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O'Connor, Edward
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O'Connor, Jeremiah
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O'Donnell, Charles
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O'Donnell, Leo George
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O'Donnell, Patrick
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O'Keefe, Timothy
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Olsen, Clifford
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O'Leary Cornelius
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O'Neill, William
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Onufrejczyk, Michael
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Orrock, Thomas Henry
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Owen, John
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Olsen, Clifford
It was to be a christmas day no-one would ever forget. It was 1980 in Vancouver
when the body of 12 year old Christine Weller was found. Her body had been
badly mutilated. A few months later in the spring another girl vanished.
She was 13 year old Coleen Daignault. Almost at the same time the body
of 16 year old Darren Johnsrud was found in some woodland, he had a fractured
skull. The police were worried but seemed to have little to go on. What
they did know is that they needed to catch this man soon before he killed
again.
On 19 May 1981 16 year old Sandra Wolfsteiner was seen hitching a ride
in a car and was never seen again. In June of the same year 13 year old
Ada Court disapeared whilst walking home in Coquitlam. At the same time
9 year old Susan Partington disapeared after being seen talking to a man
in a shopping centre in Surrey.
Raymond king went missing in early July and this was followed two days
later when Judy Kozma went missing after being picked up by a man in the
suburb of New Westminster, she was only 14 years old. Her body was found
in late July in lake Weaver which is near Agassiz. She had been stabbed
to death, the body of Raymond King was also found.
Although the murders had been fast and furious police had also been
very busy and had been concentrating their efforts on the Weaver lake area.
As is common in a case like this all known criminals are looked at and
one such criminal was Clifford Raymond Olson.
Olson was a criminal with a varied past, he had a total of 94 previous
convictions ranging from fraud to armed robbery and even rape. He was forty
two years old and was married with a baby son. They lived on the outskirts
of Vancouver and the police decided to keep an eye on him. Even so in late
July he was responsible for the murder of Louise Chartrand and Terri Lynn.
He also murdered a German tourist by the name of Sigrun Arnd.
Olson was apprehended whilst trying to pick up two girls in his van.
A search was carried out on the vehicle and a notebook was found which
contained the address of Judy Kozma, one of his earlier victims. Olson
was taken into custody and charged with eleven murders although it was
suspected that he may have been responsible for more than this. He eventually
pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced by Justice Mckay to eleven
concurrent life sentences.
Onufrejczyk, Michael
In November 1954 Michael Onufrejczyk was tried in a court in
Swansea for the murder of his partner Stanislaw Sykut who he had
apparently killed in order to get possession of his half of the farm.
For this act of greed he was sentenced to death but this was later commuted
to life imprisonment.
O'Leary Cornelius
Forty year old Cornelius O'Leary was convicted along with his sister, Hannah
O'Leary, who was thirty seven, of the murder of their brother, Patrick,
whom they killed with a hatchet at Kilkerran, Co Cork on 26 February. Both
were sentenced to death by Mr Justice Hanna on 23 June, though Hannah was
recommended for mercy and her sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Cornelius O'Leary was hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint on the 28th July 1925
in Dublin..
Owen, John
Thirty eight year old John Owen, otherwise known as John Jones was
a Wolverhampton born drifter convicted of mass murder, claiming Emmanuel
Marshall and six members of his family at Denham village, Middlesex, as
his victims. Marshall was the village blacksmith and had previously employed
Owen as a casual worker. On 22 May he gained entry into the house and systematically
beat to death each member of the family before stealing Marshall's best
suit, then after smashing up a portrait of the man he crept out into the
night. Owen was seen leaving the house and soon arrested. The motive for
the murders was a grudge he bore against the blacksmith believing that
he was being paid an unfair wage. After being sentenced to death he asked
to spend the last two nights of his life in the coffin which he was to
be buried in, and on the morning of his execution he threatened to punch
Calcraft in the mouth for not having the courtesy of visiting him in the
cell on the previous day. He was hanged by William Calcraft on the 8th
August 1870 in Aylesbury.
O'Donnell, Charles
On Sunday 30th October, fifty seven year old Charles O'Donnell, a labourer
and former asylum inmate, visited some friends alone, and during dinner
he made certain statements that made them suspicious as to why his wife
Elizabeth hadn't accompanied him to their house.
They knew that the couple, who had been married for two years, had
been separated since he was released from the asylum and had only recently
got back together and moved into a room in Chelsea. Next morning they notified
the police who called at the room and found Mrs O'Donnell dead in bed.
She had been battered to death with a pair of tongs that lay bloodstained
on the floor. A neighbour in the flats told police that earlier in the
week Mrs O'Donnell had given her some money to keep safe as her husband
wanted to take it off' her. He was hanged by William Marwood on the 11th
December 1876 at Newgate.
O'Keefe, Timothy
Timothy O'Keefe was convicted at his second trial of the murder of his
uncle, John O'Keefe, who was shot dead at Kingwilliamstown on Sunday 30
April 1882. At the first trial the jury had failed to agree, but at the
second, the prosecution claimed there was evidence that proved the prisoner's
guilt. They alleged that Timothy's father had financial difficulties and
had to sell their farm. The uncle bought the farm and evicted his brother
when he couldn't pay his debts. The execution was originally scheduled
for the 26th April but had to be put back as William Marwood was otherwise
engaged. When he eventually carried out the job, he gave O'Keefe a drop
of nine feet. He was hanged on the 30th April 1883 at Cork at the age of
twenty.
O'Donnell, Patrick
Patrick O'Donnell was an Irishman who was convicted at the Central Criminal
Court in November for the murder of James Carey. The murdered man was an
informer whose testimony had sent five men to the gallows in Dublin for
the Phoenix Park Murders. Carey was being escorted from Capetown to Port
Elizabeth on board the ship 'Melrose'. O'Donnell had boarded the vessel
and shot the informer while at sea on 30 July. He was hanged by Binns and
Alfred Archer on the 17th December 1884 at Newgate. He was twenty
eight when he died..
Orrock, Thomas Henry
Thomas Henry Orrock was a Dalston born criminal from a respectable religious
family, who purchased a revolver from the 'Exchange & Mart' and used
it to murder a policeman. On 1 December 1882, he set off alone to commit
a burglary, armed with a selection of chisels and his gun. On that night,
London was immersed in a thick fog and Orrock took the opportunity of this
natural cover to carry out his first job, and therefore earn the respect
of the criminal fraternity he had recently started mixing with. He selected
the local chapel as his target but as he carried out his reconnaissance,
he was seen by two police officers, one of whom, a Sergeant Cobb, knew
him well. Orrock acted naturally and the two officers walked past and out
of sight. A few minutes later, as he was trying to force one of the chapel's
windows, Orrock was seized by another police officer, PC Cole, and dropped
his chisel during the struggle before Cole took a firm hold of his arm
and escorted him to the station. Fearing that the arrest and probable subsequent
imprisonment would make him a laughing stock among his new friends, Orrock
decided to pull out the gun with his free hand and frighten the officer
into releasing him. PC Cole merely responded to the threat by taking a
tighter grip and so Orrock pointed the gun and fired four shots at the
constable, fatally wounding him. The gunman then fled into the fog and
escaped. Two women who had witnessed the shooting gave a description to
Sergeant Cobb who, remembering seeing Orrock, quickly had a suspect. The
chisel dropped by Orrock when he was apprehended by Cole was found and
had the letters R-0-C-K scratched on the side. Orrock was brought in and
placed on an identity parade but the two women witnesses failed to recognise
him and when he was released. he quickly disappeared from the area. It
was over a year later when Sergeant Cobb. who had vowed to bring his colleague's
killer to justice, learned that Orrock had been practising shooting his
gun on some marshes just before the murder. He was taken to a tree and
was able to find several bullets which later were discovered to match those
removed from the murdered officer. A search eventually located Orrock in
Coldbath Prison. where he was serving a stretch for burglary. He was arrested
for PC Cole's murder and as more evidence against him was amassed, he was
charged. Sergeant Cobb even managed to find the person who had scratched
the name on the chisel when Orrock took it to him to be sharpened. He was
convicted at the Old Bailey on 17 September and sentenced to death. He
did not have long to wait and was hanged on the 6th October 1884 at Newgate.
O'Connor, Jeremiah
Fifty two year old Jeremiah O'Connor was a coal miner who was convicted
of the brutal murder of Mary Donnelly, who was found horribly mutilated.
Mary was a young girl whose father had been killed in the West Stanley
mine disaster on 8 January 1909 (in which 160 people lost their lives).
O'Connor told the police that the girl had been killed by a navvy who had
also wounded him when he tried to save the girl. A doctor argued that the
wounds O'Connor had received could easily have been self-inflicted. He
was found guilty and hanged by Henry Pierrepoint and William Willis on
the 23rd February 1909 at Durham.
O'Donnell, Leo George
Twenty two year old Leo George O'Donnell was a Sergeant in the Royal Army
Medical Corps convicted at Hampshire Assizes on 9 February of the murder
of a Lieutenant William Watterton at Aldershot. On New Year's Day 1917,
O'Donnell announced his engagement to the daughter of Lieutenant Watterton,
a quartermaster ofTicer at a nearby hospital. Later that day, Miss Watterton,
who served in the Women's Auxiliary Service, obtained a night pass so that
she could celebrate her engagement with a girlfriend. After a night's drinking,
the girls returned to Lieutenant Watterton's bungalow, expecting to find
him home. He was not there and they decided to wait for him. At l 1.30pm,
O'Donnell called round and said that the Lieutenant had left earlier that
night for an urgent appointment. The statement implied that O'Donnell could
have been at the bungalow earlier; and his sudden return so late made the
two women suspicious. Shortly before midnight, O'Donnell left and headed
for the hospital where he asked to be shown into the quartermaster's office
- where patients' valuables were kept - claiming to have been sent by the
Lieutenant. Unable to produce the pass key, O'Donnell was refused entry
and he returned to his billet. The next day, William Watterton's body was
found in a trench on a nearby training ground. He had been battered to
death - there were over twenty four cuts to his head - and his pockets
had been rifled. O'Donnell was arrested at once when it was learned that
he had tried to gain entry to the offices. While held on remand, he offered
a friend £250 if he would provide him with an alibi. Tried before
Mr Justice Darling, O'Donnell denied the murder. The prosecution said he
had committed the crime in order to obtain the key to the quartermaster's
office and thereby steal the valuables within. O'Donnell claimed that the
real killer was a man blackmailing Watterton over an alleged affair with
a young Spanish girl. He was hanged, at Manchester, in a prison uniform
by John Ellis and Robert Baxter on the 29th March 1917 at Winchester.
O'Connor, Edward
Edward O'Connor was convicted of the murder of his five year old son, Thomas,
at Stafford, on Sunday 31st July. At Sam that morning, he went to
his local police station and told the startled desk sergeant: 'Come on,
I'll find you a job. I've killed three or four of my kids with these,'
he said, offering a pair of blood stained razors. 'I could not find the
missus and youngest or I would have done them in too!' Police accompanied
him back to his house and found one child dead from neck injuries and three
others in a serious condition. They subsequently recovered. On 16 November,
O'Connor stood trial at Stafford Assizes and blamed his mother-in-law for
his unhappy marriage, which had led him to commit the terrible crime. He
left a last letter for his wife written on the morning of his execution:
'Well, Lizzie, by the time you get my letter I will have gone to my maker...
It is God's will that I leave this world of trials. I am reconciled to
that fate ... I shall remember you, Lizzie, my wife, and I ask you sometimes
to remember me in your prayers.' It ended with: 'Kiss the children for
me. God bless you all. As I think, I hear you as of old, calling 'Ted,
good-bye." He was hanged by John Ellis on the 22nd December 1921 at Birmingham.
O'Neill, William
Nineteen year old William O'Neill was convicted of the murder of Margaret
Farrell at Carriglineen, Co Wicklow in May. She was found with her hands
tied behind her back and a scarf tightly knotted over her mouth which had
suffocated her. Tried before Mr Justice Johnson on 2 December, the judge
told the court he was convinced of O'Neill's guilt, while the jury strongly
recommended him to mercy on account of his youth and the lack of parental
care during his upbringing. He was hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robinson
on the 29th December 1927 at Dublin.
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For more information contact:
Gregg Manning
