schoolboy snatched by satanists? his satchel was dumped on his way back to class
she poisoned her friend’s coffee
the cyanide killer watched her drink then die
they died, he laughed
pure
hate
Dylann Roof joined them in prayer, then he shot them down
killer nazi’s cowardly attack
“ get away, let him hurt me” The slow-burning malice that drove Thomas Mair to murder a politician
gangbuster Shower Posse secrets of an undercover cop
It’s raining bullets and blood in Jamaica
just don’t open the cabin door
PLUS: • he ‘replaced’ his wife • end of the mafia • murder monday – and more
Someone evil’s stalking the Yosemite wilderness Issue 022
Digital Edition GreatDigitalMags.com
welcome
N
o matter how many different ways it’s justified, the notion of killing for extreme ideological principles boils down to the same despicable thing. Dylann Roof and Thomas Mair might have killed their victims thousands of miles apart on different sides of the Atlantic, but they murdered in the same current sociopolitical context, and they were united by their hate crimes. Both cases are textbook in the cowardice the killers showed and the ignorance with which they assumed their actions would effect any change in the favour of their cause: other white supremacists
were quick to distance themselves from Roof, while Mair was denied the soap box he sought to spout his rhetoric nationwide, and no one rallied to support the Nazi loner. With comment from an expert in fascist ideology, this issue’s cover feature explores the warped mindset and the flashpoints that led two men with no previous convictions to plot the death of innocent people. In the shadow of the strange times we live in, it’s a fascinating read.
Ben biggs Editor
Contributors martyn conterio A freelance film critic and crime writer based in London, England, Martyn has a long-standing obsession with the crimes of Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer. He’s united two racist murderers in hate with our cover feature this issue, exploring the twisted worlds of Dylann Roof and Thomas Mair, on page 14.
seth ferranti He began his career in journalism having served a 21-year stretch of his 25-year sentence for an LSD kingpin conviction. Seth is now free and writes regularly for Real Crime. On page 34, Seth tells us why the revelation of the Cosa Nostra and public fascination with the mob has destroyed the US Mafia we once knew.
TANITA MATTHEWS Tanita has a background in reporting and newspaper journalism, and as Real Crime’s resident staffer, she’s had a hand in multiple parts of this issue. Tanita guides us through the deadly wilds of Yosemite park on page 60, through the twisted mind of Cleveland Elementary shooter Brenda Spencer on page 84, and more.
david hutt David is a British journalist based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He reports on Southeast Asia’s volatile political scene, as well as shedding light on the murky pasts of gangsters and criminals. He takes a trip to the less-chilled side of Kingston town, exploring the world of cocaine pioneers The Shower Posse, on page 68.
DR nell darby Nell is a criminal historian and freelance writer who has written extensively for newspaper, magazine and website outlets. She has four books to her name and her latest, Life On The Victorian Stage, is out now. Nell has written our feature on the ‘Monster Butler’ Archibald Hall, on page 54.
joanna elphick Dylann Roof leaves Charleston Church – gun in hand – an hour after he entered, having murdered nine. Expecting police on the scene, his exit is cautious, then brazen as he realises no one has responded to the sound of his gunshots
/realcrimemag /realcrimemag
Jo is an academic lawyer and lecturer specialising in criminal law, forensics and crime and deviance. She has created courses and given talks on subjects like Jack the Ripper. Her book, Murderous East Anglia, is available on Amazon. Jo has taken on the unsolved case of a Dublin boy who disappeared 30 years ago, on page 24.
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Contents Xxxxxxx
Case notes
06 t okyo truck killer, her last steps on CCTV, murderous mother and more
Stunning crime photos, present and past, from around the world
14 pure hate
How racist rage drove Dylann Roof and Thomas Mair to murder
unsolved case
24 t he disappearance of philip cairns
30 years since his satchel was found abandoned in an alleyway, we look at whether this Irish schoolboy was snatched by a predatory paedophile or a Satanic cult
breakthrough
32 c ase of the missing casino queen
There was no body, no trace of her death. But something wasn’t right about Agnès Le Roux’s ‘suicide’
34 h ow pop culture killed the mob
Swaggering dons and Hollywood movies made the mob famous – and brought the Mafia to its knees
minute by minute
42 c offee shop cyanide killer
he never came back to class
Blow by blow, how Jessica Wongso slipped deadly poison into her friend’s drink, then casually watched as she collapsed and died
48 u ndercover drugs gang buster
Undercover cop Peter Bleksley tells Real Crime how close he came to losing his life bringing drug gangs down from the inside
54 monster butler
A butler by day, thief and murderer by night. ‘Roy Fontaine’ pulled the wool over the eyes of his employers, then killed and robbed them
“this is for you, mirna” 4
contents 60 if you go down to the woods today
In the late 1990s, serial killer Cary Stayner drove terror into the heart of the USA’s Yosemite park
briefing
68 shower posse
Jamaica’s cocaine-smuggling pioneer wields power through its political links
76 you are just a number The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment was designed to investigate the power of social situations and behaviours, and then they lost control…
84 she didn’t like mondays
Why the Cleveland Elementary School sniper picked up a rifle and decided to shoot the whole day down
reviews
92 c ity of tiny lights, convicting avery, hollywood & crime, sneaky pete and more The latest crime film, mystery fiction and true tales reviewed
the power went to their heads
strange case
98 taxi driver pervert drugged women to watch them pee
Toshihiko Nishi “got excited by watching women trying to withstand the urge to urinate”
discover more REAL Crime
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page 74
school shooter’s monday blues 5
Case notes
Oregon,USA,21July1987
Child Killer Traced To Secret Hideout Arrested for the sensational shooting of her own children, Diane Downs was lonely and craved a bundle of joy that would occupy her misery
I
n 1987, convicted child murderer Diane Downs had been in a recreation yard at the Oregon Women’s Correctional Center, when she jumped the fence and hitchhiked her way to freedom. Her escape prompted fears for the safety of her surviving victims – her own children. In 1983 Downs fatally had shot her seven-year-old daughter before turning the gun on her four-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter, who survived but were permanently paralysed. She blamed a fictional carjacker for the attack, but her surviving daughter’s damning testimony saw Downs put away for life. At large, a manhunt of 14 western states ensued to recapture the murderess. Ten days after her escape, the law finally caught up with her. Indentations on
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a notepad in Downs’ cell led the police to her whereabouts after the FBI uncovered an address, a map and the words “you are here” from a sheet of paper. She was discovered in the bedroom of a Salem home, wearing men’s boxer shorts and a man’s shirt, in the company of a man. She was apprehended with three other residents of the home, and charged for hindering prosecution. A Lane County Sheriff detective said that Downs, who liked the limelight of her sensational case, may have been motivated by her urges to get pregnant to gain the attention of the public once more. She was taken into custody “without incident” and returned to a New Jersey prison to serve out her sentence, with an additional five years added to the tariff for her escape.
Š Shutterstock
case notes
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Case notes
Reykjavik,Iceland14January2017
Minutes before her abduction and murder Her last footsteps caught on CCTV, a murder investigation has been launched to establish exactly what happened to missing Birna Brjánsdóttir
T
he last sighting of an Icelandic redhead before she disappeared was captured on security cameras as she walked home from a nightclub alone. Uneasily stumbling down the streets at 5.25am, Brjánsdóttir, a department store assistant, failed to turn up for work that day. For the first 48 hours after the 20-year-old disappeared her whereabouts remained a mystery, but it was a case that grew more sinister when her Dr Marten shoes were discovered days later, placed on a dock on the outskirts of Reykjavik. The search for Brjánsdóttir was the biggest Missing Person’s search in Iceland’s history, but eight days after her disappearance, a heartbreaking discovery brought the search to a close, as the young girl’s body was discovered near to a lighthouse on the beach. Police focused their investigations on a red Kia Rio, which was spotted in the area where the victim was last seen. A comprehensive search of the vehicle showed traces of DNA belonging to the deceased and that it had been rented by two Greenlandic trawlers, who have since been arrested and accused of murder. The car was spotted driving along the port at around 6am, where the victim’s shoes were found and the alleged perpetrator’s trawler was harboured. Police believe it may have been a ploy to misdirect the investigation into her disappearance. The men, both in their 20s, had attempted to clean the car before returning it to the rental garage the day before her body was found.
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case notes
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Case notes
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case notes
Sydney,Australia,17August1991
It took Wade Frankum ten minutes to kill six innocent people, before being cornered left him with just one escape route from his crimes
F
or two and a half hours, Wade Frankum had sat in a café in the Coffee Pot café in the Strathfield Plaza, drinking coffee and watching the world go by. Sipping the dregs of his fourth coffee, he quietly removed a machete-like weapon from an army surplus duffel bag and plunged the 50cm sharpened blade into the back of a 15-year-old girl, who had been sat with her friend behind him. Leaving the knife lodged in the body, he pulled out a concealed SKK semi-automatic rifle and began to pepper the café with bullets, killing several other innocent bystanders and the café owner. The gunman dashed to the main area of the shopping centre, where he killed the last of his 13 victims, a
man stood in a queue at the chemist. Still shooting, Frankum climbed onto the rooftop car park where he flagged down an unsuspecting woman pulling into the shopping centre. Placing the gun to her cheek through the passenger’s window, he ordered her to drive him to Enfield, but on the level below the sound of sirens filled the floor. “I’m really sorry. Stop,” said the gunman, swiftly exiting the car. As the frightened woman sped away, she glanced in her rear view mirror to witness Frankum kneel on the concrete floor, place the rifle under his chin and pulled the trigger. As quickly as he started the massacre Frankum brought it to an end, as he collapsed in a gory heap.
© Getty Images
wrath Of the Strathfield Gunman
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Case notes
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