The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes
Brought to you by KeVkRaY
Robin Odell
was born in Hampshire in 1935. After training as a laboratory technician and developing an interest in forensic science, he turned to crime writing as a pastime. His first book,
Jack the Ripper in Fact & Fiction
, published in 1965, is still regarded as an important contribution to the subject. In a writing career spanning over forty years, he has written or co-written eighteen books in the fields of true crime, forensic investigations and criminal history. He won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1980 for
The Murderers’ Who’s Who
and again in 2007 for
Ripperology
. He also lectures extensively to clubs and societies on crime cases.
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Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2010
Copyright © Robin Odell, 2010 (unless otherwise indicated)
The right of Robin Odell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication
Data is available from the British Library
UK ISBN 978-1-84529-781-7
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First published in the United States in 2010 by Running Press Book Publishers All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.
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Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing
US Library of Congress number: 2009929933
US ISBN 978-0-7624-3844-0
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Printed and bound in the EU
In Memory of
Wilf Gregg
Contents
Acknowledgments
There have been many pathfinders on the trail of bizarre murders. Detectives, lawyers, judges, pathologists, coroners, forensic scientists and criminologists have published accounts of the murders they have encountered in the course of their professional careers. Their books offer a feast for researchers, historians and crime writers.
Then there are the crime reporters, journalists and true crime writers themselves, who collect, interpret, analyse and expand on particular murders for the benefit of a wider audience. Playwrights, film script writers and dramatists add their contribution to the murder mix, exposing social issues and using drama to probe for explanations.
I pay tribute to this college of crime cognoscenti in the exercise of their knowledge, descriptive skills and analytical acumen. The literature of true crime is vast, well-documented and supplemented by the internet. The writers are too numerous to acknowledge individually, beyond a select bibliography, but I would like to salute them collectively.
I would like to express personal thanks to Pete Duncan and Duncan Proudfoot of Constable & Robinson for welcoming me to the inner circle of Mammoth authors. A big thank you goes to Annie Hepburn who processed all the words and provided encouragement and helpful comment.
And finally, my thanks to Non Davies for her loving support throughout.
Introduction
Setting the Crime Scene
“Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange; stranger than fiction.”
Lord Byron
This book of bizarre murders was conceived in the gentle ambience of a garden party. The late Wilf Gregg, a chronicler of the criminous, held an annual lunch at his Middlesex home attended by friends, fellow crime writers and criminologists of every denomination.
One of the benefits of Wilf’s hospitality was to browse in his extensive library of books on true crime and his meticulously archived collection of press cuttings. While idly turning the pages of books and leafing through press reports of murder cases, we commented not only on the sheer variety of murders but on the esoteric nature of the events described. Exclamations such as unbelievable, weird and bizarre came readily to mind.
It might be thought that murder presented as fictional entertainment on cinema and television screens is frequently implausible. Yet in its bizarre, extraordinary and frequently farcical consequences it is invariably bettered by the real thing – truth really is stranger than fiction. This is often borne out in real life. It certainly applies to the realm of murder where it is underwritten by the circumstances and exotic details of many crimes. The reported details of murders featuring in the news media frequently fall into that category where the conclusion is, “You couldn’t make it up!” Why not, we thought, compile a collection of true murder stories distinguished by their stranger-than-fiction content?