Cup of Coffee and Crime

Jenny Nicholl was nineteen. On a warm summer evening in June 2005, she kissed her mother goodbye, picked up her camping gear, and promised she would be home the next day.She never was.Her disappearance left behind more questions than answers. Her car was found abandoned. Personal belongings were hidden in woodland. And days later, text messages arrived claiming she had run away and started a new life. Case closed, or so it seemed.But something about those words felt wrong. And soon detectives would uncover a secret that ultimately cost Jenny her life.

Motherhood is often seen as a guarantee of safety. A bond that protects without question. But in rare and devastating cases, that "guarantee" falls apart completely.This episode of a Cup of Coffee and Crime examines two troubling cases, both involving mothers, but unfolding in very different ways.In Utah, a garage exposes years of secrecy, addiction, and violence at the hands of Megan Huntsman, whose crimes went undetected for over a decade, buried among everyday belongings, unnoticed by those closest to her.In Ohio, five year old Darnell Taylor was already known to the system. Removed once for his own safety, he was placed into care, only to still be unsafe. His death has raised questions about oversight, warning signs, and how a child already flagged as vulnerable could still be failed.

A high school teacher in Massachusetts. A first-grade teacher in Virginia. Two educators who dedicated their lives to their students, and two acts of violence that shattered the sense of safety inside the classroom. In this episode of Cup of Coffee and Crime, we look at the murder of 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer in 2013, and the 2023 shooting of 25-year old teacher Abby Zwerner.Through both cases, I explore the growing risks faced by teachers, the warning signs that were missed, and what real accountability looks like when those responsible for protecting staff fail to act. These aren’t just stories about school violence, they’re lessons about responsibility, prevention, and the cost of ignoring what’s right in front of us.★ Read my article on Medium: A Right? Or a Privilege?

In 1993, two-year-old James Bulger was abducted from a Liverpool shopping centre by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables; a crime that horrified Britain and remains one of the most infamous true crime cases in UK history. But few remember James Riley, the fourteen-year-old local boy who discovered James Bulger’s body on the railway line in Walton.Decades later, his name resurfaced, closing a tragic circle that began thirty years earlier. This episode of Cup of Coffee and Crime is a think piece looks beyond the headlines, at trauma, silence, and the hidden lives of those caught in the aftermath of tragedy. Because remembering people like James Riley is often as important as remembering the victims themselves.** SEASON 6 WILL RETURN IN JANUARY 2026. UNTIL THEN BONUS EPISODES WILL CONTINUE TO BE UPLOADED FORTIGHTLY **

Sativa Transue was 26, on a Thanksgiving trip to Cancún, Mexico, when her boyfriend, Taylor Allen, turned a dream holiday into a scene of horror. Ellie Gould was 17, revising for her exams in Wiltshire, England, when her ex-boyfriend, Thomas Griffiths, arrived at her home and ended her life.Two countries. Two women. One devastating pattern of coercive control and violence that crossed borders and backgrounds alike.In this bitesize episode of Cup of Coffee and Crime, we explore the murders of Sativa Transue and Ellie Gould, cases that expose how domestic violence and manipulation can escalate behind closed doors. One family still waits for justice in Mexico, while another fought for sentencing reform in the UK and won.Both stories ask the same haunting question: how do we stop love from becoming a weapon?• To donate to the family’s Gofundme head to:https://gofund.me/962c95c25**SEASON 6 WILL RETURN IN JANUARY 2026. UNTIL THEN BONUS EPISODES WILL CONTINUE TO BE UPLOADED FORTNIGHTLY **

In this bitesize episode, I’m sharing the victim stories of Nichole Bradshaw and Serenity McKinney — two young girls whose lives were taken by their mothers. Their cases are heartbreaking reminders of how trust can turn to tragedy, and why some stories stay with you long after you’ve told them. A short but important episode in this season’s break, honouring two lives that should never be forgotten.