Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling

The Living Legends have spoken: Will Iain get laser eye surgery? Plus, Laura and Iain vent about the necessity of apps and struggle to pronounce “Kjersten.”Hear these bits and more as Laura and Iain connect with Living Legends and dive into the Murder They Wrote inbox!If you want a chance to be featured in our next mailbag episode, email us at [email protected].

When Daisy Keeton goes missing from her home in Laurel, Mississippi, the last person anyone suspects is her daughter. Her golden child. But little do they know that, beneath her perfect exterior, Ouida Keeton is harbouring a deep, dark secret.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Iain dives into a Glaswegian case involving some very curious love letters. Plus, Laura looks at two ‘crime’ cases involving oblong-shaped food!

Iain looks at the crimes of Claude Dallas, a folkloric figure from southwest Idaho known as the “last mountain man”. In January 1981, Claude found himself in a deadly skirmish with two officers from the state’s Fishing and Game Department, named Bill Pogue and Conley Elms. Hear how Claude evaded the authorities for months on end and lived off the land as an outlaw in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura looks at the chilling story of cinema owner and serial killer Peter Howard Moore, which was sent in as a case suggestion from three separate listeners in North Wales. For much of the 1990s, Peter operated with impunity, carrying out vicious – and, eventually, deadly – attacks across LGBTQ nightclubs and hang-out spots while the authorities looked the other way. Alongside this case, Iain will lighten the mood with some other North Wales true crime stories and a lovely email from listener Will, who’s a secret CBBC fan!Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Laura looks at a 1930s kidnapping case that’s been retroactively fitted with the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ label. This case – involving the daughter of a wealthy City Manager in Missouri – appears to turn the narrative of ‘victim and perpetrator’ on its head.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] Details of help and support with suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Kim from Durham has sent in the legendary local case of Mary Ann Cotton. Iain takes us through Mary’s many poisonings and explores the origins of THAT nursery rhyme.If you want to see the massive hole that the Rathkeale Rover thieves drilled into the side of Durham University Oriental Museum, click here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35667130And for the picture of the crime-fighting cat, click here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-35934206Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

In May, 1934, an anonymous letter arrives at Horncastle Police Station in Lincolnshire. The letter tells detectives that they need to investigate the death of Arthur Major, a local lorry driver who was reported to have died of natural causes. “In the name of the law, I beg you to analyse the contents of his stomach,” it says.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] Details of help and support with domestic abuse, suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

In the first ever episode of Murder YOU Wrote, we visit Hull to have a look at a particularly shocking case sent in by a listener. Plus, we explore some other true crimes from the area, and go through some lovely listener emails.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

A seven-year-old cold case is blown wide open after a grisly discovery is made on the remote, tropical atoll of Palmyra.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Continue your Christmas celebrations with a festive true crime game and an encore of one of Iain’s most popular episodes, ‘A Murder in the Mearns’.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Kick off your Christmas celebrations with a festive true crime game and an encore of our of Laura’s most popular episodes, ‘The French Impressionist’.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with addiction and child abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Iain is kicking off the festive period with a distinctly UNfestive case: the 1960 kidnapping case of a wealthy beer mogul, Adolph Coors III – or Ad, as he’s known. When Ad’s car is left abandoned in the middle of a snowy road, the police immediately suspect foul play. Little do they know that the case is about to get darker than they had ever expected…Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Laura takes a look at the 1994 theft of Edvard Munch’s most famous painting – ‘The Scream’ – from Norway’s National Gallery. It took two thieves less than fifty seconds to break in through a window and grab the priceless artwork. In response, crime agencies from across the globe came together to organise an elaborate sting operation and return the painting before it was lost forever.You can see the picture from the 2004 theft of ‘The Scream’ here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3588282.stmMurder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

This week, Iain looks at the unbelievable true story of Juan Catalan, who was falsely accused of murder in August 2003. Iain takes us through the journey that Juan’s hardworking lawyer, Todd Melnik, went on to see his client freed, which involved tracking down some TV footage that would blow the case wide open.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura looks back at a murder that took place on Bonfire Night, 1930. Alfred Rouse is a philandering playboy, with multiple girlfriends on the go. After a few years, he decides his relationships are costing him too much money. So he hatches a plan to fake his own death and disappear into the night. Check out this article to see a picture of Alfred Rouse (but be warned that it contains details about the case): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-35165038Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

This week, Iain looks at a Parisian prison escape with more flair than Celine Dion singing on the Eiffel Tower.In 1986, Michel Vaujour made one of the most daring prison escapes in French history. One that he and his wife Nadine had been carefully planning for almost three years. But can this couple (and their two children!) stay hidden? Or will their penchant for outlandish criminal escapades come back to bite them?Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

This week, Laura looks at a 180-year-old murder mystery that served as inspiration for Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘Alias Grace’. When Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery (his housekeeper and mistress) are found dead in the basement of Thomas’ grand mansion, suspicion immediately falls on his two young servants, Grace Marks and James McDermott. But when Grace and James are caught crossing the border from Canada to America, their conflicting confessions leave the authorities completely confused. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

In September, 1935, two tourists make a gruesome discovery on the banks of a Scottish stream. When the police arrive, they know immediately that there’s been a brutal murder. But catching the killer won’t be easy, as they have used meticulous, surgical-like precision to hide their victims’ identities and cover their tracks.Iain takes a look at a case that came to be known as The Jigsaw Murders – and delves into the pioneering forensic techniques that helped bring the killer to justice.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.A warning that this episode contains some violent scenes and scenes that some listeners may find upsetting.

With Halloween just around the corner, Laura looks at a 1920s murder case involving high-society parties, heartbreak… and hauntings. This is the story of William Francis Rattenbury, a well-respected (but pretty unpopular) architect who found himself in the middle of a deadly love triangle.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with addiction, suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Find out the real life story before the 2015 movie ‘Masterminds’. When $17 million goes missing from a Loomis Fargo vault in October 1997, the FBI are tasked with unravelling a complex case that culminates in a murder-for-hire plot.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura is travelling to Germany this week to look at a 1906 murder case involving love, betrayal, family tensions… and a couple of very mysterious telegrams!Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

This week, Iain takes a look at a movie-esque showdown in a New York diner. It’s December, 1927, when two men hold up an establishment on Kossuth Place in Brooklyn. Hear how one police officer manages to save the day – even after being fatally wounded on the job.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura looks at the 170-year-old mystery of Maria Kirwan’s death, which took place on an uninhabited island off the coast of Dublin.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Iain looks at a kidnapping case involving one of Aldi’s co-founders. Learn what happened when Theo Albrecht was snatched by two men – and how he managed to get a bargain for his own ransom fee.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Laura looks at the case of Vere Thomas Goold, an Irish tennis champion who experienced a dramatic fall from grace. After losing an important match at the Irish National Championships, Vere gave up on his tennis career. He turned to a life of drink, drugs, gambling and – eventually – murder.Details of help and support with addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura looks at a 1922 murder case involving a married couple – Percy and Edith Thompson – and the man Edith was having an affair with, Freddy Bywaters. When Percy is fatally stabbed by his wife’s lover on a dark October evening, it doesn’t take long for the public to exonerate Freddy – and blame Edith instead. But did Edith really play a part in her husband’s murder? Or was she simply punished for being a woman living outside the cultural norms?Details of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Iain looks at one of the most legendary escapes in Alcatraz history. An escape that involved DIY drills, papier-mâché heads and even a raft made out of raincoats. It’s a case that inspired Clint Eastwood’s ‘Escape From Alcatraz’ (as well as one of Iain’s favourite video games) and still manages to mystify investigators, historians and true crime aficionados to this day.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

A special episode to celebrate the Bank Holiday. Laura and Iain dive into the Murder They Wrote inbox and share some of their favourite emails.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. If you want to be in with a chance of featuring in our next mailbag episode, email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura looks at how a 30-year-old cold case was solved thanks to some impressive detective work, a few exciting advances in DNA technology, and… a piece of chewing gum. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

In October 1969, Raffaele Minichiello boarded a flight in LA with an M1 rifle disguised as a fishing rod. He told the pilot that they weren’t going to San Francisco, as planned. They were going to Italy. What followed was one of the longest and most elaborate plane hijackings in history.Check out this article for photos of Raffaele Minichiello and more information about the case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48069272 Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

In the second of this two-part special, Laura looks at the details surrounding the Tate–LaBianca murders, the downfall of the Manson family, the infamous court case, and the lasting impact that Charles Manson and his followers had on LA – and the world.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

In the first of a two-part special, Laura takes us back to the very beginning of the Charles Manson story. This week’s episode starts by looking at Charles Manson’s mother, Kathleen, before unravelling the details of Charles’ childhood, his troubled teenage years, his time in and out of prison, and what led him to establish his ‘family’, which would later become a murderous cult.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Iain looks at the unbelievable true story of a bank heist that was inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Red Headed League’. This story includes an outlandish break-in, an intercepted radio frequency, and even a potential royal scandal. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Iain tells the story of Gregor MacGregor, a 19th-century trickster who took con artistry to a whole new level. In 1820, Gregor invented his own country – complete with a national flag and even a currency – and managed to convince hundreds of British people to uproot their lives and move thousands of miles away, under the false pretence of a prosperous new life in South America.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura looks at perhaps one of the most unbelievable cases we’ve covered yet. When a missing boy from Texas turns up halfway around the world, no one can quite understand what happened to him. But, once the story starts to unravel, the answer is more shocking than we could have ever imagined…Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with addiction and child abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

This week, we’re in Boston, where Iain is digging into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the Isabella Gardner heist.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Laura looks at the crimes of ‘Jolly’ Jane Toppan, the woman believed to be America’s first female serial killer.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Iain looks at an extortion plot involving a homemade bomb, a confusing ransom note and an unusual father-son dynamic.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with domestic abuse, gambling addiction and some other issues raised in today’s episode are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

This week, Laura looks at a murder case involving a possessive lover, a diabolical brotherly pact, and a mysterious cooler box bobbing in the Atlantic ocean.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected] of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Here at Murder They Wrote, we think there’s no better way to celebrate the bank holiday than hearing about some good old fashioned bank robberies. This week, Laura dives deep into the case file of one of history’s most prolific bank robbers – a man who earned himself a spot on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Expect high-stakes heists, unbelievable prison escapes – and a lot of laughter from Iain when he learns that the criminal in question is called Willie.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

When businessman Maxwell Garvie goes missing from his home in May, 1968, the last place police expect to find him is in an underground tunnel beneath one of Aberdeenshire’s most picturesque tourist attractions. But, as the circumstances around his murder begin to unravel, investigators are plunged into a murky underworld of sex, scandal… and deadly secrets.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura tracks the rise and (spectacularly dramatic) fall of a famous 18th-century courtesan. Sally Salisbury’s client list runs the gamut of London’s rich and famous (think secretaries of state, future kings, and so on). In other words, she’s living the high life. That is until one fateful night in December 1721 when she flies into a jealous rage over one of her lovers – and stabs him in the chest.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

It’s December, 1968, and Frank Sinatra Jr. has just been kidnapped by two strangers in the night. But these aren’t your regular kidnappers. In fact, they’re total amateurs. What follows are bungled ransom negotiations, a confusing money drop, and a very controversial statement made on the stand.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura is visiting a diamond shop in Paris that was robbed not once but TWICE by a shady international jewel thief group. Learn how the group got its name – The Pink Panthers – and how it pulled off two such audacious heists in the space of just 15 months.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Iain looks at a case that was blown wide open by an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. When a man named Elmer DeBoer is found dead in a field near Waterford, Michigan, police are pretty sure that a local couple – an ex-convict and his teenage runaway girlfriend – are responsible. But, for ten months, they struggle to find any leads. That is until the case is featured on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. Suddenly, the phone lines begin ringing off the hook.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura is diving into a grisly murder case that took place on a remote island off the coast of New Hampshire. Smuttynose Island is a picture-perfect – albeit rugged – landscape. On the evening of March 6th, 1873, a small boat arrives on its shores. By the morning, the boat is gone. And two of the island’s resident are dead. Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

The Mona Lisa might just be the most recognisable painting in the world. But did you know that, in 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s priceless portrait was stolen from the Louvre? Find out how a humble house painter pulled off this incredible theft – and why police brought Picasso in for questioning – in Iain’s episode this week.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

In this bitesize Easter special, Iain covers the case of the Cadbury Creme Egg theft. Find out what happened when, in February 2023, a Leeds man broke into a warehouse and made off with 200,000 of the chocolatey treats. The picture discussed in this episode can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-66254085.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

How far would you go for your favourite teacher? This week, Laura is travelling to 1990s Wisconsin to find out how a group of teenagers got landed with a very deadly homework assignment.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].