27 October 2020
S4C has today announced a new slate of crime documentaries featuring some of the biggest, most shocking investigations that shook the nation over the decades.
In collaboration with police forces across the country, film crews have secured exclusive behind the scenes access to the most high-profile cases in living memory.
The series begins with a recent investigation that shocked the small community of Carmarthenshire – the murder of Mike O'Leary.
This was a race to catch a killer - a murder without a body and one of Dyfed Powys Police's most challenging cases ever.
The builder Andrew Jones murdered his friend and went to extreme efforts to hide his crime. With exclusive access to tapes of the detectives interviewing the murderer, this special documentary programme, produced by ITV Cymru takes us behind closed doors and gives an exclusive look into the investigation.
Llofruddiaeth Mike O'Leary (Mike O'Leary's Murder) is aired on Wednesday evening 4th November, just over two weeks after Jones was sentenced to life in prison.
Also, in the series is Dyn Mewn Du (Man in Black) produced by Kailash Productions. This is the story of one of Wales' most vicious murderers, through the eyes of the man who defended him in court.
Twenty-five years ago, Peter Moore, a quiet and unassuming businessman from North Wales was charged with 4 murders and admitted to over 20 sexual and verbal assaults.
Dylan Rhys Jones was the lawyer who defended Moore throughout the case, and in this programme aired next year he reveals his experiences and feelings as he spent hours with a person who derived pleasure from torturing and murdering gay men.
The programme will be broadcast in 2021.
Next up is Y Parchedig (The Rev), a Western Edge Pictures and Docshed production, also to be aired next year.
This fascinating documentary tells the story of minister Rev Emyr Owen who was keeping a dark secret.
In the early eighties (80s) local police in a small seaside village in North Wales were investigating a series of threatening letters. When the police discovered that Rev Emyr Owen was the author behind the letters, it was the start of one of Britain's most eerie criminal cases to this day.
While investigating Owen's house, police came across dozens of pornographic magazines and books on cannibalism and surgery.
But the most shocking discovery were pictures of dismembered penises on plates and he was believed to have been cutting pieces of dead bodies all his life.
Also, part of the slate is historical documentary looking at singer Bryn Fôn's arrest as part of the Meibion Glyndwr case.
This was a holiday home burning campaign against the influx of incomers buying second homes in Wales and pricing local buyers out of the market. By 1994 228 homes had been damaged with owners escaping for their lives.
The campaign continued for many years and despite the involvement of M15 and secret police throughout Wales, and the arrest of some individuals, the movement is still a mystery.
Bryn Fôn will be touring Wales and those involved in the campaign will speak for the first time - the police, estate agents and politicians.
We'll focus on what the significance of the campaign was at the time and what it means to today.
Bryn Fôn: Chwilio am Feibion Glyndwr (Bryn Fôn: Searching for Meibion Glyndwr) by Zwwm Productions will broadcast next year.
Two of these specially commissioned documentaries will be filmed bilingually and distributed as part of the S4C Originals brand, with the Mike O'Leary programme also commissioned for ITV 1 and The Rev documentary distributed internationally.
Amanda Rees, S4C Director of Content said: "These are big stories to tell, that shook communities across the country.
"We've ensured front line, exclusive access to police files, tapes and behind the scenes footage.
"We'll go beneath the surface of these investigation to get to grips with how people and communities were affected.
"I'm extremely proud to launch our new crime slate giving viewers an insight into a range of eerie, fascinating, edge of seat brand new documentaries."
