Getting back to unsolved murders on this side of the pond, we look at the case of a young teenage girl that was murdered just over twenty years ago. The case of Lindsay Jo Rimer, aged 13. Lindsay, born February 17th 1981, was discovered in the Rochdale Canal five months later, just a mile away from her home in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. She vanished on the evening of November 7th 1994, as she went to a local Spar supermarket to purchase some food. She stopped off at a pub, the Trades Club in Holme Street, where her mother was having a drink with a friend. She asked Lindsay if she wanted to stay and have a soft drink but Lindsay declined, making her way to the shop. CCTV cameras recorded being in the store at 10.22pm but after that, she vanished. A huge search was initiated the following day, with hundreds of volunteers searching through the town but nothing was found.
Police looked into the possibility of family problems and that she simply ran away, but this was strenuously denied by her family. One of her sisters took part in a reconstruction of her movements that night, but this still did not produce any leads. Five months later, on April 12th 1995, two workmen came upon her body in the Rochdale Canal. She had been weighted down. The Post Mortem was carried out by Professor Mike Green at the Royal Halifax Royal Infirmary. lindsay had been strangled but there was no sign of sexual assault. Despite an extensive investigation, nobody has been charged. Suspects such as John Taylor, the killer of Leanne Tiernan, have been looked at but there is nothing to connect him to Lindsay's murder. As ever, if anybody knows anything, do the decent thing and report it.
Friday, 31 July 2015
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Tales From The Wirral
Coming from the Wirral Peninsula, it is understandable that every so often I like to post stories from around the area. It was a haven for smugglers, particularly at the northern end. Pubs like Old Mother Redcap's - near the Floral Pavilion - was somewhere that the smugglers and bandits could take their loot and hide it in one of its many hiding places. Traps were laid to catch out any customs officers. The pub name went back to the 1770`s, and a woman called Polly Jones, a friend to sailors and bandits, who reputedly wore a red cap.
Birkenhead is long known as a rough area - at one time in the 1950`s, there were more attacks on people in the street than anywhere else in the country. There will always be the persistent offenders in all towns and cities. Elizabeth Formstone was one such person. She had been charged more than seventy times for drunkenness, prostitution and other petty offences. In February 1891, she encountered a Constable in Market Street and gave him a volley of abuse. Constable Mountfield was very familiar with this woman, and told her to move on. She was shouting obscenities about another Constable who had pressed charges against her. She then went into a pub and carried on her tirade. The landlord quickly led her out but she turned and started attacking him. PC Mountfield struggled to arrest her but eventually he got her into the station. As she was being booked in, she attacked Mountfield again, who had to subdue her and place her in a cell. She appeared before a Magistrate the next day, who was very familiar with her. She faced two charges, was convicted and given two months hard labour on both charges. She reacted by grabbing a Policeman`s helmet and throwing it at the Magistrate.
This tale from the Wirral, was one that happened in my old neck of the woods: Little Sutton. On April 2nd 1907, a young lady named Margaret Jones was returning to her home in Great Sutton, from Chester, by train. She alighted at the tiny station at Little Sutton and proceeded to walk home, which would have been a bit of a journey. She suddenly found a young man walking alongside, trying to strike up a conversation. This was 18 year old Edward Warrington from the tiny village of Capenhurst - I used to work near there - but she ignored him. Suddenly, he grabbed her and they struggled. He tore his tie in half and shoved it into her mouth, to try and silence her, but her continued screams drove him away. She reached home safely. Two days later, she spotted him driving a horse and trap, and quickly alerted the beat constable who arrested him. He appeared before the County Police Court and was found guilty and sentenced to six weeks jail, after a plea for leniency was made by his family. There was no explanation for his actions.
A minor tale was that of a youth who killed a cat simply because it wandered into his bedroom. This occurred in the tiny and lovely little village called Thornton Hough - a great pub is the Cheshire Cat - in November 1919. James Hayes was awoken by his sister shouting that a cat had wandered into the house and upstairs. For some unknown reason, Hayes totally over-reacted and smashed the cat over the back with his father`s walking stick, after chasing it downstairs. He then picked it up and threw it out into the garden. The cat`s owner, Agnes Taylor, witnessed this and furiously confronted him. He claimed he did it because he was scared of it. Mrs Taylor brought a Police Officer, whom Hayes confessed to, saying he did not mean to harm it. Before Neston Petty Sessions, he pleaded guilty and showed remorse and was ordered to replace Mrs Taylor`s Cat! What a punishment!
Birkenhead is long known as a rough area - at one time in the 1950`s, there were more attacks on people in the street than anywhere else in the country. There will always be the persistent offenders in all towns and cities. Elizabeth Formstone was one such person. She had been charged more than seventy times for drunkenness, prostitution and other petty offences. In February 1891, she encountered a Constable in Market Street and gave him a volley of abuse. Constable Mountfield was very familiar with this woman, and told her to move on. She was shouting obscenities about another Constable who had pressed charges against her. She then went into a pub and carried on her tirade. The landlord quickly led her out but she turned and started attacking him. PC Mountfield struggled to arrest her but eventually he got her into the station. As she was being booked in, she attacked Mountfield again, who had to subdue her and place her in a cell. She appeared before a Magistrate the next day, who was very familiar with her. She faced two charges, was convicted and given two months hard labour on both charges. She reacted by grabbing a Policeman`s helmet and throwing it at the Magistrate.
This tale from the Wirral, was one that happened in my old neck of the woods: Little Sutton. On April 2nd 1907, a young lady named Margaret Jones was returning to her home in Great Sutton, from Chester, by train. She alighted at the tiny station at Little Sutton and proceeded to walk home, which would have been a bit of a journey. She suddenly found a young man walking alongside, trying to strike up a conversation. This was 18 year old Edward Warrington from the tiny village of Capenhurst - I used to work near there - but she ignored him. Suddenly, he grabbed her and they struggled. He tore his tie in half and shoved it into her mouth, to try and silence her, but her continued screams drove him away. She reached home safely. Two days later, she spotted him driving a horse and trap, and quickly alerted the beat constable who arrested him. He appeared before the County Police Court and was found guilty and sentenced to six weeks jail, after a plea for leniency was made by his family. There was no explanation for his actions.
A minor tale was that of a youth who killed a cat simply because it wandered into his bedroom. This occurred in the tiny and lovely little village called Thornton Hough - a great pub is the Cheshire Cat - in November 1919. James Hayes was awoken by his sister shouting that a cat had wandered into the house and upstairs. For some unknown reason, Hayes totally over-reacted and smashed the cat over the back with his father`s walking stick, after chasing it downstairs. He then picked it up and threw it out into the garden. The cat`s owner, Agnes Taylor, witnessed this and furiously confronted him. He claimed he did it because he was scared of it. Mrs Taylor brought a Police Officer, whom Hayes confessed to, saying he did not mean to harm it. Before Neston Petty Sessions, he pleaded guilty and showed remorse and was ordered to replace Mrs Taylor`s Cat! What a punishment!
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
The "Looking For Mr Goodbar" Murder - Roseann Quinn
Do you remember the film starring Diane Keaton & Richard Gere, about the film with the teacher who led a double life? It was based on a real case from a couple of years before, that of Roseann Quinn. The case inspired the novel by Judith Rossner - "Looking for Mr Goodbar." What happened? Roseann Quinn was born November 17th 1944 in the Bronx to John & Roseann Quinn, who also had two sons and another daughter. At the age of 11, her family moved to Mine Hill Township in New Jersey, where her father worked as an executive for Bell Laboratories. Roseann contracted Polio at the age of 13, requiring her to spend a year in hospital, which left her with a slight limp. She attended Morris Catholic High School in Denville, NJ and graduated from there in 1962. She then enrolled in the Newark State Teachers School and graduated from there in 1966.
She found work in 1969 at St Joseph's School for the Deaf, in the Bronx, teaching a small group of eight year olds. In May 1972, she moved into an apartment at 253 West 72nd Street. She kept herself to herself when she went out but struck up a conversation with a man after lip reading what he was saying. Then it became known that she took men back to her apartment, regardless of their temperament. Neighbours became used to hearing shouting, scuffles and her sporting bruises. She had enrolled at Hunter College and was halfway through her course to getting her degree in teaching deaf children. On New Year`s Day 1973, she went to a bar W.M.Tweeds, where she met John Wilson. He had been drinking with a friend, Gary Guest, who left the bar before Roseann entered. They went back to her apartment and shared some marijuana and then tried to have sex with Roseann. He later claimed that he was unable to get it up and so Roseann taunted and insulted him. She then told him to get out and a struggle broke out. He picked up a knife and stabbed her eighteen times. He also claimed that Roseann pleaded with him to kill her!
Wilson then said that he showered, covered her body, wiped around the apartment to remove fingerprints and then left. (Effectively destroying any claim of insanity) He returned to he was staying with Guest and told him of the murder. Guest believed he was making it up in order to get money for a plane ticket. Guest gave him money and so he flew to Miami to meet his wife and then flew home to Indiana. Roseann was discovered on January 3rd, when she had not appeared at school, and had sent somebody to check her apartment. The building superintendent let them in and Roseann was found. Her body was identified by her brother John. She was buried at St Mary`s Cemetery in Mine Hill.
The Police had nothing to go on. Nobody could remember the man she left with but a sketch was done of a man; Gary Guest. He saw the newspaper article on the case with the sketch. He contacted two friends, Ebb & Greenwood but would not discuss details over the phone. He travelled to Los Angeles and told Ebb the full story. He in turn contacted a therapist who recommended a lawyer. The Lawyer advised Guest to return to New York and the friends to say nothing. After going back to New York, it still took a fortnight for him to be persuaded to talk to the Police. Detectives travelled to Indianapolis, and with a local cop, arrested Wilson at his mother`s home. Wilson was detained at Manhattan Detention Center, otherwise known as "The Tombs" then transferred to Bellevue Hospital for tests. Then he was taken back to the Tombs and put on suicide watch, but had a dispute with a guard and threatened suicide. The guard taunted him and offered him sheets so he could hang himself, and indeed, later threw sheets into the cell. He hung himself. It was May 5th 1973. Gary Guest was guilt ridden over his friend and had moved to Arizona and checked himself into a mental hospital as a John Doe.
What drives people into living a double life? Is it a desire to leave their respectable world behind them at night? Usually, the person is not bothered what kind of people they mingle with. But it can lead to tragic consequences, as Roseann was to discover.
She found work in 1969 at St Joseph's School for the Deaf, in the Bronx, teaching a small group of eight year olds. In May 1972, she moved into an apartment at 253 West 72nd Street. She kept herself to herself when she went out but struck up a conversation with a man after lip reading what he was saying. Then it became known that she took men back to her apartment, regardless of their temperament. Neighbours became used to hearing shouting, scuffles and her sporting bruises. She had enrolled at Hunter College and was halfway through her course to getting her degree in teaching deaf children. On New Year`s Day 1973, she went to a bar W.M.Tweeds, where she met John Wilson. He had been drinking with a friend, Gary Guest, who left the bar before Roseann entered. They went back to her apartment and shared some marijuana and then tried to have sex with Roseann. He later claimed that he was unable to get it up and so Roseann taunted and insulted him. She then told him to get out and a struggle broke out. He picked up a knife and stabbed her eighteen times. He also claimed that Roseann pleaded with him to kill her!
Wilson then said that he showered, covered her body, wiped around the apartment to remove fingerprints and then left. (Effectively destroying any claim of insanity) He returned to he was staying with Guest and told him of the murder. Guest believed he was making it up in order to get money for a plane ticket. Guest gave him money and so he flew to Miami to meet his wife and then flew home to Indiana. Roseann was discovered on January 3rd, when she had not appeared at school, and had sent somebody to check her apartment. The building superintendent let them in and Roseann was found. Her body was identified by her brother John. She was buried at St Mary`s Cemetery in Mine Hill.
The Police had nothing to go on. Nobody could remember the man she left with but a sketch was done of a man; Gary Guest. He saw the newspaper article on the case with the sketch. He contacted two friends, Ebb & Greenwood but would not discuss details over the phone. He travelled to Los Angeles and told Ebb the full story. He in turn contacted a therapist who recommended a lawyer. The Lawyer advised Guest to return to New York and the friends to say nothing. After going back to New York, it still took a fortnight for him to be persuaded to talk to the Police. Detectives travelled to Indianapolis, and with a local cop, arrested Wilson at his mother`s home. Wilson was detained at Manhattan Detention Center, otherwise known as "The Tombs" then transferred to Bellevue Hospital for tests. Then he was taken back to the Tombs and put on suicide watch, but had a dispute with a guard and threatened suicide. The guard taunted him and offered him sheets so he could hang himself, and indeed, later threw sheets into the cell. He hung himself. It was May 5th 1973. Gary Guest was guilt ridden over his friend and had moved to Arizona and checked himself into a mental hospital as a John Doe.
What drives people into living a double life? Is it a desire to leave their respectable world behind them at night? Usually, the person is not bothered what kind of people they mingle with. But it can lead to tragic consequences, as Roseann was to discover.
Monday, 27 July 2015
Thoughts From The Dark Side PT3
In this post, "The Chameleon" gives his take on the Torrey Pines State Beach murders in 1978 & 1984. Many incarcerated serial killers avidly watch crime shows on tv, and so are able to have a basic knowledge of some cases. Here is what he had to say. "I believe the killer(s) of Barbara Nantais saw an opportunity to have her once they both went to sleep. (Barbara & boyfriend Jim Alt) He/they clubbed Jim Alt and went after her. A spur of the moment thing. Not well thought out. Imagine young kids, 13, 14, 15 years old, deciding to have some fun. They club him while he sleeps and when they go after her, it isn't working out as he/they had hoped it would. So she is killed, sand poured in her mouth and he/they were angry enough to stab her genitalia and cut her breast. This is an act of someone that blames the woman/girl for not being what he wanted to have. So he mutilates what has caused him to do what he did.
Six years later, 1984; Claire Hough found dead - body mutilated, breast severed. Found at Torrey Pines Beach. Thing is about DNA. The cigarettes could have been there before the murder happened. It means nothing at the moment. They didn't come forward for whatever the reason. (this means the friends Claire met up with) Could be they have no idea what has happened. Not everybody follows the news. Not everything at a murder scene is involved in the crime. Lots of cross contamination exits. What really makes sense is that a woman killed these girls. (the deadlier than the male syndrome) Profiler John Kelly shouldn't be blaming Vietnam or soldiers or pilots. That case in Northern California, Wayne Adam Ford. He walked into a County Sheriff`s office and tossed down a severed breast. Trouble is; Ford turned himself in in around 2000 thereabouts. With no mention of Torrey Pines Beach. Killers don`t forget. Whoever has killed these young girls, has gotten away with it. Blame it on the Zodiac killer again." (this must mean Steve Hodell who blames his father for Zodiac, Black Dahlia and another serial killing!)
Two suspects emerged but both are dead now. One was a sex offender and the other a forensics officer. If it is because of the DNA on the cigarettes, we are not told. But dead tell no tales, and with cynicism, you could say it conveniently closes the cases. Jim Alt remains unconvinced and keeps the case in the public eye. He suffered horrific head injuries that he miraculously survived and suffers PTSD. He deserves closure as do the families.
Six years later, 1984; Claire Hough found dead - body mutilated, breast severed. Found at Torrey Pines Beach. Thing is about DNA. The cigarettes could have been there before the murder happened. It means nothing at the moment. They didn't come forward for whatever the reason. (this means the friends Claire met up with) Could be they have no idea what has happened. Not everybody follows the news. Not everything at a murder scene is involved in the crime. Lots of cross contamination exits. What really makes sense is that a woman killed these girls. (the deadlier than the male syndrome) Profiler John Kelly shouldn't be blaming Vietnam or soldiers or pilots. That case in Northern California, Wayne Adam Ford. He walked into a County Sheriff`s office and tossed down a severed breast. Trouble is; Ford turned himself in in around 2000 thereabouts. With no mention of Torrey Pines Beach. Killers don`t forget. Whoever has killed these young girls, has gotten away with it. Blame it on the Zodiac killer again." (this must mean Steve Hodell who blames his father for Zodiac, Black Dahlia and another serial killing!)
Two suspects emerged but both are dead now. One was a sex offender and the other a forensics officer. If it is because of the DNA on the cigarettes, we are not told. But dead tell no tales, and with cynicism, you could say it conveniently closes the cases. Jim Alt remains unconvinced and keeps the case in the public eye. He suffered horrific head injuries that he miraculously survived and suffers PTSD. He deserves closure as do the families.
Kiernan Kelly - Murderer PT2
A new claim about hushed up killings involves a man convicted of two murders in 1984, but who later confessed to eight murders, has hit the public consciousness. A former detective, Geoff Platt, has stated publicly that the Police decided to cover up the claims of Kiernan Kelly, in order to avert a panic on the London Underground. Kelly was a vagrant and drifter, who told Police that his tally of murders was actually eighteen. Most of them, he said, he pushed in front of oncoming trains, and were looked upon as suicides. Detective Platt was told to investigate the claims made by Kiernan. He said himself that he initially, he thought it was a load of bollocks. Then he discovered that people were dying in front of trains, with Kelly at the scene, and that he happened to be stood next to the jumper.
Mr Platt says that a decision was taken not to brief or inform the press that a man had been going around shoving unsuspecting people in front of trains, fearing a panic, and people would stop using the line. Kiernan was convicted of killing William Boyd and Hector Fisher but cleared of murdering Maurice Weighly in Soho and the attempted murder of an elderly man who who was pushed in front of a train in 1982. The train driver managed to stop in time. Did he commit all these murders? There must be something to the claims for a detective at the time, who did investigate the claims, to believe them.
Mr Platt says that a decision was taken not to brief or inform the press that a man had been going around shoving unsuspecting people in front of trains, fearing a panic, and people would stop using the line. Kiernan was convicted of killing William Boyd and Hector Fisher but cleared of murdering Maurice Weighly in Soho and the attempted murder of an elderly man who who was pushed in front of a train in 1982. The train driver managed to stop in time. Did he commit all these murders? There must be something to the claims for a detective at the time, who did investigate the claims, to believe them.
Thoughts From The Dark Side PT2
My anonymous correspondent from the USA that I have codenamed "The Chameleon" has given his views on an old unsolved serial killings case from Maryland in the early 1970`s that was given the name by the media as "The Freeway Phantom." His views can only be construed from the limited information that I was able to dig up. To truly give it justice, it needs all the facts from the case, maps of areas of homes, abductions and dump sites, the access points of the freeways, etc. But here is a view from a man who does know about murder; The Chameleon.
"The Freeway Phantom? There is a lot of stuff we are not being told in these cases. Like: How was the area lit up or not? In 1971, it is pretty common to pull over on the side of a freeway and not have a cop stop to check you out. Without a map showing where these girls lived and disappeared from, it is hard to determine who had access. Were these girls held captive for days? Or were they dumped just hours later? Calling home? (Presumably he means a random attack) The boyfriend did it to buy him time? (Again, a presumption that cops looked at boyfriends or close male friends?) Bullshit! He had time and would take the time to do what he wanted to her. The Police are guessing badly.
A bunch of black girls killed. Probably a black man really did kill them all. Maybe the Green Vega Gang did it. (A local gang thought to have been involved) A deal to point at another member is suicide. The case will never be solved. Too much time has elapsed. People die, people move on to reality. Killing is not what it is cracked up to be. Just taking too many chances will one day catch up up to us. And here I am."
Not much, I grant you, but as I said, I can only get limited information. A black man was a suspect but nothing could be proved so it ran nowhere. Does anybody out there in the U.S. know more than we do?
"The Freeway Phantom? There is a lot of stuff we are not being told in these cases. Like: How was the area lit up or not? In 1971, it is pretty common to pull over on the side of a freeway and not have a cop stop to check you out. Without a map showing where these girls lived and disappeared from, it is hard to determine who had access. Were these girls held captive for days? Or were they dumped just hours later? Calling home? (Presumably he means a random attack) The boyfriend did it to buy him time? (Again, a presumption that cops looked at boyfriends or close male friends?) Bullshit! He had time and would take the time to do what he wanted to her. The Police are guessing badly.
A bunch of black girls killed. Probably a black man really did kill them all. Maybe the Green Vega Gang did it. (A local gang thought to have been involved) A deal to point at another member is suicide. The case will never be solved. Too much time has elapsed. People die, people move on to reality. Killing is not what it is cracked up to be. Just taking too many chances will one day catch up up to us. And here I am."
Not much, I grant you, but as I said, I can only get limited information. A black man was a suspect but nothing could be proved so it ran nowhere. Does anybody out there in the U.S. know more than we do?
Sunday, 26 July 2015
The New Jersey Jellyfish Murder
This post is another example of forensic science providing the vital evidence, and identifying the victim. A man was foraging for wood on the New Jersey shoreline when he came across what he believed was the bones of a large animal, but to be on the safe side, he called the local Police. The Police gathered all the bones they could see and convinced it was an animal, nonetheless, they duly took them to a vet for confirmation. Upon looking at them, the vet informed the officers that these were human bones, not an animal. They then transported the remains to the local Medical Examiner's office.
The M.E. told Police to go back to the spot where they were discovered and thoroughly search the area for more bones. They brought back bags of bones and what was thought of as jellyfish. The M.E. said that the bones were that of a woman, but the jellyfish were not jellyfish. They were breast implants, and as these carry identification numbers, Police were able to check all hospitals that carried out cosmetic procedures. The M.E. also said that the body had been dismembered with a hacksaw. The Jane Doe was soon identified as a young blonde woman named Carter. Enquiries revealed that she had been involved with a burglary gang and it was believed she had been killed and then her remains thrown from the nearby Margate Bridge. It was thought that her remains had been there for between twelve and eighteen months. It is unknown at present if her killers were caught.
The M.E. told Police to go back to the spot where they were discovered and thoroughly search the area for more bones. They brought back bags of bones and what was thought of as jellyfish. The M.E. said that the bones were that of a woman, but the jellyfish were not jellyfish. They were breast implants, and as these carry identification numbers, Police were able to check all hospitals that carried out cosmetic procedures. The M.E. also said that the body had been dismembered with a hacksaw. The Jane Doe was soon identified as a young blonde woman named Carter. Enquiries revealed that she had been involved with a burglary gang and it was believed she had been killed and then her remains thrown from the nearby Margate Bridge. It was thought that her remains had been there for between twelve and eighteen months. It is unknown at present if her killers were caught.
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