Murders at Little Bridge Farm tells the shocking story of Mark Brown, and the double life the self-proclaimed 'psychopath with a conscience' led. A family man by day and sadistic killer by night, convicted, in December 2022, of murdering Alex Morgan and Leah Ware. The two-part special is available on demand to Sky and Virgin customers, as well as streaming on Crime + Investigation Play.
Some crimes are so heinous that their locations take on an eerie resonance in the collective imagination. Here are four postcodes that will forever be associated with the grim events they witnessed.
1. TN34 5NY – Mark Brown, Little Bridge Farm
When Kent woman Alexandra Morgan failed to return home from an apparent spa trip in November 2021, her disappearance prompted a missing persons search which escalated into a double homicide investigation.
CCTV footage of Alex driving to a remote location near Hastings led police to Little Bridge Farm, an unassuming yard which was being rented by construction worker Mark Brown. He admitted to having a sexual encounter with her after connecting on the escort website AdultWork, but denied any wrongdoing. Upon searching his vehicle, detectives found medication prescribed to Leah Ware, another missing person, which amplified the investigation.
It soon emerged that Brown had been in a coercive relationship with Leah, a woman he also met on AdultWork who had substance abuse issues. Brown moved Leah into a shipping container on the farm before murdering her and disposing of her body so thoroughly that no trace has ever been found. Detectives have discovered the remains of her beloved dog, Lady, in a lake on the farm grounds.
Some months after killing Leah, he lured Alex Morgan to the farm with the promise of £100,000 for an undisclosed job – a visit she concealed from her family by claiming it was a spa trip. She too was killed at Little Bridge Farm by the man who described himself as a ‘psychopath with a conscience’.
Alex had left a note at home for her son saying, ‘Check postcode TN34 5NY Rock Lane’ in case anything happened to her. Although that was not the exact postcode of Little Bridge Farm, it’s clear that Alex was sceptical of Brown’s intentions. He was jailed for a minimum of 49 years.
2. GL1 1RE – Fred and Rose West, 25 Cromwell Street
To the residents of Cromwell Street, Fred and Rose West were considered ideal neighbours. One remarked of Fred, ‘You couldn't wish for a better fellow.’ Unbeknownst to the locals, the most harrowing crimes imaginable were taking place right under their noses.
For decades, Fred and Rose West gratified their depraved desires by preying upon young women and girls they lured or abducted, as well as their own children. The innocuous property on Cromwell Street became a house of horrors, where everyday life was punctuated by acts of torture, sexual abuse and murder.
Their reign of terror finally came to an end when their 13-year-old daughter, Louise, reported her prolonged sexual and psychological abuse. This led to the police investigation which laid bare what had been going on at 25 Cromwell Street, with the remains of nine females being excavated.
The news shook the town, with many in disbelief that the Wests could be capable of such atrocities. Although the house was demolished soon after the truth came out, the words ‘25 Cromwell Street’ will forever be synonymous with some of the worst crimes ever carried out in this country.
3. W11 – John Christie, 10 Rillington Place
Although he did time for a range of crimes including larceny and assault in the 1920s and early 30s, it was only after he moved into 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, that John Christie became one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers.
Back then, Notting Hill was a far cry from the affluent neighbourhood it is today, and Christie’s first victim was one of the many women who relied on sex work to scrape a meagre living. He then targeted a female colleague he lured to his home by promising to cure her bronchitis using a homemade concoction. He instead made her breathe domestic gas until she passed out, before raping and killing her.
In 1948, Christie set his sights closer to home when upstairs neighbour Beryl Evans fell pregnant. Aware that they were unable to support another child, Christie posed as a backstreet abortionist, offering to perform the procedure. Instead, he strangled both Beryl and her infant daughter Geraldine to death. With an IQ of only 70, Beryl’s husband Timothy was the perfect scapegoat. Christie acted as the chief prosecution witness in the case, securing Evans’ conviction and subsequent execution.
Shortly after murdering his own wife, Christie went on his final killing spree, ending the lives of three women who he met in West London cafés, before abandoning the property. When the new tenants peeled back the kitchen wallpaper to reveal a hidden alcove, they made the grim discovery of his final victims. After Christie’s arrest, the true extent of what had occurred in the house came to light.
Unable to shake the image of the gruesome crimes that took place there, the council decided to demolish the entire road – but not before the real street was depicted in the classic Richard Attenborough movie about Christie, simply titled 10 Rillington Place.
4. N10 3AA – Dennis Nilsen, 23 Cranley Gardens
Killed in the late 70s and early 80s, the vulnerable young men targeted by lonely, necrophiliac serial murderer Dennis Nilsen all met a similar fate: encountered at random, enticed by the promise of shelter, plied with alcohol, and finally murdered. Nilsen bathed, dressed and had sex with bodies before keeping them as his companions for weeks on end. In Nilsen’s own words, he sought ‘possession of a new kind of flatmate’.
Although the first phase of Nilsen’s crimes occurred in Cricklewood – specifically 195 Melrose Avenue, NW2 4NA – his subsequent London address of 23 Cranley Gardens became more notorious, earning him the nickname the ‘Muswell Hill Murderer’. Here, without access to a garden where he could burn bodies on a bonfire, he resorted to flushing their remains down the toilet.
The chunks of flesh and bone clogged the plumbing up, leading to Nilsen’s grisly activities being revealed. Unlike other houses of horror, both of Nilsen’s residences are still standing, and have sold for six-figure sums over the years. It seems that London is so sought-after that even a murderous past isn’t enough to put some buyers off.
