What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight. A True Crime Podcast

 
 
JonBenét Ramsey: Who Killed the Child Beauty Queen?
On the morning after Christmas 1996, Patsy Ramsey found a ransom note inside her family’s Boulder, Colorado home.
Her six-year-old daughter, JonBenét Ramsey, was missing.
Hours later, JonBenét wasn’t found outside the house.
She was found inside it — dead in a basement room.
Almost thirty years later, her murder remains unsolved.
In this episode of What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight, we go back through one of the most scrutinised murder investigations in modern American history and separate the evidence from the mythology that has grown around it.
We examine the extraordinary ransom note, the crime scene, the pineapple, the basement window, Lou Smit’s intruder theory, the secret grand-jury indictments and the DNA evidence that was later used to clear the Ramsey family — before asking whether that DNA can really tell us who killed JonBenét.
No sensational accusations. No pretending an unsolved case has been solved.
Just the evidence, the competing explanations and the questions that remain nearly three decades later.
And a special thank you to listener Hugh Mann, who requested this case. Hugh, I told you I hadn’t forgotten. Still not convinced that’s your real name though.
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What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight
Content warning: This episode discusses the murder of a child, including details of her injuries and allegations of sexual assault.
 
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The Murder of Caroline Glachan: 27 Years for Justice
In August 1996, 14-year-old Caroline Glachan left home in West Dunbartonshire believing she was going to meet a boy she was infatuated with.
She never came home.
Caroline was found beside the River Leven the following day. She had suffered a brutal assault and was still alive when she entered the water.
For more than two decades, her murder remained unsolved.
But Caroline’s mother, Margaret McKeich, never stopped fighting for answers.
In 2019, detectives began looking at the case again. There was no dramatic DNA breakthrough and no new piece of forensic technology. Instead, investigators went back to the original evidence, spoke to hundreds of people and began dismantling an alibi that had survived since 1996.
Twenty-seven years after Caroline’s murder, Robert O’Brien, Andrew Kelly and Donna Brand finally stood trial.
The jury would hear about old threats, witnesses who had remained silent, a four-year-old boy who apparently knew details of the killing before Caroline’s body had even been discovered — and another man whom several witnesses claimed had confessed to the murder.
So what really happened beside the River Leven that night?
And how did three people apparently escape justice for nearly three decades?
This is the story of Caroline Glachan.
 
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Every contribution genuinely helps support the show.
 
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🎙️ WHAT THEY HIDE: HIDDEN CRIMES IN PLAIN SIGHT
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New episodes explore extraordinary crimes, disappearances, investigations and cases from Britain and around the world.
Thank you for listening and for supporting What They Hide.
I’m Matt — and this is What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight.
 
Content warning: This episode contains discussion of the murder and violent assault of a child. Listener discretion is advised.
 
Music by MUBERT

Peter Watts: The Boy Who Died 200 Miles From Home | Midweek Mini
In January 1976, 15-year-old Peter Watts left his home in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.
Hours later, he was found critically injured beneath the streets of London near Euston — more than 200 miles from home.
How Peter got there, who he may have met, and what happened in the final hours of his life remain unanswered nearly fifty years later.
In this first What They Hide: Midweek Mini, Matt looks at the known timeline, the strange details surrounding Peter’s death, the missing watch and glasses, the disputed journey to London, and the witness claim that emerged decades later.
This shorter format is something new I’m testing alongside the main weekly episodes — tighter cases that don’t need an hour to tell, but are still too compelling to ignore.
If you enjoy the Midweek Mini format, let me know — I’d love to make these a regular extra alongside the main show.
Support What They Hide
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support the show, you can do so through Buy Me a Coffee.
http://buymeacoffee.com/Whattheyhidepod
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Sources include:ITV News reporting on the Peter Watts case, later police appeals, family statements and reporting surrounding the 2016 witness claim.
What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain SightNew full-length episodes weekly, with occasional Midweek Mini bonus cases in between.
 
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Curtis “Cocky” Warren Part Two: The £198 Million Man
Five weeks.
That was all the freedom Curtis “Cocky” Warren experienced after spending almost a decade behind bars before he found himself under arrest again.
In Part Two, we follow Warren into an extraordinary surveillance operation on the island of Jersey. Police believed he was behind a conspiracy to import 180 kilograms of cannabis worth more than £1 million — but some of the most important evidence came from covert recordings obtained after officers went beyond the surveillance permission they’d received.
What followed was a battle that reached the Privy Council, another lengthy prison sentence and an extraordinary attempt to recover the fortune authorities believed Warren had accumulated through years of international drug trafficking.
The figure eventually placed on it?
£198 million.
We follow Warren through the Jersey conviction, the fight over the covert recordings, the confiscation proceedings, years more behind bars and his eventual release under extensive restrictions.
Throughout both parts of this story, we separate documented fact from allegation and gangland mythology — because the legend of Cocky Warren is enormous.
But so was the price.
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As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying sign-ups made through this link. It costs you nothing extra and helps support What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight. Audible currently offers eligible customers a 30-day free trial. 
☕ SUPPORT WHAT THEY HIDE
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to help support the show, you can Buy Me a Coffee. Every contribution helps support the time, research and production that goes into making What They Hide.
Buy Me a Coffee:
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And if you can’t support financially, following the podcast, leaving a rating or review, commenting and sharing an episode all make a massive difference.
Thank you for listening and for helping What They Hide continue to grow.
What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain SightHosted by Matt
 
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Curtis “Cocky” Warren Part One: The Making of a British Drug Baron
Curtis Warren began life on the streets of Liverpool. By the 1990s, his name was being spoken about at the highest levels of international law enforcement.
Known as “Cocky”, Warren became one of the most notorious figures in British organised crime — linked to enormous international drug shipments, pursued across Europe and, extraordinarily, appearing on the Sunday Times Rich List while his reputation grew into something approaching legend.
But where does the truth end and the mythology begin?
In Part One of this two-part investigation, we trace Warren’s journey from Liverpool street crime into the international drugs trade: the extraordinary cocaine prosecution that collapsed, the Customs informant at the centre of it, Warren’s move into the Netherlands, Operation Crayfish, his eventual conviction and the killing of a fellow prisoner while behind bars.
We also examine the stories that helped create the legend of Cocky Warren — the alleged hidden fortune, Colombian connections, his supposedly extraordinary memory and the claims that have followed him for decades.
Some can be substantiated.
Some remain allegations.
And some belong firmly to British gangland folklore.
This is the story of the man behind the mythology — and the price that came with becoming one of Britain’s most notorious criminals.
Part Two continues with Warren’s release from prison, the Jersey operation, covert surveillance, another extraordinary prosecution and the battle over his alleged fortune.
🎧 TRY AUDIBLE FREE FOR 30 DAYS
I use Audible myself and have built up a huge audiobook library over the years. If you’d like to give it a try, you can get a 30-day free trial through my affiliate link:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/audible/arya/mlp?ref_=null&_encoding=UTF8&tag=whattheyhide2-21&purchaseType=MTRIAL&SHOPPING_PORTAL_MODE=AUGMENTED
As an Amazon Associate/Audible affiliate, I may earn a commission from qualifying sign-ups made through this link. It costs you nothing extra and helps support What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight.
☕ SUPPORT THE SHOW
If you’re enjoying What They Hide, you can support the podcast through Buy Me a Coffee.
http://buymeacoffee.com/Whattheyhidepod
Following, subscribing, rating and reviewing the show also makes a huge difference — and sharing the episode with somebody who loves true crime is one of the best ways to help an independent podcast grow.
What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight
New episodes exploring extraordinary crimes, investigations and the stories hidden beneath the headlines.
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The Boy Who Wasn’t Ill: The Lisa Hayden-Johnson Case
For more than six years, Lisa Hayden-Johnson convinced doctors, charities and the British public that her young son Matthew was gravely ill.
He used a wheelchair, was fed through a tube and underwent hundreds of medical encounters for conditions including diabetes, cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis. His courage brought television appearances, charitable gifts and encounters with celebrities, royalty and a prime minister.
But Matthew wasn’t Britain’s most ill child.
He was a healthy boy trapped inside a medical identity created by the person he trusted most.
In this episode, we examine how Lisa manipulated medical evidence, how warning signs were missed and how a fabricated rape allegation helped bring her extraordinary deception crashing down. We also hear how Matthew and his sister Laura have rebuilt their lives—and why forgiveness hasn’t meant reconciliation.
Content warning: This episode contains discussion of child abuse, unnecessary medical procedures, psychological manipulation, self-inflicted injury and a fabricated allegation of sexual assault.
Sources
Reuters — Mother jailed for “sickest boy in Britain” fantasy
The Guardian — Mother jailed for faking son’s illness
The Independent — Mum jailed over “most ill child” pretence
The Guardian — Love You to Death review
BBC reporting — “Mum still believes she was right to fake my illness”
NHS — Fabricated or Induced Illness
Channel 4 — Love You to Death
 
 
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Daniel Morgan: Murder, Corruption and the Secrets of Scotland Yard
Episode Description
On 10 March 1987, private investigator Daniel Morgan walked into the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London.
Later that night, he was found murdered in the car park behind it, an axe embedded in his head.
What followed became one of the most extraordinary and controversial murder investigations in modern British policing.
Over the decades there would be arrests, allegations of corruption, connections between private investigators, police officers and Fleet Street, repeated attempts to solve Daniel’s murder — and eventually a prosecution that collapsed before a jury could decide the case.
Daniel’s family refused to stop fighting for answers.
Thirty-four years after his murder, an Independent Panel delivered a devastating conclusion about the Metropolitan Police and institutional corruption.
But despite everything that has been uncovered, one question remains unanswered.
Who killed Daniel Morgan?
In this episode of What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight, we follow Daniel’s story from the Golden Lion through decades of investigations, corruption allegations and failed attempts to bring his killer to justice.
 
Sources
Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report — Volumes 1, 2 & 3Home Office / Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, June 2021.Primary source for the episode and the principal source for the chronology, investigations, corruption findings and treatment of Daniel’s family.
Government Response to the Report of the Daniel Morgan Independent PanelHome Office, June 2023.
Operation Drayfurn — Metropolitan Police Service Response to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel ReportMetropolitan Police Service, 2022.
Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report: Home Office CorrespondenceCorrespondence between the Home Secretary and Metropolitan Police Commissioner following publication of the Panel report.
HMICFRS — An Inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Counter-Corruption Arrangements and Other Matters Related to the Daniel Morgan Independent PanelMarch 2022.
Independent Office for Police Conduct — Assessment of Matters Linked to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel ReportAugust 2022.
UK Parliament / Hansard — Daniel Morgan Independent Panel ReportHome Secretary’s statement to Parliament, 15 June 2021.
Metropolitan Police — Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report and subsequent response material.
 
This episode discusses allegations, arrests and criminal proceedings involving individuals who have not been convicted of Daniel Morgan’s murder. Where allegations or investigative theories are discussed, they are presented as such. Nobody has ever been convicted of Daniel Morgan’s murder.
whattheyhidepod@gmail.com
 
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☕ SUPPORT THE SHOWIf you enjoy What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight and would like to support the work that goes into researching and producing the podcast, you can support the show through Buy Me a Coffee.
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MICHAEL BARRYMORE: WHAT HAPPENED TO STUART LUBBOCK?
On the night of 30 March 2001, 31-year-old father Stuart Lubbock went out for an ordinary Friday night in Harlow, Essex.
Before the night was over, he had met one of the most famous entertainers in Britain.
Michael Barrymore.
Hours later, Stuart was found unresponsive in the swimming pool at Barrymore’s home in Roydon.
He would never regain consciousness.
What initially appeared to be a tragic drowning quickly became something far more complicated when the examination of Stuart’s body revealed serious injuries.
There had been nine people at the house.
What followed was an investigation that would stretch across decades — involving conflicting accounts, lost forensic opportunities, an inquest, arrests, renewed investigations and questions that refused to disappear.
At the centre of it all was Stuart’s father, Terry Lubbock.
For twenty years, Terry fought relentlessly to discover what had happened to his son, challenging the original investigation and refusing to allow Stuart’s death to become simply another celebrity scandal.
Michael Barrymore has consistently denied involvement in Stuart’s injuries or death and has never been charged with causing his death.
More than twenty-five years later, no one has ever been convicted of causing Stuart’s death.
What happened to Stuart Lubbock?
⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGThis episode contains discussion of death, serious injuries, alleged sexual assault, alcohol and illegal drug use. Listener discretion is advised.
🎧 If you enjoy the podcast, please follow or subscribe, leave a rating or review, and share the episode with somebody who enjoys true crime. Every share helps the show reach new listeners.
📧 Contact: whattheyhidepod@gmail.com
SOURCES
• Essex Police• Independent Police Complaints Commission• Court of Appeal — Parker v Chief Constable of Essex Police• Contemporary BBC, ITV and Channel 4 reporting• Contemporary national newspaper coverage and inquest reporting
This episode is based on publicly available reporting, official findings and court records. Allegations and disputed accounts are identified as such. No person discussed in this episode should be considered responsible for a criminal offence unless established through the appropriate legal process.
What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain SightBecause sometimes the truth isn’t hidden.It’s hiding in plain sight.
Music by MUBERT

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On 13 November 2022, four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered inside an off-campus house in the quiet college town of Moscow, Idaho. What followed became one of the most gripping and closely watched murder investigations in modern history.
In this episode of What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight, we reconstruct the events of that night through verified evidence, witness accounts and the painstaking investigation that eventually led detectives to a suspect.
From the victims’ final hours… to the nationwide search for answers… to the forensic breakthroughs that changed everything, this is the complete story of the Idaho murders.
Along the way, we examine the internet speculation that threatened to derail the investigation, the scrutiny faced by those closest to the victims, and the extraordinary police work that pieced together one of the most complex homicide cases of recent years.
Most importantly, we remember the four young lives at the heart of this tragedy: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
In this episode:• The victims and their final hours• The timeline of 13 November 2022• The King Road crime scene• The investigation and early suspects• The white Hyundai Elantra• DNA, phone records and forensic evidence• Bryan Kohberger’s arrest, guilty plea and sentencing• The questions that still remain unanswered
If you enjoy the podcast, please follow the show, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with someone who enjoys thoughtful, well-researched true crime.
You can also support the show through Buy Me a Coffee using the link above.
Sources
This episode was researched using official court documents, law enforcement records and reporting from established news organisations, including:
Idaho Judicial Branch court filings and the Probable Cause Affidavit
Moscow Police Department
University of Idaho
FBI public statements
ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, BBC News, Reuters and the Associated Press
Dateline NBC, 20/20, 48 Hours and the Netflix documentary The Idaho Student Murders
Where speculation existed during the investigation, it has been clearly identified as such and distinguished from verified evidence.
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Music by MUBERT

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If you’d like to help support What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight, you can buy me a coffee using the link below. Every contribution helps me continue researching and producing these episodes.
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Costa Concordia: The Captain Who Left His Ship
On the evening of 13 January 2012, more than 4,200 passengers and crew set sail aboard the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia, expecting an unforgettable Mediterranean holiday.
Within hours, the ship had struck submerged rocks off the coast of Giglio Island, tearing a massive hole through its hull. As water poured in, confusion spread through the vessel. Passengers were told everything was under control, even as the ship began to list dramatically.
What followed became one of the most infamous maritime disasters of the 21st century.
In this episode of What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight, we trace the events of that night from beginning to end. We examine Captain Francesco Schettino’s decision to perform the controversial inchino, the collision that changed everything, the delayed evacuation, the extraordinary courage shown by crew members, rescuers and the people of Giglio, and the radio exchange that would become one of the most recognisable emergency transmissions ever recorded.
We also explore the painstaking investigation, the unprecedented salvage operation that captivated the world, and the courtroom battle that ultimately determined who would be held responsible.
This is not simply the story of a shipwreck.
It’s a story of leadership, complacency, human error, remarkable bravery, and the devastating consequences that can follow when a chain of small decisions leads to an unimaginable tragedy.
Listener discretion is advised. This episode contains discussions of death, traumatic events and one historical quotation containing strong language from an official emergency radio transmission.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider following the podcast, leaving a rating or review, and sharing it with someone who enjoys carefully researched true crime and real-life investigations.
You can also follow the podcast on social media or get in touch with your case suggestions at:
📧 whattheyhidepod@gmail.com
 
Sources
Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport – Marine Casualty Investigation Report
Court of Grosseto judgment and subsequent appeal decisions
Italian Coast Guard official communications
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
Costa Crociere official statements
Survivor and crew witness testimony presented during legal proceedings
BBC News
Reuters
Associated Press
The New York Times
The Guardian
Sky News
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