Episode Details

George "Dod" Murdoch was the kind of taxi driver everyone in Aberdeen knew — gentle, polite, and dependable. But on a quiet September night in 1983, something unimaginable happened.

That evening, 58-year-old Dod picked up what should have been a routine fare. Just minutes later, he was ambushed and strangled with a weapon so unusual it stunned investigators — a cheesewire.

His taxi was found abandoned on Pitfodels Station Road. Dod’s body lay just yards away, brutally murdered. The cheesewire, more at home in a kitchen than on a crime scene, became the chilling signature of a killer who vanished without a trace.

There were sightings — a suspicious man fleeing on foot, descriptions that led nowhere. Decades passed. Appeals were made. But the identity of Dod Murdoch’s killer has remained a haunting mystery for over 40 years.

In this episode of Crimes That Haunt Us, we retrace every known moment, examine the evidence, explore suspects, and revisit the theories that still baffle detectives to this day.

Could the key to solving this brutal crime finally come to light? 

For the documentary version see here https://youtu.be/L9rXDMK3c2Q

(00:00) The Haunting Case of George Murdoch

(0:34) Who Was George Murdoch?

(03:32) The Prime Suspect

(4:43) George Picks up his Killer

(6:36) The Murder

(9:18) The Bloodied Man

(10:40) Largest Investigation in Scottish History

(12:55) Appeal to Witnesses

(16:12 The Case is Reopened

(17:47) Key Man is Sought

(19:41) Ronald Paterson

(20:54) DNA Swab Reward is Offered