Real
Life Vol 9
*****
Issue No 121 - Contents
Of This Issue
1 Wolf man of Hanover - Fritz Haarmann was a petty criminal but had
a close relationship with the local police, whom he supplied with black
market goods as well as information. It took years for the authorities
to realise that his other activities were somewhat more sinister.
2 The Acid Torturer - Dr Geza de Kaplany - A jealous doctor said that
he slashed his wife and then poured acid over her in an attempt to 'spoil
her beauty'. But the callous attack not only disfigured the young
woman, it ended in her death.
3 Death in Dublin - Mrs Lavina Ball - An abandoned car in a lonely
lane in southern Ireland was the start of a murder investigation.
But to this day despite the conviction of the killer, the body of the middle
aged victim has never been found.
Issue No 122
- Contents Of This Issue
1 The Lincoln Axe Murders - Dennis Smalley - At first, it looked like
a robbery that had gone wrong. But farmer Fred Maltby had been hacked
to death in a needlessly brutal manner - and soon the police had yet another
murder on their hands.
2 Sniffing them out - Man's best friend - the dog - plays an important
role in police work, from tracking down criminals to sniffing out drugs.
And now an electronic nose has been developed that could prove to be an
important tool in the fight against crime.
3 The Jeep-Jacking Killer - Scott Nappi lived to tell the tale. From
his hospital bed, his head bandaged from a gunshot wound, the 18 year old
student told the police what had happened on a day that had begun with
laughter and ended with his best friend being slaughtered by a killer who
wanted to steal his Wrangler Jeep.
Issue No 123
- Contents Of This Issue
1 An Orgy of Murder - Arthur Shawcross killed two children. But after
spending just 14 years in prison, he was released. He moved to a
new area and started a new life. But within a year prostitutes began
to disappear, their bodies dumped near the local river.
2 A Female Assassin - In one of the most bizarre shootings ever, a
hospital patient was gunned down as he stood using a public telephone in
a corridor. It took some time for staff to realise that the unbelievable
had happened - and even longer for the police to find the culprit.
3 Murderous Mechanic - Vivian Messiter's killer probably thought he
had completely erased any trace of his presence at the scene of the crime.
But the discovery of a letter soon put police on to his trail.
Issue No 124
- Contents Of This Issue
1 A Fatal Obsession - Curtis Howard - Unrequited love can be a devastating
experience - but when American student Curtis Howard was rejected by the
English girl he had fallen in love with, he pursued and tormented her beyond
reason. And, eventually he killed her.
2 The Mystery of Wolfs Nick - Just before she died, a female taxi driver
said that she had been murdered. But who was the stranger who had set light
to Evelyn Foster's car while she was still in it? And was all her
deathbed statement really true.
3 The Murdering Doctor - Dr John Dale Cavaness - The death of a doctor's
son was viewed by many as a tragic accident. But then, seven years
later, his younger brother was found murdered. Had both boys died
at the hands of their cruel father.
Issue No 125
- Contents Of This Issue
1 Family Bomb Attack - Steven Benson planned to blow up his mother,
brother and sister - the heirs to the family fortune. But he didn't
get away with it, one member of the family survived to testify against
him.
2 Hitman on a Motorbike - Someone had wanted Donald Urquhart dead.
The police were tipped off with the name of the killer he hired, but to
get the evidence they needed officers to set up an undercover operation,
hoping to trap the man into condemning himself out of his own mouth.
3 A Scarlet Woman - When Charlotte Bryant thought that her husband
was becoming between herself and her gypsy lover, she decided there was
only one option, to get rid of him for good.
Issue No 126
- Contents Of This Issue
1 Horror at Hungerford - Michael Ryan - Hungerford is the sort of quiet
market town where nothing ever happens. But one day in August 1987,
the peace was shattered by a hail of bullets and 16 people lay dead.
2 Killing to Impress - Hulten and Jones - In the early hours of a wartime
October morning, a nightwatchman heard a single gunshot. It signalled
the brutal and senseless murder of a taxi driver, who had been killed by
a man who simply wanted to show off to his new girlfriend.
3 Son of Satan - Sean Sellers was just 16 when he brutally slaughtered
his mother and stepfather. But the teenager claimed that he was possessed
by demons, and Satan had driven him to kill.
Issue No 127
- Contents Of This Issue
1 Manhattan Murder Spree - Joel Rifkin - The police stopped Joel Rifkin
for dangerous driving - and were horrified to discover a body in the boot
of his truck. Then to their astonishment, he told officers that this
was not his only victim, in four years he had abducted and murdered at
least 17 women.
2 The Shadow Killer - A small French town became the focal point for
one of the longest manhunts in French criminal history. For seven
years, police hunted for a killer who shot his victims with a rifle.
3 Death of a Car Salesman - The shooting of wealthy Harry Fuller and
his wife at first baffled police. But two vital clues, followed by
a TV appeal, eventually led them to the killer.
Issue No 128
- Contents Of This Issue
1 I am guilty - Ruth Ellis - Famous as the last woman to be hanged
in Britain. Ruth Ellis was a good time girl who was sorely provoked
by her charming but heartless lover. But, far from trying to make excuses
for killing him, she seemed determined to die too.
2 The Killer Policeman - Howard Wilson - An armed robbery at a Scotish
bank ended in tragedy. Two police officers were shot dead by the
leader of the gang when they were called to investigate suspicious goings-on
at a flat where the robbers were storing the loot.
3 The Silken Strangler - By day Michael Lupo was the manager of a high
class fashion boutique. But in the evening he cruised London's gay
nightspots, where he chose his victims and lured them to their deaths.
Issue No 129
- Contents Of This Issue
1 The Lonely Hearts Killers - Beck & Fernandez - They
were a deadly duo. The odd looking couple travelled around America conning
lonely women out of their savings, and then jealousy led to murder.
2 The Third Musketeer - In the 1940's Donald Teare was one of the up-and-coming
trio of forensic pathologists that the press dubbed 'The Three Musketeers'.
Although due to his quieter nature he may not be as well known as his counterparts
Keith Simpson and Francis Camps, he was involved in many prominent cases
during his career.
3 Death in the Woods - Sandra Wignall was the epitome of the grieving
widow when her husband of just nine months was brutally murdered as they
walked in local woods. She said she had never seen the killers before,
and couldn't understand why they had picked on her husband. But Sandra
was lying, and police soon discovered why.
Issue No 130
- Contents Of This Issue
1 The Pied Piper - Dean Corll - In the early 1970's a large number
of teenage boys went missing from a suburb of Houston. The police
told parents that there sons had probably run away. It wasn't until
the death of a local man that the horrific fate of the missing boys was
revealed.
2 Misjudged Monster - Actor Philip Drew was spotted by witnesses near
the scene of a brutal murder. The police did not have enough evidence
to charge him with the killing - but he was virtually tried in the coroner's
court in a case that led to the revision of the law.
3 The Witchcraft Murder - Charles Walton - It was the case that baffled
the famous Fabian of the Yard and firearms expert Robert Churchill for
years. An elderly farm worker was brutally murdered, with all the
hallmarks of a pagan ritual. Was he really a victim of witchcraft,
or had the killer covered his tracks with a series of false clues.
Issue No 131
- Contents Of This Issue
1 Kidnapper and Killer - Keith Rose thought he had got away with murder
after a bungled kidnap attempt in 1981. But eight years later he
tried again, kidnapping a wealthy businessman. This time he was caught.
2 The Mystery of Bashall Eaves - James Dawson - The newspapers called
it 'the perfect crime'. It wasn't of course. But the shooting
of James Dawson in the lonely Yorkshire village of Bashall Eaves has defied
all attempts to fathom its mystery for over 60 years. So, as the
murderer is now almost certainly dead, Dawson's killing has, in a way,
achieved perfection with the passing of the decades.
3 Date with a Murderer - John Knowles - It was the ultimate nightmare.
An English woman on business in the USA started a relationship with a friendly
good looking man - and later discovered that he was a brutal serial
killer.
4 Analysing Toolmarks - When a burglar breaks into a building he often
needs to force an entry. For this he may use a variety of tools,
which more often than not leave distinguishing marks. Experts can
match these impressions with a suspected implement.
Issue No 132
- Contents Of This Issue
1 Texas Teen Killer - David Spence - The brutal murders of three teenagers
shocked the Texas community of Waco. The police had little evidence
to go on, however, and after just seven weeks the case was suspended.
But one determined officer vowed that he would find the killers, and eventually
his dedication paid off.
2 Driven to Kill - Marguerite Fahmy never denied shooting her husband.
But had she killed him in seft defence, as she claimed, after he threatened
to kill her.
3 The Wayward Wastrel - Roger Severs parents had given him everything,
but he wanted more. And when his doting parents told him that he
would not get anymore money he repaid the elderly couple by bludgeoning
them to death.
Issue No 133
- Contents Of This Issue
1 Death and Family Fraud - Baroness De Stempel - When police investigated
the murder of an elderly gentleman they discovered more than they bargained
for. Although his killer was never found, a tale of family greed
and fraud was uncovered. And the main character in the case was a
baroness - the dead man's wife.
2 Investigator and Innovator - In a career spanning more than 30 years,
Professor Alan Usher has been one of the country's most distinguished pathologists.
His crowning achievement was the establishment of the standard bearing
Medico-Legal Centre of the University of Sheffield.
3 The Fatal Attraction Killer - School teacher Carolyn Warmus was obsessed
with her married lover. But her obsession turned to tragedy
when she callously gunned down his wife in cold blood.
Issue No 134
- Contents Of This Issue
1 The Green River Killer - In the early 1980's, 49 women, mainly prostitutes
disappeared from the Seattle/Tacoma area. But despite a seven year
investigation the killer was never caught.
2 Searching for Dead Bodies - Murderers often hide the bodies of their
victims and since the corpse is the key to solving most killings, police
will make great efforts to find the remains. Nowadays, new technology
has joined dogs and legwork to play an important part in such searches.
3 From Family man to Murderer - Lock Ah Tam was a respected businessman
and a pillar of the local Chinese community. But in 1925 he was charged
with killing three members of his family at their Liverpool home.
4 Buried in the Garden - For years June Scotland and her children had
suffered mental torture at the hands of her violent husband. But
one day she decided she could take no more.
Issue No 135
- Contents Of This Issue
Full Real Life Crimes Index
.
For more information contact:
Gregg Manning