The murder of French au-pair Sophie Lionnet by her employers made headlines all over the world. From the horrible circumstances of her death, to the obsession of her killer with a pop-star ex-boyfriend and their crazy delusions of celebrity paedophile rings, it was a case that seemed too unbelievable to be true.
The murder of French au-pair Sophie Lionnet by her employers made headlines all over the world. From the horrible circumstances of her death, to the obsession of her killer with a pop-star ex-boyfriend and their crazy delusions of celebrity paedophile rings, it was a case that seemed too unbelievable to be true.
2018-03-14
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A look into the mind of one of the Hillside Strangler murderers, Kenneth Bianchi.
A suspected murder-suicide in Mendocino County, Calif., in 2018 killed at least seven members of a lesbian-led family of eight. One of the mothers, Jennifer Jean Hart, was determined to have been under the influence when she drove her family off a cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway and into the ocean more than 100 feet below. Now, the documentary Thread of Deceit: The Hart Family Tragedy delves into the story of Jennifer, her wife, Sarah Hart, and their six foster children. Among those immediately identified after the crash were the mothers of the family, both 38, and their foster children -- Martin, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14. It was determined that Jennifer had a blood alcohol level of .102, while her wife and the three kids found at the time had been dosed with diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl. The bodies of Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12, were found later. Only Devonte, 15, remains missing.
She was a wife, a mother, a sister and a daughter. Lyn Dawson had everything to live for, so why did she disappear without a trace 36 years ago? Her husband Chris, a PE teacher, always insisted she abandoned him and their two young daughters to “sort things out”. Days later he moved his teenage lover into the family home. Two coroners concluded Chris Dawson murdered his wife but to this day, he has never been prosecuted. The case has gripped audiences around the world since the release of a new podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, by investigative journalist Hedley Thomas.
Reynhard Sinaga is the UK's most prolific rapist. Posing as a good Samaritan outside Manchester nightclubs, he drugged, sexually assaulted and filmed his depraved acts with at least 200 young men for the past 12 years.
A look back at the murders of Barbara and Gordon Erickstad, who were brutally killed in their North Dakota home by their son, 18-year-old Brian Erickstad, and his friend, 27-year-old Robert Lawrence in September 1998.
This documentary delves into Joran van der Sloot's lifelong pattern of violence and pathological lying through rare interviews and new insights years after he brutally murdered American Natalee Holloway and Peruvian Stephany Flores.
On May 7th, 2011, 20-year-old Elliot Turner strangled his girlfriend Emily Longley and persuaded his doting parents to help him cover up the crime. This documentary examines events surrounding the murder, the investigation and the trial, and features interviews with family, friends, police and prosecutors, as well as covert recordings, surveillance footage and personal archive material.
In January 1982 Lynette Dawson, a loving wife and mother, disappears. Days later her husband, Christopher Dawson, a school teacher and famous footballer, moves their teenage babysitter into the family home. He claims his wife called him and told him she needed time away, but those closest to Lynette know his story doesn’t add up. They know what the police don’t– that Christopher Dawson was in a secret sexual relationship with the babysitter. And above all, they know that Lynette, a devoted mother, would never abandon her two little girls. That simple conviction propels them on a forty year fight for justice.
A look at one of Scotland’s most high-profile murder trials, the brutal killing of Dr Brenda Page. It was part of the Scottish criminal justice system’s 45-year quest for answers.
On the 12th November 1976, Renee MacRae, a glamorous 36-year old mother of two and wife of a wealthy building firm owner, vanished after leaving her home in Inverness. Later that night, Renee’s burnt out BMW was found in a lay-by on the roadside of the A9. Neither she nor her three-year-old son Andrew have ever been seen again.
Using raw, firsthand footage, this documentary examines the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her children, and the terrible events that followed.
A documentary film investigating the 1928 murder of a Pennsylvania farmer and the allegations of witchcraft that shocked the nation.
In June of 2002, Salt Lake City was the setting for a chilling kidnapping. An angelic young girl is stolen from her bedroom in the middle of the night. The most unlikely of victims in a seemingly motiveless crime. The abduction of Elizabeth Smart was so bizarre and unique that it transfixed America.
On 9 July 1996, three bodies were found in a little leafy copse beside a country lane in Chillenden, Kent. Dr Lin Russell, 45, and her two daughters, Megan, six and Josie, nine, had all suffered brutal head injuries caused by a blunt instrument. They had been tied up and their family dog, Lucy, was also found dead nearby.
In this twisting documentary, a mechanic tries online dating for the first time and meets a woman who takes romantic obsession to a deadly extreme.
The small town of Truro, Massachusetts, is known for its shellfishing, sunsets and quiet beaches.But that peace was broken on Jan. 6, 2002, when accomplished fashion writer Christa Worthington was found dead in her home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Her daughter Ava was 2-and-a-half years old at the time of her murder and found unharmed next to her body.
In the 1980s and 1990s a wave of murders bloodied the idyllic coastline of Sydney’s eastern suburbs. The victims: young gay men. Disturbing gang assaults were being carried out on coastal cliffs around Sydney, and mysterious deaths officially recorded as "suicide", "disappearance" and "misadventure". Individual stories are woven together by first person interviews and detailed re-enactments, piecing together the facts of these unsolved cases, decades later.
A unique individual who collects almost everything reveals some of the darker things he has acquired, including JonBenet Ramsey's Tricycle. An investigation of pop culture, media, tragedy and the items we possess.
In an intimate and unflinching account dealing with grief, 'Alice is Still Dead' tells the story of a murdered loved one from the victim's family perspective. From the detective's notification to her family to facing the killer in court, we see the pain, anger and heartbreak a family must endure while the nightmare is investigated. The filmmaker is the brother of the late Alice Stevens and, in this tribute, ultimately asks if it's even possible to move forward after such a traumatic event.
This gripping, atmospheric documentary recounts the infamous trial, conviction and eventual acquittal of Seattle native Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder of a British exchange student in Italy.