This Much is True Crime

Hannibal the Cannibal has never really gone away, he's remained a pop cultural icon despite being a coldblooded serial killer. Now, thanks to Donald Trump and a new book on the elusive author Thomas Harris, the chianti supping monster is back in the news. But what was the origin of the fictional character brought to chilling life by Anthony Hopkins and Brian Cox? And why does he remain our favourite cannibal killer?

His daughter had wanted him dead, his mum Lydia wanted peace for her family but she was still his mum. However, following a bedside visit she reportedly gave permission to unplug his ventilator.
Ian Huntley was fighting for his life after a ferocious attack by a fellow inmate in jail where the former school caretaker had been serving 40 years for the murders of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Huntley’s injuries made him unrecognisable, catastrophic head and brain trauma, doctors reportedly said he was in a vegetative state.
If he had a better prognosis ,he' would have served his time in Ashworth Prison Hospital where a bed per year costs as much as £335,000!
In this episode , recorded as Huntley stared at death’s door, we debated should such killers be resuscitated and how did the prison system fail to protect its most marked man?

Exclusive hour long chat with the remarkable Jason Rothwell who says he connected with the dead body of the Lancashire mum of two Nicola and led police to the stretch of river where she was eventually found. Jason says Nicola told him where to find her and she followed his instructions to free her foot allowing her corpse to rise to the surface. Police divers and search teams had looked in vain for 23 days before Jason intervened.
If you are sceptical or think it all sounds far fetched then have a watch or a listen and see if you can be convinced. Jason also shares his feelings, literally, on the very strange disappearance of Nancy Guthrie in Arizona and what he believes happened to her.

We each have a foot in both camps in this episode. I, broadcaster and journalist Martin Frizell, have spent much of my career in breakfast and daytime tv, indeed I'm married to a former morning show anchor, Fiona Phillips. Professor of Criminology David Wilson has studied the reasons behind kidnapping and the typical profile of abductors. And yet there's something about the kindnap of NBC Today host Savannah Guthrie's 84 year old mum that is puzzling. Three weeks in and no sign of life from Nancy, no confirmation of a ransom note but a very amateurish break in at her home in Tucson, Arizona. And a statement from the Sheriff that no members of the wider Guthrie family are being questioned as part of the inquiry.
All very strange according to our expert criminologist...

He was one of America’s most prolific serial killers, John Wayne Gacy, murderer of 33 teens and young men, executed for his crimes - but what was the motive?
The new documentary on ITVX, Devil in Disguise, explores Gacy’s clown connection, the trauma on his victims and families, prejudice in 70’s USA and glaring police failings. The killer protested his innocence to the end but his crimes are now textbook reading and possibly led to copycat killings by British serial killer Dennis Nilsen.