Backhouse, Graham
*****
Baekeland, Antony
*****
Baker, Frederick
*****
Baker, William
*****
Bailey, George Arthur
*****
Baksh, John
*****
Ball, Edward
*****
Ball, George
*****
Bannister, James
*****
Barlow, Kenneth
*****
Barlow, Silas
*****
Barnes, Alfred
*****
Barr, Thomas
*****
Barrett, Horace George
*****
Barrett, Lester Vincent
*****
Bastion, Cebert
*****
Bates, John George
*****
Bayly, William Alfred
*****
Baumbos, Christos Emanuel
*****
Bean, Sawney
*****
Beard, Arthur
*****
Beaumont, Gilbert Francis
*****
Beck, Martha &
Fernandez, Raymond
*****
Becker, Charles
*****
Bellingham, John
*****
Benson, Ronald Herbert
*****
Benson, William Charles
*****
Bennett, Herbert John
*****
Bennett, Thomas
*****
Benton, Wallace
*****
Berridge, John David
*****
Bianchi Kenneth &
Buono, Angelo
*****
Birchall, Reginald
*****
Biddick, William Douglas
*****
Bishop, Arthur
*****
Billings, John Robert Prior
*****
Black, Edward Ernest
*****
Blanchard, Peter
*****
Bloody Benders
*****
Bolber, Morris
*****
Bonin, William
*****
Boston Strangler
*****
Boyce, Arthur Robert
*****
Bradford, Francis
*****
Brain, George
*****
Brinkley, Richard
*****
Brook, John
*****
Brown, Eric
*****
Brown, Ernest
*****
Brown, Frederick
*****
Browning, Robert
*****
Buchalter, Louis Lepke
*****
Buchanan, Dr Robert
*****
Buckfield, Reginald Sidney
*****
Bull, William
*****
Bundy, Ted
*****
Burke, William &
Hare, William
*****
Burns, Tom Lionel
*****
Burrows, Albert Edward
*****
Burton, David John
*****
Burton, William Walter
*****
Bush, Edwin
*****
Butler, William Thomas
*****
Butt, Charles Edward
*****
Byrne,Patrick
*****
Backhouse, Graham
Margaret Backhouse climbed into the driver's seat of her Volvo on the 9th
April 1984. When Margaret, who lived at Widdenhall Farm, near Chipping
Sodbury, with her 44-year-old farmer husband, turned the ignition key,
the car exploded. She was left with severe injuries to her buttocks and
legs. The police suspected that the intended victim was husband Graham.
He told officers that he was the victim of a hate campaign and that a sheep's
head had been stuck on a fence at the farm along with a note that read
'You next.' Backhouse was given 24-hour police protection. On 18th April
Backhouse requested that the 24-hour guard be removed following the fitting
of a 'panic button'. This alarm system was connected to the local police
station and, on 30th April, it was activated.
When the police attended, in the form of PC Richard Yeadon, it was to
find the body of Colyn Bedale-Taylor. Bedale-Taylor, 63-years-old and a
neighbour of Backhouse, had died from a shotgun blast to the chest. Clutched
in his hand was a Stanley knife. A weeping Backhouse was found lying in
the lounge drenched in blood from knife wounds to the face and chest. His
story was that Bedale-Taylor had arrived and told him that he had come
to repair some furniture. When being told that there was no furniture to
repair he had accused Backhouse of being responsible for the death of his
son in a car crash in 1982. He then told Backhouse that he, Bedale-Taylor,
was responsible for planting the car bomb and attacked Backhouse with the
Stanley knife. Backhouse had run back into the house and grabbed a gun.
When Bedale-Taylor had refused to back off, he had shot him.
This story was at odds with the forensic evidence and Backhouse appeared
at Bristol Crown Court in February 1985 charged with murder and attempted
murder. The forensic investigation had shown that Backhouse's wounds had
been self-inflicted and that Bedale-Taylor could not have been holding
the knife when he died. His right palm was covered with his own blood,
which could only have happened after he was shot and when he was not holding
the knife. The prosecution showed that Backhouse had debts of £70,000.
Until March 1984 his wife had life insurance cover of £50,000 but
this was increased by a similar amount. It was alleged that Backhouse had
tried to kill his wife for the insurance money and, when that failed, had
faked the attack by Bedale-Taylor to shift police investigations away from
himself. The jury preferred the prosecution version and, on Monday 19th
February 1985, after nearly six hours deliberation, found Backhouse guilty
of
both charges. He was given two life sentences.
Baekeland, Antony
When he was twenty-one Antony Baekeland's parents separated and he lived
with his doting mother, Barbara Baekeland, an ex-film star, in a penthouse
flat in London. He had homosexual tendencies and was known to experiment
with LSD. On 17th November 1972 he stabbed his over-indulgent mother to
death. When police arrived they found Antony ordering a Chinese meal.
At his Old Bailey trial, which began on 6th June 1973, witnesses told
of the possibility of an incestuous relationship between Antony and his
mother. It was suggested that Barbara had been trying to 'cure' her son
of his sexual preferrences. His defence, one of diminished responsibility,
was successfully argued and he was found guilty of the lesser charge of
manslaughter. He was sent to Broadmoor.
He was discharged from Broadmoor in July 1980 and went to live with
his grandmother in New York. He had only been there a week before he attacked
the elderly woman, because she nagged him. He was locked up on Riker's
Island and committed suicide there on 21st March 1981.
Baker, Frederick
Baker is responsible for one of the most famous phrases in the English
language, 'sweet Fanny Adams.' On Saturday 24th August 1867 seven-year-old
Fanny and her young sister, Lizzie, left their Alton, Hampshire, home to
play with their friend Minnie Warner. They met Minnie and the three children
walked the half mile to Flood Meadow, near the River Wey. When they arrived
they were met by Baker, a local solicitor. He offered them halfpennies
if they would go with him to The
Hollow, a quiet country road. They agreed and went along with the young
man quite willingly. When he tried to entice young Fanny into a hop grove
the children began to express their doubts. Baker gave Lizzie and Minnie
another halfpenny each and told them to go home. He picked up young Fanny
and carried her into the hop field.
When the child failed to return home a search party set out and soon
found her. She had been battered to death. Her head, with its eyes gouged
out, had been stuck on a pole and other portions of of the child were found
nearby.
It did not take the authorities long to arrest Baker. When they examined
his diary for the fateful day they found the entry, 'Saturday August 24th.
Killed a young girl. It was fine and hot.' The jury took no time to find
Baker guilty and he was duly hanged.
Bailey, George Arthur
George Bailey was executed on 2nd March 1921 for poisoning his wife. His
four day trial in January of that year was notable as the first murder
trial which had female jury members.
When he appeared at Aylesbury Assizes he told the court that his wife
had threatened suicide and had then swallowed prussic acid. The jury, advised
by Mr Justice McCardie to 'arrive at your verdict without flinching, and
to deliver it with unswerving firmness' disbelieved his story and duly
returned a guilty verdict.
Baksh, John
At 1 am on the freezing cold morning of 5 January 1985 an attractive, dark-complexioned
woman was found lying in undergrowth at Keston Ponds, near Bromley in Kent.
She was fully dressed wearing a blouse and skirt but did not have on a
topcoat. Her attacker had cut her throat and then left her to die. The
wound had bled considerably and although very serious she was still alive.
One reason for this was believed to be due to the weather. The sub zero
temperatures had slowed down the heartbeat thus slowing down the bleeding.
She was taken to a nearby house and an ambulance was called. She was deeply
unconscious but still alive. She was taken to Bromley Hospital and put
straight into intensive care.
The woman was identified as 42-year-old Dr. Madhu Baksh. She was the
current wife of 52-year-old Dr. John Baksh, a general practitioner with
surgeries in both Mottingham and Chislehurst. Both the practices were doing
very well. His current wife and his ex-wife had been partners in the practice
with John Baksh. He had reported his wife as missing during the evening
of the night before after she failed to turn up for an evening out with
him. A policeman was constantly by her bedside and as Madhu started to
slowly recover she tried to mumble a few words to the waiting detectives.
Although she made little sense one word they were able to recognise was
'morphine'. Tests were immediately carried out on pre-transfusion blood
samples from the woman and massive amounts of morphine were detected. Before
this discovey it had been thought possible that her injuries were the result
of an attack but they now started suspecting murder and the detectives
started doing some background investigation and soon discovered that John
Baksh held insurance policies worth £215,000 on his wife's life.
Further checking revealed what had happened and the police started to build
up a picture of events.
It looked as if Baksh had driven his wife's car and abandoned it in
Bromley. He then administered a narcotic drug to to his wife, probably
in a drink, to make her drowsy and had then injected her with morphine
in the back of the thigh. He then took her body to Keston, placed it in
the undergrowth and in cold blood slashed her throat.
Dectectives also discovered that Baksh's first wife, Ruby, had been
found dead in her bed while they were on holiday in Spain in 1983. The
cause of death had been certified as a heart attack, though no post-mortem
had been conducted. The body was exhumed and organs removed back to England
for testing. Tests proved that the woman had received a large dose of morphine.
She had been insured for £90,000.
Baksh was charged with the murder of his first wife and the attempted
murder of his second and appeared at the Old Bailey in December 1986. The
jury were unanimous in finding him guilty and he received life and 14 years'
imprisonment, respectively. Madhu obtained a divorce on the grounds of
his 'unreasonable behaviour' which under the circumstances seemed reasonable.
Ball, Edward
Edward ball was charged with the murder of his mother although her body
was never found. A man delivering newspapers noticed a car strangely parked
facing the sea and the car door partially open. Inside the car were bloodstains
and a bloodstained towel. He was suspicious and reported the matter to
the police who went to the house and searched the premises. They found
bloodstained linen wrapped in newspaper in Edward Balls room. When confronted
Edward stated that his 55 year old mother had committed suicide and cut
her throat. When he found her body he decided to dispose of the body at
sea. He had taken the body to the shore at Shankill and let the tide take
it out to sea. The prosecution dismissed this story and showed it more
likely that she had been killed with a bloodstained axe found at the house.
He was found guilty but insane and 19 year old Edward Ball was ordered
to be Detained During the Pleasure of the Governor General. It would seem
that the likely motive for this may have been that his mother had been
suffereing from Dementia and this had become too much for a young man of
19 to put up with.
Ball, George
George Ball was a 22 year old tarpaulin packer who aided by an 18 year
old Samuel Elltoft murdered his employer and disposed of the body in the
canal. On 10th December 1913 a ship's steward was waiting for his girl-friend
outside a tarpaulin-maker's shop in Old Hall Street, Liverpool. While he
was waiting he saw a young lad come out of the shop pushing a handcart
with a bundle in it. The lad was soon joined by another man and the two
walked off down the street pushing the cart and its load. The steward had
just unknowingly witnessed the disposal of a murder victim's body.
The body of 40 year old Christina Bradfield had been sewn inside a sack
and was then discarded into the water of the canal. It was found the following
day obstructing one of the lock gates and when examined was found to have
been battered with several savage blows from a blunt instrument. A manhunt
was quickly launched for the two men. The police had no difficulty finding
Elltoft who was found at home in bed but Ball had vanished. The manhunt
continued for a further ten days before he was discovered in a lodging-house
in the city.
Although Ball denied the charge incriminating blood stains were found
on his clothing. He was tried and convicted of murder at Liverpool Assizes
and was hung by John Ellis on 26 February 1914 in Liverpool. Elltoft was
found not guilty of murder but guilty of being an accessory after the fact.
For this he was given four years penal servitude. His involvement had been
in the disposal of the body.
Barlow, Kenneth
On 3 May 1957 Kenneth Barlow who was a 38 year old male nurse called a
doctor to his house in Bradford. When the doctor arrived it was to find
Mrs Barlow dead. He was told by Kenneth Barlow that he had found his wife
drowned in the bath. Mrs Barlow was two months pregnant and had previously
complained of feeling unwell, she had vomited in bed and decided to take
a bath to clean herself up.
Barlow said he had dozed off and when he awoke it was to find his wife
still in the bath but with her head under the water. He had tried to revive
her but to no avail.
The doctor could find no signs of violence and could almost believe
the story except for the fact that her eyes were dilated which did not
fit in with a drowning. The police were notified and after listening to
his account of what had happened were deeply suspicious because both Barlow's
pyjamas, and the bathroom, showed no signs of the wetness that would have
been expected if Barlow's story of trying to rescusitate his wife were
true.
When they searched the house they found hypodermic syringes but these
were not exactly odd in the house of a nurse. Still it made them wonder.
The dilated pupils suggested drugs and a post mortem was ordered but no
drugs were found. Still not convinced they continued to search until two
small puncture marks were found on one of her buttocks. Tests were taken
at the puncture sites which confirmed the doctors suspicions. She had been
injected with Insulin. Much of the evidence at the trial consisted of forensic
evidence. Kenneth Barlow was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He was released on licence in 1984 after serving 26 years. We shall never
know why he killed his wife but it was probably to get out of an unhappy
marriage.
Barnes, Alfred
Barnes and 22-year-old James William Forbes were both serving sentences
in Preston Gaol. It was Barnes' first time inside - he'd received nine
months' for shopbreaking - and he was due to be released in twelve days
time. A fight broke out between the two men, over tobacco, as a result
of which Forbes died.
At Leeds Assizes on 13th December 1957, 32-year-old Barnes was convicted
of non-capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Barrett, Horace George
On 27th February 1961, 21-year-old baker's assistant, Barrett was found
guilty of the non-capital murder of his baby daughter, Julie. Barrett had
rowed with his wife over what they were going to watch on the television,
and he hit her. She left him alone in the house with their child for half
an hour and, when the baby started to cry, he attacked it. He broke four
ribs and ruptured the child's liver.
At Nottingham Crown Court he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Barrett, Lester Vincent
Barrett, a 41-year-old Jamaican labourer, had a another violent quarrel
with his 35-year-old wife, Indiana, in their home in Walsall. He packed
his bags and left. After he had had second thoughts about things he returned
and tried to patch things up. His wife took a vegetable knife from under
her pillow and attacked him with it. He relieved her of the knife and stabbed
her.
He was convicted of manslaughter at Stafford Assizes on 7th December
1960 and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. He was subsequently transferred
to Braodmoor and, upon his release, repatriated to Jamaica.
Bastion, Cebert
Cebert Bastion was a 31-year-old labourer who suffered from tuberculosis
and as such was unable to work. He had also got a history of mental problems.
He began to suspect that his wife was seeing another man. He allowed this
idea to fester until it was all he could think of. They had to rely heavily
on her working and this also made him feel bad. One day she had to go to
Birmingham. For no apparent reason unless it was simply to spite her he
took the rolling pin out of the kitchen and methodically beat his two young
sons to death. The two boys, four-year-old Stephen and three-year-old Francis
didn't stand a chance. He then tried to commit suicide in a pond on Clapham
Common.
At his Old Bailey trial medical evidence was given that described Bastion
as insane but this was disputed by the prosecution. On 28 February 1958,
Bastion was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter and sentenced
to life imprisonment. Three months later he was transferred to Broadmoor.
Bates, John George
John George Bates was staying with his friend, 24-year-old Jordon Rayner.
Bates, a 29-year-old labourer for some reason known only to him, beat his
friend to death. He then started to dispose of the man's property. He may
have killed him in the heat of an argument or perhaps it was in order to
steal from him, we shall probably never know.
When arrested he was charged with capital murder. He admitted that he
had pawned the dead man's belongings but he denied the murder. His version
of the events were that on the night of the murder there had been another
man called Fred staying in the house and it had been this man who had murdered
Jordan Rayner. Asked where Fred was now Bates said he did not know as he
had disappeared after the murder. He had been unable to trace 'Fred' and
had been afraid to tell the police because of his own long criminal record,
he didn't think they would believe him. He was of course right about that,
they did not believe him and all attempts to trace Fred failed.
At Durham Assizes, on 29 January 1960, he was found not guilty of capital
murder but guilty of non-capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Bayly, William Alfred
On 16 October 1933 the body of Mrs Christobel Lakey was found dead in a
duck pond. Her husband Samuel could not be found. Also missing were two
guns which were found on the land of a neighbouring farm owned by a man
called William Alfred Bayly. When the police spoke to Bayly he was very
quick to point the finger of blame and he suggested to the police that
Mr Lakey had murdered his wife but when the police started investigating
they found that due to arguments over fences and access roads there had
been quite a lot of bad blood between Bayly and the Lakeys.
On searching Baylys farm they found a lot of evidence that a body had
been burnt in an oil drum and then the remains scattered over the orchard
and fields. Human hair and fragments of bone plus blood and denture material
helped to accuse him. The police then found a Watch and lighter belonging
to the dead man. Bayly was found guilty and hanged in Auckland prison at
8 am on 20 July 1934.
Bean, Sawney
Scotland could be a bleak and dangerous place in 1400. With so much of
the land barren it was not unusual for people to go missing without trace.
This was particularly the case in and around Galloway. From time to time
the King's men would investigate and without much reason would arrest and
hang any undesirables they found. This did not seem to do the trick as
the killings went on. This situation carried on for many years, with people
going missing followed by the hanging of a few more undesirables or vagabonds.
One day a man and his wife were returning from a fair, both of them
on the same horse. Suddenly without warning a wild looking man leapt out
and grabbed the horse's bridle. The husband drew his pistol and fired at
the attacker. Suddenly they were surrounded by a horde of the same wild
looking creatures. The husband drew his cutlass and laid into them without
mercy. His defenceless wife was pulled from the horse and one of the creatures
cut her throat as if he was killing a pig. At one stage the husband was
also pulled to the ground but managed to keep them at bay with his cutlass.
Luckily for him just at that moment about 30 people, returning from the
same fair, came along and seeing what was happening they charged the attackers
who promptly ran off. The woman had, by this time, been completely disembowelled.
The man was the first person to survive assault by the gang for almost
a quarter of a century.
Within four days the king arrived with 400 men. They knew the attackers
must be living close by so started searching and soon came to the seashore.
This was in an area of high cliffs so they waited until the tide had gone
out and then rode along the beach. After a while they noticed a cave in
the cliffs. They sent for some torches and, when they arrived, the troops
clambered up and entered the cave.
The cave was quite narrow to begin with but still the men went on. From
the smell they knew they were in the right place. Suddenly the narrow passage
opened out into a huge cavern and they found figures dazzled by the torchlight.
Hanging from the ceiling of the cave were body parts and there were piles
of money and jewellery in the recesses. The creatures were cornered and
like animals this simply made them fight all the harder. Eventually they
were beaten by sheer weight of numbers and 48 of them were arrested.
They were taken to the Tollbooth in Edinburgh and, from there, to Leith.
The leader of the gang was Sawney Bean. 25 years earlier he had run away
with a woman and they had lived in the cave since then. Whilst living in
this manner she had eight sons and six daughters and these, in turn, had
produced eighteen grandsons and fourteen grand daughters. They were not
a gang but a complete family. They lived by cannibalism, they killed to
eat. It was decided that little would be gained by a trial and so they
were simply executed. The men had their hands and feet chopped off and
were allowed to bleed to death and the women, who had been made to watch,
were thrown alive into three large fires and burnt to death.
Beard, Arthur
Arthur Beard was a nightwatchman who in 1919 did attack and rape 13 year
old Ivy Lydia Wood. The cause of death was from suffocation When the case
came to trial at Chester Assizes Arthur Beard pleaded not guilty to murder
but guilty of manslaughter on the grounds that as he was drunk at the time
he did not know what he was doing.
This was accepted but then later overturned by the House of Lords who
maintained that while beard may have been too drunk to form the intention
to kill he was however able to form the intention to commit a felony namely
the rape during which he used the violence which led to the death of Ivy
Lydia Wood. The result of this was to declare that Beard was indeed guilty
of murder. His death sentence was however changed to one of life imprisonment
Beaumont, Gilbert Francis
Gilbert Francis Beaumont was a 43 year old labourer and a man who had suffered
for a long time from a mental disorder. He had twice been a patient in
a mental hospital and had previously tried to commit suicide. He was totally
devoted to his wife Mabel who was a year older than him. This fact made
it even harder to understand why without any reason he beat her to death
with a gun then tried to commit suicide with first an overdose of aspirins
and then by shooting himself, but failed.
He was tried for the murder of his wife and found guilty but insane
at Norfolk Assizes on 11th February 1958. He was ordered to Broadmoor to
be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure.
Becker, Charles
Charles Becker was a 42 year old police Lieutenant who had got himself
involved in the criminal underworld in New York. A gambling joint owner
stated that he would name a police officer in connection with corruption
so Becker had him shot.
Herman Rosenthal owned a gambling joint in New York. On 15 July 1912
he was shot dead outside the New York Hotel Metropole by a car containing
several gunmen.
Left without his key witness the district attorney, Charles Whitman
offered immunity to anyone who would testify. A man called Jack Rose came
forward and implicated Becker along with six others for the murder of Herman
Rosenthal. Becker plus four others were found guilty. The four were executed
but Becker appealed. He was granted a second trial but was again found
guilty. He was electrocuted on 30 July 1915 just over three years after
the murder. The district attorney had been elected state governor and could
have pardoned Becker but decided not to.
Bellingham, John
John Bellingham developed an irrational grudge against authority when a
business venture in Russia he was involved in collapsed and the government
refused to rescue him from the financial mess he was in.
On 11 May 1812 he entered the House of Commons via the lobby of St Stephens
chapel and lay in wait for Lord Leveson Gower who had been an ambassador
to Russia. When he saw him enter the house he stepped out from behind some
doors and shot him dead. It was only then that he realised that it was
not Lord Gower he had shot but the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval. He
made no attempt to get away and blamed the government for denying him justice.
On the 15 May Bellingham was tried at the Old Bailey for murder and
made a long, rambling statement about his grievances. It took the jury
only 14 minutes to find him guilty. The judge ruled that Bellingham had
understood what he had done and sentenced him to death. He was hanged at
8 am on the 18 May 1812 by William Brunskill.
A strange fact about this case is that apparently the night before his
murder Spencer Percival is meant to have dreamt that he was to be murdered
in the lobby of the House of Commons. It is said that he told his family
that very morning about his strange dream.
Benson, Ronald Herbert
When Misses Phyllis Squires, aged 60, and Elizabeth Ivatt, aged 88, told
Benson that they are unable to supply him with any money, after he called
at their Wandsworth home, he battered them both to death. The 34-year-old
clerk and church worker then poured paraffin over the bodies and set them
alight.
On 27th October 1959, at the Old Bailey, he was found to be insane and
unfit to plead. He was ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure.
Bennett, Herbert John
Bennett was a 17 year old petty thief who would turn his hand to anything
as long as it made a little money. When he met Mary Jane Clark she was
a music teacher 3 years older than him.. He married her on the 22 July
1897 at the West Ham register office and she soon slipped into his world
of lies and deceit.
In 1900 Bennett fell in love with a young parlourmaid and although he
was married already he told her he would marry her. He arranged for his
wife to visit Yarmouth where he joined her. On 23 September a woman's body
was found on the beach, she had been strangled with a bootlace.
Once the body had been identified Bennett fell under suspicion and was
arrested and charged. The main evidence being a necklace she was wearing
before the murder which was later found in Bennetts lodgings in London.
He was tried in front of Judge Lord Alverstone who sentenced him to
death. He was hung on 21 March 1901 in Norwich prison by James Billington.
It had been a very simple case and this really should have been the end
of it but eleven years later on 14 July 1912 another body was found on
the beach. The victim was 18 year old Dora Gray. Her clothes were in disaray
suggesting rape and she too had been strangled with a bootlace. Was this
just a copy cat murder or was an innocent man hung, this case was never
solved.
Bennett, Thomas
Thomas Bennett was a 73-year-old widower, who lived with his son, and who
had begun to act strangely at home. He woke up with a headache one morning
and went round to see one of his neighbours, 77-year-old Annie Waters,
to ask for some aspirins. In a moment of madness he clubbed her with a
hammer.
At his Old Bailey trial on 10th May 1957, he was found unfit to plead.
He was ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure.
Benton, Wallace
No details listed for this case at this time
Berridge, John David
This 19-year-old aircraftman had the idea that the power of the Soviet
Union was so many times greater than that of the West they were bound to
win any potential conflict between the two sides. To prevent his parents,
42-year-old Leonard
Charles and his 38-year-old wife, Irene, suffering should hostilities
occur, he shot them as they lay in bed. He showed the bodies to a friend
later that day and then went to the pictures.
Medical evidence presented at his trial at Pembrokeshire Assizes described
him as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. He was found guilty but insane
and, on 22nd June 1959, was sentenced to be detained at Broadmoor during
Her Majesty's Pleasure.
Bianchi Kenneth & Buono, Angelo
These killer cousins started their reign of terror in LA in 1977 and became
known as the "Hillside Strangler." Kenneth Bianchi was born on the 22 May
1951 in Rochester, New York. His mother was a prostitute who did not want
him and so gave him up for adoption. Angelo Buono was quite a bit older
and took on the role of older brother. Buono was also born in Rochester
on the 5 October 1934 but when he was 10 he moved to Glendale California.
The method would be to sometimes impersonate the police in order to
pick up pick up prostitutes which they would then rape and kill. They enjoyed
leaving their corpses in provocative positions in hillsides east of Hollywood.
When things started to get a bit hot Angelo persuaded Kenny with threats
to leave Los Angeles and go to Bellingham until things had cooled down
a little. Kenny was very unhappy with this arrangement but was frightened
of Angelo. Of course as soon as Kenny moved to Bellingham, Washington,
the killings stopped. It did not take long before Kenny was bored with
the small town life, so decided to get back to his old habits. He proceeded
to kill two more women before being arrested. Bianchi is also suspected
of at least three more killings in Rochester, New York, before his glory
days in L.A.
While in custody Ken feigned being possessed by a violent alter ego
named 'Steve Walker.' In prison he was contacted by a strange twenty-three
year old woman named Veronica Lynn Comton who was seeking information for
a book about a female serial killer. Together they hatched a plan to free
him in which Veronica would take a sample of his sperm, kill a woman and
deposit the sperm sample in her. Bianchi smuggled a rubber glove containing
his semen to her during a visit. She put her plan into action and attacked
another woman but she had underestimated her victim who managed to escape.
Veronica Lyn Compton was quickly arrested and sentenced to life for attempted
murder. Buono and Bianchi were charged with the murders of ten women. The
trial which was to turn into a legal marathon started on 16 November 1981
and continued until 14 November 1983. The case involved over 1800 exhibits
and nearly 400 witnesses as well as 55,000 pages of transcript. On the
9 January 1994 Ken Bianchi and Angelo Buono came before the judge for sentencing.
Buono was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole
while Bianchi was sent back Washington where he would serve 26 years and
8 months before being considered for parole meaning that he would be an
old age pensioner before the possibility of being released.
Biddick, William Douglas
Biddick, 39-years-old, a fitter and Special Constable, was living with
60-year-old Betty Moore. In a fit of jealousy he strangled the woman and
then strangled her 14-year-old daughter, Donna.
At his trial at Cornwall Assizes he put forward the defence that he
had strangled the woman by accident while embracing her and then, overcome
by grief, had strangled the child while his mental responsibility was diminished.
This theory didn't impress the jury and, on 6th June 1959, he was found
guilty on both charges of non-capital murder and sentenced to life.
Billings, John Robert Prior
Billings, a 26-year-old fisherman, and his wife, 23-year-old Tessa, had
been married for six years. He had a history of heavy drinking and it had
been something of a stormy marriage and the pair were currently separated.
A report reached Billings that his wife was seeing another man. He had
already been drinking and went to see his wife to ask her to return to
him. She refused and he stabbed her a dozen times with a filleting knife
that he had bought on the way to see her.
The jury at his trial at Lincoln Assizes heard that Billings was mentally
unstable and a psychopath. On 12th February 1962 he was found not guilty
of murder but guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment.
Birchall, Reginald
Reginald Birchall was convicted of murdering a young englishman called
Frederick Cornwallis Benwell after tricking him into paying £163;500
for a half partnership in a farm.
Benwells frozen body was discovered by two farmers who were out walking
on the 21 February 1890. It had two bullets lodged in the brain. A picture
of the dead man was placed in the local Newspaper and identification was
made when a man and his wife recognised the photo and came forward. Reginald
and Florence Birchall admitted that they had met Benwell when travelling
to New York. Police became suspicious and they were both arrested. Birchall
maintained that he had met Benwell on the liner Britannic travelling from
Liverpool to New York. He also stated that they had parted company at Niagra
Falls.
What in fact happened is that Birchall and Benwell went off together
when they were in New York to look at a Farm. Birchall returned later to
say that the farm was no good and Benwell had changed his mind and gone
off. Witnesses were able to confirm that Birchall had been seen in the
vicinity . He was found guilty and was hanged on the 14 November 1890 at
Princeton Ontario prison in Canada.
Had the couple not been in such a hurry to help the police identify
the dead man then it is just possible that Birchall might have got away
with the murder. His wife returned to England where she later remarried.
Bishop, Arthur
A devout Mormon, Arthur Bishop liked to spend an unnatural amount of time
with children. After being charged for
embezzlement in Utah, the former Eagle Scout changed his name and disappeared.
As "Roger Downs" he joined the Big
Brother program and was fond of going on camping trips with the kids.
He was also fond of molesting and sometimes
murdering them. When the police took him in for routine questioning,
he confessed to his crimes and admitted to molesting
scores of children and fondling his victims after death. In true Mormon
fashion he stated: "I'm glad you caught me, because I'd
do it again." Bishop died by lethal injection on June 9, 1988. It is
beleived that he was responsible for at least five deaths.
Black, Edward Ernest
Edward was a 36 year old insurance salesman and 14 years younger than his
wife, Mrs Annie Black. When she died on 11 November 1921 her husband was
away. He owed money and had few friends. Although the cause of death appeared
to be gastro-enteritis the doctor was unhappy and so a post mortem was
carried out. The results of this were that she had traces of arsenic in
her body.
He was tracked down to Liverpool where he was found with a self inflicted
wound in his throat. A failed suicide attempt. He was brought back to the
West Country to Bodmin where he was tried for murder. Although he tried
to claim his innocence he had in fact signed his own death certificate
when he signed the poison register in a chemist in St Austell for two ounces
of arsenic.
The jury took only 40 minutes to find him guilty and he was hung at
Exeter prison on 24 march 1922.
Bloody Benders
This is one family whose reputation will live on and on. Not because of
the murders they commited although they were bad enough but probably because
it is unusual for a whole family to be involved. The benders were a Dutch
family consisting of the father, John Bender was was about 60, a Mother
of about 50 and two children in their twenties. The girl was called Kate,
and the boy was named after his father and also called John.
They lived in a simple log cabin which only had one room. This had been
divided by a curtain. They used to offer food and accomodation to passing
travellers. While the guest was sat at the table eating, either the father
or son would hide behind the curtain and when the time was right strike
them a crushing blow on the head.
They would then take the body down into the cellar where it was robbed
of anything of value. Once this was done the body would be buried outside
the cabin. One resident who met his fate in this way had told his brother
where he would be staying. When he disapeared his brother alerted the authorities
who started by questioning the benders. They denied ever seeing him but
afraid that the truth would come out they packed their bags and disapeared
before the authorities could come back.
When the authorities searched the area properly they found eleven graves
around the cabin but no trace of the Benders were ever found. There were
rumours that the family had indeed been apprehended by a posse but that
they had decided to take the law into their own hands and dispose of the
Benders themselves. Whether or not this was true will probably never be
known.
Bolber, Morris
Morris Bolber was a doctor who turned to murder in order to make money.
It all began in Philadelphia in the 1930's during the depression. Working
with an accomplice his method was for his partner Paul Petrillo to seduce
the wife of one of his patients and then once he had gained her confidence
he would tell her that her husband had been unfaithful to her and they
would plot together to murder him so that they could collect the insurance
money.
Of course Dr Bolber would sign the death certificate. The first victim
was a shop owner named Tony Giscobbe. He was renowned for his drinking
habits so on his return one night when he was very drunk they stripped
him of all his clothes and then lay him on his bed with no covers. It was
a very cold winters evening and they opened the windows in his room. The
result of this was to allow him to catch pneumonia and die. Bolber and
his wife were then able to share the $10,000 insurance money.
The next step was to get Petrillos brother Herman who was an actor to
pose as various shopkeepers and take out insurance. Bolber would then pay
the premiums for a few months before writing the death certificate. On
each occasion the insurance company paid out without any fuss.
Feeling that this method was rather risky Bolber decided to manufacture
his own deaths by murdering his elected victims. During the five years
that Bolber was in this business it was believed that he was responsible
for about thirty deaths, most of them being Italian immigrants. He was
really only caught because of something that Herman Giscobbe said to an
ex-convict friend of his about their money making antics. This man reported
the conversation to the police who promptly arrested the gang.
A number of doctors who had examined Herman came forward to say that
he had posed to them as different people. They all went to trial and were
found guilty but did not however receive the same sentence. Tony and Herman
were both executed while Bolber and his female accomplice Carino Favato
were both given life imprisonment.
Bonin, William
William Bonin was a truck driver and became known as the; The Freeway Killer
for his rape and murder spree during the late seventies. A sadistic man
who had once fought in Vietnam, Bonin liked to pick up male, teenage hitchhikers,
which he would rape and strangle along the freeways of Southern California.
Like most serial killers, Bonin was the product of an abusive childhood
in the hands of his alcoholic father and was thought to have been repeatedly
sexually assaulted by his maternal grandfather. After spending most of
the seventies behind bars for sex attacks on young men, William Bonin was
paroled in 1978. He moved back to Southern California where he got a job
as a trucker for Dependable Driveaway in Montebello.
A year later, his sexual lust turned deadly. He would sometimes strangle
his victims with their own T-shirts and a tire iron. William Bonin was
not particularly bright and often boasted of his killings. He kept a collection
of newspaper clippings in his glove compartment. Bonin liked killing so
much, he brought along his buddies to share the fun. Vernon Butts, an accomplice
in at least five killings, chose to hang himself after being arrested.
Although only convicted of 14 murders, Bonin confessed to killing 21
young men. He faced trial in 1982 and he was sentenced to death for 10
murders in Los Angeles. A year later he was tried and sentenced to death
again for 4 additional murders in Orange County.
William Bonin spent the next 16 years on death row before becoming the
first man to be executed by lethal injection in California. His reign of
terror was finally over on February 23, 1996. After having the customary
last meal the 49-year-old killer met with the prison chaplain. At 12:00
AM he took 13 steps into the death chamber where at 12:08 he was injected
with sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. By 12:13
he was declared dead. Like so many serial killers Bonin never did repent
for his murderous frenzy.
Boston Strangler
During a reign of terror that was to last from June 1962 to January 1964
thirteen women ranging in age from 19 to 75 were brutally murdered by a
man that because of the area he stalked was called the Boston Strangler.
His real name was Albert De Salvo and he was a very dangerous man. There
was never any doubt that this murdering spree was motivated by strong sexual
urges and it was believed that as well as murdering 13 he may also have
been responsible for up to three hundred attacks and rapes.
When the police arrested him in November 1964 he had already stopped
murdering and was now raping his victims. He had a rare talent which seemed
to be the ability to talk his way into houses and apartments of women who
were already worried about the strangler. Often he would pose as a plumber
or other workman.
As with a lot of multiple murderers he had a trade mark which allowed
the police to be able to identify his handiwork. It was almost as if he
was afraid someone else would get the credit. Most of his victims were
strangled and he used to tie the ligature into a bow under the chin. He
would also leave the victims naked and in a position to give most exposure
as if he wanted to shock the people who found the body, this of course
worked.
Some of the attacks were so frenzied that police were concerned that
when tried for murder there was a good chance he would plead insanity which
considering his actions could seem quite plausible. If this was the case
then he could have been sent to a secure hospital until he could prove
he was 'cured'. It meant that he could actually be released within a few
years. To avoid this happening the police decided not to charge him with
murder but to charge him with robbery and a host of sexual offences to
which a plea of insanity would not be an option.
He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1967. In this
case life actually meant life because on the 26 November 1973 he was found
dead in his cell in Walpole State Prison in Massachusetts. He had been
stabbed in the heart.
Boyce, Arthur Robert
No details listed on this case at this time
Brain, George
A motorist driving through Wimbledon on the 14 July 1938 was shocked to
see a woman's body lying in the road. His first impression was that she
had been knocked down by a car and that the driver had failed to stop.
Going over to the woman he could see she was dead. When the police arrived
on the scene they did not think it was a simple hit and run accident. On
closer inspection the police were able to ascertain that the woman had
been killed elsewhere and then her body had been put in the road to make
the death appear accidental. Tyre-marks were found on the woman's legs
which were thought to belong to etither a Morris Minor or an Austin Seven
car. The woman was identified as 30-year-old prostitute Rose Muriel Atkins,
also known as 'Irish Rose'.
Two days later the police has a bit of good luck. George Brain was reported
to the police on suspicion of embezzlement by his employers. Brain was
27-year-old driver working for a firm of boot-repairers and drove the firm's
green Morris van. Brain had vanished after leaving the van in a work-mate's
garage.
As soon as the police discovered the van they were very interested.
The first thing they discovered were bloodstains, and in case that wasn't
enough they found Rose Atkin's handbag with Brain's fingerprints on it
in the vehicle. Although a nationwide hunt was launched Brain was not apprehended
until July when he was recognised in Sheerness and arrested. George Brain
told police that he had picked up Rose Atkins in Wimbledon late at night
and she had demanded money, threatening to tell his employers that he was
using the van after hours. He also said that without thinking he had hit
her with the van's starting handle. This did not tie in with the fact that
she had been stabbed to death. The knife had already been found hidden
in the garage.
He had stolen four shillings from the woman's handbag, a small amount
to kill for even in 1938. He was tried at the Old Bailey and it took the
jury just fifteen minutes to find him guilty and he was hanged on 1st November
1938 at Wandsworth Prison.
Brinkley, Richard
Richard Brinkley was a man who befriended a 77 year old widow Mrs Johanna
Blume with a view to cheating her out of her money. She owned a house in
Fulham and he had designs upon her estate. He drew up a will in which he
was the sole beneficiary of all the old lady's property and savings By
folding a piece of paper he managed to entice her to sign it thinking it
was a list of people wishing to go to the seaside. He obtained the signatures
of Henry Heard and Reginald Parker, who were to be the witnesses in the
same way. It was in fact a will made out in his favour.
When the lady died her grand-daughter contested the will. Knowing that
this meant the witnesses would be questioned he decided to eliminate them.
He started with a Mr Parker, visiting him on the pretext of buying a dog.
He had a bottle of stout laced with prussic acid to give to Mr Parker.
While they were looking at the dog, Mr Parkers landlord, Mr and Mrs Beck
and their daughter came in to see him. Seeing the stout they both sampled
it and promptly died. The daughter was very ill but recovered.
Brinkley was promptly arrested and tried for murder at Guildford Assizes
where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He was hanged
at Wandsworth on 13 August 1907 by Henry Pierrepoint.
Brook, John
On 5 November 1972 two men broke into the home of Barn restaurant owner
Bob Patience and demanded the keys to the safe. When Patience refused one
of the men shot him, his wife and daughter. The two men made their getaway.
Bob Patience and his daughter Beverly survived but his wife Muriel died.
At first the police were on the wrong trail and based almost entirely
on identification evidence George Ince was arrested and tried. He was found
not guilty. The break came when a man reported from a hotel in the lake
district that a fellow worker had shown him a gun and told him it was the
murder weapon. The police searched the premises and found the gun sewn
into one of the matresses. John Brook was arrested and tried at Chelmsford
court for murder. He was found guilty of murder and attempted murder and
sentenced to life imprisonment in January 1974.
Brown, Eric
The Brown family lived in Rayliegh in Essex. Eric Brown was a 19 year old
bank clerk who suffered from constant bullying from his father. His father
had been involved in a motorcycle accident and developed paralysis. He
was eventually confined to a wheelchair. Ever bitter about his accident
he led his wife and two children a miserable life.
On 23 July 1943 nurse Mitchell took Archibald Brown out for his daily
air when she was suddenly thrown violently to the ground. A grenade had
been fitted to the Wheelchair and had blown Mr Brown to pieces. The investigation
revealed that Mr Brown had been a very difficult man to live with and Eric
had been unable to watch him treat his mother in that way so he had killed
him. He was tried for murder in November 1943 at Chelmsford Court and found
guilty but insane.
Brown, Ernest
Ernest Brown was 35 and worked for Frederick Ellison Morton a wealthy cattle
farmer at Saxton Grange, a remote Yorkshire farmhouse, as a groom. His
wife Dorothy Morton was attracted to Brown and became his mistress. After
a disagreement with Mr Morton Ernest Brown left his job only to beg to
be reinstated a few days later. Morton agreed but instead of being grateful
Brown seemed to resent Morton even more.
On 5 September 1933 Brown had an argument with Dorothy and struck her.
Brown later went outside and discharged a shotgun. He told them he was
shooting at rats. Mrs Morton and her companion, Ann Houseman were scared
and when they discovered that the phone was dead they locked themselves
in their bedroom. At about 3.30 in the morning there was a loud explosion
and the garage was set on fire. The two women ran from the house and hid
in fields near-by.
Because of the intensity of the fire it was not possible to inspect
the garage until 9am the next morning. On investigation the police found
the garage contained two cars one of which had Mortons body inside. He
had been shot in the chest. Brown was convicted and was hanged at Armley
prison in Leeds on 6 February 1934 by Tom Pierrepoint.
Brown, Frederick
On 12 January 1951 Frederick Gosling age 79 was found dead in his bedroom
in the flat over his shop. He had been struck hard over one eye and then
gagged and bound. It was rumoured that he kept thousands of pounds in the
shop at Clay Corner near Chertsey in Surrey. Mr Gosling died from asphyxiation.
The police had been to the shop the day before when two men had attacked
Mr Gosling only to run off when some school girls entered the shop. It
did not take long to round up 33 year old Joseph Brown who was a general
dealer, his 27 year old brother Frederick who was a labourer and 33 year
old Charles Edward Smith.
All three were charged with murder at Surrey Assizes in March 1951 but
when Frederick Brown gave evidence against the other two he was discharged.
His involvement had been to stay in the car while they went in the shop.
The robbers had got away with only £163;60. Both men were charged
and found guilty of murder. They were both hanged at Wandsworth prison
on 25 April 1951 by Albert Pierrepoint.
Buchalter, Louis Lepke
He was a gangster in New York involved in all forms of corruption and crime.
it was reputed that his syndicate was worth as much as $50 million a year.
The authorities were anxious to get him for any offence they could and
he served prison sentences for crimes such as violating anti - trust laws
and narcotics offences.
During one of his spells in prison in 1939 he was implicated in a murder.
He stood trial in 1941 and was found guilty. He received the death penalty
but he appealed against it. There then followed a three year fight during
which time the only people who really won were the lawyers .Despite their
attempts to get him off the courts refused to be swayed and on March the
4 1944 he was finally sent to the electric chair along with two of his
lieutenants, Mindy Weiss and Louis Capone.
Louis Capone was one of Louis Lepke Buchalter's most trusted men and
as such would carry out orders he was given. When Buchalter who was implicated
in a murder went to the electric chair on 4 March 1944 Capone went with
him. Mindy Weiss also worked for Louis Lepke Buchalter as one of his right
arm men. In 1939 when Buchalter was implicated in a murder so was Weiss.
He also was sent to the electric chair. Of course although this removed
some pretty senior members of the crime syndicate operating in New York
as is always the case with organised crime there is always someone else
waiting to step into the post
Buchanan, Dr Robert
Having divorced his first wife Buchanan married Anna Sutherland who was
a brothel proprietress. He soon found that his patients and colleagues
did not take kindly to this and threatened to transfer. Seeking the easy
way out he set about getting rid of his wife. She became ill and died of
a Cerebral Haemorhage. The doctor was quick to collect his rather large
inheritance of $50,000. Suspicion was already aroused and this was heightened
when only one month later he remarried his first wife. An exhumation was
ordered and the body examined. It was discovered that quantities of morphine
were present and Buchanan was arrested and charged with her murder He was
found guilty and sentenced to die for first degree murder. He was electrocuted
at Sing Sing prison on 2 July 1895.
Buckfield, Reginald Sidney
Reginald Sidney Buckfield was an army deserter who was known as 'Smiley'
because of the permanent grin he carried. On 9 October 1942 the body of
Ellen Ann Symes was found in Brompton Road with a stab wound in the neck.
Her 4 year old boy was unharmed. The little boy was able to tell the police
that a soldier had attacked his mum. Reginald Sidney Buckfield was seen
in the same area the following day. When questioned it was discovered that
he was a deserter. Buckfield was promptly arrested and handed over to the
military police. While in custody he handed a large bundle of handwritten
papers to a detective. These were found to be a story entitled 'The Mystery
of Brompton Road'. He told the police it was all fiction, it was just the
way he thought it must have happened. The police read it and found it contained
details that could only be known by the murderer himself. As far as the
police were concerned it was as good as a signed confession.
In January 1943 he was tried at the Old Bailey and found guilty, he
was then sentenced to death. Two weeks later he was reprieved and sent
to Broadmoor. It had been decided that he was criminally insane.
Bundy, Ted
Ted Bundy was a handsome, charming, intelligent, self-assured man , with
a brilliant future. Using his good looks, he was able to invisibly abduct
his victims to kill privately and continue with his seemingly charmed existence.
This law student and young Republican liked to wear an arm sling to appear
vulnerable so to get women to help him with his groceries. He favoured
killing pretty, dark-haired cheerleader types. He would bludgeon his prey
to death with blunt objects and was fond of raping and biting them. The
bite marks on one of his victims was used as evidence against him at his
trial in Florida.
In December 30, 1977, after a previous failed attempt, Ted escaped prison
in
Colorado and relocated in Tallahassee, Florida, near Florida State University.
In January 15, 1978, he set forth on a night of butchery and killed two
girls and wounded two others in an around the Chi Omega sorority house
in Tallahassee. Two weeks later he stole a van and killed 12-year-old Kimberly
Leach in Lake City, Florida, for which, eventually, he was executed. Poor
Kimberly's body was found in a pig trough next to a plaid jacket that was
not Ted's. She was buried in a cemetery near a Purina plant under a heart-shaped
tombstone with her picture on it.
Ted defended himself in trials in Utah, Colorado and Florida as the
police tried to put together a trail of dead girls leading to him. During
his various trials, a very self-possessed Ted Bundy defended himself garnishing
praise and a legion of female admirers. After numerous appeals Bundy was
electrocuted by the state of Florida in 1989. For his last meal he had
steak, eggs, hash browns and coffee.
Burns, Tom Lionel
Retired driver, 71-year-old, Tom Burns was playing his piano one day when
two young girls wandered into his house. The girls were Sheila Barnes and
Lavinia Murray, both aged five and it was thought they had been curious
about the music. For no apparent reason he had savagely killed and sexually
assaulted the two young girls. Burns had cut the throat of one of the girls.
He then tied up the other and mutilated her before strangling the child.
Both bodies had been sexually assaulted and then mutilated. He then drained
the blood from the bodies before cutting certain parts from them. These
parts were then cooked and eaten.
Medical evidence showed that Barnes was completely mad and had been
physchotic for many years. At his trial at Lancaster Assizes, on 21 October
1958, he was found unfit to plead and was ordered to be detained during
Her Majesty's Pleasure.
Burrows, Albert Edward
This 62-year-old married farm labourer took 28-year-old Hannah Calladine
as his mistress in 1918. She came from Nantwich, Cheshire, and was the
mother of a 4-year-old daughter. She fell pregnant by Burrows and had a
son later that year. Burrows married her but as he was already married
it was a bigamous marriage.
Burrows was a farm labourer and did not earn a lot of money. Hannah
moved into the Burrows' home at Glossop, Derbyshire, and, not surprisingly,
his wife took exception to this and moved out. She claimed maintenance,
plunging him into a bigger financial mess. his house rent was in arrears
and he became desperate.
On 11th January 1920 Burrows took Hannah and their son for a day out
on Symmondley Moor. He then murdered them and threw their bodies down a
mineshaft. The following day he disposed of Hannahs daughter in the same
way. He patched things up with his wife and they returned to living together.
For the next three years Burrows wrote to Hannah's mother pretending that
she was still alive.
Three years later a 4 year old boy was reported missing and he had last
been seen with Burrows. After questioning Burrows took the police to the
mineshaft where the sexually assaulted body of the boy was found. On further
examination they found the skeletons of Hannah Calladine and her two children.
Burrows was brought to trial at Manchester Assizes. He called no witnesses
and didn't give testimony. It took the jury just eleven minutes to find
him guilty. He was hanged on 8 August 1923 at Nottingham prison by Tom
Pierrepoint.
Burton, David John
David John Burton was a 31-year-old farmer. One morning very early he took
his shotgun and broke into the home of his friends and neighbours, the
Weedons. It was about 6 o'clock and he went to the bedroom where the Weedons
were still asleep and fired the shotgun injuring both of them. Weedon forced
Burton out of the house and and Burton was later found wandering the streets
in a dazed condition.
Burton was examined and medical evidence was submitted and it was accepted
that Burton was suffering from acute schizophrenia and was certifiably
insane. He had told doctors that when he had fired the gun it was because
he had seen doves flying around the bedroom and it had been these he was
firing at. On 17th May 1960 he was found unfit to plead and was sentenced
to be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure.
One week later Mrs Patricia Weedon died in hospital from her wounds.
Burton was brought back to court and this time charged with capital murder
but, at Sussex Assizes, was again found unfit to plead.
Burton, William Walter
We have no details on this case at this time.
Bush, Edwin
This was quite an important case and almost a milestone in crime detection.
On 3 March 1961 Mrs Elsie May Batten was found dead in the antique shop
in which she worked in Charing Cross road. She was an assistant in Louis
Meier's Cecil Court antique shop. When she was discovered she had an antique
dagger sticking out of her chest and another one in her neck. The police
launched a murder hunt and started to take statements from anyone who may
have seen something. Witnesses recalled seeing a young coloured man enter
the shop. Police slowly peiced together details about the young man and
the identikit system was used for the first time in Britain.
Four days later a patrolman on his beat saw and recognised a young man
from the identikit picture and brought him in for questioning. He was placed
in an identity parade and was picked out by two of the nearby shopkeepers.
Faced with this evidence Bush made a statement in which he confessed to
the killing of Mrs Batten in order to steal a sword.
In mitigation he was later to say in court that she had made an offensive
remark about his colour. Whether or not this was true the jury did not
believe this should have resulted in such a brutal attack. The jury returned
a verdict of guilty and he was hanged on 6 July 1961.
Butler William Thomas
On the 24 December 1938 just before noon 64 year old Ernest Percival Key
was discovered in his shop. He had been stabbed in the head and face and
arms and was covered in blood. Although he was rushed to hospital he died
before he got there.
Ernest Percival Key had run a jewellers shop in Surbiton for the past
20 years. He was well known in the area. The police were soon able to establish
that a quantity of jewellery was missing and this was obviously the motive
for the attack. The attacker had left behind one vital clue in the shape
of a bowler hat.
Less than an hour after the attack William Butler, a 29-year-old married
father of two, took a taxi to Kingston hospital. He was examined by Dr
Day who found Butler's hands were badly cut. He had given the doctor the
name of Charles Jackson and said that he had been accidentally injured
by a wood-cutting machine. He was picked up by police within a fortnight
and this time he said that his injuries came when he was knocked down by
a motor-cycle. He claimed he had given the hospital a false name and address
to avoid having to pay for his treatment.
Butler was arrested and charged with the murder of Mr Key and came to
trial at the Old Bailey on 15th February 1939. The defence tried to claim
that Butler had acted in self-defence and that the charge should be reduced
to one of manslaughter. This plea was not accepted and he stood trial for
murder. The trial only lasted into its second day and Butler was found
guilty. He was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 29 March 1939.
Byrne, Patrick
Patrick Byrne was a 27 year old irish labourer. On 23 December 1959 the
police were called to investigate an attack that had occurred on a 21 year
old girl call Margaret Brown. She had been in the ground floor laundry
room of the YWCA. She had screamed and the man had ran away. The police
searched the building and checked all the rooms. Being unable to enter
one room they forced the door. They were greeted by the sight of a headless
body of a young woman on the floor and the head on the bed.
The body was that of 29 year old Stephanie Baird and it was was naked
and had been mutilated. The cause of Death was actually strangulation.
A search of the room found no significant fingerprints but did turn up
a note that read 'This is the thing I thought would never come.' A full-
scale search of the surrounding area failed to turn up anything of significance.
The state the body was in when the police found it left no doubt that
the crime was sexually motivated.
Weeks of routine investigations followed in which over 20,000 men were
interviewed. Byrne broke down under questioning and was arrested and charged.
In March 1960 he was tried at Birmingham Assizes Court and was found guilty
and sentenced to Life Imprisonment
Benson, William Charles
A car-body builder from Bayswater, convicted of the murder of Mrs Charlotte
Alice Harbor who was twenty five years old. She was found stabbed
to death on Coulsdon golf course. Surrey. Benson had lodged with Mrs Harbour
after he had become friendly with her husband. Sydney. when the two had
worked together in 1925. She had two young children. and everyone lived
together in Kentish Town. The Harbors were not well off, and all three
adults slept in the same bedroom. In 1927, Benson lost his job, and soon
after was thrown out of the house when Harbor accused him of having an
affair with his wife. In August of 1928, Mrs Harbor left her husband and
moved into a flat at Littlehampton, which she had taken in the name of
Benson. She had in fact been using the flat for several weeks prior to
leaving her husband, spending the days there with Benson and returning
home to Sydney in the evenings. On 5 September, Mrs Harbor and her youngest
child stayed with Benson in a Euston hotel room and left early in the morning.
Later that day, Benson approached a policeman and admitted that he had
just killed his girlfriend, and he directed him to the body. At his Old
Bailey trial before Mr Justice Finlay, he claimed that he had killed her
after she had said that she wanted to end their affair and move back in
with her husband. Benson was hanged on the 20 November 1928 by Robert Baxter
and Lionel Mann. When he was executed at Wandsworth he was only twenty
five years old.
Bradford, Francis
On 31 May, Daniel Donahoe reported Bradford to his superiors for causing
a disturbance, and as a result Bradford was reprimanded. Later that night
as Donahoe slept in the barrack room, Bradford crept in and butchered his
colleague with a bayonet. He was detained at once and claimed he was glad
Donahoe was dead as he wouldn't be able to cause grief for anybody else.
He was hanged by William Calcraft and Smith. Bradford died hard and struggled
for over ten minutes at the end of the rope. The sentence was carried out
on the 13th August 1872 in Maidstone. Bradford was just nineteen
when he died.
Butt, Charles Edward
Twenty two year old Butt managed a small farm for his widowed mother at
Arlington, and for many months he had been paying attention to Amelia Phillips,
the sister of a neighbouring farmer. On 18 August 1873, he invited her
to accompany him to a cheese fair, but she refused, saying that she had
already accepted an invitation from another young farmer. Next day he shot
her dead as she walked out with the other man. Butt fled from the area
but was arrested three days later in Abergavenny, and brought back to face
trial. He was convicted and sentenced to hang. The sentence
was carried out on the 12th January 1874 in Gloucester.
Blanchard, Peter
Peter Blanchard, a Lincolnshire tanner, had been trying in vain to court
Louisa Hodgson a girl of twenty two, but she wouldn't go out with him,
partly because he wasn't liked by her parents, and also because she had
recently began seeing another man in the town. On 7th March, Louisa and
her new boyfriend were walking home from church when they came across Blanchard.
He walked down the street with them until he reached his front door, where
he pulled out a knife and stabbed Hodgson through her heart. He was immediately
detained and admitted he had committed the crime through jealousy. He was
hanged by William Marwood on the 9th August 1875 in Lincoln. He was
twenty six when he died.
Baker, William
On 10th July, Baker, the landlord of a Liverpool public house called The
Railway Vaults, was drinking in another local pub with a group of friends.
At closing time, they headed for one of the illegal drinking dens that
littered the city's docklands. On reaching their destination, they were
angry to find the owner of the 'club' refusing them admission. The time
of their arrival had coincided with the departure of another group of men.
one of whom. Charles Langan. had recently fallen out with Baker. Langan's
party followed the others away from the club and as they reached the main
road, Baker called Langan over and after an exchange of words, he pulled
out a revolver and shot him dead. Baker was immediately detained, and when
he stood trial a few weeks later his defence pleaded that he was guilty
of manslaughter, caused by drink, but he was convicted and sentenced to
death. The sentence was carried out in Liverpool on the 6th September 1875.
Barr, Thomas
Forty five year old Thomas was a twice married travelling bookseller who
murdered his twenty two year old wife, and his mother-in-law, Mrs Margaret
Sloan, in the latter's home at Gallowgate, Glasgow, on 1st March. Barr
was a widower when he remarried, but had an unhappy second marriage; they
had been separated seventeen times because of his brutality. On the last
occasion he followed his heavily pregnant wife to her mother's house and,
when Mrs Sloan tried to prevent him entering, he beat her to death before
rushing in and attacking his wife. She died in hospital after giving birth
to a still born child. Barr was captured eleven days later in Aberdeenshire,
trying to find work on a farm, but in the intervening period over forty
tramps were taken into custody on suspicion of being the wanted man. He
was taken back to Glasgow and convicted; he was hanged by William Marwood
on the 31st May 1876.
Baumbos, Christos Emanuel
A Greek seaman convicted at his second trial for the murder of the captain
during a mutiny aboard the ship 'Caswell'. Baumbos was one of the crew
that mutinied off the coast of Buenos Aries on 4th January. Baumbos claimed
he wasn't an instigator in the assault, which left several of the crew
dead, and had been bullied into carrying out a small part in the attack
in fear for his life. Witnesses claimed they saw Baumbos stab the captain
to death. He was sentenced to death and that sentence was carried out on
the 25th August 1876 in Cork.
Browning, Robert
Browning was a twenty five year old tailor and former soldier, sentenced
to death at Norwich Assizes on 24th November for the murder of Emma Relfe,
a girl of just fifteen. Despite her age the victim earned her living as
a prostitute, and had been living in a brothel for several weeks before
the murder. Browning had met her in August, and whilst drinking with her
on a common, he caught her stealing some money from him. After cutting
her throat, he went off in search of more drink. Her body was later found
with her head almost severed. He was recommended for mercy on account of
his age, but was hanged by William Marwood on the 14th December 1876 in
Cambridge.
Barlow, Silas
Barlow was found guilty of the double murder of his former sweet-
heart Ellen Soper who was twenty seven, and their young child, at Battersea
on 11th September. They had lived together until she had left him and moved
to lodgings. He visited her twice at her new address and each time she
felt sick after he left. Eventually she died, and the next day he took
custody of the child saying that his cousin would look after it, but it
was later found floating in a Battersea reservoir. The body was identified
and, when examined, found to have been poisoned with strychnine. Barlow
was arrested and charged with murder after a search of his home produced
bottles of the poison. The contents of Miss Soper's stomach were then analysed
and also found to contain poison. Barlow denied killing the woman but later
admitted that he had killed the child. The sentence of death was carried
out by William Marwood in Horsemonger Lane on the 19th December 1876.
Bannister, James
Bannister was convicted of the brutal and unprovoked murder of his wife
at their home on Russell Street, Hyde, Manchester. Early in the morning
of 15th December 1876, a Mr and Mrs Grayson, who lodged in the same house
as Bannister and his wife, were awakened by moaning coming from across
the corridor. They saw a light on and heard the sound of a blow being struck.
Grayson ran into the room and found Mrs Bannister lying on the bed with
her head bashed in. Her husband was lying beside her with a self-inflicted
throat wound. They were both taken to hospital where she died the next
day. Bannister recovered and was later sentenced to death by Mr Justice
Lush at Chester Assizes in March. He was hanged by William Marwood
on the 2nd April 1877 in Chester.
Bull, William
Sally Marshall was a weak old woman, of low intelligence, who lived alone
in a cottage at Little Slaughton. The local boys would often tease her
by throwing stones at her window and knocking on her door, which would
bring her running into the street screaming and swearing as they ran off
laughing. On the night of 29th November, William Bull had been out drinking
and on leaving the pub he walked home with a friend. As they parted company,
Bull told him that he was going to call on Sally and cause a 'to-do'. Next
morning a neighbour found the door open, and when he looked inside he found
her beaten to death on the floor. Neighbours told police that they had
heard screams but as they were used to hearing them, paid no heed. Bull
was arrested two days later and traces of blood were found on his clothes.
He was convicted at Bedford Assizes, sentenced to death by Mr Justice Campbell,
and confessed his guilt before he was hanged by William Calcraft.
The sentence was carried out on the 3rd April 1871 in Bedford. Bull
was just twenty one at the time of his death.
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