When detective Paul Bethell saw the crime scene photographs from the murders of three teenage girls in 1973, he knew he would not rest until he had found the killer.
And, nearly 30 years later, he did. Now the remarkable real-life crime story is gripping viewers of BBC1 drama Steeltown Murders, with DCI Bethell played by Philip Glenister and Scott Arthur. More than three million watched the first episode on Monday, set in both 1973 and the early 2000s as the drama follows the original major manhunt and the discovery of the killer three decades later.
The body of 16-year-old Sandra Newton was found in a culvert near Port Talbot, South Wales, in July 1973. She had been beaten, raped and strangled on her way home after a night out.
