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  Contents

  Introduction

  PART ONE: ANCIENT MURDERERS

  Attila the Hun

  Genghis Khan

  Vlad the Impaler

  Cesare Borgia

  Henry VIII

  Ivan the Terrible

  Gilles de Rais

  Peter the Great

  PART TWO: TYRANTS AND DESPOTS

  Pol Pot

  Joseph Stalin

  Kim Il-Sung

  Adolf Hitler

  Mao Zedong

  Saddam Hussein

  Augusto Pinochet

  Hideki Tojo

  Ho Chi Minh

  Josip Broz ‘Tito’

  PART THREE: COLD-BLOODED WOMEN

  Elizabeth Bathory

  Mary Ann Cotton

  Lizzie Borden

  Fanny Adams

  Winnie Ruth Judd and Ruth Snyder

  Dorothea Puente

  Ruth Ellis

  Kathleen Folbigg

  Beverley Allitt

  Judi Buenoano

  Aileen Wuornos

  PART FOUR: VICTIMS OF ASSASSINATION

  Abraham Lincoln

  Franz Ferdinand

  Leon Trotsky

  Martin Luther King, Jr

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Aldo Moro

  John Lennon

  Jill Dando

  The Assassination of Olof Palme

  John F. Kennedy

  Robert F. Kennedy

  Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko

  PART FIVE: ATROCITIES

  The Rape of Nanking

  Genocide in Rwanda

  Armenian Genocide

  Genocide in Bangladesh

  Soviet Prisoners of War

  Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  Malmédy Massacre

  The Holocaust

  Darfur Atrocities

  PART SIX: ORGANISATIONS

  The Mafia

  The Yakuza

  The Triads

  The Baybasin Cartel

  PART SEVEN: COLD-BLOODED MEN

  Richard Kulinski the Mafia Iceman

  Bianchi and Buono the Hillside Stranglers

  Doctor Crippen

  Andrei Chikatilo

  Albert Fish

  Carl Panzram

  Charles Starkweather

  Richard Speck

  Harvey Glatman

  Charles Manson

  Edmund Emil Kemper III: The Co-Ed Killer

  Kenneth Allen McDuff: The Broomstick Killer

  Jeffrey Dahmer

  Introduction

  The news is always full of stories of horror whether it is the brutal killing of an individual or mass killings under a political guise. There are those who murder for profit, those who murder for the sheer thrill of it, or those who are motivated by rage. These are the people who inspire the horror movies, but usually the fictional stories are nothing in comparison to the truth. For example, Ed Gein, whose particularly bizarre and morbid crimes shocked the world, was the inspiration for countless books and films, including Robert Bloch’s Psycho and Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Amityville Horror was based on the character of Ronald DeFeo who killed his parents and siblings one by one as they slept, blaming his actions on the malevolent force of an evil spirit living in the house. Whatever the reason for these cold-blooded killings, as we read about yet another death, it sends a shiver down the spine – or at least for the average person.

  Killers in Cold Blood looks inside the dark side of the criminal mind. These are the men and women who commit heinous acts with a gruesome disregard for human life. They do not conform to what society considers to be ‘normal’ standards, they seem to act purely for self gratification in their own little world of perversion. The difficulty in bringing these monsters to justice is proving whether they are just bad or mad, whether in fact the individual is mentally ill or whether they are fully aware of what they have done. Ed Gein was always thought to be a mild-mannered bachelor who had been held back by his domineering mother. He shocked the world when police raided his home and found a vest made out of human skin and a hoard of body parts. The question that came to the forefront in this case was, is he clinically insane or a cold-blooded killer with a hatred of women? Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer are fine examples of men who killed in cold blood. They knew exactly what they were doing, they knew right from wrong, and yet they still committed their crimes.

  The motive behind a cold-blooded killing can probably be differentiated by different labels, i.e. hatred, passion, profit, revenge, fear, power or domination, opportunism, contract killing, desperation, racist, compassion and ritual. For example, Hitler’s desire to cleanse Germany of the Jews was because he believed that they were his powerful enemies and he was bent on destroying them. Hitler believed that he was the greatest German and military leader to have ever lived and his paranoia and delusions drove him to commit one of the world’s greatest atrocities.

  Pol Pot who was the famous leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia was also paranoid about his supposed enemies, which resulted in a reign of terror. He launched a bloody purge in an attempt to purify the Cambodian race killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people with a complete disregard for pain and suffering.

  There has been a considerable amount of research carried out on the criminal mind, but still it causes considerable concern and puzzlement as to how a person could commit a cold-blooded, senseless killing and yet maintain a normal existence. Friends, families and workmates are totally unaware of the sexual or sadistic side to the person who they thought they knew so well. Ted Bundy is representative of a serial killer who was polite, smart and well-liked and yet underneath this facade was a man who had an addiction to hard-core pornography which fuelled the terrible crimes he committed.

  The most feared killers must be those in the medical world. They are people who we are often alone with, and who we trust implicitly even when we are in a weakened state. They have trained for years to try and make us feel better, and yet occasionally one may have macabre plans. For example, medic Donald Harvey claims to have killed fifty of his patients out of mercy, to put them out of their suffering. However, his psychiatrist thought otherwise, calling him a sadistic and compulsive killer who murdered to satisfy his needs. Nurse Beverley Allitt, dubbed the ‘Angel of Death’ was convicted of killing four children and injuring eleven others, but her motives were completely different. Allitt, who showed signs of Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy, craved attention and by injecting helpless babies with lethal doses of insulin and then attempting to revive them in front of her colleagues, this is exactly what she got. On the outside, Allitt appeared to be a caring, loving nurse, but on the inside she was really indifferent to the
children’s pain. Harold Shipman, who everyone thought was the friendly family doctor, was responsible for the worst murder spree in British history, killing as many as 260 people.

  Other killers may have had a long history of being institutionalised in juvenile and adult correctional facilities. In some cases this has greatly impaired their ability to live in the community, often lacking both social and work-related skills. Many show signs of aggression and feel they are not really part of normal society. By killing they get the sense of importance, many often revisiting the scene of the crime in the hope of getting caught.

  In the case of mass and serial murders, the killer achieves an immense amount of satisfaction as he momentarily gains control of his or her life by controlling others. Whilst serial killers generally try to elude detection so that they can continue to kill for weeks, months and often years, mass murderers are usually either caught by the police, commit suicide or turn themselves in to the authorities. It is very rare that we ever hear of a mass murderer who has had the opportunity to carry out a second crime. Serial killers will often keep a trophy of their victim and display it proudly in their home. They rarely show any emotions to their family or friends and it is very rare that they know their victims. A serial killer will also often develop some sort of ‘trademark’ which becomes more elaborate with each murder.

  When dealing with serial killers, the question of sanity almost always arises and an insanity plea is usually used when the case goes to court. This defence claims that the defendant is unable to appreciate the error of his ways due to a severe mental disease or defect. Because a person who is insane is not considered to be capable of killing with wilful intent, they cannot be charged with wilful murder. However, for this defence to be successful in court, the defendant’s insanity has to be convincingly proved.

  Another type of killer that can come under the general term of serial killer, is the mission killer, who wishes to purge the world of people who they believe are undesirables or worthless. For example, they may target prostitutes, homosexuals, paedophiles or drug addicts as in the case of Jack the Ripper who terrorised London in 1888 slaying prostitutes before removing their organs. Usually this killer is not considered to be psychotic or sexually motivated, they just single out their victims as being a burden to society.

  Society would like to believe that killers are suffering from some sort of mental disorder, it is far too disconcerting to believe that they are really ‘ordinary’ people who simply lead a Jekyll and Hyde existence. As mentioned before, the caring, attentive nurse who secretly murders sick children, or the builder who enjoys torturing and killing young women and then burying them under his home, as in the case of Fred West.

  Women who kill are not usually associated with sexual attacks, tortures or violence against their male counterparts, but of course there are always going to be those that break the rules as in the case of Aileen Wuornos. She has been dubbed America’s first female serial killer as her killing spree left seven men dead. However, there will always be the question was she a cold-blooded killer or a tragic victim of violence and abuse who was just fighting back? Female killers are usually more careful, precise, methodical and quiet in committing their crimes and their preferred choice of weapon is poison.

  Black Widows are famous for systematically killing spouses, partners or members of their families and they generally start their criminal career in their mid- to late-twenties. Again poison is the preferred weapon of choice with the aim of collecting life insurances or inheriting large sums of money. The first 20th-century Black Widow was Belle Gunness who killed 49 people, including husbands, suitors, ranch workers and her own children. She managed to lure husband after husband by advertising for suitors, asking them to bring large sums of cash to prove their worth and sincerity. Mind you the money was the only thing that survived, the husbands ended up as corpses wrapped up in rough sacks.

  Ruth Ellis became famous for her crime passionel (crime of passion), when she killed her allegedly cruel boyfriend. She made history as the last woman to be executed in England and Wales. The crime of passion is not a new form of crime, in fact it is believed to be one of the first crimes ever committed in the killing of Abel by his brother Cain in Genesis, Ch. 4 in the Old Testament. This type of crime is quite unique in that the offender is very unlikely to have had a previous criminal history, not are they likely to ever offend again. It is generally a spur of the moment crime that is usually brought about by a rage of jealousy.

  Assassination differs from other forms of murder in that the victim is usually a political figure, as in the case of Kennedy, or a popular public figure, for example, John Lennon. When interviewed, the majority of assassins are able to give a rational reason to justify their act. The reasons usually involve political values or money, as in the case of a contract killing, revenge against an individual or an act of espionage at the request of a government. Assassins often believe that they have the moral right to kill, some even say they were instructed by God. An assassin’s so-called ‘work’ is completely separate from other aspects of their lives, usually leading a normal, healthy family life. Because it is just a business to them, they work quickly and leave the scene of the killing as fast as possible. Killing does not normally excite an assassin and they would consider killing anyone, other than their target, as very unprofessional.

  Sadists are probably the most dangerous of our cold-blooded killers, as they gain great satisfaction out of inflicting pain and suffering upon another human being. The word was derived from Marquis de Sade, who was a French philosopher and author of sadistic novels and probably the most famous sadist in history. The serial killer Harvey Glatman was decidedly strange from an early age and his masochism soon turned into sadism. He had begun torturing himself at a very young age and it wasn’t long before these urges completely took over his life. His frustration led him to molest and murder women because he feared and hated what they represented.

  The infamous Texas killer, Kenneth Allen McDuff, earned himself the tag of predator and monster after years of committing ghastly murders. The sheer enormity of his evil forced the US government to bring about much-needed reforms on state legislature – he is believed to be the only US criminal ever to go to death row for one murder, get out of jail, then be sent back to death row for a completely different crime.

  Killers in Cold Blood takes a chilling look at all these different types of crime. It exposes cases where the cold-blooded brutality and devious scheming behind a killing takes it to a new dimension – that of horror and disbelief. Many psychologists believe that many of us possess the animal instinct to kill to survive, but the only thing that stops us from carrying out this act is logic and our ability to reason. The stories in this book are all the stuff of nightmares and the depravity of these killers is beyond most people’s comprehension. It is only the murderer who knows why they have chosen a particular victim or victims, why they opted for strangulation over shooting and why they left the body in such an explicit position. It is therefore the job of the investigators to try and get inside the sinister recesses of the brains of the cold-blooded killer.

  PART ONE: Ancient Murderers

  Attila the Hun

  During World Wars I and II the allies referred to the Germans as ‘the Hun’. This was partly because the Huns were a pre-medieval Eastern European people whose empire included the area that became Germany. Also the Huns had a fearsome reputation for cruelty towards their neighbours from whom they stole lands and possessions.

  King of the Huns during their heyday was Attila, who lived circa ad 406–453. Among historians he divides opinion. Some see him as the aggressive driving force behind the rape and pillage that the Huns delivered to those who stood in their way. Others see him as the driving force for Hun empirical expansion at a time in history when the whole of Europe was populated by warlike tribes.

  By the time the Huns first came to prominence, in the fourth century, Europe had entered a period popularly known as t
he Dark Ages. The Ancient Roman Empire had reached critical mass and fragmented around ad 150, leaving the way open for nomadic tribes, such as the Huns, to begin establishing themselves without the Roman hand of repression. The Huns began to make their presence felt on the European stage by late third century. They moved into eastern central Europe and began a concerted campaign to oust or conquer existing populations. In fear for their lives, Germanic tribes began pouring westward from ad 406, which happens to have been the time when Attila was born into the world.

  Until ad 434, the Huns were ruled by Rugila. Upon Rugila’s death his two nephews Attila and Bleda took control. The Hunnic Empire was now on the up and up, comprising many conquered peoples who swore allegiance to the Huns. Attila and Bleda set their sights on taking as much territory as they could. They became the scourge of the two remaining factions of the former Ancient Roman Empire – the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.

  Attila and Bleda took many Roman prisoners and negotiated high ransoms for their safe return. They then turned their attentions to Persia, in the Middle East, with a five-year-long campaign, but they suffered a defeat in Armenia which served to divert their attentions back to Europe. Once more they rampaged their way through lands ruled by the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II, who was forced to agree to their demands.

  Theodosius got his chance to reinforce his defences when Attila and Bleda took a sabbatical in ad 442. A year later they were back though, razing civilisations to the ground until they reached Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. They failed to breach the city walls because they lacked the technological know-how to construct siege equipment. Despite this, Theodosius capitulated and paid an enormous sum in gold to make them leave him in peace.

  Having sated their appetites for wealth and destruction, the two Hun kings retired to their heartlands in about ad 445. At this point, Bleda met with his death, at the hands of Attila according to legend, but it could have been due to any number of causes. By ad 447, Attila was back on the campaign trail, riding towards the Byzantines as sole king of the Huns and with unfinished business to attend to, having failed to take Constantinople four years earlier.