The Halloween Compendium

Four Halloween nights. Four South London stories. None with a happy ending.

This episode brings together the cases of Scotty Kouebitra, Rocky Djelal, Ben Gardner, and Richard Price, four men whose lives ended in acts of violence that should never have happened.

From Croydon to Southwark, pubs to parks, we look at how ordinary nights — fireworks, parties, and quick pints — turned fatal.

Ben, beaten to death after three men stole his girlfriend’s hat.

Scotty, chased down and stabbed while watching fireworks with friends.

Richard, kicked to death outside a pub over a supposed slight.

Rocky, murdered in broad daylight in Southwark Park after an eighteen-year feud.

Each story sits somewhere between chaos and revenge — where a split-second of violence changes everything.

We also somehow find time to talk Rach’s brother’s wedding, her trip to Kraków, and why this one’s a few days late (spoiler: flu and migraines).

Support the show

Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."

Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...

Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

We start this one with a bit of chaos, as usual, a catch-up about gigs, half term, the price of fireworks and the ongoing trauma of David Walliams audiobooks (because honestly, why is he everywhere?). But once we’ve had our rant, we’re heading back to South London for a story that’s as shocking as it is tragic.

In December 1969, Wimbledon was the picture of quiet suburbia, Christmas lights, family dinners, and that post-holiday haze where no one quite knows what day it is. But on Arthur Road, behind the warm glow of St Mary’s House, something unthinkable happened. When Alick McKay came home, he found chaos, an open door, a torn-off telephone, his wife’s glasses on the carpet, and their dachshund Carly pacing by the fire. Muriel was gone.

What followed became Britain’s first modern kidnap-for-ransom, a crime born from desperation, greed and mistaken identity. Two brothers from Hertfordshire thought they were targeting Rupert Murdoch’s glamorous wife. Instead, they took an ordinary woman from Wimbledon and set off a manhunt that gripped the nation.

We trace the story from Muriel’s quiet life in South London to the police investigation that changed British criminal history, a case without a body, a family’s fifty-five-year fight for answers, and a tragedy that still echoes today.

Sources include:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67981800
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Muriel_McKay
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-68514150
https://www.personsunknown.net/p/55-years-later-will-muriel-mckay
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2025-09-18/muriel-mckay-im-going-to-kidnap-someone-wealthy-recalls-former-shop-owner
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/15/police-start-new-search-for-remains-of-murdered-muriel-mckay
https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-calm-before-the-storm-the-murder-of-muriel-mckay
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-11/search-for-answers-muriel-mckay/104257842
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/muriel-mckay-mistaken-identity-kidnap-ransom-and-murder/id1776843975?i=1000676681448
https://www.murielmckay.com
https://news.sky.com/story/farm-where-muriel-mckay-is-buried-isnt-worth-market-value-family-says-as-body-remains-unfound
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021cx6

Support the show

Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."

Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...

Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

After a chaotic catch-up involving friendship break-ups, ignored WhatsApp messages, and the glamour of eating Super Noodles in the bath, we take a sharp turn into the gas-lit streets of Victorian Lambeth.

This week, we’re heading back to 1891 to meet Thomas Neill Cream – a doctor with a taste for power, poison, and blackmail. Known to history as The Lambeth Poisoner, Cream left a trail of women dead across three continents, fuelled by arrogance and strychnine. From letters to MPs and absurd ransom notes to his infamous final words on the gallows, this is the story of the man who thought he was cleverer than everyone else — and very nearly got away with it.

Grab a drink (preferably not from a stranger in Lambeth) and join us as we unravel one of South London’s most chilling Victorian murder sprees.

Sources include:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Neill_Cream

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co179113/metropolitan-police-letter-and-photographs-of-dr-neill-cream-the-lambeth-poisoner-england-1890-1907

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/240221

https://web.archive.org/web/20130806111409/http://www.murderbygaslight.com/2010/08/lambeth-poisoner.html

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92296172

https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/politics-law/the-evil-deeds-of-dr-cream

https://thejacktherippertour.com/casebook/suspects/dr-neill-cream/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/true-crime-case-of-murderous-dr-cream-review/2021/08/11/1fd00dc0-f93d-11eb-8a67-f14cd1d28e47_story.html

Support the show

Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."

Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...

Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)