Cassidy - Sick and Twisted: The true stories of serial killers and why they did it

SICK AND
twISTeD

The True Stories of
Serial Killers and Why They Did It

JONNY CASSIDY

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Contents

Introduction

V iolence has been an unfortunate, albeit integral, part of human life and society since before history itself. The existence of violence and the eventual solution for this primordial problem have been the subjects of countless philosophical and scientific endeavors for millennia. Yet, it continues to be a part of many peoples lives. Because of our seemingly natural inclinations as a species, societies generally understand that some forms of violence are unavoidable and some even acceptable. We acknowledge, for example, that people will continue to get hurt because of warfare or that authorities will employ force when its needed to uphold the law, but the thing that remains unfathomable to most of us is when violence comes in a form that we perceive as senseless or as a pathological phenomenon.

Indeed, now and then, we face the very worst that humanity has to offer in the form of individuals who kill because they have an inexplicable urge to do so or simply because they find the act entertaining. While we have no reliable way of determining how common the phenomenon of serial killers was in past centuries, its a societal affliction that many countries around the world have documented for quite a while now.

Of the many serial killers in recorded history, a great number had made their way into popular culture and permanently etched their names in historys pages of gruesome infamy. The reasons why some killers became more famous than others are numerous and as variable as these individuals. Some are remembered simply for being horrifically prolific due to their high murder counts, while others still haunt societys collective memory due to their bizarre motives.

There are a few factors that set serial killers apart from other homicidal offenders, including the number of killings, which most agencies and experts generally set at three or more, and their timeline. Serial killers will murder their victims in succession with a certain period in between. Most importantly, however, the factor that most serial killers have in common is that they commit their crimes for psychological gratification. Sexual offenses, deviancies, and gratification are some of the most frequent and recurring themes among serial killers. Still, there are no universal rules when it comes to motive, and different serial killers have killed their victims for an incredibly wide range of reasons.

Serial killers also tend to exhibit one or more patterns in their crimes, especially regarding the type and profile of their victims. A serial killer will also frequently have something called a modus operandi or MO for short, which simply refers to their methods, rituals, and other particularities of how they attack their victims. Theres very little thats random about most serial killers, and this is one of their most defining factors.

This book will detail quite a few stories about some of the deadliest serial killers in history. We not only delve into the gruesome details of their crimes but also their backgrounds and their dark tales of unhinged depravity and murder. In this first volume of our journey into the deepest recesses of human darkness, we will examine the cases of 25 serial killers. Volume 2, which will be coming soon, will take us even further down this dreadful rabbit hole.

Chapter 1

Harold Shipman

P erhaps the scariest serial killers are those hiding in plain sight. While some killers terrify us simply because of their deranged minds or their gruesome misdeeds, these wolves in sheeps clothing are terrifying because of their ability to go on with their crimes for a long time before they are suspected and apprehended. Yet, even more unsettling is the idea that a person in a position of high responsibility, whom society trusts to care for other people and help them, could instead choose to use their position as a platform for murder.

Such was the case of Harold Frederick Shipman, known to friends and family as Fred Shipman. Shipman was an English general-practice doctor who veered off his professional and ethical path to become one of the most prolific killers in modern history, having killed an estimated 250 people, most of whom were elderly women. Earning himself such epithets as Dr. Death or the Angel of Death, thus being likened to the infamous Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele, Fred Shipman has gone down in history as one of the most horrific murderers in British history.

The Making of Doctor Death

Dr. Shipman was born Harold Frederick Shipman on January 14 of 1946, in the town of Nottingham in Englands Nottinghamshire County. The family he was born into was an ordinary working-class family, but young Fred was a bright child who showed great promise from an early age. He was the second of three children born to Vera Brittan and Harold Frederick Shipman, who worked as a truck driver. Both of Freds parents were very religious, stringently practicing Methodism.

Even though the Shipman family was ordinary and unexceptional, Vera felt differently about her son, especially after Harold had shown himself to be a clever child. As some of the familys neighbors later noted, Vera was a courteous but overly proud woman who felt that her family was better than most in the community. In Harold, Vera saw an opportunity to enact and prove that superiority to the world. From an early age, Harold was firmly under the wing and the great influence of his mother, who virtually made it no secret that he was her favorite child. Vera instilled in her son that same sense of superiority that she had always felt. This would quickly start creating problems for the boy in his youth, as he would often maintain distance from other kids and would find himself isolated, which had a profound impact on the sort of person he later became.

As such, Vera was a very controlling and often overbearing mother. She maintained strict control over whom Harold could see or play with, when, and for how long. Vera spared no effort to make it clear to the world that her son was special, that he wasnt like the rest, and that he was destined for success. Even when all the other kids would dress casually, Vera made sure that her golden boy would wear a tie. In the early years, Harold did reflect most of his mothers high hopes, and he did excel in school, but later, he would hit some bumps on the road. For a time, Harold was a mediocre student at best, but the thing he had in abundance was the ambition that his mother had instilled in him. Eventually, it would take a few attempts, but Harold would manage to get into medical school.