Our True Crime Podcast

The UK Midlands is a region steeped in history and folklore, from the ancient Kingdom of Mercia to the birthplace of Shakespeare. But on a freezing, misty day in December 1993, a peaceful village right off the M1 motorway became the backdrop for a living nightmare.

While driving past a dirty station wagon parked on a grassy verge near Junction 20, a local witness noticed a passenger sitting bolt upright in the backseat wearing a jet-black dress. It was a sight that made her blood run cold; she knew with absolute certainty that the woman was already dead.

What followed was a massive police hunt for a transient predator who used England’s motorways to hide in plain sight.

Join Jen and Cam as they discuss 'Monster on the M1: The Murders of Samo Paull & Tracey Turner.'

Our team:

Listener Discretion by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Edward October ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Research & Writing by Lauretta Allen

Executive Producers Nico & Jesse of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Inky Pawprint⁠⁠

Sources:

⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7_M0eU6pVk&t=7s⁠

⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1hGFRvWqyo⁠

⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alun_Kyte⁠

⁠https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-48254878⁠

⁠https://crimeimmemorial.com/2024/09/15/yvonne-coley/⁠

⁠https://murderpedia.org/male.K/k/kyte-alun.htm⁠

⁠https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/janine-downes-death-police-appeal-b1796190.html⁠

⁠https://crimeimmemorial.com/2024/10/15/gail-whitehouse/⁠

⁠https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-12297341⁠

⁠https://www.westmercia.police.uk/news/west-mercia/news/2021/february/detectives-continue-to-appeal-for-information-into-womans-murder-on-30th-anniversary/⁠

⁠https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/unsolved-murder-revisited-after-34-31844795⁠

⁠https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/missing-coventry-sex-workers-victims-22984273⁠

⁠https://lolly-truecrime.medium.com/natalie-pearman-was-16-years-old-when-her-body-was-found-in-a-lay-by-on-ringland-road-norwich-8ba882b288ca⁠

⁠https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/child-abusing-double-killer-suspected-of-other-murders-7t2pjsm73⁠

⁠https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-65556070⁠

⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ac7a330a-afe6-4247-a106-10e59fba8651/episodes/7e1fe6a3-895f-452d-9512-b307a319fbb5/they-walk-among-us---uk-true-crime-midlands-ripper-alun-kyte---part-1⁠ (and also part 2)⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/719963897/?⁠

⁠match=1&terms=Alun%20Kyte⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/259073041/?match=2&terms=Alun%20Kyte⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/867605363/?match=2&terms=Alun%20Kyte⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/808440223/?match=1&terms=Alun%20Kyte⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/822427249/?article=a4f38430-aabb-4708-a3fb-f982c5af9186&terms=Alun%20Kyte⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/719023877/?match=1&terms=Samo%20Paull⁠

⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsall_Heath⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/866507468/?match=8&terms=Samo%20Paull⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/865864192/?match=1&terms=Samo%20Paull⁠ ⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/865864423/?match=6&terms=Samo%20Paull⁠

⁠https://grokipedia.com/page/Alun_Kyte#:~:text=The%201994%20Murders,December%201993.%20%5B9%5D%20Her%20body⁠

⁠https://www.newspapers.com/image/878164808/?article=3ed5a862-86a9-47e0-9de9-0bfce9a53075&terms=%22Tracey%20Turner%22⁠

⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murdered_sex_workers_in_the_United_Kingdom⁠

⁠

In January 1991, 13-year-old Paola Illera arrived home from school and stepped into the elevator of her East Harlem apartment building. She was only moments from her family's 30th-floor apartment, but she never made it upstairs. Hours later, her body was discovered miles from where she was last seen, launching an investigation that would haunt detectives for years.

As fear spread through the neighborhood, investigators searched for answers in a case that seemed to offer few clues. Yet hidden among the evidence was a tiny trace that would eventually help uncover the truth. This week, we examine the murder of Paola Illera, the long hunt for her killer, and the string of crimes that terrorized East Harlem throughout the 1990s.