Netflix has added the two-part documentary series The Real Unforgotten to its catalogue, revisiting the 1981 murder of Carol Morgan and the eventual conviction of her husband, Allen Morgan, more than four decades later.
The series, which originally aired on ITV last year, follows detectives as they reinvestigate the killing of the 36-year-old mother of two. Carol was found bludgeoned inside the Bedfordshire shop she ran with her husband on August 13, 1981. Police initially believed she was the victim of a burglary gone wrong.
Cold case review and arrest
Allen was ruled out as a suspect at the time because he had an alibi for the night of the murder, and there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone. He told authorities he had taken Carol's two children to a movie theater before finding her body in the storeroom.
In 2018, the unsolved murder was re-examined by a cold case police team. It then emerged that Allen was closer to the case than initially believed. A witness, Jane Bunting, who was a teenager at the time, said Allen had asked her if she knew anyone he could hire to kill his wife.
Trial and sentencing
Allen was taken into custody on allegations that he conspired to kill his wife and paid a hitman to carry out the murder. Prosecutors argued that Allen, who was having an affair with Margaret Spooner, would be free to start a new life and would also benefit financially from his wife's death.
In July 2024, Allen was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 22 years after being convicted of conspiracy to murder in Luton Crown Court. Senior Crown Prosecutor Shan Saunders said at the time: "This has been a complex and unusual case, not least because it dates back over 40 years."
Saunders added: "Modern day lines of enquiry, including forensic analysis, CCTV and phone data were not available then, so the case we built against Allen Morgan relied primarily on the accounts of witnesses." Mrs Morgan, Allen's second wife, was found not guilty of conspiracy to murder at the trial in 2024. Carol's killer has never been identified, despite witnesses claiming to have seen a man with 'pig-like nostrils' leaving the scene.
