TRUE CRIME INVESTIGATORS
Achance meeting during a motorcycle ride that led to marriage and murder is just one of the cases covered in this podcast hosted by a retired detective couple known simply as “John and Sally”. Wealthy English aristocrat Michael Telling met American Monika Zumsteg while riding his Harley-davidson through California in 1980. After a whirlwind romance, they married, but three years later, Monika’s headless and badly decomposing body was found near Exeter Racecourse, leading police to launch an urgent appeal to identify the victim. Shockingly, her severed head was later found in the boot of Telling’s Mini Cooper at the family’s country pile in Buckinghamshire – leaving little doubt as to who her killer was. But after a nine-day trial, Telling was found guilty of manslaughter –not murder – thanks to his aggressive defence team. He was sentenced to life, but was released less than ten years later. He then moved to Australia. John and Sally started their podcast during lockdown in May 2020, after feeling there was a gap in the market for an analytical look into cases that people may not have heard of. In addition to Monika’s murder, over the 11 episodes, they focus on three other incidents. They look at the death of Wendy Sewell in 1973; the unsolved murder of delivery driver Michael Pritchard in 1997; and the story of “Operation Julie” – a police investigation into
LSD production by two drug rings in the mid-’70s. With each case spanning several episodes, John and Sally speak to the victims’ family members, police, experts and suspects, to offer a comprehensive telling of each story.
The perfect listen if you prefer your pods to offer extras and cover more ground.