Wake Up, Mummy: Rachel Nickell and the Killer Police Missed

Wake Up, Mummy: Rachel Nickell and the Killer Police Missed

From Serial Napper | True Crime for the Chronically Tired by Cloud10

June 9, 2026 · 1h 8m

About this episode

The episode discusses the murder of Rachel Nickell and the police's failure to identify the real killer, Robert Napper, while wrongfully targeting Colin Stagg.

In 1992, Rachel Nickell was murdered on Wimbledon Common while her two-year-old son watched helplessly. As Britain demanded answers, police became convinced they had found their killer. They hadn't. While investigators targeted Colin Stagg, the real murderer, Robert Napper, remained free. On a summer morning in South West London, 23-year-old Rachel Nickell set out for a walk with her son Alex and their dog Molly. What should have been an ordinary day ended in one of Britain's most shocking and high-profile murders. As the nation grieved, immense pressure mounted on the police to solve the case. Detectives became fixated on local dog walker Colin Stagg, launching a controversial undercover "honey trap" operation that would later be condemned by a judge as "deceptive conduct of the grossest kind." But while police focused on the wrong man, a violent serial offender was hiding in plain sight. Sources: https://time.com/article/2026/06/01/rachel-nickell-true-story-the-witness-netflix/ https://people.com/why-it-took-16-years-to-convict-man-who-raped-and-killed-model-in-broad-daylight-11991640…

Topics covered

  • murder investigation
  • wrongful accusation
  • true crime
  • police misconduct
  • serial killers

Keywords

  • Rachel Nickell
  • Colin Stagg
  • Robert Napper
  • Wimbledon Common
  • murder case
  • police investigation
  • true crime

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Wimbledon Common, South West London

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