Maury Travis - A Serial Killer

Coming across rather unknown serial killers is far more of interest to me than repeated things about Bundy, Gacy, Dahmer, etc.  This man received his comeuppance because his ego obviously got in front of his brain, just like Rader.  Maury Travis took his own life whilst in a jail because Police had solid proof he was responsible for some of the crimes he was accused of.  He even videotaped his torturing of his victims, again, like others such as Lake & Ng and Parker Ray, he had to have video and sound recordings of the suffering he was inflicting.  Travis was born on 25th October 1965 in Ferguson, Missouri, and ended it all on 10th June 2002.

    He was arrested whilst working as a waiter and was on parole for robbery.  He was facing two Federal complaints of murder, and was locked up in a St Louis County jail when he took his own life.  His downfall came when the St Louis Dispatch ran a profile feature on murder victim Teresa Wilson, where Travis responded with a letter to the newspaper, along with a map.  The words he wrote included "I`ll tell you where many others are" and & "To prove I`m real, here`s directions to number seventeen!"  The letter had a return address of an online bondage website, but Police could not determine more.  The map, however, was discovered to have come from Expedia.com, and so Police were able to trace him.  Police found a torture chamber in his home, along with instruments of torture, clippings from newspapers, and recordings of his torturing of his victims. 

    The known victims and suspected victims include Alysia Greenwade, found in Illinois in April 2001.  She was last seen alive in Missouri.  Betty James` body was found two months later in Missouri.  She had last been seen in Illinois!  Others include Teresa Wilson, Brenda Beasley, Yvonne Crues & Verona Thompson.  All four women had been subjected to torture and strangulation.  Let us hope their families have found closure.

Charles Albright - "The Eyeball Killer"

This man, currently incarcerated in Clements Units, Amarillo in Texas, is also known by two other names; The Dallas Ripper & The Dallas Slasher.  He has been diagnosed as a psychopath by medical experts, but though he is suspected of three gruesome murders, he has only been convicted of one, and that was only on circumstantial evidence.  He has been deemed as too dangerous to ever be released, despite his age and use of crutches.  Albright`s notoriety was due to the murder victims having their eyes surgically removed, but people should be aware of Albright`s obsession with eyes.  It is a subject that he truly exudes controlled excitement.  His demeanour is also very controlled.  So who is He?

    Charles Frederick Albright was born on August 10th 1933 in Amarillo, Texas, but he was adopted by school teacher Delle Albright and her husband, Fred.  She was strict and protective to him and also helped him advance two grades at school.  As a teenager, he acquired a gun and liked to shoot animals.  His mother helped him stuff the animals but they were unable to afford the proper taxidermists glass eyes so used buttons instead.  He graduated into petty crime, which included forgery, as he forged documents that helped him get into North Texas University, where he expressed an interest in medicine and surgery.  He never finished his stint at NTU.  He was caught stealing cash and had firearms, which landed him one year in jail.  When released, he made it into Arkansas State Teacher College, but he could not contain his criminality when he was again caught stealing.  He had majored in pre-med.  He was expelled, so he put his forgery skills to work and with documents he had stolen, wrote numerous Masters and Bachelors degrees for himself.  He married and had a daughter but the couple split in 1965 and eventually divorced in 1974.  Albright had a knack for getting put on probation whenever he was caught committing crime.  He again stole, this time from a store which earned him 2 years 6 months, but he was out after just six!

    Now, in a neighbourhood he moved to, he was able to charm his neighbours into thinking he was very dependable and so they asked him to babysit their children.  One day, he repaid this kindness by molesting a nine year old girl.  This offence, again, earned him probation.  By 1985, he had befriended a woman named Dixie and persuaded her to move in with him.  Soon, she found herself paying all the bills, he was unable to keep a job or just did not seem to try.  He did get a job as a newspaper delivery man but that was just a ruse for him to visit prostitutes.  December 13th 1990, prostitute Mary Lou Pratt aged 33, known to work the Oak Cliff district of Dallas, was found wearing only a t-shirt that had been pulled up.  She had been shot in the back of the head. The Medical Examiner discovered that both eyeballs had been surgically removed.  Forward to February 10th 1991, prostitute Susan Peterson was found shot to death in South Dallas.  Her t-shirt had been pulled up, exposing her breasts, like Mary Lou, and her eyes had been removed.  The next month, 18th March, prostitute Shirley Williams was found naked.  She had been shot in the head and face.  Her eyes had been removed.  Three days later, Albright was arrested and charged.  The evidence was very circumstantial but the jury was swayed by it and convicted him.  He was only convicted for killing Shirley Williams, as the only evidence they had, tied him to Shirley.

    Naturally, Albright claims he is innocent but an interview with top forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Stone, showed his true demeanour.  He calmly denied everything, but when Dr Stone touched on the subject of eyes, Albright lit up.  You could see the excitement in his eyes and face but he was very controlled.  It was a topic he absolutely relished.  Scary!  He is said to have his cell walls covered in pictures and drawings of eyes.  Have they got the right man?  After seeing his interview with Dr. Stone, no doubt in my mind.

The Death of Johnny Delaney

This story strikes home very hard to me as I witnessed the aftermath, but had no idea what had actually happened until the following day. Johnny Delaney was from a travelling family, situated in Liverpool, but decided to travel to Ellesmere Port, to visit some friends.  It was May 28th 2003.  Fifteen year old Johnny was with some of his friends when an argument of sorts broke out between Johnny`s friends and a group of local youths.  They ran from this group but Johnny tripped and fell.  They were on him and started kicking the living daylights out of him.  They split but two carried on, kicking and stamping on the head of the helpless lad.  Witnesses shouted at them to stop but they stated in court that these two responded with "He`s only a fucking gypsy" then they ran off.  Paramedics called rushed him to the Countess of Chester Hospital where he later died.  

    Right from the start, local Police called this a race hate crime, and soon had the youths in custody.  The two boys were charged with murder but in Chester Crown Court, despite the evidence of witnesses, the Judge stated that it was not a hate crime.  Plus, they were cleared of murder but found guilty of Manslaughter, and sentenced to four and a half years, which incredibly, they appealed.  The Delaney Family were appalled at the remarks of the Judge and the leniency of the sentence.  As far as they were concerned, their son was killed simply for being a gypsy.  Police still viewed it as a hate crime.  A shrine has been set up by his family at the spot where he was brutally attacked, and is visited and maintained by other gypsies and travellers.

    Where do I fit in?  I had just come home from work and looked out of my bedroom window and saw a lad lying down on the field.  This huge field backs on to the houses on the upper part of Grace Road.  My house was on the opposite side of the road but there is a gap between the terraced houses and therefore I could see much of the field.  There are usually lots of kids playing football or cricket on the field, and many just lie down, taking it easy. That is what I thought I saw.  Minutes later, two paramedics were kneeling over him.  My thought was somebody had gotten hurt playing football, or something similar.  It was the next day that I was told what had happened.  Police made extensive door to door enquiries, with me telling them what I saw, and also what my girlfriend had seen during the day.  The cop speaking to us made it clear that they were treating it as a hate crime.  I have had plenty to say about some cops in Ellesmere Port but in this instance, they did everything right.  They supported the Delaney family with the contention that it was racially motivated.

    I wonder if the two young thugs now walk about boasting about being killers, attempting to instill fear or "respect?"  Certainly, the courts in this country are too cowardly to accept that, repeated kicking, stamping and jumping on the head of a completely helpless victim is MURDER!!!!!  A victim lying dead with a shattered skull from this kind of onslaught is NOT accidental.  It is premeditated. I feel that the courts  must not upset the professional apologists, with their excuses, hand wringing, and blaming everybody except the assailants.  Sadly, this crime is common in this country but it is time that the Justice System woke up and hit these thugs with all the force that can be mustered.

  

Andrew Young - Innocent Victim

The Laws in this country have a tendency to pop up and treat the victims of crime and in particular, murder, with nothing but contempt.  A recent case was that of 40 year old Andrew Young, who was killed by a thug, who received a paltry 4 year sentence(will only actually serve two), a decision upheld by the Lord Chief Justice, after an appeal by Attorney General Dominic Grieve on the leniency of the sentence.  Andrew, who suffered from Asperger's Syndrome, and so was vulnerable, was violently punched by convicted robber Lewis Gill, fell and struck his head in a crowded Bournemouth street.  What had he done to deserve this?  Gill was walking with a man called Victor Ibitoye, who was riding a bicycle on the pavement.  Andrew said that riding a bike on the pavement was dangerous.  With that, Gill launched himself at Andrew, striking him with a vicious punch that knocked him down, where he struck his head.  With that, this bastard simply walked away.  There was numerous witnesses and cctv that caught the whole incident.  Andrew died the next day in Southampton Hospital.

    He was given just 4 years for manslaughter, because he pleaded guilty(well he could not fucking deny it!) indicating "remorse" - yeah sure - but this sparked national outrage.  The Appeal Judges said the sentence was fair and not lenient!  To add insult to injury, this scumbags mother, Sherron O`Hagen  said that the case was no big deal, what is the fuss all about?  That scumbag son of yours killed a man for no reason, that`s what you stupid bitch.  Typical apologist shit, not giving a toss what their offspring do.  Was justice served here?  Not a chance!  But not to worry, there will always be the civil liberties and human rights cunts who will be praying for Lewis Gill.  The family of Andrew Young will never enter their minds.  

The Ordeal of Jennifer Schuett

Jennifer Schuett suffered the most savage and sickening attack from a paedophile who left her for dead.  This attack took place in August 1990, when sick, twisted bastard Dennis Bradford snatched 8 year old Jennifer from her bedroom and made off with her.  He then raped the little girl and then, if that was not enough, he slit the child`s throat, and then left her, convinced that she would soon be dead.  But it did not work out like that, and miraculously, little Jennifer survived.  Police were able to get samples left by the assailant, but DNA was still a developing science, so were unable to build a profile at that time.  It was nine years later, that the continuing improvements in technology, they not only built a DNA profile, but got a match on the database.

    The assailant was Dennis Bradford, and was traced to Arkansas, but it was ten years before Police were able to build a case, and in 2010, Bradford was scheduled to appear on charges of rape and attempted murder.  Justice was denied because Bradford committed suicide before the trial.  The effects of the horrific attack, badly damaged Jennifer internally, but thanks to science, IVF and a determined medical team, Jennifer fell pregnant, something she and her husband thought would never happen.  Naturally, in this day and age, there will be the wankers who would feel sympathy for Bradford but the picture of Jennifer lying in a hospital bed with a tube in her throat, so she could breathe, should shock any liberal thinking bastard.  Bradford topped himself.  Good.  Jennifer and her family have rebuilt their lives.  Tremendous courage.

Stephen Downing & The Murder of Wendy Sewell

The murder of Wendy Sewell and the subsequent arrest and trial of Stephen Downing, is one of those notorious cases that Police wish would just fade away.  Stephen Downing spent 27 years in prison before his conviction was finally quashed in 2002, but the killer of Wendy Sewell remains at large.  As far as the Police are concerned, Downing is the killer and even issued a Colin Stagg-style "We are not looking for anybody else".  Recently, the shit hit the fan when retired cop Chris Clark revealed that he obtained a copy of the pathology report, and this report was allegedly buried by the Police.  He said that it would have exonerated Stephen Downing.  Nothing new there.  What are the facts about the murder of Wendy Sewell?

    Stephen Downing was 17 years old, working as a groundsman in a cemetery in Bakewell, Derbyshire.  It was the 12th September 1973, when he returned from a break, he came upon the bloodied body of Legal Secretary, Wendy Sewell, aged 32.  He ran to a phone to call 999.  Wendy had most of her clothes removed, indicating sexual assault, and had been bludgeoned severely.  Police spotted some blood on his clothes , so they arrested him and took him in for questioning.  He was grilled for nine hours, and the questionable tactics by Police included not informing him of his rights, and preventing him from sleeping by shoving him and pulling his hair.  Stopping people sleeping is known as Sleep Deprivation.  He was also mentally challenged, having the mind of a middle school pupil.  But this was in the golden days when rules went out of the window.  It was said that officers ran bets on who would extract "The Confession" from him.  After all this time, he signed a statement, inexplicably written in pencil(after all, pencil is easily erased), a statement written out by an officer, he said.  Stephen Downing was barely literate. It could easily have read "Cor blimey guv, You've got me bang to rights on this.  By the way, I committed every unsolved crime in Derbyshire!"  A person barely able to read and write would not know what he is signing.  Miss Sewell died two days later in Chesterfield Royal Infirmary.  He was duly put on trial at Nottingham Crown Court in February 1974 and duly convicted.  The Judge made reference to Stephen admitting indecently assaulting Miss Sewell whilst she lay critically injured, something he says he never said.  There is no transcript available from the court case.  He says the blood on his clothes came from Miss Sewell attempting to speak and spraying spots.  A blood spatter expert said it was "text book on the perpetrator getting blood on his clothes."  He protested his innocence right from the start and continues to, this day.  As a man "In denial" he never received parole hearings, and spent 27 years in prison.

    Years later, through the efforts of his family, they enlisted the help of a newspaper man, Don Hale, from the Matlock Mercury.  He looked into the case, and ran a long campaign on Stephen`s behalf.  He did concentrate on the private life of Wendy Sewell, but this spiralled when the national papers caught hold of it.  Because Miss Sewell had an active sex life, in true tabloid tradition, she was then branded "The Bakewell Tart!"  No doubt her family were appalled by this.  Let`s face it, a female celebrity with an active sex life would never be called by the tabloids, it would be called "adventurous" or something funny or exotic.  Never, "tart, slag, slapper, bike, etc".  A witness came forward, claiming to have seen Miss Sewell alive and well, at the time Stephen was allegedly attacking her.  The claim was found to be false as the woman was short sighted, and no reason was found for the claim.  Stephen received leave to appeal in 2001 and his conviction was quashed in 2002.  They cited the much improved forensics on blood spatter, the denial of his rights and to a solicitor, the tactics used during questioning, keeping awake and hair pulling, and so ruled it was unsafe.

    A cold case review was undertaken and after a long investigation, Police concluded that "They are not looking for anybody else" meaning that every other person in Britain has been eliminated!!!!    Then came the bombshell in January 2014 with an allegedly suppressed pathology report that would have exonerated Stephen Downing, and a subsequent report demanding answers from the Police.  This is one of those very ugly cases, with others such as Derek Bentley, James Hanratty(never mind the DNA claim) John Stalker, Stefan Kisko, Tommy Bourke and others.  

The Murders of Michaela Hague & Dawn Shields

Readers may wonder why I feature a great number of murders of women, and prostitutes on this blog.  The reason is simple; many cops have a cavalier view on prostitute murders, that they are professional victims.  The public conception of their murders is worse.  Plus, a point that I hope comes across, is just how manly and tough men are who target the weaker sex.  Yes, there are many woman haters, but how many choose to obliterate a woman`s life?  Murder is murder, no matter who the victim is.  Michaela Hague, aged 25, from Pitsmoor in Sheffield, was working as a prostitute in the Bower Street area on 5th November 2001.  The mum of one was found in a secluded car park in Spitalfields.  She had been stabbed 19 times in the neck and back.  She was rushed to the Northern General Hospital, but died three hours later from her numerous wounds.  But she was able to give a description to the Police Officer first on the scene, and he wrote the details on his hand.  She was picked up by a man just after 19.00 hours and found an hour later.  She described her assailant as white, bespectacled, about 38 years old and around 6 feet in height.  He also wore a wedding ring.  Thirteen years on, he remains at large.

    The second murder is that of Dawn Shields, aged 19.  Like Michaela, a mother of one.  She was discovered in a shallow grave on Mam Tor, near Castleton, in the Peak District.  Her nude body was found by National Trust Wardens, on 22nd May 1994.  She had thought to have laid there for a week.  Police scoured all the surrounding area for her clothes but found nothing.  She had suffered extensive head injuries, and Police believe she was murdered elsewhere.  This murder was suggested by one of Professor David Wilson`s Criminology students as possibly being committed by Stephen Griffiths, the killer of three women in Bradford.  Unless Griffiths was in Sheffield at the time, then he is ruled out.  This was at least thirteen years before he killed in Bradford.  He boasted that he did more then said he only killed the three.  He could be a suspect for Rebecca Hall, but what exactly has he been up to prior to the first murder, that of Susan Rushworth?  We only speculate, which, obviously, is not proof.  As ever, any knowledge, pass it on to the Police.