In 1955, the small Tyne-On-Wear village of Windy Nook was like many other towns trying to build themselves back up to former glory days. The quarries were long closed, and many of the young residents had moved on to nearby cities like Sunderland or Newcastle in search of work. Mary and John Knowles had lived in their cottage in Windy Nook since they first married. When John died of suspected Tuberculosis at 76, no one thought twice. Mary would find comfort in someone close to her, a man who...

In May 1996, ninety-four year old Dorothy Wood said goodnight to her care worker who had come by to get her ready for bed. Profoundly deaf and crippled by arthritis, Dorothy struggled to complete even the most simplest of household tasks, but she was adamant she would keep her independence. The following morning when family friends arrived to help her out of bed and get her breakfast, they found that someone had broken into the house and Dorothy had been murdered. It would not take long for...

Early one February morning in 2010, local Watford refuse worker Gary Bennett was woken up just before 5 am with a nudge from his mum. He put on his work gear and walked out the door. Later that morning two schoolboys found Gary’s savagely beaten body in a local park. But how had Gary gotten there? He had not ridden his bike as he usually did, It wasn’t even on his route to work. Over the next few months, Hertfordshire Police would hone in on one man, but would they ever get all the...

In 1951, headmistress of the Burton-On-Trent High School, Winifred Mulley had dismissed six hundred girls for the Summer. Winifred lived in a house on the grounds of the school. She was signing off on a new home she had just purchased in Burton and was preparing to leave for her Summer holiday. She wasn’t feeling very well and so rather than leave that day for her trip; she decided to postpone it and get some rest. The following day when the domestic helper Mrs. Plummer knocked on the door,...

When Harry and Megan Tooze’s neighbours heard two gunshots coming from the couple’s farm in Llanharry, South Wales they didn’t think twice. Harry had always had trouble with rabbits and they assumed he was shooting them out of his cabbages again. That evening when Harry and Megan’s daughter attempted to get a hold of them they were nowhere to be found and soon police were all over the property, trampling across what soon be considered a crime scene.  Following each episode of Katherine...

On a quiet Sunday morning in 1974, father of five Michael Taylor was found naked in the street in Ossett, Yorkshire, covered in what was thought to be red paint. As Police Constable Ian Walker approached him, he realised it was not red paint at all— it was blood. When Michael Taylor began screaming that it was the blood of Satan, backup was called in and what unfolded would change the town forever. Following each episode of Katherine Kelly's brand new TV series Murdertown, Benjamin Fitton...

Thirty year old Lynda Hunter woke up one Friday in August 1987 with morning sickness and was glad she and her husband Andrew had that day off. They had been married less than a year and she was thrilled about the baby who was six weeks along. Lynda and Andrew went to the pharmacy and then onto the doctor for some relief. When she got home later that morning she packed a bag for her nightshift which wasn’t until the following day and said she had decided to go to her parents— she would tell...

In 1987 in Tunbridge Wells, south of Dartford, two young women were murdered five months apart. Both lived alone in bedsits less than a mile from one another, both worked on Camden Road, both ate lunch at the same cafe. The women didn’t know each other, perhaps they did by face or to say hello but they will forever be remembered together for their murderer was never caught. In 2007, with advances in forensics, a full DNA profile was obtained from minute evidence from one of the crime scene....

In December 1979 a fire broke out while four boys and their mother slept in their two story council house in Hull, Yorkshire. Edith Hastie and young Tommy escaped with their lives but three of the brothers would not survive. Police realised quickly that the fire was deliberately lit and chased rumours all over Hull until an unlikely source gave himself away. But this wasn’t the end, it was just the beginning. Following each episode of Katherine Kelly's brand new TV series Murdertown,...

Are you ready to delve into the dark side of your town? These are the true crime stories from 10 towns across the UK. Ten stories of people who might appear just like us — but capable of evil. These are the stories of Murdertown. Watch Katherine Kelly's Murdertown exclusively on Crime+Investigation in the UK every Monday at 9pm from 3rd September and then straight after listen to a brand new story right here with the Murdertown podcast.