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Thomas Parker’s mother doted on her little boy. This spoilt brat grew up to be a workshy, wife-beating drunk. And he repaid his parents by turning a shotgun on them.
Parker’s father survived with slight injuries. But his mother lingered for weeks with a festering head wound.
The year was 1864. Elizabeth Parker fell into a coma and died in April. Four months later, her son also met his maker — at the end of a rope in front of 10,000 citizens.
Thomas Parker was the last person to be hanged in public at Nottingham. This is his story.
With contributions from Emmaline Severn, a distant relative of Elizabeth Parker, and Paul Mann QC.
The traditional folk songs in this episode are performed by Catherine Earnshaw and Keith Clouston.
“The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood” is a traditional tune with lyrics by Richard and Mimi Fariña.
“Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk” also traditional with the last verse written by Linda Thompson.
“False, False” is a traditional Scottish song collected in 1962 by Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger.
More on Keith Clouston here: www.storywheelmusic.co.uk
More on Catherine Earnshaw here https://www.catherineearnshawmusic.com/
https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fchannel%2FUCbeGBRZx1HrlxVCzN7i1n9A&data=04%7C01%7C%7C2eda71e9674c4c6114d408d968a93ffa%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637655898456547175%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=pAfz6FkDOkC3gL2XSmgs813%2FWwYJA%2FkuvMPhdzBWkJ4%3D&reserved=0 -
Michael Benneman Sams was one of life’s losers, a little man with big, bad ideas. He snatched his victims and held them to ransom locked in a wheelie bin. Birmingham estate agent Stephanie Slater walked free when her employers paid £50,000. Julie Dart, a teenager from Leeds, wasn’t so lucky. She escaped from the wheelie bin, triggering Sams’s silent alarm. He murdered her before she could break out of his workshop in Newark, Nottinghamshire, and dumped her body in a field in Lincolnshire. But the police caught up with Sams. His ex-wife and son had long memories. When they recognized him on BBC Crimewatch they were quick to turn him in. Sams, now 79, will die in prison.
This podcast features an exclusive interview with Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Superintendent (retired) Bob Taylor of West Yorkshire Police. -
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In the late nineteenth century, a series of murders, some unsolved, between London and Brighton shocked Victorian Britain. We take a deep dive into these strange cases and examine some of the curious characters and suspects involved in Murder on the Brighton Line.
We have a small favour to ask. The Six O'clock Knock is self-funded and we're all volunteers. We'd like to say a massive 'thank you' to our patrons who've helped us keep going over the last year. We couldn't make podcasts to the high standard you've come to expect without your contributions.
If you'd like to chip in you can find us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/sixknock. For the price of coffee and a sticky bun you get access to bonus content, and the satisfaction of knowing you're helping us to keep digging and turning over those stones!
TRANSCRIPT
[Music] this podcast contains descriptions of death and violence that some listeners may find upsetting [Music] hello and welcome to the six o'clock knock the true crime podcast that takes a fresh look at murder i'm jack morrell i served as a police officer from 1985 to 2015. my last 12 years in the job was spent exclusively dealing with homicides as a detective sergeant and i'm simon ford a journalist and writer i have years of experience in radio and broadcasting i still have a nose for a good story and jack is still keen to apply his copper's brain to cases whether solved or not that's right and this episode will focus on murder on the railway of course we touched on the railways a few episodes back didn't we the frederick deming case serial swindler and bigamist with a parshan for murdering his wives yes indeed he used the opportunity to travel that steam trains and steamships gave 19th century society he traveled extensively and he used a different name in every town the victorian era meant that travel was so much easier and quicker the railways had revolutionized transport replacing those horse-drawn stage coaches that up to then were the quickest way to get from one town to another right mass travel had arrived passengers were less conspicuous traveling in greater numbers the commute had arrived and with it the travelling criminal yeah we're looking at this subject after someone suggested a particular case known as the murder on the brighton line but when we started digging we found two others on the same stretch of railway line between london and brighton well as your fellow journalist the late sir harry evans said keep digging the truth is down there somewhere wow it's not often i mentioned in the same breath as the late great harry evans so um thanks for that mate and in terms of the truth yes it certainly is so we're going to dig into all those grisly crimes and trust me they are grisly jack did you ever deal with any railway cases well not really because railways in the uk have their own police the british transport police or btp we occasionally asked them for information or made inquiries relating to people moving through railway premises but to be honest we really saw btp officers at our police stations well the british transport police force has its roots very early in the history of british policing the earliest record of railway police predates the formation of the metropolitan police usually recognized as the first modern police force in england and wales by at least four years no one knows just how many individual railway dock and canal police forces existed in the 19th century but they probably numbered over a hundred largely unsung and in many cases unremembered i suppose a modern equivalent would be private security firms in the united states safeguarding the interests and assets of corporations these early forces combined to form the modern btp we looked at the recent crime figures for the btp there was a significant rise in all crimes of 12 percent in 2019 adrian hanstock the deputy chief constable said the record number of passengers using the railways was behind the jump in crime rates which were mainly theft and anti-social behaviour hanstock put a lot of this down to the fact that railway stations are becoming increasingly commercial environments well that's certainly true anyone familiar with some pancreas station in london will know that the original storage areas below platform level they're now a stylish shopping center and the victorian booking office is a bar and a restaurant the force also reported a surge in the number of vulnerable people it dealt with including through providing mental health support officers and rail staff performed 2529 life-saving interventions up 32 percent on the year before despite this there were only six homicides on the british railway network in 2018 to 19. one was the awful death of 51 year old lee pomeroy who was stabbed to death by a paranoid schizophrenic after an argument on a train maybe there is an argument for the btp to be amalgamated into the regional forces to share experience and intelligence public transport will only increase in the years to come integrated management of our transport network imagine that so do criminals use the rail network as a way of getting about or do they prefer to use the roads instead well of course they use both but you know over the years i've thought about how the world has changed not just in a policing sense but how society has changed in how it moves around if i'm completely honest the core has a lot to answer for this may be just my opinion but the car has made us selfish and anti-social we treat the car as an extension of our private lives whilst it's given us choice and freedom to move around when we want to we seem to enjoy the anonymity that the car brings us and as policing has taught me the public don't like it when they're challenged do they no i suppose not we all resent being stopped by the police or getting a fixed penalty notice through the post i know i do how dare they take a photo of me driving through that red traffic light not that i make a habit of it incidentally i suppose the car has also allowed criminals to operate in even wider areas and as you say jack being less conspicuous you're spot on burglars are the best example dwelling house burglars usually have a rule of not on their own doorstep they prefer to steal from neighboring estates or areas they were passing through they always had a problem though how to transport their ill-gotten gains now jewelry and cash is not a problem electrical goods not so easy the car changed all that not only does the car provide transport and storage they don't stand out or look out of place do they it's just another car driving on a public road privacy no interaction with the public yeah i get it i'm trying to imagine myself as a burglar and having to use public transport while carrying the contents of somebody else's house with me i've got a heavy hold all bulging with jewellery and ornaments candlesticks that sort of thing a sony playstation and i'm having to plan my getaway so 10 minute walk to the station buy a ticket wait around a bit i'm restricted by the timetable several people might see me look at me heavens even speak to me that's it and the car changed all that within a couple of hours at any time of day a criminal could drive to another town commit a crime drive to a different town dispose of the goods then return home the risks of being stopped by the police you'd take your chance even if the police showed an interest in you you could hide any evidence in the worst case scenario you could fail to stop for them and try and get away yeah i see what you mean there the car allows people to move around unnoticed at a time to suit them protected by a metal shell things were very different 140 years ago it is 1881. the telephone has not long been invented matthew webb has recently swung the english channel and unwittingly his image has made it onto millions of matchboxes the first boer war has just ended in south africa where the british got their butts kicked two years ago 75 people died in the tay bridge railway disaster in scotland this case is much further south almost as far south as you can get on the british mainland in brighton on the south coast of england [Music] the london and brighton railway opened in 1841 and it brought brighton within the reach of daytrippers from london the population grew from around seven thousand in eighteen hundred and one to more than a hundred and twenty thousand by nineteen hundred and one in 1881 there was overcrowding and disease clean water and sanitation would desperately needed just 47 miles from london the train was popular the regular service to the capital went to croydon and then split into two one line to london victoria and the other to london bridge stations on the route from london included east croydon three bridges hayward's heath willsfield burgess hill hassocks and preston park it's monday the 27th of june at 2pm preston park is a small quiet station serving a village on the outskirts of brighton the ticket collector watches the arrival of the train from london bridge a male passenger gets off there's something about him that draws the ticket collector's attention the man emerges from the first class compartment and steps onto the platform he seems unsteady on his feet he's not wearing a hat which is unusual nor is he wearing the collar and tie even more concerning he's covered in blood he seems distressed the collector goes to his assistants the man mumbled something about having been attacked as the train entered merced tunnel now merston tunnel is just south of croydon and several stops from preston park probably a 30 minute journey away the tunnel goes through a chalk hill and is over a mile long so the train would be in darkness for what about a minute i suppose correct now this distressed and bloodstained man claimed that two men traveling in the same compartment struck him on the head he remembered nothing more until the train reached preston park where he came round -
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Henry.
Donald Neilson, the so-called 'Black Panther', was tried at Oxford Crown Court in the summer of 1976. He was charged with four murders, as well as kidnapping, attempted murder, GBH, robbery and firearms offences. Prosecutors were unable to charge him with the murder of Gerald Smith because the security guard survived longer than a year and a day after Neilson shot him.
Defending Neilson, Gilbert Gray QC, contended that Lesley Whittle, the Black Panther's teenage hostage, died as the result of an accident in captivity. Nevertheless, a jury found Neilson guilty of her abduction and murder, for which he was given a life sentence. Three weeks later he was convicted of the murders of two postmasters and the husband of a postmistress. -
Between September 1967 and November 1974, a series of raids on sub-post offices in the English Midlands were linked by a common modus operandi, or MO Striking between three and four o’clock in the morning. Boring a hole in a window frame just big enough for him to reach the catch.
Increasing levels of violence, would see this burglar become a killer and then an abductor of a young woman that he thought was the heir to a fortune. His name was Donald Neilson: 'The Black Panther'. -
In this episode, we take a look back at the first 12 months of the Six O'Clock Knock, and the first 12 episodes of our series, from Victorian bigamists to fetish murderers, our first year has had the lot!
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On the face of it, the murders of 2 musicians, separated by hundreds of miles and in very different circumstances might seem entirely unrelated and disparate in every conceivable way. On closer examination, however, the killings of Peter Tosh and John Lennon may have more in common than first meets the eye...
Many thanks to CC Anderson and Tim Bryn Smith of the Actors Workshop Nottingham, and Denroy Shakespeare for voicing the actors parts in this episode. -
This week we shine a light onto an undetected Murder from 1960’s Britain, the brutal stabbing of a publican out walking his dog at the end of a busy Saturday night. We look at the motives, and the main suspects in this the Pretty Windows murder in order to determine who deserves The Six O’Clock Knock.
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This week we take a deep dive into one of the most famous hoaxes in British police history: Wearside Jack. At the height of the investigation into the so-called Yorkshire Ripper, West Yorkshire Police began to receive correspondence in the form of letters and an audio tape from a man who claimed to be the serial murderer. So convinced was senior officer George Oldfield that this was, in fact, the authentic letters and voice of the actual killer, that he diverted huge resources into this line of inquiry, certain that this was finally the lead he needed to catch his man...
This podcast features an exclusive interview with a member of the Yorkshire Ripper incident room, Detective Chief Superintendent (retired) Bob Taylor of West Yorkshire Police. -
Following the death of Peter Sutcliffe, we look back at the terrible legacy his reign of violence left on the women he murdered or left for dead in the north of England in the 1970s.
We also look at the changes made to detection methods in the wake of the bungled police investigation that saw Sutcliffe slip through West Yorkshire Police's fingers no fewer than nine times, and how modern policing methods may have stopped his bloodthirsty killings much sooner. -
Peter Sutcliffe, 'The Yorkshire Ripper' is dead.
In response, we are publishing this short episode today, with a more in depth look at his crimes, his victims and the bungled police investigation tomorrow.
We reflect on the misery he inflicted on the country.
We remember also his victims, including those that survived.
This podcast features an exclusive interview with a member of the Yorkshire Ripper incident room, Detective Chief Superintendent (retired) Bob Taylor of West Yorkshire Police. -
Frederick Bailey Deeming was many things, a bigamist, swindler and murderer of two women and four children. But was he also Jack the Ripper? Journalist Simon Ford and ex-Major Crime detective Jacques Morrell take a deep dive into the life and brutal times of this Victorian enigma, a man who's crimes would span the globe, and whose murderous inclinations were only brought to a halt by police forces working in collaboration and with the newly-fangled telegraph communications.
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The bodies of 27-year-old Rachel and 9-month-old Lillian were found on 22 January 2006 in the master bedroom of the family's rented home where they had been living for only ten days. Autopsy results showed that Rachel died of a gunshot wound to the head and Lillian of a gunshot wound to the torso. The bullet that passed through Lillian also pierced Rachel's left breast. The bullets were so small that the one in Rachel's head went undetected until the autopsy.
Hours after the deaths of his wife and daughter, Entwistle purchased a one-way ticket to London at about 5:00 a.m. (EST) on 21 January and boarded a British Airways flight that departed Boston at 8:15 a.m.
Entwistle's speedy departure from the scene of the deaths of his family was not the only reason he raised suspicion. Entwistle's DNA was found on the handle of the same .22 handgun owned by his father-in-law that he told authorities he had only used once, months earlier, while practising at Matterazzo's shooting club. DNA matching that of his wife was found on the gun's muzzle. A set of keys to Materazzo's house were found in the car Entwistle left at Boston's Logan airport.
A search of Entwistle's computer revealed that days before the murders, he had looked at a website that described "how to kill people", and searched for escort services. Contrary to outward appearances, Entwistle had been unemployed since September 2005 and was indebted at the time of the murders. Though he claimed an income of $10,000 per month from an "offshore account" set up by his previous employer in the U.K., he had no such income or account. He was also more than $30,000 in credit card debt, and was under investigation by eBay for numerous fraudulent transactions. Authorities suspected a financial motivation for the murders. -
On the evening of Saturday 5th July 1919, in a field just outside the village of Little Stretton, Leicestershire, a young woman was found dead. At first glance, there was no indication of the manner of her death, but after a small bullet hole is discovered under her left eye, a murder investigation is launched, but after an arrest and a trial, the identity of her murderer is still unknown. In this episode, Simon Ford and Jacques Morrell travel to Little Stretton, scene of the murder to pick up the leads discarded in the original investigation. One hundred years on, are they ready to finally announce a chief suspect in this brutal killing.
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This week we take a deep dive into the sordid world of fetish killings. Our main case is a murder from 1994, but it was not solved for six years, when the breakthrough came from a fingerprint at the scene. Nowadays of course, police forces can search a central computer database to see if fingerprints match those of a known criminal. The National Automated Fingerprints Identification System (Nafis) is able to compare millions of prints from all over the country and find a match within minutes. As you explained Jacques, NAFIS was gradually introduce to UK forces between 1997 and 2001. Prior to that forces were only able to search their own paper records which related to criminals from their local area.
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‘A loss of control over “masculine” domains is at the heart of
familicides, even where there is no clear history of domestic abuse. Some perpetrators whose
actions may appear “out of the blue” have been described in research studies as having their lives
unravelling in ways that are acutely tied to their gender identity.’ In this episode, we examine a number of cases where a loss of control by a parent or spouse, results in catastrophic and unimaginable consequences. -
The Hammersmith nude murders was a series of six murders in London, England, in 1964
and 1965. The victims, all prostitutes, were found undressed in or near the River Thames, leading
the press to nickname the killer Jack the Stripper (a reference to Jack the Ripper). Two earlier
murders, committed in 1959 and 1963, have also been linked by some investigators to the same
perpetrator. Despite intense media interest and one of the biggest manhunts in Scotland Yard's
history, the case is unsolved. All forensic evidence gathered at the time is reported to have been
destroyed or lost. -
The Valentine's Day murder remains unsolved, seventy five years on.
It is a brutal murder with no apparent motive and occurred in a sleepy and secretive village in the heart of England. Although the murderer was never caught, local folklore has entered the legend with stories of witchcraft and satanic rites adding an even darker tone to this murder.
