This book is dedicated to the men and women of law enforcement agencies worldwide who strive relentlessly and fearlessly to make the streets of our towns and cities safe, and to bring to justice and eradicate the small minority of evil men and women who become known as serial killers – who prey on unsuspecting and helpless people, attacking, beating, torturing and mutilating them before finally murdering them.
Acknowledgements
Among others, I am very pleased to acknowledge the help and support of: Elisabeth Wetsch; The Crime Library; Paul B Kidd; Frances Farmer; Kathleen Ramsland; Mark Gado; Michael Newton: Rachael Bell; Marylyn Bardsley; David Lohr; James Card; Martin Strohmm; Alexander Gilbert; Patrick Bellamy; www.crimezzz.net; and the entire team at John Blake Publishing.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 AUSTRALIA
David and Catherine Birnie
William MacDonald, aka The Sydney Mutilator
Ivan Milat, aka the Backpacker Murderer
James Miller and Christopher Worrell, aka The Truro Serial Murderers
Peter Dupas
Paul Denyer, aka The Frankston Serial Killer
Leonard Fraser
John Wayne Glover, aka The Granny Killer
Archibald McCafferty, aka Mad Dog
CHAPTER 2 CANADA
Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka
Wayne Boden, aka The Vampire Rapist
Clifford Olson
Robert William Pickton, aka The Pig Farm Killer
CHAPTER 3 GERMANY
Joachim Kroll, aka The Ruhr Cannibal
Peter Kürten, aka The Düsseldorf Vampire
CHAPTER 4 JAPAN
Tsutomu Miyazaki, aka The Little Child Murderer
CHAPTER 5 RUSSIA
Vladimir Bratislav, aka The Beast of Lysva
Andrei Chikatilo, aka The Rostov Ripper
Alexander Pichushkin, aka The Chessboard Killer
CHAPTER 6 SOUTH AFRICA
Moses Sithole, aka The ABC Murderer
Stewart Wilken, aka Boetie Boer
CHAPTER 7 SOUTH KOREA
Yoo Young Cheoul
CHAPTER 8 THE USA
Albert DeSalvo, aka The Boston Strangler
Robert Berdella, aka The Kansas Killer
Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, aka The Hillside Stranglers
William Bonin, aka The Freeway Killer
Keith Hunter Jesperson, aka The Happy Face Killer
Robert Leroy Anderson
Alton Coleman and Debra Brown
Jerry Brudos, aka The Shoe Fetish Slayer
Carol Bundy and Douglas Clark, aka The Sunset Strip Killers
Theodore Robert Bundy
Richard Chase, aka The Vampire of Sacramento
John Norman Collins, aka The Michigan Murderer
Jeffrey Dahmer, aka The Milwaukee Monster
Wayne Adam Ford, aka The Remorseful Killer
John Wayne Gacy, aka The Killer Clown
Donald Henry ‘Pee Wee’ Gaskins
Ed Gein
Robert Hansen
Dennis Rader, aka The BTK Killer
Ricardo ‘Richard’ Muñoz Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker
Ángel Maturino Reséndiz, aka The Railroad Killer
Gary Ridgway, aka The Green River Killer
Joel Rifkin
Arthur Shawcross, aka The Genesee River Killer
Lemuel Warren Smith
Gerald Stano
William Suff, aka The Riverside Prostitute Killer
Edmund Emil Kemper, aka The Co-Ed Killer
Coral Eugene Watts, aka The Sunday Slasher
Andrew Kokoraleis, Tommy Kokoraleis, Robin Gecht and Edward Spreitzer, aka The Ripper Crew
CHAPTER 9 UNITED KINGDOM
John Reginald Halliday Christie
John George Haigh, aka The Acid Bath Murderer
Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire Ripper
Frederick and Rosemary West
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, aka The Moors Murderers
Dennis Andrew Nilsen
Anthony Hardy, aka The Camden Town Ripper
Steve Wright, aka The Suffolk Strangler
Epilogue
About the Author
Copyright
INTRODUCTION
The first recorded murder was the killing of Abel by his brother Cain. Since that early time, men and women alike have continued to commit murder. Many of these murders have been committed in the most brutal and horrific ways imaginable, showing no respect for human life. Throughout my time as a murder squad detective, I have seen first-hand the wanton slayings and butcheries committed by both men and women with warped, depraved and sadistic minds. The serial killers I have documented here – among the world’s worst – all had the desire to maim, kill and mutilate their fellow men, women and children in the most callous and cold-blooded fashion imaginable. I hope that, like me, when you have become familiar with the victims in the chapters that follow, you will pause to reflect on the pain and suffering endured by all as they drew their last breath before succumbing to murder at the hands of despicable and cowardly monsters.
A question I am asked frequently is ‘What defines a serial killer?’ And what turns a normal human being into a killer who then progresses to become a serial killer? The term ‘serial killer’ was adopted by the FBI in the mid-1970s, following its investigation into a spate of killings by the same perpetrators. A serial killer is loosely defined as someone who commits three or more murders at the same or different locations, usually coupled with an emotionally-significant lapse of time (a ‘cooling-off’ period) between each death. This time between each murder could be days, weeks, months or even years. Many convicted serial killers are proven psychopaths, suffering from personality disorders, but they are not always psychotic and to an outside observer may appear quite normal.
Serial killers are driven by a variety of psychological urges, but primarily by the desire for power and sexual motivations. They often have feelings of inadequacy and rejection by society. Many were both physically and sexually abused at an early age and their crimes in later years seek to compensate for this and provide them with a sense of potency and often revenge, by giving them a feeling of power, both at the time they commit their murders and afterwards. They also revel in the knowledge that their actions bring terror and fear to communities. This adds to the sense of power.
Serial killers often begin fantasising about murder during, or even before, adolescence. This fantasy grows with them and they daydream compulsively about domination, submission and murder, usually with very specific elements to the fantasy that will eventually be made apparent in real crimes. Others initially take to reading stories about or looking at photographs in magazines that feature sadistic acts such as rape, torture and murder. They will later feel compelled to act out in real life what they have seen and read. They usually prey on victims from the lower social classes, such as vagrants or prostitutes, in addition to the vulnerable – young children and elderly people.
Early signs of such tendencies are often displayed in childhood, and include fire-starting, (setting fire to things to gain attention) and cruelty to animals, commonly referred to as ‘zoo sadism’. Many children are cruel to animals, pulling the legs off spiders for example, but future serial killers often kill larger animals, such as dogs and cats, and frequently for so
litary enjoyment rather than to impress peers. You will find this is a recurring theme in this book.
When apprehended, most serial killers will try to raise a defence of insanity and will plead not guilty on that basis, forcing the prosecution to prove that, at the time of committing the crimes, they were not suffering from a severe subnormality and knew the difference between right and wrong. With some serial killers, extensive premeditation combined with a lack of any obvious delusions or hallucinations that would hinder the defendant’s ability to evade detection after committing multiple murders makes such a defence easily disproved. However, this tactic does allow the introduction of evidence about the killer’s background that would normally be deemed inadmissible, for example a history of childhood abuse. It has been widely suggested that once a serial killer starts to kill they cannot stop.
With the modern forensic technology and DNA analysis now available to the police, more killers than ever before are being caught. Of course, any serial killer who kills on a regular basis is much more likely to be caught than one whose killings are less frequent.
There are four categories of serial killer: organised, disorganised, missionary and hedonistic. Some killers will show more than one type of characteristic, though usually one will dominate. Some killers descend from organised into disorganised behaviour as their killings continue. They will carry out careful and methodical murders at the start, but as their compulsion grows out of control and utterly dominates their lives, they become careless and impulsive.
Organised types plan their crimes methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing of them in another. They will often lure the victims with ploys that appeal to their good nature. Others specifically target prostitutes, who are likely to go voluntarily with a serial killer posing as a customer. They are able to maintain a high degree of control over the crime scene and nowadays are usually forensically aware, knowing about the need to bury a body deep, or weighting it down to sink it in a river. They also follow their crimes in the media carefully and often take pride in their actions. The organised killer is usually socially adequate and has friends and lovers, perhaps even a wife and children. He is the type who, when captured, is most likely to be described by acquaintances as ‘a really nice guy’ who ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’. Some serial killers go to lengths to make their crimes difficult to discover, such as falsifying suicide notes, or setting up innocent people to take the blame for their crimes.
Disorganised types tend, as a rule, to commit their crimes impulsively. They will murder when the opportunity arises, rarely disposing of the body but instead simply leaving it at the scene. They usually attack their victims without warning and will typically perform whatever they feel compelled to do once they have killed, for example necrophilia, mutilation and cannibalism. They rarely bother to cover their tracks but may still evade capture for some time because of a level of cunning that compels them to keep on the move. They are often socially inadequate with few friends, usually have a history of mental problems and are regarded by family and acquaintances as eccentric or even weird. They have little insight into the crimes they commit and they may even block out memories of the killings.
Missionary killers believe that their acts are justified on the basis that they are getting rid of a certain type of person, often prostitutes or members of a certain ethnic group, and are therefore doing society a favour. Missionary killers differ from other types of serial killer in that their motive is generally non-sexual.
A hedonistic killer kills for the sheer pleasure of it, although the particular aspect they enjoy will vary. Some may enjoy the ‘chase’ of hunting down a victim more than anything, while others may be primarily motivated by the act of torturing and abusing the victim while they are still alive. Others will kill their victims quickly and then in indulge in necrophilia with or cannibalism of the body. Usually there is a strong sexual aspect to the crime, even if it may not be immediately obvious; some killers obtain a surge of excitement that is not necessarily sexual.
So where does this urge to kill come from, and why is it so powerful? If we were all to experience this urge, would we be able to resist it? Is it genetic, hormonal, biological or culturally conditioned? Do serial killers have any control over their desires? We all experience rage and inappropriate sexual instincts, yet most of us have some sort of internal ‘cage’ that keeps our inner monsters locked up. Call it morality or social programming; these internal blockades have long since crumbled in psychopathic killers. Not only have they let loose the monster within, they become virtual slaves to its beastly appetites and will kill and mutilate until they are finally caught and called to account for their crimes in a court of law. The phenomenon of serial murder is popularly regarded as a modern one but it can be traced back through history with some degree of accuracy.
Liu Pengli of China, cousin of Emperor Jing, was made king of Jidong in the sixth year of the middle period of Jing’s reign, 144 BC. It was written that he would ‘go out on marauding expeditions with 20 or 30 slaves or young men who were in hiding from the law, murdering people and seizing their belongings for sheer sport’. Although many of his subjects knew about these murders, they were afraid to go out of their houses at night; it was not until the 29th year of his reign that the son of one of his victims finally sent a report to the emperor. It was then discovered that he had murdered at least 100 people. The officials of the court requested that Liu Pengli be executed; however, the emperor could not bear to have his own cousin killed; Liu Pengli was instead made a commoner and banished.
In the fifteenth century, one of the wealthiest men in France, Gilles de Rais, is said to have abducted, raped and killed at least 100 young boys whom he brought to his castle as pages. The Hungarian aristocrat Elizabeth Báthory was arrested in 1610 and subsequently charged with torturing and butchering as many as 600 young girls. Like Liu Pengli, de Rais and Báthory were rich and powerful; therefore, although their crimes were known in their areas, they were not brought to justice for a long time. Chronicles of the times dealt largely with the affairs of the powerful; moreover, there was a lack of established police forces, at least in Europe, during those centuries. Therefore, there may have been many other classical or medieval serial killers who were either not identified or publicised.
Thug Behram, a gang leader of the Indian Thuggee cult of assassins, has frequently been described as the world’s most prolific serial killer. According to numerous sources, he was believed to have murdered 931 victims by strangulation by means of a ceremonial cloth or rumal, which in Hindi means ‘handkerchief’, used by his cult between 1790 and 1830, thus holding the record for the most murders directly committed by a single person in history. In total, the Thugs as a whole were responsible for approximately two million deaths, according to Guinness World Records. The notoriety of the Thugs eventually led to the word ‘thug’ entering the English language as a term for ruffians, miscreants and people who behave in an aggressive manner towards others. Recent scholarship has cast doubt on the Thuggee cult and has suggested that the British Empire rulers in India were confused by the vernacular use of the term by Indians and may also have used fear of such a cult to justify their colonial rule.
Some historical criminologists have suggested that there may have been serial murders throughout history, but specific cases were not adequately recorded. Some sources suggest that medieval serial killers inspired legends such as those concerning werewolves and vampires.
CHAPTER 1
AUSTRALIA
DAVID AND CATHERINE BIRNIE
David Birnie (b. 1951) and Catherine Birnie (née Harrison, b. 1951) formed a Bonnie and Clyde relationship when they met in their early teens. During this early period, they were involved in a string of burglaries in Perth at shops and factory premises. This resulted in both of them spending some of their teenage years in separate reform schools. In 1984, their paths crossed yet again and, having formed a strong relationship, they got married. H
owever, David became lost in a world of bizarre sexual fantasies to go with his insatiable sexual appetite.
On 6 October 1986, they changed from being petty thieves to becoming serial killers. On this day, they crossed paths with 20-year-old psychology student Mary Neilson, who visited the Birnie home. She had replied to an advertisement for the sale of tyres placed by David Birnie, who took advantage of the situation of a lone, unsuspecting female. After pulling a knife on her, they forced her into the bedroom of their house where she was chained to the bed and repeatedly raped. Catherine Birnie was present on this occasion, watching and taking photographs. They then placed the victim in David’s vehicle and drove her to the Gleneagles National Park, some 34 miles south of Perth, where Birnie raped her yet again before he finally strangled her with a nylon cord. All the time this was taking place Catherine was present, encouraging him. They both then took turns in slashing the body of the victim, apparently in order to prevent the body swelling up while decomposing in the shallow grave they had dug.
Fuelled by this violent act, they both had the desire to kill and mutilate again. On 20 October, they found their second victim, 15-year-old Susannah Candy, who was hitchhiking. They picked her up and drove her back to their home where they held her captive, raping and sexually abusing her over a period of several days. They even made her write letters to her parents indicating that she was safe and well. As with the previous victim, they drove her to the Gleneagles National Park where on this occasion Catherine Birnie strangled the victim, again burying her in a shallow grave.
Their third victim, who was in fact known to the Birnies, was 31-year-old air hostess Noelene Patterson. David and Caroline Birnie came across Noelene, whose car had run out of petrol. Instead of helping her, David Birnie abducted her at knifepoint and drove her back to their home where she was chained to the bed and raped over a three-day period. It was later suggested that because of her beauty David became infatuated with her. This made Caroline jealous and she apparently told David that Noelene must die, but David apparently would not accede to her request. However, he later relented and gave the victim an overdose of sleeping tablets, and then, while she was unconscious, he strangled her. As with the previous murders, they took the body of the victim to Gleneagles National Park where they buried it in a shallow grave.
The Evil Within - A Top Murder Squad Detective Reveals The Chilling True Stories of The World's Most Notorious Killers Page 1
