Crimes that shook the nation
the moors murders
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around what is now Greater Manchester, England. The victims were five children aged between 10 and 17—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans—at least four of whom were sexually assaulted. The murders are so named because two of the victims were discovered in graves dug on Saddleworth Moor; a third grave was discovered on the moor in 1987, more than 20 years after Brady and Hindley's trial in 1966. The body of a fourth victim, Keith Bennett, is also suspected to be buried there, but despite repeated searches it remains undiscovered.
The police were initially aware of only three killings, those of Edward Evans, Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride. The investigation was reopened in 1985, after Brady was reported in the press as having confessed to the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett. Brady and Hindley were taken separately to Saddleworth Moor to assist the police in their search for the graves, both by then having confessed to the additional murders.
Characterised by the press as "the most evil woman in Britain", Hindley made several appeals against her life sentence, claiming she was a reformed woman and no longer a danger to society, but she was never released. She died in 2002, aged 60. Brady was declared criminally insane in 1985, since when he has been confined in the high-security Ashworth Hospital. He has made it clear that he wishes never to be released, and has repeatedly asked to be allowed to die.
The murders, reported in almost every English language newspaper in the world, were the result of what Malcolm MacCulloch, professor of forensic psychiatry at Cardiff University, called a "concatenation of circumstances". The trial judge, Mr Justice Fenton Atkinson, described Brady and Hindley in his closing remarks as "two sadistic killers of the utmost depravity".
Brady died in May 2017.
The police were initially aware of only three killings, those of Edward Evans, Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride. The investigation was reopened in 1985, after Brady was reported in the press as having confessed to the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett. Brady and Hindley were taken separately to Saddleworth Moor to assist the police in their search for the graves, both by then having confessed to the additional murders.
Characterised by the press as "the most evil woman in Britain", Hindley made several appeals against her life sentence, claiming she was a reformed woman and no longer a danger to society, but she was never released. She died in 2002, aged 60. Brady was declared criminally insane in 1985, since when he has been confined in the high-security Ashworth Hospital. He has made it clear that he wishes never to be released, and has repeatedly asked to be allowed to die.
The murders, reported in almost every English language newspaper in the world, were the result of what Malcolm MacCulloch, professor of forensic psychiatry at Cardiff University, called a "concatenation of circumstances". The trial judge, Mr Justice Fenton Atkinson, described Brady and Hindley in his closing remarks as "two sadistic killers of the utmost depravity".
Brady died in May 2017.
soham murders
The Soham murders occurred in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England, on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman. Their bodies were found near RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, on 17 August 2002, by a local farm worker.
Ian Kevin Huntley, a caretaker at local secondary school Soham Village College, was convicted on 17 December 2003 of the girls' murder and sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, with the High Court later setting a minimum term of 40 years.
His girlfriend, Maxine Ann Carr, was the girls' teaching assistant at St Andrew's Primary School. Carr had provided Huntley with a false alibi and received a three-and-a-half year prison sentence for perverting the course of justice.
Ian Kevin Huntley was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, on 31 January 1974, the first son of Kevin and Linda Huntley. He spent two months living in the village of Hopton-on-Sea, Norfolk, and also spent time living in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
In February 1999, Huntley (then aged 25) met 22-year-old Maxine Carr at Hollywood's nightclub in Grimsby town centre. She later moved in with him at his flat in Barton-upon-Humber, a small town on the southern banks of the River Humber. Carr found a job packing fish at the local fish processing factory while Huntley worked as a barman. He also travelled to Cambridgeshire on his days off to help his father who was working as a school caretaker in the village of Littleport near Ely.
In September 2001, Huntley applied for the position of caretaker at Soham Village College, a secondary school in the small town between Newmarket and Ely. The job had become vacant after the previous caretaker was dismissed for having an inappropriate relationship with a female pupil. Huntley was accepted for the post and began work on 26 November 2001.
Huntley's trial opened at the Old Bailey in London on 5 November 2003 before Mr Justice Moses. He was charged with two counts of murder. The families of Wells and Chapman were present for the duration.
Huntley admitted that the girls had died in his house; he claimed that he accidentally knocked Wells into the bath while helping her control a nosebleed, and this caused her to drown. Chapman witnessed this and he claimed that he accidentally suffocated her while attempting to stifle her screaming. By the time he realised what he was doing, it was too late to save either of them. Based on this version of events, he admitted manslaughter.
The jury rejected his claims that the girls had died accidentally and, on 17 December 2003, returned a majority verdict of guilty on both counts of murder. Huntley was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term to be decided by the Lord Chief Justice at a later date.
After Huntley was convicted, it was revealed that he had been investigated in the past for sexual offences and burglary, but had still been allowed to work in a school as none of these investigations had resulted in a conviction.
In August 1995, when Huntley was 21 years old, a joint investigation was launched by police and social services in Grimsby, after a 15-year-old girl stated that she had been having sex with Huntley. Police did not pursue the case against Huntley in accordance with the girl's wishes.
In March 1996, Huntley was charged in connection with a burglary at a Grimsby house which took place on 15 November 1995, when he and an accomplice allegedly stole electrical goods, jewellery and cash. The case reached court and was ordered to lie on file.
Also in March 1996, Huntley was once again investigated over allegations of having sex with an underage girl, but again he was not charged.
A month later, Huntley was investigated once again over allegations of underage sex, but this allegation too did not result in a charge.
The same outcome occurred the following month when he was investigated over allegations of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
In April 1998, Huntley was arrested on suspicion of raping a woman. He admitted having sex with the woman but claimed it was consensual. The police decided not to charge him.
A month later, Huntley was charged with rape and remanded in custody after an 18-year-old Grimsby woman claimed to have been raped by him on her way home from a nightclub in the town. The charge was dropped a week later after the Crown Prosecution Service examined CCTV images from the nightclub and determined that there was no chance of a conviction.
In July 1998, Huntley was investigated by the police on allegations that he indecently assaulted an 11-year-old girl in September 1997. However, he was never charged, though in April 2007 he confessed that he attacked the girl.
He was investigated over allegations of rape on a 17-year-old girl in February 1999 but no charges were made against him.
The final allegation came in July 1999, when a woman was raped and Huntley – by now suspected by local police as a serial sex offender – was interviewed. He supplied a DNA sample and had an alibi provided by Maxine Carr to assert his innocence. The woman subsequently said that Huntley was not the rapist. This was the only case where the victim had not identified or named Huntley as the attacker.
Home Secretary David Blunkett ordered an inquiry into these revelations, chaired by Sir Michael Bichard, and later ordered the suspension of David Westwood, Chief of Humberside Police. The inquiry criticised Humberside Police for deleting information relating to previous allegations against Huntley and criticised Cambridgeshire Constabulary for not following vetting guidelines. An added complication in the vetting procedures was the fact that Huntley had applied for the caretaker's job under the name of Ian Nixon, although he did state on the application form that he was once known as Ian Huntley. It is believed that Humberside Police either did not check under the name Huntley on the police computer – if they had then they would have discovered a burglary charge left on file – or did not check either name.
For the murders, Huntley was sentenced to life imprisonment and on 29 September 2005 his minimum term was decided. On this date, High Court judge Mr Justice Moses (who had been his trial judge nearly two years earlier) announced that Huntley must remain in prison until he had served at least 40 years; a minimum term which would not allow him to be released until at least 2042, by which time he would be 68 years old. In setting this minimum term, Mr. Justice Moses stated: "The order I make offers little or no hope of the defendant's eventual release."
The previous allegations which had been made against Huntley regarding sexual offences and the burglary charge which had remained on file were made public immediately after his conviction and sentencing. It was also revealed that Huntley had dribbled and refused to answer questions immediately after his arrest, which had led to him being sectioned under the Mental Health Act for nearly two months before he was declared fit to stand trial. Doctors at Rampton Secure Hospital found no evidence of mental illness in their assessment of Huntley, and the police's belief that Huntley had feigned madness was further strengthened when a former girlfriend contacted them and stated that Huntley would often feign mental illness during the 1990s when he came to the attention of police over various allegations.
Huntley was among the last of more than 500 life sentence prisoners waiting to have minimum terms set by the Lord Chief Justice after the Home Secretary's tariff-setting procedures were declared illegal in November 2002 following a legal challenge by convicted murderer Anthony Anderson, whose minimum term had been increased by the Home Secretary during the 1990s. Anyone convicted of murder after 18 December 2003 would have a minimum term set by the trial judge, with the final decision now resting with the High Court instead of the Home Secretary.
Ian Kevin Huntley, a caretaker at local secondary school Soham Village College, was convicted on 17 December 2003 of the girls' murder and sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, with the High Court later setting a minimum term of 40 years.
His girlfriend, Maxine Ann Carr, was the girls' teaching assistant at St Andrew's Primary School. Carr had provided Huntley with a false alibi and received a three-and-a-half year prison sentence for perverting the course of justice.
Ian Kevin Huntley was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, on 31 January 1974, the first son of Kevin and Linda Huntley. He spent two months living in the village of Hopton-on-Sea, Norfolk, and also spent time living in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
In February 1999, Huntley (then aged 25) met 22-year-old Maxine Carr at Hollywood's nightclub in Grimsby town centre. She later moved in with him at his flat in Barton-upon-Humber, a small town on the southern banks of the River Humber. Carr found a job packing fish at the local fish processing factory while Huntley worked as a barman. He also travelled to Cambridgeshire on his days off to help his father who was working as a school caretaker in the village of Littleport near Ely.
In September 2001, Huntley applied for the position of caretaker at Soham Village College, a secondary school in the small town between Newmarket and Ely. The job had become vacant after the previous caretaker was dismissed for having an inappropriate relationship with a female pupil. Huntley was accepted for the post and began work on 26 November 2001.
Huntley's trial opened at the Old Bailey in London on 5 November 2003 before Mr Justice Moses. He was charged with two counts of murder. The families of Wells and Chapman were present for the duration.
Huntley admitted that the girls had died in his house; he claimed that he accidentally knocked Wells into the bath while helping her control a nosebleed, and this caused her to drown. Chapman witnessed this and he claimed that he accidentally suffocated her while attempting to stifle her screaming. By the time he realised what he was doing, it was too late to save either of them. Based on this version of events, he admitted manslaughter.
The jury rejected his claims that the girls had died accidentally and, on 17 December 2003, returned a majority verdict of guilty on both counts of murder. Huntley was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term to be decided by the Lord Chief Justice at a later date.
After Huntley was convicted, it was revealed that he had been investigated in the past for sexual offences and burglary, but had still been allowed to work in a school as none of these investigations had resulted in a conviction.
In August 1995, when Huntley was 21 years old, a joint investigation was launched by police and social services in Grimsby, after a 15-year-old girl stated that she had been having sex with Huntley. Police did not pursue the case against Huntley in accordance with the girl's wishes.
In March 1996, Huntley was charged in connection with a burglary at a Grimsby house which took place on 15 November 1995, when he and an accomplice allegedly stole electrical goods, jewellery and cash. The case reached court and was ordered to lie on file.
Also in March 1996, Huntley was once again investigated over allegations of having sex with an underage girl, but again he was not charged.
A month later, Huntley was investigated once again over allegations of underage sex, but this allegation too did not result in a charge.
The same outcome occurred the following month when he was investigated over allegations of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
In April 1998, Huntley was arrested on suspicion of raping a woman. He admitted having sex with the woman but claimed it was consensual. The police decided not to charge him.
A month later, Huntley was charged with rape and remanded in custody after an 18-year-old Grimsby woman claimed to have been raped by him on her way home from a nightclub in the town. The charge was dropped a week later after the Crown Prosecution Service examined CCTV images from the nightclub and determined that there was no chance of a conviction.
In July 1998, Huntley was investigated by the police on allegations that he indecently assaulted an 11-year-old girl in September 1997. However, he was never charged, though in April 2007 he confessed that he attacked the girl.
He was investigated over allegations of rape on a 17-year-old girl in February 1999 but no charges were made against him.
The final allegation came in July 1999, when a woman was raped and Huntley – by now suspected by local police as a serial sex offender – was interviewed. He supplied a DNA sample and had an alibi provided by Maxine Carr to assert his innocence. The woman subsequently said that Huntley was not the rapist. This was the only case where the victim had not identified or named Huntley as the attacker.
Home Secretary David Blunkett ordered an inquiry into these revelations, chaired by Sir Michael Bichard, and later ordered the suspension of David Westwood, Chief of Humberside Police. The inquiry criticised Humberside Police for deleting information relating to previous allegations against Huntley and criticised Cambridgeshire Constabulary for not following vetting guidelines. An added complication in the vetting procedures was the fact that Huntley had applied for the caretaker's job under the name of Ian Nixon, although he did state on the application form that he was once known as Ian Huntley. It is believed that Humberside Police either did not check under the name Huntley on the police computer – if they had then they would have discovered a burglary charge left on file – or did not check either name.
For the murders, Huntley was sentenced to life imprisonment and on 29 September 2005 his minimum term was decided. On this date, High Court judge Mr Justice Moses (who had been his trial judge nearly two years earlier) announced that Huntley must remain in prison until he had served at least 40 years; a minimum term which would not allow him to be released until at least 2042, by which time he would be 68 years old. In setting this minimum term, Mr. Justice Moses stated: "The order I make offers little or no hope of the defendant's eventual release."
The previous allegations which had been made against Huntley regarding sexual offences and the burglary charge which had remained on file were made public immediately after his conviction and sentencing. It was also revealed that Huntley had dribbled and refused to answer questions immediately after his arrest, which had led to him being sectioned under the Mental Health Act for nearly two months before he was declared fit to stand trial. Doctors at Rampton Secure Hospital found no evidence of mental illness in their assessment of Huntley, and the police's belief that Huntley had feigned madness was further strengthened when a former girlfriend contacted them and stated that Huntley would often feign mental illness during the 1990s when he came to the attention of police over various allegations.
Huntley was among the last of more than 500 life sentence prisoners waiting to have minimum terms set by the Lord Chief Justice after the Home Secretary's tariff-setting procedures were declared illegal in November 2002 following a legal challenge by convicted murderer Anthony Anderson, whose minimum term had been increased by the Home Secretary during the 1990s. Anyone convicted of murder after 18 December 2003 would have a minimum term set by the trial judge, with the final decision now resting with the High Court instead of the Home Secretary.
the killing of jamie bulger
James Patrick Bulger was a boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, who was murdered on 12 February 1993, at the age of two. He was abducted, tortured and murdered by two ten-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) and Jon Venables (born 13 August 1982). Bulger was led away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle after he was left alone for a few minutes by his mother. His mutilated body was found on a railway line two-and-a-half miles (4 km) away in Walton, Liverpool, two days after his murder. Thompson and Venables were charged on 20 February 1993 with Bulger's abduction and murder.
The pair were found guilty on 24 November 1993, making them the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history. They were sentenced to custody until they reached adulthood, initially until the age of 18, and were released under new identities and on a lifelong licence in June 2001. In 2010, Venables was sent to prison for violating the terms of his licence of release, and was released on parole again in 2013.
The case has prompted widespread debate on the issue of how to handle young offenders when they are sentenced or released from custody.
CCTV surveillance from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle taken on Friday 12 February 1993 showed Thompson and Venables casually observing children, apparently selecting a target. The boys were playing truant from school, which they did regularly. Throughout the day, Thompson and Venables were seen stealing various items including sweets, a troll doll, some batteries and a can of blue paint, some of which were later found at the murder scene. One of the boys later revealed that they were planning to find a child to abduct, lead him to the busy road alongside the mall, and push him into the path of oncoming traffic.
That same afternoon, James Bulger (often called "Jamie" by the press, although never by his family), from nearby Kirkby, went with his mother Denise to the New Strand Shopping Centre. While inside the A.R. Tym's butcher's shop on the lower floor of the centre at around 3:40 pm, Denise, who had been temporarily distracted, realised that her son had disappeared. Thompson and Venables approached him before taking him by the hand and leading him out of the shopping centre. This moment was captured on a CCTV camera recording timestamped at 15:42.
The boys took Bulger on a meandering 2.5-mile (4 km) walk across Liverpool to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal where he was dropped on his head and suffered injuries to his face. The boys joked about pushing Bulger into the canal. During the walk across Liverpool, the boys were seen by 38 people. Bulger had a bump on his forehead and was crying, but most bystanders did nothing to intervene, assuming that he was a younger brother. Two people challenged the older boys, but they claimed that Bulger was a younger brother or that he was lost and they were taking him to the local police station. At one point, the boys took Bulger into a pet shop, from which they were ejected. Eventually the boys arrived in the village of Walton, and with Walton Lane police station across the road facing them, they hesitated and led Bulger up a steep bank to a railway line near the disused Walton & Anfield railway station, close to Anfield Cemetery, where they began torturing him.
At the trial it was established that at this location, one of the boys threw blue Humbrol modelling paint, which they had shoplifted earlier, into Bulger's left eye. They kicked and stomped on him, and threw bricks and stones at him. Batteries were placed in Bulger's mouth. Police believed some batteries may have been inserted into his anus, although none were found there. Finally, a 22-pound (10.0 kg) iron bar, described in court as a railway fishplate, was dropped on him. Bulger suffered ten skull fractures as a result of the iron bar striking his head. Dr. Alan Williams, the case's pathologist, stated that Bulger suffered so many injuries—42 in total—that none could be isolated as the fatal blow.
Police suspected that there was a sexual element to the crime, since Bulger's shoes, socks, trousers and underpants had been removed. The pathologist's report read out in court stated that Bulger's foreskin had been forcibly retracted. When questioned about this aspect of the attack by detectives and the child psychiatrist, Dr. Eileen Vizard, Thompson and Venables were reluctant to give details; they also denied inserting some of the batteries into Bulger's anus. At his eventual parole, Venables's psychiatrist until he was aged 21, Dr. Susan Bailey, reported that "visiting and revisiting the issue with Jon as a child, and now as an adolescent, he gives no account of any sexual element to the offence."
Before they left him, the boys laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident. After Bulger's killers left the scene, his body was cut in half by a train. Bulger's severed body was discovered two days later on 14 February. A forensic pathologist testified that he had died before he was struck by the train.
The police quickly found low-resolution video images of Bulger's abduction from the New Strand Shopping Centre by two unidentified boys. The railway embankment upon which his body had been discovered was flooded with hundreds of bunches of flowers.
The family of one boy, who was detained for questioning but subsequently released, had to flee the city. The breakthrough came when a woman, on seeing slightly enhanced images of the two boys on national television, recognised Venables, who she knew had played truant with Thompson that day. She contacted police and the boys were arrested.
The pair were found guilty on 24 November 1993, making them the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history. They were sentenced to custody until they reached adulthood, initially until the age of 18, and were released under new identities and on a lifelong licence in June 2001. In 2010, Venables was sent to prison for violating the terms of his licence of release, and was released on parole again in 2013.
The case has prompted widespread debate on the issue of how to handle young offenders when they are sentenced or released from custody.
CCTV surveillance from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle taken on Friday 12 February 1993 showed Thompson and Venables casually observing children, apparently selecting a target. The boys were playing truant from school, which they did regularly. Throughout the day, Thompson and Venables were seen stealing various items including sweets, a troll doll, some batteries and a can of blue paint, some of which were later found at the murder scene. One of the boys later revealed that they were planning to find a child to abduct, lead him to the busy road alongside the mall, and push him into the path of oncoming traffic.
That same afternoon, James Bulger (often called "Jamie" by the press, although never by his family), from nearby Kirkby, went with his mother Denise to the New Strand Shopping Centre. While inside the A.R. Tym's butcher's shop on the lower floor of the centre at around 3:40 pm, Denise, who had been temporarily distracted, realised that her son had disappeared. Thompson and Venables approached him before taking him by the hand and leading him out of the shopping centre. This moment was captured on a CCTV camera recording timestamped at 15:42.
The boys took Bulger on a meandering 2.5-mile (4 km) walk across Liverpool to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal where he was dropped on his head and suffered injuries to his face. The boys joked about pushing Bulger into the canal. During the walk across Liverpool, the boys were seen by 38 people. Bulger had a bump on his forehead and was crying, but most bystanders did nothing to intervene, assuming that he was a younger brother. Two people challenged the older boys, but they claimed that Bulger was a younger brother or that he was lost and they were taking him to the local police station. At one point, the boys took Bulger into a pet shop, from which they were ejected. Eventually the boys arrived in the village of Walton, and with Walton Lane police station across the road facing them, they hesitated and led Bulger up a steep bank to a railway line near the disused Walton & Anfield railway station, close to Anfield Cemetery, where they began torturing him.
At the trial it was established that at this location, one of the boys threw blue Humbrol modelling paint, which they had shoplifted earlier, into Bulger's left eye. They kicked and stomped on him, and threw bricks and stones at him. Batteries were placed in Bulger's mouth. Police believed some batteries may have been inserted into his anus, although none were found there. Finally, a 22-pound (10.0 kg) iron bar, described in court as a railway fishplate, was dropped on him. Bulger suffered ten skull fractures as a result of the iron bar striking his head. Dr. Alan Williams, the case's pathologist, stated that Bulger suffered so many injuries—42 in total—that none could be isolated as the fatal blow.
Police suspected that there was a sexual element to the crime, since Bulger's shoes, socks, trousers and underpants had been removed. The pathologist's report read out in court stated that Bulger's foreskin had been forcibly retracted. When questioned about this aspect of the attack by detectives and the child psychiatrist, Dr. Eileen Vizard, Thompson and Venables were reluctant to give details; they also denied inserting some of the batteries into Bulger's anus. At his eventual parole, Venables's psychiatrist until he was aged 21, Dr. Susan Bailey, reported that "visiting and revisiting the issue with Jon as a child, and now as an adolescent, he gives no account of any sexual element to the offence."
Before they left him, the boys laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident. After Bulger's killers left the scene, his body was cut in half by a train. Bulger's severed body was discovered two days later on 14 February. A forensic pathologist testified that he had died before he was struck by the train.
The police quickly found low-resolution video images of Bulger's abduction from the New Strand Shopping Centre by two unidentified boys. The railway embankment upon which his body had been discovered was flooded with hundreds of bunches of flowers.
The family of one boy, who was detained for questioning but subsequently released, had to flee the city. The breakthrough came when a woman, on seeing slightly enhanced images of the two boys on national television, recognised Venables, who she knew had played truant with Thompson that day. She contacted police and the boys were arrested.
The Wests & 25 Cromwell Street
Frederick Walter Stephen "Fred" West was an English serial killer who committed at least 12 murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire, England, the majority with his second wife, Rosemary West.
Rose was convicted of 10 murders in 1995. Her husband Fred, who committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial, is believed to have collaborated with her in the torture and murder of at least 9 young women between 1973 and 1987, whereas Rose was judged to have murdered her 8-year-old stepdaughter, Charmaine, in 1971. The majority of these murders were committed at the couple's home in Gloucester, England.
Fred West is known to have carried out 12 murders; Rosemary West had no involvement in the first two.
All the victims were young females. At least eight of the murders involved the Wests' sexual gratification and included rape, bondage, torture and mutilation; the victims' dismembered bodies were typically buried in the cellar or garden of the Wests' Cromwell Street home, which became known as "the House of Horrors". In addition, Fred is known to have committed at least two murders on his own, while Rose is known to have murdered Fred's stepdaughter, Charmaine. The pair were apprehended and charged in 1994.
Fred West asphyxiated himself while on remand at HM Prison Birmingham on 1 January 1995, at which time he and Rose were jointly charged with nine murders, and he with three additional murders. In November 1995 Rose was convicted of ten murders and sentenced to ten life terms with a whole life tariff.
'Fred west's suicide note read'
To Rose West, Steve and Mae,
Well Rose it's your birthday on 29 November 1994 and you will be 41 and still beautiful and still lovely and I love you. We will always be in love.
The most wonderful thing in my life was when I met you. Our love is special to us. So, love, keep your promises to me. You know what they are. Where we are put together for ever and ever is up to you. We loved Heather, both of us. I would love Charmaine to be with Heather and Rena.
You will always be Mrs. West, all over the world. That is important to me and to you.
I haven't got you a present, but all I have is my life. I will give it to you, my darling. When you are ready, come to me. I will be waiting for you.
Rose was convicted of 10 murders in 1995. Her husband Fred, who committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial, is believed to have collaborated with her in the torture and murder of at least 9 young women between 1973 and 1987, whereas Rose was judged to have murdered her 8-year-old stepdaughter, Charmaine, in 1971. The majority of these murders were committed at the couple's home in Gloucester, England.
Fred West is known to have carried out 12 murders; Rosemary West had no involvement in the first two.
All the victims were young females. At least eight of the murders involved the Wests' sexual gratification and included rape, bondage, torture and mutilation; the victims' dismembered bodies were typically buried in the cellar or garden of the Wests' Cromwell Street home, which became known as "the House of Horrors". In addition, Fred is known to have committed at least two murders on his own, while Rose is known to have murdered Fred's stepdaughter, Charmaine. The pair were apprehended and charged in 1994.
Fred West asphyxiated himself while on remand at HM Prison Birmingham on 1 January 1995, at which time he and Rose were jointly charged with nine murders, and he with three additional murders. In November 1995 Rose was convicted of ten murders and sentenced to ten life terms with a whole life tariff.
'Fred west's suicide note read'
To Rose West, Steve and Mae,
Well Rose it's your birthday on 29 November 1994 and you will be 41 and still beautiful and still lovely and I love you. We will always be in love.
The most wonderful thing in my life was when I met you. Our love is special to us. So, love, keep your promises to me. You know what they are. Where we are put together for ever and ever is up to you. We loved Heather, both of us. I would love Charmaine to be with Heather and Rena.
You will always be Mrs. West, all over the world. That is important to me and to you.
I haven't got you a present, but all I have is my life. I will give it to you, my darling. When you are ready, come to me. I will be waiting for you.
the killing of april jones
Monday 1st October 2012, 5 year old April Jones had been playing in the street in front of her house, on her bike, and with local friends on the Bryn-Y-Gog estate in Machynlleth, Powys. At 7:30pm her mother reported her missing.
Police started an immediate search.
Thanks to social medias sites like Twitter and Facebook world spread and local residents met at a community centre at 8pm to help the search.
By 10pm police issue a statement saying they are concerned as April was seen getting into a light coloured van.
Tuesday 2nd October 2012, The search for April continues. At 3:30pm a man is arrested. police said he has a Land rover discovery similar to the one witnesses saw April climb in to.
Saturday 6th October 2012, Police announce they have charges Mark Bridger with child abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice
Monday 8th October 2012, Bridger appeared at Aberystwyth magistrates court charged with murder, child abduction and attempting to pervert the course of justice - this charge refers to unlawful disposal and concealment of a body.
The search for April continues, the largest police operation in UK history.
Up to 16 search teams - a total of 150 police officers a day - were involved, including 10 police dogs, 100 mountain rescuers, two RNLI vessels, kayakers and helicopter support, as well as hundreds of local residents.
Monday 14th January 2013, Bridger appears at Mold Crown Court, he denied abduction and murder. But his barrister says he may be responsible fore her death.
Monday 28th April 2013, Trial begins at Mold Crown Court.
Bridger claimed he must of ran over April in his car, but was too drunk to remember.
Fragments of human skull were found in his wood burner.
When police examined his computer they found indecent images of children and child murder victims
Thursday 30th May 2013, After just 4 hours and 6 minutes the jury at Mold Crown Court found Bridger guilty of child abduction, perverting the course of justice, and murder.
Bridger, a father of 6, was given a whole life tariff by the Judge, Justice Griffith-Williams, who added, "You are a pathological liar. There is no doubt in my mind that you are a paedophile"
The search for April continues, although since the end of April 2013 this was scaled down.
The yorkshire ripper
Peter Sutcliffe, also known as the "Yorkshire Ripper," spread chaos throughout Britain during the late 1970s, killing thirteen women - eleven prostitutes and two students.
He was arrested in 1981, after cruising around creepily in the red-light district, prowling for his next victim. In court, he confessed to hearing voices, which emanated from the headstone of a dead Polish man.
Sutcliffe's routine was to attack his victims unexpectedly and bash them over the head with heavy ball and peen hammers. It was only then that the true horror began.
Fading in and out of consciousness, the victims would endure multiple stabbings in the neck, chest, and stomach.
Sutcliffe didn't always finish the job; many victims survived, severely mutilated and psychologically disturbed.
He was arrested in 1981, after cruising around creepily in the red-light district, prowling for his next victim. In court, he confessed to hearing voices, which emanated from the headstone of a dead Polish man.
Sutcliffe's routine was to attack his victims unexpectedly and bash them over the head with heavy ball and peen hammers. It was only then that the true horror began.
Fading in and out of consciousness, the victims would endure multiple stabbings in the neck, chest, and stomach.
Sutcliffe didn't always finish the job; many victims survived, severely mutilated and psychologically disturbed.
harold shipman
Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004) was a British GP and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. On 31 January 2000, a jury found Shipman guilty of 15 murders. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation that he never be released.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman chaired by Dame Janet Smith, identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80% of whom were women. His youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although "significant suspicion" arose concerning patients as young as 4.
Much of Britain's legal structure concerning health care and medicine was reviewed and modified as a result of Shipman's crimes. He is the only British physician to have been found guilty of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Shipman died on 13 January 2004, the day before his 58th birthday, after hanging himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison.
The Shipman Inquiry, a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman chaired by Dame Janet Smith, identified 218 victims and estimated his total victim count at 250, about 80% of whom were women. His youngest confirmed victim was a 41-year-old man, although "significant suspicion" arose concerning patients as young as 4.
Much of Britain's legal structure concerning health care and medicine was reviewed and modified as a result of Shipman's crimes. He is the only British physician to have been found guilty of murdering his patients, although other doctors have been acquitted of similar crimes or convicted on lesser charges.
Shipman died on 13 January 2004, the day before his 58th birthday, after hanging himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison.
mary bell
The case of Mary Bell is both tragic and horrifying.
Bell was only 11 years old when she killed not one, but two little boys. Why? Well, her mother was a prostitute who had forced her daughter into sexually servicing men starting at the age of four. Her mother also supposedly tried to kill her multiple times, so this was one disturbed little girl.
In 1968, Bell killed a four-year-old boy, then killed a second just two months later, strangling them both before mutilating the bodies. She carved their skin, cut their hair, and, most horribly, mutilated their penises.
Upon inspection of the second corpse, police found that the 11-year-old girl had actually skinned the boy's penis, and had perhaps tried to cut it off as well.
While this is likely linked to her own abuse, no one is sure what Mary intended to do with the skin. She has been released from prison, received a huge amount of psychiatric care, and now lives under a new name.
Bell was only 11 years old when she killed not one, but two little boys. Why? Well, her mother was a prostitute who had forced her daughter into sexually servicing men starting at the age of four. Her mother also supposedly tried to kill her multiple times, so this was one disturbed little girl.
In 1968, Bell killed a four-year-old boy, then killed a second just two months later, strangling them both before mutilating the bodies. She carved their skin, cut their hair, and, most horribly, mutilated their penises.
Upon inspection of the second corpse, police found that the 11-year-old girl had actually skinned the boy's penis, and had perhaps tried to cut it off as well.
While this is likely linked to her own abuse, no one is sure what Mary intended to do with the skin. She has been released from prison, received a huge amount of psychiatric care, and now lives under a new name.
dennis niLsen
Dennis Nilsen, also known as the "Muswell Hill Murderer" and the "Kindly Killer," is a British serial killer who strangled and then drowned his victims, at least 12 young men, between the years of 1978 and 1983.
Like Dahmer, Nilsen deviously lured the men to his home with the promise of food or shelter, only to launch a surprise attack on them. Also like Dahmer, he kept parts of their bodies as trophies and engaged in necrophilia.
Nilsen used a ligature to strangle the men, sometimes only to the point of unconsciousness. He would then drown them in a bathtub, sink, or bucket of water. Or worse. In one case, he let the victim regain his breath, only to choke him three more times over the course of ten minutes. In another case, he lied to the victim about what caused him to pass out, engaging him in conversation.
The man lapsed in and out of consciousness over the following two days, but somehow survived the incident!
Like Dahmer, Nilsen deviously lured the men to his home with the promise of food or shelter, only to launch a surprise attack on them. Also like Dahmer, he kept parts of their bodies as trophies and engaged in necrophilia.
Nilsen used a ligature to strangle the men, sometimes only to the point of unconsciousness. He would then drown them in a bathtub, sink, or bucket of water. Or worse. In one case, he let the victim regain his breath, only to choke him three more times over the course of ten minutes. In another case, he lied to the victim about what caused him to pass out, engaging him in conversation.
The man lapsed in and out of consciousness over the following two days, but somehow survived the incident!
hungerford massacre
27-year-old Michael Ryan shot dead 16 people and wounded 14 others in the small farming community of Hungerford in Berkshire during the summer of 1987. Armed with two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun,
Ryan went on a "Rambo style" attack through the streets of Hungerford, he barricaded himself in a school building where he killed himself with a single gunshot to his head. Ryan, loved guns and television violence.
Wednesday 19th August 1987, Ryan drove to local beauty spot, Savernake forest, there he encountered Sue Godfrey, At gunpoint he forced her to strap her children into her car, and then led her deep into the woods, carrying a groundsheet. The elder of the children heard shots and saw Ryan run to his car and drive off. She unstrapped herself and her brother, and went looking for her mother – instead she found a seventy-five year old woman, Myrna Rose, who raised the alarm. When police found Mrs Godfrey, she had been shot 13 times in the back. The presence of the groundsheet, and the position of the wounds suggest that rape may had been intended.
Ryan then drove to his usual petrol station and filled his car up, but instead of paying, he took a gun from the boot of his car and fired at the owner's wife, Kakoub Dean. He missed, and moved in to fire again, but the gun was empty. Ryan then drove away at high speed.
He reached his house at 12.40pm, changed into military clothing and collected three guns from his arsenal. He put those, plus an extensive survival kit into his car, doused the house in petrol and set it alight.
Attempting to flee the scene, Ryan became angry when his car would not start. Infuriated, Ryan shot five bullets into the car, then turned the gun, a semi-automatic rifle, on neighbours Roland and Sheila Mason, who were in their garden next door, shooting them both dead.
He then began running up and down the lane he lived in, South View, firing shots indiscriminately. He wounded several neighbours – Marjory Jackson in her home, as she phoned her husband for help, and fourteen-year-old Lisa Mildenhall and Fiona Pask, the mother of one of the kids he used to fire air pellets at, as he turned toward Hungerford Common, before killing Ken Clements, who was walking down the street.
Traffic policeman PC Roger Brereton was the next victim, killed as he responded to a call on his radio. Dozens of bullets were fired into the police car as it turned into South View. Brereton managed to get out a distress call before he died og his injuries.
Ryan fired into another car, wounding occupants Angela and Linda Chapman, shot Abdul Khan and Alan Lepetit on the street, wounding Lepetit and killing Khan, and fired into the vehicle that brought Majory Jackson's husband home in response to her phone call, killing the driver, George White, and injuring Ivor Jackson, who feigned death, hoping Ryan wouldn't investigate and finish him off.
At this point his mother, Dorothy Ryan, returned home, and walked into South View, trying to persuade her son to stop. He shot her twice, killing her instantly.
Finally, he left South View, slipping unnoticed into a playing field, as people tried to deal with the carnage he had left in the street – seven dead, and five wounded, and a house in flames.
While the Police Armed Offender Squad got themselves prepared and tried to locate and isolate him, Ryan seemed to just stroll through Hungerford, leaving a trail of dead and wounded behind him.
Betty Tolladay, wounded in the leg as she came into her garden to complain, thinking the noise was children letting off fireworks, Francis Butler, shot three times and killed as he walked his dog in a park, Marcus Barnard, killed as he drove his taxi to pick up a fare, wounding salesman John Storms, then killing Ken Wainwright, Erie Vardy and Sandra Hill, each as they drove along Priory Avenue.
Ryan then broke into the home of Jack and Myrtle Gibbs, shooting them both. Jack died instantly, Myrtle, from her wounds the next day.
From the house he fired several times, injuring two people in their homes, and fatally wounding Ian Playle, as he drove past.
Finally, Ryan made his way to the John O' Gaunt School, barricaded himself into one of the rooms where he had been taught, and carried on a terse conversation with police At 6.52pm, he shot himself.
Many theories were suggested about what caused the tragedy – newspapers drew parallels between the actions of Ryan and John Rambo in the film "First Blood", but there was no evidence that Ryan had ever seen the film; it certainly wasn't something he talked about to colleagues. Fantasy role playing games have also been suggested as material in influencing him.
Ryan went on a "Rambo style" attack through the streets of Hungerford, he barricaded himself in a school building where he killed himself with a single gunshot to his head. Ryan, loved guns and television violence.
Wednesday 19th August 1987, Ryan drove to local beauty spot, Savernake forest, there he encountered Sue Godfrey, At gunpoint he forced her to strap her children into her car, and then led her deep into the woods, carrying a groundsheet. The elder of the children heard shots and saw Ryan run to his car and drive off. She unstrapped herself and her brother, and went looking for her mother – instead she found a seventy-five year old woman, Myrna Rose, who raised the alarm. When police found Mrs Godfrey, she had been shot 13 times in the back. The presence of the groundsheet, and the position of the wounds suggest that rape may had been intended.
Ryan then drove to his usual petrol station and filled his car up, but instead of paying, he took a gun from the boot of his car and fired at the owner's wife, Kakoub Dean. He missed, and moved in to fire again, but the gun was empty. Ryan then drove away at high speed.
He reached his house at 12.40pm, changed into military clothing and collected three guns from his arsenal. He put those, plus an extensive survival kit into his car, doused the house in petrol and set it alight.
Attempting to flee the scene, Ryan became angry when his car would not start. Infuriated, Ryan shot five bullets into the car, then turned the gun, a semi-automatic rifle, on neighbours Roland and Sheila Mason, who were in their garden next door, shooting them both dead.
He then began running up and down the lane he lived in, South View, firing shots indiscriminately. He wounded several neighbours – Marjory Jackson in her home, as she phoned her husband for help, and fourteen-year-old Lisa Mildenhall and Fiona Pask, the mother of one of the kids he used to fire air pellets at, as he turned toward Hungerford Common, before killing Ken Clements, who was walking down the street.
Traffic policeman PC Roger Brereton was the next victim, killed as he responded to a call on his radio. Dozens of bullets were fired into the police car as it turned into South View. Brereton managed to get out a distress call before he died og his injuries.
Ryan fired into another car, wounding occupants Angela and Linda Chapman, shot Abdul Khan and Alan Lepetit on the street, wounding Lepetit and killing Khan, and fired into the vehicle that brought Majory Jackson's husband home in response to her phone call, killing the driver, George White, and injuring Ivor Jackson, who feigned death, hoping Ryan wouldn't investigate and finish him off.
At this point his mother, Dorothy Ryan, returned home, and walked into South View, trying to persuade her son to stop. He shot her twice, killing her instantly.
Finally, he left South View, slipping unnoticed into a playing field, as people tried to deal with the carnage he had left in the street – seven dead, and five wounded, and a house in flames.
While the Police Armed Offender Squad got themselves prepared and tried to locate and isolate him, Ryan seemed to just stroll through Hungerford, leaving a trail of dead and wounded behind him.
Betty Tolladay, wounded in the leg as she came into her garden to complain, thinking the noise was children letting off fireworks, Francis Butler, shot three times and killed as he walked his dog in a park, Marcus Barnard, killed as he drove his taxi to pick up a fare, wounding salesman John Storms, then killing Ken Wainwright, Erie Vardy and Sandra Hill, each as they drove along Priory Avenue.
Ryan then broke into the home of Jack and Myrtle Gibbs, shooting them both. Jack died instantly, Myrtle, from her wounds the next day.
From the house he fired several times, injuring two people in their homes, and fatally wounding Ian Playle, as he drove past.
Finally, Ryan made his way to the John O' Gaunt School, barricaded himself into one of the rooms where he had been taught, and carried on a terse conversation with police At 6.52pm, he shot himself.
Many theories were suggested about what caused the tragedy – newspapers drew parallels between the actions of Ryan and John Rambo in the film "First Blood", but there was no evidence that Ryan had ever seen the film; it certainly wasn't something he talked about to colleagues. Fantasy role playing games have also been suggested as material in influencing him.
the tea cup poisoner
Graham Young - Convicted and credited with the murder of three people, it is only by sheer luck that his total did not reach at least 9 people.
Graham Young was a smartly dressed and intelligent child, or so it appeared! Born in September 1947 in Neasdon, Greater London. As a child he was obsessed with anything Nazi, Adolf Hitler was his hero, he was also intrigued by black magic and poisons.
He poisoned his step-mother over a long period of time with a lethal mixture of antimony and thallium. He also attempted to poison his father, sister and a friend. He was committed to Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital in 1962 and not released until February 1971.
He allegedly told a nurse when leaving Broadmoor that he intended to kill one person for every year he had been detained. He was sent to a government training centre where he befriended and then poisoned, although not fatally, 34 year old Trevor Sparkes.
Not long after this he got a job as a general assistant at a photographic laboratory in Bovingdon Hertfordshire. He was the tea boy as well as other general duties. He had only been working there a short while when there was a spate of strange sickness sweeping through the other workers. Nicknamed the "Bovingdon Bug" many fell ill, the storeroom manager Bob Egle eventually dying from the fatal dose of poison that Young had been slipping into the tea. Fred Biggs the distribution manager also died, but luckily three others who had been taken seriously ill, survived.
21st November 1971, Suspicion fell on Young, and after investigating his background, police moved in and arrested him.
When arrested police found a lethal dose of thallium in his pocket.
July 1972,he was committed for trial at St. Albans crown court. While in the dock he told warders that if convicted he would break his neck on the dock rail, he never carried this through.
Graham Young was convicted
1st August 1990 , he died of a heart attack while serving a life sentence in Parkhurst prison, he was 42 year old.
Graham Young was a smartly dressed and intelligent child, or so it appeared! Born in September 1947 in Neasdon, Greater London. As a child he was obsessed with anything Nazi, Adolf Hitler was his hero, he was also intrigued by black magic and poisons.
He poisoned his step-mother over a long period of time with a lethal mixture of antimony and thallium. He also attempted to poison his father, sister and a friend. He was committed to Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital in 1962 and not released until February 1971.
He allegedly told a nurse when leaving Broadmoor that he intended to kill one person for every year he had been detained. He was sent to a government training centre where he befriended and then poisoned, although not fatally, 34 year old Trevor Sparkes.
Not long after this he got a job as a general assistant at a photographic laboratory in Bovingdon Hertfordshire. He was the tea boy as well as other general duties. He had only been working there a short while when there was a spate of strange sickness sweeping through the other workers. Nicknamed the "Bovingdon Bug" many fell ill, the storeroom manager Bob Egle eventually dying from the fatal dose of poison that Young had been slipping into the tea. Fred Biggs the distribution manager also died, but luckily three others who had been taken seriously ill, survived.
21st November 1971, Suspicion fell on Young, and after investigating his background, police moved in and arrested him.
When arrested police found a lethal dose of thallium in his pocket.
July 1972,he was committed for trial at St. Albans crown court. While in the dock he told warders that if convicted he would break his neck on the dock rail, he never carried this through.
Graham Young was convicted
1st August 1990 , he died of a heart attack while serving a life sentence in Parkhurst prison, he was 42 year old.
Ted bundy
Ted Bundy, a vicious sex offender and killer whose natural charm and handsome appearance had seen him evade the law for two years prior to arrest, was executed by electric chair on this day in 1989.
Rejected by his college sweetheart, he committed atrocious crimes against a string of women, some as young as 12-years-old, all sharing her physical profile. Bundy’s methods were unimaginably violent.
Most of his victims died as a result of the internal damage suffered during rape, rather than as a result of any final murderous act.
The identities and number of his victims can only be guessed at. As his charm dissolved in later years, a fraught Bundy struggled frantically to cheat death, producing ever more elaborate and unlikely confessions in the hope of provoking further police enquiries. For 13 years he succeeded but then the inevitable happened and, as, at long last, Ted Bundy got the punishment he deserved, so the possibility of ever knowing the true extent of his atrocities was lost forever...
Rejected by his college sweetheart, he committed atrocious crimes against a string of women, some as young as 12-years-old, all sharing her physical profile. Bundy’s methods were unimaginably violent.
Most of his victims died as a result of the internal damage suffered during rape, rather than as a result of any final murderous act.
The identities and number of his victims can only be guessed at. As his charm dissolved in later years, a fraught Bundy struggled frantically to cheat death, producing ever more elaborate and unlikely confessions in the hope of provoking further police enquiries. For 13 years he succeeded but then the inevitable happened and, as, at long last, Ted Bundy got the punishment he deserved, so the possibility of ever knowing the true extent of his atrocities was lost forever...
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