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. 

Anatoly Moskvin is known as one of Russias most bizarre criminals. He was involved in black magic, the occult and a quite unusual hobby. Today we look at his life and the shocking discovery made at his apartment in November 2011.

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

Childhood

Anatoly Moskvin was born on September 1st, 1966 in Russia to his parents Yuri Fedorovich and Elvira Alexandrovna.

His childhood was far from carefree and he was bullied a lot at school. When he was in third grade he returned home from school bruised after being raped by a stranger. It's not known if he told his parents but they noticed a change in his behaviour after this. 

As a child, Anatoly would walk around graveyards with his friends and he became interested in the dead. Later in life, he wrote an article about an experience he had after stumbling upon a funeral when he was 12 years old.

He said that he witnessed the funeral of an 11-year-old girl called Natasha Petrova and that he was forced to kiss her by an adult. He wrote:

"An adult pushed my face down to the waxy forehead of the girl in an embroidered cap, and there was nothing I could do but kiss her."

He kissed the girl 3 times and her mother brought two rings. She placed one on his finger and the second on the young girl. He started having dreams about the girl every night and each time she told him he needed to learn black magic. When he told his parents about his dreams he was taken to a doctor, but all they did was prescribe medication to help him sleep and relax.

After a few years of the dreams, Natasha told him she would leave him alone if he completed a simple ceremony to pass the curse on. He did this using a tooth from one of his classmates. His experience with Natasha would have a lasting effect on his life, and he visited her grave whenever he had the chance. It also sparked his interest in the occult and cemeteries.

Studies and Career

Anatoly was a very intelligent man, and after graduating he worked as a lecturer at Nizhny Novgorod Linguistic University and worked at the Institute of Foreign Languages. He spoke 13 different languages, published dictionaries, tutored children on different subjects, and became an expert on local cemeteries.

He also joined the society of Luciferians and started studying the Left-Hand Path. He took part in rituals that included the bodies of dead animals, started practising black magic, didn't drink alcohol or smoke, and took a vow of celibacy.

Moskvin published two dictionaries.

He started a relationship with a woman called Yulia, who suggested they have a non-sexual relationship to support his celibacy. However, she did want a child which their relationship wouldn't be able to give her, so they decided to try adoption. Unfortunately, they were rejected because Moskvin did not earn enough. At this point, he was earning very little working as a journalist and was living with his parents. His parents supported him but they did not agree with his plans to adopt.

They didn't need to worry though, as eventually, the relationship with Yulia ended and he started doing research for a new book called the "Nizhny Novgorod Necropolis". In 2005 he was commissioned to make a summary of 700 graveyards throughout the region, and he would camp in them surrounded by the dead.

The Crime

In 2011 it was discovered that numerous graves had been desecrated at cemeteries that Moskvin would frequent. He wasn't caught in the act until the police received reports of someone vandalising the graves of deceased Muslims. He was being watched for a while and on November 2nd 2011 his apartment was raided.

The 45-year-old was still living with his parents in a small apartment, and inside they were shocked to find a collection of life-sized dolls. They looked like antique dolls covered in fabric at first glance, and some even had makeup on. However, after closer inspection, they realised they were actually the mummified corpses of girls.

One of the bodies started to play music when they moved it, and when they inspected the doll they realised there was a music box in her chest. He would stuff the decayed bodies with rags and wrapped their faces in nylon tights. He also admitted to placing buttons or toy eyes in their eye sockets, so they could watch cartoons with him.

During the search, they also found photos of the plaques on their graves, several books on doll making, and maps of the local graveyards. They also found shoes that matched footprints at the scenes of desecrated graves.

His parents said they knew nothing of the truth behind their son's hobby.

The Motive

Moskvin said he knew he was committing a crime, but he did it because he felt lonely and had always wanted children. He said he loved most of his girls, but the ones he grew to dislike were placed in the garage. He celebrated their birthdays and treated them like they were his children.

Moskvin said he felt sympathy for the dead children and believed that science or magic would find a way to resurrect them, so he preserved them in his home. He would read the obituaries to see what spoke to him and then slept on their graves to see if their spirit wanted to come back. He said the girls were calling out to him.

The Trial

Moskvin was charged with the desecration of graves and dead bodies, but after a psychiatric evaluation, he was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia and deemed unfit to stand trial. He was moved to a psychiatric clinic for treatment instead of prison.

He is still being treated at the clinic to this day and still deemed unfit to stand trial.

Final Thoughts

This is such a sad story for many reasons. Firstly, the bodies of young girls being taken from their graves and their loved ones, and then the man that was so lonely he was pushed to committing this crime for the company.

He was bullied and raped as a young boy, and I do feel for him because of what he had to endure as a child. However, he took the bodies and kept them in his home. This is not acceptable at all. I know if it was my loved one I would be very upset, regardless of why he did it and how well he treated them.

What do you think of this case? Let me know in the comments. 

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. 

Edward Theodore Gein is one of the most famous serial killers in the USA and he went by the name "The Butcher of Plainfield". He inspired many books and movies and became immortalised as the character Norman Bates in Psycho. He was also the inspiration for the following characters in horror movies:

• Leatherface - Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
• Buffalo Bill - The Silence of the Lambs. 

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

Ed's Early Life

Ed Gein was born August 27th 1906 and was the second son of George and Augusta Gein. Gein had one older brother called Henry, and they all lived together on a farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin.

Augusta kept her sons away from outsiders, and only let them leave the farm to go to school. If Ed tried to make friends with anybody he would be punished. Ed was bullied a lot at school, and he developed a tic that made him laugh impulsively.

She was very religious and preached to the boys regularly. She would tell them about the evils of alcohol and women. She told them that all women were prostitutes except her, and when she caught Ed masturbating she scalded him with hot water. She would read the bible to them daily and would choose verses about death, murder, and divine retribution.

His father George was an alcoholic, and in 1940 he died because of his alcoholism. After their fathers' death, the two boys started to do odd jobs to help pay the bills. Ed's older brother started to question their mother, and he made it clear he wanted to date. 

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

In May 1944 Ed and his brother were working in the fields when a fire broke out. After the fire was extinguished they realised Henry was missing. They created a search party to find him, and when they did he was laying face down dead in a field. At first, it was thought he had died of heart failure because he had no burns, but after closer inspection, they noticed bruising to his head. The police suspected foul play but they had no evidence to prove it.

This left just Ed and his mother alone at the farm, but after two strokes her health deteriorated and she died in December 1945. When his mother died he was devastated and became a hermit. He boarded up all of the rooms she would use to preserve them like a shrine and lived in the kitchen and a living room. This meant those rooms were immaculate, and the rest of the house fell into squalor.

Ed's Crimes

Ed was arrested after a hardware store owner went missing called Bernice Worden. He was the last person seen with her before she disappeared. The police went to the Gein farm to make enquiries, but then decided they needed to search the property. 

When they searched the farm they found the body of Bernice decapitated and hanging upside down. Gein had shot her and mutilated her body. When they searched the rest of the property, what they saw shocked them to their core. They found the following inside the house:

• Human bones and fragments.
• A basket of skin.
• 9 masks made of skin from female heads. Some had lipstick on and had been treated with oil.
• Skulls on his bedposts.
• A belt made of female nipples.
• Bernice's head in a burlap sack.
• Bernice's' heart in a bag.
• Lips used as pulls on a window shade.
• Lampshades and bowls made of skin.
• Human skin covering chair seats.

When questioned Gein admitted that he visited graveyards and would exhume bodies. He would dig up the graves of women that looked like his mother. He also admitted to two murders, and again that he targeted women that resembled his mother. He denied all cannibalism allegations made against him. 

It was also discovered that Ed was creating a woman suit made out of human skin so that he could become his mother. He wanted to be her because of the power she had over men.

Ed's Trial

Gein was put on trial in November 1957, and he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.  He was also diagnosed with Schizophrenia and sent to a maximum security facility called the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

He was not put on trial again until he was fit to participate in his own defence. This would not be until November 1968. However, Gein was deemed insane and committed to the same hospital for the rest of his life.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Gein died on July 26th 1984 aged 77. He was buried with his parents and brother in a now unmarked grave. It did have a gravestone, but unfortunately, people would take pieces of it as a souvenir and in 2000 it was actually stolen.

Final Thoughts

I knew a little bit about Ed Gein before I researched this post, but I had no idea he had inspired so many characters in horror. Each character is inspired by different aspects of Ed and his life.

He had a very unhealthy relationship with his mother. Ed was devoted to his mother but she was a very dominating woman and would emasculate her sons regularly. When she passed away he was left alone. He had no friends and felt more comfortable around children due to his lack of social skills. 

However, this does not excuse what he did. The farm was a thing of nightmares, and what he did to the bodies at his farm is horrifying.  So much so that it affected the police officer that found the body of Bernice Worden.

What are your thoughts on Ed Gein and his crimes? 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.