United Kingdom

The Monster of Worcester: The Gruesome Murders of David McGreavy

Jonny

17 Apr 2024 — 2 min read

Episode 518

Warning: I have been covering true crime stories for over 6 years and I can attest to the depravity of this one. So please be aware that this story is extremely graphic, especially if you are more sensitive to hearing about the brutality of children.

Elsie Ralph and her children. Daily Mirror.

On Friday the 13th of April 1973, an unspeakable horror unfolded on Gillam Street in Worcester, England. Clive and Elsie Ralph returned home from the pub where Elsie worked as a barmaid to find their house in utter chaos. Furniture was overturned, walls were dripping with blood, and their three young children — 4-year-old Paul, 2-year-old Dawn, and 9-month-old Samantha — were nowhere to be found. Neither was the family’s 21-year-old lodger and babysitter, David McGreavy.

A Horrific Discovery

Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Booth was called to the scene and described it as one of “indescribable horror.” An hour later, the grizzly fate of the Ralph children was revealed when a policeman’s lamp shone on the spiked railings of a neighbor’s garden fence. The mutilated bodies of the three children had been impaled there. The sight was so disturbing that one of the investigating officers became physically ill.

David McGreavy was found wandering the streets shortly after and initially denied any involvement. However, it soon came to light that he had been having an affair with Elsie Ralph for the past three months, unbeknownst to her husband.

The Confession

After a full day of questioning, McGreavy finally broke down and confessed to the killings. “It was all too bloody gruesome,” he told detectives. “It was me but it was not me. How could I do it?” In a drunken frenzy, McGreavy had strangled 9-month-old Samantha and used a razor blade on her. He then killed 2-year-old Dawn in a similar manner before using a thin metal curtain wire to strangle 4-year-old Paul. McGreavy admitted to mutilating the bodies with a pickaxe before impaling them on the garden railings.

A Troubled Past

Shockingly, David McGreavy had a reputation for loving children. His father Tom said, “Everyone who knew David knew that he loved children.” Elsie Ralph herself claimed, “He was like a father to my children–always... continue reading...

The Life and Death of Christopher Skinner: Questions Remain Three Years Later

In 2020, Christopher Skinner's story touched hearts across the country when ESPN reporter Marty Smith launched a viral campaign to get his college friend an all-terrain wheelchair. Country music stars Cole Swindell and Luke Bryan joined the effort. A year later, Christopher would be found dead in a

The Tragic Tale of Timothy Evans: Wrongfully Executed for a Crime He Didn't Commit

In the shadows of post-war London, a young couple's life was shattered by a series of events that would lead to one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in British history. Timothy Evans, a 25-year-old illiterate truck driver, and his wife Beryl, just 18, had moved into

The Pockmarked Killer 'Le Grêlé': How a French Cop Terrorized Paris for Decades

For over 35 years, a sadistic serial killer and rapist known as "Le Grêlé" ("The Pockmarked Man") stalked the streets of Paris, preying on young girls and leaving a trail of unsolved crimes that haunted the city. Listen to this article Your browser does not support

The Mysterious Disappearance of Phillip Gall: Vampires, Cults, and Unanswered Questions in Dayton, Ohio

His disappearance would spark a decades-long mystery, filled with bizarre theories involving vampires, occult rituals, and serial killers.