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.

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. 

The tale of Sawney Bean inspired Wes Craven's 1977 horror movie The Hills Have Eyes. The Hills Have Eyes earned 25 million dollars and there have been sequels and remakes since the original was released. The movie became a franchise and there are graphic novels and merchandise available too.

So, who was Sawney Bean? Sawney Bean was the leader of a clan in Scotland. His clan was a good size and it had 45 members in total. They were active in the 16th century and were executed for the mass killing and cannibalisation of around 1000 people.

It's not known if Sawney Bean ever existed as there is no documentation to prove it, but it's a well-known story in Edinburgh and has become part of the tourism.

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

The Tale of Sawney Bean

Alexander "Sawney" Bean was born in East Lothian, Scotland. His father was a ditch-digger and Bean tried to follow in his father's footsteps. However, he lost interest in labour and realised it wasn't for him.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

He met and fell for a woman called Agnes Douglas who had been accused of being a witch by the locals. The couple left, began robbing and cannibalised one of their victims.

On their travels, they found a cave on the coast and decided to live there. In their 25 years living in the cave, they had 8 sons, 6 daughters, 18 grandsons and 14 granddaughters. Various grandchildren were products of incestuous intercourse between the children and their parents.

To feed their growing clan they would ambush people at night to rob them, and then take the bodies back to their cave to eat them.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The locals noticed people were disappearing and body parts were washing up on the coast. They would leave body parts to be found so the locals would blame it on a beast. This meant that they had no idea that the clan lived so close.

Several searches took place to find the person or animal responsible for the murders. They found the cave but they never searched the cave because they didn't believe anyone could live there. Some locals even believed it was a goblin-like creature. As a result, several innocent people were accused and killed, but the murders didn't stop.

They were discovered one night when they attacked a young married couple. Unfortunately for them he was skilled in combat and fought them off with a sword and pistol. His poor wife was not so lucky, and when she fell the clan attacked her.  Before they could finish off the husband a group of people from a fayre nearby appeared, and the clan had to flee.

Sawney Bean's Cave. Image credit: Mary and Angus Hogg

Now their existence was known they were hunted. 400 men with bloodhounds searched for the clan on behalf of the king. The eventually found the cave, and when they got inside they found a horrifying scene. They found human remains hung and dried, the cave reeked of decay, and there were barrels of pickled and salted body parts. They also found stolen goods which consisted of gold, silver, watches, rings and weapons. 

What Happened Then?

The ending of this chilling story has 2 versions, and it's unknown which of them is true. 

Version 1:

This version tells how the clan were captured alive, and they put up no fight. They were taken to jail in chains and executed without trial. The clan showed no remorse for what they did.

Sawney and the other males had their genitalia removed and thrown into a fire. They then had their feet and hands severed and were left to bleed to death. Sawneys last words were:

"It isn't over, it will never be over."

Agnes and the girls watched the men die before they were burnt at the stake for their crimes.

Version 2:

In this version, the cave entrance was blown in using gunpowder. This left the Bean clan to suffocate inside with no way to escape.

Final Thoughts

Cannibalism is horrific but has been around since prehistoric times. However, this does not excuse what this clan did. This tale is gruesome from beginning to end, and I have never been one to enjoy movies that involve cannibalism, such as The Hills Have Eyes.

I had never heard of this tale before, but I found it very interesting to read about! Even though there is no proof the clan actually existed.

What do you think of this tale? Do you think it could be real or is it just a myth? Please let me know in the comments!