Hanged: Ruth Ellis and the Price of Passion - Part Four: Deadly Obsession
Once Upon A Crime | True Crime
Esther Ludlow
4.6 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 11 August 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is Part Four of our 7-part series, Hanged: Ruth Ellis and the Price of Passion. We trace the true story of the last woman hanged in Britain, exploring the tangled mix of love, obsession, and violence that sealed her fate.
In this episode of Once Upon a Crime, the destructive love affair between Ruth Ellis and David Blakely spirals further into chaos. David’s jealousy and violent outbursts threaten Ruth’s livelihood, her home, and her relationships. By the winter of 1954, the tension between them reaches a breaking point.
On Christmas Day, what should have been a festive celebration turns into a drunken, humiliating spectacle that shocks party guests and deepens Ruth’s emotional entanglement. As the new year approaches, Ruth’s world teeters on the edge — and the toxic bond she shares with David is leading them both toward disaster.
Content Warning:
This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence and emotional abuse. Listener discretion is advised.
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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| 0:15.5 | set in Toronto's wealthy cottage country, aka the Hamptons of Canada, rich girl Summer follows the story of Valerie, |
| 0:22.1 | a down-on-her-luck event planner posing as a socialite's long-lost daughter, while piecing |
| 0:26.5 | together the secrets surrounding a mysterious family and falling deeper and deeper in love with the |
| 0:31.7 | impossibly hard to read and infuriatingly handsome family assistant, Nico. Caught between pretending to belong |
| 0:38.2 | and unexpectedly finding where she truly fits in, |
| 0:41.3 | Valerie learns her summer is about to get far more complicated |
| 0:44.0 | than she ever planned. |
| 0:45.8 | She's in over her head and head over heels. |
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| 0:55.8 | Can you believe it? CrimeCon Dender is less than a month away. We're talking meetups, live |
| 1:01.9 | podcasts, exclusive panels, and rubbing elbows with fellow true crime lovers. Pack your notepads, |
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| 1:13.5 | Grab your badge, use code once to save, and we'll see you in the Mile High City. |
| 1:24.2 | This podcast details true crime cases. |
| 1:30.9 | It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence. |
| 1:32.9 | It is not intended for children. |
| 1:34.9 | Listener discretion is advised. |
| 1:43.9 | Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime. |
... |
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