This drama-documentary series takes us back in time to the most shocking and surprising murder cases in London, England's history. Nicholas Day guides us into the world of the killer as we see how police ingenuity and early forensics helped bring them to justice.
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Best Episodes of Murder Maps
Dr. Buck Ruxton
S4 Ep3
7.6
27th Jan 2019
Dr Ruxton was an Indian born physician. He lived a quiet, respectable life in Lancaster but had a violent jealous streak. He had accused his wife of infidelity for years but in September 1935 Ruxton's jealousy got the better of him. He beat, strangled and stabbed her to death then did the same to the housemaid who witnessed the killing. Ruxton dismembered the bodies to remove identification marks and dumped them across the border in Scotland. Local police were dumbfounded as to who the bodies were, the press had a field day but still no one could identify the two bodies. It was a scrap of newsprint used to wrap the body parts in that was identified as a publication only available in Lancaster. The police soon honed in on Ruxton.
Notting Hill Horror Part 1
S2 Ep4
7.5
22nd Sep 2016
John Christie killed at least eight women during the 1940s and 1950s, including his wife. Hear more about his shocking crimes in this two-parter.
The Acid Bath Murders
S3 Ep2
7.4
19th Oct 2017
When police investigated the disappearance of wealthy widow, Olive Durand Deacon, in early 1949, they could not have imagined the gruesome confession told to them by the man they had brought in for questioning.
Terror In The Roaring Twenties
S2 Ep1
7.3
1st Sep 2016
Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters were in love but the young couple were convicted for murdering Edith's husband. The case would shock this changing society and highlight the horror of the death penalty.
Finding Dr. Crippen
S1 Ep3
7.2
22nd Sep 2015
Having killed his wife and buried her in the basement, Dr Crippen believed he had escaped on a ship to Canada. But the police managed to hunt him down and bring him to account for his terrible crime.
The Tow Path Murders
S3 Ep3
7.2
26th Oct 2017
The murders of two teens along the River Thames leads to one of Britain's most massive manhunts and ultimately to the capture of Alfred Whiteway.
In the Shadow of Jack
S1 Ep2
7.1
15th Sep 2015
At the time of Jack The Ripper, London was home to some of the most terrible individuals the city has ever seen. One of the very worst was the elusive Borough Poisoner, George Chapman.
The Blackout Ripper
S2 Ep2
7.1
8th Sep 2016
It was WWII and London was rocked by the Blitz. In this blacked out city another terrible danger lurked in the shadows. A serial killer was on the loose.
Worst Episodes of Murder Maps
Mary Pearcey
S5 Ep9
6.3
28th Feb 2020
Here we reveal how the notorious killer Mary Pearcey began an affair with her victim's husband, how she inserted herself into the family's life.
Cleveland Torso Murders
S5 Ep7
6.5
14th Feb 2020
Cleveland, Ohio was a notorious city in the 1930s. The Great Depression had hit it hard. Crime and corruption were rife. And there was a serial killer on the loose. This episode investigates the unsolved murders committed by the Butcher of Kingsbury Run. The Butcher killed at least twelve men and women, dismembering their bodies and scattering them across the city. Few of the victims were ever identified and nobody was brought to justice. But as this episode reveals, the investigation of legendary lawman Eliot Ness did have a suspect, a man whose identity has remained a secret for decades.
Sheperds Bush Murders
S4 Ep4
6.5
3rd Feb 2019
Three police officers were murdered in Shepherds Bush on Friday 12th August 1966 by Harry Roberts and two others. After the killing they went on the run and a huge manhunt ensued. One assailant was captured within hours, the second was found 4 days later in Glasgow but Roberts hid in Thorley Wood near Bishop Stortford and used his army training to survive for three months until he was finally arrested. The notion that someone had killed several policemen shocked the public and attracted a lot of press attention. As the act of murder happened six months after the death penalty had been suspended, many people called for it's return. Two of the assailants died in prison but the gunman, Harry Roberts was released after spending 48 years behind bars.
The Bermondsey Horror
S1 Ep1
6.7
8th Sep 2015
In 1849, a man suddenly disappeared in Bermondsey. The discovery that he had been brutally murdered enraptured the press and the public. Even Charles Dickens was totally engrossed in the story of the sinister Marie Manning.
Jack the Ripper (1)
S5 Ep1
6.7
7th Oct 2019
We all think we know the story of Jack the Ripper. The most famous serial killer in history, the man who murdered five women on the streets of Whitechapel - and got away with it. In this two-part Murder Maps special, we re-examine those notorious crimes. We reveal how the story we know today was shaped by the sensationalist press of 1888. And we strip back decades of rumour and misinformation to reveal the true lives of the five women slain. With contributions from world renowned Ripper expert Donald Rumbelow and writer Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five - the only book to tell the lives of the victims, these documentaries are the true story of the Whitechapel Murders as never heard before.
Herbert Armstrong - Hay Poisoner
S5 Ep5
6.7
4th Nov 2019
Herbert Rowse Armstrong went down in history as The Hay Poisoner. Convicted in 1922 of murdering his wife with arsenic, he was the first and only solicitor to be hanged in the UK. But was he guilty? Was he a cunning poisoner, or was he a grieving husband wrongly accused? Much of the evidence against Armstrong was circumstantial and the scientific testimony remains disputed. In this episode we examine both sides of the case and ask whether the British justice system made a terrible mistake.
Jack the Ripper (2)
S5 Ep2
6.7
14th Oct 2019
We all think we know the story of Jack the Ripper. The most famous serial killer in history, the man who murdered five women on the streets of Whitechapel - and got away with it. In this two-part Murder Maps special, we re-examine those notorious crimes. We reveal how the story we know today was shaped by the sensationalist press of 1888. And we strip back decades of rumour and misinformation to reveal the true lives of the five women slain. With contributions from world renowned Ripper expert Donald Rumbelow and writer Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five - the only book to tell the lives of the victims, these documentaries are the true story of the Whitechapel Murders as never heard before.
The Richmond Murder
S5 Ep8
6.8
21st Feb 2020
It was a crime which shocked Britain. In 1878, a widow was killed in her own home - and the killer was her own servant. This was a murder which struck at the heart of Victorian society, at the sanctity of the home and the rigid divides between the classes. For the young Kate Webster did not only kill and dismember her employer - she stole her clothes, her property and her identity. And to the Victorians that was almost more monstrous than the murder itself.
Murder Maps Episode Guide
The Bermondsey Horror
S1 Ep1
6.7
8th Sep 2015
In 1849, a man suddenly disappeared in Bermondsey. The discovery that he had been brutally murdered enraptured the press and the public. Even Charles Dickens was totally engrossed in the story of the sinister Marie Manning.
In the Shadow of Jack
S1 Ep2
7.1
15th Sep 2015
At the time of Jack The Ripper, London was home to some of the most terrible individuals the city has ever seen. One of the very worst was the elusive Borough Poisoner, George Chapman.
Finding Dr. Crippen
S1 Ep3
7.2
22nd Sep 2015
Having killed his wife and buried her in the basement, Dr Crippen believed he had escaped on a ship to Canada. But the police managed to hunt him down and bring him to account for his terrible crime.
The Brides in the Bath Killer
S1 Ep4
7.0
29th Sep 2015
George Smith had many aliases. He needed them for his many wives who he would soon murder in order to claim the inheritance. Catching this chameleon would be a gargantuan challenge.
