True Crime: redefined
The true crime podcast.
# WINNER: Outstanding Indie Podcast @ True Crime Awards 2024 #
What makes a criminal? What drives a person to ignore the laws and conventions of normal society and pushes them to perform truly dark acts?
Sex? Money? Revenge? Love? Humiliation?
Are criminals born bad or are they a creation of their circumstances?
How can detectives catch people who are intent on causing truly dreadful harm to others? What happens when that criminal has done a brilliant job covering their tracks?
This newsletter and podcast explores some of our biggest crime stories - and some of the lesser-known, fascinating cases which deserve a better understanding.
I have reported on several hundred homicides in my twenty years as a TV correspondent.
In every case, I’ve looked at the man or woman in the dock and wondered: how did you get there?
And I’ve seen the families of the victims and thought how their lives have been changed irrevocably by the actions of the accused.
Some of the inquiries have been true mysteries at the beginning. How detectives have solved the cases has taken ingenuity and incredible hard work.
It is only when you hear the voices of the very people involved in these cases that you get an understanding of why crimes happened, the impact on victims, how detectives solved each case and what we can learn to make society safer.
So who am I?
My name is Robert Murphy and I’m a British television news correspondent. I’ve also made a couple of extremely popular true crime podcast series, I’ve written two true crime books (one won Best New Author at the True Crime Awards 2023) and I have presented and directed a couple of documentaries too.
You may know some of the fascinating, high-profile crimes I have reported on, which include:
The parachute murder plot (Emile Cillers)
The Melanie Road cold case - solved after 32 years - I’ve written a book about this with Det Supt Julie Mackay.
Serial killer Christopher Halliwell murders (dramatised in A Confession)
The groundbreaking covert police sting Operation Argus to catch one of England’s most-wanted men (I’ve written a book and directed a film about this - both called Decoy.)
The trial by media of Christopher Jefferies (Joanna Yeates)
The Cape Town honeymoon murder of Anni Dewani
The Salisbury Poisonings
The 7/7 terror attacks
Penelope Jackson’s murder of her husband David in her family home
My podcast series No Strings Attached and Catching Melanie’s Killer are in the top 1% of global downloads.
Decoy - the documentary I directed and presented - made international headlines and has been viewed more than 1.5 million times on YouTube.
I am fascinated by crimes which have been - at first glance - near-impossible to solve. How have detectives found that vital cue which set them on the right track? How have experts developed that new science which blew the case wide-open? What did a witness or victim say which made the hairs on the detective’s neck stand on end? How did investigators solve an inquiry which has evaded generations of police beforehand?
Why should I subscribe?
My newsletter brings you details about my new podcast releases - about which fascinating cases and characters will be featured in the episodes ahead.
You’ll join a community which is interested and engaged in crime detection and you’ll be part of the debate: what inquiries changed the face of policing? What learnings can be made for future cases? What patterns create criminals? What breakthroughs in forensic science are on the horizon? What other cases would you like Behind the Crimes to focus on?
What are the benefits of a paid subscription?
Thanks for thinking of supporting me with a paid subscription. Creating podcasts is time-consuming and costly. And your support would be re-invested in audio production.
Some of the Behind the Crimes podcasts will be free. Paid subscribers get every episode at its full length.
And paid members get extra benefits:
Deep-dive audio interviews with guests.
Video interviews with guests.
Casefiles including maps, photos and evidence. This is the really great stuff.
Links to official documents where - if a case has really piqued your interest - you can immerse yourself in granular detail.
Tell me what you think
I’d love to hear from you: how did the podcasts affect you? Have you been part of a fascinating inquiry? What cases would you like to hear on the ‘Behind the Crimes’ podcast? I love telling stories of lesser-known crimes which shine a light on issues in society. I’d love your help to get these featured on an episode.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
