7 – Scottish Crime Spree: The Beast of Birkenshaw (Part 2)

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Capital Punishment, murder, Scottish Crimes, Serial Killer, UK Crime, Vintage murder

In the second part of our series covering Peter Manuel, the Beast of Birkenshaw, his trial begins. This time, we tell the story of the witnesses, who all weave together their stories, most implicating Manuel, others attempting to help salvage the dire situation he finds himself in. 280 people give evidence of the crimes he is charged with, ranging from burglary to capital murder.

Manuel’s life is on the line, as he only needs to be found guilty of one of the multiple capital charges to find himself at the end of the hangman’s noose. But halfway through the trial, Manuel fires his advocates and decides to defend himself. Will Manuel be able to tell the better tale and save his life? Or will the judge and jury see through his superficial charm and convict him of the serial murders in Birkenshaw?

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7 – Scottish Crime Spree: The Beast of Birkenshaw (Part 1)

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Capital Punishment, murder, Scottish Crimes, Serial Killer, UK Crime, Vintage murder

“Mary had a little cat

She used to call him Daniel,

Then she found it killed six mice

And now she calls him Manuel”

Peter Manuel was born in New York in 1927, to Scottish Parents Samuel and Brigit. The family returned to Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1932 where Peter’s childhood and adolescence were marred with sprees of theft and violence. He ended up in first an approved school before moving on to Borstal. He was an over confident person, and liked to be the centre of attention, going so far as to make up his involvement in serious crimes in order to increase his notoriety.

In this, the first of our three part series on the man who would become known as “The Beast of Birkenshaw” we look at his upbringing, and the circumstances that led to the deaths of 8 people on the outskirts of Glasgow in the late 1950s.

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6 – The Kerry Babies Murder & familial false confessions

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Child Victim, Irish Crime, murder, unsolved, Wrongly Accused

In the year 1984, Ireland was a very different place. Contraception, Abortion and Divorce were illegal. The country was dogged by religious conservatism and was facing into a terrible recession. Amidst this, the body of a baby boy was found on a beach in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry.

The police began to look for the likely suspect: a recently-pregnant unmarried mother. Joanne Hayes was accused and charged with the murder of the infant. She and her whole family eventually confessed to the murder, despite Joanne’s baby being located. So what had caused the family to confess?

A judicial inquiry was set up to investigate Garda maltreatment, but it soon turned into a trial of Joanne’s character.

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5 – Rachel O’Reilly: Murder of a Mother

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Irish Crime

In October of 2004, Rachel O’Reilly was brutally attacked in her North County Dublin home. Initially, the Gardai treated the crime as a burglary gone wrong, but soon it became clear that this was no random attack. Her husband, Joe O’Reilly, appeared in the media appealing for information about his wife’s death, and given his strange demeanour, the public began to question, who really was responsible for the murder of Rachel O’Reilly?

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4 – The Acid Bath Murders: The Crimes of John George Haigh

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn murder, Serial Killer, UK Crime

In the years immediately following the war in a still bomb-ravaged London, people were going missing. A few letters sent to their families reassured that all was well. But when 69 year old Olive Durand-Deacon went missing from her residential hotel, a suspicious policewoman looked further into the shady character of John George Haigh. He quickly confessed to killing 5 people and dissolving their bodies in acid. He attempted to put forth a defence of insanity, but ultimately, Haigh met his end on the gallows.

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3 – The murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier & trial by press

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Irish Crime, murder, unsolved

Sophie Toscan du Plantier was a french writer and documentarian, who owned a secluded holiday home in the picturesque west Cork town of Schull. Days before Christmas 1996, she was found savagely murdered in the lane way leading to her house. The case remains unsolved, but that doesn’t mean the matter hasn’t been heard before the courts. The prime suspect, Ian Bailey, took a defamation action against eight newspapers for reporting that he was the prime suspect in the case.

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1 – The Murder of Elaine O’Hara: A Kink Killing

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Irish Crime, murder, sadism

 

In this, the premiere episode of the Mens Rea Podcast, we take a look at one of the most shocking crimes that captivated Ireland in recent years. Elaine O’Hara was a troubled woman who disappeared in 2012 and was presumed to have committed suicide. A year later, due to a series of coincidences, her body was found. This was now a crime. A man with an appetite for the twisted, Graham Dwyer, was charged and convicted of her murder.

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