real life crimes 1
Real Life Crimes 1

- and how they were solved (1993 Release)

Eaglemoss partwork

An impressive series from Eaglemoss, rising to the challenge of Murder Casebook from Marshall Cavendish and 'Unsolved' from Orbis. This formula, though mostly involving murders, allowed the publishers to go beyond a single crime. Hence, the Great Train Robbery, in which no one died, gets good coverage. It also enabled them to include fascinating sections on police forensic and other detection methods. We currently have many loose issues of the first (1993) release which we call Real Life Crimes 1 and most of the second (2003) release which we call Real Life Crimes 2.

How could the publishers have known in 1993 that the country would be rocked the following year by discovery in Gloucester of the most horrific murder scene in over a century? Or that attention would soon turn to Britiain's worst serial killer, Dr Harold Shipman? Or that the inexplicable murder of popular TV presenter Jill Dando would mystify millions of her admirers? The opportunity - and challenge - led them to re-launch the RLC series with a new numbering system and all the most sensational crimes near the beginning of the new release. The format was updated and even the binders changed slightly. Therefore, it's important, when seeking individual issues from this series, to know which release you need.

We started by listing the second (2003) release and tried showing first release issues alongside, but it became confusing so we then created a new section and called this one Real Life Crimes 1. The first release issues are in a red cover, the second are in red or blue. Very occasionally, the numbering of issues overlaps between releases. If you are still unsure which you need, please use 'Contact' and we'll try to help.

Updated  May 2013

!

1: John Duffy - Railway Murderer (4)

Murder autopsy; body with no name; kidnap with menaces; 'Scarsdale Diet' murderess

2: Jeremy Bamber (3)

 - Family Murders

Dentist of Death (Daniel Perera); Mad Bomber of NY; Time of Death

3: Donald Nielsen - Black Panther (3)

Teeth that Tell Tales; Skeleton in the Carpet (Karen Price); Glamour Girl Slayer (Harvey Glatman)

4: The Krays - Brotherhood of Evil (3)

5: Peter Sutcliffe - Yorkshire Ripper (3)

Shotgun Suicide? Bodies under the Bridge

6: Richard Ramirez - Night Stalker (3)

7: Henry McKenny - 'Big Harry' (3)

8: Dennis Nilsen - Sleeping with the Dead (3)

Finger of Suspicion; Nine Red Fibres

9: Roy Fontaine - Killer Butler (3)

Maggot Detectives; Triple Murder at World of Health

10: Ted Bundy - Mass Murderer (3)

Found Drowned; Man on the Moors; Broken Blade

11: Christie - Whispering Strangler (4)

Dose of Poison; Dead in the Water

12: Liam Brady & Myra Hindley (3)

Moors Murderers

13: Henry Lee Lucas (3)

14: John Haigh - Acid Bath Murders (3)

Colorado Cannibal; Murder in the Cotswolds

15: Massacre in the New Forest (4)

Scene of Crime; The Exploded Body; Murder in Cabin 126

Volume 1 RLC1 complete

First 15 issues in attractive binder

16: Charles Manson - "Death to Pigs" (4)

Body under the Floorboards; Poisonous Major

17: George Joseph Smith (4)

Brides in the Bath; Blood, Sweat & Tears; "Daddy did it..."; Lover's Revenge

18: Murder in the Masai Mara (4)

Julie Ward; Mules: catching the Drugs Couriers; "Lizzie Borden took an Axe...."

19: Albert DeSalvo - Boston Strangler (4)

Bite Marks; Murder in Market Deeping (Gillian Atkins - victim)

20: Great Train Robbery (3)

Gas Poisoning; Anna is Missing

21: John Cannan - Killer Salesman (4)

Headless, Handless Corpse; Radio Arrest of Dr Crippen

22: Granite Woman & Putty Man (4)

Death of a Mother & Child; The Swashbuckling Killer

23: Barry Prudom (2)

Manhunt on the Moors; The Towpath Murders; Spilsbury: Master Pathologist

24: Kidnap of Muriel McKay (3)

Who started the fire? hunting 'the Fox'

25: Bianchi & Buono (3)

The Hillside Stranglers; Crime of Passion; Who killed the Clifftop Couple?

26: The Barn Murder (1)

"TV told me to do it"; Vampire of Dusseldorf

27: Who was the A6 Killer? (2)

Acid attack; Biting for her life

28: Whizz Kids Turn to Murder (3)

Killer Housekeeper; DNA catches killer

29: Death in Happy Valley (3)

Joss Hay; Every gun leaves its mark; Secret grave exposes evil killer (William Jennings)

30: Slaughter in Shepherd's Bush (3)

Harry Roberts; The 'Baronet' from Wagga Wagga; Spaghetti House Siege

Volume 2 RLC1 complete

31: Aileen Carol Wuornos (3)

Hitch-hiker from Hell; What's in a Face? Maniac Killer at the YMCA

32: Flasher who turned to Murder (4)

Suicide of Murder? The Boby in the Opel

33: Craig and Bentley (2)

"Let him have it, Chris!"; Psycho profile traps transvestite; Poison pellet murder

34: Who Murdered Lindbergh's Baby? (3)

Death by Blunt Instrument; Rodney Whitchelo: Baby Food Blackmailer

35: Brinks-Mat Robbery (2)

Mind Detectives; The Handsome Sadist

36: Mary Flora Bell - Killer Child (2)

The Cannibal who came to Lunch; the Murder of Marie Payne

37: Leopold and Loeb (3)

Not Such a Perfect Murder; Mummufucation; Red Mini Murder

38: David Martin (3)

"No Prison Will Hold Me!"; Sabotage: Aircraft Explosions; Skull Smashed by Wife's Toy Boy

39: The Brighton Trunk Murders (3)

Kidnapped and Brainwashed; Where is Sandra?

40: David Berkowitz - Son of Sam (3)

Betrayed by their own Hand; Nurse Nacy's Deadly Medicine

41: The Balcombe Street Siege (3)

Shreds of Evidence; Who Cut Her Throat?

42: Did Mafia Murder World's Richest Man? (3)

Quicklime; Wicked Stepfather

43: Savage Rage of the 'Lipstick Killer' (3)

Murderous Love Triangle; Revenge of the Red Brigades

44: Raymond Morris (3)

Child Killer of Cannock Chase
Betrayed by his Bite; A Real-Life Sherlock Holmes

45: Massacre at Pottery Cottage (0)

The Shark-Arm Case; Fourteen-year-old Sex-Killer
rather scarce this one

46: Ed Kemper (3)

Mad Giant Set Free to Kill
Glass; The Oxford Drugs Lord

47: Butchers of the Boarded Barn

'Air Raid' victim was Strangled; Who Killed Zena Dawson?

48: 'Jack the Stripper' (2)

The Hammersmith Nudes
Gunshot! Mother-in-Law from Hell

49: Sam Sheppard (3)

Victim or Killer?
Hanging by a Hair; The Hunt for 'Dr Death'

50: Lord Lucan (3)

The Runaway Earl
Kensington Cop Killer; The Deaf-and-Dumb Killer

51: Russell Bishop (2)

Babes in the Wood Murders
By the Tracks of His Tyres; Soil Sample Traps Evil Killer

52: Alvin Karpis - Public Enemy No 1 (3)

Cold Steel; The Black Widow

53: Kenneth Erskine (2)

The Stockwell Strangler
"I hope I get what I deserve"; She had to Die by Midnight

54: Jack the Ripper (1)

The Whitechapel Murders
Did he fall....or was he pushed? Fifty yards short of the perfect murder.

55: Patrick Mackay (3)

"I Enjoyed Killing Him"
Lie Detectors; Bournemouth Want-Ad Murder

56: Richard Speck (3)

Massacre on 100th Street
Up in Smoke; Mystery Man Murdered in Blazing Car

57: Brian Donald Hume (3)

I Got Away With Murder
The Most Wanted Man in Britain; Alphonse Bertillon; Suspicious Shooting

58: Murder of Martin Luther King (3)

Left to Lingering Death by Killer Doctor
Antique Shop Murder

59: Gary Hopkins (0)

Murder at the Seaside
Forensic Photography; The One That Got Away

60: Burke & Hare (3)

The Body Snatchers
Car Bombs; Killer on the 9.02

61: Killer Couple's Murder Rampage (3)

Tycoon's Wife Victim of Contract Killer; "A Warning to Female Virtue"

62: David Lashley (3)

Beast of Shepherd's Bush
Simpson: Forensic Pathologist; The Texas Massacre

63: Tony Maffia (2)

No Honour Among Thieves
Ronald True: Crazy of Wicked? Who Killed Janice?

64: The Zodiac Killer (2)

Voiceprints; Stephen Raymond - a Very Special Crook

65: Kingsley Rotardier (2)

The Vanishing Civil Servant
Dentist Traps Killer; The Green Bicycle Mystery

66: The Charing Cross Trunk Murder (3)

Investigating Explosions; The Paraquat Poisoner; Who Was Bible John?

67: Jeffrey Dahmer (1)

The Milwaukee Cannibal
The Poisoned Wine; Suicide - or was it murder?

68: Alexander Sinclair (2)

Money, Drugs and Murder
Criminal Man; The Ladykiller

69: Dr Marcel Petiot (2)

The Butcher of Paris
The Red Barn Murder; Nebraska Newsboy Killer

70: Paul Bern (1)

Hollywood Suicide?
Francis Camps: Larger then Life; The Notting Hill Rapist

71: The Guinness Kidnap (2)

Inheritance Swindle Shocks Paris
Sister Killer

72: Nezar Hindawi (2)

The El Al Bomb Plot
Masters of Deception; The Wartime Ripper

73: Gary Heidnik (2)

The Devils's Pastor
The Lethal Lodger; Gangland Killing at the Pen Club

74: Dr David Hamilton (2)

The disappearing Civil Servant

Identifying the Criminal; the Bacon Warehouse Murder

75: Michael Sams (2)

The Sacrificial Killer; Strangled - but was he the murderer?

76: William Wallace (1)

Time Enough to Kill?
Funny Money; Murder in Millionaire County

77: Mark Hofmann (1)

The Mormon Murderer
The Cambridge Rapist; "Somebody Shot My Kids!"

78: Donald and Dan Nichols (2)

Prisoner of the Mountain Men
Maid Murders Mistress; Evil Beyond Description

79: Scott Singleton (2)

Lured to her Death
Who Fired the Shot? Murder at Madison Square Garden

80: Gary Gilmore (2)

The Killer Who Wanted to Die
Hair of the Dog; Eight Times a Murderer

81: The Bridgewater Four (2)

Murder at Yew Tree Farm
Bruises: Black and Blue; Rob, Burn and Kill

82: Bertie Manton (2)

The Luton Sack Murder
Coroner to the Stars; The Biting Bandit

83: Robert Hansen, Woman Hunter (2)

Who Killed the Crewes? Death of a Have-a-Go Hero

84: John Tanner (2)

"I Didn't Kill My Rachel"
Crazed Veteran Slaughters Thirteen; The Karate Killer

85: Child Killers Brought to Justice (0)

A Village Murder; Frontier Lawmen

86: John Wayne Gacy (2)

The Killer Clown
A Poisonous Affair; The Patchway Shootings

87: Benjamin Laing (1)

Evil Beyond Belief
Paper Detectives; Butchered in her Bedroom

88: August Sangret (2)

Murder on Hankley Common
The Death of PC Meehan; The Babykiller

89: Ed Gein - The Corpse Collector (1)

From the Gorbals to the Gallows; Who Killed Helen Smith?

90: Motiveless Murder: (2)

Who Killed Penny Bell?
Appointment with the Hangman; The Body in the Cupboard

91: Henri Desire Landru ((2)

Lonely Hearts Killer
The King of Counterfeit; Murder at the Movies

92: Ian Simms (1)

A Killer's Gruesome Secret
Crimebusting Pioneers; The Dark Strangler

93: Charles Stuart - Death in Boston (2)

The Deadly DIY Man; A Victorian Murder

94: Andrei Chikatilo - The Red Ripper (2)

Murder in Hollywood; A Double Killing

95: Alice Crimmins (1)

"I Didn't Kill My Babies"
Killed for their Cash; Death of a Diamond Dealer

96: Nikolaus Chrastny - The Cocaine King (2)

Milton Helpern: Medical Detective; The Fatal Fingerprint

97: Death of the Black Dahlia (3)

The Murdering Miser; Sex Star Slaughtered

98: Nicholas Vernage (0)

Cold-Blooded Cop Killer
Deadly Devices; The College Kid Killer

99: Wayne Williams (2)

Nightmare in Atlanta
Murder in the Meadows; The Hopetoun Quarry Killings

100: Beverley Allitt (1)

Killer on Ward 4
Deadly Schoolgirls; Face-to-Face

101: Heinrich Pommerencke (2)

Beast of the Black Forest
Deadly Love Drug; A Birthday Nightmare

102: The Zebra Killings (2)

Call in the Pathologist; Carbon Copy Killer

103: Colin Ireland - the Gay Slayer (2)

Murder in the Family; The Man Upstairs

104: The Fruit Machine Murder (1)

Betrayed by her Father; Death by Prescription

105: Scott Douglas (1)

The Heiress and the Handyman
"Off with their Heads"; Killed in his Bedsit

106: Stinie Morrison (1)

The Clapham Common Murder
Every Parent's Nightmare; Death of an Actor

107: Who Killed Little Gregory? (1)

The Scottsboro Boys; A Heroic Death

108: Robert Black - Evil Child-Killer (0)

The 'Terry and June' Murder; Guilty - or Mad?

109: Kennedy and Browne - Police Killers (1)

A Woman Scorned; The Unkindest Cut of All

110: John Norman Collins (2)

The Ypsilanti Ripper
Hit and Run; The Balham Mystery

111: John Steed - The M4 Rapist (0)

Death at Saxton Grange; "My name is Paul and I'm a killer"

112: Death of a Socialite (2)

The Plumpton Police Murder;  Accident - or Murder?

113: The Newall Brothers - Sons of Evil (2)

Robert Churchill: Ballistics Pioneer; The Last Straw?

114: Florence Maybrick (2)

An Overdose of Arsenic; The Bodies in the Peach Groves; Burned Alive

115: Leonard Lake - Chamber of Horrors (1)

An Inconvenient Mistress; The Red Riding Hood Killer

116: Petrolini & Elsey (1)

Murder Without Motive
A Night of Horror; Death of a Sex Symbol

117: Randy Kraft - Fiend of the Freeway (1)

A Perfect Match? The Security Express Robbery

118: The Luton Post Office Murder (1)

Murder at the Gatehouse; Not All Monsters Are Make-Believe

119: Simone Weber (2)

The She-Devil of Nancy
"I Couldn't Help It"; The 'Reggie Perrin' Murders

120: Pamela Smart (1)

Mistress of Murder
Blind Date; Hacked to Death

121: Fritz Haarman (1)

Wolf Man of Hanover
The Acid Torturer; Death in Dublin

122: Dennis Smalley (1)

The Lincoln Axe Murders
Sniffing Them Out; The Jeep-Jacking Killer

123: Arthur Shawcross (1)

An Orgy of Murder
A Female Assassin; Murderous Mechanic

124: Curtis Howard (1)

A Fatal Obsession
The Mystery of Wolf's Nick; The Murdering Doctor

125: Steven Benson (1)

Family Bomb Attack
Hitman on a Motorbike; A Scarlet Woman

126: Michael Ryan (0)

Horror at Hungerford
Killing to Impress; Son of Satan

127: Joel Rifkin (1)

Manhattan Murder Spree
The Shadow Killer; Death of a Car Salesman

128: Ruth Ellis (1)

"I am Guilty"
The Killer Policeman; The Silken Strangler

129: Fernandez and Beck (1)

The Lonely Hearts Killer
Donald Teare: The Third Musketeer; Death in the Woods

130: Dean Corll (0)

The Pied Piper
'Misjudged Monster'; The Witchcraft Murder

131: Keith Rose (1)

Kidnapper and Killer
The Mystery of Bashall Eaves; Date with a Murderer; Analysing Toolmarks

132: David Spence (1)

Texas Teen Killer
Driven to Kill; The Wayward Wastrel

133: Baroness de Stempel (0)

Death and Family Fraud
Alan Usher: Investigator and Innovator; The 'Fatal Attraction' Killer

134: The Green River Killer (1)

Searching for Dead Bodies; From Family Man to Murderer; Buried in the Garden

135: INDEX (0)

Binder (1)