Thursday 28 February 2013

Couples Who Kill

Brady & Hindley, The Wests, Bernardo & Homolka.  Couples who killed without remorse.  The unforgiving reality is that women are just as ruthless as men, and indeed, are the instigators of murder, in some cases.  The most infamous are Ian Brady & Myra Hindley.  They murdered five children and buried four of them on Saddleworth Moor.  The long used argument on behalf of Hindley was that she went along with everything simply to please her lover, Brady.  Police involved in the case, and indeed, the court that heard the horrific tape recording of the assault and murder of one of the victims, knew different.  During her imprisonment, it was revealed the highly manipulative tactics Hindley used, in order to get parole, and even attempts to escape.  Does a woman "go along" with truly horrific acts just to satisfy their lover, or are they just as culpable?  No doubt in my mind, she was as bad as him.  She willingly took part in everything.  That is not the actions of a gullible and easily persuaded woman, it is the result of a truly evil and sick mind.

    Fred & Rose West.  Murdered numerous young girls, including some of their own children.  As Fred West was not the brightest penny in the bag, it seems logical that she was probably the driving force behind all their actions.  Again, it beggars belief that the so-called "fairer sex" can be deeply involved in such evil crimes.  The only thing that brought their murderous reign to an end, was the persistent investigating by a female officer into a missing person report.  Fred West was arrested and charged with all the murders, after a massive digging operation carried out at their home and numerous remains were found.  Before he reached court, he hung himself in prison.  However, the Police had their work cut out in getting Rose West to court, and for a while, it was feared that she may walk.  But justice prevailed and she was convicted of ten murders.

    Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka were like a Canadian mirror image of Brady & Hindley.  He started out as a violent rapist, who thought he was untouchable because he was far too clever to be caught out, and willingly gave Police a DNA sample but testing at that time was nowhere near as fast as it is today.  He hooked up with her and they were married, but the rapes did continue.  Then Bernardo told her that he wanted to rape her young sister.  Did she explode with rage?  Did she walk out on him for suggesting such a thing?  No.  She willingly went along with it, and gave her sister alcohol that got her drunk and she also used anaesthetics she obtained from her job, working at a vets`, to keep her unconscious. Her sister ended up choking on vomit and dying, then they covered up their involvement.

    To make matters worse, she helped him kidnap two young girls in separate incidents, keep them hostage whilst they were repeatedly sexually assaulted and then murdered.  They also videoed their acts, including the drugging and rape of Homolka`s sister.  Then Bernardo turned violent to her and she in turn, went to the Police.  She cut a deal with Police that saw her receive ten years for the two girls they abducted, but only told the story of her sister, AFTER the deal was made.  She gave evidence against Bernardo.  He was locked up for life and will probably die in prison.  She received an additional two years for the rape of her own sister.  Bernardo`s lawyer argued that Bernardo never started killing until he met Homolka, that until then he was just a rapist.  He believed Homolka was driving force behind the murders and that she murdered the two girls.  She served the twelve years but is free, married with a child but many believed she had got away with it, and was as bad, if not worse than Bernardo.  Who would allow and assist a boyfriend to rape her younger sister.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

The Sheffield Gang Wars

It would seem inconceivable that just after the first world war, that any English city would be plagued by gang warfare more suited to Chicago or New York.  Yet this happened, but not in London, but the Yorkshire city of Sheffield.  The feud was between two gangs, controlled by Sam Garvin and George Mooney.  They used knives and razors on each other and any person who ventured into their path.  This period of terror lasted a couple of years until a brutal murder and the execution of two brothers for the murder.  The year was 1925.

    A veteran world war one soldier, William Plommer, one night, just after the 1925 cup final, went out and faced a gang that was threatening him, his family and home.  Plommer was a very tough family man who would not back down to threats, but ultimately, it cost him his life.  Two brothers, Wilfrid and Lawrence Fowler were convicted of his murder and sentenced to death.  Just before his execution, Wilfrid Fowler made a statement clearing his brother of involvement in the death of Mr. Plommer.  However, this was not accepted by the authorities and the sentences stood.  On 3 September 1925, Wilfrid Fowler was executed, alongside Rotherham steel worker Alfred Bostock at Armley Prison.  Lawrence Fowler was executed the following morning.  The hangman was one of the Pierrepoint Brothers, from Clayton in Bradford.

    Now the authorities were determined to smash the gangs once and for all.  A new Chief Constable was appointed, one Percy Sillitoe.  This new Police Chief decided to fight fire with fire.  He formed a flying squad of the toughest officers he could find and they went out and harassed the gangsters, raided their homes and gave back in spades any violence shown to them.  This extremely tough approach eventually had effect and the gangs disbanded.  Some were still involved in crime for years to come, like George Mooney, but there was no gang mentality.  Sillitoe was then appointed Chief Constable of Glasgow and used the same tactics on the razor gangs there.  Sillitoe was rewarded for his successes by being made head of MI5.

    There has long been a dispute over the guilt of the Fowler Brothers, and indeed, another man has been named on a Sheffield forum as the actual killer.  What is not in dispute is that a gang of men, including the Fowlers, attacked Plommer and his home, so guilt could be shared amongst all, but two were given the ultimate sentence.

    I worked for a time with a lad from Sheffield, and he said his grandfather was involved in the wars.  He said his name was Sam Pearson.  I have not come across this name but it is still possible that he was.

Monday 25 February 2013

Carl Panzram - Serial Killer

A number of years ago , doing a course on Criminology, I had the chance to do a presentation on a killer or murder case.  Amongst the infamous chosen by my fellow students included David Copeland(London Bomber), A6 Murder, John Christie, Albert Fish, Donald Harvey, Beverley Allitt.  I chose the early American serial killer Carl Panzram, a man who claimed to have murdered twenty one people, including a young boy, and ultimately paid the supreme price for his crimes.

    Panzram was born into a German immigrant family and at a young age was involved in petty crime that seen him put into young offender institutions.  These institutions were run by violence and sadism that Panzram claimed that shaped his future and his intense hatred for authority.  He travelled around the country as a hobo, hopping on trains and "Riding the rails."  It was on one of these journeys that he says that he was gang raped by four other hobos.  As he grew older, Panzram took to carrying a gun fior protection and for robberies.  He also used the gun to force other hobos to submit to rape by himself.  He says that he chose men for his sexual outlets after contracting a venereal disease from a woman.  He decided that he should avoid the ladies after an extremely painful self-administered cure.

    During the next decade or two, from around 1910, he was jailed numerous times but used various names in different states.  Jeff Davis, Jefferson Rhodes, John O`Learie and others.  He started killing men whilst he had a boat moored in a harbour, and hired men to help with repairs, but mysteriously disappeared.  Again, in jail, under the name O`Learie, he was befriended by a kindly guard, Henry Lessor.  Whilst in solitary, he was given a pencil and a couple of sheets of paper and wrote his life story by moonlight.  Soon Lessor had a substantial collection of scribblings by Panzram, but the content was considered too horrific for publication.  Panzram murdered a prison guard and was sentenced to death.  He was hanged at Leavenworth Prison in September 1930 and virtually ran to the gallows as he deemed himself too evil to live.

    In 1970, a book about Panzram was finally written, incorporating the writings he gave to Lessor, and the two authors did in-depth research into his life and claims.  They were unable to disprove his claims, including working on a ship that docked in Glasgow and he found himself in Barlinnie Prison.  After release, he claims he made his way to Southampton and then to the continent.  He lies buried in the prison grounds, prison number 31614.

Viv Graham

Viv Graham.  The name conjures up different opinions and emotions as to the sort of person he really was.  A number of books were written about him by true crime writer Steve Richards, in which he was sometimes referred to as Tyneside`s "Fourth Emergency Service."  Graham was not a city boy but started his career as a doorman in Newcastle, and quickly built up a reputation as a tough nut.  His reputation spread throughout Tyneside and before long he became embroiled in an incident at Hobo`s Nightclub, with Doorman Stuart Watson.

    Graham was with a number of notorious characters such as the Sayers Brothers, and Graham was apparently used by the crowd he was with, to attack Watson.  The incident is on Youtube. Watson withstood the Graham onslaught without retaliating.  This incident put Graham in prison, and it was whilst in Durham Prison he calmed a riot.  In another incident, he was with a man in a restaurant, when another man walked in with a sawn-off shotgun. Graham took the gun off him and smashed it against the wall.

    Numerous tales have emerged that as a doorman, he stopped many drug pushers operating in the pubs and clubs he covered.  This upset drug suppliers and in turn Graham became a target.  On New Years Eve 1993, he was shot by an unknown assassin.  It was said that there was celebrating in some pubs when word had spread around.  certainly, there would have been cheering from pushers and suppliers as his stand on drugs was keeping money from their pockets.

    A number of alleged suspects have been put forward as either being the shooter or the planner.  It has been claimed that Graham had upset many people, using un-necessary violence solely for the sake of it, and being a bully.  Another claim was that he had crossed a couple of crime families from South Shields.  Twenty years on, the murder remains unsolved.  In another underworld  feud, a hard man named Lee Duffy was being offered substantial monies and criminal rackets if he took Graham out of the scene.  Duffy made excursions into Newcastle and was hammering Graham`s doormen, in a bid to draw him out.  If they clashed and Duffy came out on top, Graham would have lost all credibility, allowing Duffy and his backers to move in.  It never came off, as Duffy got involved in a deadly fight with a man called Allison and was stabbed to death.  The next big feud was between the Sayers and Conroys.

Sunday 24 February 2013

An Old Manchester Character

Time to dig back into my family history and tell a little tale about my great uncle, Wilf, who hailed from Chorlton in Manchester.  I have a photocopy of a picture of him taken probably in the 30`s or 40`s.  Back in those days, there was no state assistance, and when Wilf faced the problem of feeding his family or starving, he chose the criminal root.  He did shops or warehouses, for food or items he could sell for food.  One thing he was not, and that was a housebreaker.  He never stole from people but did so from firms.

    The problem was that Wilf had a defective eye and so was an easy pick up for the Police, but the downside was that the Police were forever "checking up on him" and as a result lost numerous jobs.  Wilf was faced with stealing or starving, so he again chose to steal.  Stealing is wrong, but he was not a violent or threatening man.  He always took his punishment without complaint, and when sent to prison, he took it on the chin.  Unlike the many villains who complain in their memoirs of how they were all framed by the Police!  We know that all villains in jail have been fitted up because they are always far too clever for the Police to catch out!!  Yeah right.

New York Supercops

The theme of super cops in the USA needs to be addressed as there are many genuine officers who are a shining credit to their badge of office.  The late Lou Smit was an outstanding example.  There have been some in New York City, such as Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Lone Ranger & Tonto, Sonny Grosso, Eddie Egan, Frank Serpico & Greenberg & Hantz, otherwise known as Batman & Robin.

    Egan & Grosso were involved in the actual French Connection case in the early sixties, although, as to be expected the case was long and tedious, with prolonged surveillance on the suspects, and not the frantic all-action scenario as depicted in the film.  The film "The Seven-ups" with "Connection" star Roy Scheider, was based on files discovered by Sonny Grosso.

    Frank Serpico was a cop who battled against deep, ingrained corruption throughout the NYPD for some years before he was shot and badly wounded during a raid on an apartment.  Rumours soon started circulating that Serpico had been set up and the other cops on the raid allowed him to be shot.  His information to higher ups about the endemic corruption was ignored so he went to the New York Times, and the resulting stories really made the shit hit the fan.  This expose` led to the Knapp Commission enquiry into Police Corruption.  A film was made in 1973 with Al Pacino and a TV series in 1978 with David Birney.  Author Peter Maas wrote the story of Serpico`s fight against official indifference.

    David Greenberg & Robert Hantz started their Police careers in 1968, and very quickly amassed many arrests.  They were taking down pushers and suppliers so much that hits were placed on them which they averted, and earned the monickers of Batman & Robin.  Eventually, they made detectives, but were always running into bureaucratic problems.  A film was made about them in 1974 starring Ron Leibman & David Selby.  However, things did not carry on very well for them.  Bob hantz was dismissed from the force after a couple of marijuana cigarettes were found in his possession, and Dave Greenberg has been jailed twice for white collar crimes.  Two books were written about them; the first by Hank Whittemore, the second by Greenberg.  Whittemore has been accused of embroidering some of the stories to make them more exciting than they actually were.  A trait we see in criminals memoirs!!

Friday 22 February 2013

Heavy Metal - The Threat To US Society

Would you regard a form of music as a threat to the fabric of society?  Well, it has happened.  Back in the 80`s, heavy metal music was regarded as eroding and corrupting the young and turning them into monsters.  Of course, many rational people would say that these "Dangers" of rock music, are nothing more than rantings of lunatics, looking for somebody or something, to hang blame on for the failings in peoples lives.  Artistes like Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest have been accused of causing murders, when rational people would look into the backgrounds, family histories and behaviour of the young men "driven to kill" by music.

    Yet, when you look beyond the ridiculous accusations about the music, you find rather sinister actions carried out by authorities in the name of "decency."  This process dealt with young men and women rock fans being "Demetallised!"  They would be closely monitored to see that they did not wear clothes that made them "metalheads" or wear bands or caps with band names on, or listening to rock music.  Eventually, some of these were presented to the public as being "Proper members of society," wearing suits and ties, skirts and pony tails, with "decent" haircuts, singing hymns.  I call this BRAINWASHING!!!!

    Since when is a form of music going to drive people to kill or become criminals?  I have not heard about these measures being used on youngsters honed on rap and in particular "Gangsta Rap."  Or was somebody with long hair deemed a threat to National Security?  Some people actually believe that everything about Marilyn Manson is real!  Like Glen Benton of the band Deicide, a man who has said, "I want to use music to reach the seven gates of hell!"  How many people took him seriously?  Some will, yet Benton is a happily married family man and music is his livelihood.  

    Metal music did come to the fore in the late 80`s with the burning of some churches resulting in a couple of murders committed by a Black Metal fanatic, in Norway.  Proof of the real sinister intent of this form of music.  Bollocks!!  All they were, were the actions of a disturbed individual who truly believed certain things.  This happens in all walks of life.  How many times do you hear of a killer or sex offender who was a solid church goer, and was viewed as the last person who would be thought of in such a way?  Quite a few.

    Quite a few!

Yves Trudeau - "The Mad Bumper"

The Mad Bumper.  The most prolific killer for any biker gang the world has ever seen, yet despite his truly horrific crimes, he received an extremely favourable deal in return for information on biker gangs.  Yves "Apache" Trudeau was born in 1946 and joined his first bike gang, The Popeyes, in the late 60`s.  This gang some years later became the first Hells Angels chapter in Canada.  Trudeau began his murderous campaign in 1970, and carried on until 1985.  

    Trudeau and other members of the Quebec Angels broke away and formed the North Chapter, based in Laval.  This quickly gained the reputation as the most violent chapter in the world, and Trudeau`s reputation as a stone killer made him greatly feared, despite the fact that he was only 5` 6" and weighed 135 pounds!  However, the reckless violence and heavy drug use of some of the chapter, including Trudeau, meant that an in-house cleaning operation was to be carried out.  Some were allowed to live, but a number were lured to a location, where five were slaughtered.  Trudeau was meant to have been one of them but had gone into a detox centre, so missed the slaughter.  After deals were made and killings carried out, Trudeau realised his number was coming up and so surrendered to the authorities and turned informant.  In a highly controversial deal, Trudeau pleaded guilty to FORTY THREE counts of manslaughter, which meant that the killings were not planned.  Victims were shot, stabbed, strangled and blown up!  He also gave evidence in forty other murders.  He received a very short sentence.

    When released, he eventually returned to a drug addiction and he sexually assaulted a boy, which he received a four year prison sentence.  In 2006, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer but in honesty, would anybody have cared?  Many condemned the soft deal made with him, which amounted to shaking hands with the devil.

How A Kiss Started A War

It seems inconceivable that a mere kiss could lead to bodies piling up, but that is exactly what happened in the great mid-west of the United States in the 1930`s.  The crime in that huge area  was of that of Bonnie & Clyde, Dillinger, Floyd, Karpis, The Barkers, etc, not the big city organised crime like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other big cities with Mafia Families.    So much of it was like hillbilly gangs, but they controlled huge areas without the sharp expensive suits of the big cities.

     One such gangster was Charlie Birger.  A carefree villain who never bothered about the consequences, and one day he proved it.  He gave a kiss to the moll of a gang rival.  It upset the other gangster so much that it resulted in tit-for-tat killings that erupted into a bloody gang war that left fifty men dead.  Birger did get his come-uppance when he was convicted of a murder.  His punishment was to be hanged.  They still had public hangings in a number of states right up to the end of the 30`s, though I am not sure if the proposed hanging of killer Frank Dryman in 1951, in Montana, was to be a public one.  Dryman was twice convicted, sentenced to death, but granted a new trial, out of the area he was incarcerated, days before he was due to hang.  He was jailed for life but released in 1969.

    It would seem strange that most of the men condemned to hang, specifically requested that a certain man be brought in to conduct their execution.  This man was Phillip Hanna, A man regarded as the American equivalent to Albert Pierrepoint.  Hanna believed in doing his job with the utmost efficiency and making the exit of the condemned instantaneous. He did have a mishap on one execution but all the rest were conducted to his satisfaction.  He oversaw the execution of Birger, who was allowed to address the crowd, shook hands with Hanna, then calmly went to his death.  The one part of the execution Hanna did not participate in was pulling the lever.  This was carried out by the local Sheriff.  Hanna sorted the noose to the correct length, pinioned the condemned, put the hood over them, put the noose around their neck then stepped back.  Hanna conducted sixty five hangings.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

The Porn Industry

The Porn Industry has always been a profitable but not front line area of crime.  The sex trade has always been a bit of a taboo for many professional criminals as they saw it as something beneath them.  It seems extraordinary that people who thought nothing of maiming and killing others, could be seen as shrinking violets when it came to the sex game, whether it be prostitution or pornography.  What they had no hesitation with, was extracting money from the makers, suppliers and sellers of porn.

    Around the mid 60`s, Richardson gang member George Cornell moved in on them, providing "protection" for west end pornographers, which essentially was extortion.  It has been claimed that the Krays asked to be let in on the racket but Cornell knocked them back, which is said to have led to the animosity that resulted in Cornell being shot dead.

    However, it was in the early 70`s that the porn business hit the headlines when it was alleged that the Scotland Yard Porn Squad, was running the most lucrative protection rackets in London.  Names that emerged were Bernie Silver and Jimmy Humphreys.  Members of the Porn Squad, after a very high profile trial, were jailed, though one of the Police Chiefs convicted, had his sentence over turned on appeal.  It was Humphreys who brought down the head of the Flying Squad, as the cop went on holiday abroad with him.

    Later on in the 80`s and the advent of video made many people turn their hands to amateur porn, away from the 8mm films that were the vogue.  No need for projectors, just pop the tape into the machine and off you go.  Now with the Internet, everything is so much easier.  Web cams, downloading, pictures on pcs, nothing could be simpler.  They just embrace the new technology as it comes along.

    The people involved in the trade try to portray the industry as an honourable one, it just happens to involve sex.  Yet when you see some of them interviewed, they look like real sleaze balls.  After the emergence of AIDS and the death of John Holmes, they again try to make it look as a caring profession.  If the claims of Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace are true, that the film was financed by the Mafia and they had thugs on hand to make sure nobody backed out or caused any problems.  She claimed that to do some scenes she had a gun put to her head to remind her who was in charge.  As Wossy once said, "It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, figuratively speaking!"

Jan Garavaglia - Medical Examiner

Jan Garavaglia.  A very highly regarded and respected pathologist.  Her work has been shown for public scrutiny in a TV series.  Dr. Garavaglia did not talk about high profile cases but covered all manner of death, from brutal homicides to suicides and natural deaths.  She enjoyed her work and regarded each post mortem as a challenge to her skills and she did not cut corners or take the easy option.  She examined every single aspect of the death of the individual.

    Her most high profile case was that of the dead toddler Caylee Anthony.  She and her team, which included two Forensic Anthropologists, concluded that the evidence, and all extenuating circumstances, showed that the toddler was a victim of homicide, despite the fact that they could not determine the cause of death.  Dr. G. had her medical competence called into question, but she could not be shaken over her evidence.  Incredibly, the mother of the child, Casey Anthony was cleared by the jury of her murder, but guilty of lying to the Police, which included inventing a baby sitter who turned kidnapper, and many members of the public gave vent to their anger over the verdict, by stating that the jury had "No balls!"  and similar proclamations.

    Dr. G. is one of a great number of high flying women Medical Examiners that work in Law Enforcement throughout the United States.  We do have some over here(one works at a mortuary I deliver mail to) but they were unheard of forty odd years ago.  I wonder how Bernard Spilsbury would have viewed women pathologists if he were around now?  No doubt in my mind; nowhere near as good as him and no other pathologist is still not as good as him.

Sunday 17 February 2013

To Catch A Predator

To Catch A Predator.  A series of stings set up by NBC Television to ensnare sexual predators using the Internet to groom young schoolchildren for sexual purposes.  A child protection organisation goes on the Internet posing as young teens using chatrooms, and soon they are getting into online chats with paedophiles.  A meeting is set up and the "Teen", in reality a young woman lets the man know she is home alone.  Incredibly, some of the men spend hours travelling just to be with a teen.

    The house that they are entering is in fact filled with hidden cameras and microphones.  When the man enters the house, the girl shouts that she will be there in a moment, but then the host of the programme enters the kitchen.  He tells them to sit down and begins to question them about why they are there.  Some turn and run out but the vast majority sit down as they believe the host is a Police Officer.  The excuses are always the same, they wanted to hang out with the teen, they believed she was an adult, etc.  The host then shows them the transcripts of the online chat and goes for the jugular.  He then introduces himself, brings in a film crew, which causes the man to run out.  Straight into the arms of the Police.  All are arrested, questioned, processed and either are bailed or go to jail.  They all appear in court.

    How would such an operation go down here?  No doubt in my mind.  The civil liberties and human rights wankers would be screaming from the rooftops.  "This is entrapment!"  Again, no doubt in my mind, but when it would come to explaining that these predators knew they were children and yet they still appeared, the whingers would talk around the question rather than answer it.  I have heard the woman that was in charge of Liberty, questioned on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 some years ago, and she never answered one question directly.  Truth hurts does n `t it?

Lust Killers

Crimes of Passion.  A phrase used to describe murders of wives or husbands by their spouses, usually carried out by the third part of the triangle.  This is a false assertion as the crimes are driven by pure lust, and the driving force behind the adulterous affairs and subsequent control freaks and narcissists.  Here are some examples from the USA.

    Brent Poole married his dream girl, Renee, but after a couple of years she tired of being a housewife and mother, and started lap dancing at a local bar.  She became very popular with the clientèle and was bringing home good money.  Soon Brent Poole was going into the bar to watch his wife at work, and it seemed that he enjoyed watching her at work and the customers knowing she was his wife.  Renee Poole was in her element, as she was in the position she enjoyed most; being the centre of attention.  Soon she was having affairs with both men and women, and then started an affair with a man called John Frazier.  She left her husband, and set up home with Frazier, taking their small daughter with her.  However, after a consultation with a lawyer, she could have a divorce but all her actions would count against her, and she would not have the money to continue the lifestyle she craved.  She hatches a plot in which she returns to her husband, but carries on with Frazier.  They go away for a break and whilst on a beach at night, they are confronted by a masked gunman.  He shot Brent Poole twice in the head but he did not die immediately.  He died in hospital.  In the investigation, Police received information about Renee and Frazier, and the Police eventually arrested them both.  He received thirty years and she, life without parole.  She manipulated him, planned the demise of Poole, and always wanted to be the centre of attention.

    Next is the case of Dan Willoughby and his total obsession with a Mexican woman named Yesenia.  Willoughby spent as much time and money on her as he could, and Yesenia was a very demanding woman.  Mrs Willoughby ran her own business with her mother, and Dan wanted to set up a branch of the business in Mexico, so giving him all the time he could want with Yesenia.  But his wife would not bite and arranged for the entire business to pass to her or her mother, should tragedy ever happen.  Willoughby decided that she had to go, and set up a plan to take his children out for the day, whilst his wife slept in.  They were down in Mexico for a few days.  They came back to find Mrs Willoughby dead, murdered, as if by an intruder.  But, as in many cases like this, the plot unravelled.  Yesenia was arrested and told astonished Police the entire story.  Dan ended up getting life without parole, whilst Yesenia received thirty five years in a Mexican prison.  The bombshell was that Yesenia used to be Alfredo, a man!  She had the full operation, but it seems that Willoughby did not know.  He was simply infatuated with this voluptuous woman.  What a shock to the system that would have been.

Saturday 16 February 2013

Politics, Crime & Other Subjects

There was a time when I toyed with the idea of a very small scale self-publishing venture.  One best selling author gave me some projects that had come into the company he worked for and thought if I could do anything with them.  One was a manuscript written by an anarchist, and founder of an organisation that would obviously be closely monitored by Special Branch or MI5. This man and his group resided for years in Moss Side in Manchester, but I was given his address which was now in Bristol.  I wrote to him but never received a response.

    The manuscript in question, was about a young guy arriving from Australia, and within twelve hours, was throwing his first brick at Police during an industrial dispute.  The synopsis boasted that this man had "Done more in the last four years than the anarchist movement has done in the last fifty years!"  In short, he was nothing but an agitator and troublemaker.  Another blurb stated that this book would make "A fucking shed full of money!"  Strange that they should envisage rolling in money, which is a capitalist business view.  There was no mention of sharing it with the oppressed masses!

    If you remember the comedy series "Citizen Smith" with Robert Lindsay and his often repeated phrase "Up against the wall and pop, pop, pop!" the usual left wing way of dealing with people who do not agree with them, it seems that it does not matter if genocide is committed by communist regimes but it is different if they are right wing!  I cannot see any difference.  Totalitarianism is totalitarianism, regardless of political ideals, and Stalin did not start genocide in the Soviet Union, he merely carried it on.  Who did start it then?  Only that hero to the left, Lenin.  Nice man.  Especially if you disagreed with him!

    If you think back to the 60`s and many young people "Turning on" to drugs, the pushers were so admired by the young.  These people were striking back against straight society, and being free.  Yeah, right.  Did these wankers think the pushers were nothing more than the people and institutions they were "Rebelling against?"  As I put in an early post, Clapton was buying cocaine but the pusher decided that he gets no more unless he buys heroin with it.  Of course he wanted to be his buddy and was not interested in getting as much money out of him as possible.  It was all love and peace!  Bollocks!!

    The pusher is the Ultra Capitalist.  They will not accept a payment for drugs one penny below the price.  They want it all.  If you stop, they harass you as to why you are not putting money in their pockets.  How dare junkies stop giving them money!  They will go to any lengths when it involves money.  They will cross up their own relatives, rob their own families, grass up their mates, all to protect the monies they crave.  Does this sound like businesses that left wingers have despised all these years?  That`s right.  Profits at all costs.

Excuses By Sex Killers

Listening to the excuses given by sex killers for their crimes and their ducking of any troublesome questions by Police or any other interviewers, shows the true colours of these reptiles.  A couple of examples were shown in a documentary entitled "Most Evil" hosted by Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Stone.  He examines the cases and also delves into the backgrounds of the perpetrators, and even interviews them, to assess where he would place them on a scale of evil he developed, scoring from one to twenty two.  Scoring twenty two placed that person as the worst and most evil criminal.

    One man Dr. Stone interviewed had killed some children, but claimed(As usual)that he was innocent and he had been framed by the Police.  Dr. Stone asked him about the murders, but he instantly refused to talk about them as he had not committed them, and threatened to end the interview if he persisted.  Dr. Stone asked him about anger issues or any fantasies about hurting people.  "I never have thoughts like that" he claimed.  "But everybody does have these sort of thoughts, even of doing the worst things possible but would never act on them.  Even I have had fantasies like that in my life, especially when I was young," Dr. Stone told him.  "I have never had thoughts like that," the guy persisted, "I would never harm anybody or even think about it."   Dr. Stone placed him at 22.  His crimes were sickening.

    Another person who did not like probing questions was Cindy Hendy, partner in crime to a truly twisted sex torturer and killer, David Parker Ray. Ray and Hendy had a converted trailer that they had christened "The Toy Box" but a toy it was most definitely not.  It was a torture chamber filled with restraints, pulleys, with a gynaecologists chair, so the victims had their legs strapped open.  Ray used cattle prods and soldering irons on his victims, whilst Hendy held the victims at gunpoint.  Years before, Ray had both his son and daughter help him kidnap women so he could torture them.  Unbelievable, yet it happened.  Later, Ray hooked up with Hendy.  She trawled bars, finding solitary women and pretending to befriend them, getting them drunk and then taking them to Ray.

    Dr. Stone was interviewing Hendy in prison and started asking questions about why she teamed up with a man so much older than herself.  She replied that she would not talk about that.  Dr. Stone then asked if she saw him as a father figure or was her relationship with her father un-natural?  This made her very angry and she threatened to walk out of the room if he continued with this line of questions.  Nothing like hitting the nail on the head.  It is not known how many women Ray killed, but some of his victims did survive.  Ray has since died in prison. Dr. Stone placed Ray at 22 on his scale.

Friday 15 February 2013

Musings PT2

Following on from my first post, this piece will focus on some of the most notorious serial killers.  Let us have a look at Theodore Robert Bundy, the man credited with between 20 & 35 murders.  All his victims were young women, with the exception of a young girl, whose murder brought him his death sentence.  Looking at the pictures of his victims, you can see a pattern amongst them.  They all had their hair parted in the middle, just like the girlfriend of Bundy.  She ended their relationship , saying he had not done enough to further himself, and so Bundy threw himself into studying Law, working in political campaign offices, and doing anything to show the huge effort he had made.  But despite getting back with his dream girl, he suddenly their relationship.  He then went off on a murderous spree through a number of states.  Eventually arrested, he escaped from custody twice, but when he finally appeared in a courtroom, he chose to defend himself.  He made an impression on the Judge who commented that he would have liked to have had him defend in his court, but said to Bundy, "You chose the wrong path, partner," and passed the Death Penalty on him.

    Bundy over the years used all the delaying tactics he could to avoid the chair, even consulting with detectives on the Green River Killer case.  But it was clear to detectives like Robert Keppel that Bundy was just delaying as much as possible and refused to speak to him further.  In January 1989, Bundy went to the chair, and the guard paid to throw the switch, was a woman.

    Jeffrey Dahmer murdered seventeen young men, dismembering them, and even consuming parts of them.  He also stored body parts in his fridge and freezer.  When his spree came to an end, a large debate raged as to whether Dahmer was insane or not.  One subject that is rarely touched upon in this case, is that Dahmer wanted to have his own little band of sex slaves, that he could control like Star Wars villain Darth Vader.  After his trial, Dahmer chose to work with the BAU of the FBI, telling them everything about his life, how he thought, how he tried to control his victims, in short telling them all about how a killer like him worked.  But this came to an abrupt end when he was murdered by a fellow inmate.

    Fred West & Sutcliffe have been covered extensively, and I have never really examined the crimes of Dennis Neilsen, except in some of the murders, he had his victims bodies with him for some days, as if they were a couple!  Echoes of Dahmer.
I will write more of my thoughts on certain cases and crimes in forthcoming chapters.

Thursday 14 February 2013

Musings on a Variety of Subjects

Whilst I have covered a multitude of subjects on this blog, I have deliberately avoided certain subjects, such as The Krays, Fred West, Ted Bundy, Sutcliffe, Dennis Neilsen, Dahmer, Gacy, the Mafia.  These are people that have been extensively covered, and I know that I could have many visitors to this blog using them, but I decided that I will put all these eggs in one basket.  

    Let us start with the heroes to the retarded; The Krays.  When they went away, they were largely forgotten about until the later 80`s, and with the film, that all changed.  The man who led the charge was Tony "Gang Boss" Lambrianou, known as the "Keeper of the Krays Flame."  One person referred to Lambrianou as the "Biggest fannying bastard of them all", obviously forgetting about Dave Courtney.  Some people have likened them to master criminals but others have dismissed them as unintelligent thugs made out to be much more than they were.  Lambrianou claimed that Reg could have been a successful businessman.  Yes, that`s right.  That`s why they had crooked businessmen Leslie Payne and Freddie Gore working for them.  So why did good ole clever Reg need them?  "Ronnie was doing deals with Russians whilst in Broadmoor," claimed another.  So why would Russian gangsters want to deal with an old villain, visited by equally old villains and young wanna-bes and plastic gangsters.  Obviously, the Ruskies see more possibilities with him than the likes of the really big villains such as the Arifs, Adams, Coleman, Hiscock, White, Daly, Hunt, Brindle and other powerful families.  

    Another one is Kate Kray, or Howard(Her name before the marriage) she tended to say things like "The last time I saw a look like that was Ron"  "Ron was the best money getter I have ever seen," etc, etc.  Well, Brain of Britain, he did n `t have to, as he had plenty of old friends ready to hand him money.  For what reason?  Plus plenty of hangers-on, no doubt being told "Now you are on the firm," and they then thinking that they are now in the truly big league.  No doubt their hero had a bloody good laugh at the mugs after they left.  

    What about Charlie Kray?  He had a book come out in 1976 that tried to claim that they were not villains, but tough guys hounded by a vindictive Police.  Yes, that`s right.  Police were not too bothered to really investigate them were they?  I wonder how many Police protected them?  On the take?  Paying cops off for information and to stop them arresting them?  Just shows how truly "Powerful" they were.  Members of the Arifs and the Adams families have gone down, and the Krays were nothing compared to them.  What about comments by Joe Pyle?  "When they died, they did not have a pot to piss in!"  And as for their "Criminal Empire" his comment was "Some Empire." Ah, but we must not destroy the "Legend."

The Laser Man

The Laser Man was a gunman who stalked and then shot his victims in the Swedish capital Stockholm.  His gun had one of those laser sights, which flashed a red dot on the target, hence the name given to him by the Police and the press.  The victims he stalked were foreigners to Sweden, giving rise to the theory that he was a man with a hatred to outsiders.  One of his victims died and eleven were wounded.  The Police used all their resources, including a criminal profiler, but could not get near him as his targets were so random, and with no time line between attacks.

    Another huge problem for the Stockholm Police was that a lone bank robber was hitting banks, and was seeming to vanish into thin air.  Eventually, a suspect emerged, but with no evidence, they had to keep him under surveillance.  One day, the suspect emerged from his home and rode off on a bicycle, carrying a hold all over his shoulder, dressed in a suit and tie.  They managed to keep him in sight, and saw him disappear into an alleyway, then he emerged in a casual top with a hood.  The Police watched as he entered a bank, then a minute or two later ran out as an alarm sounded.  The Police immediately drew their guns and had him at gunpoint. 

    In the Police station, they realised that they had caught the solitary bank robber.  After running from the banks, he would disappear out of sight and then re-emerge in a suit and tie, completely throwing off the Police.  His total number of robberies was around twenty.  His gun was examined by ballistics experts, and the bullets matched the bullets taken from the victims.  Police had also caught the notorious Laser Man.  His excuse for the shootings was that he hated foreigners moving into Stockholm.  Good, patient work had caught red-handed a prolific bank robber and stalking gunman.

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Who Killed Clara Cropper PT 2

The murder of Clara Cropper back in July 1948 is still an unsolved crime.  The man charged with the crime and put on trial at Chester Assizes in November 1948, Olaf Andreas Flaathe, was cleared by the Jury.  The Jury was out for the astonishingly short time of just eight minutes.  After the trial, it is not known whether the Police stated that they would reopen the case or did they use the time-honoured phrase "We are not looking for anybody else," which says that the killer walked free from court.  Did Flaathe commit the crime?

    My opinion?  No, he did not, but I believe he did not tell the full truth.  If he had, he would have put the noose around his neck, because he would have put himself in the vicinity of the murder, he was with the victim and was identified by a witness but this was strongly countered by his defence barrister. There are two episodes in this case that I have a problem with.  First off, the behaviour of the chief prosecution witness, Edith Gill, and the tunnel vision approach of the Police, in which a man that had so obviously been engaged in serious violence, was ignored.  They were so convinced they had the right man, and indeed, the Chief of Police told the press that it was a straightforward case.  This was subsequently turned on it`s head by the acquittal of Flaathe.  

    The story began when the SS Bergen, a small ship of just under two thousand tons, berthed at Bowaters Paper Mill, on the Manchester Ship Canal, in July 1948.  The nearest places for the crews off the numerous ships that berthed at the Port Docks were pubs such as The Grosvenor, Horse & Jockey, & the Canal Inn, known to locals as the Boathouse.  It was at the Boathouse that a sailor from the ship, 53 years old Olaf Flaathe met and befriended local woman Clara Cropper.  Mrs Cropper, a 44 years old of mother of two, originally from Hull, and separated from her husband, a canal bargeman, was a regular visitor to the Boathouse with her friend, Edith Gill.  The role of Mrs Gill and some of her subsequent actions, have led many locals to wonder if she had a bigger role in the case than was thought.  Indeed, locals thought that she was the actual killer, but I discount this totally, but I cannot put a spin on her actions during the investigation and the trial of Flaathe.  More to follow.

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Big Brawl in Prescott

I remember reading about a huge street brawl that happened in Prescott, I think it was in the early seventies.  It was said that there between forty and fifty people fighting in the street, as a feud between two families erupted.  Both families, named as Dean & Walsh, with their friends and supporters, engaged in a free-for-all.  It did get very ugly as one person was shot and wounded with pellets from a shotgun.  One person was reported as wielding a home-made flame thrower squirting a flame that was ten to fifteen feet long.  The sort of event that rarely comes to the attention of the national media these days.  I can only update this as I get more information on this as I can find it.  Unless somebody out there knows something.

Monday 11 February 2013

John Holmes - The Truth

Some years ago I was watching the film "Boogie Nights" with Mark Wahlberg & Burt Reynolds, when elements of the story seemed a little familiar to me.  I then realised that this film was loosely based on the life of porno star John Holmes.  A number of events in the film were true but just what is the truth about Holmes himself.  There have been a good few tales circulating about his life before he got into the porn film business.  One of these stories was that as a boy of about fifteen, he was the sex slave to a madam in a brothel in Germany, as his family lived there for a few years.  He was also said to have been in demand from women everywhere due to his fame of having a huge penis.  Alas, these stories, which incidentally, were spread by Holmes himself, were simply untrue.

    It transpired that Holmes was an exceedingly shy young man and was therefore a very late starter, sexually, despite his huge tackle.  He did get a start in porn films and quickly became in demand for porn makers, and he eventually made around three thousand films, mainly short films, though he did make some towards feature length.  he did play a cop or secret agent in a series of films; in "Boogie Nights" Dirk Diggler played Brock Landers, a play on the character Holmes played.  He also was in demand as a gigolo and it is claimed, as a stud for gay men.  Inevitably, Holmes went on the downward slope.  He was a very heavy user of cocaine and became chronically addicted to it, doing absolutely anything to get his hands on money for drugs, and betraying constantly, the people whom were desperately trying to help him.  He did get involved in an incident, a robbery at a house(as portrayed in the film) that went wrong.  Eventually, Holmes had no friends and even his loyal girlfriend had her patience pushed to the absolute limit.

    But, his lifestyle caught up with him and he was found to have contracted AIDS.  This signalled the death of his career as an adult performer.  His girlfriend did marry him but they were unable to have sex.  I remember a feature on this in the newspapers, and Holmes looked pale and gaunt, a mere shadow of his former self.  He died from the disease, and debate raged about whether he caught it from a porn actress, a woman client, or one of the men he occasionally serviced.  His death was used as a warning over very casual sex or getting involved in porn but it has not made one ounce of difference.  Any stories you hear about Holmes, about incredible adventures he supposedly had, take it with a pinch of salt, as Holmes constantly lied about everything, and he lied so much, he lied to cover lies, which were lies covering lies!  What is not in dispute are the films he made.

Sunday 10 February 2013

Jack The Stripper

This unsolved series of murders had a number of names, such as "the Hammersmith Murders," The Thames Nude Murders," but is best known as the "Jack The Stripper Murders" which happened between 1964 & 1965, although two other murders, one in 1959 & the second in 1963, are thought to be part of the series of murders.  Six women fell foul to a sadistic killer, who used extreme violence on them, and although they were all prostitutes, he did nothing sexual to them.  The man from the Yard put in charge of the investigation was their best homicide investigator, John DuRose.  DuRose conducted a vast and thorough investigation, and did have a good suspect.  This man was known as Mungo Ireland, and he worked as a security guard on an industrial estate.  One of the victims had paint spray traces on her, and there was a spray shop on this industrial estate, which Ireland did have access to.  Of the victims, one had her panties forced down her throat, causing her to asphyxiate.  Semen was also found in their mouths, and some had had their teeth knocked out.  Ireland committed suicide before DuRose could arrest him, and Ireland left a suicide note.  This note suggested that Ireland was the killer, but there was no admission to the murders.  

    Over the years, some other suspects have emerged, but the theories can be a bit outlandish. One name that has been around since the mid sixties was that of renowned boxer Freddie Mills.  It was claimed in one book, that Mills was having a homosexual relationship with Liverpool crooner Michael Holliday, and had to have rough sex with a prostitute before sex with Holliday.  It was claimed that Mills liked to rough them up but went too far and killed them.  After the first killing, in which Mills allegedly dumped all the bodies, Mills acquired a taste for murder. This claim also had Mills being warned by a major villain that the Police were closing in on him and he should expect to be shortly arrested.  It is claimed that Mills committed suicide soon afterwards.  Holliday committed suicide in 1963, before the known series of murders started, so the claim that Hollidays` suicide, after a second murder, would be the 1963 death thought to be part of the series.  This theory has no evidence at all to substantiate it and has been dismissed.

    Another possible suspect is a notorious killer.  Harold Jones gained notoriety in South Wales for the murder of two young girls in 1921, aged just fifteen.  He was acquitted of the first murder, and was treated to a hero`s homecoming by townspeople that would not believe that a young lad in their town could commit such a brutal murder.  One of the first people to welcome him home was called Little.  Not long afterwards, Jones murdered his daughter.  This time he was convicted, but being under age, spared him the noose.  He spent the next twenty years in prison, and was released in 1941, against the wishes of the prison governor and psychiatrist.  Jones moved around during the next twenty years, eventually settling in London.  He had also married and had a child, although it is not known if they knew his background.  Jones was also a frequent visitor back to his home town, Abertillary.  Jones lived in the vicinity of the murders and where the victims lived.  But the Police did not know that a ruthless double killer was in the killing zone.  Jones can only remain a suspect.

    It was also believed that the killer could have been a Policeman, as the bodies were dumped just inside different Police boundaries. Indeed, one officer was considered a suspect, but another cop was proposed by a villain.  Jimmy Evans felt that former top cop and head of the Flying Squad, Tommy Butler, was the killer.  I view this as just sour grapes on Evans` part, as he claimed to have had a number of run-ins with Butler over the years.  As with Mills and Jones, Butler is not alive to refute these accusations.  An intriguing case study.

Thursday 7 February 2013

Crime Detection PT2

Back in the late 70`s, there was an attempt to form a national drugs squad, in the wake of the Operation Julie arrests.  That is, a squad like the Drug Enforcement Agency in the USA.  naturally, such a proposal was taken so seriously by the Government, Home Office and Police hierarchy.  Actually, it wasn`t.  As a result, many of the Julie officers resigned from the Force.  The lead detective Dick Lee, made a number of predictions about a complete change of face of the drugs scene.  All were ignored, and we see the result all around us.  He wanted a squad to go around the country, keeping a boot on the neck of the drugs scene.  For years, the drug scene has not been the preserve of hippies in the 60`s.  They are long gone and buried.  They could not operate for long these days without real villains moving in on them, and either intimidating them out of business, or setting them up to the Police, or quite simply, eliminating them.  Lee was not to know that professional villains had already moved into drug importation and distribution, in Liverpool, in the late 60`s.  Other villains did not get involved until the late 70`s seventies.

    Yet more stories emerge about how the Police used some information, made a huge case out of little and had "Savage" sentences handed out to the participants of "Julie."  All to form a national drugs squad.  If the Police wanted a national squad, then so fucking what!  Again, it seems to me that these fucknuts are of the view that the people arrested over "Julie" were middle class and so therefore different to all those working class arrested and jailed for drug offences.  This is called snobbery and class discrimination.  They all did well out of their ILLEGAL enterprises but their apologists cannot stop crying.  The same phrase applies to all lawbreakers;  If you cannot do the sentence, then DO NOT COMMIT THE CRIME!!!  To top it off, I think that they should have been taken down by the drugs squad that was led by Vic Kellaher, and with the likes of Pilcher arresting them, then they REALLY would have had something to cry about.  I would like to hear from Martyn Pritchard, the cop who started off the "Julie" case, and hear his views on the comments made about the case and the claims of Nigel Fielding about his questioning by Pritchard. It made me think about the claims of supergrass Darren Nichols about his claims that two experienced officers, and one of them in particular, was getting "really excited" about what Nichols claims he was telling them.  Nichols was the man whose word alone convicted Steele and Whomes over the Range Rover triple murders.

Crime Detection - The Culture Has Changed

Britain has always done very in lagging behind the USa in their approach to crime.  They have had the FBI for many decades, they also have the DEA and the ATF.  These organisations investigate different types of crime, and are specialists in certain fields.  Yet,every attempt to make a national squad over here goes down the tubes.  Why can we not create and expand a specialist team of Police investigators?  Is it inter-departmental jealousies?  Is it territorial?  Are some Police chiefs obsessed with publicity?

    One squad was formed some years ago as a British equivalent to the FBI.  This was the National Crime Squad, formed by joining up the Regional Crime Squads.  However, this fell by the wayside.  Then the Serious Organised Crime Agency - SOCA - was formed and this is the only national squad we have in operation.  With the Bureau, you had to apply and go through assessments, interviews, and training.  Here, with the NCS, if you were a RCS man, then you were in.  No rooting out bad officers, or those not making the grade.  Look at some of the scandals that have erupted over the years with the RCS.  One squad used a professional informer to go around the country, persuading people to set up criminal enterprises, only for him to grass them up for his handlers.  One man refused to get involved in crime, so he was threatened with murder by villains.  Frightened for his life, he set up a forgery scam but one day, the villains descended upon him , arresting him, brandishing RCS warrant cards.  The "villains" were really Police Officers threatening a man with murder, then arresting him for the crime that they had intimidated him into committing.

    What about the scandal of the extent of corruption in the South East RCS?  One of them went to prison for eleven years.  This only unfolded after one officer turned supergrass.  No doubt that they hated him for spilling the beans on them, but is it not strange that they expect criminals to do the same to their confederates?

    A couple of years back, the Home Office put forward a proposal to do what the FBI had done in response to serial killers.  That is, get them to talk and answer many questions about their crimes and build up a data base on their MO`s and quirks.  True to form, some arseholes started bleating.  "What if these felons demand certain privileges?"  The answer is very simple, numbnuts, they are told to piss off.  One renowned former investigator, Bob Taylor, said that if it prevents one murder or helps catch a perpetrator, then it has been worthwhile.  Try telling that to the whingers.

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Development of The Sex Killer

Sex killings.  The work of a twisted mind, and individuals with truly disturbing sexual deviances. This is not an unusual crime, as it goes right back through the history of crime.  It is only over the last thirty plus years that the possible deviant desires of killers has come fully into the public perception.  One of the most early and notable British sex killers was John Christie, he of 10 Rillington Place infamy.  It emerged that Christie could only copulate with his victims was when they were dead or unconscious.  They could not resist and here he had total control over them.  His ultimate display of control was his strangulation of them and then concealing their bodies around his property.  They were there and HE had killed them.

    Next on the list is Sutcliffe.  When he was arrested, he was wearing a v-neck pullover, over his legs with his genitals protruding through the neck.  This told it loud and clear that this was a sex crime, and that Sutcliffe obviously masturbated over his victims, or right by their bodies.  Yet, incredibly, this was not considered by the Police.  To be strip-searched and be found to be wearing a pullover in a bizarre fashion with your balls on show, screams sexual deviant.

    Let us have a look at the BTK serial killer, Dennis Rader.  When he murdered his first victims, he hung a young girl in the basement of her home.  Rader matter-of-factly revealed in court, that as the young girl choked, he masturbated.  Again, another display of sexual deviancy.  he was also a man who loved to throw his minor authority around, over the local people.  He thrived on that power.  Another thrill for him.  What truly disturbed me about Rader was just how coldly, and completely unemotionally, he described all ten murders he committed.  It was if it was nothing at all.

    Now we have a look at Steve Wright, the Suffolk Strangler.  Prof. David Wilson, leading Criminologist, conducted an investigation into possible earlier murders that Wright might have committed.  One murder that Prof. Wilson examined was that of a prostitute called Bettles.  Wright was in the area at the time of the murder, and one point that stood out was that this sex worker had met a client who was a cross-dresser.  Wright was known to be a cross-dresser, amongst the working girls of Ipswich.  What conclusions can we draw from Wrights` killing spree?  Did he dress up because it was a sexual turn-on?  Did he try to use this as a ruse, or as a disguise? All his victims were under thirty, so it can be reasonable to believe that women under a certain age represented youth.  Did the victims represent girls of a more innocent age?  Did they look younger than they were?  And what about the actual killings?  All his victims were naked.  Could it have been that he could not get aroused unless they were naked?  If he did murder the girl, Bettles, could it have been that only a choking action could produce an orgasm for him?  Could he have choked that too hard, but the death of the girl intensified his orgasm.  As for the killing spree in Ipswich, for such a high number of victims in such a short time, could Wright have tried to reach the intense level of orgasm that he first experienced, but failed to achieve.  Hence five victims in ten days.  All speculation but all the different deviances that sex killers portray does lead to speculative debate.  What do you think?

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Supercops in the UK

Just as Lou Smit was a supercop in the USA, so we had ours in the UK.  Of course there were the legendary Scotland Yard detectives such as Walter Dew, Berrett, Fabian (Fabian of the Yard), Cherrill, Du Rose et al.  Dew is famous for arresting Crippen in New York and bringing him back to Britain to face trial.  The biggest case for Berrett was arresting the killers of PC George Gutteridge in 1927.  However, there is a dispute over the guilt of one of the men subsequently hanged for the crime, Guy Browne.

    John Du Rose was the head of the Murder Squad, and he acquired a reputation for solving murders very quickly.  One huge case of the 60`s was the unsolved murders known as the "Jack the Stripper" murders.  Six prostitutes were killed over a two year period, and Du Rose believed that the killer was a night watchman for an industrial estate.  But before Du Rose could arrest him, the watchman committed suicide, depriving Du Rose of the chance to interrogate him and hopefully ascertain the truth.  The conspiracy theorists have long made out that the killer was none other than legendary boxer, Freddie Mills.  Indeed, one author has put forward the suggestion that Mills was having a homosexual relationship with singer Michael Holliday and Mills liked having rough sex with a prostitute before sex with Holliday and Mills ended up beating the prostitute and then killing her.  However, as both men are long dead, these theories can be aired without threat of legal action.  True to say, these allegations have been rubbished.

    Later on in years, in the 70`s and 80`s, famous Glasgow cop Les Brown helped investigate two hundred and forty nine murders, resulting in a ninety eight percent conviction rate.  Donald Craig, a former Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, investigated seventy three murders and solved the lot.  Another man with an equally impressive record was Bob Booth, who had investigated seventy murders and solved the lot.  But his enquiry into the kidnap of a teenage girl and her subsequent murder, destroyed a glittering career.  

    This was the Lesley Whittle case, and as it emerged, the kidnapper was a triple killer and armed robber.  These crimes were committed in different jurisdictions and so were being investigated by different forces.  The killer was none other than Donald Neilson, alias "The Black Panther."  Neilson had carried dozens of burglaries and armed robberies, and after killing one man, he then almost beat the victims` wife to death with a gun.  During his arrest, Neilson attempted to shoot two Police officers and with help from two members of the public, they had to give Neilson a beating in order to subdue him.  After losing his gun, he tried to reach for a bayonet, but the officers managed to cuff him.  At the Inquest into the girls` death, Bob Booth was expected to be economical with the truth, in order to "spare the blushes" of Scotland Yard, whom had been called in to help the enquiry, and had made some blunders.  Booth stood before the Coroner and told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as you expect the Police to do.  But because he embarrassed the Yard, he was brought up on disciplinary charges and kicked out of the CID and back into uniform.  Because he did not toady to the Yard, like his superiors, his career was destroyed, and he was made the public scapegoat.  I have nothing but the utmost respect for this man.

Saturday 2 February 2013

Lou Smit - Supercop

Lou Smit.    Not a name to conjure up images of a great detective here in the UK, but in the United States, he was rightly regarded as a legend.  A man who thoroughly investigated homicides, and never settled for taking the easy way out.  He worked for the Police in Colorado and made a number of high profile arrests, including the killer of the sister of Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, and a man called Robert Browne, who went on to confess to a total of forty eight murders.  He ended his career as Police Chief for the El Paso County Sheriff`s Department.  But his finest hour was yet to come.

    One of the most notorious unsolved murders in US history is that of six year old JonBenet Ramsey, a child beauty pageant contestant.  The Boulder PD quickly concluded that the murder was committed by Mrs Ramsey, and her husband helped cover up for her.  Yet, they had no proof to launch a prosecution, and the Ramseys were subjected to a sickening trial by media, including a talk show host conducting a mock grand jury trial of the Ramseys, that led to the inevitable conclusion.  That they both murdered their daughter.  This example of trial by television, would never have been allowed in this country, and I dare say, that the host would have found himself in jail.  

    To help put the case and the guilt of the Ramseys, to rest, retired detective Lou Smit was brought in to prove "That they did it!"  But right from the outset, Det. Smit started pulling the Boulder PD case apart.  To everything he said, he showed proof to back up what he was saying.  A documentary about this investigation was made, but the TV company held back showing it for over a year, citing the programme "Was dynamite!"  Dynamite it certainly was.  This was a masterclass in being a detective, and Smit destroyed one claim after another about the Ramseys.  He proclaimed them completely innocent of the crime and blamed the Boulder PD investigation for having tunnel vision over the supposed guilt of the Ramseys.  It was announced in 2008 that advances in DNA had cleared the Ramseys of murdering their daughter, and proved the existence of an intruder.  Just as Smit had claimed ten years earlier.  Sadly Lou Smit passed away in 2010 from cancer.  Lou Smit investigated over two hundred homicides and in every single case, somebody went on trial.  A great loss to Law Enforcement, but I wonder if some Boulder Police secretly celebrated?