RedHanded - Bonus - Georgia Williams: The Snuff Film Maker Down the Street

Episode Date: August 27, 2021

In this second instalment of our promise to deliver two bonus episodes after we won GOLD at the British Podcast Awards, we cover the heartbreaking case of Georgia Williams.  Georgia was a high-achieving and kind teenager who was always willing to help those who asked, and her killer knew this. 23-year-old Jamie Reynolds had an obsession with violent pornography and snuff movies. In May 2013 he used Georgia's good nature against her and eventually guilted the 16-year-old into coming over to his parents' house to take part in a "fake murder" photoshoot, that soon turned out to be all too real. UK TOUR 2021 - new dates added! Get your tickets here: https://linktr.ee/RedHandedthepod Become a patron: Patreon MERCH: redhandedshop.com Subscribe to our new YouTube Channel: YouTube - Subscribe Pre-order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Signed copies - US & Canada Pre-order on Wellesley Books Pre-order on Amazon.com Pre-order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Signed copies - UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus Pre-order on Amazon.co.uk Pre-order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Facebook Visit our website: Website Contact us: Contact See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Red Handed early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Hannah.

I'm Saruti. And welcome to your second extremely very special bonus episode. We are Women of Our Word and we promised you two bonus episodes if we won the listener's choice and we did. I also promised that I would get a listener's name tattooed on me and a tattoo on my hand. And my friends, my Romans, my countrymen, I have booked the appointment. It is on the 7th of September. It's happening. It's happening. We will obviously film it and we will

send it to you. I am getting a listener's name tattooed on my body. So we keep our promises in this house. And this is our other promise, which is the episode that you voted for. Georgia Williams. I'm so glad that when we were doing all those promises, because I genuinely, I obviously neither, I don't think, well, I certainly didn't think when we were doing all those promises, because I genuinely, obviously, neither, I don't think, well, I certainly didn't think that we were going to win gold. I didn't think. Not in a million fucking years. You're joking.

No. So I was just like, I'm so glad I didn't say something fucking crazy. I'm pumped. Like, I just, I've got to the stage now where I'm like, doesn't matter, does it? Like, none of it matters. So I'll get whatever I like. There you go.

That is the attitude you need to be able to do what's about to happen. So it's happening. Everybody, Hannah, is getting the name Lily Makepeace. Or are we not saying that? Is it going to be a surprise reveal? No, it's Lily Makepeace. I've already said it. Oh, yeah. There you go. Stay tuned for that. But what you're really here for is this bonus episode voted for by you, Georgia Williams. It's happening. Let's go. On the evening of the 26th of May 2013, 17-year-old Georgia Williams left a family barbecue at her home in Telford

to go just five minutes down the road to a friend's house. Very reminiscent of Holly and Jessica already, which is what you sick fucks wanted last year. Her family had no idea that this would be the last time they'd ever see Georgia again. In fact, Georgia would be dead within 60 minutes of leaving the house. Her naked, lifeless body was found a few days later, violated and discarded in a woodland bog near Wrexham in Wales. And the investigation leading up to the discovery of her body revealed some of the most chilling details of any case we've ever covered, which is obviously why you wanted us to do it. And it is that horror, isn't it? Of like just leaving a family barbecue, going down the

road and then within 60 minutes of leaving the house, it already being too late. Like there's none of that like, oh, we've got 24 hours to find. Like, it's too late. She's already dead. Like, that's one of the things that is the most harrowing about this case. There's a lot fucking more, as you're about to discover. Because George's entire murder was filmed by someone she'd known for years and whom she trusted as a friend. This man was 23-year-old Jamie Reynolds, and he had been obsessed with snuff

films since the age of 14. Films showing women being brutally murdered and raped, just in case you didn't know what a snuff film was. And the police had actually been aware of Reynolds from as early as 2008, so that's five years before he killed Georgia. Now there is a lot of police fuck-uppery in this case, so prepare to rage yourself silly. But before you do that, we've got some more story to tell. We'll come back to that. Because for now, let's start at the beginning. Georgia was born on the 8th of September 1995 to Steve and Lynette Williams. She was their second daughter. Steve joined the ranks of the West Mercia police force three weeks after she was born. And at last, he had all he had ever wanted. A fulfilling career, a caring wife, and two loving daughters. Together they were the

perfect family and loved spending time together. Georgia and her older sister Scarlett were best friends and rarely even as much as squabbled. Georgia grew up to become a high-achieving young lady. She was the head girl at Urkel Wood Technology College. I've ribbed you about it so much I've literally run out of things to say about it. I know. It's still on my LinkedIn. There you go. That'll do it. The pin is still somewhere in my bedroom. Perfect. I'm going to make myself a prefect's tie and just wear it all the time.

You can put it on your CV anyway. No one checks. Highly unethical. Highly unethical. The look of disgust. I disapprove of that. Okay. Well, that's fine.

I can't thought police you out of that. Georgia was also a member of the student council at New College, a corporal with the, ooh. I know we've discussed a lot of times how Americans do long numbers. I don't know how the army do them. I would say 1130, maybe. Okay, a corporal with the 1130 Reckon Squadron Air Training Corps. Or maybe it's the 1130th. That sounds like the army would do that they like long stuff. Do that then. Well I've done

both you can pick one. She was also a volunteer member of AFC Telford's United Match Day safety team so she was one of those people in the high vis that I'm always like how do you get that job? Well Georgia knew because she did it. Her dream was not to wear a high-vis at football games. It was actually to join the RAF as a paramedic, which is fucking, that's competitive as fuck.

Especially, I assume, just fewer women are in those positions. So even harder, probably, for her to get in there. I assume with all the physicality that would be demanded. So yeah, she's like a proper,

like, I sound so tacky to be like, go get her. But you know what I mean? She's just like, she's doing everything. She's doing all the things there are to be done. And Georgia's friends and family have described her as one of the most friendly and trusting people you could ever hope to meet. When she turned 16, Georgia got a job at the local petrol station where she worked alongside a man named Jamie Reynolds, who was 22 at the time. They already knew one another from primary school, but didn't run in the same circles. Slowly, the two began spending more and more time together as friends. But Reynolds soon made it clear that he wanted more.

She's 16. She's 16. Yeah. He's 22. She's 16. She's 16, yeah. He's 22. She's 16. He is a 22-year-old man. Yeah. No, sorry.

I know the age of consent is 16 in this country, but still. Creepy. May not be illegal, still a red flag. Yeah, and it's even more of a red flag because Reynolds would incessantly ask Georgia out, despite her telling him repeatedly that she wasn't interested and that she was already in a relationship with someone else. But Reynolds persisted, texting and messaging Georgia on social media, asking her out, and even once apparently he attempted to kiss Georgia,

an advance that she politely rejected. Around May 2013, Reynolds began speaking to Georgia about how unfulfilling his job at the petrol station was and that his dream was actually to become a photographer. Ding, ding, ding. That's a red flag right there. All photographers are perverts. Full stop. Red flag alert. Fight me. It's true.

I think that was like an episode of last podcast. I can't remember what case they were covering, but Henry is like, there are five photographers in the world that's it everyone else who's saying they're a photographer is a pervert that's what's happening there are only five I have to agree with him on that one it's fucking bold of us to say that when we are in desperate need of new press shots can one of the five real photographers out there please get in touch with us? We need you. Please don't be a pervert. So

Reynolds is a pervert, not a photographer. So he pestered Georgia to take part in a photo shoot for his portfolio that he was working on. Reynolds didn't get particularly aggressive when he was trying to convince Georgia to help him. Instead he would make her feel sorry

for him. Red flag number 17. And Georgia, being the caring type of person that she was, who always wanted to help her friends out, agreed to do the photo shoot. And so, on Sunday the 26th of May 2013, Georgia's parents were hosting a family barbecue in their back garden on Avondale Road in Telford. For hours that day, Georgia's phone kept pinging and her mum Lynette was becoming more and more annoyed as the texts continued flooding in with increasing urgency. It was Jamie Reynolds asking Georgia when she'd be over that evening for the photoshoot. Lynette and Georgia's sister Scarlett tried to convince her to just stay at the family barbecue since it was a Sunday and it was getting late. But Georgia insisted that she had to go. She'd made a promise to a friend

and she wasn't going to let him down. Georgia was also under the impression that she wouldn't be the only girl taking part in this photoshoot and reassured her parents that although it was late, it would be fine. Jamie's house was literally a five-minute walk from hers, so she left, promising to be home in just a couple of hours. What she didn't know, among quite a lot of things, was that not only were Jamie Reynolds' mother and stepfather in Italy, but that she was the only person he had invited around that evening. Georgia arrived at Reynolds' house at 7.30pm. A few hours passed, and Georgia still hadn't returned home. Lynette began to worry, especially when her numerous texts went ignored.

Then, suddenly, after about an hour, Georgia responded with a single line, saying, quote, Have gone out. We'll text you later. We'll probably stay out. Kiss, kiss, kiss. This was totally unlike Georgia. And as a few more hours passed, her parents grew frantic. You would. She's 16 and it's a Sunday night.

You just text home and be like, see you, mum. I'm off out. I'll be back when I'm out. Probably stay out. Like, this is also not Georgia's character, but like, yeah, my parents would be like, sorry, what?

Where the hell do you think you've gone? Oh, no, that would be a flogging offence in my house. Absolutely not. Absolutely fucking not. Just, oh, probably stay out. Yeah, no, that would be a flogging offence in my house. Absolutely not. Absolutely fucking not. Just, oh, probably stay out. Yeah, no. Lynette messaged back asking, where are you? Who are you with?

And this time, Georgia responded quickly, saying, decided to stay at my mate's house. I'm fine. I'll see you later. Relieved that they'd at least heard from Georgia by now and thought that she was safe, her parents went to bed, oblivious to the horrors that were taking place just down the road from them. The following morning, Steve and Lynette woke up to find that Georgia still hadn't come home. Something was definitely wrong. It had now been 24 whole hours since they'd last

seen their daughter and she wasn't responding to any of their texts or calls anymore. Georgia's sister Scarlett posted a status on Facebook asking whether anybody had heard from Georgia or if they knew where she was. A close friend of Georgia's commented saying that all she knew was that Georgia had been with Jamie Reynolds last. So Scarlett phoned Reynolds, asking where she was. Do you ever feel tempted, like, when you go anywhere, to just, like, tell somebody where you are? Or is that like us going into another level of paranoia and fear? If I am going on a date, I will always tell someone where I am.

I haven't been, and I wonder if I should. Not because, like, I'm particularly worried about something, but, like, maybe you should, because you just, you don't fucking know what's going to happen. I live with my sister these days, so I tend to tell her if I'm going to be out late or not in a sort of big brother eyeballing kind of way just because she might be worried. So if I'm going to be out late, late, like if I'm going out, out, I'll be like, don't worry. You won't see me for many hours, but I'm fine. That's the problem though. Like I'm imminently moving in with my brother.

And like when I have stayed at that house, it's not quite complete yet, but I will be there in a couple of weeks. Yay. Like one night I came home, I like missed my train. I was very drunk in London. So I was like, oh, fuck it. I'll just stay at the Leighton house and sleep on my mattress on the floor. So I went there to do do that and I like must have made quite a lot of noise coming in his bedroom is like right next to the front door in the morning I like cooked breakfast and like was stomping around and felt really guilty that I was like making quite a lot of noise before I left and then slipped out the house and then came back to my parents then the next day he was like were you here oh I didn't know I was just slept through the whole fucking thing. Oh, I know. And I was like, this is great news.

That is great news. I haven't quite perfected my Pink Panther routine of getting home in the early hours of the morning and slip the velvet key in the lock. The velvet key routine. No, I'll get there. I'll get there. Getting back to the story, Scarlett had phoned Jamie Reynolds and she asked him where her sister was, and he told her that Georgia had actually left the night before to go to a friend's house because he had started to feel a bit ill soon after she'd arrived. This, of course, was a big fat lie.

The panic really set in for Georgia's family that Monday night when they still had no word from Georgia. Her father stood by their front window all day and all night praying to see his beloved daughter just walk up their driveway as she'd done so many times before. But Georgia never came. And there is actually a documentary on this case. I believe it is a Britain's Darkest

Taboos. And I think I watched it. Ah, the classic. Le classique. De classique. I think it is that. It was like absolute years ago that I watched it. In that they obviously have a lot of footage of the parents and George's family. And God, it's just really sad. Like he literally stood by that window for like 48 hours and just refused to move, waiting for her to come home. And it's just that thing of normality, isn't it? Like you're just in your family home, your daughter comes and goes like, I don't really know Telford, but the vibe I get is like it's quite a normal, ordinary place. And then you're just expecting your daughter to come home, walk up the driveway and be like, sorry, I'm late. I was out for a bit or whatever. And then she died 60 minutes after she fucking left the

barbecue. It's just so heartbreaking. So the following day on the 28th of May 2013, now over 48 hours since they'd last seen Georgia, her father phoned the police. He spoke to a sergeant that he was friends with because remember, her dad works for West Mercia police and told him everything that he knew. He told the officer that Georgia had gone to Jamie Reynolds' house on Sunday evening and she'd left to meet some unknown friends that same night and they hadn't heard from her since because remember they're saying that she left to go meet these unknown friends

because that's what they think Georgia texts them and that's what Jamie Reynolds is telling them. And it was after Steve had brought up Jamie Reynolds that the sergeant said something that only set off alarm bells once Steve had put the phone down. Without hesitation or explanation, the sergeant had asked Steve, quote, we've got a photo here of Jamie Reynolds. Does he still have this weird haircut? Slightly confused, Steve told him that he wasn't sure, and the sergeant said that he'd phone him back and put the phone down. It was only then that Steve realised, if the police had a photo of Jamie Reynolds at hand, he must have committed an offence in the past. Within 30 minutes of having made the call,

George's family watched as a stream of flashing blue lights sped past their house in the direction of Jamie Reynolds' property. And then the phone rang. It was the same sergeant. He said, Steve, we've kicked the door in at Reynolds' house. There's no sign of Georgia or any evidence that she was there. The place looks spotless. Steve couldn't ignore the grave tone in the sergeant's voice. As an officer himself, he was all too aware that the police wouldn't just kick somebody's door in for no good reason. The police knew something about Reynolds that he didn't, and they were clearly very, very concerned. The police thoroughly searched through Reynolds' home, and at around 5pm, two of the senior lead detectives arrived at Georgia's family home. They found around 30 to 50 images on Reynolds' camera, which he had attempted to delete.

Remember friends, they're never really gone. The photos were of Georgia, you've probably guessed that bit, and they were before, during, and crucially after she was murdered. The photos revealed the nightmare that Jamie Reynolds had subjected Georgia to the night she'd left her family barbecue to go to his. When she arrived, Reynolds explained to Georgia that he was working on a project in which he wanted to depict a young girl looking as though she was about to be hanged. So, Jamie fastened a noose around Georgia's neck, attaching the other end of the rope to the loft's hatch above her.

He then tied Georgia's hands behind her back and asked her to stand on a red recycling box. Georgia went along with all of this at first. And, like, I don't know, maybe some people will be like, why the fuck is she doing that? But like, who would think, who would contemplate that somebody had this kind of what's about to happen next in their mind? This is a guy that she has known and he's so manipulative. He's so like makes her feel sorry for him. He never like comes across as aggressive overtly to Georgia. He always like makes her feel bad, makes her feel sorry, makes him seem like this pathetic victim. And I think that she felt safe with him. Obviously she did because she went along with this. And so yeah, she goes along with it. But by the time Georgia realized that Reynolds had an ulterior motive, it was too late. And Jamie Reynolds kicked the box away from under her feet. The noose tightened around George's neck, squeezing her carotid arteries and crushing her windpipe.

Reynolds just stood there, watching and filming the entire thing. His arousal levels hit the roof as the life left George's body. The photographs and videos police recovered were time-stamped and they showed that this setup had started at around 8.22pm and finished at about 8.45pm. The photographs of Georgia after her death showed her laid out on Reynolds' parents' bed, in his kitchen and in the downstairs hallway. The video showed that Reynolds had removed all of George's clothing and engaged in extensive and varied sexual activity with George's dead body. The question for the police now was where was George's body?

And also, where was Jamie Reynolds? Because he certainly wasn't at his parents' house. And so an extensive manhunt commenced. Police tracked thousands of CCTV images and videos of Reynolds, allowing them to quickly track his movements. CCTV footage showed Jamie Reynolds in his dad's van in a multi-storey car park in Glasgow, miles away, at 3.20pm on Tuesday 28th May.

Yeah, he's made it all the way from Telford, which is in the Midlands, to Glasgow. Like, this guy, he's just like... He's clearly not thought anything through, right? He's thought as far as, my parents have gone to Italy, I'll invite this girl around, and then I'm going to do what I want,

and then, I don't know, I'm just going to drive to Glasgow? What? Yeah, it's only Scotland, it's not another dimension. They will find you. Reynolds can also be seen changing clothes and calmly walking out of a car park and then checking himself into a Premier Inn in Glasgow city centre.

Finally, the police managed to ambush and arrest Reynolds at the very same Premier Inn the following morning. Despite the undeniable evidence against him, considering, like we said, the police found cameras with pictures of Georgia's dead body on them in his house, Reynolds insisted that he had absolutely no knowledge of what had happened to Georgia Williams, stating that he simply didn't remember that night. That old chestnut. Is there anything better? The old temporary amnesia. Why am I in Glasgow? Why am I in a premier inn in Glasgow?

Why am I here? I don't know. I just had this overwhelming feeling that I should go on the run. Despite how ludicrous it is, Reynolds stuck to his story, saying that he had been ill on Sunday night when Georgia had come to his house. And so he told her to go and she'd left. And then obviously he didn't remember the rest of the night. So it's like both.

It's like I remember her coming there, me telling her not to come in because I was ill, and then I don't remember the rest of the night. Okay, cool. And even when police presented Reynolds with the photos and videos that they found at his house of him literally killing Georgia, Reynolds still didn't cave. He continued denying everything for three straight days him literally killing Georgia, Reynolds still didn't cave. He continued denying everything for three straight days and refused to tell them where Georgia's body was. Desperate for any information, the police made a public appeal on Crimewatch,

asking for anyone who had seen Reynolds in his stepdad's van to phone in. After the show aired, a man and his daughter contacted the police. It turned out that they had seen the van in the hills in Wales and it had been stuck in the mud. The daughter had actually taken a photo of it because she thought it was so funny. Bingo. That's all the police needed. A search was conducted for Georgia around the location the photo was taken and before long they found her body dumped in a bog in the woods just off Nantygarth Pass near Wrexham. Jamie Reynolds was charged with murder.

That probably doesn't come as a huge surprise. And the small, tight-knit community of Telford were left reeling once word got out about what had happened to one of their own, by one of their own as well, one of us. And as the weeks passed, as Reynolds was held in custody awaiting his upcoming trial more and more details of his vile plot leading up to the day he murdered Georgia slowly came to light and I just think Jamie Reynolds is like a combination of so many sickos we've covered on this show before he's like not that we've covered BTK,

but, you know, the whole, like, tying up shit, all of that. And then a real smattering of Peter Madsen, who we'll also go on to talk about later. And if you guys don't remember who Peter Madsen is, he's, of course, the fucking dickpole inventorpreneur, as he called himself, who murdered the journalist, Swedish journalist, Kim Val, because he was all, who murdered the journalist, Swedish journalist, Kim Val, because he was all into those snuff films and things like that, wasn't he? And he's also,

just like with the bit I'm about to tell you, very Mark Twitcher-ly with all the story writing and the wannabe creative, you know? And so some of these sick revelations that came out as Reynolds was awaiting trial was the fact that Reynolds had been writing stories about his sick fantasies in a notebook that the police found in his bedroom. In this notebook, there were 40 graphic short stories involving fatal assaults on women, followed by acts of sexual violation. I'm not going to give him any credit here, but I couldn't write 40 stories about rape. I couldn't write 40 stories. I don't think I could do that either. That's why we need

true crime. I've got literally no imagination. This job has absolutely beaten any imagination I ever had out of me. No, just true crime forevermore. And of these 40 horrendous stories that Reynolds had written, one was titled Georgia Williams in Surprise, in which he detailed exactly what he wanted to do to Georgia, step by step. It's also a bit like The Cannibal Cop, except he did it. Right, yeah, not really a thought crime, a crime crime. So basically when you read this story, Georgia Williams in Surprise, it read like a meticulous plan just written in story form.

And it showed that what took place on the night of Sunday the 28th of May 2013 was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. It had been planned down to the most minute detail. Reynolds had prepared for this for weeks, even buying the leather jacket, leather shorts and high heels Georgia wore in this quote-unquote photoshoot. He'd even made notes in a book reminding himself of Georgia's phone pin code, the XXX she used to sign off all of her text messages with, and how to respond to her parents when they inevitably text her wondering where she was.

What year are we in? 2013? 2013, yes. Because I remember in the olden days, all you had to do to unlock a phone was press the star key. Do you remember that? We're past that, aren't we? 2013. People would have had more complicated phones then. It probably was a pin, wasn't it? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Police also found evidence that everything Reynolds did after murdering Georgia had been just as carefully choreographed as the murder had been itself. Reynolds had planned the alibi that he was unwell, and he'd even planned to place Georgia's dead body in the back of his stepdad's van

and drive the 50 miles to Wales. Once he got to Wales, he scouted out a suitable place to leave the body. And then he drove to nearby Wrexham and watched a movie at the Odeon Cinema with George's body still in the back of the van. What the fuck? It's about to get even more what the fuck because he's got a body of a woman, a girl. Sorry, he's murdered. And he went to watch The Fast and the Furious 6. He's got a body of a woman, a girl, sorry, he's murdered. And he went to watch The Fast and the Furious 6.

That's unforgivable. The whole Fast and the Furious franchise is, for me, a fate worse than death. Unforgivable. I would literally rather go and watch anything else. I would literally rather go and watch a one-man production of Charles Manson's inner being performed by an elephant on stilts than I would watch anything Fast and the Furious. I think I would rather just be locked in my room with nothing for the entire running time of the entire Fast and the Furious. Peeing into glass jars.

This is what he does. And what's really interesting, if that is the right word, is that this decision to go to the cinema and watch Fast and the Furious 6 was also, just like the murder, no spur-of-the-moment decision. Just a week before the murder, Reynolds had asked Georgia to go watch the same movie with him. And like any sane person, she had said no. Oh no, she said she was going to go watch it with her boyfriend. Maybe that's just a lie. But Georgia says no. She says she's already going to go watch it. She already had plans to go watch it with her boyfriend. And so I guess

in some really, really fucking sick way, is this the reason that he does it? Because it's such a massive risk to drive to the Odeon with a dead body in the back of the van. Is it like on purpose that, hey, you did end up kind of watching that movie with me, Georgia? Oh, no, I don't like it. Yeah. No, I hate it. I hate this guy. Fucking hate this guy. So investigators found that on the 8th of May, just weeks after Georgia had updated her Facebook relationship status, saying that she had a boyfriend, Reynolds had posted the following.

Whenever I arrange dates, they either never happen or the girl magically gains a boyfriend. And it's worse when you actually like someone. You're stuck. Happy they're happy, but unhappy because it's not you. Oh, fucking bore off, mate. And he even went on to moan about being cursed when it came to women and that he would be forever alone. He's such a little fucking incel twat. I hate this guy. Obviously, we're just going to hate him more because after the fucking

Fast and Furious 6 ended, Reynolds then drove to the area he'd scouted out earlier and dumped George's naked body in the woodland bog. It's the ultimate fuck you to her, isn't it? It's like, I killed you. I violated your body in every way that I wanted. Then I made you go fucking quote unquote watch Fast and the Furious 6 with me and then I dumped your body in every way that I wanted then I made you go fucking quote-unquote watch Fast and the Furious 6 with me and then I dumped your body in a bog like the level of like desecration that he wanted to do to Georgia not just her body but her entire being is so like starkly obvious I think absolutely and like I hate this attitude so much that's like so prevalent of like oh the only reason a girl doesn't want to go out with me is because she already belongs to someone else it's

like when someone approaches you and you feel like you have to say oh I have a boyfriend because you belonging to another man is more important in that conversation to the person asking you then your actual agency as a woman to say no. Like, it doesn't matter what you think because you're just a woman. Like, it is so, like, pervasive and I hate it so much. And that's exactly what he's saying. And that's why it's a dangerous fucking rhetoric because this is where it goes. So, like, I know it's something that people will discuss a lot and be like,

oh, it's not that deep. It is. Stop saying it. Yeah. On the 14th of June 2013, Georgia's family held a funeral for her. And as a testament to how loved Georgia was, the turnout was absolutely massive. The church was at capacity. People were spilling out of the front doors to pay their respects.

This brought Georgia's family some modicum of peace and closure. But the information the police were about to reveal to them would turn their lives upside down all over again. Her parents were called into a meeting where officers informed them of the extent of Reynolds' past criminal history. It turned out that Reynolds had been known to the police for quite some time. Reynolds had actually been arrested when he was 17 in 2008 for luring a 16-year-old girl back to his house and attempting to strangle her. Again, during a time his mother and stepfather were away on holiday. Fortunately, this girl had managed to escape and tell the police, but when Reynolds was arrested and questioned, he denied everything, saying he only touched her once and that she was lying. The bruises on the girl's neck, however,

told a different story. But the police never photographed the neck of the 16-year-old girl who told them that someone had tried to strangle her, which is an interesting decision to make, I would say. Also, on top of that, neither this girl nor Reynolds were referred to a forensic medical examiner, you know, one who might have spotted and taken photos of the bruises around this girl's neck. And despite the interviewing officer writing in his notes that Reynolds was one of the most dangerous people he'd ever met. Somehow, Reynolds was still released without charge. He was just simply given a final warning and allowed to go on his way. I think final warnings should be reserved for fly tippers, people who park in the wrong place,

probably not for men, for adult men who try to strangle children. You know? Fuck off. Oh my God. This is not a pasto case as well. Can I just remind everybody it's not a pasto case. This is 2013. After this terrifying incident, Reynolds' own stepfather came forward

and told the police that Reynolds was developing a worrying fascination with violent pornography. That's a weird conversation to have with your stepdad. And also, Reynolds has an obsession with snuff films from the age of 14. I'm going to say this boy needs more parental supervision. Yes. I'm also not naive enough to assume that not every 14-year-old boy is watching porn. That's fine. It's not is watching porn that's fine like it's not fine but like that's just you know a fact of life i don't know how many of them are watching snuff films no and i'm also like reynolds was 22 in 2013 so for him to have been watching

snuff films from the age of 14 that is like quite early on into the world of like surely having the internet quite freely accessible how the fuck was he getting hold of snuff films if he told me that a 14 year old today was watching snuff films i'd probably be like okay but that seems very shocking to me or am i being old i don't know i don't understand porn and boys. Look at me. It just reminds me of my colleague at my old company who was like, they had interviewed this person. And I don't remember what happened. They interviewed this person.

They didn't get his details down properly or something. And he was like, he was really good. I'm trying to find him. But he was only 20. And then he was like, I'm trying to look for him on Facebook. And I was like, you're not going to find a 20-year-old on Facebook. Try MySpace. If you're looking for his dad, you might find him. We are old.

That's how I feel when we have these conversations. Yeah, but you know what? Fucking, I've discovered, guys, the rumors are true. Life does start at 30. My 20s were fucking shit. Now, great. the rumours are true life does start at 30 my 20s were fucking shit now great yeah

I had fucking great 20s but I'm having an even better 30s is what I'll say so life starts at 30 what is it dirty 30 should we call it that

should we start calling it that dirty 30 flirty 30 yeah I'm Jake Warren and in our first season of Finding, I set out on a very personal quest to find the woman who saved my mum's life. You can listen to Finding Natasha right now exclusively on Wondery+.

In season two, I found myself caught up in a new journey to help someone I've never even met. But a couple of years ago, I came across a social media post by a person named Loti. It read in part, Three years ago today that I attempted to jump off this bridge, but this wasn't my time to go. A gentleman named Andy saved my life. I still haven't found him. This is a story that I came across purely by chance, but it instantly moved me.

And it's taken me to a place where I've had to consider some deeper issues around mental health. This is season two of Finding and this time, if all goes to plan, we'll be finding Andy. You can listen to Finding Andy and Finding Natasha exclusively and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America. But when a social media-fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall, that was no protection. Claudian Gay is now gone. We've exposed the DEI regime, and there's much more to come.

This is The Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe and WNYC's On The Media. To listen, subscribe to On The Media wherever you get your podcasts. He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sean Diddy Combs. Diddy built an empire and lived a life most people only dream about. Everybody know ain't no party like a Diddy party, so. Yeah, that's what's up. But just as quickly as his empire rose, it came crashing down.

Today I'm announcing the unsealing of a three-count indictment, charging Sean Combs with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate transportation for prostitution. I was f***ed up. I hit rock bottom. But I made no excuses. I'm disgusted. I'm so sorry. Until you're wearing an orange jumpsuit, it's not real. Now it's real. From his meteoric rise to his shocking fall from grace,

from law and crime, this is the rise and fall of Diddy. Listen to the rise and fall of Diddy exclusively with Wondery Plus. Jamie Reynolds is a stepdad. Let's get back to him. He also gave the police numerous images that Reynolds had photoshopped of girls in the local area. These photos showed these girls' faces superimposed onto naked bodies with nooses around their necks, bulging eyes, annotated with penises, and fully including very vile comments written underneath these images. And one of these girls was Scarlett, you'll remember that's George's older sister, it was Scarlett's best friend, Jadine. Yet still, the police took no further action and even decided it was best not for them to inform the girls in the photos

because they didn't want to frighten them. Yeah, you don't want to be frightened before you're horribly murdered by somebody you know. That's the last thing I'd want. I wouldn't want to know. I wouldn't want to know, but I would want some action to be taken. I think I'd want to know. Really?

Yeah. Because then I'd be like fucking yelling about it all the time and telling everybody where I was. And every time he came near me, just start screaming out loud in public. And then, you know, if everybody knows these kind of things, if Scarlett's best friend had known that this had been happening because the police had told her, then she would have told Scarlett and Scarlett would have told Georgia, don't fucking talk to that weird guy you work with because this is what he's doing to my best friend. And then she might never have gone around there. No, they should have fucking told people. Terrifying. So during the police's search of Reynolds's house, they also found a total of around 16,800 images and 72 videos depicting women being murdered, hanged and sexually assaulted.

So left unchecked after the 2008 assault, Reynolds' sexual paraphilia had run wild and before long he had become obsessed with the idea of wanting to make his fantasies a reality. Three years after the initial offence, in 2011, Reynolds started harassing one of his young female colleagues, and when she rejected his advances, Reynolds responded by ramming his car into hers. So not a chill guy, as you can tell. At the time, he managed to convince the police that the car bashing had been a complete accident And that he was suffering from depression

The kind of depression that apparently makes you drive your car into other people's cars Sure And this incident was treated as a domestic incident Because the police completely failed to do a background check on Reynolds They had no idea about the 2008 incident. Why would you not do a background check? Isn't it just as simple as putting his name into a police computer? Isn't that it? Yeah, I mean, one would assume. One would assume. I'll check out with PC Excellent. I'll find out how easy it is. Yeah, I feel like, I mean,

again, just to reiterate, this is in 2011. It's not like they had to go into the fucking filing cabinets and see if there was Jamie Reynolds' name in there. The Rolodex. Exactly. So somehow Reynolds had once again fooled the police. And with them not monitoring him, he was free to continue posing a very real threat to every unsuspecting young woman around him,

like Georgia Williams. And it's not a wild assert threat to every unsuspecting young woman around him, like Georgia Williams. And it's not a wild assertion to make that Georgia Williams would still probably be alive today if the police had done their jobs properly. They had so many chances to stop him because he was always going to do this. He was always going to end up doing this. It does appear that way, doesn't it?

Reynolds' trial finally kicked off on the 3rd of October 2013, and Georgia's distraught family were forced to come face to face with their daughter's killer. As they entered the courtroom, Reynolds stood up laughing and joking with the guards. He clearly had zero remorse for his actions, and he was stupid or deluded enough to say that he hadn't killed Georgia. But he did plead not guilty by reason of insanity, which, you know, who let him do that? Who is your defense counsel?

They're like, they've literally got pictures of you murdering her. You might as well plead whatever the fuck you want, mate. Like, whatever. Yeah, that's true. You might as well plead that you're a butterfly because you're going down. But as a result of this plea, the trial was delayed whilst he was examined by a

mental health expert. And the psychiatric report concluded that Reynolds had no grounds to claim diminished responsibility and noted that he was an extremely dangerous individual. I think psychopath, I think we can say, I think we can safely put him in the psychopathic column. Following this mental assessment, left with no other choice, all avenues were closed to him, so Reynolds pleaded guilty. The judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, agreed with the psychiatric report that Reynolds, quote, had the potential to progress to become a serial killer. He also said, you watched her die in circumstances where you could have saved her, and doing so was a central part of your pleasure.

Justice Wilkie also added, after the killing you took sexual pleasure in her body, then treated her body with contempt, dumping it in a remote place. You intended to continue to derive sexual pleasure by photographing these events, keeping them with you and secreting her clothes and jewellery. Yeah, I mean, he like, ding, ding, ding, taking all the serial killer boxes. This is serial killer town that he is headed into. And, you know, he's arguably one of the most dangerous types of potential serial killers because he's a sexually motivated psychopath,

from what we can see. So, yeah, the idea, isn't it? Because you obviously read about these kind of killers and it always feels like it's happening somewhere really far away. I can't even begin to imagine how the people of Telford must have been like, this guy was just living down the road and all of this came out. Like he just worked at the local petrol station. Can you imagine? So commenting on Reynolds' long-standing preoccupation with violent and sadistic pornography and how terribly Georgia must have suffered in her

final moments, the judge decided that no minimum term should apply in his sentencing. And he gave Reynolds a whole life order, which is something that's very rare in the UK. Our judges don't typically hand out whole life orders, but it is basically a life sentence with no possibility of parole or any conditional release. And this kind of sentence, at least in the UK, is reserved for the absolute worst of the worst. But this sentence gave Georgia's loved ones no peace. They said, there is no sentence that we can ever say that we're satisfied with, because it will never bring Georgia back. Needless to say, their anger and grief with

the situation was made 10 times worse by the knowledge that the police had ignored every opportunity they had to prevent Reynolds from harming another young woman following his first two offences. George's parents refused to let the police failings go and continued questioning the investigating officers on why they hadn't done more to get Reynolds off the streets or at the very least warn the local community of the monster in their midst. Determined to expose the police's fuck-ups and culpability in their daughter's murder, George's family never gave up. It took a long time, but eventually the West Mercia police force couldn't bury their heads in the sand any longer. On the 14th of October 2015, two years after Reynolds was sentenced, the story resurfaced

and a serious case review was published about how the West Mercia Police, the social services and the probation service failed in protecting the public from the serious threat that Jamie Reynolds posed. The case review included intelligence reports from officers who interviewed Reynolds after his first two offences, along with a psychiatric review. PC Osman-Smith, who dealt with Reynolds after he attempted to strangle that 16-year-old in 2008, had submitted an intelligence report at the time, stating, Although we have dealt with Reynolds for merely a Section 47 assault,

he is far more dangerous than this implies. After this assault, Reynolds was let off with a caution on the condition that he saw a psychiatrist. And this psychiatrist even reported that, quote, Reynolds poses a significant risk to others. He has progressed from viewing sexually violent pornography to acting it out. Reynolds should not be alone in his own house with a female. I mean, fucking hell, it doesn't get much clearer than that. No, it really doesn't, does it?

The police ordered him to go see the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist writes his report and then they're like, oh, OK, cool, thanks. But you're not going to do anything about the psychiatrist that you told him to go see? So we've covered the police failings. Now let's talk about the pornography angle. Obviously, this is a conversation we've had many, many, many times. And sometimes it's pornography, sometimes it's violent video games, whatever.

There is always the argument that pornography is the thing that sort of moulds the mind. But it is actually worth making the clear distinction between the kind of thing that Reynolds was watching and, like, average BDSM porn etc. Reynolds was watching the real deal like actual real snuff films and he seemed in particular to favour videos of women getting their throats cut. Jamie Reynolds was watching this kind of thing because he always had underlying sadistic and sick sexual fetishes which sort of go beyond the parameters of what would be considered kink culture if you want to learn more about that by the book. Yeah it's gone into a paraphilia because it's causing

harm to somebody else it's not just like a fetish anymore or a fantasy. Without their consent. Yeah. Jamie went looking for this content because that's what turned him on and people with this kind of violent sexual desire when it's coupled with psychopathy or something similar, that person might well go on to carry out their own killings, because eventually watching it just won't be enough. The kick that a psychopath would get from merely watching would fade over time. And just like a drug, they need to keep upping the thrill to get the same high. And that's the thing about psychopath brains, is that they need more anyway. They need more baseline than anyone else to feel anything in the first place. So they are going to have to go harder, faster, more dangerous to achieve the same quote unquote high, the same

like endorphin rush. And of course, when cases like this come out, you do have people who will use this as an opportunity to talk about pornography. Some people argue, of course, that all pornography is problematic and leads to misogyny and violence against women. They say that porn that objectifies women and that incorporates violence against women validates these sexual desires and makes those watching more likely to do the same. Even Ted Bundy blamed his actions on watching pornography. But I don't know that I necessarily buy this argument similarly to why I don't buy the argument with violent video games. Is there a lot of porn out there that is incredibly misogynistic? Yes. You just need to watch something like Hot Girls Wanted on Netflix to see that.

The first time I watched that, I was honestly shocked. I don't know if it's just naivety on my part, but I watched it and I was like, what the fuck am I watching? No, I don't think it's naive. I know exactly which bit you're talking about as well. No, I don't think it's naive at all. I had a similar experience when I watched it. And yeah, your jaw's on the floor. I guess the question is, does porn lead to real life violence? Well, I think given that, I think we can safely say that basically all adults watch porn, I'd have to probably say no.

Yeah. Because then we'd all be doing it, wouldn't we? We'd all be out there killing people. Yeah, if that's what the argument is. Because, you know, I mean, I don't have a percentage off the top of my head, but it's going to be pretty close to 100%, isn't it? And if we're worried about the men who are doing the killing, then I'm going to guess, especially with men watching porn, it's going to be almost 100%. And if that is the case,

then not all men are out there killing people. So it can't be the porn that is what's causing the violent fantasies or the behavior. It's like you said, Hannah, it's somebody with an underlying fascination towards this being drawn to violent porn or snuff films and then going out to act on it because as we know for all killers there is the period of fantasy fantasy fantasy where they think about it and then eventually they have to act on it and then they have the cooling off period and then they have to do it again because it's a compulsion the killing is the compulsion so no i don't really buy that the pornography is what this. I think he was, and clearly for Reynolds, like even what he was watching wasn't enough because he wanted to make his own because the compulsion for him was to kill and dominate, I think. self. The serious case review and the 2011 incident where Reynolds rammed his car into his colleagues after she rejected him, it seems like this woman had actually told the police that

Reynolds had been harassing her for weeks, but her cries for help were all ignored. So despite countless findings like this, the report concluded that no gross misconduct was found, funny that. As a result, there was no dismissals of any kind within the police involved in Reynolds' case. The officers were given their own final warnings, final written warnings, and some management advice. So what are they getting warnings about if there was no gross misconduct? That seems very, like, you know, complicated to me. They're like, there was no gross misconduct, but we have given several final written warnings to the people who didn't do any gross misconduct. Following these events, Steve, that's Georgia's dad, left his job at West Mercia Police,

because he'd lost all faith in the police force and you can't really blame him. Lynette, his wife, coped by setting up an organisation in Georgia's name to help underprivileged children be able to enjoy the same life experiences that Georgia had. And West Mercia Police had the following to say. Our thoughts remain with Georgia's family, five years on from her murder. Since publication of the discretionary series case review in October 2015, the organization has learned many lessons and we have worked hard to implement the review's recommendations and ensure that we provide our staff with the tools and support they need to properly assess risk and ensure that everything feasible is done to protect people from harm.

Sure. I think we've made it clear how we feel about West Mercia Police in this situation. I don't know, I just feel like, you know, it's not like he was just acting a bit weird and people had complained and nothing was really done. He carried out two assaults on people, two women who complained to the police about him. Nothing was done. They found that book after his own stepdad came in and reported him and they did nothing. The number of opportunities and how they let this man slip through the net. If you were Georgia's family, the waste of life that has happened to you, like to lose your daughter to a man that should have been caught years ago.

I can't even begin to imagine the rage. But yeah, that's the story, guys. Thanks for choosing it. I feel really angry and upset now. You asked for it. It's an interesting case. And I think one that just continues to highlight that the police are not doing the best job ever most of the time and it's not always just the London Metropolitan it's all of them so there you go that's it guys

we've got some thank yous to do to patrons before we head off but if you haven't yet got yourself some live tickets live tickets live show tickets haven't got your hands on the book yet maybe want to consider doing that you can also head on over to patreon.com slash red handed where you can become a patron and here are some lovely people who did that in November. So thank you so much to Beatrice, Lucid2k, Ashley Falset, Falset, Jessica, Melissa, Jessica, Melissa Jackson, Karen Martinez, Caitlin Morris, Meg, Cece Alex, Arlene Harbinson, Thank you. Danielle Costa, Hannah Hussain, Sarah Esaui, Jaylene Green, Ashlyn Tara Flannery, Adam German, Holly Vondra, Ashlyn Quinn,

Karen Blanche, Erna Kristen Elias-Dotter, Kay Diane Thompson, Tori Cummins, Neelamah Pina-Puredi, Destiny with a double E, Rachel Harrell, Krista Toscano, thank you very much for spelling that phonetically, Nicole AO, Philippa Cochran, Jackie with an IE, Anne Cassidy, Verda Veld, probably, maybe. Bless you. Excellent. Thank you. Bless you all. Bless us all everyone god bless us everyone

have yourself a tiny tim day just go and lie down and we'll see you next time bye they say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Radin was found dead in a canyon near L.A. in 1983,

there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Lainey Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry. But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to light some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space Shuttle. And in 1985, they announced they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, along with six other

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