Hanged: Ruth Ellis and the Price of Passion – Part Five: Ruth’s Revenge
Once Upon A Crime
Esther Ludlow
4.6 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 18 August 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On Easter weekend 1955, Ruth Ellis reached her breaking point.
After years of jealousy, violence, and betrayal, she spent a long, sleepless night replaying the wreckage of her life — and blaming one man: David Blakely. By Easter Sunday, her rage would boil over into an act that would shock Britain and seal her fate as the last woman hanged in the UK.
In this episode, we follow Ruth’s final hours before the shooting — a day marked by obsessive phone calls, tense stakeouts, and a simmering fury that would explode in front of witnesses. This is the moment where obsession turned deadly.
🔍 Part Five picks up the story in the final hours before the shooting — the culmination of a deadly obsession.
🎧 Listen now to uncover the tragic and tense moments before Ruth Ellis pulled the trigger.
#TrueCrimePodcast #RuthEllis #LastWomanHanged #TrueCrimeHistory #CrimeOfPassion #BritishTrueCrime #OnceUponACrime
Sources:
A Fine Day for a Hanging: The Ruth Ellis Story, Carol Ann Lee, Mainstream Publishing, 2013.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ellis
https://realcrimes.co.uk/ruth-ellis-jealousy-rejection-and-a-hanging/
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/sep/12/ukcrime.claredyer
https://www.hampshirelive.news/news/history/woman-hanged-ruth-ellis-hampshire-4192091
https://www.crimemagazine.com/ruth-ellis-love-lust-and-death-gallows
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | True crime isn't just something we listen to. It's something we live for. |
| 0:05.3 | CrimeCon is where true crime stories come to life, where you meet the creators, connect with other sleuths, and dig deeper than ever into those cases you're obsessed with. |
| 0:15.0 | From cold cases to cocktails, it's our favorite weekend of the year. |
| 0:19.5 | Join us in Denver, September 5th through 7th. |
| 0:22.3 | Use code once to save. |
| 0:24.3 | Find us on Creators Row. |
| 0:26.0 | We'll see you there. |
| 0:31.6 | This podcast details true crime cases. |
| 0:35.1 | It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence. It is |
| 0:39.1 | not intended for children. Listener discretion is advised. Thank you for joining me for today's |
| 0:47.2 | episode of Once Upon a Crime. This is part five of our seven-part series, Hanged, Ruth Ellis, |
| 0:53.8 | and The Price of Passion. |
| 0:56.1 | In our last episode, we followed Ruth Ellis and David Blakely, as their relationship spiraled |
| 1:01.9 | further into chaos. What began as an intoxicating affair quickly became a dangerous obsession. |
| 1:09.7 | Ruth left the safety of Desmond Cussons flat to live with David, |
| 1:13.9 | clinging to the hope that their love could survive the constant betrayals, |
| 1:17.8 | violent arguments, and cruel reconciliations. |
| 1:21.4 | But every reunion only reignited the cycle, |
| 1:25.2 | jealousy, accusations, and bruised egos, until their romance was as much about |
| 1:30.6 | punishment as passion. By Easter Sunday, April 10, 1955, Ruth was at the end of her rope. Her |
| 1:39.3 | pride wounded, her heart shattered, she began that day with one goal to find David Blakely. Before the day was done, |
| 1:48.3 | one of Britain's most infamous murders would take place, changing Ruth's life and placing her story |
... |
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