What crime stories have you been obsessed by?

[WomenHour]

I was griped by the James Bulger murder 25 years ago

@MooominMamma I am listening to Down the Hill at the moment - such a strange case

Not obsessed but have a huge interest in a number of high profile and some not to well known murder cases.
James Bulger one breaks my heart.
Adnan Syed case since I watched the Serial Podcast
The Watts family murder
Jonbennet - I really don't believe the brother had anything to do with it
Numerous others that I can't remember currently.

The Chris Watts case was awful. The interrogation footage is fascinating.. I think the police did an amazing job.

The thing that infuriates me about James Bulger is all the bullshit people made up about it, like the killers shoving batteries into his anus and sordid crap like that. The case is horrifying enough as it is, it's two children killing another child, why go out of your way to make it worse? A partner sent one of those stupid chain emails about the case around the office in my last job and I was furious, she had no bloody business doing that.

I have said this on other similar threads but the JonBenet case is intriguing but actually not that complicated. This was a family death - accident or otherwise. Nobody else was in that house and that is very clear when you've researched it in detail. Her parents know what happened to her although unlikely to ever come out now and her mother has since died.

This one was the most unbelievable story imaginable - I was gripped but felt so sorry for the poor victim and her family.

@LioneIRichTea If you haven't heard of it already, the Isdal Woman is another very similar to the Somerton Man.

The teachers pet podcast is one of the most interesting cases I've ever followed. Her former husband is due to go to trial later this year I believe.

I also follow the lady vanishes podcast about Marion barter. Also very interesting and must surely be linked to the man in Luxembourg. But I think it will take a while to solve.

The torture and murder of Emani Moss by her own parents 😨

@PhilSwagielka My understanding from a fair bit of reading around (books as well as Internet) is that the battery thing is sadly true. It was left out of the court case for multiple reasons including distress to the Bulger family. Both boys denied it and became incredibly distressed when asked about it.. I wish I could give a source but can't remember off the top of my head and tbh it's probably not the time or place. You're right in that sense - the case is horrific enough.

Thanks @ZoeTurtle I’m going to read that now.

I’m so obsessed with these mysteries!

Ben Needham. He was a few months older than my DS so really resonated with me.

[quote SideEyeing]@PhilSwagielka My understanding from a fair bit of reading around (books as well as Internet) is that the battery thing is sadly true. It was left out of the court case for multiple reasons including distress to the Bulger family. Both boys denied it and became incredibly distressed when asked about it.. I wish I could give a source but can't remember off the top of my head and tbh it's probably not the time or place. You're right in that sense - the case is horrific enough.[/quote]
Oh dear G-d.

Someone else mentioned Suzanne Capper and I remember reading about that a while back - it happened near where I live, though I wasn't in Manchester at the time. Again, you have to wonder what the actual fuck was going through those people's heads, to kidnap and torture a woman for days on end before burning her alive and leaving her to die. And laughing about it.

I'm not sure if Hillsborough counts as true crime, but I've been following the Hillsborough Justice Campaign for years - I got into it through Space, as they did the Hillsborough Justice Concert in 1997 (and I wish I'd gone, I had to be content with listening to it on the radio) and it was personal for them as one of the guitarist's friends had died, and the keyboard player is a Hillsborough survivor. I'm glad Anne Williams at least lived long enough to get some closure about Kevin. The fact so much evidence was covered up makes me so angry.

I really enjoy reading about true crime.

The ones I find fascinating are the unsolved mysteries, like the Hinterkaifeck murders, the Dyatlov pass incident, and the death of Elisa Lam. I can't bear reading child torture or murder cases. James Bulger especially.

Missing people..
How can so many people go missing ?
Could alien abduction be involved ?
How can someone just disappear off the face of the earth ?
Where are they/ have they been all this time ?
Have they disappeared through choice ?
If murdered then why cant the police find the bodies ?

More recently the Chris Watts murders for me as well. I think because there’s so much footage to go through, interviews, bodycam footage etc. The coldness and dismissiveness of his whole demeanour is chilling to watch. Also the tack his family have taken of blaming his wife for the murders. The whole case is just bewildering.

@Foghornleghorn99

Missing people.. How can so many people go missing ? Could alien abduction be involved ? How can someone just disappear off the face of the earth ? Where are they/ have they been all this time ? Have they disappeared through choice ? If murdered then why cant the police find the bodies ?

I think the fact is that people disappearing into thin air is rare which is why we hear about the cases where that happens. Most missing people turn up eventually, or what’s happened to them is figured out.

As for what happens to bodies, as grim as it sounds there are many places that are never explored or found - at the bottom of lakes, rubbish dumps, private property which the police never have reason to search etc.

It’s very upsetting and I absolutely agree that it’s chilling when it happens. I think more people get away with murder than we realise.

Re Lostprophets: I used to be a fan but went off them when their second album came out and when I saw them at Reading in the 00s, Ian came across as really up his own arse. The band members had said that he'd grown apart from them and was always off doing his own thing, and I wonder just how much they knew about him being a paedophile. The rest of them are tainted by association now. When the story first broke, a friend of mine who's also a metalhead and volunteered for the NSPCC said people originally thought it was 13 year olds, as Watkins had a reputation for shagging teenage girls. And then it turned out to be much, much worse.

One aspect that really fucks me off is that one woman, I think she was his ex, actually went to the police about him and they did nothing. He was hardly subtle about being a nonce, his password was 'ilovekids' or something equally foul. A rock site uploaded the transcript of the court case and...yeah. I am one of those people who has a tendency to click on horrifying things and then wish I hadn't and this was one of them. I actually cried reading it. I don't know who I hate more, Watkins or those women who willingly pimped their own children out to him to rape.

Kyron horman
Beaufort 3
Claudia Lawrence

Zodiac killer.

@piscean10 Shannan Watts. It is just unfathomable to look at that man and know what he did.

@Foghornleghorn99 @Sparklesocks Sadly unsolved missing cases are more common than anyone would really think. It's just more easy to hide a body than we are led to believe. I've realised this after listening to so many unsolved crime stories.

@JacobReesMogadishu

Also alistair Wilson who was executed on his doorstep in Scotland. No known motive as far as I’m aware. Always puzzled by that.

Wouldn't look much beyond his wife!

The McStay family murders are a fascinating read too. It took 10 years for the killer to be convicted.

Another one: John Haigh, the acid bath murderer. I read about it in a science textbook at school.