I Could Murder A Podcast

On the cold, snowy night of Sunday, April 15th, 2007: 23 year old Seung-Hui Cho is in the final stages of preparing for what will go on to become the ‘Deadliest School Shooting in American History’. Isolated in his dorm room at Virginia Tech, he meticulously organises his weaponry, ammunition, and clothing as he glances through the manifesto he has been working on for the last several months. Cho then checks and rechecks his guns, ensuring they are ready for when called upon the next day. He phones his family, and, for a brief period in time, he is able to pretend that everything is completely normal...

At around 9pm On The Night Of March 3rd, 2021, after having dinner with friends at their house in Clapham, South London, 33 year old Marketing Executive Sarah Everard started to make the 50 minute journey back to her flat in Brixton Hill. It was a Wednesday night, Sarah still had some housework to do before going to bed in time to get up for work the following morning. She says goodbye to her friends, and makes her way into the dim glow of the street lights as the early spring chill starts to set in.Sarah, an intelligent, streetwise and independent young lady, had taken every precaution - she wore a bright coloured jacket, she picked a familiar route, she stayed close to main roads, she had promised frequent check ins with friends and she even spoke on the phone with her boyfriend for fifteen minutes during her walk, arranging plans for the following day. At around 9.28pm, the phone call with her boyfriend ended as she left Cavendish Road, Sarah was then seen on a doorbell camera on Poynders Road, and, at around 9.34pm - she was last seen talking to a stranger who had parked his car on the pavement next to her. After this, all contact and all sight of Sarah, was gone. She vanished. And she never made it home...How did a serving police officer abuse his power to such an extent that he was able to abduct Sarah in plain sight before murdering her? Why were so many troubling warning signs missed relating to Wayne Couzens’ actions and behaviours before the crime? And How are women supposed to feel safe in modern society knowing that a police officer, someone meant to protect them, committed such a deeply disturbing, monstrous series of crimes?

Early Evening. Christmas Eve, 2002. Modesto, California. Whilst most families across America were settling in for one of the most exciting and harmonious nights of the year, an unsettling sequence of events that would go on to captivate a nation for decades was just getting underway… A 7 and a half-month pregnant, 27-year old woman by the name of Laci Peterson mysteriously (and suddenly) vanished from her home amidst the backdrop of Christmas lights and festive decorations. Her abrupt disappearance provoked an intense search and rescue operation - making headlines and filling news stations across the country - all whilst her family, friends and the general public hoped desperately for her safe return. As a New Year arrived with Laci still “missing”, the spotlight quickly turned to her husband, Scott, whose actions and behaviours were raising increasingly troubling questions… And, as the investigation unfolded, the suspicions of an entire nation that once bubbled under the surface would reach a boiling point…

21-year-old Ricardo Lopez wakes up slightly earlier than normal - or potentially went the whole night without sleeping. He feels a strange sense of calm rush over him for the first time in years - as if everything has been leading up to this very moment. He sets up his video camera, just as he had done 100 times before… But today feels different. He scribbles on to the tape “Last Day - Ricardo López“. Before proceeding with his “ultimate plans”.

After sharing a few drinks together at several different bars around the centre of the city of Auckland, 21 year old British Backpacker Grace Millane and 26 year old New Zealand Native Jesse Kempson - who appeared to be enjoying one another’s company - make their way back to Kempson’s apartment at the CityLife Hotel. Entering an elevator together, the pair make their way up to the third floor of the building, where they then head into Kempson’s £190-a-week room. As many drinks had been consumed, this is odd… But not too concerning for Grace, who had been told by the man she had matched with on Tinder, that he was “The Manager Of An Oil Company”. Unbeknownst to Grace, she has just entered the temporary home of a man with an extensive history of manipulative, abusive, highly troubling, and dangerous behaviours… And she would sadly not leave the room alive.

On the night of April 14th, 1912, whilst most of her passengers had retired for the night, the RMS Titanic - the largest and most lavish ocean liner of its time - glided smoothly through the dark, icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly, shortly before midnight, the ship’s lookouts spotted a massive iceberg emerge from the blackness of its path. News of the ship’s imminent danger quickly spreads amongst its crew, who try desperately to evade the disaster that was looming before them… But it was already far too late.We all know how the rest of the story goes... Cue the collision, cue the terror, and cue the subsequent sinking of the infamously “Unsinkable” ship.On the ocean floor, she now slept.That night, the Titanic claimed the lives of approximately 1500 people.One hundred and eleven years later…- She would claim five more.

45-year-old Mr Anatoly Moskvin, regarded as a genius in Languages and History, held a macabre secret beneath the veneer of his seemingly ordinary, slightly isolated life… He also had developed intimate, expert-level knowledge on funerals and cemeteries across his country. And, on a cold November day in 2011, police made the chilling discovery of the mummified remains of 26 young girls in his apartment - all meticulously dressed and lined-up as life-sized dolls. Thus was born the name: The Human Dollmaker…

The South African Paralympic and Olympic sprinter, Oscar Pistorius, convicted of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on February 14, 2013. Pistorius claimed he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and shot her through a locked bathroom door in his home. The trial, highly publicised and marked by intense media scrutiny, exposed conflicting testimonies and highlighted issues of domestic violence and gun control. Initially convicted of culpable homicide (manslaughter), the charge was later upgraded to murder on appeal. In 2017, Pistorius received a 13-year prison sentence, solidifying his dramatic fall from grace.

For over 170 exclusive minisodes, check out icmap.co.ukAt the time of recording, of the 105 Whole Life Orders issued in the United Kingdom over the last forty years, only four of them have been females. The most recent addition, was dubbed “a killer nurse” for the alarming and heart-breaking number of newborns that died in her care. Another, together with her partner, terrorised an entire region as they sexually assaulted and murdered 5 children, before burying their bodies amongst the moors. Whilst another, acting alongside her husband, used their “house of horrors” to hold captive, torture, rape and murder at least a dozen females, predominantly teenagers, between the ages of 8 and 27.But today’s focus… Was a killer of men. It is believed that, over a period of ten days in March of 2013, 30-year-old Joanna Dennehy went on a killing spree across the city of Peterborough, butchering three men in the process, before discarding their remains in nearby ditches. Here, she claimed to have “Got a taste for it” and that the feeling was “Moreish”. Not satisfied by the Peterborough Spree, Joanna travelled 155 miles to the city of Hereford, where the brutal - and completely random attacks - started once again. In the space of less than two weeks, three men were dead, two men were severely injured, and Joanna Dennehy was on the run… This ultimately resulted in Joanna becoming recognised, and widely regarded, as one of Britain’s most terrifying serial killers.