Tag: killing

25 – The tragic murder of Catherine Cooper

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Capital Punishment, Controversial Case, Insanity Defence, Irish Crime, Landmark Case, Mental Health, murder, Vintage murder

In 1954, Nurse Catherine Cooper (64) lived and worked in Limerick city as a home sister, visiting the ill and infirm at their bedsides. She was originally from County Clare, but had spent much of her working life in London, until the outbreak of World War Two.

On the night of November 19th, 1954, she decided to walk back to her hospital from her last home visit. On the Dublin Road, she was spotted by a 24 year old carman, Michael Manning, who had been drinking all day. He attacked her, and she was killed on the roadside.

But was Manning legally responsible for her death?
 

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24 – Bruce Lee: Murder by Arson

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Child Victim, Controversial Case, Insanity Defence, Kids who Kill, Mental Health, murder, Public Inquiry, Serial Killer, UK Crime

In December 1979, the Hastie home on Selby Street in Hull caught fire in the early hours of the morning. Three of Hastie boys would die of their injuries. It was apparent from the beginning that the fire was arson: there were matches left and a trail of paraffin at the front door, and there was the smell of accelerant in the air. In an attempt to find out who would want to hurt the family, it became apparent that they were strongly disliked, but still there were no real leads. Until, that is, the police picked up 19 year old Bruce George Peter Lee.

He admitted to setting the Hastie fire. And then shockingly admitted to another 10 arsons in the Hull area. No one had suspected these fires were malicious. But should the police believe this young man with a troubled background?

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23 – Colin Norris: murderous nurse, or wrongfully convicted?

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Controversial Case, Drug-related, murder, Public Inquiry, Serial Killer, UK Crime, unsolved, Wrongly Accused

In 2002, Colin Norris was a young man at the beginning of his career in his chosen field of nursing. But the sudden death of an elderly patient, Ethel Hall, who had been under his care prompted a police investigation which scrutinised the 18 months that he had worked in Leeds General Infirmary, and he was accused of 4 murders and an attempted murder. authorities said he had maliciously administered injections of insulin to elderly patients, police said because he didn’t like old people.

But would there be enough evidence to convict him?

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22 – The horrific murder of Sylvia Fleming

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, IRA/Paramilitary links, Irish Crime, murder, sadism

The year 1998 was a particularly difficult one for the small town of Omagh, in Northern Ireland. There finally seemed to be a workable plan in place to bring about the beginning of a peace process, but along with that, emotions were heightened.

Just days before the agreement was signed, Sylvia Fleming (17) was out celebrating her first paycheque from her first job. She visited her ex boyfriend that night, and was never seen again. Her sisters, with whom Sylvia was very close, realised that something was wrong very quickly. The pregnant teenager would never have just left them. But they never thought that she would have suffered the fate that she did.

Join us this week as we look at the tragic events surrounding Sylvia Fleming’s murder, and how her community was torn apart that year.

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21 – Veronica Guerin: Gangland Murder of the Media (Part 2)

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Controversial Case, Drug-related, IRA/Paramilitary links, Irish Crime, Kidnapping, Landmark Case, murder, Organised Crime

Veronica Guerin took on Ireland’s booming gangland criminals in 1994, who were flooding the country with cannabis and other illegal substances and engaging in an all out war with their competitors. When she approached John Gilligan, the man in charge, at his home, she set in motion a series of events that would lead to her death, and to the downfall of the criminal set she had set her eyes on.

The events of 1994 changed the landscape of organised crime in Ireland forever, as well how the authorities would attempt to curb their enjoyment of their assets. But would they be held responsible for Veronica’s death?

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21 – Veronica Guerin: Gangland Murder of the Media (Part 1)

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Controversial Case, Drug-related, IRA/Paramilitary links, Irish Crime, Kidnapping, Landmark Case, murder, Organised Crime

 
In the 1990’s, Ireland saw a boom in organised crime and the importation of drugs that it had not experienced before. Criminals set themselves up at the head of drugs empires and reaped the benefit of their crimes to the tune of millions of pounds a year. Gardai struggled to keep up with these developments, and had no recourse to the extravagant spending of the crime bosses, who set up shell companies and owned expensive homes, vehicles and lived lavish lifestyles.
 
When Veronica Guerin, crime correspondent for the Sunday Independent, began asking questions of these gangsters, she found herself in the firing line. Quite literally.

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19 – The Brighton Trunk Murders: Unsolved Crimes

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Capital Punishment, Domestic Violence, murder, UK Crime, unsolved, Vintage murder

This week, we take another trip back in time and have a look at three vintage murders. First, we crack open the 1832 autobiographical account of John Holloway, who murdered his first wife Celia and buried her body, hidden in a trunk, down a lovers lane.

Over 100 years later, two more trunks filled with murder victims’ bodies were found again in Brighton. One of these cases remains unsolved to this day, while the culprit for the other Toni Mancini, was never punished for his crime.

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17 – The Dunblane Massacre & Gun Crimes

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Child Victim, Controversial Case, Landmark Case, Mental Health, murder, Public Inquiry, UK Crime

 

Thomas Hamilton was a loner. He decided to dedicate his life to running boys’ clubs to keep kids off the street, but its quite likely he had ulterior motives for this. His strange, erratic and inappropriate behaviour meant that he was not well liked, his his passion, his boys’ clubs, came under scrutiny. He also had a persecution complex, and as his life fell apart due to his own actions, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Thomas Hamilton became the man responsible for the Dunblane Massacre, the only school shooting in British History.

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15 – Harold Shipman: Medical Murders (Part 2)

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Mental Health, murder, Public Inquiry, Serial Killer, UK Crime

 

In the second and final episode of the story of Harold Shipman, we find out how the police went about investigating his murders. A suspicious will led to questions regarding prominent citizen, Kathleen Grundy’s death and the exhumation of her body. A local doctor had become suspicious of the sheer amount of cremations being performed at Shipman’s Surgery, and so, these taken together, an investigation into recent deaths of Shipman’s patients was launched. Soon, 12 women’s bodies had been exhumed. This week, we find out a little about these women, the investigation of the police, Shipman’s lengthy trial, and the public inquiry that followed.

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13 – The medical student & the cruel murder of Hazel Mullen

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Capital Punishment, Child Victim, Intimate Partner Violence, Irish Crime, Mental Health, murder, Vintage murder

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Shan Mohangi arrived in Dublin in 1962 from South Africa. He was 21 years old and had left his home country due to the limited opportunities afforded by the apartheid regime to people of colour in his country at the time. Like many who travelled to Ireland from the African continent, he enrolled in medical school. He took up residence in 95 Harcourt Street and also worked in the restaurant housed in its basement, The Green Tureen. The next year, he met 15 year old Hazel Mullen and the two started going out together. The relationship was serious to Shan, but perhaps less so to Hazel. On the 12th of August 1963, Hazel was to have lunch with Shan in his flat, but he said she never turned up. Smoke was later seen billowing from the restaurant downstairs. After searching all weekend, Shan Mohangi finally told the awful truth. Hazel was dead, and he had tried to burn her up in the ovens of the restaurant. But would 1960’s Ireland provide a man of colour a fair trial for the murder of a teenaged girl?

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