Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
Where’s the best and worst places to be convicted of murder?
So, if you’re going on your hols, and (over a few complimentary cocktails) you plan to pop off your papa, mangle your momma, shred up your sis or boil your bro, here’s a list of countries to avoid: Startlingly, more than 60% of the world still has the death penalty for murder, so avoid; China, India, some states in the USA, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, among all mostly Islamic countries, as well as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. If convicted, the following countries do not have a minimum term of sentence before parole is considered; Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belize, Egypt, Estonia, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Loas, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, China (denied only for violent crimes) and Cuba (only if pardoned by President). Longest minimum sentence for murder before parole is considered is Turkey (24-40 years) and shortest is Canada (7 years, eh?). And although most countries have no maximum sentence for murder, the average sentence is usually between 15-25 years, the longest sentences for murder are in Albania, Armenia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and the Vatican City (yes, home of The Pope, 30-35 years), Croatia, Honduras, Kosovo, Serbia and Spain (40 years). Rising up to Costa Rica and Bosnia & Herzegovina (45), Panama (50), and Mexico (60 years, or 70 years if involving kidnapping), and longest maximum sentence for murder is Columbia and El Salvador (75 years). But then again, Britain does currently have a whole life tariff for 72 murderers, so we win. Of course, if anyone touches my cakes, that’s an instant death sentence. No trial. No jury. Just death. The Queen does it herself, she grabs her Royal Axe and knocks your dirty block off. Failing that, she’ll insist you’re a passenger, in a car, driven by Prince Phillip. Good luck to you all.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
0 Comments
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
Fingerprint powder. What is it, how does it work, and how can you beat it?
We’ve all seen it used on crime scene investigations, they twiddle and twirl a fine brush of dark powder over a desk and suddenly we see some fingerprints, someone gets arrested – case closed. So what is fingerprint powder used on? Everything? Nope. Powder is one of several methods used by forensics to detect, copy or remove fingerprints from a scene; as more effective and less destructive methods such as close-up photography, clear adhesive tape and the removal of the object is preferred, so dusting for prints is almost exclusively used for any evidence which is difficult to remove from the crime scene; such walls, windows, desks, floors, etc. How does it work? Well, if you look at your fingers, palms or feet, you’ll see a series of very fine, very unique friction ridges on the skin. Not only do these epidermal ridges assist us in gripping rough surfaces and improve our grip on wet surfaces, they also amplify our sensory nerves in the perception of fine textures – that’s why our fingers and feet are super sensitive. Now, across the tops of these epidermal ridges are the natural oily secretions from the sweat gland. So when you place a finger, palm or foot on a surface, your skin leaves a secretion of oil, in the shape of the peaks of the ridges as the ridge itself doesn’t secrete any oil, and the fingerprint powder sticks to that oily residue. What is it made from? Difficult to answer. Historically, Lycopodium powder was used, it’s a yellowy dust-like powder made from the dry spores of clubmoss and ferns, the downside being that these spores were highly flammable, which is not good. The most common powder currently in use is Aluminium powder, which is fine, dark, malleable, it doesn’t congeal or clump and it shows up on a variety of surfaces, but there is no single fingerprint powder which is perfect, as different surfaces require different powders with different properties. What makes a good fingerprint powder? Four categories. #1 Fineness – as the finer the powder, the greater the details of the print. #2 Adhesion – the powder must adhere to the oil secreted, and not the rest of the surface print #3 Sensitivity – the powder needs to adhere to the surface, but without it warping the delicate oily residue in its application. Some powders are applied by fine brushes, some have powder blown across them, and magnetic powders are also used, where metallic particles are gently moved into the oily print using a magnetic applicator. This method causes the least damage to the print. #4 Colour – the darker the surface the fingerprint is on, the lighter the powder that is used, otherwise a black print on a black table top would be unrecognisable. Best and worst surfaces to get a clear fingerprint off?
So, you’re probably thinking, there’s one way to ensure I never leave a fingerprint at a crime scene and that’s to wear gloves? Am I right? Wrong. That’s the mistake that all criminals makes, and they think that wearing gloves will make them undetectable, but there is such a thing as a glove print. Glove prints are fingerprint-like impressions left by the wearer of the gloves which are just as unique as human fingerprints, glove prints have been used since 1971 to successfully convict offenders, with the first Glove Print Database established by the Derbyshire Police Force, and almost all types of gloves leave prints. For example: Latex gloves (or any rubber, plastic or vinyl); because they’re lightweight, cheap, a tight fit and flexible, criminals like these gloves as it allows their fingers to be dexterous, but because the material is thin, the oil from their fingers can pass through the material onto the surface, or (as they put on the gloves) their oil residue becomes adhered to the outside of the glove, which provides a perfect print if the glove is found, or that oil can be transferred onto a surface, and all secreted oil contains DNA. Leather gloves (aka murderer’s gloves) wool/cotton/fabric gloves; have good grip and are durable, but the surface of these gloves are as unique as a fingerprint, owing to its wear and tear which cause unique ridges, cuts and grooves in the material. And as these gloves can cause the wearer’s hands to sweat even more than it usually would, this increases the amount of dirt and grit which soaks into the grain of the glove (making the glove’s own print even more unique), and worse still, providing even more sweat… which contains DNA. Of course, if you want to make sure that you don’t leave any fingerprints at a crime scene, the only way to not get caught is to shave off your epidermal ridges (youch), soak your hands in hydrochloric acid (ooh), peel off your skin (aah), cut off your hands yikes), or - better still - don’t become a criminal in the first place, you knob. And that, is my top tip for the week.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
So to aid your audio quest to find the perfect true-crime podcast for you, here is a helpful little run-down of a few original, different and truly awesome independent true-crime podcasts which are currently awaiting your eager ear-holes. Each podcast has been skillfully crafted - not by a major broadcaster who pays big-bucks to be on page one of your favourite player - but an independent podcaster who dedicates their every waking moment to entertain and inform you, in a medium and subject they are truly passionate about. These podcasts include They Walk Among Us, UK True Crime, Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, The True Crime Enthusiast, Unseen, Case Remains, Blood Sweat and Fear, Devil We Know, Seriemordarpodden and Weird on the Rocks. To read a full blog and Q & A about each podcast, click any image below. We all have different tastes, so some you might like, others you might not, but if you do discover one you truly adore - like them, review them, share them - as doing so, keeps them alive. Thanks for reading and happy hunting Mx Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
So this week’s question is how do you maintain a sex-life in a UK prison?
Most of the world’s prisons have what’s known as ‘conjugal visits’, where the prisoner’s legal spouse (whether wife, husband or civil partner) is allowed a scheduled period of time (a few hours, or even a few days) with their loved-one, in a private part of the prison (or an external facility designed for the purpose) where they can get reacquainted with each other, as this increases their chances of returning to an ordinary life after prison. These visits are usually given to low-risk prisoners, coming to the end of a long prison sentence. Many countries allow conjugal visits: In Canada the prisoner is permitted a 72 hour visit every three months with 48 hours for maximum security prisoners (maple syrup and mooses are not provided). In Spain, they are allowed a three hour visit every four to eight weeks (obviously these are scheduled around their daily five-hour mid-afternoon snooze), in a private room with clean bedsheets, towels and condoms provided. For Spanish couples held in the same prison, conjugal visits are also allowed every few months, but only for 20 minutes. 20 minutes? I know. What do they do for the other 19? In Belgium, conjugal visits are only allowed for high security prisoners if their spouse is an inmate as well, or if they’re in an open-prison. In Russia, they’re allowed two 72 hour visits a year. In France, one 72 hour visit a year. To curb the spread of HIV in prison, in Zimbabwe, conjugal visits were allowed in 1998. And in Brazil, conjugal visits are only allowed for male prisoners (whether homosexual or heterosexual), but not for female convicts. Go figure. And yet, conjugal visits in prison are still banned in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and once again, this year, a petition to allow them was rejected by the British government. That said, home visits from UK prisons are allowed, as by letting a low-risk prisoner near the end of a long sentence return to his/her home, that’s an incentive to behave well, work hard and it ingratiates them better back into a normal routine in the real-world. Of course, if you’re on a three-day release from prison, would some rumpy pumpy be the first thing on your mind? But what if you’re single? Can you have a sex-life in prison? Yes you can and these are my five top tips. #1 Masturbation – also known as onerism, self-pollution, making Popeye wink, double-clicking the mouse, throttling the schlong, playing double-bass or flicking the bean. Although it is widely accepted that it occurs in prison, masturbation is not permitted, as with every area either public, supervised or even at night your cell (which you may share) having an observation window on the door, if you are witnessed having some solo-love time by another prisoner or a prison guard (who can be of either gender), you can be charged with indecent exposure, so masturbation is risky. That said, prison bunk-mates often give each other “private time”, watching the door for the other, and there’s nothing to stop them having a little pocket shuffle or a quick nip to the loo for a hand-shandy. #2 Sex Aids. Regardless of gender, although this is classified as contraband and not permitted, it is possible for the incarcerated to make their own sex-aids in prison. Prisoners have been known to insert their tumescent love-trumpets into tub of Vaseline or a jar of warm liver to mimic a lady’s rose-bud. Obviously as Vaseline is a petroleum jelly, any ingestion of the jelly inside the men’s member can cause irritation, and if a lad does insert his prison pecker into a pot of pig’s liver; it needs to be drained of fluid first, placed inside a tight jar no bigger than the width of the appendage and heated to no hotter than body temperature, for fear of blistering the bad-boy’s bell-end. For the ladies or those who prefer “that Mrs Brown receives a quick visit from Dr Hard-Pipe”, sex-toys have been made by melting handfuls of sticky sweets and reshaping them into a phallic object wrapped in cling film, inserting marbles into a condom, hard-boiling some eggs, or pretending your smuggling a mobile phone into prison. Just make sure you’ve washed it first and afterwards. #3 Gay sex. If you’re a homosexual man or woman in a same sex prison, surrounded by prisoners of the same sexual persuasion, a sex life may not be all that complicated. But if you’re a heterosexual man in a same sex prison, it can be difficult, unless you decide to be “prison gay”. Prison gay is a cultural loophole designed to assuage a heterosexual man’s sexual needs in a same sex prison. In prison, a man can get himself a sissy, this is a younger more effeminate man (who may or may not be gay, or might be pre-op) who wears feminine clothing. As his sissy is regarded as a woman, when the two men engage in homosexual sex, to other prisoners, this does not mean they are homosexual men. #4 Abstinence. A difficult one for any person trapped inside four-walls 24 hours a day, for weeks, months and even years with very little to do. There are prison courses teaching the art of abstinence, but the best method is to keep yourself busy, doing sports, hobbies, getting prison duties, or thinking of something boring… like Arsenal (PCAG. “Under Section Thrumpty-Do of the Dissing My Beloved Arsenal Act, what is treason m’lud, I sentence you to having your nasty little block knocked-off. Or you could just buy me a pint”. #5 Prostitution. Although this is a criminal offence which can threaten their parole, some sex-starved prisoners in UK Prisons who are on ROTL (release on temporary licence) use their day release, not to visit family or friends, but to hook-up with a sex worker. It’s a big risk, but they do it. In some prisons, convicts are pimped out whilst inside, sex-workers have been smuggled inside prison and in the more dangerous Columbian prisons (which are ran by the prisoners, not the guards) they have brothels full of female sex-workers inside a male-only prison. So you can - sort of - have a sex-life inside a UK prison, if you don’t mind marbles up your chuff, your dick in a dead pig’s intestines and a strictly non-gay pink-flesh-parcel in your backdoor letterbox, but the easiest way to maintain a normal sex life is simply to stay out of prison and then you can beat one off to your heart’s content. Ah great days.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
The Murder Mile Threadless Store
Credits: The Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast was researched, written and recorded by Michael J Buchanan-Dunne, with the music written and performed by Erik Stein & Jon Boux of Cult With No Name. Additional music was used under the Creative Common Agreement 4.0. The music featured in this episode includes:
SOUNDS:
SOURCES:
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tor of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
Right! Let’s get acquainted with some infamous murderers and serial killers on a more social level. This week: pets, which killers loved their pets?
The reason I ask this is because cruelty to animals (along with bed-wetting and arson) and an inability to show empathy for another living creature is often a small but crucial step into a child's development from a normal human-being into being a serial killer. But not all serial killers hated animals. Many adored their pets. For example: John Reginald Christie, owned two pets during his time at 10 Rillington Place, one was a black & white cat (with no known name) who disappeared from the house shortly after his arrest, and his faithful 14 year old mongrel terrier – Judy – who he often fed fish & chips, ah, but sadly, being unable to look after the elderly dog with an infected eye whilst he was on the run, Reg had Judy put to sleep, in a gas chamber, for five shillings. Hmm, okay, maybe that wasn’t a great example. John George Haigh was denied pets as a child, but having murdered Dr Archibald Henderson and his wife Rosalie Henderson and dissolved their bodies in a drum of acid, he took all of their belongings, including their dog – a red setter called Pat - and kept him and fed him, (ah, that’s nice) but with the dog being old, suffering with night blindness and management at the hotel not allowing dogs, Pat was taken to a kennels and euthanized. Hmm, another not great example there, sorry about that. Beverly Allitt, the deadly nurse and child-murderer was gifted a lovely floppy eared toy dog called “Sad Sam” by her boyfriend Steve for her 18th birthday, (ah, sweet) sadly Beverly didn’t really care much for the dog, and it’s fate is unknown. Oh, dear, this is not going well. Rose West, of the infamous house of horrors in Cromwell Street suggested that the family get a dog, to help them get over the fact the Fred – her husband – was in prison for murder. Instead of getting just one, they got two, a bearded collie and a Cocker Spaniel, which Rose would take on the train to see Fred in Birmingham Prison. Ah, that’s nice. Although the family later admitted Rose never liked dogs. Shit. Patrick MacKay, dubbed “The Devil’s Disciple” who confessed to murdering eleven people over one year in 1974 and 75, he owned a tortoise as a boy… until he set fire to it. Ah, bloody hell. This isn’t going as well as I thought. Peter Manuel, dubbed The Beast of Birkinshaw, murdered at least seven people between 1956 and 58 in Lanarkshire, Scotland. On 1st January 1958, Manuel broke into the house of Peter and Doris Smart and their 10 year old son Michael, in Uddington, shot all three family members dead without saying a word, then helped himself to food and stayed in their home for a week, amongst the dead bodies, and then hearing their hungry cat crying, as there was no milk in the fridge, he poured it a bowl of water, fed it tin of Kittikat and a tin of salmon and then put the cat outside. There you go, see, he wasn’t all bad. Dr Harold Shipman, dubbed "Doctor Death", although he was one of the world's most prolific serial killers, he had very few pets (except a black poodle and a few rabbits), but as a medical student at Leeds School of Medicine, Shipman would regularly complain about the caged dogs that were kept on the roof for medical testing and vivisection, and would often weep at the sight of the poor little dogs being led to their early deaths. Kind of ironic really. And yet, although there are many badly written news articles (mostly in the tabloids) which proclaim that some of the serial killers I’m going to mention were animal abusers, they weren’t. Dennis Nilsen: Although he also owned a black and white cat, years later, whilst in HMP Full Sutton, although Nilsen was one of the 72 prisoners serving a whole life tariff, he was allowed to keep two budgerigars in his cell who he named Hamish and Tweedles. But I’m going to tell you about Bleep. "Bleep" was the faithful, loyal and loving Border Collie-cross of London's most notorious serial killer Dennis Nilsen. She was bought as a puppy in a local pet shop on Kilburn High Road and was named "Bleep" as the puppies muted barks sounded more like a high-pitched squeak. Nilsen absolutely adored "Bleep"; he fed her, brushed her, bathed her and the two would take lovely long walks together on Hampstead Heath. Bleep was his best-friend, his closest companion, and - in Nilsen's eyes - the only one who ever truly loved him. But in 1978, after a few volatile months together, "Twinkle" (Nilsen’s boyfriend) walked out, causing Nilsen to spiral out of control, and with his rage uncontrollable and fuelled by anger and drink, he killed fifteen young men in just five years. "I wanted to stop sooner", Nilsen said after his arrest, but after he'd murdered his second victim - Kenneth Ockenden - he knew he'd be locked up for life and his main concern was "if I'm put away, what would happen to Bleep?". Unfortunately, Nilsen's concerns were proved right as just three days after he was imprisoned, "Bleep" was put to death by lethal injection as the Police believed no-one would want to own her. And her only crime? Being a faithful, loyal and loving dog... of a serial killer. Myra Hindley owned a tan & white collie called "Puppet", which she was totally besotted by. Unfortunately, after her arrest an as accessory to the brutal murder of 17 year old Edward Evans and the discovery of her partner Ian Brady's suitcase which contained a series of highly disturbing photos and a 13 minute audio of the torture and murder of 10 year old Leslie Ann Downie, Police were alerted to a few photos of Hindley and Puppet, taken on Saddleworth Moor at different times, and they wondered whether this was a macabre memorial taken on top of a shallow grave. Sadly, they were right. As Hindley refused to cooperate, they needed to find a way to accurately date the photos, and to do that they needed to determine the age of “Puppet”, so they put the dog under anaesthetic to x-ray her teeth. Unfortunately, “Puppet” died during the procedure and Hindley was inconsolable, later stating “I feel as though my heart's been torn to pieces. I don't think anything could hurt me more than this has”. Oddly, she never showed any remorse for her victims. Ian Brady: Lazy biographers often state that Moor's Murderer Ian Brady was an animal abuser, whether torturing cats or drowning dogs, but (as much as this makes for good newspaper copy) it's simply not true. Ian Brady truly loved animals; as a child he had three rabbits; a big grey called Jenny, a big black called Harry and a small Dutch called Smokey, a black & silver German shepherd called Una and a Cocker Spaniel called Sheila, at whose death the ten year old Brady was inconsolable. Also, in an incident he recounted to DCI Peter Topping of Manchester CID, when Brady was a child growing up in The Gorbals (Glasgow) he saw an injured horse which had slipped on the icy-road, a canvas screen was erected and the horse was "euthanized" with a house-brick. Brady said “it lay there with its massive sides heaving and its breath steaming the frosty air… I can still see the great liquid eyes rolling in terror… they were going to kill the horse. My chest was bursting and I began to cry”. Even if this story is a fabrication, it seems unlikely that he was an animal abuser, especially as Brady reportedly asked for the proceeds of his autobiography – Black Light – to be split between four animal charities. Now, for one of the world’s most infamous mass-murderers and pet-lovers? Adolf Hitler: It seems odd that a man with so much hatred, who orchestrated the holocaust and the deaths of six million Jews, could have so much love for his pets, but it's true. Hitler loved his dogs, these included: "Fuchsl", a white Fox Terrier who Hitler found as a stray, nurtured and raised during World War One and was reportedly “distraught” when the dog was lost during a trench bombing. “Prinz”, a German Shepherd who comforted Hitler during his post-World War One years of poverty, but as Hitler was unable to afford to feed Prinz, Hitler had to re-home her, but she always escaped and returned to her loving master. There was also “Muckl” a German Shepherd, "Blonda" (born in 1928), “Blonda” (her daughter born in 1930), “Bella”, another German Shepherd who was brought from a minor official in the Ingolstadt post-office (the nearest town to his countryside retreat dubbed The Wolf’s Lair) in 1942 to keep his other dogs company, and, more famously, there was his beloved “Blondi”. On 29th April 1945, as the Soviets closed in on Berlin, Hitler decided to take his own life, but fearing that his SS-issued cyanide capsules lacked the necessary potency, he ordered Dr Werner Haase to test them on Blondi who died instantly. After which, Hitler became inconsolable at the death of his beloved dog, and so at Hitler’s request, his dog-handler shot Eva Braun’s two dogs and Blondi’s litter of puppies in the garden of that infamous bunker. I think the moral of the story is, people who love their pets are great. Everyone else is meh.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms
This week: disability, we often assume most serial killers, murderers and criminals were able-bodied and had full use of all of their sense, but which of them didn’t. Just to clarify, I won’t be including mental disabilities (as the list would be endless), nor killers with debilitating but no disabling conditions, such as Dennis Nilsen who had life-long stomach issues and Dennis Radder aka BTK who suffered from Scoliosis, a painful curvature of the spine. Right:
Number #1: Obviously, we have Oscar Pistorius; the infamous “Blade Runner”, T44 and T43 double-amputee athlete who famously won gold in 100, 200 and 400 metre sprint in the 2008 Paralympics and gold at the 100 and 400 metre sprint in 2012, who has since been convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp having shot her multiple times, believing she was a burglar. Number #2: Seisaku Nakamura, a Japanese deaf serial-killer, known as Hamamatsu Deaf Killer, who stabbed nine people to death during the 1930’s and 40’s. In 1938, he raped and murdered two women whilst he was aged just fourteen. Over the next four years, he’d kill and injure several more including his brother, father, sister, brother's wife and child, a random couple and their family. When arrested, he admitted to two more murders. He was executed shortly after his trial. Number #3: Baljit Singh Buttar. In August 2001, following a beef in a beauty salon, wannabe gangster Baljit Singh Buttar was shot and seriously wounded in a shooting in East Vancouver. Shot in the chest, neck and head, with what witnesses described as “his brains on the floor”, no-one thought he’d survive. But he did. And yet, even though he was now a blind quadriplegic living in a care facility, Baljit confessed to multiple gangland hits in 2004, three years after his life-changing injuries, but being unable to try him for murder, he was tried for murder conspiracy, confide to his care facility, and died in 2011. Number #4: Jake Fairest, Warwick Toohey and Georgia Fields, three deaf housemates, who in 2016 in Melbourne Australia, were found guilty of the murder of their friend Robert Right, after they threw him off a second floor balcony. When Police checked the CCTV footage, the threesome were seen signing to each other. “Georgia asked Jake ‘you want dead or alive and how die?’ Jake signed ‘can strangle neck area, what do you think?’ Warwick signed ‘strangle risky’, Georgia signed ‘fall good’.” Deemed unfit to stand trial, owing to their mental impairments, Jake & Warwick were committed to a treatment facility and Georgia avoided jail and was confined to live at home, with her parents. Number #5: Joseph Mesa Jr. In 2002, in Washington DC, deaf student Joseph Mesa Jnr was found guilty of 15 charges including the robbery and murder of his classmates Eric Plunkett and Benjamin Varner in their freshman dormitory at Gallaudet University, a liberal arts college for the hearing impaired. He was sentenced to life in prison. Number #6: Donald Lang. In 1965, Donald was arrested for the murder of Chicago prostitute Ernestine Williams, blood was found on his clothes and his guilt was obvious, but because he was deaf, illiterate and did not know lip-reading or sign language, he could not be convicted. He was confined to a mental hospital and ordered to learn sign language so that he could stand trial, but he was unable to. When a key witness died, the case was dismissed and he was free in February 1971. Five months after his release, he murdered another prostitute - Earline Brown – and this time convicted to a maximum of 25 years. But in 1975, this verdict was over-ruled at appeal as they believed Lang had not been able to adequately defend himself. He remains confined at the Chicago-Read Mental Health facility. Of course, if you are blind, consider this; over the period of their incarceration, having trained as a Braille typist, Dennis Nilsen translated many books into Braille and Edmund Kemper also recorded over 5,000 hours of audiobooks for the blind. So whatever you’re currently reading or listing to currently, you could be listening to a serial killer. And putting murderers aside for a second, here’s some criminals. Between 2003 and 2011, Gary Foster - who although legally blind climbed to the successful heights of becoming Vice President of Citigroup Bank - he also stole $22.9 million dollars by syphoning off money to dummy accounts. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and now he’s now free. In 2005, wheel-chair bound paraplegic, Juan Romero Robles was charged with second degree robbery and attempted robbery having stolen a woman’s driving licence and threatening to kill her, with a fake gun he had stolen from a toy store. Juan was a gang member with previous convictions for robbery, rape and was a registered sex offender. He is currently serving a life sentence. In 2012, severely disabled Daniel Roque Hall, who is wheelchair-bound and suffers from Friedreich's ataxia, a life-shortening condition which requires him to have round-the-clock care was sentenced to three years in Wormwood Scrubs prison having smuggled £300,000 worth of cocaine in his wheelchair. He pleaded not guilty, stating that he was groomed, but was found guilty and convicted. Interestingly, following the conviction of Andrei Chikatilo, the Russian serial killer who murdered at least 53 woman and children in Rostov, a recent study by the University of California showed an odd correlation between the frequency of his murders, the pattern of his brain-waves and intervals between his epileptic seizures. The research is ongoing and is currently inconclusive. But - of course – disease can also be a disability, especially for those on Death Row. On 1st October 2019, in Missouri, Russell Earl Bucklew – who was convicted of murder, kidnapping and rape - was executed by lethal injection. But his death sentence did receive a brief stay of execution, as he suffered from a rare condition called cavernous hemangioma, which causes blood-filled tumours to grow in his head, neck and throat, and which they feared, during his execution, could painfully burst. He was confirmed dead at 6:23pm and the State Prosecutor said his death “was peaceful”. Well, of course they did. And if you were listening to that bit, whilst eating a burger, a sausage or some yummy blood-filled black pudding, I hope I haven’t put you off your meal? Although I suspect I have.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
Stomach contents, what can a pathologist learns about a person’s last moments alive or time of death from the partially digested food in their stomach?
We’ve all seen it on those cop shows, the pathologist pulls opens a corpse’s stomach, pokes about in the grub guts, has a quick sniff, and deduces (a New Yoik accent) “they died fifty-seven minutes ago, at Benny’s diner, and had the number 6 blue plate special”. But can you accurately determine a time of death and location based on the contents of a stomach? Well, no, but is can be a very useful guide to eliminate and establish some theories and facts. The digestion of food - from ingestion via the mouth to excretion via the anus - varies between men and women, but on average food takes six to eight hours to pass through the stomach and small intestine, and to exit the large intestine, also known as the colon, the digestion of food takes on average 47 hours for women and 33 hours for men. Although, different foods digest at different rates; with meat and fish taking the longest, then fruit, vegetables and fibrous foods, with sweets and pastries digested the quickest, excluding any medical factors which could slow down the process further such as IBS and Crone’s disease, the digestion of food is slow, varied and indeterminate. Once a person dies, although the stomach acids remain in-tact, with no muscles, blood flow or working organs, digestion effectively ceases, especially as – during rigor mortis and livor mortis – the body’s liquids sink to the lowest part of the body. When a pathologist examines a corpse’s stomach; if the stomach is full (and the contents are easily identifiable) they can deduce that death took place less than two hours after the last meal, and can also identify a possible location for this last meal. In the case of Evelyn Hamilton, the first victim of The Blackout Ripper, because they knew what time she had eaten (11pm) and roughly in what area (Marble Arch), because her stomach contents mostly consisted of “beetroot”, Police determined that only one restaurant matched those factors which was Maison Lyonese, so (based on her stomach contents alone) they could trace her last known movements. If the stomach is entirely empty, they can deduce that death took place at least 4 to 6 hours after the last meal. If the small intestine is also empty, death probably took place at least 12 or more hours after the last meal. And if the large intestine is empty, the victim hadn’t eaten for at least a day to two days. It’s not very accurate, but it does give a rough timescale to a person’s last known movements, and the type of food digested can help establish other factors; what they ate, where they were, who they were with, were they traveling, were they anxious or relaxed, and by checking the stomach for swelling, infection or bleeding, that can also indicate the presence of poisons, toxins, bacteria, alcohol or drugs. So for a pathologist, it’s a valuable piece of their arsenal of indispensable tools.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
Dear… (NAME REDACTED)
This is a supplementary reply to your last letter. When I wrote to you there had been no official acknowledgement that your cheque had been received here. The usual procedure is that the prisoner concerned is called up to sign for it in the registration book and, the fact that money or a cheque had arrived, this is usually noted on the incoming envelope. None of these procedures were followed. I noted in today’s weekly Earning Statement there is an unexplained entry of £10 in the “private cash” section. I guess that this may be your cheque. The administration of prisoner’s monies was never up to much here… the latest example being that my meagre prison wage was £1 and 50 pence short last week. Their error which they have not, as of yet, got around to correcting. This is the routine here and management has still not engaged the remedy of addressing their ‘offending behaviour’. There is no mind set like the Prison Service mind set. Routines just bumble along to nowhere”. He goes on… “I watched the Channel Five documentary on Myra Hindley last night. One suspects that any programme with “Monster” in its title is not to be taken seriously as offering any new insight into the subject. TV journalism remains too set in its populist formulas. It revealed no new analysis or enlightening information. It hinged itself on that famous ‘demonic’ photograph of her taken at the police station. That saved millions the bother of ever having to think deeply about her ever again”. He ends his letter… “Scientists tell us that an asteroid might strike the earth on 21st April 2014. If I’m still around, I’ll look out for it as the end of the world is something not to be missed. Friendly greetings as always, Des. PS: What do you think of the new Bull Ring development?” Why was that an insight? Entirely different to his style of writing; often regarded as pompous, opinionated and highfalutin, loved to show how superior he was, (ep12) Carl Stotter wrote to Dennis Nilsen to ask him why he’d attacked him, almost killed him and then brought him back to life; in his reply Nilsen cryptically wrote, 'What passed between us was a thin strand of love and humanity'. Still to this day, Carl Stotter states "I've turned over what he meant until I'm blue in the face, but I can't find an answer.". As an example, in his autobiography – Memoir of a Drowning Boy (never published, court of European Human Rights deemed he couldn’t profit from his crimes, although, now he’s dead, this could change – his book is very much a pompous self-analysis of himself. Here’s an example: "I serve my time as an extreme example of human contradiction in the wide continuum of human nature and its actions. I am not contained, mute and immobile in a glass jar as some kind of eternal official specimen of popular 'evil'. As I am alive I must live as a man. I seek only to reach out to engage with the human dimension which is anathema to rigid officials of the retribution machine who are content with the official view of men like me as eternally and evilly sub-human and monstrous." Did you understand that? Nope. I think that makes all of us. But if you want to hear how Dennis Nilsen actually spoke… (CLIP)… taken from his police interview after his arrest in Feb 1983 at Hornsey Police Station.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
On the afternoon of 24 August 1867, Fanny, her sister Lizzie and best friend Minnie asked their mums if they could go and play in nearby Flood Meadow; a beautiful little field full of butterflies and bees along the bank of the river which teamed with fish and frogs, where all the local kids played. With the sun bright, the sky blue and Fanny’s mum burdened by housework, knowing her child would be safe, barely a few minutes from her home, Fanny’s mum said yes. It was a perfect day, as the three girls played as there barely a rustle of wind in the trees. At a little after lunch, the girls bumped into 29 year old Frederick Baker, a solicitor’s clerk who had moved to the village just two months prior, and as an adult who they had having seen him at church meetings, they liked him and trusted him. For an hour, the three girls and Frederick played together; he brought them sweets, gave them money, they picked and ate blackberries, they giggled, they laughed and raced up and down the hollow. Feeling a little tired and hungry, with their stomach gurgling, the girls decided it was time to go home. Frederick asked Fanny to accompany him to nearby village of Shalden, just a short walk away. But being a good girl, eight year old Fanny knew not to go off with strangers, so said no. But Frederick wasn’t a man who took no for an answer, and as her friends looked on, Frederick carried Fanny away, into the undergrowth. Lizzie and Minnie ran to Minnie’s mother, to tell her what had happened, but with the girls being prone to fanciful stories and high jinx, Minnie’s mother ignored them. By 5pm, Fanny’s mum had become frantic with worry, her daughter had missed her tea and hadn’t been seen in four hours. Alerting the neighbours, a search commenced of the local fields, streams and hollows for Fanny. Very quickly it became clear that she wasn’t just missing, or injured, but that something truly awful had happened, as scattered across the fields were ripped remnants of her clothes, all of which were caked in blood. But the worst was yet to come… …in the nearby Hop Garden, labourer Thomas Gates, who was tending to his crops, almost threw up as he found impaled on a hop pole, the decapitated head of Fanny Adams. Fanny had been subjected to an horrific ordeal, he face had been slashed, her ear cut off, her left arm had been hacked off at the elbow, her left leg severed at the hip, her left foot lopped off at the ankle, her right leg ripped from the torso, her entire innards from pelvis and chest completely removed and scattered across the neighbouring fields and streams, her killer had hacked at her liver, her heart, her vagina was missing and both of her eyes were gouged out and thrown into the River Wey. Hearing that Frederick Baker had been seen with kids, at 9pm, Police went to solicitor’s office, where he was still working, and protested his innocence, but being the only suspect, he was searched at the Police station, upon him they found two small bloodstained knives, he had blood on his shirt sleeves, he had unsuccessfully tried to wash his blood-soaked trousers and in his desk they found his diary, with an entry for that day marked as “Killed a young girl. It was fine and hot”. Trial was held at Dukes Head Inn in Alton on 27 August 1867, the jury deliberated for just 15 mins, and although Justice Mellor asked the jury to consider a verdict of not responsible by reason of insanity, they returned a guilty verdict. On 24 December 1867, Christmas Eve, Baker was hanged outside Winchester Gaol before a crowd of 5000 people. One of the most notorious crimes of its era. Two years later, in 1869, as new rations of tinned mutton (sheep) were introduced for British seamen. So unimpressed were they by the indistinguishable, unsightly, mashed-up lumps of meat in a tin, they often referred to it as “Fanny Adams”, became slang for mediocre rations, over time this phrase had contracted from “sweet Fanny Adams”, to “sweet FA”, to “sweet f**k all”, and although the phrase is still uttered, her name is almost forgotten.
If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
|
AuthorMichael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster of Murder Mile UK True Crime and creator of true-crime TV series. Archives
May 2024
Subscribe to the Murder Mile true-crime podcast
Categories
All
Note: This blog contains only licence-free images or photos shot by myself in compliance with UK & EU copyright laws. If any image breaches these laws, blame Google Images.
|