A new true crime documentary series on Peacock takes a closer look at some of the world’s most perverse and heinous crimes—and the sadistic killers behind them.
The series, aptly titled World’s Most Notorious Killers, tackles a different case in each five-part episode.
The series begins with the gruesome crimes of Fred and Rose West in Gloucester, England. It then continues with Austrian writer Jack Unterweger, who was later exposed as a serial killer.
Elsewhere, the notorious Belgian serial killer ‘The Monster’ is examined, as is the Australian case of Christopher Dawson and an exclusive interview with convicted murderer Charles Sobhraj is featured.
The series features personal accounts from people involved in the crimes, including family members, former detectives and forensic scientists, to shed more light on the murders.
Fred West appears in an exclusive clip shared with DailyMail.com from Peacock’s crime documentary series: World’s Most Notorious Killers
An exclusive clip from the first episode, titled The West Murders, offers a glimpse into the chilling case of Fred and Rose West, a couple who brutally tortured, raped and murdered twelve young women from the 1970s to the 1990s.
The clip, shared with DailyMail.com, shows news reports from 1994, when police carried out a search of 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester – later dubbed the House of Horrors – following an anonymous tip-off.
It was later discovered that the woman was the couple’s teenage daughter, Anne Marie West, who had run away from home.
Anne Marie had told police that her older sister Heather had been missing since 1987. It became a running “joke” between her and her siblings that their father had murdered her and buried her in the backyard.
The victims of Cromwell Street—some teenagers, all women—were boarders, nannies, students, hitchhikers, runaways. They were subjected to brutal sexual assaults by Fred, and sometimes Rose, before being mutilated or decapitated.
“I thought we were looking for the body of just one girl,” a voice says in the clip, as police can be seen lifting paving stones and carrying boxes to waiting police vans.
“These girls were tortured, raped and destroyed,” another voice said solemnly, while another described Fred as a “psychopath.”
The second episode, The Vienna Strangler, spotlights Austrian murderer and writer Jack Unterweger, who traveled between Austria and Los Angeles carrying out brutal attacks on women, most of whom were sex workers.
Heather West disappeared in 1987, but her remains were found in 1994, when she was found seven years earlier at the age of 16.
The series’ premiere episode explores the chilling case of Fred and Rose West, a couple who brutally tortured, raped and murdered 12 young women from the 1970s to the 1990s
Fred and Rose West (pictured) tortured, raped and murdered at least twelve young women and girls, including members of their own families.
25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, where the family lived and committed their crimes
He was eventually caught in LA after police recognized his signature move: strangling women with their bras or underwear. He was subsequently arrested.
The third episode, entitled The Monster of Belgium, focuses on pedophile and serial killer Marc Dutroux, better known as The Monster, who held six girls hostage in his basement between 1995 and 1996.
The series then moves to the Southern Hemisphere, where an episode titled The Murder Down Under investigates the disappearance of Lynnette Dawson, who vanished in 1982.
Her husband, teacher Christopher Dawson, who had an affair with his 16-year-old student, was later convicted of the murder, almost 40 years after the crime was committed.
The final episode, titled The Serpent, features an interview with serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who is accused of murdering at least dozens of Western tourists in Asia in the 1970s.
The Frenchman was released from prison in Nepal in December 2022 and sent back to France after serving 19 years of his life sentence. He will give a new television interview in the series.
The World’s Most Notorious Killers is available to stream on Peacock from September 17.