FILE 17 / 10 May 2017 / 62 MIN / full

Fame & Fortune From Serial Murder

Great Linford, EnglandListen

The town

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Let's head over to Great Lindford in Milton Keens, Buckinghamshire, England. about 0:04:57

History, in brief

Town note

Great Linford is named to distinguish it from the even smaller village of Little Linford, which has about 800 people.

about 0:06:33

Town note

The first reference to Linford is in 944, when King Edmund gave land at Linforda to his thane Alfia with liberty to leave it to whomever he wished.

about 0:07:26

Town note

It appears in the Domesday Book as Linforda.

about 0:07:31

Town note

The name is thought to derive from a crossing point on the River Ouse between Great Linford and Little Linford, with linden trees nearby.

about 0:07:51
All 10 history facts

Town note

Great Linford is named to distinguish it from the even smaller village of Little Linford, which has about 800 people.

about 0:06:33

Town note

The first reference to Linford is in 944, when King Edmund gave land at Linforda to his thane Alfia with liberty to leave it to whomever he wished.

about 0:07:26

Town note

It appears in the Domesday Book as Linforda.

about 0:07:31

Town note

The name is thought to derive from a crossing point on the River Ouse between Great Linford and Little Linford, with linden trees nearby.

about 0:07:51

Town note

In the early 16th century the rector of the parish was Dr Richard Napier, a medical practitioner who was also an astrologer and a curer of souls.

about 0:08:14

Town note

The civil parish includes Gifford Park, Blakelands, Neath Hill, Pennyland, Tongwell, Conniburrow, Downs Barn and Downhead Park.

about 0:08:58

1678

Linford Manor, later known as Great Linford Manor, was built in 1678 by Sir William Pritchard, who bought the land from the Napier family on the site of an older medieval manor.

about 0:09:36

1704

Pritchard passed the manor on to relatives in 1704.

about 0:09:52

Town note

In the late 1970s it was converted, first as an activity centre and then as a recording studio; it is now owned by Pete Winkleman, chairman of Milton Keynes Dons football club.

about 0:10:14

1967

Great Linford was incorporated into Milton Keynes in 1967 along with other north Buckinghamshire villages.

about 0:11:56

The figures, as told

Who lives here

White 15,500 of 20,000 · Black almost 1,700

Ethnicity can overlap race.
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2017

Population of the parish in 1971

"263"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:19

Population of the parish in 1981

"11,882"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:23

Population now

"19,350"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:36

Women

"a little above average"

Comparison: "the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:13:23

Married people

"about 50% more than single people"

Comparison: "single people". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:13:56

Same-sex marriages

"31"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:13:56

Babies aged 0 to 4

"about 1,500"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:12

People aged 30 to 44

"4,300"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:23

People aged 45 to 59

"about 4,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:23

People aged 30 to 59

"about half"

Comparison: "the whole population". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:23

People older than 90

"147"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:02

People in very good health

"9,523"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:18

People in very bad health

"214"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:31

People in very good or good health

"17,000 out of 20,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:53

White people

"15,500 of 20,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:16:05

Black people

"almost 1,700"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:16:20

Jobs in retail

"10%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:17:24

Jobs in manufacturing

"about 1,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:17:27

Full-time employees

"about 6,600"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:04

Part-time employees

"2,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:14

Self-employed people

"1,200"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:18

Unemployed people

"almost 1,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:18

Retired people

"1,700"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:31

Disabled or long-term sick

"560"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:31

Christians

"about half"

Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:16:56

People with no religion

"6,400"

Comparison: "about three times the rate in the US". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:16:56

Detached houses

"about 10%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:24

Semi-detached houses

"about 10%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:24

People living in a car or caravan

"4"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:31

Three-bedroom detached cottage

"385,000 pounds"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:20:50

Four-bedroom detached house

"595,000 pounds"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:21:26

Two-bedroom first-floor flat

"156,500 pounds"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:22:08

The reviews

No rated reviews

“101 reviews, 100 of them positive; one reviewer said cold smoking ruined his bacon and he would not go back.”
about 0:23:15

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The story

Great Linford is a village in the north of Buckinghamshire, England, about an hour and ten minutes from London and now part of Milton Keynes. Its parish grew from 263 people in 1971 to 11,882 in 1981 and stands at about 19,350. He attended the Radcliffe School in Wolverton and studied art there and later at Northampton University.

He was depressed, had severe social anxiety and was drinking heavily. He kept a diary that read like a to-do list. One entry said: 'quit job tomorrow, get milk, get Mick killed, get Stuart to withdraw cash every day, when all gone, kill him. Repeat... plan ad infinitum all over the world in Las Vegas and swanky bars.' The people he named were men he knew from the Pilgrims Pride pub in Great Linford.

He then went to the home of Mick Cowell, a man in his fifties, intending to rob and kill him. Cowell's girlfriend, 48-year-old Dorothy Rogers, and her 19-year-old son Michael were also there.

Michael, who had seen the attack from another room, ran out of the house. He admitted the murders.

The evidence against him included witnesses, fingerprints, his diary and his own admissions. A team of five psychiatrists diagnosed major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder and alcohol dependence, and said he had been suffering a psychotic episode.

On November 16, 2009 he was moved to a less secure facility at Littlemore in Oxford, where he was said to be doing well. He was allowed unsupervised trips of about two hours a week to see his parents in Great Linford. In March 2011 a mental health tribunal considered releasing him; hundreds of people protested and a Facebook group was set up against the move. In August 2011, despite the protests, he was granted a conditional discharge.

In July 2014 he sent a 1,600-word email to the local paper claiming that he had believed the world was a video game emanating from a blue orb in the back of his head, and that the only way to escape was to commit horrific crimes. He later appeared in a video for a YouTube watch commentator called Archie Luxury, showing off a 25,000-dollar Patek Philippe watch and drinking expensive whisky. A former friend said the thought of him drinking again and spending thousands on watches was disgusting. He lives at an unknown address. Mick Cowell, who survived the attack, died at 63 after a fall in his own home.

The case

Murders of Dorothy Rogers and Michael Rogers

Victims

Dorothy Rogers (48). Mick Cowell's girlfriend; beaten with a hammer and stabbed 31 times
Michael Rogers (19). Dorothy's son; chased to a children's playground, stabbed and disembowelled

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 10 May 2017.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Mick Cowell. Dorothy's boyfriend; attacked with a hammer and survived; died at 63 after a fall in his own home
Stuart Johnson. local steward and first intended victim; could not kill him because workmen were remodelling his kitchen
Fred Rogers. Dorothy's son, who campaigned against release
Archie Luxury. YouTube watch commentator whom supported financially
John Sukahorn. Thailand travel YouTuber who disavowed

The timeline

  1. 1979 is born in Great Linford, Buckinghamshire. (Great Linford)about 0:23:47
  2. attends the Radcliffe School in Wolverton and takes art in the sixth form. (Radcliffe School)about 0:24:39
  3. He studies art at Northampton University. (Northampton University)about 0:26:19
  4. He makes a trophy plaque bearing the names of his favourite serial killers.about 0:26:38
  5. beginning of 2003 Aged almost 24, is obsessed with serial killers, depressed, socially anxious and drinking heavily. (Great Linford)about 0:28:50
  6. January 2003 writes a diary list including 'quit job tomorrow, get Mick killed' and a plan to have Stuart withdraw cash until it is gone, then kill him.about 0:30:02
  7. January 28, 2003 leaves his house with a hammer and a 12-inch carving knife. ( family home)about 0:31:58
  8. January 28, 2003 He visits Stuart Johnson but cannot kill him because workmen are remodelling the kitchen. (Stuart Johnson's house)about 0:32:13
  9. January 28, 2003 goes to Mick Cowell's house, argues with him and attacks him with the hammer. (Mick Cowell's house)about 0:35:02
  10. January 28, 2003 He beats Dorothy Rogers with the hammer and stabs her 31 times with the carving knife. (Mick Cowell's house)about 0:35:49
  11. January 28, 2003 Michael Rogers flees the house; chases him to a children's playground, stabs him to death and disembowels him. (children's playground)about 0:37:17
  12. early 2004 Within three months of detention recruits a human rights lawyer with 10,000 pounds of legal aid and begins fighting for release. (Broadmoor Hospital)about 0:42:15
  13. November 16, 2009 is moved to a less secure facility at Littlemore in Oxford. (Littlemore)about 0:42:38
  14. 2009 He is allowed unsupervised trips of about two hours a week to see his parents in Great Linford. (Great Linford)about 0:42:51
  15. March 2011 A mental health tribunal hears his lawyers argue that a psychotic episode caused by alcoholism and a bad reaction to medication is over; hundreds protest against release. (Littlemore)about 0:43:43
  16. August 2011 is granted a conditional discharge from the secure hospital. (Littlemore)about 0:45:41
  17. 2014 The conditions on his release are lifted and he is a free man.about 0:49:58
  18. July 2014 sends a 1,600-word email to the local paper claiming the world seemed a video game emanating from a blue orb in the back of his head.about 0:50:21
  19. Mick Cowell dies at 63 after a fall in his own home.about 0:56:16

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode