The Profiler with Kerry Daynes

The Murder of Jessica Patel

On 14 May 2018, pharmacist Mitesh Patel called 999 from his home in Middlesbrough, telling the operator his wife Jessica had been attacked during a burglary. But as forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes reveals in this Season One finale of The Profiler, the true story was one of coercive control, a secret gay double life, and a chillingly calculated murder plot. Drawing on 999 recordings, CCTV footage, and interviews with detectives and journalists, Kerry unpicks how a ‘loving husband’s’ carefully staged crime scene unravelled — exposing a hidden relationship, a plan to start a new life in Australia, and a motive rooted in greed and betrayal.Key psychological themesThis episode explores: coercive control and domestic abuse as a predictor of lethal violence • staged crime scenes and offender behaviour • the psychology of a ‘double life’ • victimology and how investigators build a motive • so-called ‘honour killings’ • warning signs missed by professionalsContributors featured in this episode● Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.● Tom Wilkinson — Press Association journalist who covered the Mitesh Patel trial.● Gary Cunningham — Former homicide detective.● Tracy Alexander — Forensics lecturer and crime scene management expert.What you’ll learn in this episode● What Mitesh Patel told the 999 operator when he ‘discovered’ his wife Jessica bound, gagged and dying at their Middlesbrough home — and why detectives suspected him from the start● Why the lack of forced entry immediately pointed detectives towards someone Jessica knew● The pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour Jessica’s family described to police, and why it should have been treated as more than a ‘red flag’● How CCTV footage, a health-tracking app, and a hidden roll of duct tape unravelled Mitesh Patel’s carefully constructed alibi● The secret life detectives uncovered on his laptop — including a relationship with a GP living in Australia — and the plan police believe lay behind Jessica’s murder● Why a Homicide Review, published two years after Patel’s conviction, concluded that critical warning signs were presentRelevant links and further reading● Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)● Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)● BBC News: Mitesh Patel jailed for murdering wife Jessica — bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-53389877● Domestic Homicide Review into the murder of Jessica Patel — homicide-review.homeoffice.gov.uk● The Halo Project: Jessica Patel’s story — haloproject.org.uk● Domestic abuse support — Refuge (0808 2000 247) • National Domestic Abuse Helpline • Men’s Advice LineSubscribe & followIf you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes a matter of seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.Visit theprofiler.co.ukFor updates on the podcast, an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry, and to join her mailing list visit theprofiler.co.uk.Credits● Presented by Kerry Daynes● Produced by Shearwater Media● Executive Producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson● Editing and Music by Rob Warner● Assistant Editor: Kay HomanContent noteThis episode contains descriptions of domestic abuse, coercive control, and murder. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Refuge (0808 2000 247), the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, and the Samaritans (116 123). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who Killed Suzy Lamplugh (Part 2)

By April 1989, John Cannan had been convicted of kidnapping and murdering Bristol newlywed Shirley Banks, raping another woman, and attempting to abduct a third at gunpoint — crimes that led one psychiatrist to conclude he could “dispose of a human life with as much emotion as you and I throw away a toffee wrapper.” But was Cannan also responsible for the 1986 disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, missing three years before his trial? In Part 2, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes examines the number plate that almost gave Cannan away, revisits a 2000 police re-interview in which his meticulous alibi collapses hour by hour, and asks why — despite compelling circumstantial evidence — he was never charged before his death in prison in November 2024.Key psychological themesThis episode explores: performative charm masking predatory violence • narcissistic slips of the tongue • fabricated alibis unravelling under interrogation • third-person distancing as a psychological defence • the limits of circumstantial evidence • grief, campaigning and unfinished justiceContributors featured in this episodeKerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.Rod Chaytor — Veteran crime correspondent (Daily Mirror) who covered the Cannan trial and the Lamplugh case.Michael Barley — Former Detective Sergeant, Metropolitan Police; interviewed Cannan after his arrest and again during the 2000 review.Jim Dickie — Former Detective Superintendent, Metropolitan Police; led the 2000 review into Suzy Lamplugh’s disappearance.What you'll learn in this episodeHow John Cannan’s 1989 trial for the murder of Shirley Banks and other offences ended in three life sentences, and what the judge’s sentencing remarks revealed about his psychologyWhy the number plate on Shirley Banks’s car, found in Cannan’s garage — SLP 386 S — became one of the case’s most chilling detailsWhat happened when Detective Sergeant Mike Barley asked Cannan, ‘Is that man you, John?’ — and why the answer still divides investigatorsHow Cannan’s detailed alibi for the weekend Suzy disappeared — the Euston train, a cinema date, lunch with his mother — fell apart inside a recorded 2000 police interviewWhy the CPS found insufficient evidence to charge Cannan, and what happened when he died in prison in November 2024Relevant links and further readingKerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)Faking It: Tears of a Crime (Warner Bros. Discovery) — some interviews in this episode were originally featured in the series. Watch on discoveryplus.comsuzylamplugh.org — The Suzy Lamplugh Trust: Suzy’s story and the Trust’s safety campaigningSupport for families of missing or murdered people — Missing People (UK) • Victim SupportSubscribe & followIf you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.Visit theprofiler.co.ukFor an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — and to join Kerry’s weekly email list - visit theprofiler.co.uk. CreditsPresented by Kerry DaynesProduced by Shearwater MediaExecutive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve AndersonEditor: Jeanette SmedleyMusic: Rob WarnerContent noteThis episode contains descriptions of kidnap, rape and murder, and discussion of a presumed murder victim whose body has never been found. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Victim Support (0808 168 9111) and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust (020 7091 0014). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who Killed Suzy Lamplugh (Part 1)

On 28 July 1986, estate agent Suzy Lamplugh left her office in Fulham, west London, for a house viewing with a client she recorded in her diary as 'Mr Kipper'. She never returned. Despite one of the largest missing-persons investigations in UK police history, no body has ever been recovered — and no-one has ever been charged. In Part 1 of this story Kerry Daynes revisits the streets where 25-year-old Suzy was last seen, examines the original investigation, and follows the trail of a chilling lead: just three days before the disappearance a convicted sex offender named John Cannan was freed from a nearby prison. Within a year he would be linked to the abduction and murder of another young woman in Bristol. Was he, as many detectives believe, the real Mr. Kipper?Key psychological themesThis episode explores: opportunistic predation • the psychology of women's safety in public-facing work • the language of identification — Photofits, witness recall and trauma • the recklessness of a serial offender Contributors featured in this episode• Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.• Richard Lamplugh — Suzy's brother.• Michael Barley — Former Detective Sergeant, Metropolitan Police; assigned to the original Suzy Lamplugh investigation in 1986.• Rod Chaytor — Veteran crime correspondent (Daily Mirror) who covered the Lamplugh case, the Cannan investigation and trial.What you'll learn in this episode• What the 'Mr Kipper' entry in Suzy's office diary actually said — and why every other appointment that day checked out except this one• The exact movements of Suzy on Monday 28 July 1986, and the witness who described seeing her in Shorrolds Road, Fulham, alongside a tall, well-dressed man• The scale of the original police inquiry: hundreds of officers, thousands of statements, and the year-long search that brought back nothing• How a serial sexual offender named John Cannan, released from a Wormwood Scrubs pre-release hostel on Friday 25 July 1986, came into the frame more than a year later• Kerry's psychological profile of an offender who collects, returns to and goads — and what that pattern suggested about the man at the centre of two of the worst cases of the 1980sRelevant links and further reading• Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)• Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)• Faking It: Tears of a Crime (Warner Bros. Discovery) — some interviews in this episode were originally featured in the series. Watch on discoveryplus.com.• https://www.suzylamplugh.org/suzys-story — The Suzy Lamplugh Trust: Suzy's story, in her family's own words• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66298929 — BBC News: timeline of the Suzy Lamplugh investigation• Personal safety advice and bereaved-family support — Suzy Lamplugh Trust • Missing People (UK) • Victim SupportSubscribe & followIf you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.Visit theprofiler.co.ukFor an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes and to join her mailing list visit theprofiler.co.uk..Credits• Presented by Kerry Daynes• Produced by Shearwater Media• Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson• Edited by Jeanette Smedley• Music by Rob WarnerContent noteThis episode contains descriptions of abduction, sexual violence, and a long-unsolved disappearance presumed to be a murder. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Victim Support (0808 168 9111), the Suzy Lamplugh Trust (020 7091 0014) and the Samaritans (116 123) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Murder of Rachel McLean

Oxford, April 1991. English student Rachel McLean vanishes from the house she shares with friends, mid-way through a weekend of exam revision. Her tutor calls 999. Her boyfriend — a British-born New Zealander named John Tanner — tells detectives he last saw her at Oxford station chatting to a mystery stranger. He gives a detailed description. He fronts a televised appeal. He plays the grieving boyfriend to perfection. But police soon discover that the ‘stranger’ is a figment of his imagination. And, by the time they arrest Tanner, Rachel’s body has been found under the floorboards of her home. Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes traces a case that changed the way Britain looked at controlling relationships, and asks what Tanner's later New Zealand conviction — for serious violence against another partner — reveal about a man who has always insisted he simply 'snapped' as a result of provocation. Listen now to The Profiler with Kerry Daynes.Key psychological themesThis episode explores: coercive control disguised as devotion • the psychology of the manufactured appeal • jealousy, possession and staged grief • the 'crime of passion' myth • the pattern of a serial domestic abuserContributors featured in this episode• Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.• Catherine Houlihan — Then a young reporter with the Oxford Mail; covered Rachel's disappearance and the trial.• Colin Sutton — Retired homicide detective; expert commentator on the original investigation.• Rod Chaytor — Veteran crime correspondent (ex-Daily Mirror); covered the case throughout.• John Tanner — In archive footage of the 1991 press-conference appeal for information.What you'll learn in this episode• Why Rachel's disappearance immediately struck detectives as ‘out of character’.• How Tanner's 'man at the train station' story unravelled.• The polished press-conference performance that made Colin Sutton uneasy from the very first viewing.• Where Rachel's body was found, and how the forensics at the house pointed straight to the person she loved.• Why Tanner's later New Zealand convictions aren't a coda to this case — they're confirmation of who he always was.• Kerry's reframing: why 'crimes of passion' are more accurately called crimes of possession.Relevant links and further reading• Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)• Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)• Faking It: Tears of a Crime (Warner Bros. Discovery) — some interviews first featured here. Watch on discoveryplus.com.• BBC News archive — contemporary coverage of the Rachel McLean investigation and 1991 trial.• Support — Refuge • Women's Aid • Suzy Lamplugh Trust • Victim SupportSubscribe & followIf you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes just seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.Visit theprofiler.co.ukFor an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — including on the McLean investigation — visit theprofiler.co.uk. Sign up to the mailing list for weekly news and updates from Kerry. Credits• Presented by Kerry Daynes• Produced by Shearwater Media• Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson• Editing and Music by Rob Warner• Edit Assistant: Kay HomanContent noteThis episode contains descriptions of the murder of a young woman by her partner, references to strangulation, and discussion of serial domestic abuse. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Refuge (0808 2000 247), Women's Aid, and the Samaritans (116 123). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Murder of Kayleigh Haywood

In November 2015, schoolgirl Kayleigh Haywood told her parents she was going to stay at a friend’s house. She wasn’t. For the previous two weeks the fifteen-year-old had been groomed online by Luke Harlow, a man twelve years her senior. He had bombarded her with over a thousand Facebook messages persuading her to come to his flat in Ibstock, Leicestershire. After she finally agreed, he plied her with alcohol, assaulted her, then introduced her to a rapist and killer. In this episode, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes examines how two predators — a calculating online groomer and a violent opportunist living next door — converged on one teenage girl who had no idea her life was in danger. Listen now to The Profiler with Kerry Daynes.Key psychological themesThis episode explores: online grooming and the psychology of digital predation • the escalation from flattery to control in sustained coercive communication • the ‘bubble’ dynamic — how secrecy isolates victims from protection • opportunistic sexual violence and male social networks that enable harm • the devastating consequences of a child’s trust exploited by multiple offendersContributors featured in this episode• Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.• Phil Mackie — BBC News Midlands correspondent who covered the investigation, search, and trial.• Miranda Moore — Barrister and Crown Prosecutor who led the case against Luke Harlow and Stephen Beadman at Leicester Crown Court.What you’ll learn in this episode• How Harlow used Facebook to target Kayleigh — and what the thousand-plus messages he sent her reveal about the mechanics of online grooming• Why Kayleigh kept her contact with Harlow secret — and how that secrecy removed the one protection that might have saved her• What happened when Harlow introduced his neighbour Stephen Beadman to Kayleigh on the Saturday night — and what that decision set in motion• How a neighbour’s account of what he believed was a police arrest helped detectives reconstruct Kayleigh’s final hours• What the physical evidence — bloodstained clothing hidden in an unlit bonfire — revealed about Beadman’s attempts to conceal his crime• Kerry’s psychological analysis of how two men with very different criminal profiles came together to destroy one young lifeRelevant links and further reading• Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)• Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)• Faking It: Tears of a Crime (Warner Bros. Discovery) — some interviews in this episode were originally featured in the series. Watch on discoveryplus.com.• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-36651220 — BBC News: coverage of the Kayleigh Heywood case and trial• Kayleigh’s Love Story — NSPCC educational film inspired by this case, used in schools to teach young people about online grooming• Support for those affected — NSPCC Helpline (0808 800 5000) • Victim Support (0808 168 9111)Subscribe & followIf you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.Visit theprofiler.co.ukFor Kerry’s exclusive notes on the cases in this series visit theprofiler.co.uk. Whilst there, subscribe to the newsletter for case updates. Credits• Presented by Kerry Daynes• Produced by Shearwater Media• Executive Producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson• Editing & Music: Rob WarnerContent noteThis episode contains descriptions of the grooming and murder of a child, references to sexual violence, and details of a police investigation. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from the NSPCC (0808 800 5000), Victim Support (0808 168 9111), and the Samaritans (116 123). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.