BBC - Great Crimes and Trials Series 3 Set 1 (1995) Part 4 Donald Hume and the Setty Case

Stabbings, shootings, genocide, torture, abduction, robbery, serial killing and mass suicide are just a few of the horrific crimes explored in Great Crimes and Trials. True stories carefully researched and reconstructed with actual archive footage. Cases which have become almost legendary in the annals of crime and detection. Serial killers, gangsters, assassins and war criminals - Great Crimes and Trials sheds light on crimes that shocked the world, bringing back memories of some of the most notorious cases of the twentieth century. The murders of John Lennon and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, the unsolved Zodiac murders and the treasonous crimes of Lord Haw-Haw are all covered here in exacting detail, alongside other shocking stories of murder and mayhem. From the violent mob rule of the thirties to the fairly recent phenomenon of the serial killer, the motives, behavior patterns and killing techniques of some of the world's most evil felons are explored. Their detection, capture and trials are examined to give a complete picture of how crine and justice have evolved through the twentieth century. Narrated by Robert Powell, Great Crimes and Trials combines new and archive interviews to reconstruct each story, analysing the individual and his motive, explaining how the crime was committed and showing breakthroughs in investigations alongside details of the trial. With its researchers gaining unprecedented access to picture libraries and over 250,000 hours of archive footage, these are the definitive accounts of these appalling murders.

Part 4 Donald Hume and the Setty Case

The spectacular case of the Setty murder, following the discovery of a headless torso in the lonely Essex marshes is one of Scotland Yard's greatest forensic stories. Donald Hume first captured the attention of the crime-loving British public in 1949 when he took off in a rented airplane and dropped three packages into the Thames estuary. The packages contained, respectively, the head, legs and torso of a used-car dealer named Stanley Setty, who had quarreled with Hume. It was almost the perfect crime. When police found the dismembered torso of car dealer Stanley Shetty in 1949, they eventually suspected and arrested his business associate, Donald Hume. But they could not find the murder weapon or any forensic evidence to prove that he had killed Setty other than bloodstains in his home. Hume claimed that he had been forced to help gangsters dispose of Setty's murdered body, and all that he could be charged with and convicted of was being an accessory to Setty's murder. 9 years later, after his release from prison and while he was safely in Switzerland, Hume confessed that police had been right about him all along, and sold the confession to the Sunday Pictorial for ?2,000. Thanks to the law of double jeopardy, he could not be tried for Setty's murder again, but Hume's criminal nature would ensure that he would not escape justice forever.

Full Version Available Upon Request