They Walk Among Us - UK True Crime
Aug 2, 2026 · 22 min · 10 segments
Following a shocking killing in the Staffordshire village of Norton Canes, investigators uncover a family tragedy shaped by economic hardship, declining mental health and the limited understanding of…
[birds chirping] In the 1930s, the mining industry was booming in Norton Canes on the edge of Cannock Chase coalfield in Staffordshire.
Almost 50 collieries operated within a two-mile radius of the village, and the surrounding working class communities relied on the pits for their living.
For many families, mining was simply a fact of life despite the enormous risk it posed.
At Number 12 Chapel Street lived Samson Whittaker and his wife, Mary.
Samson was born in 1873 in Rushey, less than five miles from Cannock.
His life would remain firmly rooted in the area surrounding the Cannock Chase coalfield.
The 1911 census records Samson working as a coal miner.
Also living with the family at that time was Mary's father, a retired miner whose working life had been spent underground.
Mining was woven into the fabric of the household.
In later years, Samson had found employment repairing roads at the Conduit Colliery in Norton Canes.
By 1936, however, steady work was hard to come by.
Now in his early 60s, Samson had been unemployed for two years.
At 12 Chapel Street, the Whittakers had raised four children, all girls, with the youngest three fathered by Samson.
Tragically, the couple had lost one child in infancy.
Mary's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, had been fathered by another man before she met Samson.
At the time of Elizabeth's birth in the 1890s, a child born outside of wedlock carried a heavy social stigma, much greater than it would be in the decades that followed.
Elizabeth took her mother's maiden name, Hughes, rather than her father's or stepfather's surname.
She was reported to be 43 years old in 1936 and faced many challenges.
Elizabeth was small at just 4 feet 3 inches tall, and she was non-verbal, deaf, and coped with a congenital issue with her left foot.
She had never been enrolled at the local school or received any education.
She was seldom, if ever, seen out in the village.
Until her late 30s, she had been able to move around the house and garden, but for the last five years of her life, she had been confined mostly to her bed, unable to get downstairs, and needed constant care.
[birds chirping] In the 1930s, the mining industry was booming in Norton Canes on the edge of Cannock Chase coalfield in Staffordshire.
Almost 50 collieries operated within a two-mile radius of the village, and the surrounding working class communities relied on the pits for their living.
For many families, mining was simply a fact of life despite the enormous risk it posed.
At Number 12 Chapel Street lived Samson Whittaker and his wife, Mary.
Samson was born in 1873 in Rushey, less than five miles from Cannock.
His life would remain firmly rooted in the area surrounding the Cannock Chase coalfield.
The 1911 census records Samson working as a coal miner.
Also living with the family at that time was Mary's father, a retired miner whose working life had been spent underground.
Mining was woven into the fabric of the household.
In later years, Samson had found employment repairing roads at the Conduit Colliery in Norton Canes.
By 1936, however, steady work was hard to come by.
Now in his early 60s, Samson had been unemployed for two years.
At 12 Chapel Street, the Whittakers had raised four children, all girls, with the youngest three fathered by Samson.
Tragically, the couple had lost one child in infancy.
Mary's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, had been fathered by another man before she met Samson.
At the time of Elizabeth's birth in the 1890s, a child born outside of wedlock carried a heavy social stigma, much greater than it would be in the decades that followed.
Elizabeth took her mother's maiden name, Hughes, rather than her father's or stepfather's surname.
She was reported to be 43 years old in 1936 and faced many challenges.
Elizabeth was small at just 4 feet 3 inches tall, and she was non-verbal, deaf, and coped with a congenital issue with her left foot.
She had never been enrolled at the local school or received any education.
She was seldom, if ever, seen out in the village.
Until her late 30s, she had been able to move around the house and garden, but for the last five years of her life, she had been confined mostly to her bed, unable to get downstairs, and needed constant care.
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