Fred Dinenage - Murder Casebook Episode Rating Graph

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.