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.

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. 

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. 

Sylvia Likens was born on January 3rd 1949 to Lester Cecil Likens and his wife Elizabeth Frances. Her parents were carnival workers and she had 4 siblings. Her family moved around a lot due to their parents' line of work and they often struggled financially.

The boys helped their parents when they worked at the carnival, but the girls would stay with relatives. This was so they were safe and their education didn't suffer. 

Sylvia was described as a pretty, friendly and outgoing girl. She was fond of music and was very protective of her younger sister Jenny.

After their parents' divorced their mother was arrested for shoplifting. Their father made arrangements for them to stay with Gertrude Baniszewski while he worked away.

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

Staying with Gertrude Baniszewski

During the first few weeks of being there, it was okay. She treated the girls well and Sylvia would spend time with Gertrude's daughter Stephanie and sing with her.

Things started to go wrong when the payments Lester promised failed to arrive on time. To release her frustration she took it out on the girls and beat them with paddles. 

After a month Gertrude directed all of the abuse onto Sylvia. She would be beaten regularly, was kicked in the genitals, force-fed until she vomited, and then forced to eat her own vomit. Gertrude would also force Jenny to beat her sister and threatened her if she didn't do it. 

She would let the neighbourhood kids come to the house to beat Sylvia regularly. These beatings included burning her with cigarettes, using her as a practice dummy for judo sessions, and seriously injuring her genitals. 

Eventually, Sylvia was not allowed back to school after she was caught stealing. She was brutally beaten, repeatedly kicked in the genitals, whipped, and her fingers were burnt with matches as punishment.

After the endless beatings, Sylvia became incontinent and would wet herself. That's when Gertrude tied her up in the basement alone. Sylvia was abused by several people whilst in the basement, and those people actually paid for the opportunity to torture her. 

Gertrude became more sadistic as time went by. She would bathe Sylvia in scalding water and rub salt in the wounds, denied her food or water, and forced her to eat her own faeces.

One neighbour made an anonymous tip to the local authorities about how Sylvia was treated. However, when a nurse visited the home Gertrude said Sylvia had been kicked out of the house and they didn't know where she was.

In an effort to cover up what she did to the poor girl, Gertrude forced Sylvia to write a letter blaming a group of boys for the beatings.

Sylvia's Death

Sylvia Likens died on October 26th at 16 years old. She died of a combination of shock, malnutrition and a brain haemorrhage. 

Gertrude made one of the local boys call the police from a pay phone. When the police arrived Gertrude showed them the note and told them that a group of boys caused the injuries and that she was caring for Sylvia. 

Jenny Likens took this opportunity to stop the police as they were leaving and said: "Get me out of here and I'll tell you everything." Jenny gave her statement, and the police arrested Gertrude along with everyone involved in the torture of Sylvia Likens. 

The autopsy of Sylvia revealed that she had 150 wounds all over her body, she was suffering from malnutrition, and the skin was peeling away on her face, neck and right knee. They also discovered the following words carved into her abdomen: "I'm a prostitute and proud of it."

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Gertrude was convicted of first-degree murder in May 1966 and was sentenced to life in prison. She was given a retrial in 1972 but was sentenced to life again. 

However, in 1985 she was released from prison and relocated. She died of lung cancer in June 1990, and she never fully accepted responsibility for the suffering of Sylvia Likens.

Final Thoughts

This case was very upsetting to research and write about. What Sylvia was put through is disgusting, and the fact it was by the person looking after her is horrific. Their father trusted Gertrude and she abused and killed one of his children.

I can't begin to imagine the suffering both Sylvia and Jenny were subjected to. Yes, Sylvia was physically abused but Jenny was being emotionally abused by Gertrude. It took a lot of strength for Jenny to go with the police and tell them everything.

What are your thoughts on what happened to Sylvia Likens? Do you think this could have been stopped and her death avoided? Please share below.

The Axeman of New Orleans is an American serial killer that was active from May 1918 until October 1919. The killer was never caught for any of his attacks, and the murders are still unsolved to this date.

The Axeman's victims were attacked using an axe as the name implies. It would usually be an axe that belonged to the victims themselves and was usually left at the crime scene. They would break into the homes of their victims, kill the occupants inside, but never steal anything.

People began to notice that many of the victims were Italian immigrants or Italian-Americans, which made them think the attacks were hate crimes. It caused hysteria throughout New Orleans, especially among the Italian community. Eventually, people would start to believe that the Axeman was not human at all, and believed they were some sort of demon.

There have been a few theories as to why the Axeman committed their crimes, but nothing is known for sure. It's believed that the crimes were targeted against females as any males that were harmed had just got in the way during the attack. This is a possibility as some men were spared when the Axeman entered their homes, and only the women were attacked or murdered.

The less likely theory was that the killer was a huge jazz fan and was trying to promote the genre of music. This theory came about because of a letter sent to the press saying they would spare the lives of anyone playing jazz in their homes on the evening of March 19th 1919. On that evening the jazz halls were full and jazz bands were playing parties at homes throughout town.

Nobody was killed that night.

Then in October 1919, the spree ended just as abruptly and mysteriously as it had begun.

In the time they were active the Axeman attacked 12 people in total, and 6 of those victims died from their injuries.

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

The Victims

Joseph and Catherine Maggio. Joseph was an Italian grocer that was murdered with his wife in their home with a straight razor.

Louis Besumer and Harriet Lowe. The couple was attacked with Besumer's hatchet. They were hit over the head and found in a pool of blood. 

Anna Schneider. Attacked August 1918 when she was 8 months pregnant. She was beaten in the face repeatedly and was found by her husband. After the attack, she didn't remember anything about it but she gave birth to a healthy daughter.

Joseph Romano. He was an elderly man living with his nieces at the time of the attack. It happened August 1918 when the nieces heard noises coming from his room. When they entered his room to check they found him bleeding from 2 open wounds on his head. He would die from his injuries 2 days later.

Charles, Rosie and Mary Cortimiglia. The family were attacked at their home in March 1919. Their two-year-old daughter Mary died from a blow to the back of her neck, but Charles and his wife Rosie survived.

Steve Boca. Steve was attacked in his bedroom and hit over the head. He was knocked unconscious by the blow, but when he woke up he remembered nothing. He had suffered a serious head injury, and even though he fully recovered he never remembered what happened.

Sarah Kaumann. Attacked in her own home in September 1919. She was discovered by her neighbours when they broke in to check on her. She had a head injury and was missing some of her teeth. The weapon was found covered in blood on the front lawn. Sarah would go on to recover from her injuries but remember nothing.

Mike Pepitone. He was attacked in October 1919 in his bedroom. His wife heard the noises and woke up to find a man fleeing the scene. Mike had a serious head injury and was covered in blood. Unfortunately, Mike died of his injury, and this is the last of the Axeman's alleged murders.

The Suspects

The police questioned several suspects but no arrests were made due to a lack of clues and leads, which meant the killer was never caught. Even today nobody knows the true identity of the Axeman. 

One theory I found was by crime writer Colin Wilson, and he believed that the killer was a man called Joseph Momfre. They also stated that Mike Pepitone's widow shot Momfre dead and this is why the Axeman's spree ended so abruptly. However, there is no evidence to support this theory or any police record that proves the murder took place.

Final Thoughts

I find it crazy that there is still very little known about the killer after so many years. They don't know who actually committed these crimes, nor do they know the motivation behind them. We will probably never know the truth, but I find this case particularly interesting because of the mystery behind it. 

What do you think of the Axeman and their killing spree? Let me know in the comments.

Also please let me know if there are any unsolved cases you'd like me to cover on the blog! Thank you so much for reading.

The Silent Twins

June and Jennifer Gibbons were born on the 11th of April 1963. They were identical twins born in Aden in the Middle East to parents Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons. They moved to the UK with their family and lived in a small town in Wales.

Their Childhood

When the girls were young they would only communicate with each other and their younger sister Rose. They both had a speech impediment and were late speakers which made them hard to understand. This frustrated them so much they decided not to speak at all and it soon became a habit.

The twins were bullied relentlessly at school for being the only black children there, so the teachers started dismissing them 5 minutes early to avoid the bullies. The more they were bullied the less they spoke. This resulted in their speech becoming practically unintelligible to others, they became emotionless, and they would mirror each other's movements. For example, their walking would be synchronised, they would walk with their heads down, and whenever a person looked at them they would stop and only continue when they looked away.

This phenomenon is seen in twins a lot and is called Cryptophasia which means secret speech in Greek. It refers to the private languages used by children - especially twins - and is also known as twin talk or twin speak. Cryptophasia also includes mirrored actions and identical mannerisms.

Adolescence

At the age of 14, the girls were sent to different boarding schools in an effort to get them speaking to other people. Therapists had tried with no success and their parents felt this would help them out of their shells. However, when they were apart they became catatonic.

This only ended when the twins were reunited but they began to isolate themselves further and spent a lot of time in their room with Rose. They spent years together in their room creating plays with their dolls, giving them names, and even documenting their deaths. Eventually, they stopped talking to Rose when she got her own room.

One Christmas they were given matching red diaries and started writing. After studying a creative writing course together they went on to write several novels.

June wrote a story called Pepsi-Cola Addict that was set in an American high school about a teenager being seduced by a teacher. Jennifer wrote a novel called The Pugilist, a story about a physician that kills the family dog to use it's heart in a transplant to save their child's life. As you can see their novels were a bit on the strange side but they also wrote plays and short stories. 

As time went on the twins started to exhibit darker behaviour towards each other. On several occasions, they would fight and become extremely violent. Their fights would include scratching and strangling each other, and during one incident June tried to drown Jennifer. They both wrote regularly about their love-hate relationship in their diaries.

"Nobody suffers the way I do, not with a sister; with a husband, yes; with a wife, yes; with a child, yes, but this sister of mine, a dark shadow robbing me of sunlight, is my one and only torment."

In their teens, they met a couple of American boys and started to go out a lot. They would dabble in drinking alcohol, having sex, and experimenting with marijuana. They did this because it helped them relax and they would talk and laugh more. When the boys told them they were leaving they started to commit petty crimes like shoplifting, which slowly escalated to setting fires to buildings and vandalism. As a result of their behaviour, they were sent to Broadmoor Hospital at the age of 19.

Life at Broadmoor Hospital

Broadmoor Hospital. Credit: Andrew Smith

When they arrived at Broadmoor they wouldn't talk to anyone, so they were given tranquillisers weekly to help them communicate with people. They were kept separated and would only communicate by writing to each other. When they tried to room the twins together it resulted in fighting and they would have to be separated again. June admitted that after the fighting they still loved each other, and they would be upset when they were split up again.

Even though the twins had been talking to others they were not released, and they spent a total of 12 years at Broadmoor. It wasn't until March 9th 1993 that the twins would be transferred to a lower security facility called Caswell Clinic. Allegedly before their transfer, Jennifer announced during a visit that the twins had decided she was going to die. 

While they were being transferred Jennifer said she felt unwell and she fell into what was described as a trance. When they arrived at Caswell Clinic she collapsed. Jennifer died in her sister's lap at only 29 years old. Her cause of death was sudden inflammation of the heart muscle. Her death is classed as a mystery as she was in good health at the time of her death, and no drugs or other substances were found in her system.

June was understandably grief-stricken by the death of her sister and wrote poems about her loss. However, it was reported that she also admitted feeling a sweet release. June wrote in her diary the night of her sister's death saying:

“Today my beloved twin sister Jennifer died. She is dead. Her heart stopped beating. She will never recognise me. Mom and Dad came to see her body. I kissed her stone-coloured face. I went hysterical with grief.”

June was released from Caswell Clinic a year after Jennifer's death and is now able to talk normally. She pursued her dreams of becoming a writer but unfortunately, it never took off. She now lives a quiet life close to her family in Wales. She visits her sisters grave regularly and wrote the following poem for her headstone:

"We once were two

We two made one

We no more two

Through life be one

Rest in peace"

The story of the 'Silent Twins' is commonly referred to as odd or creepy. Personally, I think it's a sad story about two sisters that struggled a lot from a young age with bullying and racism. Unfortunately, their relationship was unhealthy and would fluctuate between a deep love for one another and violent hatred.

Have you ever heard of the Silent Twins before? What is your opinion on their story? Please share below in the comments.