Murder on the Internet

S01E01 Episode one of the two-part series, DATED TO DEATH, tells stories of some of the shocking dangers of seeking love online; told through police archive and interviews with friends, families, police, lawyers, psychologists and dating experts. Serial killer and rapist Stephen Port used a number of dating sites and apps to lure four young men to his flat in Barking, where he poisoned them with lethal doses of date-rape drug GBH before raping their unconscious bodies. Then there is Carl Langdell, who presented himself as a successful business owner via social media but in fact had a history of mental health issues and was known to the police. He conversed with 23-year-old Katie Locke on Plenty of Fish before the pair went for a date in Shoreditch, London. Less than 24 hours later her body was dumped in undergrowth in the grounds of a hotel where Langdell had strangled the school teacher before having sex and taking photos of her dead body. The third story concerns serial rapist Jason Lawrance who used pictureless profiles to contact several thousand women on match.com. He would then communicate with women using private texting or e mails, luring his victims away from the safety measures enforced by the website. When he finally met his victims in private, he would force himself upon them. The last case is that of 20-year-old American Shane Coffey, who flew over 3000 miles across the Atlantic to seek revenge on his 18-year-old online friend after she ended their online relationship. The pair came into contact with one another due to their love of online gaming. He broke in through a window and attacked her with a hunting knife in a meticulously calculated attack.