John Wayne Gacy AKA Pogo the Clown was an American serial killer and rapist that killed 33 teenage boys and young men in Illinois during the '70s.

Today we are going to look at his childhood, relationships, and the crimes he went o to commit later in life.

Childhood

John Wayne Gacy was born on the 17th of March 1942 in Chicago. He had two sisters, Joanne was the older sister, and Karen was the youngest of the family. His mother was called Marion Elaine Robinson and his father John Stanley Gacy, and they were of Polish and Danish descent. 

He and his siblings were subjected to regular beatings from their alcoholic and violent father whenever they did something wrong. As the only boy, Gacy was bullied by his father and when his mother protected him he would be called a sissy. 

As a child, Gacy was bullied at school because he couldn't play due to a heart condition and he suffered from seizures. This made him feel alienated further and when he was molested at 9 years old he was too scared of his father's reaction he never told him.

His Career and Relationships

After he had an argument with his father he fled to Vegas and worked in a Mortuary for a few months. It did not last long when he was caught sleeping in the embalming room with the corpses. He even admitted that he had slept underneath the body of a young boy whose cause of death had aroused him.

John Wayne Gacy in 1978. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Gacy studied at business college and graduated in 1964. He became a manager at a fast-food chain in the '60s, but he was reportedly molesting male employees and getting them drunk in his basement. He then went on to become a building contractor in the '70s and used this as another way to get close to young men.

Regardless of this, he was still respected and well-liked in the community. However, his relationships with his wives did not go well. He got married and divorced twice, and was the father to 2 children.

He would cheat on his first wife, attend swinging parties, take drugs and use pornography. During his second marriage, he came out as bisexual and started bringing young boys back to their garage and using gay pornography. 

Pogo the Clown

Gacy joined a clown club in Chicago called The Jolly Joker and began performing at children's parties. He would organise parties for the neighbourhood and dress up as Pogo the Clown to entertain the kids.

Pogo the Clown costume. Image credit: Steve Terrell @ Flickr

When he was performing he used the names Pogo the Clown or Patches the Clown. He painted his face white, his mouth red and his eyes blue. He wore a hat with colourful pom poms with his red and white suit.

He would also dress as his clown alter egos when he committed some of his crimes. Guests at his parties could smell something strange at his home, but they never suspected it was caused by anything sinister.

His Crimes

He lured his victims in with offers of construction jobs and captured them. Once he had them where he wanted them he would torture and kill them. His usual method of killing his victims was strangulation.

Gacy was first charged and convicted for sexually assaulting 2 boys and received a sentence of 10 years. However, he was released on parole after only 2 years in the Summer of 1970.

He was arrested for the assault of another boy a year later, but this time the charges were dropped as the boy failed to appear for the trial.

By the mid-'70s he would be accused several times of rape and be questioned by the police over disappearances in the area. He later went on to call these years his 'cruising years', as this was when he committed most of his crimes. 

His downfall began in December 1978 when a boy called Robert Piest went missing, and the police were told he was last seen going to see Gacy about a construction job.

The police searched his home and discovered evidence of murder. They also found bodies hidden in the crawl space under his house and in trenches.

Gacy confessed to approximately 30 murders. His first murder was of a boy called Timothy McCoy in 1972. He offered McCoy a bed for the night and paid him for sex, but the following morning when McCoy woke him up he thought he was trying to kill him. He stabbed McCoy in the chest repeatedly and hid him in the crawl space.

The 33 Victims

25 victims were identified and their names are listed below. Unfortunately, 8 of the bodies could not be identified due to the level of decomposition.

• Timothy McCoy, 18, disappeared January 1972.
• John Butkovitch, 17, disappeared July 1975.
• Darrell Sampson, 18, disappeared April 1976.
• Randall Reffett, 15, disappeared May 1976.
• Sam Stapleton, 14, disappeared May 1976.
• Michael Bonnin, 17, disappeared June 1976.
• William Carroll, 16, disappeared June 1976.
• Rick Johnston, 17, disappeared August 1976.
• Kenneth Parker, 16, disappeared October 1976.
• Michael Marino, 14, disappeared October 1976.
• Gregory Godzik, 17, disappeared December 1976.
• John Szyc, 19, disappeared January 1977.
• Jon Prestidge, 20, disappeared March 1977.
• Matthew Bowman, 19, disappeared July 1977.
• Robert Gilroy, 18, disappeared September 1977.
• John Mowery, 19, disappeared September 1977.
• Russell Nelson, 21, disappeared October 1977.
• Robert Winch, 16, disappeared November 1977.
• Tommy Boling, 20, disappeared November 1977.
• David Talsma, 19, disappeared December 1977.
• William Kindred, 19, disappeared February 1978.
• Timothy O’Rourke, 20, disappeared June 1978.
• Frank Landingin, 19, disappeared November 1978.
• James Mazzara, 21, disappeared November 1978.
• Robert Piest, 15, disappeared December 1978.

The Trial

His trial started on the 6th of February 1980, and he had already confessed to committing the crimes. However, the trial focused mainly on whether or not Gacy was insane when he committed them.

Gacy said the murders were committed by an alternate personality of his and mental health specialists testified for both sides of the insanity argument. 

Eventually, Gacy was found guilty of murdering 33 people and sentenced to serve 12 death sentences and 21 natural life sentences. 

The Execution

He was held at Menard Correctional Centre for a decade and a half, and he claimed he was innocent even though he had already confessed.

John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection on May 10th 1994 at Stateville Correctional Centre.

Artwork by Gacy. Image credit: Pauk @ Wikimedia Commons

While he was in prison he started to paint and a few of them were auctioned off and made up to £4000. Many of his paintings were of his alter ego Pogo the Clown.

Final Thoughts

I think most people have heard of John Wayne Gacy and/or Pogo the Clown. He has probably been the biggest inspiration for most horror clowns, such as IT and Twisty the Clown in American Horror Story. 

Now, clowns do not scare me very much (except the weird clown ornaments), but what John Wayne Gacy did was and still is horrifying. The fact he used his jobs as a way to lure young men into his traps is disgusting, and the fact he got away with it for so long is shocking!

With his previous conviction, you would think the police would speak to him a lot sooner than they did when boys started to go missing. Especially when the parents of the missing children told the police to do so. So frustrating!

What are your thoughts on John Wayne Gacy and the crimes he committed? Let me know in the comments.

Kristy Bamu was a 15-year-old boy that visited his sister and her partner for Christmas in 2010 and was found dead on Christmas Day at their flat in London.

The case we are discussing today reminds me of the Sylvia Likens murder that I wrote about previously, and is just as horrific.

Attention! The content of this article or section may seem obscene or offensive to some readers.

The Nightmare Begins

Christmas is about spending time with loved ones and spreading joy. Unfortunately, the Bamu children their Christmas would not be a happy one. Kristy travelled from Paris with his 2 sisters and 2 brothers to Manor Park, East London. They travelled there to spend the Christmas holidays with their sister Magalie Bamu. 

Magalie aged 29 lived with her partner Eric Bikubi aged 28 in a flat in London. Her siblings were excited to spend time with their sister and enjoy Christmas with her. However, this is when the nightmare begins.

Kristy travelled to London from Paris, France.

It all began when Kristy wet himself and left the underwear in the kitchen. Bikubi insisted that the pants were sorcery and that the children were practising magic. 

He threatened to throw them out of the window to see how they would fly and started to torture them all until they admitted to practising witchcraft. Whenever their parents called to speak to them they were forced to lie, as they would have a blade held to their throats. 

They were starved and beaten until they admitted they were witches. In the end, the children admitted to the practice to avoid more beatings, except for Kristy. He continued to deny it, which meant Eric continued to punish him. 

The Murder of Kristy Bamu

The couple continued to torture Kristy and would use pliers, a metal pole, knives, a hammer, and planks on the defenceless and terrified boy. In total, they inflicted 130 injuries to his body and Kristy begged to die. They even forced his siblings to take part in the beatings. 

On Christmas Day they placed Kristy into the bath for what they called a ritual cleansing. At this point, Kristy was very weak and when they left him alone he slipped under the water and drowned.

When Eric found him he tried to resuscitate him but he was already gone. 

When the police and paramedics got to the flat they found blood everywhere and the children were hysterical. They tried to help Kristy too but was unable to save him. 

All of the children were hysterical. One of the sisters told them that they had been hurt, and another said they were forced to hit Kristy in the face with a hammer. 

Kristy's face and head were covered in cuts, his teeth had been smashed out with a hammer, ceramic tiles had been smashed over his head, and his ear had been twisted with pliers.

Magalie and Eric were arrested for the torture killing of 15-year-old Kristy Bamu.

The Trial

They stood trial at the Old Bailey and the defence argued that Bikubi suffered from mental illness and Magalie said she was forced to take part. However, evidence proved that she hit Kristy and encouraged his violence. 

The Old Bailey. Image credit: TQ3181 @ Geograph

They were both found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years.

Their parents felt betrayed and could not believe what happened to their son. They said they have forgiven them, but they want to raise awareness for cases of torture involving witchcraft.

Final Thoughts

This case was shocking to me because it only happened in 2010, which is not really that long ago. I was upset by what I read, especially as it was his sister and her partner committing the crime. They were trusted to take care of the children but they did the exact opposite. 

Kristy was one of many children that died in voodoo rituals in the London African communities. I have read about the English witch trials and the Salem witch trials, but to think this kind of behaviour still exists baffles me.

What are your thoughts on this case and ritualistic murders? Please share in the comments below.

Today's case took place in Devon, England and has inspired murder mysteries by the likes of Charles Dickens. We will be looking at Constance Kent, who she was, and why she committed this crime in 1860.

Her Family

Constance was born on the 5th of February 1844 in Devon, England. Her parents were Samuel Saville Kent and Mary Ann Kent. The couple had ten children but five died at a young age. After Mary Ann gave birth to their tenth child she went insane.

Not long after this, Samuel hired Mary Drewe Pratt as a governess and housekeeper, but they fell in love.

After the death of his wife Mary Ann, Samuel got married to Mary Drewe and they had three more children. While she was pregnant with their fourth child their youngest, Francis, was murdered.

The Crime

On the 29th of June 1860, Francis was put to bed in the nursemaid's room. Elizabeth Gough was the nursemaid at the time and in the middle of the night, she woke up to find he was gone. She just assumed that he was with his mother and went back to sleep.

However, when she awoke again she realised he was still missing. By 8am she had alerted the family and there was a search underway to find the young boy.

After an hour of searching a local farmer and shoemaker checked the disused servant toilet. When they lifted the lid they found a blanket covered in blood. They had found Francis' body.

When they picked his body up to move him his head almost fell off and his mouth appeared to be black as if he had been suffocated. 

At first, the main suspect was the nursemaid Elizabeth Gough. The local Superintendent believed that the child could not go missing without her knowing. His theory was that she was with her lover when Francis woke up and disturbed them, so they suffocated him and mutilated the body to hide the true cause of death.

Jonathon Whicher. Image credit: Wikipedia

Eventually, Scotland Yard joined the investigation and sent Detective Inspector Jonathon Whicher. He didn't agree with the Superintendent and suspected 16-year-old Constance. His theory was that she was jealous of the younger children, which made her commit the crime.

When she was put in front of magistrates there was not enough evidence to charge her, so Elizabeth Gough was charged with the murder.

The Confession

Constance spent time abroad at a convent in Brittany, and when she returned in 1863 she went to Brighton and joined a religious retreat. It was there that she confessed on April 25th 1865. She told Reverend Arthur Wagner that she murdered her stepbrother. She handed a noted over to the magistrates when she confessed to them. It stated:

"I, Constance Emile Kent, alone and unaided on the night of the 29th of June 1860, murdered at Road Hill House, Wiltshire one Francis Saville Kent. Before the deed, no one knew of my intention, nor after of my guilt; no one assisted me in the crime, nor in my evasion of discovery."

She said she murdered him because he was her stepmothers favourite, and she wasn't happy she had replaced her mother. 

Constance Kent. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Even after her admission of guilt people did not believe her, as parts of her story didn't match the facts. She said she had used a razor to kill the boy, but the wounds were caused by a knife. Francis also weighed 35 pounds and Constance said that she held him in one arm as she climbed out of the house before she killed him. She also said she thought the child was not dead, but he had almost been decapitated. 

Even though there were many anomalies in her stories, they were never brought up in court and she pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to death initially, but it was commuted to life because of her age at the time of the murder.

She spent 20 years in prison and was released at 41 years old. She moved to Australia to join her brother William and changed her name to Emily Kent. She lived in Australia until she died in 1944. She lived to be 100 years old and never recanted. 

Final Thoughts

Some believe that she never committed the murder and she was possibly covering for her brother or father.

William was equally resentful of their stepmother and at the time of the murder, he was 15 years old, and he would have been more capable of the murder. Some also believe her father could have been the killer, as he was a known adulterer and could've been sleeping with the nursemaid.

I think it is very possible she was covering for someone else the whole time. However, I am not sure why she decided to do it. The one thing that surprised me was that she never recanted even after her brother and father passed away.

What do you think of this case? Who do you think did it? Share your thoughts in the comments!

So, in today's post, we will be talking about the murders committed by spree killer Anthony Arkwright in August 1988.

Attention! The content of this article or section may seem obscene or offensive to some readers.

Childhood

From a young age, Arkwright didn't have what you would call a normal upbringing. As a child, he was abandoned with his 5 siblings by his mother and lived in care and children's home. His father was a miner, but there were rumours that he was the product of incest between his mother and grandfather. 

He would eventually turn to a life of crime and was given a 30-month youth custody sentence for burglary and disorder. He also started to boast that he would become famous like Jack the Ripper and Peter Sutcliffe.

The Crimes

Wath upon Dearne Town Centre. Image credit: SE4300 @ Geograph

Friday, August 26th 1988

At 21 years old he was working at a scrapyard in Mexborough, but due to problems with his attendance, he was fired. When he was fired it triggered the beginning of his 56-hour killing spree.

The spree began on August 26th at 16:30 and he started by visiting his grandfathers' allotment. He attacked him with a knife and stabbed him in the neck. In the attack, he severed an artery which knocked him unconscious almost instantly. 

While he was out cold Arkwright grabbed an axe and a lump hammer and hit him over the head and shattered his skull. He hid the body in a shed.

Afterwards, he went to local pubs in the area, drank and started to hint about his crime, such as "it's been murder on the allotment."

Saturday, August 27th 1988

The second murder took place at 3am on the 27th of August. He entered the home of his neighbour, Raymond Ford. Ford was an unemployed teacher that was bullied by Arkwright, and when he burgled items from his flat he reported him to the police.

Arkwright wanted revenge.

He entered Ford's flat completely naked at 3am wearing only a devil mask, stabbed Ford 250 times all over his body breaking several ribs. He also appeared to be gutted and dismembered in a way that resembled Jack the Ripper.

The police arrested Arkwright for burgling Ford's flat, but his body would not be found for another 3 days.

Sunday, August 28th 1988

A similar scene was found at Denman Road in Wath on the 28th of August. Marcus Law lived on Denman Road in a bungalow and was in a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident. After the police released him Arkwright went out drinking again.

In the early hours, Arkwright entered the bungalow and stabbed Marcus 70 times. What he did after this was absolutely despicable, and I have not provided the full description of the injuries because of that. 

He stuffed cigarettes in his mouth, ears and eye sockets after trying to gut him. He said he did this because Marcus always 'scrounged' cigarettes off others. When he left the bungalow he bumped into Marcus' mother and commented on her son's suicide while smirking.

When she visited her son's bungalow she found him dead.

The Arrest and Trial

The police started talking to neighbours and went to speak to Ford, as he had reported Arkwright for burglary prior to the murder. However, when they got there they discovered his dead body and realised they were now dealing with a double murder.

Arkwright was arrested and admitted to killing 4 people. He was suspected of murdering his grandfather's housekeeper, Elsa Konradaite. However, this was not proven and was never taken to court.

The police found all of the remaining bodies and he made up another to gain control of the situation. This resulted in more searches being done in lakes and drainage ditches. 

While awaiting trial Arkwright smeared human excrement on the walls in an attempt to prove he was insane and was angry that he was not getting the attention he expected. He was transferred to a Rampton Secure Hospital for further observation but was deemed fit to stand trial.

Sheffield Crown Court. Image credit: Bencherlite

He stood trial at Sheffield Crown Court in 1988 and was found guilty and given life with a recommendation to serve 25 years.

His case was reviewed in 1998 and he was given a full life sentence and is one of the few prisoners that are deemed too dangerous to be released, which includes the likes of Ian Brady and Rose West.

He decided to appeal the decision but it was rejected as the whole life tariff was deemed lawful. 

Final Thoughts

Allegedly a psychiatrist said that he was the "sanest person in the building" when he was at Rampton. Which means he must have known what he was doing at the time of the murders. 

It also seems to be about revenge for him, and what he did to those people was disgusting I'm sure we can all agree based on the descriptions. I'm sorry I left a lot of it out, but it did not feel right to share the specifics of what happened to the victims. I hope you understand. In my opinion, based on what I have read, he does not deserve to be released from prison. 

What are your thoughts on Anthony Arkwright and the crimes he committed? Let me know in the comments.

Erzsébet Báthory is one of the first female serial killers in history and was also the inspiration for Lady Gaga's character in American Horror Story. 

Her trial records were found in the 1720s and ever since she has become known as the first sadomasochist. So, today we are going to look at her life, her marriage and her crimes.

Attention! The content of this article or section may seem obscene or offensive to some readers.

Childhood

Erzsébet Báthory was born on the 7th of August 1560 to Baron George VI Báthory and Baroness Anna Báthory. She was born in the Kingdom of Hungary, which is now known as Slovakia and Romania. She was born into one of the most powerful clans in Europe, and her parents spared no expense when it came to their daughter.

They made sure she had the finest education money could buy. Erzsébet was able to speak Hungarian, Slovak, Greek, Latin and German.

As a child, she suffered from seizures which were possibly caused by epilepsy but back then the illness was called Falling Sickness. They would treat this by rubbing the blood of a non-sufferer onto the lips of the sick. It is thought that she suffered from this because her parents were cousins and the incest within their clan.

It is also thought the crimes she committed later in life could have been a desperate attempt to cure her illness, but there is no proof of this.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

When she was a child she witnessed a lot of violence, so much so she became used to it. She once witnessed a man guilty of theft be sewn into to stomach of a horse, and she laughed at the sight of it. 

Thanks to her education Erzsébet was a smart woman but she was also very beautiful. Like most aristocratic women she had a high, white forehead which she most likely plucked her hairline to achieve.

At 10 years of age, she was engaged to marry 15-year-old Ferenc Nádasdy,  the son of another powerful family. During their engagement, Erzsébet moved to the Nádasdy palace and started to learn how to run their estate.

During their engagement, a rumour was spread that she gave birth to a child. The father was allegedly a young peasant boy and the child was given away to a friend of the Báthory clan. After the affair her fiance had the boy castrated and thrown into a pack of wild dogs. Again this has not been proven, but Erzsébet gained a reputation for being promiscuous and her fiance for his violence. 

Married Life

At 14 years old Erzsébet married her fiance on the 8th of May 1574. They had their wedding in front of 4,500 guests and the celebrations lasted 3 days.

As her social standing was higher than Ferenc her new husband, she refused to change her last name. For a while when they got married she spent a lot of time at Nádasdy castle alone while Ferenc was studying in Vienna. 

As a wedding gift, she was given a secluded castle called Castle Csejthe which would be the place she committed most of her crimes.

Image credit: Jacomoman78 at Wikimedia Commons

Ferenc left to go to battle, which meant the couple didn't have their first child until 10 years after they got married. He loved war and after The Long War, he was given the name The Black Knight of Hungary because of his cruelty. During the war, he was known to play catch with the severed heads of his enemies.

The Long War was draining the countries wealth, but Erzsébet was not affected at all thanks to all the Ottoman treasures that she received from Ferenc. The King also borrowed money from her.

The Torture Begins

The couple may have spent a lot of time apart, but they found the time to bond over torturing young servant girls. 

Both had their fair share of violence, Erzsébet punished people when in charge of hundreds of peasants, and Ference when he served in the war. Nádasdy taught his wife different ways she could torture people, and he even bought her a clawed glove to slash at the servants' skin.

Eventually, in 1601, Erzsébet found another partner in crime called Anna Darvolya. Rumours began to spread that she was a witch and when she came to the castle Erzsébet became increasingly cruel. People say that Nádasdy may have taught her how to torture, but Darvolya taught her how to kill.

Servant girls started to die at an alarming rate at the Nádasdy-Báthory household. It didn't make anyone suspicious because back then servants were deemed as disposable. The law protected the nobles and meant that servants had no rights.

Erzsébet started to feel invincible and that she was above the law. The King of Hungary was in her debt and owed her an amount that would have been impossible to pay back. 

However, some people did start to become suspicious of her and the amount of servants dying of Cholera or unknown mysterious causes. She was questioned by one pastor after a sermon, but she stormed out in disgust at the accusations. 

The pastor threatened to exhume the body of a servant girl that died recently to see the cause of her death, but Nádasdy managed to stop this happening. Unfortunately, Nádasdy would not be there forever and would die in 1604.

Images credit: Wikimedia Commons

When he passed away Erzsébet became more violent. What the couple had shared as a hobby became an obsession for her. She would take young girls from local towns and leave their bodies for the wolves when she was done. She even gathered a new group to help her with the torture.

The abuse usually started with a simple mistake, and to punish them she would punch, slap, and mutilate them. They would sever fingers and take chunks from their faces. The torture would continue in the torture chambers.

What happened in the torture chambers was truly horrific. They would beat the servants, force them to eat human flesh, cut off their fingers with shears, and lash them. It got t the point where she couldn't go a day without torturing someone. 

It is rumoured she would bathe in the blood of the victims to preserve her beauty, but this has never been proven to be a fact. 

At first, she had her pick of girls in the towns, and parents would willingly sell their daughters to her. This would change when families started to hide their daughters when she came to town. This meant she was running out of people to kill.

To solve this problem she would create a finishing school for young girls, and noble parents paid to send their daughters there. Not only did she have extra income but she had the girls to satisfy her urges. However, she didn't think this through as their parents would ask how their children were.

Her downfall would follow not long after opening the school, as when the parents asked if their children were okay, she told them that one girl had become jealous and murdered the others girls. 

People were very suspicious of this story and eventually the king decided to move against Erzsébet.

The Arrest and Trial

It is believed that Erzsébet was caught in the act when investigators went to the castle in December 1610. They found one girl dead and mutilated and 2 others dying near the doors. They also heard screaming which led them to a torture chamber and her torture squad.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

She claimed that she was innocent but was arrested the next day. Many people speculated as to how many girls lost their lives, but they could not give a definite number. The numbers ranged from 30 - 650 deaths.

Two of her accomplices were given the death sentence and one was put in jail. Erzsébet was thrown into her own blood-drenched castle and imprisoned there for life. As a result of this, the king didn't have to pay the debt he owed her.

Erzsébet died on August 22nd 1614 after saying her hands were cold. She laid down and sang a song before passing away. She was then buried in holy ground but was moved to the Báthory family crypt when people complained. However, when the crypt was opened in 1995 her body was not found there.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I think that some of the stories have been exaggerated as time has gone by. There are a lot of rumours about her and what she did, but there is little to no proof that they happened. 

That being said, she was obviously a bloodthirsty woman that was obsessed with inflicting pain. I also find it strange she only chose to harm young girls and not men. 

The things she did to those poor girls were horrific and the fact it was a way she bonded with her husband was crazy to me. I know there were many couples that committed crimes together, but it always shocks me.

What do you think of this case? Do you think there is any truth to her possibly killing 600 or more people? Let me know in the comments.

Fanny Adams was born on the 30th of April 1859 in Alton, Hampshire. She lived on Tanhouse Lane with her parents and 5 siblings. At the time of her disappearance, she was only 8 years old, but she looked older. She was described as an intelligent and cheerful child.

Today we are going to look into the barbaric murder of young Fanny Adams.

Attention! The content of this article or section may seem obscene or offensive to some readers.

The Murder

It was August 24th 1867 and the day started just like any other. Her mother was busy with her younger siblings and her father was going to play cricket. Fanny was with her sister Lizzie and her best friend Minnie Warner.

The girls went to play in their favourite place called Flood Meadows. As they played they were approached by a local man called Frederick Baker, a 29-year-old solicitors clerk that had recently moved to the area. He appeared to be drunk but the girls were not afraid because he was seen as a respectable man.

Flood Meadow. Image credit: Billy @ Geograph

He took a liking to Fanny and offered her a ha'penny to go with him into a hop field, but she didn't stray far from her sister and best friend. Baker picked blackberries while they played and gave them to the children. Eventually, the children were hot and tired, so they decided they were going to go home.

Baker asked Fanny to accompany him to a town nearby but she refused and wanted to go home too. This frustrated an impatient Baker, so he grabbed her and carried her as she screamed into a hop field.

The two girls didn't know what to do and in a panic, they ran home to tell someone what they had seen as fast as they could. They told Minnie's mother what had happened but for some reason, she dismissed the story and told them to carry on playing.

It wasn't until Minnie's mother told a neighbour about their story that they started a search. They told Fanny's mother and together they started walking to the meadow. On the way they encountered Baker and they asked him where Fanny was. He scoffed when they threatened to report it to the police and told them he had nothing to hide. The women accepted his explanation and returned home to wait for Fanny.

By supper time she still wasn't home and they grew worried. They gathered more people to go back out to search for Fanny. They searched in all the places the children would play and didn't find her. Not until a labourer went to check their hop garden and made the gruesome discovery.

A hop garden.

When Fanny's body was found she had been decapitated. Her head was impaled on sticks and she had also been dismembered. Her internal organs had been removed and were scattered all around the area.

When her parents were told the news her mother collapsed. Her father flew into a rage and grabbed his shotgun ready to find Baker and get revenge for what he had done to his little girl. His neighbours managed to stop him and stayed with him all night.

The Investigation

The next day Fanny's body was collected and taken to be examined. Supt William Cheyney arrested Baker on suspicion of murder at his place of work. When they searched him he was carrying 2 small knives and he had a speck of blood on his cuffs.

Later in their investigation more damning evidence came to light. Baker kept a journal at work and on the 26th of August there was an entry stating:

"I killed a young girl. It was fine and hot."

A young child also came forward as a witness saying they saw Baker leave the field where Fanny was found covered in blood. He witnessed Baker washing all the blood off at a pond nearby.

They also found a large rock with blood and hair stuck to it, which they believed to be the murder weapon. They reported the cause of death was a crushing blow to the head. 

The Trial

On the 5th of December, he stood trial for the murder of Fanny Adams. He denied committing the crime throughout the trial and defence claimed that he was insane. Regardless of this, he was found guilty and sentenced to hang for what he had done.

Image credit: Peter Trimming

On Christmas Eve he was hung in front of 5,000 furious people. The community did not want Fanny  Adams to be forgotten, so they raised money to make a headstone for her. The headstone still stands to this day at the cemetery where she was laid to rest.

Final Thoughts

This murder was horrific and what Baker did to young Fanny Adams was monstrous. I had heard the saying Sweet Fanny Adams and Sweet F.A growing up, but I never knew the origin of this until now. 

I am glad there is a memorial in place so she will never be forgotten, and I for one am going to stop using the phrase out of respect for her.

While researching this I couldn't even begin to imagine how her parents, siblings, friends and the whole community felt after discovering her body.

What are your thoughts on what happened on August 24th? Do you think he was guilty? Please share your thoughts below. 

Graham Frederick Young was an English serial killer that used poisons to kill his victims. He used poison on his family, friends, work colleagues and even his fellow inmates. He was known as The Teacup Poisoner or the St. Albans Poisoner.

Childhood

Graham Young was born in September 1947 in Middlesex to Fred and Bessie Young. His mother died of tuberculosis months after his birth. While his father mourned he stayed with his aunt and his sister Winifred went to their grandparents. When his father remarried in 1950 he was reunited with his family and introduced to his stepmother Molly.

He became fascinated with Hitler, Nazism and the occult. He allegedly sacrificed a cat in one of his rituals. At 13 years old he took a great interest in poisons and what they did to the human body. He started practising his skills at 14 years old on his family and students at his school. He even poisoned himself by accident when he forgot which teacups he had laced with poison.

Image credit: German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) / Wikimedia Commons

He convinced local chemists that he was 17 years old so he could get his hands on antimony, digitalis, arsenic and thallium for his tests. His family fell ill suddenly and suffered from painful symptoms. It was thought to be a mystery bug that was spreading as Young's friends had the same symptoms. 

Young's sister became sick after she drank tea her brother made for her.  His father confronted him saying he was careless with his chemistry set, but Young tried to blame his sister for using the teacups to make shampoo. His father knew about his son's hobby and told him to be careful with the chemicals. He never believed he was intentionally harming his sister.

The advice fell on deaf ears and in 1962 Young's stepmother passed away from poisoning. Not long after that, his father was in hospital very close to death himself and diagnosed with antimony poisoning.

After hearing about this, Young's chemistry teacher found suspicious books and vials of poison in his school desk and reported it to the police. He admitted to poisoning his father, sister and school friend.

Young was detained at Broadmoor Hospital for the Criminally Insane at the age of 14, the youngest inmate since 1885. While at Broadmoor he continued his experiments but this time he used the inmates and the staff. It was rumoured that he killed an inmate called John Berridge with cyanide that he extracted from laurel bush leaves. He hid his continued study of poison so well that he was released in 1970 and allegedly said he was "going to kill one person for every year he spent there".

Life After Broadmoor Hospital

When he was released he lived at a hostel and would visit his old home town to see the reactions of the neighbours. Not long after he gathered his supplies once again and started his experiments on fellow residents.

He got a job with a photographic laboratory and continued his experiments there. He would make tea and coffee for his colleagues regularly, and when they started to experience cramping and dizziness they thought it was a bug going around locally.

His boss Bob Egle was the first to be killed by Young in July 1971, and his colleague Fred Biggs was the second in September 1971. Biggs took longer to die that Egle, which frustrated Young.

After the 2 deaths, the company became concerned and sent a doctor to the site to speak to them and reassure them everything was safe. However, this is where Young's downfall begins.

He asked the doctor questions and asked him why thallium poisoning was not considered. The doctor noticed that Young had extensive knowledge of poisons and notified the management who then reported this to the police.

When the police started searching they found his collection of poisons and his journal with all the details about his experiments, such as the dosings and the symptoms he observed.

The Trial

Young was put on trial in June 1972 at St. Albans Crown Court. He was charged with 2 counts of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder, and 2 counts of administering the poison. He denied any involvements and said the entries in his journal was for a novel he was drafting. 

He loved the attention he got from the media but disliked his nickname The Teacup Poisoner.

Ian Brady with Myra Hindley. Image credit: Ninian Reid @ Flickr

He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in Parkhurst a maximum security prison. This is where he met and became friends with Ian Brady the Moors Murderer. They would play chess and bond over Nazi Germany.

He died at the age of 42 in August 1990. His cause of death is recorded as a heart attack, but it is believed he was poisoned by another inmate or he may have poisoned himself.

Young never showed remorse and when he was asked he said:

"What I feel is the emptiness of my soul"

Final Thoughts

It is clear there was no stopping Graham from conducting these experiments, in or out of Broadmoor Hospital. It's a shame that 3 people lost their lives as a result of his obsession.

He seemed to enjoy being feared by the public, but he hated the nickname he was given. I'm glad he got caught and it was his obsession and ego that made it happen.

I think that the staff at Broadmoor could've been more observant, and I am shocked he got released after saying he was going to kill again.

Do you think this could have been avoided? What are your thoughts? Please share them in the comments. 

Fred and Rose West were a killer couple that abducted and killed a dozen young females in the UK during the '70s and '80s, including their own children.

Attention! The content of this article or section may seem obscene or offensive to some readers.

Fred West

Fred was born Frederick Walter Stephen West in September 1941. He had five siblings and was born into a family of farm workers. His father wasn't the best role model, as he encouraged incest and bestiality and always told his children:

"Do what you want, just don't get caught."

Fred's life changed when he had an accident at 15 years old, which left him with a fractured skull. That's when he started having violent mood swings.

His first marriage was to Catherine Costello in November 1962. Catherine was pregnant with another mans child and after they got married she gave birth to a baby girl called Charmaine and a year later she had another child called Anne Marie. However, their marriage didn't last long and she left after Fred's sadistic sexual desires became too much. Costello left Charmaine and Anne Marie with Fred when she left.

Rose West

Rosemary Pauline West was born in November 1953 and lived with her mother until she was 15 after her parents separated. After she left her mother she went to live with her father, but her father was prone to violence and sexually abusing her.

Rose met Fred and moved in with him not long after she turned 16. They had their first child within a few months and named her Heather. While Fred was serving a 7-month sentence for theft Rose was left with the children.

While Fred was serving his time Rose killed Charmaine but told Fred that she had been collected by her mother.

Their Marriage and Crimes

They got married in January 1972 even though West was still married to Costello. The couple had their second daughter Mae and moved to Cromwell Street. They converted the rooms upstairs into bedsits, and one room was for Rose to use for prostitution complete with a red light and peephole for Fred.

The couple took 17-year-old Caroline Roberts into their home and sexually assaulted her. They knew her because she had been their babysitter in the past. They threatened to kill her if she didn't do as she was told.

Roberts was let go when she promised to be their nanny, but she reported them both to the police. Unfortunately, she dropped the rape charges later and all they received was a fine for indecent assault. 

When Anne Marie turned 8 she became the victim of her fathers' sadistic fantasies. From 1973 - 1979 she was abused sexually by Fred, but at 14 years old she finally escaped.

The Wests would then go on to abduct and murder 8 young women while abusing their other daughter Heather. When Heather started to talk about the abuse at school it forced Fred's hand. He killed her while Rose watched, dismembered her and buried the body under the patio.

Heather's remains were the first to be found after the abuse was reported by her friends' mother.

When the police visited the property they discovered 2 other bodies in the garden, and 6 bodies in the cellar. They also found a large amount of pornography which included bestiality. They would also find a camera that had been used to record the torture of their many victims. 

The couple was arrested in 1984 for their crimes. Fred was charged with 12 murders and Rose with 10. When they were questioned Fred was willing to take the blame, but later changed his mind and accused Rose of the killings.

Before Fred could stand trial for his crimes he hung himself. However, Rose did go to trial and was found guilty. She was sentenced to life in prison and became the second woman to receive that sentence in the UK.

The Aftermath

The House of Horrors, 25 Cromwell Street, was demolished in October 1996 and is now a public footpath.

Several of Fred's family got their fair share of media attention for all the wrong reasons.

One of the videos found at the house was allegedly Fred's brother John West abusing his own niece. In 1996, just like his brother before him, John hung himself after being charged with rape. Another brother called Stephen West was jailed for sex with a minor.

The entrance to Parkhurst, Isle of Wight. Image credit: Ian S

Rose West is now 65 years old and serving her sentence at HMP Low Newton.

Final Thoughts

This case is well known in the UK and recently there was a documentary made about the couple. I knew about the horrific crimes they committed together, but I knew nothing about their childhood or their families.

It's clear they both had tough childhoods, and even though I do feel for Rose I do not condone what she did as an adult. They both took pleasure in causing harm to these women and their own flesh and blood. 

I think it is a big misconception to think that a woman couldn't possibly do this to their own children or other women, as there have been many women in history that have committed crimes just as wicked as this.

What are your thoughts on the couple and the crimes they committed? Let me know in the comments section.