1987, two brothers from a well-to-do family killed their parents in such brutal fashion that it still haunts the people of Jersey to this day.
Former military commander Neil Rutherford unleashes terror on the unsuspecting guests of a remote Welsh seaside hotel in 1976, before turning the gun on himself.
The discovery of the body of a lighthouse keeper on the Scottish island of Little Ross in 1960 prompts a massive man hunt for his killer, assistant lighthouse keeper Robert Dickson.
For Dundees most infamous father-son pair, killing was a competition, and between them murdered seven innocent people from 1967 to 1979.
Having brutally murdered his wife in 1993, Hassan Shatanawi thought he had effectively made her vanish from the face of the earth but he made one crucial oversight.
A scandalous love triangle between a beautiful socialite Alma Rattenbury, her young gardener George Stoner and estranged husband Francis cast a shadow of disrepute and death over 1930s Bournemouth.
Port Talbot taxi driver Linda Thomas made a fatal journey one night in 1973, when she picked up a homicidal homeless drifter called Trevor Howell.
A young man, Tyrone France, becomes embroiled in Newport's drugs underworld, meeting a disastrous end in a remote forest clearing in 1996.
2024
When mature student Rebeca Love rejects the advances of undergraduate Jason Webster, he uses a ball point pen to murder her in her halls of residence
Buck Ruxton had a jealous streak that would see him kill his common law wife Isabella, as well as their maid who witnessed the murder.
One of the most bizarre murder cases in British criminal history began when Police were called to attend the scene of a dog barking outside a campervan near Brighton.
Despite only being trialled and convicted for the death of a single victim, Mary Ann Cotton is often classed as Britain’s worst female serial killer.
In the 1970’s a murderer terrorised Edinburgh, abducting and killing young women in what became known as ‘The Worlds End Murders’.
Emily Kaye was not aware of the past dealings of the handsome Patrick Mahon when she fell head over heels in love with him.
Paul Teed murdered 3 members of his family by beating them to death with a baseball bat a in a Hove nightclub over a dispute over money
Sidney Fox travelled the country swindling spinsters out of money and cashing stolen cheques, eventually leading to murder to claim his victim's life insurance
On Valentine's Day Paul Dyson strangled his partner Joanne Nelson to death before removing her body and making it look like she had just disappeared
After Andre Genestin's wife discovered he had been cheating on her, he murdered her and stored her body in a car roof box in the garden.
2025
Victoria Couchman's skull was found near St Leonards-on-Sea months after she vanished. Her father, Tony, became the prime suspect, his controlling behavior leading to tragedy.
Will Gray and Jack Field befriended Irene Munro and walked her along a beach. But, the stroll turned to murder and Irene was bludgeoned to death.
Gary Hampson was reported missing by his family after failing to turn up for an appointment. As fears grew, the police put a car garage he frequented under surveillance.
John Watson Laurie met Edwin Rose, and the pair went on holiday to the Isle of Arran. One morning they left to climb the mountains at Goatfell, however, only Laurie returned.
After not being seen for several days, Rita Parminter was found dead in her home in Hastings. To police, it initially appeared that she had taken her own life.
Felicity Paget was killed by a "mystery knifeman" who entered her house, and also attacked her fiancé William Webb. The "fleeing attacker" left footprints behind in blood.
John Kewish was the last person to be hanged for murder on the Isle of Man in August, 1872. Yet, the case continues to create controversy to this day.
Labelled the 'Royal Navy's Dennis Nilsen', Petty Officer Allan Grimson murdered Nicholas Wright, 18, on December 12, 1997, and Sion Jenkins, 20, exactly 12 months later.
In the 1990's, electrician Tony Teare lured Corrine Bentley to remote moorland in the UK, promising her a job. In the violent attack that followed, he left her for dead.
Already a wanted criminal in Canada, fraudster Albert Walker fled to the UK and assumed the identity of a man who would become his business partner - Ronald Platt.
2022
The 7th series opens with Nell Darby looking at the case of Kirsty Carver. Kirsty worked as a civilian employee of Humberside Police. After she disappeared police organised a search for her. Her killer would be revealed as Craig Belcher.
Following the discovery of his affair with a much younger woman, police Sergeant Stephen Jones killed his wife Madeline with his truncheon in their garage at home.
Elderly couple Benjamin and Dorothy were killed in their own home in one of the most terrifying home invasions ever seen.
Marie Buls was an elderly woman in the care of wealthy spinster Noreen O'Connor. As time progressed O'Connor became convinced that Marie was possessed by the devil.
Defending herself against her husband Robert, Hazel Williams bludgeoned him to death. She then proceeded to hide his body in the cellar of their home in Penmaenmawr on the North Wales coast and told people he had left her.
In 1949, Donald Hume murdered his business partner Stanley Setty following an altercation in which the killer's dog was kicked. Setty was stabbed to death, his head and legs cut off and his torso dumped from a plane over the Essex marshes.
Teenager James McElroy was on holiday with his friends, twins Mark and Michael Otter, in Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales in 1982 when he turned on the boys and murdered them with a shotgun before shooting himself.
Herbert Bennett tired of his wife Mary Jane and strangled her with a bootlace in the sands off Yarmouth beach and was hanged for the crime at Norwich prison in 1901.
Teenager Clive Olive was a young member of the local biker gang the 'Sussex Mad Dogs', but after crossing gang leader Brian Moore, he found himself sentenced to death. Olive was lured into a van, badly beaten and dumped in the sea.
Torquay businessman Martin 'Marty' Fenton fell out with the owner of the local casino John Tsigarides. He exacted his revenge with a murderous shooting spree that claimed 4 lives just days before Christmas in 1973.
2020
After a fire breaks out at a home, police receive a strange phone call that triggers a hunt for a killer.
The case of John George Haigh, who came up with a plan for the 'perfect' murder when he was serving time in prison for fraud.
When Pierre LeGris reports his wife Rui Li missing, police are instantly wary, and they uncover a tangled web of loyalty and deception.
Investigating the murders of two elderly women, a decade apart.
The murder of a part-time actress triggers a nationwide manhunt for a killer.
When Linda Anders is found dead at home, her wheelchair-bound husband Malcolm claims an intruder broke in. Police findings quickly change the course of the investigation.
Dismembered bodies of two women are both found in car boots, the first at a train station, the second in a city.
The case of John Bodkin Adams, a trusted GP who befriended older patients and was often named in their wills after their deaths.
The case of Robert Henry Davies, who committed murder after a sexual assault investigation threatened to revisit sins from his past.
The case of Charlotte Pinkey, a woman who disappeared in Ilfracombe after going to a party and never returning.
2023
The 8th series opens with a bizarre case. Roger and Josie Hartland found themselves stalked by their new home's previous owner, who claimed to be a former resident of a Nazi breeding camp, producing children for Hitler's Aryan race.
Helen Torbet visited the Highlands every year and stayed at the same guesthouse, but over the years the son of its proprietors - Don MacMillan Junior - had developed an unhealthy obsession with her.
Sandra Parkinson was a vibrant young woman filled with potential. Working in Salcombe, Devon her life was ended when she was murdered in broad daylight just a few metres from a busy beach.
When Patricia Causley disappeared, her husband managed to convince police that she had walked out on her own volition. A decade later, detectives piece together what had really happened.
Nora Trott, a much-loved member of her community, was savagely murdered. 27 years after her death, advances in DNA technology would allow police to find a suspect in her case.
Michael Brown claimed to be a sensitive man, held back by the fact he was only five feet tall. His frustrations at his inability to get a job drove him to murder.
This edition examines the murder of Jean Dicker, who was battered to death with a hammer at the hands of her son, Steven.
Percy Mapleton was looking for a way to a fast fortune, and identified Brighton bond trader Isaac Gold as his target, but a robbery on a moving train turned into tragedy. Prompted the first composite picture on a wanted poster in the UK.
In order to avoid paying for an expensive divorce while having an affair with a much younger woman, Michael Peacock planned what he thought would be the ideal murder.
The eighth series of the true crime documentary concludes by examining the crimes of Peter Moore, a man who turned to murder following the death of his mother. The cinema manager was dubbed "The Man in Black" and killed 4 men.
2021
A two year investigation into the random murder of Margaret Wilson, would lead police on one of the most complex and fascinating murder investigations in recent memory.
When Margaret McOnie is found dead on the cliff tops a nationwide manhunt followed. Her murderer would soon be revealed as a deadly conman and a double murderer.
When Danny Dyke tried playing the hardened drug dealer, he found himself in over his head, but it was his murderers ended up having sleepless nights.
When Michael Barber finds his wife Susan in bed with another man, she realises she has to take drastic measures to stop him leaving, but no one could suspect how far she would go.
Robert Mochrie killed his wife Catherine and their children James, Sian, Luke and Bethan in July 2000 at their home in Barry.
Miles Wiliam Gifford believed his parents owed him everything, and would stop at nothing to get what he needed for the lavish lifestyle he craved.
Retired doctor Alexander Wood and his wife Dorothy, both in their late seventies, were battered to death and hacked with a hammer in Dundee by Henry John Gallagher.
Brian Bishop was shot and killed in a shoot-out with an armed robber as they returned to a stash point piled high with cash stolen from multiple post offices along the coastline.
Just before Christmas 1994, heavily tattooed Jason Mitchell strangled pensioners Arthur and Shirley Wilson, before returning to his father's house and dismembering his body.
After Philip Manning killed his ex-wife dead in a vengeful rage on Christmas day and hospitalised her boyfriend, he led police on a chase across the country.
