When a person begins their service as a police officer, they swear to defend and protect people. They become part of a force that we as civilians are supposed to be
able to trust to maintain safety and enforce laws to keep up community quality of life. But once in a while, it happens that a police officer breaks their oath and takes advantage of the position to do the exact opposite.

Of all the crimes humans are capable of, there is perhaps none more unimaginable than a parent killing their own child—or the other way around. Parricide—when a child kills their parent—is the rarest type of murder, accounting for around 3% of all homicides in
England and Wales. But in many cases, authorities have missed their opportunity to intervene and prevent the situation from escalating.

Back in 2003, Charlene Downes was a 14-year-old schoolgirl living in Blackpool, England. Even though she had become somewhat of a truant and often hung around in the wrong crowd, Charlene’s mother was comforted by the fact her daughter always returned home. But then, one day—she did not. Today, more than 20 years later, we have a pretty good idea of what might have happened to Charlene, and yet, nobody has ever been convicted of murdering her, and the body has never been found.

The crime that took place on one Sunday morning in 1999 was so gruesome that it was described as an “orgy of savagery” by prosecuting counsel. Four people of the
same family lost their lives in the lower Swansea Valley during an attack that resulted in the most extensive murder investigations ever carried out by South Wales Police.

Daniel Morgan was one of Britain’s 10,000-odd registered private detectives until his
untimely death. The discovery of his body in the car park of a pub in Sydenham, south London, in 1987 marked the beginning of a strange and complex case that
would include allegations of drug networks and corrupt police officers.

When Marcia Grender was just 10 years old, she and her cousins asked their beloved
Nan—who was descended from Romany gypsies—to read their future from their palms. Such a thing is exciting and fun for children, and for that reason, Nan agreed: “Just this once.”