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Buried Evidence

The Crime Desk

Is true crime our latest obsession, or just history's oldest guilty pleasure?


A brand-new exploration of historical true crime through the ages, exposes why we should be looking over our shoulders to the past with bestselling historian, Rebecca Rideal & Archaeologist, Professor Raksha Dave.


Together they will unpack the buried stories of crime and uncover the darkest chapters of criminal history, from victims and investigators to perpetrators and punishments.


Using archaeology as a key investigative tool, Raksha and Rebecca will uncover how a dig separates fact from folklore. Such as Otzi the Iceman - a body from 3300BCE discovered in 1991 - where the archeological examination of his bones provided a window into the last 48 hours of someone living thousands of years ago. Or the site discovery of The Salem Witch Trials, where a dig immediately dispelled the stories of gallows at the top of the hill and formal burials.


Using archaeology, history and modern forensic science, Buried Evidence reopens some of the world's oldest cold cases to separate folklore from fact.

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  • 12 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 36 min
  • English

Episodes 12

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  • S1 · E11
    Friday · 53 min

    Meet The Wicker Man

    In our latest Halloween special, we're inspired by the new film Wicker, a dark folk tale that explores love, loneliness, social exclusion and what happens when a community fears something it doesn't understand. And while the film may be fantasy, the themes running through it are very real. Because for centuries people across Britain genuinely believed that strange beings could be created, enchanted, bewitched, transformed or worshipped. So join us on a spooky tale that twists and turns through stories of The Wicker Man, Midsommer, and the all too true tale of The Last Sacrifice when fantasy became a gruesome reality. Buried Evidence is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E10
    October 30 · 36 min

    The Real Sherlock Holmes?

    When we think about detectives, Sherlock Holmes is probably the first image that comes to mind. The iconic deerstalker hat, the pipe, the looming presence and fierce intellect. But what if there is a deeper truth to be told? A truth about the creation of Sherlock Holmes himself and the birth of modern forensic detection? As improbable as it might seem, the most famous consulting detective of the Victorian age was… an Edinburgh doctor named Joseph Bell, and he is the subject of NYTimes bestselling author and medical historian, Dr Lindsey Fitzharris’s brand-new book, Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes, and Dr Fitzharris joins us for this latest episode. Buried Evidence is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E9
    October 23 · 38 min

    Killing the Dead: Zosia the Vampire

    A young woman dies in seventeenth-century Poland, her family carefully dresses her for burial. Her body is carried to the cemetery where the funeral is performed, and then someone places an iron sickle across her neck and fastens a padlock to her foot. Not before death but after it. These are not the actions of people mourning the dead but of people afraid of them. In our latest episode, we travel to northern Poland and one of archaeology's strangest investigations, involving a grave, a sickle, a padlock and a woman later nicknamed Zosia. Strangely, archaeologists have stumbled across damning evidence that an entire community may have put the (un)dead-on trial. Buried Evidence is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E8
    October 16 · 31 min

    Death in the Arctic: Franklin's Lost Expedition - Part 2

    For more than a century, the Arctic was assumed to be keeping Franklin's secret; but it wasn't. The native Inuit people who lived there had been telling the story all along. And yet for decades, another idea dominated the investigation; lead poisoning, bad tins. But what if the evidence tells a different story? What if Franklin's men weren't brought down by a single fatal mistake—but by a catastrophe far more complicated than anyone imagined? In the second part of the Franklin story, we ask what really helped kill him and his men. Buried Evidence is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E7
    October 9 · 39 min

    Death in the Arctic: Franklin's Lost Expedition - Part 1

    London, 1848. Three years have passed since Sir John Franklin and 128 officers and men sailed into the Arctic, in search of the Northwest Passage. No letters, no survivors, no ships. What nobody yet realises is that Franklin's men may already be dead, buried across a frozen landscape thousands of miles away. In the first of this two-part episode, we uncover the 180-year-old mystery of Franklin's ill-fated expedition. A mystery that has become one of the biggest cold cases - literally - in exploration history. Buried Evidence is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E6
    October 2 · 39 min

    Here Be Witches: The Salem Witch Trials

    It’s the 19th of July 1692 and thirty-nine year old Sarah Good, is the youngest of five women being trundled through Salem Village to a hill on the outskirts of the settlement. They are to be hanged as witches. The events in Salem would see over 200 individuals accused, dozens of confessions, 30 convictions, 19 executions, a number of deaths in prison, and a seventy-year-old man tortured to death by pressing. The trials have framed the way we think about mass hysteria - inspiring countless novels, tv shows and perhaps most famously Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. But what really went on? Who was accused, and why? Buried Evidence is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E5
    September 25 · 39 min

    Lizzie Borden Took An Axe…

    As the legend of Lizzie Borden comes to Netflix, we visit one of the most notorious murder mysteries in American history. A brutal double murder that inspired one of the darkest nursery rhymes of all time. But what do we really know about this case? How much of it is a ghoulish sensation dreamed up by a press hungry to sell a good story? In this episode we go beyond criminal legend to explore the real case of Lizzie Borden that begins in Fall River, Massachusetts, in August,1892, in a modest house on Second Street. Buried Evidence is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E4
    September 18 · 31 min

    Ötzi: Murder on the Mountain

    It's September 1991, two hikers in the Alps believe they’ve stumbled across the body of a climber who’d lost his way. He lies face-down in the ice. His arm caught awkwardly beneath him. A shoulder protruding from melting snow. Police are alerted. Recovery teams arrive. And then someone notices the axe. Not iron. But Copper. At least five thousand years old. This man didn’t die in the mountains by accident. Someone killed him and the frozen Alps kept the evidence. Buried Evidence is brought to you by The Crime Desk. Subscribe at thecrimedesk.com to get every new episode a week before anyone else, completely ad-free, plus full access to our entire true crime podcast collection, early access to new shows, and exclusive bonus episodes. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E3
    September 11 · 54 min

    The Tragedy of the Titanic

    11.39pm, 14 April 1912: A grand new Ocean liner, the RMS Titanic, cruises across the North Atlantic. It’s 4 days into a weeklong voyage from Southampton to New York. Most of the passengers have returned to their cabins after the evening’s dinner, music and socialising. Experienced merchant sailors Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee man the crows nest, 29 metres above deck level. Frederick is the first to spot the dark and terrifying mass ahead of them. He immediately rings the warning bell three times and phones down to the ship’s sixth officer James Moody, warning… "Iceberg! Right Ahead!" Within hours the ship would be at the bottom of the ocean and nearly three quarters of its passengers and crew would be dead. Guest: bestselling author, historian and creator of the hit podcast series Titanic: Ship of Dreams, Duncan Barrett. Buried Evidence is brought to you by The Crime Desk. Subscribe at thecrimedesk.com to get every new episode a week before anyone else, completely ad-free, plus full access to our entire true crime podcast collection, early access to new shows, and exclusive bonus episodes. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E2
    September 4 · 39 min

    The Original Serial Killer

    We tend to think about serial killers as being a modern phenomenon, but in France during the Hundred Years War, we find the story of a monster straight out of a horror film. A sadist, who kidnaps and murders young children to sacrifice them to the devil. In perhaps our darkest case yet, we investigate Gilles de Rais. Military hero, comrade to Joan of Arc, wealthy aristocrat and… the most depraved of serial killers? Buried Evidence is brought to you by The Crime Desk. Subscribe at thecrimedesk.com to get every new episode a week before anyone else, completely ad-free, plus full access to our entire true crime podcast collection, early access to new shows, and exclusive bonus episodes. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E1
    September 4 · 33 min

    St. Brice's Day Massacre

    This story begins not on a battlefield, but beneath one of the most prestigious colleges in the world. In 2008, excavations at St John’s College, Oxford uncovered a mass grave of thirty-five men, buried without ceremony. Nothing about the burial looked normal. These weren’t individuals laid to rest. They were dumped. Bodies overlapping, limbs twisted, no sign of burial rites. And then the injuries become clear. Deep cuts to bone. Fractured skulls and the signs of burning. This wasn’t a disease. This wasn't a famine. This was premeditated violence. And it might just be the physical evidence of a forgotten event recorded in medieval chronicles — The St Brice’s Day Massacre of 1002. Buried Evidence is brought to you by The Crime Desk. Subscribe at thecrimedesk.com to get every new episode a week before anyone else, completely ad-free, plus full access to our entire true crime podcast collection, early access to new shows, and exclusive bonus episodes. Email us at buriedevidence@thecrimedesk.com or WhatsApp us on 07796 657512, starting your message with the word BURIED. Presenters: Rebecca Rideal & Raksha Dave Producer: Philip Wilding Editor: Rowan Jacobs Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Hosts: Rebecca Rideal, Professor Raksha Dave Producer: Phillip Wilding Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East For early, ad-free access to every episode of Buried Evidence as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member today. A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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