Channel 4's 24 Hours in Police Custody has returned with a two-part special that has left viewers deeply shaken. The programme, titled The Cold Case Murder, revisited the 2013 killing of 86-year-old Una Crown in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, and was broadcast on Monday and Tuesday (April 13 and 14). It is now available to stream on the Channel 4 website.
Mrs Crown, a widow, was discovered dead at her home by her nephew-in-law on January 13, 2013. She was found lying in a pool of blood, with her body bearing burns. Initial assessments by two attending police officers concluded that she had accidentally set herself alight and tried to put out the flames with a tea towel. The two cuts to her throat were attributed to pressure from her scarf as she collapsed.
However, a subsequent post-mortem revealed that she had actually been stabbed to death, leading to a full murder investigation. By that stage, her home had already been cleaned, as it had not originally been treated as a crime scene. The case remained unsolved for a decade until a significant DNA breakthrough reopened it.
The episodes followed Detective Superintendent Iain Moor and his Major Crime Unit as they used cutting-edge forensic techniques to match DNA found beneath Mrs Crown's fingernails to a local man, David Newton, who lived just down the road. Detectives eliminated other male relatives and built a watertight prosecution case.
Newton, now in his 70s, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years in February last year. The judge, Mr Justice Neil Garnham, described the attack as a "ferocious and sustained knife attack on a defenceless old lady". Viewers took to social media to express their sorrow, with one writing on X: "One of the most sadest of cases tonight I am glad the family finally has some closure. RIP Una." Others described the case as "absolutely horrific" and said they were "in shock".
The full two-part special is available to stream on Channel 4's on-demand service, alongside other episodes of 24 Hours in Police Custody.
