DID YOU KILL EMMA?
14 June 2026
DID YOU KILL EMMA?
For nearly twenty years, the murder of Emma Caldwell remained one of Scotland’s most troubling unsolved cases — not because investigators lacked a suspect, but because evidence pointing toward him was repeatedly overlooked.
Did You Kill Emma? is a gripping two-part documentary series for Amazon Prime Video examining the murder of 27-year-old Emma Caldwell and the failures that allowed violent offender Iain Packer to evade justice for years after her death. Through exclusive interviews, archive footage, police evidence, and testimony from detectives and journalists who refused to let the case disappear, the series reveals how one of Scotland’s most controversial murder investigations unravelled in plain sight.
At the centre of the documentary is an extraordinary filmed interview between award-winning BBC journalist Samantha Poling and Packer himself. In a tense and psychologically charged confrontation, Packer faces years of allegations while Poling methodically challenges his account using evidence gathered over decades. The interview offers rare and unsettling insight into a man long suspected by many connected to the inquiry.
The series also gives voice to detectives whose original investigative work was sidelined. Former officers describe how witness testimony, intelligence, and repeated allegations of violence consistently pointed toward Packer following Emma’s disappearance in 2005, yet critical opportunities were missed as the investigation shifted elsewhere.
Emma disappeared after being seen in Glasgow’s red-light district in April 2005. Weeks later, her body was discovered in woodland in South Lanarkshire. What followed became one of the most disputed murder investigations in modern Scottish policing, raising difficult questions about institutional failure and the treatment of vulnerable women.
Compelling, emotional, and deeply unsettling, Did You Kill Emma? is more than a true crime documentary — it is a powerful examination of missed opportunities, persistence, and the long fight for justice.
Best True Crime Story - The 2005 Glasgow murder of 27-year-old Emma Caldwell went unsolved for 13 years, until journalist Samantha Poling received a letter in 2018 that was apparently from 'the forgotten suspect', and which triggered a belated road to justice. The story is told with polish and empathy in this two-parter, hearing from Poling and the officers involved, and telling a twisting story that later, incredibly, involves the Official Secrets Act.
Daily Mail
Pick of the Week - There's a real sense of justice to be had from this true crime documentary.
Mail on Sunday
Pick of the week - The time that elapsed between the brutal murder of 27-year-old Emma Caldwell in Lanarkshire in 2005 and the conviction of her killer, Iain Packer, in 2024 is testament to the shocking series of costly failings by Strathclyde police. However, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Caldwell case was when Packer approached the journalist Samantha Poling, hoping to clear his name on camera. This powerful documentary is an example of the role that newspapers and other media plays in righting wrongs.
Sunday Times
On Demand Pick of the Week - The shocking murder of 27-year-old Emma Caldwell in 2005 - and the police investigation and trial that followed - is re-examined in this documentary. For years, Emma's killing was an unsolved case. Then, in 2015, a newspaper named Iain Packer as the suspect, and he approached journalist Samantha Poling to ask her to help clear his name. But soon she'd gathered enough evidence to be able to confront the guilty man - on camera. Chilling and compelling.
The Sun
Pick of the Week
The i
Pick of the week
Sunday Telegraph
