Three trials, countless corrupt officers, and years behind bars faced Renee Chignell, after she and her boyfriend, were accused of the murder of 51-year-old British cricket umpire Peter Plumley-Walker in their ramshackle sex dungeon. Renee was adamant Peter’s death had been a tragic accident – but it would take years of jail time, heartbreak, and her own mother going behind bars, to convince anyone she was telling the truth.  Exclusive bonus content: Wondery - Ad-free &...

Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, Running from Cops) explores other...

How does a “true British gentleman”, complete with love of cricket and handlebar moustache, end up dead at the bottom of a waterfall in New Zealand with his limbs bound and lashes to his buttocks? This is the question that faced police in 1989, when a tourist boat found the body of 51-year-old cricket umpire Peter Plumley-Walker floating at the bottom of Huka Falls. To find out the answers you need to come with us on a journey down under involving a 19-year-old sex worker, her 35-year-old...

As far as the people of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, knew, Davy Tweed was a sporting hero, dedicated public servant, and good Protestant family man. But his stepdaughter Amanda Brown knew what this public façade masked: a volatile, unstoppable juggernaut of physical and sexual abuse, who made her family’s life a living hell. In a very special episode, we directly hear from Amanda herself – who tells us exactly what it’s like to walk down the street with your abuser, while people shout...

Bleeding from the eyes, foaming at the mouth, and bashing themselves to death against the rocks. That was the fate of six skilled hikers in the Russian mountain range Khamar-Daban – at least according to the single survivor Valentina Utochenko. Yet if the Russian authorities are to be believed, it was just a simple case of hypothermia. With speculation over what happened still rife, this mystery has been chalked up to everything from secret Novichok testing to accidentally ingested magic...

On 19 May 2024, Ebrahim Raisi – “The Butcher of Tehran” and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran – died in a helicopter crash. Immediately, theories of who had killed him and why, swept the worlds’ media.But while his passing inspired this episode, we’re also going to look at his many thousands of victims – and in particular how his actions led to the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022. It was a single death which sparked protests that challenged the mullahs of Iran like never...

The world’s most infamous nuclear disaster officially killed just thirty-one people, but in reality it’s death toll is incalculable. Raining radioactive debris over a city, and melting the skin off the on-site workers, the explosion and subsequent meltdown at Chernobyl reactor 4 is one of the most devastating man-made accidents in history.  This is the story of how fear, bureaucracy, and lies first brought down a nuclear power station, which then brought down a nation. Exclusive bonus...

Imagine finding out that your partner of six years – the love of your life, the father of your children – had never existed. That during all of your most intimate moments, they’d been spying on you, taking notes to report back to their superiors. That’s what happened to dozens of innocent British women in 2011, when they uncovered the SDS – a super-secretive unit of London’s Met Police. To infiltrate groups of (mostly harmless) left-wing activists, these officers went undercover, routinely...

Kidnapping might seem like an odd solution to low levels of education, but for The Democratic People's Republic of Korea it seemed like a perfect plan. Whisk away international intelligentsia to your hermit kingdom and reprogram them to become perfect North Korean citizens, capable of pushing forward your scientific endeavours – or more importantly, directing a cult classic knock-off Godzilla movie.  Unfortunately, it is a plan that hasn’t gone down overly well with the rest of the world. So...

Nancy Brophy fills her novels with romantic betrayals and murder. It’s a far cry from her quiet life in the suburbs, where she and her chef husband, Dan, are living out their golden years. But when Dan is shot dead, Nancy finds herself at the center of a murder case that could be ripped from the pages of her novels. From Wondery, this is a story about what happens when the line blurs between fiction and reality.  Listen to Happily Never After: Dan & Nancy on the Wondery App or...

When Christine Mackinday and her boyfriend were interrupted in bed by her ex-fiancé – a 200-pound ex-MMA fighter who had legally changed his name to War Machine – she had every reason to fear for her life. This is the wild true story of Jonathan Koppenhaver: self-proclaimed “Alpha Male”, failed UFC fighter, wannabe pornstar and reality-show embarrassment – and his inevitable, tragic, violent revenge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

Get your tour tickets at redhandedpodcast.com! In 2001 on a remote stretch of highway in Australia’s Northern Territory, British backpacker Peter Falconio vanished. His girlfriend, Joanne Lees, told police that they had been attacked by a strange man. The subsequent investigation saw local drug runner Bradley Murdoch jailed for life - but questions still linger, especially around the truthfulness of the story that Joanne told... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California...

The state of Pamela Werner’s body alone would have been enough to send 1930s Peking into a frenzy. She’d been frantically stabbed, her chest cut wide open, and four of her internal organs had been precisely removed... But Pamela was the daughter of a high-ranking British diplomat. And the death of a white girl in the ancient Chinese capital, in 1939 – when anti-foreigner revolts were bubbling and the entire country was under threat of invasion by Japan – rocked the city, in the last days of...

Between September 1992 and November 1993 the remains of seven backpackers were found dotted around Australia’s Belanglo State Forest. The long-putrefied bodies had all been shot multiple times by the same .22 calibre rifle. Some had snapped spines; others had been used as target practice. Despite all signs pointing to the Milat family, the real challenge for police was finding which of the ten Milat brothers to point the finger at... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

Shot dead in broad daylight outside her house in West London – the killing of Jill Dando is one of Britain’s most high-profile murders. As one of the BBC’s best-known TV presenters through the 90s, Jill was in the living rooms of the British public every night, presenting the news, travel shows, and most famously, Crimewatch – in which she publicly campaigned to bring real criminals to justice.  Yet despite enormous publicity and one of the UK’s most extensive police investigations to...

To celebrate and get everyone in the mood for our soon to be iconic Antipodean Tour, we are digging up some of the craziest cases from down under that we've ever covered! Patrons can access tour tickets on Monday the 13th (TODAY!) via their Patreon feed, and general release is Wednesday the 15th, links below! NZ: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=REDHAND24 AUS: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=REDHAND24 In this week’s episode the girls delve into the...

When a 13-year-old boy, out shopping for Christmas presents, disappeared from a bus stop in Australia’s Sunshine Coast, police were initially slow to suspect foul play. They had no idea what this investigation would become. The revelations that would come over the next decade would spark one of the country’s largest ever police operations. And in its dramatic climax, it ended in one of the most controversial investigative techniques we’ve ever covered – the very ethically murky “Mr...

If you thought Part 1 was bad – just you wait. Last week we talked about the origins of one of the world’s biggest cults. And this time, we look at how that influence and control bedded down – and seduced so many of the most famous people in the world. We’re talking about sex magic, incest, chid abuse, demonic possession, and Fleetwood Mac. It’s time to close the book on the Children of God. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

Communes, propaganda and child abuse are not uncommon in the world of cults. But what made David Berg and his “Children of God” so unique was the effectiveness of their implementation. In this first of two episodes on one of the biggest and darkest cases we’ve ever covered, we talk about the rise of arguably the world's most “successful” cult, and what made the man who made the monster. Exclusive bonus content: Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHand Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus...

When ex-Bunny girl Jayne Gaskin spots the desert island of her dreams for sale online, she decides to risk it all. Trading in their English village home, Jayne and her family relocate to their own private paradise, just off the coast of Nicaragua. And a reality TV crew follows them to film a new show, No Going Back. But soon they all discover that paradise has its secrets. The locals claim the island belongs to them, and it’s been sold illegally. Jayne’s not leaving without a fight. A fight...

Note: The video version of this podcast can be watched in full on our YouTube channel! Available from the 18th of April. Join RedHanded and Help I Sexted My Boss for an extra-special crossover, where true crime meets modern-day dilemmas, all over a glass of Gin & Dubonnet at the Sexted studio! First, Hannah and Suruthi regale William and Jordan about all things cults, before diving into the increasingly bonkers world of the Twin Flames Universe. And then, the tables are turned, as...

Social media is swarming with fresh takes on the Jennifer Pan story, after a new documentary became the third-most watched show on Netflix this weekend. So we wanted to re-release this classic RedHanded episode from summer 2022 – let us know your thoughts on our socials! -- When three masked men entered the Pan family home, it seemed like an opportunistic home break-in. But on closer inspection, things just didn't add up.  Why would the would-be robbers shoot Hann and Bich Pan in cold...

Rob Parkes is not a paedophilic, drug-dealing, gang-leading tyrant. But that’s exactly what his pathologically controlling, abusive ex-wife tried to lead everyone to believe. It’s also why, she said, he had to die. In a very special episode of RedHanded, we hear directly from a man who found out there was a price on his head – and that over the years, six separate people had been approached to kill him. In interviews conducted in our studio, Rob remembers the years of coercive control; a...

Ten years ago, two young women entered the Panamanian cloud forest, accompanied by a dog named Blue.  Blue was the only one to ever return.  The events that transpired on Panama’s El Pianista trail that day have remained a chilling mystery for a decade now – and possibly will forever. Join us as we delve into the perplexing case of Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers, where speculation abounds and answers remain elusive. Exclusive bonus content: Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHand Patreon -...