A ‘powerful’ true crime documentary that follows the real-life story of a woman murdered by her obsessed flat mate will hit screens on ITV tonight.
The programme, which airs at 9pm today, March 24, will let viewers listen in to the chilling 999 call made by the killer, pretending to have found her dead at home.
WhatsApp Obsession: The Murder of Stephanie Hansen will document the events leading up to the tragic murder of Stephanie, who was killed in 2022 at the age of 39.
Stephanie had been stabbed to death in her west London home and while her housemate Sheldon Rodrigues appeared devastated, he was hiding a sinister secret which would unlock the murder case.
ITV teased: ‘Behind his facade lay a chilling obsession. In the months before Stephanie’s death, Rodrigues planted secret cameras and recording devices in their home and bombarded her with coercive WhatsApp messages.
‘When Stephanie began a new relationship, his obsession turned deadly.’
A ‘powerful’ true crime documentary that follows the real-life story of a woman murdered by her obsessed flatmate will hit screens on ITV tonight
WhatsApp Obsession: The Murder of Stephanie Hansen will document the events leading up to the tragic murder of Stephanie, who was killed in 2022 at the age of 39
Rodrigues killed Stephanie in Hayes, London, after she rejected his advances following seven years of fixation, even offering to undergo surgery to change his appearance in order to win over her affection.
He launched into an attack after he learned through a hidden listening device that she had a partner – having concealed audio recorders in a television to track her movements in her home and spy on her conversations.
During the trial, jurors were told that Rodrigues had spent 158 hours to listening back to the audio he’d captured of Stephanie.
He had overhead that her boyfriend had called round to the house while working a night shift for a cargo firm near Heathrow airport and, on his return, assaulted Stephanie in her bedroom.
She was recorded to have 60 distinct injuries, including knife wounds to her neck and trauma inflicted to her body and face by a hairdryer and a large pan.
A chilling 999 call will play out as part of the action, in which Rodrigues is heard telling operators: ‘Can you help me please? I’ve just found my housemate dead.’
Rodrigues denied the murder charges and insisted that he had installed the recording equipment in the home for Stephanie’s safety.
Stephanie had been stabbed to death in her west London home by her housemate, Sheldon Rodrigues – who pretended to have found Stephanie dead
However, in 2024, he was convicted of murdering Stephanie and was dished out a life sentence last year, with a minimum sentence of 25 years.
It comes after ITV dropped a first look at Daniel Mays playing the ‘Black Cab Rapist’ John Worboys ahead of the release of their ‘disturbing’ new drama series.
Believe Me tells the story of how the victims of the prolific sex attacker, who preyed on women while working as a licensed taxi-cab driver, were failed by the system.
The convicted serial sex offender would pick up women in his cab after nights out, claiming that he’d had a win at a casino or the lottery, and then offer them a drug-laced glass of champagne to ‘celebrate’ to render victims unconscious.
Worboys was convicted in 2009 for a series of crimes including sexual assault and drugging with intent against twelve women in incidents from 2006 to 2008.
The drama focuses on victims Sarah, played by Aimée-Ffion Edwards, and Laila, portrayed by Aasiya Shah, who reported assaults by Worboys.
It will follow how the Metropolitan Police failed to investigate the allegations thoroughly while Worboys, portrayed in the drama by Lynley actor Daniel, continued to prey on women.
ITV has dropped a first look at Daniel Mays playing the ‘Black Cab Rapist’ John Worboys ahead of the release of their ‘disturbing’ new drama series
A first look image shows Daniel in the cab pulling a sinister expression in his role as Worboys, who was later linked to allegations of offences from over a hundred women.
The cast will also feature Phillippa Dunne as solicitor Harriet Wistrich, and Rachael Stirling as Phillippa Kaufmann QC – who sued the Met Police under the Human Rights Act for their failure to conduct investigations properly.
It comes after it was revealed that Carrie Johnson will be portrayed in a forthcoming true crime drama about serial rapist Worboys nearly two decades after she was spiked in his London taxi.
The wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be played by Industry actress Miriam Petche in ITV‘s new programme, recalling the harrowing incident which happened in 2007 when she was just 19 years old.
Speaking about the forthcoming drama titled Believe Me, Mrs Johnson said she hopes it ‘serves as a wake-up call’ to the ‘police, the CPS and the parole board.’
‘Far too often, women and girls are failed by the very institutions meant to protect them,’ she said.
‘The treatment of the victims in this case was truly shameful. Reform matters but what we urgently need above all is a profound shift in culture.
‘It takes enormous courage for women to come forward. They must know that when they do, they will be treated seriously and with respect, and that every effort will be made to ensure justice is done.’
Believe Me tells the story of how the victims of prolific sex attacker Worboys (pictured)
Mrs Johnson, 37, is believed to have been the prolific sex offender’s youngest target when he picked her up after a night out on the King’s Road and plied her with spiked vodka.
Now her ordeal will be dramatized in the new show, which will see acclaimed actor Daniel Mays play Worboys, who became known as the Black Cab Rapist.
Written by Jeff Pope and expected to air later this spring, it will also feature Slow Horses actress Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sarah, another of Worboys’ victims, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.
‘Believe Me is about the courage of every woman who came forward to help put John Worboys behind bars,’ said Sarah.
‘What happened to me changed my life, but in many ways the hardest part was not being believed for so many years.
‘Without the people who stood by me, Worboys would have been freed and continued to pose a huge risk to women.’
She added: ‘Seeking justice shouldn’t mean more trauma. We shouldn’t have to fight to be believed or feel like we’re the ones on trial. The shame never belongs to the survivor.’
The media consultant and charity advisor, who has four children with the former Conservative Prime Minister, was in her first year at Warwick University when the terrifying incident took place.
She was waiting at a bus stop in west London after a night out with friends when Worboys offered to take her home for just £5, professing to live just around the corner.
He proceeded to tell her that he had won some money at a casino and offered her a glass of champagne to celebrate, which she promptly poured away when he wasn’t looking.
‘Had he asked if I had wanted a drink, I would have politely declined but instead he asked: ‘Will you celebrate with me?’ This was much harder to refuse. It would have felt rude to say no,’ she said in 2018.
‘So I agreed and he handed me a glass. I was young and didn’t really like the taste of alcohol, but I didn’t want to offend him.
‘While he wasn’t looking, I poured the contents onto the cab floor. Never for a second did I suspect it was spiked.’
He then stopped the cab under the pretence of needing to go to the toilet and was gone for 10 minutes, which Mrs Johnson later realised was him stalling for the drugs to kick in.
When he realised that they hadn’t, he moved into the back of the cab and pressured her into having a shot of vodka, which she begrudgingly agreed to.
‘After I drank the vodka I can hardly remember a thing. I don’t remember if he got back into the front of the cab straight away or not,’ she said.
‘I think he did. I hope more than anything that he did.’
She made it home and then collapsed ‘like a rag doll’ in front of her mother, then ‘crawled into the bathroom and became very sick,’ with her ‘head spinning so much that I told my mother I wanted to die.’
It wasn’t until six months later, when Mrs Johnson read that a black cab driver has been arrested, accused of raping numerous women that she ‘froze’ and ‘knew it was him.’
She said: ‘I feel I would know if Worboys had raped me that night. I’d have flashbacks or there would have been horrendous tell-tale signs when I woke the next day.
‘But I will never truly know for sure what happened after he drugged me.’
Mrs Johnson was one of nearly 100 women who came forward to the police and one of 14 who was selected to go to court to testify, deciding to waive her anonymity.
Worboys, now known as John Radford, was convicted in 2009 for attacks on 12 women and in 2019 he was convicted again for a further four attacks.
The four further victims came forward following a public outcry when a Parole Board ruled he was safe to be freed.
WhatsApp Obsession: The Murder of Stephanie Hansen will air on ITV and ITVX tonight (March 24) at 9pm
