True Crime Documentaries

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BBC Select delves into the world of true crime with a range of eye-opening documentaries. Learn more about crimes that made the headlines including the Wests and Jimmy Saville, shocking misdemeanors from recent times in Britain and America, as well as unlawful acts from the past including the crimes of Jack the Ripper.

The Missing Cryptoqueen

Ruja Ignatova is the flamboyant founder of fake cryptocurrency OneCoin. Dubbed the ‘Missing Cryptoqueen’, she’s on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list after defrauding investors of $4.5 billion and then vanishing. This true crime documentary investigates her close ties to a suspected Bulgarian organized crime boss and allegations that she was brutally murdered. But is there much more to the story?

Dead Calm: Killing in the Med?

Dead Calm: Killing in the Med?

In June 2023, an overloaded trawler flips in front of a Greek coast guard patrol boat. More than 600 men, women and children die in the water. A billionaire’s super yacht takes survivors to shore. The accounts of these survivors suggest that coast guard is at fault–something the Greek authorities deny. This film reveals the dark secret hidden behind the beauty of Greece’s holiday islands.

The Body in the Bag

The Body in the Bag

In 2010, intelligence officer Gareth Williams was found dead inside a locked bag in the bath of his London flat. The case became one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in recent British history. Even now, the public are still asking what happened to this codebreaker, branded a genius since childhood. This true crime documentary investigates whether he acted alone or if other forces were involved.

Murder In Mayfair

Murder In Mayfair

In 2008, 23-year-old Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen was killed after a night out in Mayfair, London. Hours after her death the only suspect in the case, Farouk Abdulhak, the son of one of Yemen’s richest and most powerful men, fled the UK. This true crime documentary seeks answers to what happened to Martine and uncovers how money, political power, and Yemeni law protected Farouk.

The Man Who Took Shannon Matthews

The Man Who Took Shannon Matthews

In 2008, nine-year-old Shannon Matthews went missing. 24 days later she was found safe and well at the house of Michael Donovan. The kidnapping, which provoked a nationwide search, had been a scam. With exclusive access to family members, neighbors and professionals who knew Donovan, this true crime documentary tells the untold story of the man behind the kidnap and why he committed the crime.