A Match Made in... Hell

TWO OF A KIND

Rose Letts was waiting at a bus stop when she first met Fred West. It was November 1968 and Rose’s future soul mate was already a convicted child molester and unbeknownst to the authorities, a murderer. Fred was, Rose remembered, ‘smelly’ with ‘ganky green teeth’. Despite this, there was an attraction and they soon discovered the shared experience of a deeply, damaged childhood:

“When it came to meeting Fred, who came from an even more extreme background than Rose, it was just – it was a perfect storm, it was an accident waiting to happen.”-Jane Carter 

Fred was not only 12 years older than Rose, he was far more experienced than the sheltered girl from Devon. Fred West had worked as far away as Scotland, in the slums of the Gorbals. He had married a Scottish woman, Rena Costello and had a daughter, Charmaine - although it appears Fred was not, in fact, Charmaine’s father. A year after Charmaine, a second daughter arrived – Anne Marie. The family moved to the South West but after a turbulent few years of marriage, Fred found himself bringing up the two girls on his own.

In March 1970, soon after meeting Fred, Rose moved in with him and his two daughters into their caravan. Fred soon initiated her into a world of pornography, prostitution and sadism. Because of her abused childhood, it was a world that was all too reassuringly familiar to Rose. A year later and with Rose pregnant, Fred and his growing family moved to their new home at 25 Midland Road. Rose gave birth to Heather. The 17-year-old Rose was now effectively mother to three girls. It was not a healthy household: “Fred would want to spy on (Rose), to push her to have sex with friends...you’ve got a seventeen year old whose got a baby...and then two little girls to look after...what chance did she have?” - Jane Carter Woodrow

Fred supported his makeshift family partly by being an unsuccessful petty criminal. He stole everything from scrap metal to scaffolding. He was often caught. In November 1970, Fred West was sent to Leyhill Prison to serve a ten month sentence for theft.

CHARMAINE: ROSE’S FIRST VICTIM? 

With Fred away, 17-year old-Rose was left in charge of Fred’s eldest daughter, 7-year-old Charmaine. Rose struggled to control her. Sometime in March 1971 Charmaine went missing. It’s probable that during a violent outburst, Rose had killed her and hidden the body. It is likely that when Fred was released Rose confessed to the killing. At that point, if not before, Fred could have confessed to having killed a pregnant former lover, Anne McFall. What is certain is that he dealt with the disposal of Charmaine and Anne’s body in the same manner. He removed the fingers and toes from the body before burial. In August 1971, when West’s first wife, Rena, came for Charmaine, she shared her fate. The story Rose and Fred told was that his daughter had gone back to live with her mother. 

MR AND MRS MURDER

In January 1972, Rose married Fred, even though no record’s been found of him ever divorcing his first wife. But theirs was always a very unconventional partnership. Fred prostituted Rose and sometimes liked to watch her with clients. The family moved to 25 Cromwell Street. The terraced property – with its three floors and cellar – though cramped and small, was still more than they could afford. So Fred started converting the property to accommodate lodgers. He placed multiple interior walls inside the rooms to create little cells where people could sleep. And one of those lodgers would bring both the West’s to the attention of the police.“I met Fred and Rose when I was hitch-hiking back in 1972.  This car pulled up with a couple in. And the girl opened the window and started asking me where I was going, and she seemed really friendly- not much older than me.  And they said, ‘Oh, we’ll give you a lift as far as Gloucester.” - Caroline Roberts, Former Nanny for the West Family

That lift turned into an offer of a room and employment as the family nanny. Caroline, quite taken by Rose, accepted:“I actually got on quite well with Rose straight from the start; I suppose it was because there was just a slight age difference.  She was quite tactile as well, she’d like to play; you know she’d look at my hair and say ‘oh I love your hair and you’ve got lovely hair, lovely eyes.’ She was very tactile.”

But Fred’s behaviour soon made Caroline regret her decision to join the West household.“...he was forever grabbing hold of (Rose). He would sometimes grope her...or put a hand up her skirt...But worst was his bragging. He seemed to brag about really strange things as well, like he told me ‘if you ever get pregnant don’t you worry because I can do abortions, I’ve done them before’.  But it wasn’t until about a week before I left there that he mentioned Anne Marie, who was eight. He said that she wasn’t a virgin...Anne Marie was in the room at the time, and I saw her head go down. And then I thought ‘I think maybe there might be some kind of abuse going on’.

When Fred asked Caroline to take part in an orgy, she left. But Rose and Fred were far from finished with her.

Who is John Cannan?

John Cannan is born in the Midlands to a middle-class family. Aged fourteen he’s convicted of a sex attack in a phone box. In 1980 he sexually assaults and brutally attacks his girlfriend after she leaves him. He then goes on to rob a petrol station at knifepoint in 1981. That same year he robs a knitwear shop, tying up one shop assistant and raping the other. For his crimes he’s eventually jailed for eight years. Significantly as he approaches the end of his prison term he’s moved to a day-release hostel at Wormwood Scrubs where he works at a prop-hire company. On 25th July 1986 he’s released. Three days later Suzy disappears. Cannan later moves to the Bristol area.

“What is significant is he was released from prison the Friday before she went missing. Now ok people will say ‘what a coincidence’, I don’t believe in too many coincidences not when they all mount up.” Jim Dickie, Detective Chief Inspector

Now aged forty-six, Cannan is once again in prison, but this time serving a full-life tariff, until he reaches 65 years old or possibly longer (if he is still deemed a danger to the public). He’s been convicted of a number of crimes but importantly the abduction of Julia Holman at gunpoint and the murder of Shirley Banks in Bristol on 8th October 1987. Shirley Banks is 29 years old and only recently married. She’s out alone when she disappears from a Bristol car-park following a shopping trip. Shirley’s body is found in the Quantock Hills the following Easter. Sometime after the murder Cannan is arrested in Leamington Spa for attempting to rob and rape two women at a clothes store. It’s while gathering evidence to prosecute him, the police search his car and discover a tax-disc belonging to Shirley Banks. It’s hidden within his briefcase which has been stashed in the glove-box. They also uncover Shirley’s fingerprint in Cannan’s Bristol flat.

The police try to link the Shirley Banks murder in 1987 with the Suzy Lamplugh disappearance in 1986. The police discover Shirley’s orange Mini Clubman in the lock-up garage at his block of flats. He’s crudely painted it blue to avoid detection. Significantly he’s changed Shirley’s number plate to read ‘SLP386S’. “You could interpret that as Suzy Lamplugh 86, the year being ‘86’. It could also be a grid reference on a map because it corresponds very close to the area of Norton Barracks in Somerset. It’s the sort of thing Cannan would do. He would throw in a sweetener to either draw you off completely or to give you a big clue and see if you were clever enough.” Jim Dickie, Detective Chief Inspector

Unfortunately for the police investigating Suzy’s disappearance, Cannan is by now very used to their interviewing techniques. He plays games and enjoys taking control in an interview situation. Because he can do this, he strongly believes he’s much cleverer than they are.

“Cannan was interviewed by us twice. You might find this strange but John Cannan was in the prison in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, yet he denies ever having been to Fulham. He knew where Kensington was, knew where Notting Hill was, he knew where Hammersmith was. But strangely said he’d never been to Fulham. We could prove that he had.” Jim Dickie, Detective Chief Inspector

The Lamplugh family also remember that in the weeks leading up to Suzy’s disappearance she had a boyfriend with a West Country accent and they believe he was from the Bristol area. Having moved to Bristol after Suzy’s disappearance, it locates him in the right place to go onto murder Shirley Banks.

Suzy also revealed to a member of her family that she was scared of a new boyfriend. Was he John Cannan? His previous girlfriends recall that he enjoyed telling people he was a businessman from the Bristol area. They also remember him being an old romantic, always with a bottle of champagne.

They may have a suspect, but there is insufficient evidence linking him to the crime. The police need to find a body and fast. They turn their attention to Norton Barracks. It’s here where former girlfriend of Cannan, remembers a conversation she had with him. It’s enough for the police to take seriously. They search the area, but due to the intervening years the land has been redeveloped, and a housing development built. Nothing is found. Convinced Suzy is there, they revisit the site of the barracks in 2010, but to no avail. Searches are also carried out at Dead Woman’s Ditch in the Quantock Hills, where Shirley Banks’ body was found; and in the Somerset Levels. They are both unsuccessful. 

Victims:Lukasz SlaboszewskiJohn ChapmanKevin LeeRobin BerezaJohn RogersAccomplices:Gary “Stretch” RichardsLeslie Layton 

A Life of uninterrupted success

SIR JIMMY SAVILEIn 1990, after years of being put forward by Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, Savile was given his knighthood. That year, the Vatican also gave him the honour of Knight Commander of St Gregory the Great.But by the end of the 1990s, Savile’s showbiz star was slipping. By the time the documentary maker Louis Theroux came to film him, Savile was no more than a nostalgic curiosity. In 2000, Theroux was allowed into the flat where Savile’s mother had lived. Even 27 years after she’d died, it was obvious he was still much attached to her. Savile also revealed strange habits such as only travelling with one pair of underpants which he’d wash in the sink every night.This documentary and the persistent but never published rumours meant that in his twilight years, the view held by many of the fading star shifted from odd to creepy. The fact that he said he didn’t own a computer to stop anybody thinking he was downloading child pornography did little to reassure. In 2009 he received an honorary degree in the arts from the University of Bedfordshire for his lifelong support of the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.At the age of 84, in October 2011, Savile succumbed to pneumonia and diedHe was buried in a gold coffin.

At 2pm, on 9 November 2011 a funeral cortege moved slowly through the city of Leeds. The streets were lined with mourners:“He were absolutely worshipped by thousands and thousands of people.  You couldn’t move in Leeds when it was his funeral. The seats were packed solid, you know, the traffic was stopped, everything stopped.Dennis Lemmon, Former nightclub employeeBecause of the money Savile had raised through charity for the hospital, the flags at the Leeds General Infirmary were flown at half-mast.But Savile had hinted during his life that he was no saint and that he had fully expected to end his career an outcast and a pariah.But only in death would the allegations against Savile be revealed.

Sally Anne Bowman – VictimLewis Sproston– Boyfriend and initial suspect for Sally Anne’s murderMark Dixie – The murderer, currently in HMP Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire serving a life sentenceDetective Superintendent Stuart Cundy – Headed up the investigationGerald Gordon – Judge

Rachel Nickell - Victim

Robert Napper - The murderer - currently in Broadmoor prison for murder

Colin Stagg - Accused  and then acquitted

Paul Britton - Criminal psychologist

Lizzie James (fake name) - ‘Honey Trap’ policewoman

Mr Justice Ognall - Judge

Meet the Gang

Gang Members:Lee WenhamRaymond BetsonWilliam CockramTerry MillmanAldo Ciarrocchi BobAdams Kevin Meredith

Meet the Gang

GEORGE MOONEYGangster George Mooney, 33, ran a highly lucrative and illegal pitch and toss betting ring at Skye Edge above Sheffield: Every single gamble kick-backed a percentage to him.But when his criminal empire suffered from a fall in earnings during the depression, he slimmed down his operation. He laid off some of his scouts, minders and henchmen. So they formed a rival gang called the Park Brigade. They were led by his onetime number two...SAM GARVINSam Garvin, 43, had amassed a string of convictions and prison sentences for assault, illegal gaming, con-tricks and theft. A professional criminal, his other commercial activities included a sideline as a promoter of pub-yard bare knuckled boxing matches.He was first convicted in 1904 but his criminal connections didn’t stop him being in with local politicians. When some of the first decent council houses were built in Sheffield he got one of the few available. And when everyone else was in the depths of the depression, he was driving a three litre Bentley saloon.

THE JUNIOR PARK GANGThe seemingly easy money and untouchable status of the main gangs meant many teenagers wanted their lifestyle. Without the stature of their ‘heroes’ they were more likely to be armed with ‘knives, coshes and razors’. Some accounts state they had firearms as well. Their scams were more subsistence stuff such as pick-pocketing and selling dud jewellery. They would try to sell rings to a couple. If the couple didn’t buy, they were beaten and mugged for their money.In August 1923, four men were attacked by a gang of youths and later a woman was punched in the face. The boys would work in pairs or packs and target individuals or couples. But being in a gang was as much about thrill seeking as it was about being a profitable professional criminal. A favourite activity was to leave one of the gang on the entrance of a pub and the rest enter. They demanded free alcohol and cigarettes. If refused, they smashed the pub to pieces. Either they got their kicks through drinks or through violence and vandalism.When they tried to disrupt a fairground, they found someone who would kick back harder. They would be the some of the first to come up against the Flying Squad.THE FLYING SQUAD AND SILLITOEThe biggest and the baddest of the local police were seconded to form The Flying Squad. They were drafted in by a new inspector with a tough reputation and even tougher CV. The 38-year-old Chief Constable had left England to become a trooper in the African Police. There he worked for a tough and brutal regime which kept control over the native tribes. He brought the same methods to bear on the Sheffield gangs.Sillitoe’s men wore plain clothes. They were fighting men but they fought with intelligence. They hurt the gangs where it hurt most. They went into the pubs, the gangs profit centres and meeting places and told the landlords to refuse gang members service. If they didn’t, they’d lose their license. As subsequent court cases showed, the landlords weren’t happy to be placed in the crossfire. But they were luckier than the targets of the Flying Squad. Some court cases had defendants turning up in bandages. Sources suggest they were beaten whilst in custody.WILLIAM PLOMMERWilliam Plommer was a 34 year old Scots soldier. He came to Sheffield after the First World War to find labouring work in the steelworks in order to support his family. He had absolutely no connection with the gangs. But the death of this father of three at their hands would herald their demise.

Tania NicolThe youngest of Wright’s victims, the body of 19-year-old Tania Nicol is found on 8 December, after she disappeared on 30 October 2006. She disappears from her usual area of work as a prostitute in Ipswich’s red light area.Tania grew up on a housing estate on the outskirts of Ipswich, living there with her mother, Kerry, and her younger brother. She had dreams of being a pop star while a pupil of Chantry High School but ended up in a series of low-paid jobs.When she disappears, her devastated father, Jim Duell, makes an appeal to the public to help catch the killer of his "loving and sensitive" daughter."Unfortunately drugs took her away into her own secret world, a world that neither of us were aware of." said Mr Duell.Tania is reported missing by her mother, after she has not heard from her for 48 hours.Kerry Nicol was the first relative to give evidence at the trial of Steve Wright, telling the court her daughter had left home at the age of 16 to live in a hostel and began using heroin there but had asked for helped to get off drugs.In common with lots of the victims’ relatives, Kerry is unaware her daughter was a prostitute, believing she worked in a bar or hairdresser.Tania Nicol is the first to go missing but her body was the second to be found, in Belstead Brook, at Copdock Mill, near Ipswich. The prosecution says her body could have been in the water for five weeks and a post-mortem examination could not establish unequivocally how she died.Gemma AdamsGemma Adams's body is found on 2 December 2006. She was just 25.Her partner reported her missing on 15 November, having walked with her into Ipswich town centre, where she had gone to work as a prostitute. Gemma lived in a suburb of the town and she grew up in Kesgrave, a village close to Ipswich.During her childhood, she enjoyed horse riding and learning the piano. She left school at 16 and did a course in health and social healthcare at Suffolk College, Ipswich.But about a year later, she was using heroin and became estranged from her family who attempted to get her into treatment for her drug use. It is thought she turned to prostitution to fund her drug habit.Gemma’s father Brian said his daughter had lost her job at an insurance company before drifting into prostitution.Her naked body was the first to be found, in Belstead Brook - the stream in which Tania Nicol's body was found in six days later.Annelli AldertonAnneli Alderton is found dead on 10 December, one week after going missing. Suffolk Police say she had been asphyxiated. The police also reveal that she is three months pregnant.A passing motorist reports seeing her naked body in an area of woodland at Nacton, three days after another motorist mistook it for a mannequin and failed to report it.The court heard her body had been left in a crucifix pose, with her arms outstretched.The 24-year-old was known to work in Ipswich as a prostitute.She had been a popular student at Copleston High School with ambitions of being a model. Her behaviour began to worry friends when her father, Roy, a computer programmer, died of lung cancer.Annelli, who has a son, had lived in Cyprus and spoke fluent Greek. She had been jailed three times for persistent theft.Annelli is last seen on the 17:53 train going from Harwich to Colchester on 3 December, before boarding another from Manningtree to Ipswich.

Paula ClennellPaula Clennelll's body is discovered on 12 December in woodland near Ipswich, in a manner the prosecution says has been "hurriedly dumped".The 24-year-old had not been seen since very early on the morning of 10 December.A post-mortem examination revealed she had been strangled "in association with opiate intoxication".Paula's parents divorced in 1996 and she was educated in a pupil referral unit. Her father Brian, who lives in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, says he didn’t know his daughter worked as a prostitute.Paula is last seen late at night on a train on 10 December 2006.A police helicopter is called to the scene, just off the Old Felixstowe Road, in Suffolk, after a pedestrian spots her body. Annette Nicholls's body is also discovered nearby.Annette Nicholls29-year-old Annette Nicholls worked as a prostitute. She is found dead on 12 December.At the opening of Steve Wright's trial, the prosecution said she had been missing since 8 December when she was seen in the centre of Ipswich. Her body was discovered by a police helicopter a few hundred yards from the body of Paula Clennelll.Like Anneli Alderton she had been placed in a crucifix position. A definite cause of death could not be established because of decomposition, but pathologists determine that her breathing had been hampered.Annette’s family say she had wanted to be a beautician but began taking heroin in 2003, three years before her death.She was reported missing by her family, who had become concerned after seeing the publicity surrounding the murders of Tania Nicol and Gemma Adams.

Victims

Dr Lin Russell, 45, deceased

Megan Russell, 6, deceased

Josie Russell, 9, injured

Accused

Michael Stone

Levi Bellfield

Law Enforcement

DCI Dave Stevens

Lawyers

Nigel Sweeney QC - Prosecution

William Clegg QC - Defence

Read more:

Was Levi Bellfield responsible for the murders of Lin and Megan Russell?

Meet the Gang

‘They were given up to every form of misconduct, morally and socially; they preyed upon society and degraded the very instincts of society. They were the Cornermen.’- 1874 Liverpool news report‘...they would turn to violence as a first resort, not a last.’- Martin Rigby, Liverpool EchoTHE CORNERMENThe Cornermen weren’t really an organised gang. And they were barely adults. They were more like the ‘feral youths’ the tabloids referred to during the English summer riots of 2012. ‘Cornermen’ was more a general term given to any group of young, unemployed, drunk, violent males begging or fighting on the corners of streets.They could often be found round Tithebarn, a maze of slums. The police rarely moved them on.Their weapons were improvised from their meagre possessions. So the nails that held the soles of their shoes could be altered to administer bloody kickings. The leather belt and buckles that held up their trousers were turned into a swinging, ripping club, like a simpler version of the cat o’nine tails whip. And when delivered with enough skill and force, the wound inflicted closely resembled that of a knife wound.With such crude means, it was rare for them to go one to one with their victims. They usually attacked in a pack. As others worked the streets and docks during the day, they got drunk. But come dusk, these streets became their hunting grounds.

The Victims:

ROBERT MORGANRobert was in his mid twenties. Some sources say he was a warehouse porter, others, that he was a shop worker. All are agreed that while he lived in a poor district, he was a respectable, regularly employed and happily married man.SAMUEL MORGANSamuel, 29, was the elder brother of Robert. Like his brother, he was a law abiding, solid working class character. His job, as a carter (literally, transporting goods in a cart) means he was as fit and strong as his brother. Both brothers’ jobs mean they can handle themselves.There are fewer details about the lives of the rabble of petty criminals and thugs that were arrested for what became known as the Tithebarn Street Outrage. Considering two were executed, their ages should be noted.

The Perpurtrators:JOHN McGRAVEBy dint of his age, 20, many presumed McGrave the leader. He was the first to be arrested and was the first to try and blame the other two in the gang, Mullen and Campbell.MICHAEL MULLENMichael was just 17, even though in such slum conditions boys became men a lot quicker, he was essentially a teenager. He had a younger brother, Thomas, aged 15. The two would try to escape for a new life in the Americas.PETER CAMPBELLThe most ‘respectable’ of the gang, Campbell, 19, came from a decent enough family that they would try to use the judicial process to his benefit.

Who needs knuckledusters, when you have diamond rings. 

DIAMOND ALICEAlice Diamond was born in Southwark, South London, in 1886. She was the daughter of criminals. Her father was infamous. During a riot, he’d pushed the head of the Lord Mayor’s son through a plain glass window.Like many female relatives, Alice would have started out aiding and abetting in the criminal activities of the men. So women would carry the tools the men needed for a burglary. If the police stopped the men before or after a job, there would be no evidence against them. Alice would later adapt similar methods to ensure her female operatives minimised the risks of being caught red handed.Tall for her time, she was 5’8”, she developed a racy, stylish and tough reputation. The Elephant Boys marked Alice Diamond out for leadership. She was the perfect candidate to lead the ‘Elephants’ female gang. Aged 20, Diamond became its ‘Queen’.Suitably enthroned, Diamond acted the part. She wore big fur coats, big hair and big make up. She also wore a series of diamond rings. These were both pleasing to look at and served a practical purpose. Her punch was said to be harder than a man’s. She used the diamond rings as a customised knuckled duster. It was her ring filled right-hook which earned her her nickname with the police, ‘Diamond Alice’.Her first official contact with the law was aged just seventeen. She was convicted for stealing from a hat shop on Oxford Street. During World War One, she was arrested for using another girl’s card in an ammunition factory. She was possibly trying to procure explosives for use in safe-blowing. During the 1920s she would be arrested many more times ending the decade with an arrest for shoplifting on Oxford Street. Her accomplice was Maggie Hughes.

MAGGIE HUGHESPossibly the most ‘brazen’ of the gang, Maggie acquired her first criminal conviction aged just 14. An alcoholic, she was said to be as addicted to the bottle as she was to men. In 1923 she was jailed. Less organized than the rest of the gang, and more opportunistic, she had ran out of a jeweler with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. Jailed for three years, she was out in time to take part in the Lambeth riot of Christmas 1925. For her part in what would ultimately destroy the gang, she received five months.Her crimes escalated and in 1938, she was sentenced for stabbing a policeman in the eye with a hatpin. After her release, she could only find work as a prostitute’s maid. Her other sideline, and one of the worst for a former gang member, was as a police informant. But the main people who she ‘grassed’ on were the violent pimps who abused their prostitutes. She died in the 1970s. It’s believed she committed suicide.ADA MACDONALDAll shoplifting networks are dependent on fences; people willing to buy the stolen goods and sell them on. One of the female ones was Ada Macdonald, who operated out of Walworth, South East London. Her home was said to be an ‘Aladdin’s cave of loot’. She was a suspected fence for four other gangs as well as the Forty Thieves. Despite frequent police raids, she somehow managed to persuade the police that despite her house looking like a knocked off department store, they were all legit purchases. She even produced ledgers to demonstrate her honest buying.With the police gone, she would fence small value items through street market traders, jewellery to pawnbrokers and clothes to shops willing to turn a blind eye.A rival female fence, Jane Durrell had an equally close shave with the law. She was taken to court in 1911 for receiving shoplifted goods. But the jury cleared her. They couldn’t believe she was aware that the goods, worth hundreds of pounds, were stolen. Women were mothers, lovers and carers. Few could believe them capable of being hardened criminals.SHIRLEY PITTS“Open the door in the name of the law”Shirley was raised in the family network of the Elephant and Castle gang. Her early memories were of the police shouting outside to be let in so they could ‘nick’ her dad. When she was six, he was jailed. She helped support the family by pinching milk and bread from neighbour’s doorsteps. She would always receive a cuddle from her mother for her efforts.When Shirley was twelve, her newly released criminal father bought her some clothes and outfits that she didn’t like. So in 1947, Alice took her shoplifting. Inside a shop, she asked Alice if a certain top would fit Shirley’s brother. If Shirley said yes, Alice stuffed it down Shirley’s top. Alice stole enough to clothe all of Shirley’s family.Shirley was instantly enraptured with Alice, her lifestyle, and the way she funded it. The Pitts family were long standing members of the ‘Elephant and Castle’ gang but Alice showed Shirley that women didn’t have to depend on their men to enjoy the benefits of a life of crime.According to Lorraine Gammon, author of ‘Gone Shopping’, Alice then ‘trained’ her apprentice Shirley in the ways of shoplifting. Shirley, dressed in a school girl’s outfit, with straw boater, was the perfect decoy. On one shoplifting trip to Selfridges, Shirley described how beautiful the toilets were with the mirrors, marble and beautiful soap. If Shirley couldn’t afford to shop there, she could at least shoplift from them.“One of the best”The Kray’s tribute to Pitts

Muriel McKay - victimAlick McKay - victim's husbandSir Peter Rawlinson - prosecuting attorneyAnna Murdoch - intended victimArthur Hosein - kidnapperNizamodeen Hosein - kidnapperEric Cutler - friend of the MckaysGerard Croiset - Dutch clairvoyant

What lurks beneath

In 1988, Elisabeth delivers her firstborn by herself. She names her daughter Kerstin. It is later speculated that as unnatural as the situation was, the fact that Elisabeth became a mother and had to care for another, probably saved her sanity.

In 1990 Elisabeth has another child, Stefan.

UPSTAIRS/DOWNSTAIRSBy 1991, Elisabeth hasn’t seen sunlight for nearly seven years. She becomes pregnant again. Just above the cellar, her prison, her mother, brothers and sister carry on oblivious.In August 1992, Elisabeth and Fritzl’s third child, Lisa, is born.Lisa has a heart defect.

“Fritzl is worried that this so called sound-proofed cellar is not going to be able to cope with a small baby who is constantly in pain and therefore constantly crying.”Professor David Wilson, Criminologist

His solution is both sinister and simple. He forces Elisabeth to write another letter. In it, she says she can’t care for her child and would her family take her in. This letter, along with Lisa, is placed on the doorstep of 40 Ybbsstrasse by Fritzl.On discovery, Lisa is given emergency surgery to correct her heart defect. Once recovered, she’s taken into the Fritzl household. She’ll be the first of three of Fritzl’s incestual offspring Rosamarie will raise.But life downstairs is getting cramped for the growing children. So Fritzl converts more space and attempts to normalise day-to-day life in his DIY dungeon. He installs refrigerators, provides toys, flowers, and gives them a goldfish and a canary.

On 16 December 1994 a second child arrived on the doorstep. Another note was found from Elisabeth saying the baby was called Monika.

Journalist Mark Perry runs the strange story of the second abandoned baby.

On 28 April 1996 Elisabeth gives birth to twins, Michael and Alexander…

Josef Fritzl has now fathered six children with his own daughter…But one of his latest, Michael, is very sick. His breathing difficulties require medical attention. Fritzl can’t risk the attention. He tells Elisabeth;

“Whatever will be, will be.”

He, in effect, allows the little boy to die. Just 66 hours after little Michael is born, he is no more.

HELLTo dispose of the evidence of his crime, he burns Michael’s little body in the furnace of his house. But Alexander is sick too. Elisabeth won’t survive and can’t tolerate both of her twins dying.Fritzl leaves a third child on his own doorstep.Social services do question him about the spate and rate of grandchildren appearing unexpectedly. He’s said to have ‘very plausibly’ explained them away.

By now, Fritzl is so comfortable and confident in his dysfunctional set up, that he spends long periods away from his above and below ground families. He likes to relax in Thailand. Holiday video shows him enjoying a Thai massage on the beach. Footage also shows him about to buy a dress that’s clearly too small for his wife. It’s intended for Elisabeth.

“He would often be gone for a few weeks at a time, and during that time, the family would be left to their own devices. There would be enough food and water for them to survive. But, of course, anything could have happened. There could have been a fire, there could have been a case of illness, there could have been an emergency. He didn’t seem to much care about that. He would just leave them without any contact to the outside world, and then just come back three weeks later, after a nice little holiday in the sun.”Bojan Panchevski, European Correspondent

By December 2002, Elisabeth Fritzl has been imprisoned underneath her own family home for 18 years.

14-year-old Kerstin and 12-year-old Stefan have never been outside the cellar. They’ve never seen daylight. Fritzl compensates by providing them with Vitamin D supplements and lamps to reduce their inevitable deficiencies. In order to feed his underground family and avoid suspicion, he shops for them outside Amstetten.

“The cellar in my building belonged to me and me alone. It was my kingdom, which only I had access to. Everyone who lived there knew it.”Josef Fritzl

Elisabeth gives birth to a final child, Felix.

“Interestingly there’s a kind of mirror going on here. Fritzl has 7 legitimate children and...has 7 children through his incestuous relationship. So there’s a sense of mirroring...because he’s so fond of Felix, and wants Felix to inherit his world, we begin to see Fritzl trying to manage that process.‘How do I get this downstairs family integrated with the upstairs family?’ And part of that’s pragmatic, he wants Felix to go to school. He realises he can’t send Felix to school, and perhaps even by this stage Fritzl has realised there can’t be a fourth foundling found on the doorstep.”Professor David Wilson, Criminologist

For 24 years, Josef Fritzl had kept his own daughter captive in a cellar beneath his house…In that time he’d used her as a sex slave and fathered seven children…

Elisabeth is now 42 and has spent over half her life in captivity and in inhuman conditions.It’s estimated that Fritzl has raped her more than 3,000 times, often in front of their children.Apart from one tenant’s dog, that constantly scratched and barked at the floor for seemingly no reason, no one suspected what was going on beneath them;

“...about 100 people lived during the 24 years...in the flats above the cellar. Nobody saw anything, nobody heard anything. Nobody.”Dr. Hans-Heinz Lenze, District Commissioner

Mark Chapman: Born - 10th May 1955 John Lennon: Killed - 8th December 1980

Victim:JonBenet Patricia Ramsey, 6Accused:John Mark Karr, born 1964 (acquitted in 2009)Police:Boulder Police Department:Detective Linda ArndtOfficer Karl VeitchOfficer Rick FrenchProsecutor:Mary Lacy - Boulder County District Attorney

David Mulcahy - Duffy’s accomplice in rape and murderProfessor David Canter - developed Psychological Offender Profiling system at Surrey UniversityThe Victims (named only):Alison Day, 19 - raped and strangled 29 December 1985Maartje Tambozer, 15 - raped and killed 17 April 1986Anne Locke, 29 - raped and killed 18 May 198618 unnamed rape victims

Beatrice Hammer: Haigh's wife (divorced)Barbara Stephens: Haigh’s girlfriendBurlin: Rose Henderson’s brotherVictims (named):William ‘Mac’ Donald McSwanAmy McSwanDr Archibald HendersonRose HendersonOlive Durand-Deacon

Michael Gregsten (killed on 22/8/1961)Valerie Storie (raped and shot on 22/8/1961)Geoffrey Lane (for the prosecution. Later Chief Justice)Peter Alphon (original suspect)William Nudds (owner of ‘Vienna’ hotel, Maida Vale)Grace Jones (landlady of hotel in Rhyl, North Wales)

The Victims:

- Neville Bamber, 61

- June Bamber, 61

- Sheila Caffell, 27

- Nicholas, 6

- Daniel, 6

Witnesses

Julie Mugford - Bamber’s girlfriend. Reveals Bamber’s boasts about hitman

David Boutflour - Bamber’s cousin, who discovers key evidence.

Jill Dando - VictimDetective Chief Inspector Hamish CampbellDetective Chief Superintendent Brian EdwardsBarry Michael George aka Barry Bulsara - The accusedMr Justice Gage - Trial judgeOrlando Pownall QC - ProsecutorMichael Mansfield QC - Defence

Gang Rule

In 1930s Glasgow, gangs dominated the streets. There were the Bowery Boys, the Redskins (so called because of their red, raw scarred faces), the San Toi (Protestant), the Shamrock and The Tim Malloys (both Catholic), the Bingo Boys, the Govan Team, the Baltic Fleet and there was even a fighting female gang of pickpocket prostitutes called the Nudies.But one stood out. And it was their high public profile that would ultimately lead to their downfall.THE BILLY BOYSBilly Fullerton was the sole leader of what was originally called the Bridgeton Billy Boys. He founded them in 1924. He claimed they were started after he was beaten up by a Catholic gang after beating them at football. The traditional view of an honourable man defending his family and faith has recently been debunked by historian Dr Andrew Davies. Dr Davies believes Billy was a cowardly fascist who beat his wife – an act for which he was jailed in 1930.No one disputes the fact, however, that his gang terrorised Glasgow’s east end throughout the 1930s.The Billy BoysFashioned themselves as almost paramilitary. They wore a uniform of sorts, marched and paraded with their own bands, and ended each day with ‘God Save the King’.They had a junior training section, the Derry Boys which prepared young lads for the senior ranks. Members paid a weekly levy.This was used for, amongst other things, supporting members recently released from jail who were in need of food and clothing.

THE NORMAN CONKSOne of the main Catholic razor gangs to stand up against The Billy Boys operated out of Norman Street. The ‘Conk’ was a shortened from the word ‘conqueror’. Hence they were one of the few gangs to have a historical play upon words by essentially calling themselves ‘The Norman Conquerors’.Their territory was marked by shamrocks painted on the walls. They are said to have attended Billy Fullerton’s wedding. But instead of chucking confetti, they hurled bottles.The Norman Conks had links with the early IRA who used the city as their supply point. The IRA, however, relied on the gun to settle disputes and their main target was the police and army.THE FIEND OF GORBALSSome men were so brutal that even the razor gangs wouldn’t have them.One was Patrick Carraher. Born in 1906 into a decent working class family, Carraher was described by Scottish crime writer, Reg McKay as going ‘off the rails as soon as he could walk.’By 14, he was in borstal. The brutal prisoner regime of knifings, scaldings and lynchings was like coming home for him. Where others used prison to learn how better to make money from crime, Carraher learned only how to hurt. By 32, he’d ‘stabbed, slashed and gouged his way through life’ and unlike the gangs who primarily fought against each other, he fought anyone. Arrested for killing someone, he escaped the gallows on a technicality and then escaped being called up for the Second World War because of a bad chest. After an ‘orgy of violence’ he was again arrested and wasn’t released until after the war.When Carraher killed a returning serviceman, the gallows finally caught up with him and on 6 April 1946 Patrick Carraher was hanged in Barlinnie Prison.

Meet the gang

The Great Train Robbery Gang:Bruce ReynoldsRonnie BiggsCharlie WilsonJimmy HusseyJohn WheaterBrian FieldJimmy WhiteTommy WisbeyGordon GoodyBuster EdwardsMr OneMr TwoMr ThreeVictim:Jack Mills - assaulted during the robbery and unable to work again.Investigation Team:Detective Chief Superintendent Tommy Butler - initial investigatorJack ‘Slipper of the Yard’ Slipper - main detective who investigated case and brought suspects to book

Dyland Klebold and Eric Harris - The killers

Dave Saunders - A teacher who helped many students escape before being shot dead

Jefferson County District Attorney David Thomas and Sheriff John Stone - Held a press conference after the massacre to say they believed other people had helped to plan the attack

Dunblane: Two decades later

The sense of disbelief and shock still reverberate across the nation, 25 years later

Key Figures

Betty Broder: Berkowitz’s biological mother.Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz (Berkowitz adoptive parents)Captain Joe Borrelli (set up Omega task force) & Det Sergeant Joe CoffeyChamberlain & Intervallo: Two Yonkers police officers who investigated letters sent to Cassaro and Carr families from Berkowitz.The Victims (all killed otherwise stated)Donna Laurie and Jody Valenti (Valenti survived)Carl Denaro (survived)Donna De Masi & Joanne Lumino (both survived but Lumino left a paraplegic)Christine Freund & John Diel (Diel survived)Virginia VoskerichianValentina Suriani & Alexander EsauJudy Placido & Sal Lupo (both survived)Stacy Moskowitz & Bobby Violante (Violante survived but left blinded)

Minnie Bonati - first ‘trunk murder’ victim

Unknown - second ‘trunk murder’ victim

Violet Kaye - third ‘trunk murder’ victim

John Robinson - perpetrator of first ‘trunk murder’

Tony Mancini - perpetrator of third ‘trunk murder’

Chief Inspector George Cornish - investigating officer on the first ‘trunk murder’

Brian Robinson: Gang member

Mickey McAvoy: Gang member

Anthony Black: Brinks Mat security guard who provided inside help

Solly Nahome: Jeweller who agreed to sell on the smelted down goods'The Fox' and 'The Adams Family' - approached for their gangland connections to help smelt down and distribute the gold

Brian Perry: Passed the gold for safekeeping

Kenneth Noye: Recruited for his knowledge of the gold smelting trade

John Palmer: Owner of a Bristol-based gold dealership

Scotland Yard Flying Squad Chief Commander Frank Cater: Appointed to lead the hunt for the thieves

DC John Fordham: Stabbed to death by Kenneth Noye

Malcolm Little - Malcolm ‘X’

Elijah Muhammad - Head of Nation of Islam

Betty Sanders - Malcolm's wife

Talmadge Hayer (also known as Thomas Hagen) - involved in assassination

Norman ‘3X’ Butler - convicted of murder

Thomas ‘15X’ Johnson - convicted of murder

Leon David - identified as co-conspirator by Talmadge Hayer

Wilbur McKinley - identified as co-conspirator by Talmadge Hayer

Gene Roberts - Bureau of Secret Service agent and a bodyguard of Malcolm X (named in conspiracy theory)

The key players

The Good Guys

BRIAN BOWDEN-BROWN: The lead police investigator of ‘The Southwark Rapist’. He came out of retirement to bring the rapist to justice. During his career, this seasoned Detective Chief Inspector had dealt with many murder inquiries, including a dismembered body from a suspected gangland hit. But few cases would affect him as traumatically as this case.BOB MEADES: A young PC on the Crime Squad at Southwark when the crimes began. As a PC, he’d do the house to house enquiries. Later, as a detective, he’d eventually be face to face in interrogation with the coldest human he’d ever met.SARAH MUSTOE: The forensic investigator assigned to the Cold Case review. Her microscopic attention to detail would help bring the abuser of the elderly to justice.

The victims

THE VICTIMS:His youngest victim was a 57 year old woman. She was left with a broken jaw and a fractured eye socket.His oldest victim was 83. She was so damaged by the attack that she never spoke again.

The Bad Guy

MICHAEL JOHN ROBERTS: Roberts was born in London in 1966. He started offending aged just 14. By then, he was already known for drink and drug abuse. He soon added burglary to his convictions. Much of his stealing took place in the Southwark area. His MO was to target the homes of elderly or vulnerable people. An average man of average physique he made sure his victims were at a disadvantage. He often waited till they were out shopping before he broke in. As his crimes carried on, the violence he used increased. The petty criminal soon became a fully fledged alcoholic and drug addict.A neighbour remembered hearing Roberts beat up his ‘girlfriend’. The woman remembers Roberts counting to ten in an effort to calm his rage. Often it didn’t.Roberts lived just two or three hundred yards from where the first series of offences took place. His victims would all be less than a mile from his then home address.He wore his hair in a fringe to hide a distinctive scar. And he didn’t like to take off his top as he had many moles and marks on his back.After his savage attacks, Roberts would often walk the short distance home and have dinner with his girlfriend.

midlands murderers

Like most cities in Britain, Birmingham’s gangs were territorial. And their names often mirrored the areas from which they came. So there was the ‘Gun Quarter’ Gang, ‘The Garrison’s Lane’ gang, the ‘Ten Arches’ and the ‘Bishop Ryders’. But one gang wasn’t so named. They were the ‘Peaky Blinders’. Imitating a technique used by the Glasgow Razor Gangs, they got their name from their practice of hiding razor blades in the peaks of their caps. The most successful gang took their name from the whole city.THE BRUMMAGEM BOYSAccording to a 1922 police report the Brummagems were ‘mostly made up of convicted thieves of the worst type’. Their convictions ranged from ‘assaulting the police to housebreaking and from wounding to manslaughter.’ Their most profitable criminal activity was the racecourse racket. The gang charged bookmakers as much as 50% of their profits.BILLY KIMBERThe boss of the Brummagems was the clever and charismatic Billy Kimber. He was born in 1892 in the tough neighbourhood of Bordersley, Aston. His father worked so the family had money but this didn’t stop Billy from running with the Peaky Blinders.By 1905, through a combination of brain and brawn, he progressed to leading the Brummagems. With his slicked back hair and his handsome, well built, sharp suited appearance, he was a natural leader. But despite his charm, he was very much a street fighting man. He said he wouldn’t fight with knives. He’d only fight with his fists. One source claims he killed rats with his teeth.When he was 18 he had a conviction for assault and served time in Birmingham’s Winson Green Prison. It was here that Kimber met fellow his future lieutenant, George Brummy Sage. It was Sage who introduced Kimber to the idea of racetrack extortion.The expanding railway network enabled Kimber’s Brummagems to travel to race meetings around the country, from Doncaster and York, down to Uttoxeter and Newmarket. And rather than fight existing gangs there, they formed alliances in Leeds and Uttoxeter. It’s said that Kimber deserted during the First World War. He was certainly alive after it. and it was then that he decided to expand down South.

LONDON CALLINGKimber set up a second base in Islington, North London. Again, rather than fight for complete control, he formed an ‘uneasy alliance’ with the Charles ‘Wag’ MacDonald of the MacDonald Brothers, and their Elephant Gang - named after the Elephant and Castle.This match of Midlanders and Londoners had a common enemy. An Italian mob who controlled the lucrative southern racecourses such as Newbury, Epsom, Earls Park, and Kempton.THE SABINIS“It was to them quite natural and reasonable to use a knife...when their passions were aroused.”Stipendiary magistrate commenting on a Sabini gang memberAbout a mile from Billy’s London base, there was the Sabini gang. Before them, there had been numerous different gangs such as the Broad Mob and the Jewish Aldgate Mob controlling the racetracks. But they spread themselves thinly. So the Sabinis ‘moved in in force’.

CHARLES ‘DARBY’ SABINIThe Italian boss was Charles Sabini. It was a family firm run by him and his four brothers; George, Joe, Fred and Harry boy. Born in Italy in the 1850s, Darby Sabini had boxed as a middleweight. But unlike Kimber who still preferred to use his fists, Darby always had a fully loaded automatic in his back pocket.And this was just one of many differences. This was no stylish sharp suited Italian mobster. He often wore a cloth cap, sometimes a shirt with no collar and was always said, not to his face, to dress terribly. He was also said, again, not to his face, to be simple minded and uneducated. He proudly sported a mouthful of golden teeth. This was paid for by the protection rackets he ran targeting other more vulnerable immigrants. When Darby had come to London, he took over the London Little Italy area of Clerkenwell. One of his first principle income streams came from his protection racket of Jewish bookmakers. So when the Brummagems tried to muscle in on them, confrontation was inevitable.

Victims: Lewis Winslow, 12 Nelson Winslow, 10 Walter Collins, 9 Jose Gonzales, age unknownAccused: Gordon Stewart Northcott, 23, d. 1930 Sarah Louise Northcott, age unknown, d. 1944 Sanford Clark, 15Detectives/Police: Jack H Brown, San Bernadino County and Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Clem Sweeters, Riverside County SheriffTrial judge: Judge George R FreemanProsecutor: Earl Redwine, Deputy District AttorneyDefence: Self

Victims Margaret Schafer and Marcia Horveth (first victims murdered in 1974)Victims killed between 14/9/1990 – 1992 Blanka Blokova : (Prague) Brunhilde Masser (Austria) Heidemarie Hammerer (Austria) Elfriede Schrempf (Austria) Silvia Zagler (Austria) Sabine Moitzi (Austria) Regina Prem (Austria) Karin Eroglu (Austria) Shannon Exley: (L.A victim) Irene Rodriguez : (L.A victim) Sherri Long : (L.A victim)Police August Schenner: Investigator, first arrested Unterweger in 1970’s. Dr Ernst Geiger: Austrian Federal Police (main investigator)

Victim: Jimmy HoffaSuspects: Charles O'Brien Frank Sheeran Anthony Giacalone Anthony Provenzano Gabriel Briguglio Russell BufalinoPolice: More than 200 FBI agents were assigned to the case

Victim Mohandas Karamchand GandhiGandhi's wife Kasturba MakhanjiHindu fundamentalist opposed to Ghandi’s non-violent acceptance and tolerance of all religions Nathuram GodseAssassination gang members Digambar Bagde Shankar Kishtaiyya

Thomas Hamilton - killer29 five and six-year-olds at Dunblane Primary SchoolGwen Mayor - teacher and victimRonald Taylor - Dunblane Primary School Head TeacherAnthony Busuttil - PathologistDetective Sergeant Paul Hughes - former head of Central Scotland’s Police child protection unitLord William Cullen - senior member of the Scottish Judiciary, led the public inquiryMr John Miller - Central Scotland Police

The Victims Dale Ewell (59) Glee Ewell (57) Tiffany Ewell (24)Joel Radovcich (Dana Ewell’s accomplice and killer of the family)Ernest Jack Ponce (provided testimony incriminating Dana Ewell and Radovcich)Detective John Souza: Investigated crime for 3 years.