Killer’s harrowing 999 call to police is ‘one of the most chilling’ ever made
Murder 24/7 has returned for a brand new season and tonight’s episode saw one of the most chilling calls ever made to police
Chris Hemming made a chilling 999 call (Image: BBC)
A man’s harrowing cofession to police in a 999 call after killing his ex-partner aired on TV tonight.
Murder 24/7 is a hit BBC documentary series that plunges viewers into real life criminal investigations across the UK. From the perspective of police teams working to solve murders, viewers witness real life footage captured during real life investigations including CCTV and digital evidence.
The BBC teases: “In the pursuit of justice, every second counts. From the 999 call to conviction, via critical forensics and identifying suspects, follow the cases as they unfold – in real time.”
First airing in 2020, the true crime documentary has become a firm favourite for fans of the genre as a brand new season returned to screens this month. Now, new episodes are released every Tuesday and Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.
Murder 24/7 has returned for a new season (Image: BBC)
Tonight (July 29) saw a chilling episode air, delving in to a particularly harrowing phone call made to emergency services.
The episode of Murder 24/7 explored a disturbing case when one West Mercia Police received “one of the most chilling calls of her career”.
A man called Chris Hemmings called 999 to say he had stabbed his ex-partner Cheryl McKenna to death while her 18-year-old daughter was also at home, unharmed.
Viewers were plunged into a chilling investigation as detectives worked to discover what really happened and why.
The episode starts with Chris making the chilling call as he tells the call handler: “This is probably the worst phone call you’ll have today and I’m sorry for that. I’d like to report a murder.”
He went on to say: “I killed my ex partner, I stabbed her to death in the bed.”
When asked when he killed her, he admitted: “Five minutes ago.” When told he had to stay on the line to police, he said he needed to call work to tell them he “would not be in today”.
The episode later hears more of the chilling phone call as Chris can be heard admitting: “I simply killed her,” revealing his motive for the brutal crime.
Murder 24/7 sees new episodes released every week (Image: BBC)
Viewers were stunned by what they saw as one person wrote on X: “Jesus. He’s so eerily calm. And that poor girl asleep in the house as that’s all happening too.”
Another penned: “Murder 24/7 is so much better than 24 hours in police custody. Doesn’t drag out the information for an entire two episodes.”
A third stated: “He’s just killed his ex-partner and he wants to ring work to tell them he won’t be in today….”
Ahead of the instalment, a warning was issued to viewers ahead of “upsetting scenes” and strong language as a BBC synopsis read: “Cheryl’s daughter describes a household where tensions had been rising for two years, with arguments over money, the breakdown of the relationship and Hemming’s jealousy over Cheryl’s new partner. She recalls Hemming saying he felt like killing Cheryl.
“Body-worn camera footage from a domestic incident four months earlier shows Hemming already aware the relationship had ended and fixated on Cheryl’s friendship with another man.
“When forensic specialist software gains access to his phone, detectives uncover a note written just six hours before the murder. In it, Hemming describes his rage and writes that losing Cheryl would have been easier if she had simply died.
“The discovery of what might be a tracking device raises further questions about whether he has been monitoring Cheryl’s movements in the weeks before he killed her.”
Murder 24/7 can be streamed on BBC iPlayer. New episodes are also released every Tuesday and Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.