Our 20 unmissable true-crime documentaries: From a serial killer Scout leader to a bus driver with a global drugs empire and murder by toxic mushroom… they’re TV’s most astonishing stories – and they’re all true!

We’ve been addicted to true crime since Jack the Ripper, and today the most jaw-dropping cases are turned into can’t-miss documentaries. Here are 20 things that make for good crime TV…

Death Hat: The Mushroom Murders (Netflix)

The beef Wellington dish that killed three people and put a priest in a coma? It sounds like the story of Miss Marple, and the setting of the toadstool murder case was decidedly rural; but it was rural Australia, not St Mary Mead, a region more akin to the Yorkshire Valleys than Victoria’s arid Outback. The story is full of twists and turns, starting with the poisoner being a 48-year-old stay-at-home mother and two of the victims being the parents of her estranged husband. It is told with a wry Australian sense of humour, which is an appropriate touch for such a case. (Three episodes)

Searching for Instagram’s Worst Scam Artist (ITVX, Netflix)

The Belle Gibson case is best known as ‘what made her do this?’ one of the cases. There are stories. Australian wellness influencer claims to have cured brain tumor with natural remedies; but the problem was that he never had cancer. Netflix drama Apple Cider Vinegar does a great job of explaining the ‘why’ of Belle, whose story also reminds you not to take anything you see on social media at face value. Gibson isn’t alone in the cancer scam true crime subgenre; See also US series Scamanda (Disney+) for another example. (Two episodes)

Confessions of a Parentkiller (Paramount+)

Some documentaries are defined by a single shocking moment, and in this surprising British example it is the arrest of Virginia McCullough from Great Baddow, Essex. McCullough seemingly casually blames himself and explains to the police that he has been living in the house with his parents’ bodies for more than four years. He tells the officers, ‘Cheer up, at least you caught the bad guy.’ One of the compelling questions that remains in your mind is how their parents’ absence went unnoticed for so long. (80 minutes)

American Murder: The Family Next Door (Netflix)

It’s a familiar refrain in true crime that the killer is often well known to the victim, and few documentaries capture this better than this 2020 one-off documentary about the murder of a mother and her two children. Most of the footage comes from police cameras used during the investigation, and shows the innocent-looking man of the house telling his wife: ‘I hope he is somewhere safe now and with the children.’ (83 minutes)

Diamond Heist (Netflix)

Not all true crime documentaries are about death. This TV series produced by Guy Ritchie is a good example of this; It truly is pure entertainment; The three-part story of a bizarre plot to steal some of the world’s finest and largest diamonds from London’s Millennium Dome in 2000. It’s told from both sides, and it’s partly the James Bond-style details – a bulldozer to break into and a speedboat to escape – that make it so much fun to watch. That and the fact that the Flying Squad was lying in wait for the thieves. (Three episodes)

Unknown Number: High School Catfish (Netflix)

Directed by true crime veteran Skye Borgman, who also gave us My Dad, BTK Killer (right) and many other films, this jaw-dropping tale of US bullying sparked plenty of quiet workplace controversy when it was released in 2025. When you see how it turns out you will understand why; This is one of those documentaries where people refuse to tell you the details, sticking to the idea that ‘you just have to watch it’. And we’re definitely not spoiling it. (94 minutes)

Lover, Liar, Predator (BBC iPlayer)

‘He seems like a really nice guy’ is the start of many a terrible story, and it’s revealed very early on in this British one-shot. But Lover, Liar, Predator gradually ends with an uncharacteristic sense of triumph and becomes something rare in true crime: inspirational. The story of four women who were abused by the same man and then come together to bring him to justice. All four tell this story throughout the film, waiving their right to anonymity and appearing to hold nothing back. (85 minutes)

The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (Netflix)

It was a huge story when this series came out in 2023, and it was followed by both a two-part movie and a TV series. It follows a glamorous South Carolina dynasty following the murders of both the wife and son of prominent lawyer Alex Murdaugh (pronounced ‘Murdock’). You can watch the TV series Murdaugh: Death In The Family, starring Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke, on Disney +. (Six episodes)

Hunters (Paramount+)

Imagine if there was a Crimewatch spin-off in Britain where young actors were cast as children to attract pedophiles, with a presenter emerging from the shadows to tell the trapped men that the job was over and the police were on their way. This was the premise of To Catch A Predator, a US show that sailed very close to the wind, and it had its consequences. This account of the show’s production really brings it home, including the suicide of assistant district attorney Bill Conradt, who was caught up in the pain of the show. Bill’s sister filed a $105 million wrongful death lawsuit against the show’s network, and the case was settled out of court. The show has been cancelled. (96 minutes)

The Bus Driver: Britain’s Cocaine King (HBO Max/Discovery+)

The idea of ​​a driver on London’s 134 bus route to North Finchley also running a multi-million pound drug empire is an extraordinary idea and the kind of story that reminds you that you never really know what’s going on in someone else’s life. These two sides benefit greatly from receiving information from Jesus Ruiz Henao, a Colombian who originally came to Britain as a refugee and lives a supposedly quiet life in Hendon. (Two episodes)

The Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke (Disney+)

This three-part YouTube channel delves behind the once shiny surface of Ruby Franke, the American woman behind 8 Passengers and the online phenomenon named after the number of people in her car (two parents, six children). Utah-based Franke’s fall from grace has been stunning, from family vlogger with 2.5 million subscribers to his arrest for child abuse. Two of her children help tell the story of what happened here, and if you want more context, check out the Netflix documentary about Franke’s business partner, Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story. (Three episodes)

My Father, BTK Killer (Netflix)

Imagine learning that your scout leader father, whom you had so much fun with growing up, was also a serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least ten people. That’s the situation American Kerri Rawson finds herself in, and this Skye Borgman documentary about Rawson’s return to her hometown in Kansas walks the fine line of covering both sides of the story very well. (94 minutes)

Nicholas Rossi: Predator on Trial (Amazon Prime Video)

This seems like an almost harmless eccentric story at first, but it gets darker and darker. The two-part film opens with the arrest of ‘Arthur Knight’, a seemingly innocent, Irish-born orphan caught in a Covid ward in Glasgow in 2021. ‘Arthur’ cut an interesting figure, to say the least: he wore a wide-brimmed hat, sat in a wheelchair he didn’t need, and claimed to know Rodney from Only Fools And Horses – but it was later revealed that he was actually Nicholas Rossi, a fugitive from justice in the US. He was found guilty of raping two women. (Two episodes)

Confessions of a Female Serial Killer (Amazon Prime Video)

How Joanne Dennehy went from a happy-go-lucky childhood in St Albans to murdering three people and nearly killing two more. That’s the story of this documentary, which tells the story of Dennehy’s descent into drugs and alcohol after falling in with fairground workers as a 13-year-old boy. She later began a relationship with a man five years her senior, who later helps tell the story of what happened. Portraits of a life gone off the rails don’t get more and more alarming. (90 minutes)

Twisted Sisters: Madness and Murder (Channel 5)

In 2008, Swedish twin sisters Sabina and Ursula Eriksson entered traffic on the M6. This footage, incidentally shot for the Highway Cops series, appears right at the beginning of the documentary and remains shocking no matter how many times you watch it. But it doesn’t end there, a few days after the suicide attempt, a man loosely connected to one of the sisters was murdered. The disturbing story is one of the most difficult to explain in the true crime arena, and remains intriguing from start to finish. (Two episodes)

Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army (BBC iPlayer)

Sugar and television were banned in the Fellowship of Jesus, an evangelical sect based in a Northamptonshire village that sent ‘elders’ to run family homes and where sexual and physical abuse was common. Survivors tell their stories in a documentary focusing on the long-term consequences of the crimes that led to the collapse of the organization in 2019. This progresses slowly but gains weight as you progress. (Two episodes)

Trust Me: False Prophet (Netflix)

This four-part episode is a terrifying lesson in how easy it is for people to be brainwashed, and it doesn’t always happen by the people you suspect. This is the inside story of how cult expert Christine Marie and her husband infiltrated a group of polygamous, separatist Mormons led by Sam Bateman, who claimed divine authority but also appeared at first to be unassuming and even a figure of fun for some. The couple discovered Bateman had 20 spiritual ‘wives’, half of whom were underage girls. (Four episodes)

Million Pound Shaman Scam (BBC iPlayer)

It’s fascinating the way scammers can maintain a long scam; How and why can they lie to people for so long? This two-part story about the terrifying yet utterly fascinating and shamanic ‘faith healer’ Juliette D’Souza is a great example of this type of story. He worked his magic on 11 residents of London’s posh Hampstead, acquiring them for £1 million over 12 years. When you see the inside of his house, wait a moment. (Two episodes)

Kidnapped in Plain Sight (Netflix)

Another film from Skye Borgman, who is a master at turning complex cases into documentaries. This movie takes us to 70s Idaho; here Robert Berchtold secretly investigates a couple’s affections in order to get closer to their 12-year-old daughter. Berchtold belonged to the same church as Bob and Mary Ann Broberg and had physical relations with both of them before kidnapping their daughter Jan, convincing her that she had been abducted by aliens. Jan tells her story here. (90 minutes)

The Girl Who Catched the Murderer (Sky/Now)

The story of Rachael Watts, who was kidnapped by pedophile Russell Bishop when she was just seven years old, is the most impressive film here. Bishop took him to a remote spot on the South Downs, attacked and strangled him, and then left him for dead. Here Rachael looks back and describes with great courage how she helped bring him to justice not only for that, but also for the murders of schoolgirls Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway (‘Babies in the Jungle’), for which he had previously been acquitted. Viewers beware, because there are heartbreaking statements you won’t hear in the second half of this two-parter. (Two episodes)