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Serial Killer Index Short List
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Serial Killer Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
   
serial killers by name [e] amazon
     
  ERSKINE Kenneth ... ... UK ... ... ... 11
aka Stockwell Strangler ... ... London
... : ... ... ... ...
Urteil:
 

At age 24, Kenneth Erskine was diagnosed by court psychiatrists as possessing "a mental age of eleven." A persistent loner, abandoned by his English mother and Antiguan father, he drifted through a milieu of special schools and flophouses, compiling a record of arrests for burglary in London, living on the proceeds of his thefts. Business was good enough for Erskine to open ten separate accounts for his stolen loot, but money isn't everything. Somewhere along the way, the simpleminded youth picked up a taste for homicide. Eileen Emms, 78, was the first to die, strangled in her home during the first week of April 1987. A month later, Janet Crockett, age 67, was killed in identical fashion. The killer rebounded with a double-header on June 28, claiming 84-year-old Valentine Gleime and 94-year-old Zbigniew Stabrawa in separate incidents. William Carmen, age 84, was strangled in early July. Two weeks later, William Downes, 74, and Florence Tisdall, 80, were discovered on successive mornings. By then, police were working overtime to find the "Stockwell Strangler," so-called after the southwest London neighborhood where five of his victims were slain. There had been petty theft in several cases, with a television stolen from Crockett's apartment and roughly $900 missing from Carmen's home, but robbery did not appear to be the driving motive. All of the victims were strangled manually, left on their beds with the sheets pulled up to their chins. Five had been sexually molested, but authorities could not determine whether the acts were committed before or after death. Kenneth Erskine was arrested on July 28, at a social security office, for trying to conceal one of his numerous savings accounts. In custody, his palm print matched one lifted from a Stockwell murder scene, and he was picked from a lineup by victim Frederick Prentice, 74, who had survived an attempted strangulation on June 27. Under questioning, Erskine seemed to plead amnesia. "I don't remember killing anyone," he told police. "I could have done it without knowing it. I am not sure if I did." The court had little difficulty sorting out the problem. Charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, Erskine was convicted across the board on January 29, 1988. (Two additional murders, dating from 1986, were eliminated from the list on grounds of insufficient evidence .) The presiding judge sentenced Erskine to seven life terms with an additional twelve years for attempted murder, recommending that the killer serve a minimum of 40 years before he is considered for parole.

At age 24, Kenneth Erskine was diagnosed by court psychiatrists as possessing "a mental age of eleven." A persistent loner, abandoned by his English mother and Antiguan father, he drifted through a milieu of special schools and flophouses, compiling a record of arrests for burglary in London, living on the proceeds of his thefts. Business was good enough for Erskine to open ten separate accounts for his stolen loot, but money isn't everything. Somewhere along the way, the simpleminded youth picked up a taste for homicide. Eileen Emms, 78, was the first to die, strangled in her home during the first week of April 1987. A month later, Janet Crockett, age 67, was killed in identical fashion. The killer rebounded with a double-header on June 28, claiming 84-year-old Valentine Gleime and 94-year-old Zbigniew Stabrawa in separate incidents. William Carmen, age 84, was strangled in early July. Two weeks later, William Downes, 74, and Florence Tisdall, 80, were discovered on successive mornings. By then, police were working overtime to find the "Stockwell Strangler," so-called after the southwest London neighborhood where five of his victims were slain. There had been petty theft in several cases, with a television stolen from Crockett's apartment and roughly $900 missing from Carmen's home, but robbery did not appear to be the driving motive. All of the victims were strangled manually, left on their beds with the sheets pulled up to their chins. Five had been sexually molested, but authorities could not determine whether the acts were committed before or after death. Kenneth Erskine was arrested on July 28, at a social security office, for trying to conceal one of his numerous savings accounts. In custody, his palm print matched one lifted from a Stockwell murder scene, and he was picked from a lineup by victim Frederick Prentice, 74, who had survived an attempted strangulation on June 27. Under questioning, Erskine seemed to plead amnesia. "I don't remember killing anyone," he told police. "I could have done it without knowing it. I am not sure if I did." The court had little difficulty sorting out the problem. Charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, Erskine was convicted across the board on January 29, 1988. (Two additional murders, dating from 1986, were eliminated from the list on grounds of insufficient evidence .) The presiding judge sentenced Erskine to seven life terms with an additional twelve years for attempted murder, recommending that the killer serve a minimum of 40 years before he is considered for parole.
Copyright 1995-2005 by Elisabeth Wetsch
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