Welcome, I’m Paul

I began getting re-immersed in true crime in the 2020 summer of lockdown, after watching I'll Be Gone In The Dark the TV series about the EAR/ONS/GSK killer in the US, but mainly because I found Michelle McNamara's own story even more compelling. But I wanted to ask myself the question you've already asked yourself: why do I find this so addictive?

The killer of Christopher Laverack is not famous, and neither was Christopher. He was just an ordinary nine year-old from my home town. I didn't know him, but I felt like I should, and I sure got to know him after he was murdered. His story has stayed with me for over thirty years. And perhaps all those crazy killers were more like us than we’d hoped?

I started on Medium many years ago, but made Substack my main home three years ago in January 2022 - before it was fashionable! I have rewritten this page for 2025 because I no longer see my role as being a detective. I think this is where Jim Sheridan and others have set their sights too high. I once begged for the UK police to allow access to their files in the way that Michelle McNamara was able to get access. Surely Suzy Lamplugh or Claudia Lawrence could be found if only more people were able to access the files? In the case of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, that wish was granted. Detailed, graphic evidence is doing the rounds in Ireland and it has not resulted in any breakthrough. Whether or not you consider the investigation flawed, nobody has managed to spot a nugget that turned the case on its head.

I have come to understand that the reason I find all of this so addictive is just down to personality. At university I buried deep into the Challenger disaster for a piece of coursework. Shortly after that, bitten with the bug, I buried myself in the TWA800 crash and ended up writing a novel about it. Before that it was Area 51. It’s not true crime per se that grabs me but the idea of understanding a very complex and challenging body of evidence. In learning about death, especially violent death, we discover life itself.