All language subtitles for Murder.In.A.Teacup.2024.720p.WEB.h264-OPUS

[gentle piano music]

- I was on duty that day

when our detective chief
inspector called me

to accompany him to a house.

At that moment, I
didn't know why.

It was about a five-minute drive

from the police station
to his bedsit room.

[gentle piano music]

- The walls were covered
in pictures of Hitler,

Nazis, and swastikas.

We found poisons in there.

And he had jars with wasps
and bees and substances,

which were, you know, he'd
caught in a macabre situation.

♪ There's something
sweet about death ♪

- Under the bed, some foolscap
paper, which, on reading it,

they soon realised that
it was a diary of events.

[gentle piano music]

- [VO] November 4th.

"F" was ill over the weekend
suffering from vomiting,

abdominal pains,
diarrhoea, et cetera.

The doctor has said that the
illness is due to a virus,

and that there is quite
a lot going around.

Is somebody setting up
in competition to me?

♪ Nobody wants

♪ To talk about it

- [VO] November 10th.

"F" must have a phenomenal
tolerance to the compound,

for he is still
obstinately alive.

If he survives the third
week, he will live.

This would be inconvenient.

♪ Bow your head
and show respect ♪

♪ You know it's a gift,
but it must be said ♪

- [VO] November 16th.

"F" is now seriously ill.

It is likely that he will
die within a few days.

It will be a merciful
release for him.

It is better that he should die.

From my point of view, his
death will be a relief.

It will remove one casualty

from what is becoming a
crowded field of battle.

[gentle piano music]

- When the police got
hold of Graham's diary,

there must have been
a light bulb moment

when they were reading
through this thing

and realised that
"F" is Fred Biggs.

Fred Biggs is dead.

They must have thought,
"We've got him.

Graham Young is a murderer."

- [VO] If I were to be detected,

I should have to
follow the maxim,

those who live by the
sword, die by the sword.

♪ There's something
sweet about death ♪

[gentle piano music]

- [VO] Dear sir,

for some considerable time
prior to my admittance here,

I was an ardent student of both
pharmacology and toxicology.

[delicate music]

However, due to the stresses
and strains placed on me

by my almost incessant
studying of these subjects,

I became the victim of
a nervous breakdown,

which necessitated my
hospitalisation here.

Now, however, that
my discharge is

in the foreseeable future,

I would be greatly obliged
if you would inform me

of certain obstacles to what was

to have been my intended career,

as the offence with which
I was initially charged

was involving the misuse of
certain highly toxic drugs.

Am I liable to be refused
university entrance

in pharmacology?

Hoping to hear from you soon.

I remain yours faithfully,

Graham Frederick Young.

[gentle music]

- John Hadlands was a very
interesting organisation.

It was essentially a
family company, originally.

We were about 70 people
when I first arrived.

It really specialised
on producing

and selling equipment
for the photo analysis

of mainly scientific
and technical film work.

A role opportunity had come
up for the trainee storeman.

It was proposed that we
might be interested in him

because he was intelligent,

and that he just
needed an opportunity.

He'd come from a rehabilitation
and training centre.

The reasoning as we
understood it was

that he'd had some sort of
mental problems in the past,

and that he needed a chance.

- [Narrator] The day
before Young arrived

for an interview with the firm,

the training centre
wrote to Hadlands

about the potential
new employee.

- The placing report on
Graham Young said this:

This man has an
above-average intelligence.

He is very conscientious
in his work,

able to work to
instructions given to him,

as well as on his
own initiative.

- He was interviewed by
Mr. Foster, I believe.

On his application form,
there was a nine-year gap.

He put this down to
psychological problems,

having lost his
mother at a young age.

- [VO] My mother died in
very tragic circumstances

whilst I was in my late teens.

This caused me to have
a mental breakdown,

and I've been in
hospital ever since.

- He didn't expand on
his psychological state.

Mr. Foster still
wasn't too happy,

so he asked for the
training centre at Slough

to confirm what he had said.

And they did,

and they sent him a letter
basically giving him

a clear bill of health.

- This man has suffered a
deepgoing personality disorder,

which necessitated
his hospitalisation

throughout the whole
of his adolescence.

He has, however, made an
extremely full recovery,

and is now entirely
fit for discharge.

- [VO] Dear Mr. Foster, I'm
pleased to accept your offer

and shall therefore
report for work on Monday,

May the 10th, at 8:30 AM.

May I take the opportunity to
express my gratitude to you

for offering me this position?

I shall endeavour to
justify your faith in me

by performing my
duties in an efficient

and competent manner.

Until Monday week, I
am yours faithfully,

Graham Young.

- Graham joined in May 1971.

He came in as a
trainee storeman,

and that was when I
first came across him.

His function would've been to
assist in the finding of parts

for various items in the stores.

He would've also been
involved in the packing

and dispatch of equipment
once it was finished.

He was always tidy
and well-dressed
for most of the time

and kept himself to himself,

but he came across as
being a bit of an oddball.

I knew that there were occasions

when if you got him on
particular subjects,

he could be very verbal,
and in doing that,

he could articulate
himself very well indeed.

[Hitler speaking in German]

- He brought in books on Hitler

and would extol the
virtues of Hitler

in no uncertain terms if
you got him on the subject.

This obviously raised
considerable eyebrows

because there were
one or two people

who'd got very distinguished
military service

and had a very
different view of that.

[sombre piano music]

- It was a very nice,

family-orientated factory
to work, from all accounts.

All the employees were
given a midday meal,

and they had tea at 11
o'clock in the morning

and three o'clock
in the afternoon,

brought around by a tea
lady, Mrs. Bartlett.

[tense music]

- There was an
outbreak of illness,

and nobody thought
anything of it.

Other than that it was probably
some sort of flu thing.

I happened to be in the main
administration building one day

and looked out, and
saw somebody come out

through the storeroom
doors very, very fast

and then be very violently
ill on the grass outside.

It was traumatic,
to say the least.

Nobody was clear what it was

other than that it
seemed to be spreading.

It started to be a cause for
concern and puzzlement too.

[tense music]

- Some of them suffered
hallucinations,

palpitations, stomach sickness.

Their hair started to fall out.

The rash of illnesses that
occurred there prompted a lot

of the employees to believe
that the place was jinxed,

and that something
horrendous was going on.

But they didn't quite know what.

And many of them
actually started to hand

in their resignations
as a result of it.

- A lot of people
were complaining of
violent headaches,

sickness, a lot of
pain, tummy pains.

There was a suggestion that
it was a bug in the water,

and hence they named
it the Bovington bug.

[synth music]

- There was also a suspicion
that perhaps it was something

to do with some leftover
chemicals from the war.

Maybe even heavy
metal poisoning.

But that seems to
have been discounted

in favour of the theory
that it was a bug, a virus.

But it turned out the
virus was Graham Young.

[synth Music Continues]

- Bob Egle was the first
one who became so serious,

he was put into hospital.

That was a worry, obviously.

- He was working at
the time as a storeman.

He'd been married to his
wife for many, many years.

He was coming up
to his retirement.

- Bob was a lovely man.

He'd had a very strong
military background.

He was a Dunkirk hero.

He was quiet, unassuming,

very pleasant, and very helpful.

[gentle piano music]

When Bob died, there was a
terrible feeling of sadness.

Nobody knew the
real reasons why.

What we could go on was the
basis that it was believed

that it was some sort of virus
known as the Bovington bug.

- Young volunteered to
represent the workforce

at the cremation in
company of Mr. Foster.

- Graham expressed disquiet.

He said it was a pity that
Bob Egle, a Dunkirk veteran,

who'd been through
the horrors of war,

should die in the way he did.

- There were other
people who were being ill

for one reason or another,

and there was very
severe pain suffered

by one or two of them.

And it wouldn't surprise
me if they didn't think,

"I'd be better off dead."

[gentle piano music]

- Fred Biggs was taken
ill soon afterwards,

and he also suffered
dreadful symptoms.

- Bob Egle died in
the summer of 1971,

and then Fred Biggs
died in November.

And now members of
the Hadlands workforce

were getting very fearful.

- The two men who died,

they were said to be
dying from the fingertips

and the toes upwards.

They went very numb in their
fingers and toes and legs,

had dreadful cramps and
pains in their head.

♪ There's something
sweet about death ♪

[sombre piano music]

- We were called into a meeting.

It was reiterated
that Fred had died.

- The doctor who worked
with the company told them

that they were working
through the options,

what could be causing
the series of illnesses

and now two deaths.

And at that point,
Graham speaks up

and starts
remonstrating with him

and asking a lot of questions.

What are the similarities
between the deaths

of these two individuals?

Could the men who've been
very ill be suffering

from thallium poisoning?

- The meeting concluded,

and the rest of us went
off for the weekend.

In the meantime, the
doctor had obviously gone

and talked to the management,

and he said, "Who is this man?"

They explained that he
was a trainee storeman.

The doctor was
somewhat surprised.

Trainee storeman and he's
talking those sort of terms?

- The company doctor and John
Hadland, the company director,

have a conversation
and begin to realise

that they need to know
more about Graham.

Who is he? And where
does he come from?

So they call him into the
office, and they ask him.

And they're so demanding

that eventually he
drops a bombshell.

- [VO] Broadmoor.
I was in Broadmoor.

[ominous music]

- In November 1971,

and it was probably
just going five o'clock

when Detective Constable John
Preston took a phone call.

He put his hand over
the phone and said,

"I've got a man here from
John Hadlands in Bovington."

That's what started
the whole inquiry off.

That evening, Detective Chief
Inspector John Kirkpatrick

and Detective Sergeant
Robert Livingston met

with Mr. Hadland and Mr. Foster

at Hemel Hempstead
Police Station.

And having heard their
story of the two deaths

and all the
illnesses in between,

it was quite obviously
this was a murder case.

[gentle piano music]

- On the Monday, I turned up
for work a little bit late.

I was pulled in, and there were
another three or four people

in the room, and it
was explained to us

that somebody had been arrested.

That's one of those moments

when people's faces
just go white.

The realisation that actually
this is a deliberate thing

that's been going on, not
something that's just a virus.

We weren't told who it was.

Obviously, went out, talked to
a few people. Who's missing?

It was fairly quickly concluded
that it was Graham Young.

[sombre music]

♪ All the suffering
will all boil down ♪

- Graham was born and
grew up in Neasden,

which is a fairly
nondescript London suburb.

♪ All the suffering
will burn this time ♪

[gentle music]

- Well, his mother died
when he was very young,

and I think that
probably had an impact

on him psychologically.

[gentle music]

- Graham's mother died
when he was very young,

and I think this has had a
massive impact on his life.

I mean, anyone who loses a
mother at a very young age

is going to suffer from trauma
that they're gonna carry

with them throughout
the rest of their life.

[gentle music]

- When we look at Graham
Young's actual childhood,

to me, it seems
quite fragmented,

and I think he was
quite displaced.

Graham went off to live
with his aunt and uncle,

whereas his sister went off to
live with their grandmother.

[gentle music]

- It's understandable
that Graham at that
time he was living

with his aunt felt
quite pushed out

from that core family unit.

He felt like he was an
outsider from the beginning.

[gentle music]

- This could have
psychologically scarred him

because he might have
had this core belief

that he wasn't wanted.

And sometimes, children,
when they're that young,

they can actually
blame themselves.

We know that Graham would wet
the bed until the age of 10.

Graham also used to
rock himself to sleep

to the point that he
made so much noise

that the neighbours
even complained.

[gentle music]

- Fred, the father, married
again, a woman called Molly,

so, Young now had a stepmother.

As the years went on,
it was quite apparent

that the two didn't
get on that well.

- Initially, his relationship

with his stepmother was
apparently very good.

But it quickly became, once
he got a little bit older,

also a rather
fraught relationship.

And he complained to friends

that she treated him very badly,

destroyed his belongings
without good reason,

locked him out of the house
to prevent him from snacking

whilst his father
was out at work.

- He was noticeably a very
inward-looking character.

He was an introvert.

He was capable of
being humorous,

but his general demeanour
at school was a person

who was sullen, morose,
very much in his own world.

[ominous music]

- It was at secondary school

that I became friendly
with Graham Young.

We had a little
bunch of friends.

We used to stand smoking
on the corner at school.

And we all gelled as we
were all a bit like that.

A bit different
to the other kids.

[tense music]

He started wearing
rather peculiar clothes.

He used to start coming
in in a black overcoat.

That progressed to black
leather gloves and then boots.

It became apparent that
it was actually Hitler

that he was obsessed with.

- He idolised Adolf Hitler.

He was very much
into the Nazi cult.

When he was old enough,

he actually wore a
Hitler-style moustache.

- He used to carry
around in his pockets

in his overcoat "Mein Kampf,"

which was obviously
rather a sinister thing.

But I didn't know
what it was at time.

- Graham's selection of
reading material really

is an insight into his soul.

He, at a very young age,
would read biographies

of people like Julius
Caesar, Oliver Cromwell,

Joseph Stalin, and, of
course, Adolf Hitler.

It really feels like
Graham was more attracted

towards tyrants and despots.

- He was always in Neasden
Library as a youth,

studying or reading
about various poisoners.

- All boys have their heroes.

Graham Young's hero
was Dr. Crippen,

who was a notorious poisoner
of the early 20th century.

But he was also interested
in William Palmer,

who was a noted poisoner
from the Victorian era.

For Graham, Palmer and
Crippen were idols, icons.

[ominous music]

Graham's stepmother,
Molly, showed concern

about his reading habits
when he was very young.

But when she discussed
it with a librarian,

she sort of reassured her by
saying that it wasn't unusual

for children to show interest
in that kind of subject.

- He was developing
enough knowledge

about the ways that
these poisons work

and the appropriate dosages
that he was in a position

to start putting his
plans into action

and actually using
the chemicals.

- [Narrator] There are
many branches of science,

and for a young man or woman,

they offer opportunities
undreamed of, even 50 years ago.

- His father, he bought
him a chemistry set.

With this tool,
this chemistry set,

he started to experiment.

- I think he was bordering
on genius with his abilities.

I had a common
interest with him,

because I was not
good at anything much
apart from science.

We did do experiments, you
know, with my chemistry sets.

His interests were to
do with heavy metals.

One of them I can
remember was thallium.

- He was known as
the mad professor

because he was always talking
about scientific matters.

His fellow pupils knew
him as an odd ball.

- We'd go out in the
local area walking around.

We would knock on
people's doors.

If they were nice to us,
then nothing would happen.

If they were nasty and
said sort of, you know,

"What do you want,
little boy? Go away."

we'd go back there later.

He used to go in the garden,

and a lot of these
houses had sunflowers.

He used to inject the
stems of the sunflowers

with a hypodermic syringe.

You could see them droop.

[desolate music]

- He started experimenting
on the family cat

and also frogs and
other creatures.

He moved on to human
beings after that.

- Graham was a little
bit of a loner at school,

but he did have a
few school friends,

including a boy called
Christopher John Williams.

In early 1961,

he starts his experiments
with antimony on Chris.

And I would say that that's
because he's accessible.

So he can poison Chris by
doctoring his food at school.

[ominous music]

- Pure antimony by itself
is a silvery white metal

that you can find in nature
mixed with other metals,

but it's present
in other compounds

like antimony
potassium tartrate,

which is also known
as tartar emetic.

A dose of that would've
caused vomiting,

tummy aches, stomach
cramps, diarrhoea.

With continuous exposure,

the symptoms can get
worse and more deadly,

and it can even lead
to coma and death.

So it really depends on
how long the exposure is

and how much.

- [VO] I gave him two or
three grains at school.

I can't remember how I
caused him to take it.

I think it was probably on
a cream biscuit or a cake.

He was sick after taking it.

I gave him a second dose
in May in the same way,

and in the following month I
gave him another two doses,

always two or three grains
and on food at school.

- A grain is an old-style
pharmaceutical measurement,

which is equivalent to
about 65 milligrammes.

- Very few people offend
using such a method,

but one of the things we
know about people who poison

is that they poison
those close to them.

[gentle music]

First of all, they like
to watch the effects

and what's gonna happen
once they've administered

that poison.

And that's part of the pleasure,

is to actually
see how the poison

that they have administered

is causing pain to
the particular victim.

So it's very obvious that he
picked victims close to him

so he could stay
within their proximity

as they were suffering.

- Anybody that was
close to Graham,

anybody that he had a
reason to be around,

was a potential target
for his poisoning.

- He used to bring in
a bag of fairy cakes.

He would offer
these things around,

and most of the friends used
to snap them up and eat them.

One day I was
particularly hungry.

I said to him, "Graham, can
I have one of your cakes?"

I said, "I'm starving."

In a sinister voice,
he said, "Not for you."

[gentle music]

He was obviously
dishing out poison.

- Once Chris starts
becoming so ill

that he has to take
time off school,

it becomes harder for Graham
to do what he really wants

to do, which is to
continue poisoning,

but from a position where
he can observe the effects

on the victim.

[sombre music]

- That's when his career
really got underway,

and then he turned his
attention to his own family.

♪ I'm not afraid,
it's just begun ♪

[sombre music]

- [VO] I started
experimenting at home,

putting sometimes one,
sometimes three grains

on prepared foods, which my
mother, father, and sister ate.

I must have eaten some of this
poisoned food occasionally

because I became sick as well.

I know after eating
these prepared foods,

my family were all sick.

My mother went to the
doctor about her sickness.

- Graham poisoned
his sister's drink,

and she sensed there
was a bitterness

in the taste of the drink and
didn't drink at all, in fact.

And then on the way to work,

she started suffering
hallucinations on the bus.

As a result of that, she
was taken to hospital.

[tense music]

- Graham poisoned his
sister with Belladonna,

a flower also called nightshade.

It has a long
history of being used

as a medicine in low doses,

as a poison in higher doses,

and it was used
in the Renaissance

to dilate the pupils
of the ladies.

That was considered
very beautiful.

And it has very
bad side effects,

and the most notorious one is
hallucinations and delirium.

- Graham was really
very enterprising

when it came to
obtaining poisons.

He seems to have begun by going
around various chemist shops

in the neighbourhood and
rummaging through their bins,

and taking whatever bottles
and boxes of poisons

and potions that he could
find, including ether.

Then he began using
his pocket money

and going in and legitimately
buying chemicals and poisons.

He used fake names, including
M.E. Evans and also Hawley,

which is clearly a
reference to Dr. Crippen.

And the interesting thing is
he went to a local chemist,

Edgar Davis, and
they didn't realise

that he was still a child.

They thought he was an
appropriate age, at least 17,

to be able to buy poisons.

And because he had so
much chemical knowledge,

they assumed he was a student

and therefore there to
purchase poisons legitimately.

[ominous music]

- He was somebody that
was clearly fascinated

with chemistry and poisoning,

and people around him
were becoming ill.

But then on the other hand,
nobody would suspect somebody,

especially a boy that young,

to actively be trying to hurt
and poison people around him.

- Poison as your choice
of weapon is invisible.

You can't see it. He's not
carrying around a knife.

He's not carrying around a gun.

And so he can be quite clever,

quite cute about how and when
he administers his poison.

And I think it enabled
him the freedom

to poison people
at certain times,

stop, allow things
to settle down,

and then start again
with another victim.

His stepmother bore the brunt,

because she, of course,
replaced his mother in the home.

- Graham was regularly dosing
Molly with tartar emetic,

which is antimony,

and that is going to
cause diarrhoea, vomiting.

But with the long-term use,

it led her to lose a
great deal of weight,

about four stone in
a few months' time,

and to become very weak and
to start losing her hair.

So much so that she
had to stop work.

And at that point,

she was at home far more
frequently with Graham,

and he started to look after
her as a kind of carer.

He would go to the chemist
shop to get her medications.

He would bring
cups of tea to her.

But of course, all the time,

he was dosing her to
watch the effects.

And eventually, she began
to become extremely weak.

- With those who poison,

they often take a
really keen interest

in what's happening
to the victim.

They often start to play nurse,

and they become this kind
of caring personality.

It's all part of this control,
getting pleasure, really,

from watching
someone in such pain.

- [VO] Since the
beginning of this year,

I have on occasions put
antimony tartrate solution

and powder on foods at home,

which both my mother
and father have taken.

They have become ill
as the result of it.

My mother lost weight
all the time through it,

and I stopped giving it to her
about February of this year.

[ominous music]

- If you think about if you
go to a GP or a hospital

with vomiting and diarrhoea,

the first assumption
is not gonna be,

"Oh, you were poisoned
with antimony."

You're gonna think you have a
stomach flu, food poisoning.

So unless you knew specifically
what you were looking for,

you can be confused by other
diseases and other problems.

[ominous music]

- Not only was Graham
readily dosing Molly,

but she was also suffering
from the aftereffects

of a rather serious
bus accident,

where she had been
thrown out of her seat

so that her head hit
the ceiling of the bus,

causing neck problems.

So she suffered with
all of that for months,

until, finally, Graham
seems to have decided

to try a different
poison on her.

[dramatic music]

- Thallium is one of
those famous poisons

that is talked
about in literature,

and it was used by many
other famous poisoners,

because it is the
perfect poison.

They call it the
poisoner's poison

'cause it's
flavourless, colourless.

Very small amount will
have a very serious effect,

and the symptoms are
not specific enough

that you would not think about
poisoning if you saw them.

- Graham realised that
he had the power of life

and death over people.

He poisoned Chris Williams
for a period of weeks

until he had to stop,

but he had that boy's
health in his hands.

He poisoned Molly for months

and constantly had her health
and wellbeing in his hands.

And then at Easter,

he made the decision
that he would kill her.

He dosed her with
the enormous dose

of 20 grains of thallium.

So if you do the maths,

20 grains of thallium
is just over a gramme,

which in modern terms is going
to be quite a large quantity

that you could easily see
if you had it in a spoon.

But he managed to
hide it in her food,

and that was a killing dose.

- Dying from thallium
poisoning would've been

a very painful death.

The way that the nerves
get attacked progressively

in your body.

I've seen it described as
burning, pain, and needles.

It seems quite horrifying,

and not just painful,
but also slow.

So that would've taken a
while to cause the effects

that would finally be fatal.

- When Molly died in April 1962,

Graham's reaction was
one of deep sorrow.

He cried a lot.

He stuck very close to his
father for the whole week.

He went into Molly's bedroom

and played her
music boxes, crying.

When his father went to make
the funeral arrangements,

Graham went with him.

But interestingly, it
was Graham who suggested

that Molly's body
ought to be cremated.

And that is indeed
what happened.

She was cremated,

and her ashes were
scattered at Golders Green.

And of course, that
was perfect for Graham

because it meant that there
could be no traces left

of his crime.

♪ Nobody wants

♪ To talk about it

- The cause of
death was attributed

to the accident she
had been involved in

some time earlier with a bus.

[sombre music]

- Graham actually went
to collect Molly's
death certificate,

and I do wonder whether,
in his own dark mind,

this was almost like some
sort of award or achievement

or like a symbol for the
end of his experiment.

♪ There's something
sweet about death ♪

- [Narrator] Each new chemical
experiment is a further step

in learning to apply chemistry
to practical problems.

- Molly's death
didn't deter Graham.

If anything, it seems
to have emboldened him

to want to carry on with
his macabre experiments.

- Graham's father
went into hospital

soon after Molly's funeral,

and he was desperately ill,

suffering terrible
sickness, as I recall,

and various other horrendous
symptoms of poisoning.

That's the point at which
he became very suspicious

about Graham and stopped him
visiting him in hospital.

[sombre music]

- By May 1962, Graham's
science teacher was beginning

to realise that the illnesses
amongst Graham's friends,

the recent death
in Graham's family,

the fact that his father
had been committed

to hospital suffering from
gastrointestinal problems,

all of this was
rather suspicious.

So one day after school,

he looked inside Graham's
desk and discovered poisons,

and that led him to
be deeply suspicious.

So at that point he
goes to the headmaster,

and between them they
decide that they need

to contact the authorities.

So the very next day, a
child guidance counsellor,

a psychologist who was
working with the police,

had an interview with Graham.

They told him it was a
careers guidance interview.

And during the course
of this discussion,

the psychologist realised
that Graham's interest

in poisons was such

that it was just a
little bit suspicious,

and they thought that there's
a link here between this boy,

his interest in
poisons and poisoning,

the death of his stepmother,
the illness of his father.

That very day, a police
detective went to the house

to talk to Graham.

The detective arrested Graham

on the suspicion of having
poisoned his sister.

And this was very,
very shocking.

A child of this age to
be actually under arrest

by the police brought in
for formal questioning

is very unusual.

- He openly admits that
he's poisoned a friend,

his own sister,
and his own father.

It feels like he's even
talking about his actions

with a hint of pride.

- [VO] I can't
think of anyone else

that I've given poison to.

And I know that the doses I
was giving were not fatal,

but I knew I was doing wrong.

It grew on me like a drug habit

except that it wasn't me
who was taking the drug.

I realised how stupid I've
been with these poisons.

I knew this all along,
but I couldn't stop.

- For him, watching poisons act

on other human beings
was like a drug.

It was an obsession,

something that he really
couldn't do without.

It gave him a sense
of power and control,

which he actually admitted to,

that it was the power that
he was really obsessed with.

- [Narrator] When
the drug wears off,

he wants that pleasant
feeling again.

But he finds he has to
keep increasing the dose.

The more he uses,

the more he needs to get that
same feeling of wellbeing.

- During the course of
the police interview,

Graham finally revealed

that he had a large
collection of poisons.

He had his own chemistry set,

which was a gift from
his father, in his room.

He had some other of the poisons

that he'd managed
to procure and buy,

but he also revealed
to detectives

that he had quite a large
stash of poisons kept

in a hut near a local reservoir.

And not only that,

he kept other stashes
of poisons in a hedge.

So he had at least three
different locations

where he kept his large
collection of poisons.

And of course, we ought not
to forget that this is a boy

of only 14 years of age.

He's like an evil genius.

He's actually thinking
ahead, thinking,

"Well, what if somebody
finds my stash here?

Well, if I keep it here,

that one perhaps
will never be found."

He's very clever.
He thinks ahead.

He's always really got
an eye on what he wants,

which is to have poisons,

to use poisons to be able
to observe their effects,

and not be suspected.

- [Narrator] Orderly
storage is very important.

Some products may deteriorate.
Others are highly flammable.

All must be catalogued
efficiently and
handled with care.

- Graham was remanded in custody

to a young offenders institution
at Ashford in Middlesex.

And of course,
while he was there,

he was interviewed by one of
the prison medical officers,

who later recalled
that Graham said

he was missing his antimony.

He was missing the sense
of power that it gave him.

And that clearly indicates

that Graham was sort of
suffering from withdrawal

at that point, the sense
of power and control.

It's like he had an addiction.

His addiction was to
poisoning other people.

And when he was
remanded in custody

and unable to feed
that addiction,

he started to feel a bit edgy.

It really started to affect
him in a negative way.

- We know that in the weeks
leading up to his trial,

Graham attempted suicide
on two occasions:

once by poisoning himself,

and once by attempting to hang
himself using his own tie.

Generally speaking, hanging
tends to be quite final,

and is a very severe
and effective method

of suicide compared to, for
example, taking an overdose.

Graham doesn't strike me as an
attention seeker in general.

Throughout most of his life,
in fact, he was the opposite.

He was much of a loner.

He was quite withdrawn,
he was quite isolated.

The exception being he
did actually take pride

in his poisoning activities.

- Graham was initially charged

with having administered
a noxious thing

with intent to cause
grievous bodily harm

to his sister Win.

And then over a week later,

two additional charges of
administering a noxious thing

with intent to cause grievous
bodily harm were laid

against him with
respect to his father

and his school friend,
Chris Williams.

The police and members of
Graham's family had suspicions

about the nature
of Molly's death,

but of course, there
was no evidence.

Her body had been cremated.

So his plan had worked. He'd
gotten away with murder.

♪ I keep my hopes up

♪ And I'm walking the
streets over bodies ♪

- Graham actually
asked his sister

to bring in the newspaper
articles, et cetera,

related to his trial.

So to me, this show some
elements of narcissism.

He's obviously quite
proud of his own work.

♪ This is the moment

♪ It's the moment we
take from the main line ♪

- He was quite
excited by his infamy,

by his newfound notoriety.

He clearly revelled in the fact

that he was known to
members of the public now,

and that the news
media were interested

in what he was doing.

He found status.

A status that he
maybe didn't have

as a child helped
him feel rooted,

that he was important
at something.

♪ I keep my hopes up

♪ And I'm turning the
stone into stories ♪

- After Central criminal court

for those offences
as a 14-year-old,

he was sentenced under the
mental health section 59

to Broadmoor Mental Asylum,

not to be released for 15 years.

- Broadmoor in the 1960s
was a lunatic asylum.

When we look at the
history of Broadmoor,

we can see the most prolific,
criminally insane offenders

in England and Wales
being sent there,

being housed under its roof.

Graham Young grew up on
the fringes of his family.

Lots of people in prison
find themselves feeling quite

at home in prison

because they develop very
important relationships.

And I think Graham felt
quite content at times

in being in Broadmoor.

- Graham was apparently
the youngest person

who'd been sent to
Broadmoor since 1885,

and I think his situation
was extremely unique.

The vast majority of people

who would be in high-secure
hospitals like Broadmoor

would've committed
physical violence.

And that's simply because when
we look at mental illnesses,

you know, intense paranoia
or hearing voices,

the sufferer is much
more likely to lash out

with violence rather
than do something

that's calm and calculated
such as poisoning.

- [Narrator] In
order to know exactly

which substances we have,

we can analyse them and find
out the elements they contain.

- Graham was assessed by
three different psychiatrists

within weeks of his
admission to Broadmoor.

Two of them felt quite
certain that he was suffering

from some form of
psychopathic disorder.

The other, the third,

thought that it was some form
of incipient schizophrenia.

The fact that the three
of them did not agree

on the diagnosis suggests

that Graham was a very,
very complex case,

and that the way forward

with him might never
have been entirely clear.

- When he was sent to Broadmoor,

he was visited by his
aunt and his sister.

He admitted to them

that he had poisoned
his stepmother.

- [VO] I gave Molly 20 grains

of thallium the night
before she died.

I put it on a trifle.

I knew she would
die the next day

because I gave her so much.

And I gave Daddy antimony.

They're completely
different poisons.

One stops the kidneys from
working, that's antimony,

the other disintegrates
the bones.

That's why they didn't find out.

- All we know
about Molly's death

is what Graham has
chosen to share with us,

because there was
no evidence other

than what he told his family.

- The officers and the
inmates became paranoid

about Graham's presence
in the institution.

And they were
particularly concerned

when he was out in the
grounds at Broadmoor

because at that time,

there were many,
many laurel bushes.

- Laurel is a very common
decorative plant that contains,

in the leaves and in
the seeds, cyanide.

So with access to
the right equipment,

it could have been
very easily distilled

into what is called
laurel water.

- In August 1962, a fellow
patient was found to have died

from the effects of cyanide.

But there was no evidence

that Young had actually
distilled this poison,

and the final decision was

that this patient had
died from suicide.

But with hindsight, I think
we have to have a little bit

of suspicion that Graham
may have had something

to do with this.

- The officer inside Broadmoor,

he disclosed that
people had become ill

since Graham was admitted.

And it was later discovered

that he had actually
poisoned the tea

in the tea urn in fact,

and that people had gone
down sick as a result of it.

And there was also a suggestion

that he poisoned one
of his fellow inmates

because he'd been snoring a
lot and keeping Graham awake.

- [VO] The sight and sound
of the pain it gave them,

you might say it was
a sexual pleasure.

- For him, it was
all about power.

You know, he actually was
quite turned on in some ways

by having that level of control

over someone's life
and potential death.

And for him, it was about
how far he could push it.

- [VO] Dear Chris, I hope
that you are keeping well.

Just a few lines to let you
know how I'm getting on.

It's not too bad a place here.

The food is pretty good,

and there are things to
occupy me some of the time.

There is television
to watch at night

and the wireless to
listen to during the day.

There's also billiards
and snooker, et cetera.

How are things with you?

I get occasional reports about
you from my spies in Neasden.

[tense music]

- When he was in Broadmoor,

Graham wrote to his
friend Chris Williams,

whom he'd been poisoning
not very long earlier,

and behaved as though there
was really no problem.

It sort of gives us a few
insights into Graham's mind,

really into the mind
of a psychopath.

Because again, it seems like
he's trying to exert control,

but from a distance,

keeping Chris close
by writing to him

and not ever really
acknowledging

that he's caused this boy harm.

- There's no indication
of an apology

or any kind of remorse.

And I think that shows
us Graham's mind state.

So not only was
he so indifferent

and did he lack any kind
of regret in his actions,

but also, I think he struggled

to understand what is
socially acceptable.

I think he had very
poor social skills.

- Graham first attempted
to get parole in 1965,

but the members of his
family told the psychiatrist

that they would not accept

to have him come home
to live with them.

And Graham at the same time
had not been behaving in a way

that led the
psychiatrists to believe

that he was ready for release.

But the thing about
psychopathy is that,

and Graham had
already shown this,

psychopaths tend
to be very clever,

and they're also able to learn

from their environment
and to take cues.

So he began to watch
the other patients,

and just to learn
and figure out,

what do I need to do in
order to be released?

And when he started
to behave in a way

that showed the psychiatrists

that he was apparently
turning a corner

and heading towards cure,

that meant that he could see
light at the end of the tunnel.

- [VO] My dearest Win,

many apologies from your
wicked, neglectful brother

for failing to write to you

for such an
unconscionably long time.

I have, however, some good
news to import to you.

I had an interview with the
estimable Edgar last Friday,

and he told me whether

or not a formal recommendation
has yet gone in.

I've had several conversations

with the home office about you,

and I've got things
moving at the end.

He also said, "I'm
going to discharge you

in the latter half
of this year."

As you see from my quotes,
the pot is now almost boiling.

- On some level,

he thought of all of
this as a bit of a joke.

He wasn't really taking

the whole process
particularly seriously.

- He's thinking of himself
as this sort of anti-hero

that's gonna come
back out of prison

and continue on his
quest, you know,

to right the wrongs
of his childhood.

Being different was
actually a form of power.

- [VO] Just think,
Win, another few months

and your friendly neighbourhood
Frankenstein will be

at liberty once again.

♪ Stop defending
what you've done ♪

- Does he mean Dr.
Victor Frankenstein,

or is he referring to
Frankenstein's monster?

I would say that he's referring
to Dr. Victor Frankenstein,

the evil genius who is a
scientist doing research,

doing science from motives
that he thinks of as pure.

So one suspects that
Graham was really desperate

to get back out into the world

and really start experimenting
again with poisons.

- He seems to have
got on reasonably well

with staff at the beginning,

but he said to a
particular nurse,

"I'm going to kill one person

for every year that
I've spent in here."

♪ I'm not afraid,
it's just begun ♪

[ominous music]

- He stated that
categorically to a nurse,

and in spite of it,
he was released.

Having originally been given
a 15-year term in Broadmoor,

he was released after eight.

- His doctor had determined

that he should be released.

Subsequently, all the
agencies got together,

and it was agreed that
should be the case,

that he didn't cause any
risk to the general public.

- Broadmoor is a hospital.
It's not a prison.

And so everybody is there for
treatment of overt symptoms.

So if Graham wasn't displaying
anything like aggression

or paranoid thoughts, there's
not really a clinical reason

to keep him there longer.

[tense music]

- Graham is released,

and, by all accounts,
well, by his account,

he had no intentions of
going back to his bad habits.

But he happened to be drinking
in a pub outdoors one day,

and a number eight
bus passed him.

He was in London.

And he instantly
was brought back

to his childhood neighbourhood

because he knew the
number eight bus

would go past the
chemist, Edgar Davis',

where he'd been buying
poisons in the early 1960s.

And that apparently seems
to have acted as a trigger.

Clearly he'd been
thinking about it

throughout his
time in Broadmoor.

He learned to control
and manage his instincts,

and to hide them from the
psychiatrist entirely,

or he wouldn't
have been released.

He wanted to be a
famous poisoner,

and he couldn't
really help himself.

He had an addiction. Graham
Young was addicted to poisoning.

- [Narrator] In a profession
where the health of a nation

and human life are concerned-

- Thank you.
- there can be no margin

for error.

- Having left Broadmoor,

Graham initially went to live
with his sister, I believe,

who had showed
tremendous understanding
in view of the fact

that she'd been one
of his early victims.

And then he found lodgings
in Hamel Hemstead.

- He applied for and got a
job working in the stores

for a photographic supply
company called Hadlands

in Bovington, in Hertfordshire,

a job for which he
was well suited.

- [VO] I have privately
studied chemistry,

organic and inorganic
pharmacology,

and toxicology over
the past 10 years,

and have, therefore,
some knowledge

of photographic
chemicals and usage.

- Graham applying for a
job in a company like this

is like a kid applying
for a job in a sweet shop.

Absolutely perfect
for a man like him.

♪ It'll be like home

[gentle uplifting music]

- Graham Frederick
Young, who was then 24,

was the prime suspect.

Enqueries were made at
the criminal record office

at Scotland Yard to find

that the same Graham
Frederick Young had,

in 1962,

been convicted of
administering poison

to his father, his
sister Winifred,

and a school friend.

[sombre music]

- Well, because we were informed

that he had a sister
living in Leverstock Green,

which is a suburb
of Hemel Hempstead,

I went and saw his sister to
find out where Graham was.

And of course, she told
me that he was staying

with an uncle or
aunt in Sheerness.

She obviously knew that Graham
had been up to poison again.

That's why we were
looking for him.

We got the Sheerness
police to arrest him.

When they did arrest him,
for murder, as they told him,

he said, "Which one?"

[sombre music]

- Later on that
Saturday evening,

Mr. Kirkpatrick and some
others took him back

to Hamel Hempstead,

arriving at about six o'clock
the following morning.

- Most of the witnesses
were telling people

that they felt sick
after drinking tea

or coffee made by Graham Young.

- It appeared that
it would've been

a relatively
straightforward process.

Somebody going to the tea lady,
picking up a cup of coffee,

and taking it back
to their colleague.

There would've been
plenty of opportunity

to stop along the way
along the corridor quietly

and just drop in this thallium,

which was tasteless
and invisible.

And whoever was on the
receiving end of it

wouldn't have been any the wiser

from knowing that
they just had a dose.

- Graham could actually
target particular individuals.

So once he had his
supply of poisons,

he had members of the
workforce that he could poison.

And he had easy access to them

because he would bring
them cups of tea,

which he had, of course,
doctored with chemicals.

- I was tasked with
interviewing Mr. Jethro Batt,

one of the victims.

He was hospitalised in Harlow

at the Princess
Alexander Hospital.

I was told not to inform him

that Mr. Biggs had
died on the Friday

because his condition was such

that it might have
sent him backwards.

He looked bad, beginning to
lose his hair on his head.

Jethro quite often
stayed doing overtime

at John Hadlands
until seven o'clock.

Graham Young also
stayed pretty regularly.

And instead of him having
to wait until half seven

for a bus back to
Hamel Hempstead,

which was about two
and a half miles away,

Jethro kindly
offered him a lift.

It was always Jethro's habit,

about quarter past
six, half six,

to make himself a cup of tea.

This particular evening,

who comes in carrying two
steaming cups of tea, but Young?

This surprised Jethro 'cause
he'd never done that before.

- Graham actually made
a joke at that time

along the lines of, "Well,
I'm not gonna poison you."

Maybe he just didn't care.

Maybe he felt quite
cocky, quite confident,

given that nobody had
seemingly found out

about his poisonous past.

[hopeful music]

- Over that weekend,

Jethro took very bad with
aches and pains in the limbs.

He had hallucinations, delirium.

He said he was in
a World War trench

with bayonets
coming down on him.

He was also on a mortuary slab.

- At this time, I was
getting this feeling

that somebody had put
on an old, you know,

the old duelling
glove, the mail glove,

you know, the metal glove,

and they'd somehow got
right inside my ribs.

And they were grabbing
hold of what was inside

and just squeezing and
twisting like that.

And that's no word of a lie.

- That's when you asked
me for the gun, wasn't it?

- Yeah, that was.

- When he got to
the point of asking

for a gun to shoot himself.

You know, he was in that

agony.
- He did that?

[sombre music]

- Now, Jethro, if he'd
have finished that tea,

he would've been dead within
a week, from all accounts.

If we hadn't already
got a suspect,

Graham Frederick Young
would've been top of the list

based on what
Jethro had told us.

His lodgings were tracked
down and was searched.

There were files,
poisons, books on poisons.

The wall, he had Third
Reich, depictions of death,

and they found, although
they didn't know what it was,

but in the top pocket
of a jacket hanging up

behind the door was a
file of white powder.

That turned out to be a file

that he had said later

retained as his exit dose.

[dramatic music]

- And then the full nature
of Graham Young was exposed.

That he was a guy who
was utterly fascinated

by extreme right-wing
ideology and toxicology.

They were his twin obsessions

and really amounted
to his entire life.

- [Narrator] It is human life
with which he is dealing,

the most precious
commodity of all.

- They searched
his flat or bedsit

and found a diary that
he'd been keeping.

He began keeping this thing
on the 12th of October,

and the last entry was
the 17th of November,

two days before Fred Biggs died.

And this thing was a revelation
because they could see

that all of his colleagues
at Hadlands were referred

to using just their initials.

So "J" for Jethro Batt.

- [VO] October 21st.
"J" has also worsened.

His symptoms have
developed more slowly,

but he's now
experiencing severe pains

in the feet and legs, causing
difficulty in walking,

and further pains in the
stomach, back, and chest.

I feel rather ashamed of
my action in harming Jeff.

I think he's a
really nice fellow

and the nearest thing to a
friend that I have at Hadlands.

I hope, although I
have no faith in it,

that he will soon recover.

- It was quite explicit the
fact that he had initials

for whoever the
people he'd poisoned.

And then he'd obviously
looked at them

and seen the reaction that
his poisons had been given.

And he'd make remarks about
he needed to give them more

'cause the reaction wasn't
enough or what have you.

- [VO] "J" has developed
severe alopecia

and has lost weight.

The hospital is rechecking
all the tests previously made.

As yet, they do not
suspect an unnatural cause.

Whether or not their
tests will prove negative

depends upon a
number of factors.

The situation is fraught
with danger and uncertainty,

and I must watch the
situation extremely closely.

If it seems inevitable
that I shall be detected,

then I shall have
to destroy myself.

[sombre music]

There is no alternative.

- He suggests that
if suspicion starts

to address itself to him, he
might have to commit suicide.

Although how serious he ever
was about that is unknown.

But it's very clear that
he's making notations

as he's carrying out
scientific experiments

on a large number
of his colleagues.

[sombre music]

- It was a chilling document.

On one occasion, he
talks about David Tilson,

who was another victim,

and had become very
ill too, lost his hair.

- [VO] "D's" condition
continues to deteriorate.

He was admitted to
hospital this morning

with paralysis of the legs.

The lower peripheral
neuritis is now complete.

What other nerves,
at present inflamed,

will become subject
to major dysfunction

is not possible to
estimate at present.

There is little danger to life,

barring unforeseen
complications.

- David Tilson had been
taken to hospital very soon

after ingesting some thallium.

And Young was
saying in this diary

that he would perhaps take
him a miniature brandy

to get on his right side.

- [VO] This would, I
think, have been accepted,

and under my direction,
hastily swallowed.

The bottle being returned to me

on the grounds entirely logical

that the nurses may
otherwise discover the breach

of hospital discipline.

A precedent having
been thus established,

I would, upon my second visit,

have produced an
identical miniature

to be consumed in like manner.

The latter, however, would've
been previously doctored,

and would within 48
hours have brought

about a deterioration
of "D's" condition,

which, within a week,
would've terminated in death.

- He said in the diary
that he was gonna come

and visit me in hospital,
which happily he never did,

and give me another
dose to see me off,

because I hadn't taken
all of the original dose

because I don't
take sugar in tea.

And the tea that I
was given was sugared,

which is the reason I'm
here now talking to you.

And that's the only reason
as far as I can see.

- [VO] October 31st.

"D," though he is now
discharged from hospital,

is still unwell,

so I do not expect to
see him for some time.

His illness was
finally diagnosed

as an "unidentified virus."

- The diary gives us
as much information

as we're ever likely to have

about Graham Young's
actual motives.

One of the most distinctive
aspects of thallium poisoning

is the complete loss of hair.

And when his victims started
to show signs of alopecia,

Graham began to think, "I
need to kill them quickly

so that the alopecia doesn't
sort of move to completeness,

because that might lead
the doctors to suspect

that it's thallium and
not this Bovington bug.

- [VO] November 1st.

Some new developments:

"D" has relapsed and has
been readmitted to hospital.

A fresh and, to me, disturbing
symptom has appeared.

He has commenced to lose hair,

which, though at
present only slight,

is likely to progress
to alopecia totalis.

[ominous music]

- He's kind of
challenging himself to see

how long he can continue
poisoning this man.

How big would the dose
be, but yet not kill him?

What would the
cumulative effects be?

You can see that
Graham is behaving both

as a potential murderer,

but also as a scientist
who's deeply interested

in the scientific
effects of his actions

with this particular poison.

- [VO] November 3rd.
Disturbing events.

Apparently "D's" hair
loss was almost total,

and the hospital authorities
advanced the view

that "D's" illness may be due
to "some kind of poisoning."

This is a very dangerous
path for them to explore.

- Diana Smart was
employed in the stores

after the death of Mr. Egle

and worked with
Young and Mr. Biggs

as a storekeeper or
assistant storekeeper.

- I was sent to see Diana
Smart, who had been quite ill.

I had to tell her

that we were investigating
the sickness at the factory.

A lot of people were putting
it down to the water.

So she was rather surprised
that I was insistent

on seeing her that night

rather than waiting
for the next day,

- [VO] Di irritated me
intensely yesterday.

I only gave her sufficient
to shake her up,

though I now regret I didn't
give her a larger dose,

capable of laying her
up for a few days.

- He said about Diana Smart,

"I packed her off
because she annoyed me."

And that would result
in diarrhoea, sickness,

really strong pains
in the stomach.

She had probably said
something to him,

or he'd taken her the wrong way.

- [VO] There is
much to communicate

since my last entry.

Di, who I afflicted with a
mild attack of gastroenteritis

on October the 20th,

was subject to a further
indisposition on the 22nd,

the results of which
caused violent vomiting

and diarrhoea
throughout the weekend.

I believe she's now
suitably chastened.

- That was actually outside of
his usual mode of operation.

That really didn't fit in
with the Graham Young picture,

because he was
much more concerned

with the scientific
aspects of the process.

- Some of the writing, the
prose within Graham's diary,

is almost poetic,
but at the same time,

it's quite scientific.

There's not really that much
emotion coming from him.

This reflects how indifferent
and callous he was

to the lives of his victims.

[sombre music]

- [VO] "F," whom I grew to like,

has been the most recent
subject of my attentions.

I've administered a fatal dose

of the "special compound" to him

and anticipate reports
of his illness on Monday,

the 1st of November.

He should die within the week.

I gave him three separate doses,

each of about 5/6 grains.

The total absorbed should
be about 15/16 grains,

which constitutes a lethal dose.

- The most basic
principle of toxicology

is the dose makes the poison.

And what this means is that

with high enough
amounts of something,

everything can be a poison.

That's how medicines
work as well.

If you take one tablet
of your medicine,

it does the effect
that it's supposed to.

If you take a whole pack,

it'll have very bad effects.

The same thing happened
with these poisons,

and that's why they were
used as medicines back

in the day a lot.

If you had a very small
dose, you would've been fine.

A higher dose
would've been deadly.

[tense music]

- There's really
no interest or care

for how the victims feel.

But he's not doing
it specifically
because he's a sadist,

or at least he would say
that's not the reason.

It's because he wants to
see how the poisons work.

And he enjoys the power
that it gives him.

So the power of life and death,

deciding who will
live, who will die,

how long all of this will take.

So yes, there's an
element of sadism in it,

but from his perspective,
he's a scientist.

- [VO] November 1st.

I can as yet report
little of "F."

He was not at work today,

and his wife telephoned to
say that he had caught a "bug"

and that she was taking
him to the doctor.

As the dosage was divided
into three separate quantities

spanning a period of 24 hours,

the onset was likely to
have been less dramatic,

but a quite sudden deterioration

is to be expected
leading to paralysis,

organic brain disease,
and death within a week.

I shall be interested to see
what transpires tomorrow.

[dramatic music]

- He is very technical
in what he's writing.

It's very cold. You know,
it's very short sentences.

And I think he's writing
almost a sort of textbook,

a handbook, for
himself or for others,

you know, if they want to
replicate this behaviour

in the future.

- [VO] November 3rd.
"F" is no better.

Apparently his symptoms
are, at present,

principally gastrointestinal.

This should extend to
include neurological symptoms

within a very short time now.

Such symptoms normally develop
within four or five days

from the onset of
gastro-enteric upset.

His doctor apparently believes
that the illness is identical

to an outbreak of
vomiting and diarrhoea,

which is presently
sweeping the area.

- Graham was very
critical of the way

that the doctors were
caring for his victims,

the courses of action
that they were taking.

And again, this really just
shows his kind of snobbishness

for those experts.

The fact that he thinks
that he knows better.

Because of course, by this
time, he is a specialist.

He is an expert in
administering poison.

So he probably
has more knowledge

than the professionals
do themselves

in this particular area.

- [VO] November 17th.
I'm most annoyed.

The latest news
from the hospital

is they think "F" is beginning
to respond to treatment.

Of course, they're
not yet certain

and a relapse is
quite on the cards,

but it is still
extremely annoying.

He's surviving far too long.

For my peace of mind, it is
imperative that he passes on

before total alopecia sets in.

There is little of
interest other than this.

I hope that my next entry
records the fulfilment

of my wishes, or
at the very least,

a sharp decline
in F's condition.

- Thallium poisoning is one

of the most complex
toxicities known to man.

Within the first few hours,

you would see more
nonspecific symptoms,

like vomiting, diarrhoea,
stomach cramps.

After two to five days,

you'll start getting a
few more serious symptoms,

and that's when the nerves

in your extremities
start being affected.

So you start getting tingly,
you start getting pain,

you start getting
your balance affected,

and you get almost a burning,
very sharp pain in your feet,

your hands, up your legs.

After two weeks,
the motor control
progressively gets worse,

so it'll start affecting
your whole body.

And of course, when it starts
affecting your motor control,

it can also start to affect
your heart, your lungs,

and that's when it
can become lethal.

[gentle music]

I think it would've
been very horrible

and prolonged as well,

because it wouldn't be something
that kills you right away.

So it would've been a few weeks

of this pain getting
progressively worse,

and people not being able to
identify what was causing it.

- [Narrator] Care and
proficiency are demanded

by the very nature of his work,

by the knowledge
that in his hands

is the balance between
sickness and health.

Sometimes between
life and death.

- I was sent to see Mrs. Egle

to get her permission
to exhume the ashes.

I was very worried
because it was a big thing

to have to tell a
widow who had believed

that he died naturally,

that in fact it was believed
he may have been poisoned.

I was anxious all the way.

It wasn't very
nice news to give,

but she was very good
and very calm, really.

She'd accepted the fact
that he had died, you know,

so it wasn't as difficult
as it might have been.

I was able to get the statement

and to get permission from
her to exhume his ashes.

Luckily, they had
not been spread.

- Subsequently, of course,

in Mr. Egle's ashes
was found thallium.

- For the first time in
British criminal history,

evidence was based on traces
of poison found in the ashes.

And that was the first time ever

such a thing had been done
during a murder inquiry.

- It is absolutely fair to say

that had his ashes
actually been scattered

following his funeral,

his murder would never
have been detected,

exactly as Molly's murder
was never properly detected.

- I went to see Fred Biggs' wife

to get as detailed
statement from her,

which covered all his illnesses

from the time he
first became sick.

- Fred Biggs' family were told

that they couldn't bury him yet

because of the
ongoing investigation.

Of course, he was
subject to an autopsy.

And when they examined
his internal organs

and subject them to
toxicological analysis,

thallium is detected.

- We knew then that we
definitely had two murders

on our hands.

[sombre music]

- Normally, I wouldn't remember

who I met for the first
time 52 years ago,

but obviously, Graham Young
made quite an impact on me.

He was sitting in what
was quite a small cell

at the bottom of
the police station.

He was extremely polite.

He was a small man,
sharpish features,

very similar to the photograph
which he wanted published

because he thought it made
him look, I don't know, evil.

But the fact of the matter

is he actually looked
like that all of the time.

- [VO] I'll tell you
about the two deaths

and about the sickness
of the other two.

I cannot tell you
the agent I used.

The whole story is too terrible.

You'll be disgusted and amazed.

- His interview, he was really
toying with the officers

and playing on the
fact that his knowledge

of poisons was such
that, you know,

none of us would've been aware
of the effects of poison.

- Graham was in his element.

He was cocky, he was proud.

He wanted to explain to
the police the effects

of these poisons, and he wanted
someone who would listen.

And that's interesting,
very interesting.

Because he was rather
proud of his achievements,

and he wanted to share them.

Probably he wanted to just
show off a little bit.

- He might have
tried to convince me

or educate me on poisons
and their effects,

et cetera, but it
wasn't my interest.

[sombre music]

- In questioning Graham,

the police had noted
that his diary referred

to having observed two
previously fatal cases.

- [VO] The case
interests me greatly

as it affords me an opportunity
to observe the effects

of a sub lethal dosage.

My previous experience
of the drug has been only

of lethal doses, which
in both instances led

to rapid deterioration
and death.

- At the point at which this
entry in the diary was made,

only Bob Egle had died.

So the police were wondering,
who is the other victim?

And Graham confessed.
It was my stepmother.

- [VO and Katherine] I killed
her with thallium in 1962.

- During the inquiry,

it was known that Young's
stepmother had died

when he was about 13.

It was decided initially
to look at this again.

For whatever reason, thereafter,

which was above my station,

it was decided not to pursue it.

He was charged, obviously,

first with the
murder of Mr. Biggs,

and subsequently with
the murder of Mr. Egle;

and then two attempted murders

by poisoning with thallium on
David Tilson and Jethro Batt.

He was also charged
with various offences

of administering poison
to other employees.

- Although the charges
were quite complicated

and obviously
very, very serious,

Graham Young understood exactly
what he was charged with.

He totally understood
the level of evidence

that had to be
found against him,

that he had to be found guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt.

And even more so,

he understood the technical
side of the trial.

By that I mean, of course,

the scientific evidence,
the chemical evidence,

and the details of the
finding of the poisons

in either the
bodies or the ashes

of the individuals involved.

- [Mr. Harvey] Do
you feel any remorse?

- [VO] No, Mr. Harvey,
that would be hypocritical.

What I feel is
emptiness of my soul.

- In those days, if you
were charged with an offence

and were remanded in custody,
you had to be returned

to the magistrate's court
every week to be resentenced,

so to speak.

So Young would be coming back.

He would be taken by prison
van from Brixton Prison.

I always remember when he'd
come back after the Christmas,

said, "Oh, Graham, how
did your Christmas go?"

And he would never give
you a straight answer.

But he sort of thought
for a while and then said,

"Well, let me put it this way.

It wouldn't have done
Cromwell justice."

And I'm still thinking
about that, what he meant.

[sombre music]

- It was my job to go
and see Graham Young

at Brixton Prison.

And I used to do
that, I would think,

probably two or
three times a month.

One day, to my surprise,

Graham produced a tube of
sweets from his jacket pocket

and offered me one.

Now, this was an interesting
situation for me.

So I looked at him.

I thought, "This man's charged

with poisoning his
family and his friends."

And as I looked at him, he said,

"Peter, what are
you worried about?

You don't think that I'd
poison my lawyer, do you?"

And I said, "Well,
no, maybe not."

And I think the only thing
that makes sense here

with my reaction is that I
was nearly 22 at the time.

I was a young, macho man,

and I wasn't going to have
him have one over on me.

So I took the sweet,
I ate it, I went home,

and I stayed as close to a
telephone as I possibly could

for the next 48 hours.

[sombre music]

- [VO] At present, I
exist in a sort of limbo,

my remand having finished
and my trial yet to come.

I can imagine how
anxious you are

to see the whole
thing finished with.

I too wish to see the end
of this unfortunate episode.

I trust that it
will end in victory.

The alternative would
be the finish of me.

- In the intervening decades
since his first trial

at the Old Bailey, Graham
had learned a thing or two.

In 1962, he pleaded guilty,

and there was therefore
very little publicity.

In 1972, he deliberately
pleaded not guilty

so that there would be
a trial in open court.

And of course, it was subject

to a lot of
journalistic interest.

- I think that he's
actually quite narcissistic

and quite arrogant,

and I think he wanted
the glory of the trial.

- Maybe he was
thinking that he wanted

to go down in history, just
like his childhood idols,

William Palmer and Dr. Crippen,

both of whom still were
talked about, really,

even by members of the public.

I think Graham wanted to be
better known than they were,

for everyone to know his name.

That was his ultimate goal.
He's reverting back to type.

He's always wanted to
be a famous poisoner,

like a comic book villain,

and he wants the world to
know what he has achieved.

- [VO] Make me so
famous that I wind up

in the Chamber of Horrors
at Madame Tussauds.

I want to go down in history
as a really famous murderer.

- Graham Young's demeanour
at the trial was interesting

because he was
confident throughout.

He was confident
because of his knowledge

of the various issues involved.

He was confident because of
his knowledge of the products

that he was supposed to
have poisoned people with.

And I think, above
all, he was confident

because he was exactly
where he wanted to be

at that particular time:

at the centre of attention
of a serious trial.

- Graham's trial
started in June 1972

at St. Albans Crown Court,

and the police
felt quite certain

that the diary was going
to be foolproof evidence

to convict this serial poisoner.

- [VO] It is set
out in diary form,

but it is not a number of
entries set out over a period

of days or weeks.

It is a document which was
completed on one occasion.

The diary, as it were, was
the exposition of a theory,

not one I seriously held,
a somewhat fanciful one,

which I outlined for
my own amusement,

although that's not
a very apt word.

- The excuse he
gave for his diary,

as it was called,

was that he was
considering writing a book.

And these were just notes.

He was using his workmates just

as possible victims in the book.

- [VO] The illnesses
were unusual in origin,

and many of us were naturally
concerned to know their cause.

A number of things
sprang to mind,

one being virus infection.

Something that also
sprang to mind,

well, to my mind, at any rate,

was the similarity
of symptoms displayed

by people at the firm

and the symptoms of
heavy metal poisoning.

In consequence, I decided
to elaborate my theory

and suggest circumstances

under which these things
could have come about.

- Without a doubt, this
so-called diary wasn't a diary,

it was all written on one day,

and that it was meant to be
the beginning or the basis

for a work of fiction
that he was gonna write.

- [Narrator] The chemist is
the optimist of the world.

For him, there is
no stick or stone,

but what may yield, under
analysis and synthesis,

the promise of some
great sickness cured.

[sombre music]

- The prosecution's case was

that he had bought these poisons

for the purposes of
poisoning individuals.

Graham always said that
he had the chemicals,

he preferred that word
rather than poisons,

with him for the purpose

of carrying out
chemistry experiments,

which, as we know, he had
been doing right and wrong

for many years by then.

The most interesting
part of the trial was

when Graham Young was
cross-examined by Mr. Leonard,

who was the QC representing
the prosecution.

- Graham did show
off his intellect,

and he was actually
quite bright,

by making the prosecuting
barrister look a complete idiot

by asking him a question
something along the lines of,

"Do you really believe
that a serial poisoner

would do such a
thing, Your Honour?"

And the barrister
said, "I don't know.

I've never met a
serial poisoner."

And Graham said,
"Thank you, sir."

- And he bowed at him.

And Mr. Leonard,

obviously realising that Graham
had got the better of him,

suddenly shuffled his papers,
made some general remarks,

and backed away from the battle.

It was an extraordinary
experience.

There's no doubt at all that
Graham Young enjoyed his trial.

It was generally a situation
that almost his whole life

had been leading
up to, I suspect.

And he made the best of it.

- I think in court,

Graham is showcasing the
classic signs of a psychopath.

You know, he's
arrogant, he's detached.

He's enjoying his notoriety.

He's feeling superior to others.

You know, he's revelling
in this type of attention,

but he's also snobbish.

You know, he believes
he knows better.

He believes he's above the law,

because until this point,
he has been above the law.

Why would this time
be any different?

- And so this afternoon,

a quiet, intelligent,
rather studious young man

of 24 joined the shortlist of
notorious British poisoners

through the ages.

One can now add
the name of the man

who studied and idolised
them all, Graham Young.

- He was found guilty on
six of the eight charges,

and he was sentenced
to life imprisonment.

- One of the main parts
of his instructions

to us was that in the
event he was found guilty,

and obviously, a custodial
sentence was inevitable,

that he would go
to a normal prison

and not be sent back
to a mental hospital.

When he got the verdict
of a life sentence

and being committed
to a normal prison,

he was, strangely enough,

extremely happy
with that verdict.

Bearing in mind that
he'd been found guilty,

it was exactly what he wanted.

So maybe even at the
end of the trial,

he got his way as well.

- I think the fact that
Graham was very keen

to go to a prison rather

than a mental institution
really highlights the fact

that he was very, very
keen to be seen as evil.

You know, this criminal
mastermind who, you know,

was in full control
of what he's doing.

He was very rational about that.

You know, he didn't want
to be seen as someone

who was suffering from severe
mental health problems.

Because then, of course,

he's labelled as sick
and ill and crazy

when he wants to be fully
in control of the situation.

He wants to be the
evil mastermind.

- Because of the
legal requirements,

the Broadmoor history
could not be revealed

at the trial itself

because it would obviously
be prejudicial information.

And so the jury was completely
ignorant of Graham's past

when they actually came to
their conclusions about him.

- At that particular point,

it was announced
that Graham Young

not only had previous
convictions for
poisoning people,

but also that he had been
released from Broadmoor after,

I think, less than
10 years in there,

with his psychiatrist stating
that he was no longer a risk.

Obviously, this was gonna cause
a major political clamour,

and this duly happened.

- Immediately after the case,

the home secretary,
Reginald Maudling,

instigated a review
of the procedures

for releasing prisoners
from Broadmoor

and other similar institutions.

The reforms also
included new measures

regarding the sale of
poisons over the counter.

- There's a catalogue of
mistakes that occurred

that allowed Graham to go on
his second poisoning spree

after he left Broadmoor.

The most obvious one is
a lack of communication.

I think that the authorities
should have had more

of an effort to kind of
communicate with each other,

to let probation,
the police services,

even his potential future
employers know about his history

to keep everybody safe.

- I think, in retrospect,

that was the most staggering
aspect of the case.

That first of all, that
he had been released,

and should never
have been released.

Even his own father argued
against his release.

But nevertheless,
the psychiatrists at
Broadmoor insisted

that he was perfectly safe.

There wasn't even
a pause, really,

between his release
from Broadmoor

and his poisoning activities.

I mean, he went
straight back into it.

It was perfectly natural
for him to do that.

And I think that's really
the one feature of the case

that people were appalled about.

And I think that's
why the government

of the day took it so seriously

and instantly introduced reforms

to make sure that such a
thing never happened again.

[grim music]

- Maybe 15 years
after the trial,

I went to Madame Tussauds
with my children.

I was in there looking around,

and I suddenly found myself
face to face with Graham Young,

life size and in wax.

I was totally shocked. I
had no idea he was there.

Wasn't somebody I'd
expected to see there,

and it was really a very,
very strange experience.

- The fact that he was there

alongside people like
Crippen and Palmer

and all the rest of them,

that might have appealed to him.

And I'm sure that gave
him much pleasure.

- Yeah, he's melted down now,

which is the best idea
that could have happened.

- [Narrator] A solution may be
safe in a cylindrical vessel

because of its shape.

But in a spherical one,

the result could be disastrous.

- Graham Young died
at the age of 42

of a heart attack whilst
in Parkhurst Prison.

There are many thoughts that he,

in fact, died of
poisoning himself.

- It's just possible that he
either died at his own hands,

or was poisoned
by his colleagues.

I don't think there's any doubt

that there would've been a
lot of disquiet in the prison

about his presence.

- 42 does seem
exceptionally young

for somebody to
have a heart attack,

unless they've got some
sort of cardiac pathology.

So if he did poison himself,

it almost seems like quite
a fitting end to the story.

It's almost like he's
managed to go full circle.

And if he managed
to do it in prison,

that's actually, you
know, quite clever.

It's quite an achievement to
be able to get the poison in

and to be able to do it in a way

that it wasn't detected
in the autopsy.

Almost feels like
one final achievement

in being able to
outwit the authorities.

- The hardest
thing to understand

about this whole experience,

all the activities
of Graham Young,

what happened at home and
then later what happened

at Hadlands in Bovington,

is exactly why all
this was happening.

Most people kill people
or attempt to kill people

because they hate them,

are in a major
argument with them,

or need them gone for their
own financial benefit.

But Graham Young's
case was totally

and utterly different
from all of those.

He was, in essence, a
scientist without any morals,

without any sense of
society or how to behave,

and basically started
poisoning people

for one reason and
one reason only:

to see the effect the poison,

and the different doses of it,
had upon individual people.

- [VO] You are suggesting
I'm some kind of monster,

a mass murderer who just
poisons people regardless.

This is not so.

I suppose I'd cease
to see them as people,

or, more correctly,
a part of me had.

They became Guinea pigs.

- You could look at him and see

that he was a wrong'un
in way or another,

and he did have a
sinister look about him.

And that's true of
most mass murderers,

really, when you think about it.

They rarely look like
choir boys, do they?

[sombre music]

- Graham didn't really see

that what he was doing was
utterly and completely wrong.

He was like every
other scientist.

He was carrying out
his experiments.

So would he have stopped?

I don't see why
he would've done.

Normal scientists
don't stop, do they?

They go back to work,

and they get going
again the next morning.

I think the man was
extremely dangerous.

Anybody unlucky enough
to be near him

when he was at large was
in a great deal of danger.

I was lucky I only ever met
him when he was behind bars.

- Had he not been caught, I
think Graham would've kept going

because he was
obsessive about poisons.

I think that's what he did.

It's as simple as that.
That's what he was all about.

And I have no doubt at all

that he would've got
the eight victims

that he said he would
when he left Broadmoor.

You can imagine, can't you?

I mean, if you were
having a cup of tea

or something with Graham Young,

you'd feel uncomfortable
about it, wouldn't you?

[gentle piano music]

♪ There's something
sweet about death ♪

[gentle piano music]