New documentary about the murder of Lesley Molseed

Lesley Molseed

A new documentary about the murder of Lesley Molseed will be shown on Sky Crime on Monday night (18 December).

Sky Crime tells the story of Rochdale's Lesley, who was just 11 years old when she was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered.

Her body was found on Rishworth Moor three days after she went missing in 1975 and what followed was to result in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

Local man, Stefan Kiszko, was quickly arrested and convicted of Lesley’s murder. But it wasn’t until he had served 16 years in prison, that his legal team were able to prove – using ground-breaking forensic techniques – that Stefan couldn’t have been the murderer.

Stefan died the year after his release.

The case was then re-opened and in 2000, forensic scientists used new techniques to produce a DNA profile of Lesley’s killer. In 2006, Ronald Castree, who had previously given a sample after being arrested for another matter, was shown to be a one-in-a-billion match.

He was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison in 2007, over 30 years after Lesley had been killed. He attempted to appeal his conviction in 2008 but it was rejected.
 

Read more: Lesley Molseed murderer sentenced to minimum 30 yearsPublished: 12 November 2007

The episode of 'Forensics: Catching The Killer', recounts the story told by the detectives who led the cases to prove Kiszko’s innocence and convict the actual killer as well as the incredible lawyer who fought to free an innocent man.

Series 3 of the award-winning 'Forensics: Catching The Killer' tells the stories of nine murder cases – each one resolved thanks in part to the role of forensic science. In each episode, a single case is unpacked in detail to discover how the forensic work helped catch a killer.

Telling these true crime stories are those closest to the case – from the forensic officers and experts, police officers, family members, journalists, witnesses and friends, explaining how the investigation unfolded and how ultimately forensic science helped lead to the killer’s capture and conviction.

'Forensics: Catching The Killer' airs at 9pm on Sky Crime.