March 10, 2025 • 50 mins
Stephen Port would meet his victims on online dating sites, invite them back to his house where the victim would be drugged and raped. Police failings would result in many more sexual assault victims and murders.
Case begins at - 9:05
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This podcast contains graphic content.
(00:02):
Listener caution is recommended.
Specifically, today's episode of Choosing the Bear contains themes and discussion of substance abuse, rape, sexual assault and murder.
(00:23):
Hello, welcome to Choosing the Bear, a true crime podcast.
My name is Lois and with me is my co-host slash brother Daniel.
Today's episode is about Stephen Port, the grindr killer.
Here we are, Daniel.
It's episode 10.
It's double digits.
It's time to get serial.
Yes, we said that in the outro last episode.
(00:44):
We did, not because I just listened to it 10 minutes ago to work out what we'd promised this episode.
And that promise was an outro.
And that promise has been made.
Yeah, we're fulfilling our promises because last episode we slash I explained why we called the pod Choosing the Bear pod.
And then at the end of the episode, we said, we're going to have an outro and we now have one.
(01:05):
And last episode, we said we're going to do serial killer case.
And now we are.
So you can't say shit.
We make a promise.
We keep that promise.
All right.
So if you've got a problem, you can just shut the fuck up.
Fuck off.
So how's your week been?
It's Friday today and I've been off work.
We're back Fridaying it.
(01:27):
Yeah, it's been nice.
Well, I'll say it's been nice.
It's been busy.
I've been really like jumping through hoops with work this week.
So a busy week, a strenuous week.
Mentally, I'm whacked.
I'm on the floor.
I'm dead.
But I've always got time for a little podcast.
Of course.
Yeah, no, but I'm okay.
(01:50):
Yeah, I'm okay.
I am someone who's going to be okay.
What's that from?
I don't know.
Oh, I thought it was from something.
Not that I know of.
I'm going to be someone that's going to be okay.
That's from something, is it not?
(02:12):
Who?
I don't know.
Is it not like from like a TikTok or something?
It might be a TikTok.
Tickety-tockety.
I've probably seen it on the tick of the tock, but.
Tick of the tock.
So what happened on Wednesday, Daniel?
I don't know.
What did happen on Wednesday?
Are you being sarcastic right now?
(02:32):
Yeah, of course.
I had a Chinese on Wednesday, obviously.
Yeah, and what else happened?
You don't like understand.
Daniel, the suspense is killing the listeners.
Fucking daredevil come out.
Of course it fucking did.
There we are.
We had a little watch party.
(02:53):
I had a like veggie buttermilk burger, some chips and some mac and cheese.
It was lovely.
Well, you had a Chinese and then.
I had a Chinese and I didn't even eat it.
The episode started and I just sat there.
It sounds so like sad, but I wasn't even like grabbing the food.
(03:15):
I was just glued into the TV.
My eyes were square because I was looking at the TV.
Fuck the food.
You were glued.
I said, fuck the food because I'm glued.
Yeah, no, it was a it was a fun time.
I'm very.
I was very happy that evening.
Yeah, I enjoyed it, but I just can't be waiting week by week.
(03:37):
Like I can't be waiting weekly for an episode.
I know.
I hate it.
But then it gives you something to look forward to, doesn't it?
Much like this podcast and people who watch and listen to this, if they are out there, something to look forward to every week.
Exactly.
Girlies every Monday at nine a.m., you can come and listen to us.
Just chat.
Just a chit chat.
(03:59):
A chin wag.
Do you know if you write that down, right?
It's actually such a funny saying chin wag.
Can you think about the chin is actually, you know, when you talk, it moves.
It is wagging.
I like that a lot.
When you're grabbing your chin now, like it's actually going to wag.
Do you have a bum chin or a cherry chin?
I did this the other day, actually.
(04:19):
Is this like a well-known thing, though?
Because I said to my boyfriend, you got a bum chin or a cherry chin.
And he was like, what the fuck are you talking about?
I think I've got a bum chin.
I've got a cherry.
For people who don't know, it's like when you squish your chin together.
And if you get a little crease, you got a bum and you got an ass.
And then if you get nothing, then you got a cherry.
Yeah, I've got a absolutely pointless fact.
(04:43):
But yeah, and it was like when you, what was it?
If you shun that flower, not shun, but you put that flower under your chin.
I mean, like glowed yellow, your lines.
But what the fuck?
I've never heard of that.
Oh, my God.
It was like there was a yellow flower.
I can't remember what it was called, though.
But if you put it under your chin, everyone in primary school was doing this.
(05:06):
Put it under your chin.
And if it like glows, if there's a light yellow one under your chin, it means you like butter.
What the fuck?
I have never heard of that.
That's actually mad.
We went to the same fucking school.
We're all doing it in the playground.
Childish fucking game.
We're all sat under the tree, plucking flowers and putting under our chins.
(05:28):
We're all there.
I weren't.
Well, yeah, we weren't in the same year.
True.
You got me there.
Have we got anything else to discuss?
Before we proceed, because we're only like five minutes in.
Oh, wow.
I don't think so.
Just up front.
These two episodes, 10, 11, a back to back film.
(05:51):
Oh, yeah.
You know, you want to I think if we're doing like a part series, you don't want to start next week of me being like, so what's happened?
Where are we?
You know, so like these cases that take longer will most likely be filmed, you know, back to back.
So the stories and stuff, you know, just pretend they are a week apart as in the stories from us, not not the actual case.
(06:17):
And also, we want to get back in front of like uploading recording sketch because today's Friday and this I need to edit ready for Monday.
It's currently Friday, the 7th of March at 645.
P.M. P.M. In the big brother house.
(06:40):
Actually, I hate that guy's voice.
I heard from the streets that my God, you know, I was so embarrassed.
I mean, I was going through like our group chat on Instagram and you sent in something about Wicked or Wizard of Oz and you said, God, I can't believe that Nessa Rose becomes Dorothy.
(07:03):
So the context of that is I literally swear to God for probably about two months, I saw on Twitter because I've never watched Wicked.
I watched Wizard of Oz when I was like a child, but I swear to God, I've seen people saying I'm so glad like Nessa Rose turns into Dorothy and like the house lands on and that she dies or whatever.
And then I'd always say to Daniel, like, oh my God, like Nessa Rose turns into Dorothy and you were like, no, she fucking don't.
(07:28):
And then I've got screenshots of our text messages and you're like, and I'm like, oh, so I know that like this person turns into Scarecrow and this person turns into the Tin Man.
And then I'm like, so Nessa turns into Dorothy and you're like, no, she doesn't.
Yeah, you don't understand like the stress I had of like just been working out because you're like, oh, well, the house lands on and then she becomes Dorothy.
(07:48):
Yeah, but it's Dorothy's house that lands on the witch.
And you're like, yeah.
And I'm like, well, yeah, so she can't be fucking Dorothy because if Dorothy's house is on and Dorothy's looking at the house, it can't be Dorothy.
You're like, what sense though?
Do you remember when I used to say I didn't understand the concept of people judging because, um, how can people judge us if they know who we are?
(08:10):
So fucking a philosopher.
No, you weren't.
You're a twat.
So you got to turn that down.
You essentially just inhaled the mic when you laughed just then.
That was insane.
That was so fucking loud.
No, like you'd just be one of them kids that would be so annoying to be around at times.
Oh, we need to eat.
(08:30):
Why?
Because we don't want to die.
Why?
Fucking shut up.
What a cynical little child.
Yeah, if I if if I was to like look after younger me, I would.
Yeah, I'd be to the end of my tether.
(08:51):
Let's put it that way.
Anywho, should we glide over to the case that we have today?
Let's get into it.
Episode 10, we're getting serial.
Correct.
So yeah, if you hear any background noise, my apologies.
But as you would have heard from the introduction or like the trigger one at the start, this case heavily includes sexual assault and rape.
(09:17):
So it is not going to be as they all are.
It's going to be a horrendous journey.
So yeah.
And if any of those things trigger you, by all means, skip the episode.
Yep.
We have nine of the ones that you could listen to if you still want a dose of churuka rhyme.
I have like a somewhat little intro I've written for this.
(09:40):
The dangers of social media and dating sites are never ending from being catfished, groomed or scammed ETC.
Sometimes these nightmares can escalate even further, leading for those who intended to have a fun night resulting in death.
Does that make sense?
Yeah.
Anywho.
I think so.
So this one I started and then I found like court documents and I was like, because I found so much more information that was not a vapes or like written in other articles.
(10:13):
So it's going to be a big one.
So on the 19th of June, 2014, a man calls 999 asking for an ambulance.
They had discovered a male body at the front of their apartment complex.
The ambulance service arrived just after 8am.
23 year old Anthony Walgate is pronounced dead.
His body is examined.
(10:33):
He had died after a small overdose of the drug GHB, commonly known as a date rape drug.
A small bottle of GHB would be found in Anthony's pocket.
The morning of the 28th of August, 2014, another male body would be found.
22 year old Gabriel Cavarri's body would be found sitting against a church wall in Barking Abbey in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.
(10:55):
In parallel to Anthony, Gabriel was found with a small bottle of GHB in his pocket and had also died due to an overdose of GHB.
23 year old Daniel Wentworth's body would also be discovered in Barking Abbey in the same place and position Gabriel's body had been dumped in.
Daniel had a bottle of GHB in his pocket and had died as a result of an overdose of GHB.
(11:16):
However, Daniel had a note next to his body explaining how he had chosen to kill himself by taking an overdose.
He also stated that he felt so guilty for causing Gabriel to faint in the overdose.
I couldn't find what date Daniel's body had been discovered but I think it would have been either the 19th, 20th or possibly the 21st of September, 2014.
Jack Taylor was 25 years old and his body was also discovered in Barking Abbey, not far from where Daniel and Gabriel's body were also discovered.
(11:44):
Like the rest of the victims, Jack was found with a bottle of GHB in his pocket and had died as a result of an overdose on GHB.
(12:11):
Fatal overdose of GHB and the bottle being left in the pocket.
And they're all men, they're all kind of like in the same age category and they're all similar characteristic that they all have been that they're all gay men.
Well, they're yeah, they all link up.
Again, it's easy for us to say that there's a pattern now because we're looking at it from.
(12:33):
Yeah, it is like hindsight.
However, I feel like that's still something that would be connected.
Yeah, it is absolutely insane that the police or like people were discovering these bodies and the police were like, yeah, they're not linked and it gets worse.
I'll just say that because people bring it up to the police and they're like, no.
(12:55):
Gabriel had a friend that he used to live with called John.
After Gabriel had been found dead, John discovered that two other men had been found dead in the same area under unexplained circumstances.
John would then receive a message from someone named Stephen Port.
He said he had information about Gabriel.
Stephen said that Gabriel was seen with Daniel Wentworth to parties known as chemsex parties.
(13:19):
Quote, young boys, loads of drugs provided by older guys.
They take advantage of the young ones when they've passed out.
One collapsed and when they woke up, one was fucking him.
They said they last three days nonstop and they give them shots and dope and coke inside.
With dope and coke inside, sorry.
With this message and after seeing that other bodies with unexplained deaths are being discovered, John went to the police with his concerns wanting to be heard.
(13:45):
People are dying.
But the police just reiterated that the deaths were not being treated as suspicious.
This would be detrimental.
More people would be assaulted and two more men would lose their life at the hands of Stephen Port, the grinder killer.
It's basically another case of the system being shit.
And if they had their act together earlier, things could have been prevented.
(14:08):
I mean, you could say that about a lot of them.
But in this instance now, you know, there's clearly a pattern being formed already.
And they're not treating that as as a fact.
They're going, yeah, well, it's not suspicious.
But there is something linking already that the ball in the pocket for me is a big one that the sort of stands out.
It's just so frustrating.
So who is Stephen Port?
(14:30):
Stephen John Port was born on the 22nd of February 1975 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England.
When Stephen was about a year old, him and his family moved to Dagenham in East London, around 50 minutes away from Southend-on-Sea.
During his childhood, Stephen was bullied at school and was described as a loner and quiet.
(14:50):
One of his neighbours recalls seeing him playing with children's toys as an adult and having a childlike personality.
A former romantic partner said he ended the relationship with Stephen due to his childish personality.
Stephen left school at 16 years old and began pursuing an education in art.
However, the college fees would be too expensive for his family to keep up with.
(15:12):
Stephen then trained two years to become a chef and appeared on MasterChef in 2014.
And Stephen came out as gay in his mid-20s.
Stephen would continue to live with his parents until he was 31 in 2006 and then moved to Barking, London.
Stephen found a job as a chef at a stagecoach, which is like a brand of...
(15:33):
not a brand, but like a bus company.
Yeah, at a stagecoach bus depot in West Ham.
At this time, Stephen would be of an athletic build and was bold.
However, he would wear a toupee because his hairline was...
and I'm going to diss this man because he's a piece of shit.
His hairline...
Jesus Christ.
(15:53):
Horrific.
So he wore a toupee.
This increased his confidence when meeting men.
As Port was now in the privacy of his own home, he began using online LGBTQI plus social networks, as well as dating hookup apps.
In his bio, Stephen claimed that he was previously in the Royal Navy and had graduated from Oxford University.
(16:15):
In another profile, he stated that he was a special needs teacher.
To drug his victims, Stephen used the date rape drug Gamma...
Oh my God, I should have looked up how to pronounce this.
Hydroxbutyric acid, also known as GHB.
Now it's time for a little science lesson, as I give a brief overview of the effects of GHB and other drugs that Stephen used.
(16:41):
Okay, strap in.
GHB is taken by mixing a small amount into a drink, which hides the taste.
And if it is taken orally without being placed into a drink, it can cause severe chemical burns.
So...
Wow.
So the liquid of the drink nullifies the potential of a fatal burn.
(17:04):
Yeah.
Yeah, if you don't dilute it in a drink, then it can cause chemical burns in your mouth, which is horrendous.
Oh my God.
GHB can make a user feel euphoric, drowsy, relaxed, and have an increase in their libido.
It is extremely common for users to pass out.
GHB also interferes with blood circulation, balance, speech control, and reduces heart rate and respiration.
(17:32):
It is very, very easy to overdose on GHB.
It only takes a small amount that can cause someone to become unconscious or die.
As well as GHB, Stephen also used Viagra, crystal meth, and poppers.
Side effects of Viagra can be insomnia, blurred vision, and nosebleeds.
Crystal meth can cause people to feel paranoid, confused, aroused, awake, and alert.
(17:57):
Crystal meth also increases heart rate and blood pressure, leading to an increased risk of a heart attack.
Poppers, aka amyl nitrate, affects the body by increasing blood flow to different parts of the body, potentially causing headaches, nosebleeds, and chest pains.
So he's got a whole arsenal there.
Yep.
(18:19):
One of these drugs alone can be fatal, let alone if they're mixed with one another or all of them combined.
With the majority of drugs increasing blood flow and pressure, the victims would be at an extreme risk of a heart attack or stroke.
However, with the GHB making them unconscious, their symptoms may have gone unnoticed.
Not that Stephen would have got their medical help anyway.
(18:39):
He had an intent to kill no matter how his victim died.
So, literally drugging people, like GHB alone is so dangerous and like, it's so easy to overdose on that till I become unconscious or die.
Let alone when you mix in fucking crystal meth and poppers and all this other shit with it as well.
(19:02):
Stephen would invite the victims to his home with the intentions of hooking up, getting to know each other, and forming a friendship.
But Stephen had more sinister intentions.
So, the victims that are just, that are called like victim A and B, ETC, because there's a lot, the information that I found from court documents.
(19:24):
So these I hadn't found in like, you know, like news sources.
So this is where I got this information from.
So, So, Known as victim A, a 19 year old uni student made contact with Stephen via the gay dating site Grindr.
A went to Stephen's flat and the pair would begin chatting and just hanging out.
(19:48):
A was then given a glass of red wine.
When it was too late, A noticed powder at the bottom of the glass.
A began to feel disorientated and couldn't balance properly or even think straight.
At some point, A lost consciousness.
He had been taken to the bedroom, undressed, and then raped by Stephen.
A sought medical advice as he had correctly believed that he had been drugged.
(20:11):
He also reported the incident to the police, but I couldn't be sure if it was not long after it had happened or once Stephen was arrested for murder charges.
So I don't know if he reported it like as it happened or like once it all came out that he was like a murderer.
Yeah, there's no actual evidence on when his report took place.
Yeah, right.
(20:32):
Yeah, I couldn't find like definitive info about that.
This whole thing, like the idea of like drugging someone to then, you know, mutilate them and abuse them is absolutely fucking horrific, man.
It's fully stripping away a person's power and their agency within their own body.
(20:55):
Oh man, I could never imagine.
It must be genuinely horrific.
Victim B was age 20 and also met Stephen through a gay dating website in June 2014.
Stephen offered B a non-alcoholic drink and he accepted the offer.
B was immediately unconscious.
When B began coming back around, he said he felt like he had no control over his body.
(21:19):
He was shouting and screaming for help.
Stephen decided to take him to what I believe was Barking either bus or train station, but I couldn't confirm.
B captured the attention of a transport police officer and was confused, distressed and unsteady.
If this wasn't concerning enough, B was vomiting and it was green.
(21:39):
Stephen explained to the officer that B had taken G, presumably referring to GHB.
B couldn't definitively say if he had been raped there, but Stephen would be charged with administering a substance with intent.
I couldn't confirm if this was before Stephen was trialed for murder charges or if this was a separate trial before he had committed his first murder.
Stephen's first murder victim would be a 23-year-old named Anthony Woolgate.
(22:04):
Anthony, who was originally from Hull, was a fashion student and occasionally worked as an escort.
His friend said that Anthony didn't have the best money managing skills so he would escort from time to time, but he would take all the precautions possible to stay as safe as possible.
He would ensure he got the client's address and picture of them so that he could let his friends know where and who he was going to meet.
(22:25):
In court it was said that Anthony had a deep passion for fashion, he had dreams of becoming a famous designer.
Anthony's mother would describe him as quote, clever, funny and talented.
Stephen met Anthony on a gay website, I would presume an escorting one but I'm uncertain for sure.
I hate hearing, sorry, I just hate hearing about like their aspirations and shit because it's like oh he had dreams being a really good fashion designer and he could have done that maybe potentially but instead it was taken away from him so it's this horrible sort of dream that never you know for a fact was never achieved because of someone else's actions.
(23:05):
Really horrible sort of like the thing to sort of hone in on in that instance there but it just makes you real fucking sad that you know like everyone else had dreams and aspirations and then you know he was at uni he was following that dream and then taken away.
Yep.
Stephen invited Anthony around and offered 800 pound to Anthony for his services even though Stephen had no savings or any money that he had to pay for that session.
(23:32):
Anthony arrived at Barking station just before 10 15 p.m. Stephen would meet him here to go back to his flat this is where an absolute nightmare would unfold.
Port drugged Anthony with a dose of GHB and then raped him.
Stephen would give Anthony a fatal dose of GHB which ultimately resulted in his death.
(23:53):
When Anthony's body was examined pathologists couldn't determine exactly when Anthony died.
In court documents I seen that Stephen went to work on a late shift the next day
presuming the day after he booked Anthony's services so Anthony's body would have been
would have already started decomposing by the time his body would even be discovered let alone examined
(24:16):
so like making it harder to determine a cause of death but also just going to work cooking people's
food at fucking bus station when you've got someone's dead body like someone's child
someone's friend just someone in your flat dead because you killed them it's a classic sort of
(24:37):
trope of a psychopath serial killer isn't it where they just commit that horrendous act and then carry
on with everyday normal my god i'm so sorry everyday normal activities is terrifying because
it just shows that not to put the fear of god in anyone but you never know who you're around
(24:57):
you know there could always be these sinister thoughts within the most mundane sort of looking
person there was like statistics i can't remember but it said like someone is set to walk past say
like three murderers in their lifetimes like something like that i don't know if it's three
but you are set to walk past like a number of to be honest i just thought it'd be more
(25:23):
yeah i don't know how much how many it is but still that's fucking wild like people like they
they live among us on the morning of the 19th of june 2014 steven dragged antony's body out to the
front of his apartment complex and placed a bottle of ghb in antony's pocket i mean what the fuck
(25:46):
just like how how did he not think that through and like this isn't even how he gets corks this is
his first murder victim but like how do you feel confident and cocky enough to just drag someone's
dead body out your flat and dump them at the like the entrance of your flat it's a thing about
(26:11):
confidence like you say if you're so confident you can sort of conquer a lot of things you block out
any doubt your brain will just sort of like hyper focus on the task you want to do and it'll just
do it it's a very the brain's such a powerful thing i think no but like how would you not be
oh my god someone might see me it's just bizarre yeah steven then called an ambulance from his phone
(26:37):
claiming he was driving past and seeing a young boy who had quote collapsed or had a seizure or
was drunk steven didn't provide his name on the call and once the call was finished he returned
to his flat the ambulance service pronounced antony dead at 8 a.m that morning two sources
said that police seized steven's laptop in the wake of antony's death but wouldn't be analyzed
(26:59):
for 10 whole ass months and why not i think i haven't at all actually i did write this like
a couple of weeks ago so i don't remember everything but i think if this is wrong then
i'll cut this out but i think one of the families said like you should analyze that
and they were like no it takes up too much resources like it takes up too much time and
(27:23):
too much money so they're literally putting a price tag on someone's fucking life yeah of course
the laptop contained hundreds of thousands of lines of i've just lost my spot of messaging about
sex pornography and drug taking detective inspector mark riches said that quote he was obsessed he had
a real obsession with drug rape pornography it is later revealed that steven would still be
(27:49):
viewing the material once the victim had arrived at his flat so if they like fucking did their job
and analyze the laptop then they would have seen that he is like um how do i say like distorted
he has a distorted view on like sex and stuff yeah and like drug rape and then his fat the
(28:14):
and then antony's body was found with ghb a drug rape yeah exactly you could link the two together
you know yeah work it out medical actually he's looked into this he was found with that
drug maybe there's a connection but again but we know for a fact already they don't find a connection
(28:34):
after three so far i feel there is i can't remember how many as in like up to this point we've had
right now in this conversation oh there's this is the first murder but there was two other assaults
yeah but again i don't know if they reported that at the time or after you came out as a serial
killer so i'm with you on the 13th of june 2014 steven first came across antony's profile on an
(28:58):
escorting website a few minutes later he searched for different videos on google and pornography
websites he searched quote sleeping boy unconscious boys drugged and raped taking date rape drug
gay teen knocked out raped and guy raped and tortured young nude boy i seen in an article
(29:19):
by the guardian that steven was quote expressing a sexual preference for young young boyish looking
men he called twinks they also said quote port's fetish for sex was drugged young men
had graduated to a fixation and fixation to compulsion
oh it's heavy in it yeah yeah no it really is i think like i mean i'm no like tech person so i
(29:48):
don't really know how things would go about this but someone who was advancing tech would surely
have an idea ie the people who run the fucking government like how is there not like an alert
for when people search
This podcast contains graphic content.
(00:02):
Listener caution is recommended.
Specifically, today's episode of Choosing the Bear contains themes and discussion of substance abuse, rape, sexual assault and murder.
(00:23):
Hello, welcome to Choosing the Bear, a true crime podcast.
My name is Lois and with me is my co-host slash brother Daniel.
Today's episode is about Stephen Port, the grindr killer.
Here we are, Daniel.
It's episode 10.
It's double digits.
It's time to get serial.
Yes, we said that in the outro last episode.
(00:44):
We did, not because I just listened to it 10 minutes ago to work out what we'd promised this episode.
And that promise was an outro.
And that promise has been made.
Yeah, we're fulfilling our promises because last episode we slash I explained why we called the pod Choosing the Bear pod.
And then at the end of the episode, we said, we're going to have an outro and we now have one.
(01:05):
And last episode, we said we're going to do serial killer case.
And now we are.
So you can't say shit.
We make a promise.
We keep that promise.
All right.
So if you've got a problem, you can just shut the fuck up.
Fuck off.
So how's your week been?
It's Friday today and I've been off work.
We're back Fridaying it.
(01:27):
Yeah, it's been nice.
Well, I'll say it's been nice.
It's been busy.
I've been really like jumping through hoops with work this week.
So a busy week, a strenuous week.
Mentally, I'm whacked.
I'm on the floor.
I'm dead.
But I've always got time for a little podcast.
Of course.
Yeah, no, but I'm okay.
(01:50):
Yeah, I'm okay.
I am someone who's going to be okay.
What's that from?
I don't know.
Oh, I thought it was from something.
Not that I know of.
I'm going to be someone that's going to be okay.
That's from something, is it not?
(02:12):
Who?
I don't know.
Is it not like from like a TikTok or something?
It might be a TikTok.
Tickety-tockety.
I've probably seen it on the tick of the tock, but.
Tick of the tock.
So what happened on Wednesday, Daniel?
I don't know.
What did happen on Wednesday?
Are you being sarcastic right now?
(02:32):
Yeah, of course.
I had a Chinese on Wednesday, obviously.
Yeah, and what else happened?
You don't like understand.
Daniel, the suspense is killing the listeners.
Fucking daredevil come out.
Of course it fucking did.
There we are.
We had a little watch party.
(02:53):
I had a like veggie buttermilk burger, some chips and some mac and cheese.
It was lovely.
Well, you had a Chinese and then.
I had a Chinese and I didn't even eat it.
The episode started and I just sat there.
It sounds so like sad, but I wasn't even like grabbing the food.
(03:15):
I was just glued into the TV.
My eyes were square because I was looking at the TV.
Fuck the food.
You were glued.
I said, fuck the food because I'm glued.
Yeah, no, it was a it was a fun time.
I'm very.
I was very happy that evening.
Yeah, I enjoyed it, but I just can't be waiting week by week.
(03:37):
Like I can't be waiting weekly for an episode.
I know.
I hate it.
But then it gives you something to look forward to, doesn't it?
Much like this podcast and people who watch and listen to this, if they are out there, something to look forward to every week.
Exactly.
Girlies every Monday at nine a.m., you can come and listen to us.
Just chat.
Just a chit chat.
(03:59):
A chin wag.
Do you know if you write that down, right?
It's actually such a funny saying chin wag.
Can you think about the chin is actually, you know, when you talk, it moves.
It is wagging.
I like that a lot.
When you're grabbing your chin now, like it's actually going to wag.
Do you have a bum chin or a cherry chin?
I did this the other day, actually.
(04:19):
Is this like a well-known thing, though?
Because I said to my boyfriend, you got a bum chin or a cherry chin.
And he was like, what the fuck are you talking about?
I think I've got a bum chin.
I've got a cherry.
For people who don't know, it's like when you squish your chin together.
And if you get a little crease, you got a bum and you got an ass.
And then if you get nothing, then you got a cherry.
Yeah, I've got a absolutely pointless fact.
(04:43):
But yeah, and it was like when you, what was it?
If you shun that flower, not shun, but you put that flower under your chin.
I mean, like glowed yellow, your lines.
But what the fuck?
I've never heard of that.
Oh, my God.
It was like there was a yellow flower.
I can't remember what it was called, though.
But if you put it under your chin, everyone in primary school was doing this.
(05:06):
Put it under your chin.
And if it like glows, if there's a light yellow one under your chin, it means you like butter.
What the fuck?
I have never heard of that.
That's actually mad.
We went to the same fucking school.
We're all doing it in the playground.
Childish fucking game.
We're all sat under the tree, plucking flowers and putting under our chins.
(05:28):
We're all there.
I weren't.
Well, yeah, we weren't in the same year.
True.
You got me there.
Have we got anything else to discuss?
Before we proceed, because we're only like five minutes in.
Oh, wow.
I don't think so.
Just up front.
These two episodes, 10, 11, a back to back film.
(05:51):
Oh, yeah.
You know, you want to I think if we're doing like a part series, you don't want to start next week of me being like, so what's happened?
Where are we?
You know, so like these cases that take longer will most likely be filmed, you know, back to back.
So the stories and stuff, you know, just pretend they are a week apart as in the stories from us, not not the actual case.
(06:17):
And also, we want to get back in front of like uploading recording sketch because today's Friday and this I need to edit ready for Monday.
It's currently Friday, the 7th of March at 645.
P.M. P.M. In the big brother house.
(06:40):
Actually, I hate that guy's voice.
I heard from the streets that my God, you know, I was so embarrassed.
I mean, I was going through like our group chat on Instagram and you sent in something about Wicked or Wizard of Oz and you said, God, I can't believe that Nessa Rose becomes Dorothy.
(07:03):
So the context of that is I literally swear to God for probably about two months, I saw on Twitter because I've never watched Wicked.
I watched Wizard of Oz when I was like a child, but I swear to God, I've seen people saying I'm so glad like Nessa Rose turns into Dorothy and like the house lands on and that she dies or whatever.
And then I'd always say to Daniel, like, oh my God, like Nessa Rose turns into Dorothy and you were like, no, she fucking don't.
(07:28):
And then I've got screenshots of our text messages and you're like, and I'm like, oh, so I know that like this person turns into Scarecrow and this person turns into the Tin Man.
And then I'm like, so Nessa turns into Dorothy and you're like, no, she doesn't.
Yeah, you don't understand like the stress I had of like just been working out because you're like, oh, well, the house lands on and then she becomes Dorothy.
(07:48):
Yeah, but it's Dorothy's house that lands on the witch.
And you're like, yeah.
And I'm like, well, yeah, so she can't be fucking Dorothy because if Dorothy's house is on and Dorothy's looking at the house, it can't be Dorothy.
You're like, what sense though?
Do you remember when I used to say I didn't understand the concept of people judging because, um, how can people judge us if they know who we are?
(08:10):
So fucking a philosopher.
No, you weren't.
You're a twat.
So you got to turn that down.
You essentially just inhaled the mic when you laughed just then.
That was insane.
That was so fucking loud.
No, like you'd just be one of them kids that would be so annoying to be around at times.
Oh, we need to eat.
(08:30):
Why?
Because we don't want to die.
Why?
Fucking shut up.
What a cynical little child.
Yeah, if I if if I was to like look after younger me, I would.
Yeah, I'd be to the end of my tether.
(08:51):
Let's put it that way.
Anywho, should we glide over to the case that we have today?
Let's get into it.
Episode 10, we're getting serial.
Correct.
So yeah, if you hear any background noise, my apologies.
But as you would have heard from the introduction or like the trigger one at the start, this case heavily includes sexual assault and rape.
(09:17):
So it is not going to be as they all are.
It's going to be a horrendous journey.
So yeah.
And if any of those things trigger you, by all means, skip the episode.
Yep.
We have nine of the ones that you could listen to if you still want a dose of churuka rhyme.
I have like a somewhat little intro I've written for this.
(09:40):
The dangers of social media and dating sites are never ending from being catfished, groomed or scammed ETC.
Sometimes these nightmares can escalate even further, leading for those who intended to have a fun night resulting in death.
Does that make sense?
Yeah.
Anywho.
I think so.
So this one I started and then I found like court documents and I was like, because I found so much more information that was not a vapes or like written in other articles.
(10:13):
So it's going to be a big one.
So on the 19th of June, 2014, a man calls 999 asking for an ambulance.
They had discovered a male body at the front of their apartment complex.
The ambulance service arrived just after 8am.
23 year old Anthony Walgate is pronounced dead.
His body is examined.
(10:33):
He had died after a small overdose of the drug GHB, commonly known as a date rape drug.
A small bottle of GHB would be found in Anthony's pocket.
The morning of the 28th of August, 2014, another male body would be found.
22 year old Gabriel Cavarri's body would be found sitting against a church wall in Barking Abbey in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.
(10:55):
In parallel to Anthony, Gabriel was found with a small bottle of GHB in his pocket and had also died due to an overdose of GHB.
23 year old Daniel Wentworth's body would also be discovered in Barking Abbey in the same place and position Gabriel's body had been dumped in.
Daniel had a bottle of GHB in his pocket and had died as a result of an overdose of GHB.
(11:16):
However, Daniel had a note next to his body explaining how he had chosen to kill himself by taking an overdose.
He also stated that he felt so guilty for causing Gabriel to faint in the overdose.
I couldn't find what date Daniel's body had been discovered but I think it would have been either the 19th, 20th or possibly the 21st of September, 2014.
Jack Taylor was 25 years old and his body was also discovered in Barking Abbey, not far from where Daniel and Gabriel's body were also discovered.
(11:44):
Like the rest of the victims, Jack was found with a bottle of GHB in his pocket and had died as a result of an overdose on GHB.
(12:11):
Fatal overdose of GHB and the bottle being left in the pocket.
And they're all men, they're all kind of like in the same age category and they're all similar characteristic that they all have been that they're all gay men.
Well, they're yeah, they all link up.
Again, it's easy for us to say that there's a pattern now because we're looking at it from.
(12:33):
Yeah, it is like hindsight.
However, I feel like that's still something that would be connected.
Yeah, it is absolutely insane that the police or like people were discovering these bodies and the police were like, yeah, they're not linked and it gets worse.
I'll just say that because people bring it up to the police and they're like, no.
(12:55):
Gabriel had a friend that he used to live with called John.
After Gabriel had been found dead, John discovered that two other men had been found dead in the same area under unexplained circumstances.
John would then receive a message from someone named Stephen Port.
He said he had information about Gabriel.
Stephen said that Gabriel was seen with Daniel Wentworth to parties known as chemsex parties.
(13:19):
Quote, young boys, loads of drugs provided by older guys.
They take advantage of the young ones when they've passed out.
One collapsed and when they woke up, one was fucking him.
They said they last three days nonstop and they give them shots and dope and coke inside.
With dope and coke inside, sorry.
With this message and after seeing that other bodies with unexplained deaths are being discovered, John went to the police with his concerns wanting to be heard.
(13:45):
People are dying.
But the police just reiterated that the deaths were not being treated as suspicious.
This would be detrimental.
More people would be assaulted and two more men would lose their life at the hands of Stephen Port, the grinder killer.
It's basically another case of the system being shit.
And if they had their act together earlier, things could have been prevented.
(14:08):
I mean, you could say that about a lot of them.
But in this instance now, you know, there's clearly a pattern being formed already.
And they're not treating that as as a fact.
They're going, yeah, well, it's not suspicious.
But there is something linking already that the ball in the pocket for me is a big one that the sort of stands out.
It's just so frustrating.
So who is Stephen Port?
(14:30):
Stephen John Port was born on the 22nd of February 1975 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England.
When Stephen was about a year old, him and his family moved to Dagenham in East London, around 50 minutes away from Southend-on-Sea.
During his childhood, Stephen was bullied at school and was described as a loner and quiet.
(14:50):
One of his neighbours recalls seeing him playing with children's toys as an adult and having a childlike personality.
A former romantic partner said he ended the relationship with Stephen due to his childish personality.
Stephen left school at 16 years old and began pursuing an education in art.
However, the college fees would be too expensive for his family to keep up with.
(15:12):
Stephen then trained two years to become a chef and appeared on MasterChef in 2014.
And Stephen came out as gay in his mid-20s.
Stephen would continue to live with his parents until he was 31 in 2006 and then moved to Barking, London.
Stephen found a job as a chef at a stagecoach, which is like a brand of...
(15:33):
not a brand, but like a bus company.
Yeah, at a stagecoach bus depot in West Ham.
At this time, Stephen would be of an athletic build and was bold.
However, he would wear a toupee because his hairline was...
and I'm going to diss this man because he's a piece of shit.
His hairline...
Jesus Christ.
(15:53):
Horrific.
So he wore a toupee.
This increased his confidence when meeting men.
As Port was now in the privacy of his own home, he began using online LGBTQI plus social networks, as well as dating hookup apps.
In his bio, Stephen claimed that he was previously in the Royal Navy and had graduated from Oxford University.
(16:15):
In another profile, he stated that he was a special needs teacher.
To drug his victims, Stephen used the date rape drug Gamma...
Oh my God, I should have looked up how to pronounce this.
Hydroxbutyric acid, also known as GHB.
Now it's time for a little science lesson, as I give a brief overview of the effects of GHB and other drugs that Stephen used.
(16:41):
Okay, strap in.
GHB is taken by mixing a small amount into a drink, which hides the taste.
And if it is taken orally without being placed into a drink, it can cause severe chemical burns.
So...
Wow.
So the liquid of the drink nullifies the potential of a fatal burn.
(17:04):
Yeah.
Yeah, if you don't dilute it in a drink, then it can cause chemical burns in your mouth, which is horrendous.
Oh my God.
GHB can make a user feel euphoric, drowsy, relaxed, and have an increase in their libido.
It is extremely common for users to pass out.
GHB also interferes with blood circulation, balance, speech control, and reduces heart rate and respiration.
(17:32):
It is very, very easy to overdose on GHB.
It only takes a small amount that can cause someone to become unconscious or die.
As well as GHB, Stephen also used Viagra, crystal meth, and poppers.
Side effects of Viagra can be insomnia, blurred vision, and nosebleeds.
Crystal meth can cause people to feel paranoid, confused, aroused, awake, and alert.
(17:57):
Crystal meth also increases heart rate and blood pressure, leading to an increased risk of a heart attack.
Poppers, aka amyl nitrate, affects the body by increasing blood flow to different parts of the body, potentially causing headaches, nosebleeds, and chest pains.
So he's got a whole arsenal there.
Yep.
(18:19):
One of these drugs alone can be fatal, let alone if they're mixed with one another or all of them combined.
With the majority of drugs increasing blood flow and pressure, the victims would be at an extreme risk of a heart attack or stroke.
However, with the GHB making them unconscious, their symptoms may have gone unnoticed.
Not that Stephen would have got their medical help anyway.
(18:39):
He had an intent to kill no matter how his victim died.
So, literally drugging people, like GHB alone is so dangerous and like, it's so easy to overdose on that till I become unconscious or die.
Let alone when you mix in fucking crystal meth and poppers and all this other shit with it as well.
(19:02):
Stephen would invite the victims to his home with the intentions of hooking up, getting to know each other, and forming a friendship.
But Stephen had more sinister intentions.
So, the victims that are just, that are called like victim A and B, ETC, because there's a lot, the information that I found from court documents.
(19:24):
So these I hadn't found in like, you know, like news sources.
So this is where I got this information from.
So, So, Known as victim A, a 19 year old uni student made contact with Stephen via the gay dating site Grindr.
A went to Stephen's flat and the pair would begin chatting and just hanging out.
(19:48):
A was then given a glass of red wine.
When it was too late, A noticed powder at the bottom of the glass.
A began to feel disorientated and couldn't balance properly or even think straight.
At some point, A lost consciousness.
He had been taken to the bedroom, undressed, and then raped by Stephen.
A sought medical advice as he had correctly believed that he had been drugged.
(20:11):
He also reported the incident to the police, but I couldn't be sure if it was not long after it had happened or once Stephen was arrested for murder charges.
So I don't know if he reported it like as it happened or like once it all came out that he was like a murderer.
Yeah, there's no actual evidence on when his report took place.
Yeah, right.
(20:32):
Yeah, I couldn't find like definitive info about that.
This whole thing, like the idea of like drugging someone to then, you know, mutilate them and abuse them is absolutely fucking horrific, man.
It's fully stripping away a person's power and their agency within their own body.
(20:55):
Oh man, I could never imagine.
It must be genuinely horrific.
Victim B was age 20 and also met Stephen through a gay dating website in June 2014.
Stephen offered B a non-alcoholic drink and he accepted the offer.
B was immediately unconscious.
When B began coming back around, he said he felt like he had no control over his body.
(21:19):
He was shouting and screaming for help.
Stephen decided to take him to what I believe was Barking either bus or train station, but I couldn't confirm.
B captured the attention of a transport police officer and was confused, distressed and unsteady.
If this wasn't concerning enough, B was vomiting and it was green.
(21:39):
Stephen explained to the officer that B had taken G, presumably referring to GHB.
B couldn't definitively say if he had been raped there, but Stephen would be charged with administering a substance with intent.
I couldn't confirm if this was before Stephen was trialed for murder charges or if this was a separate trial before he had committed his first murder.
Stephen's first murder victim would be a 23-year-old named Anthony Woolgate.
(22:04):
Anthony, who was originally from Hull, was a fashion student and occasionally worked as an escort.
His friend said that Anthony didn't have the best money managing skills so he would escort from time to time, but he would take all the precautions possible to stay as safe as possible.
He would ensure he got the client's address and picture of them so that he could let his friends know where and who he was going to meet.
(22:25):
In court it was said that Anthony had a deep passion for fashion, he had dreams of becoming a famous designer.
Anthony's mother would describe him as quote, clever, funny and talented.
Stephen met Anthony on a gay website, I would presume an escorting one but I'm uncertain for sure.
I hate hearing, sorry, I just hate hearing about like their aspirations and shit because it's like oh he had dreams being a really good fashion designer and he could have done that maybe potentially but instead it was taken away from him so it's this horrible sort of dream that never you know for a fact was never achieved because of someone else's actions.
(23:05):
Really horrible sort of like the thing to sort of hone in on in that instance there but it just makes you real fucking sad that you know like everyone else had dreams and aspirations and then you know he was at uni he was following that dream and then taken away.
Yep.
Stephen invited Anthony around and offered 800 pound to Anthony for his services even though Stephen had no savings or any money that he had to pay for that session.
(23:32):
Anthony arrived at Barking station just before 10 15 p.m. Stephen would meet him here to go back to his flat this is where an absolute nightmare would unfold.
Port drugged Anthony with a dose of GHB and then raped him.
Stephen would give Anthony a fatal dose of GHB which ultimately resulted in his death.
(23:53):
When Anthony's body was examined pathologists couldn't determine exactly when Anthony died.
In court documents I seen that Stephen went to work on a late shift the next day
presuming the day after he booked Anthony's services so Anthony's body would have been
would have already started decomposing by the time his body would even be discovered let alone examined
(24:16):
so like making it harder to determine a cause of death but also just going to work cooking people's
food at fucking bus station when you've got someone's dead body like someone's child
someone's friend just someone in your flat dead because you killed them it's a classic sort of
(24:37):
trope of a psychopath serial killer isn't it where they just commit that horrendous act and then carry
on with everyday normal my god i'm so sorry everyday normal activities is terrifying because
it just shows that not to put the fear of god in anyone but you never know who you're around
(24:57):
you know there could always be these sinister thoughts within the most mundane sort of looking
person there was like statistics i can't remember but it said like someone is set to walk past say
like three murderers in their lifetimes like something like that i don't know if it's three
but you are set to walk past like a number of to be honest i just thought it'd be more
(25:23):
yeah i don't know how much how many it is but still that's fucking wild like people like they
they live among us on the morning of the 19th of june 2014 steven dragged antony's body out to the
front of his apartment complex and placed a bottle of ghb in antony's pocket i mean what the fuck
(25:46):
just like how how did he not think that through and like this isn't even how he gets corks this is
his first murder victim but like how do you feel confident and cocky enough to just drag someone's
dead body out your flat and dump them at the like the entrance of your flat it's a thing about
(26:11):
confidence like you say if you're so confident you can sort of conquer a lot of things you block out
any doubt your brain will just sort of like hyper focus on the task you want to do and it'll just
do it it's a very the brain's such a powerful thing i think no but like how would you not be
oh my god someone might see me it's just bizarre yeah steven then called an ambulance from his phone
(26:37):
claiming he was driving past and seeing a young boy who had quote collapsed or had a seizure or
was drunk steven didn't provide his name on the call and once the call was finished he returned
to his flat the ambulance service pronounced antony dead at 8 a.m that morning two sources
said that police seized steven's laptop in the wake of antony's death but wouldn't be analyzed
(26:59):
for 10 whole ass months and why not i think i haven't at all actually i did write this like
a couple of weeks ago so i don't remember everything but i think if this is wrong then
i'll cut this out but i think one of the families said like you should analyze that
and they were like no it takes up too much resources like it takes up too much time and
(27:23):
too much money so they're literally putting a price tag on someone's fucking life yeah of course
the laptop contained hundreds of thousands of lines of i've just lost my spot of messaging about
sex pornography and drug taking detective inspector mark riches said that quote he was obsessed he had
a real obsession with drug rape pornography it is later revealed that steven would still be
(27:49):
viewing the material once the victim had arrived at his flat so if they like fucking did their job
and analyze the laptop then they would have seen that he is like um how do i say like distorted
he has a distorted view on like sex and stuff yeah and like drug rape and then his fat the
(28:14):
and then antony's body was found with ghb a drug rape yeah exactly you could link the two together
you know yeah work it out medical actually he's looked into this he was found with that
drug maybe there's a connection but again but we know for a fact already they don't find a connection
(28:34):
after three so far i feel there is i can't remember how many as in like up to this point we've had
right now in this conversation oh there's this is the first murder but there was two other assaults
yeah but again i don't know if they reported that at the time or after you came out as a serial
killer so i'm with you on the 13th of june 2014 steven first came across antony's profile on an
(28:58):
escorting website a few minutes later he searched for different videos on google and pornography
websites he searched quote sleeping boy unconscious boys drugged and raped taking date rape drug
gay teen knocked out raped and guy raped and tortured young nude boy i seen in an article
(29:19):
by the guardian that steven was quote expressing a sexual preference for young young boyish looking
men he called twinks they also said quote port's fetish for sex was drugged young men
had graduated to a fixation and fixation to compulsion
oh it's heavy in it yeah yeah no it really is i think like i mean i'm no like tech person so i
(29:48):
don't really know how things would go about this but someone who was advancing tech would surely
have an idea ie the people who run the fucking government like how is there not like an alert
for when people search
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