fter last week’s heavy case, Dee takes us out to sea - and straight into one of the eeriest unsolved crimes in maritime history.
In August 1993, the German cargo ship Bärbel was found drifting off the Danish coast: bloodstains across its decks, signs of fire, the crew missing - except for one man. When 28-year-old Russian sailor Andrei Lapa was rescued in a lifeboat nearby, carrying 60,000 Deutsche Marks in cash, investigators immediately suspected foul play.
Was this a mutiny turned massacre? A lone killer’s rampage? Or something far stranger on the North Sea? Dee and Isla unpack the bizarre twists of this “ghost ship” mystery - from conflicting stories and courtroom drama to the chilling reality that no one was ever convicted of the murders.
It’s part nautical thriller, part true-crime enigma, and 100% Switchblade style. Buckle up - or rather, batten down the hatches.
Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on our website - just search Switchblade Sisters Social Club.
SOURCES:
Russian sailor 'not guilty' of murder, TradeWinds, 1995
[Unresolved Disappearance] A ship is found adrift in the North Sea, covered in blood, partially burnt out and with no sign of its crew. A lone survivor is found in a life raft with suitcases of cash and keeps changing his story. What happened on the Bärbel? (North Sea, 1993) : r/UnresolvedMysteries
Sailor in empty ship charged with murdering rest of crew | The Independent | The Independent, 1993
The Russian sailor and the axe-killings - Crime Writer Jens Henrik Jensen
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