Have you ever met or had any scary encounters with a notorious criminal...

[3littlemincemeatpies]

I am fascinated by true crime, particularly the behaviours shown and also how the investigations unfold into catching them...

I’m also a big fan of NM’s WOO/scary/creepy threads and thought I’d tie the two together and ask for your scary/near miss encounters with any evil and notorious criminals.

I actually don’t have any of my own other than my dad being involved in the investigation/operation that led to the arrest a well known Scottish peadophile, it was all very dramatic with the raid team (dad included) gaining access to his property in the back of a RM van...

Does anyone have anymore?

I bumped into Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan. They were walking past me and Donovan suddenly came right up in my face, literally inches and just stared. She laughed and said “what you doing” and he replied “just seeing if she’s really blonde” utterly bizarre but I was quite scared at the time.

Was that before Shannon went missing @Aposterhasnoname ?

I bumped into Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan.

Two complete shits who don't deserve anything other than a horrible life.

Was that before Shannon went missing

Yes it was, just a few days before actually. Recognised her on tv instantly, and him when he appeared a few weeks later. I’ll never forget those freaky staring eyes.

Get a grip, 'Dahmer'. If a loved one of yours was brutally murdered, you probably wouldn't take kindly to the thousands of silly women like you giving their murderer a purpose in life and the ego boost that being put on a pedestal and being found interesting brings them. It is pathetic.

Dahmer you should've taken the 2 grand for Bronsons painting, if you were even really offered that.

He's becoming a decrepit old nothing who the modern age don't even notice. In the world of social media and Netflix it'll be worth about 2 quid soon.

Used to work with Maxine Carr and Ian Huntley. They were a nice quiet couple.

Shannon must be 20 now. I do hope she has managed to cope and is able to lead a relatively happy life

Spent time with a young woman who had been convicted as a teenager of manslaughter of another girl and filming it on her phone. Having met her mother I wasn't surprised she'd gone so feral as a kid. Her mother clearly could not care less about her or her grandchild, was more interested in her much younger boyfriend and the young lady wouldn't let her own child be left alone with the mother for even a minute, even in the next room with the door open.
When I initially read about the case in the tabloids I was disgusted but meeting some of the people involved was an eyeopener. The girl had clearly had a lot of anger management work done while inside, she was uncannily composed, to the point it was a bit unnerving.

Don't know if this is the sort of thing you mean OP but years ago now I got a mini cab from a venue . All legit . Rang the mini cab office, gave my name etc etc and a man turns up to get me . Got in.
Something about him was very strange though, but I couldn't put my finger on it at all .
I got so nervous (in my head) that I pretended (whilst still a 10 minute or so drive away from home) I had seen some friends outside a pub we were approaching so asked him to stop, I paid him, apologised and got out that cab as fast as I could
A few months later I noted an appeal in the paper as a woman had been raped by a cab driver . Now, I do not know if it was the same man as I tried not to look at him much but it may well have been .

Shannon must be 20 now. I do hope she has managed to cope and is able to lead a relatively happy life

I hope so. Judging by what there is online at the moment about Karen Matthews she's well rid of her 'mother'

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/karen-matthews-says-shes-dumped-17511820

I worked with a guy who was found guilty of the rape & murder of an elderly woman!
Prior to his arrest he went on the run and the police released his photo. He was found in a public library in a town miles away using the internet by a sharp eyed librarian.
He was always a bit creepy but none of us anticipated his real evilness!

Love this thread! I haven't met anyone but I've written to a couple of well known US serial killers. why would anyone want to do that? And TBH why are these agencies which facilitate it allowed to do so?

I read an article recently on the BBC about a young girl who had started writing to a death row inmate when she was about twelve,and a couple of years later her parents actually took her to the states to meet him. Seriously..... wtf????

From my own perspective, I’ve never had any personal encounters, but I do know a couple of people who had quotes for work from Fred West, and Christopher Halliwell’s DP is friends with the sister of a friend of mine.

My australian colleague from a US summer camp is currently serving 11 years for fraud. I think she and the other fella took $179 million. I would never had her down as a thief.

Charlie Richardson, I nursed him didn't realise he was The Charlie Richardson until we transferred him and in by strange coincidence ended up in the bed next to my Dad. He was unconscious most the time I looked after him but he was a pleasant old man and was a good lesson in life that people who commit evil acts and not necessarily evil all the time.

DahmerDarling you are being unbelievably naive you really think this man isn’t spinning you a story to pull you in and you have made some break through he is playing with you and many others

You will be one of many writing to them. They will have had a number of consult forensic psychiatrists and consultant psychologists assessing them, worked with psychotherapists along with other mh professionals and they always always work as a team to keep themselves safe (on a psychological level) it’s never a one role position to work with such violent and dangerous people.

You should be wary of being dragged in emotionally even if miles away and using a post box. These people you are writing to are more often than not very manipulative, have all the time in the world to think how to pull people like yourself in and damage you they think on a completely different level to what you do, you will not gain some deep understanding of their behaviour and are more likely to be told something that will disturb you (deliberately) and who do you have to debrief with

When working with people who are diagnosed particularly with personality disorders (often high levels of narcissistic traits which is incredibly difficult to work with) they will have a team of professionals (often rotating) working with them so they are kept safe

And this is the last thing mh professionals need when working with those that are a danger to society is people fanning their egotistical flames

Think about the bigger picture and don’t be so stupid

Oh I also knew the Black Widow - Catherine Nevin

My DD's friend is a niece of Rose West

Love this thread! I haven't met anyone but I've written to a couple of well known US serial killers.

What???? Why????

Are you completely insane????

It is literally all I do every day at work...

What I find interesting is how people describe well known villains as charming and how they would carry shopping etc.
I've seen it portrayed in tv but guess it's based on true characteristics.

It's almost like they genuinely believe they are above others and their crimes aren't crimes and there's certainly that element portrayed that they have real standards.

I wonder how true to life it is that they almost always have the greatest respect for their mums and their mums are the true patriarchs.

I've recently read a series (fiction) about an east end family. They sons made thousands and kept their mothers well. Their mothers were proud of it because they provided jobs locally and provided for family. They seemed to feel their crime was justified but if anyone else stepped over the line then they expected their sons to deal with it.

I find the psychology behind it quite terrifying.

One side of my family are all from the East End of London, their local was the Blind Beggar and they all knew the Krays and drank in their clubs. My gran said the twins were very charismatic (she said there was a certain charisma that came just from being twins as multiple births weren't as common in those days). They asked my great uncle to be one of their heavies as he was a really good boxer but he declined as he had no interest in hurting people for money.

Forgot to say, my great aunt's best friend was Reggie Kray's first wife, Frances, who killed herself.

people describe well known villains as charming and how they would carry shopping etc

I used to have to pass through a particularly rough estate to get from uni to my student house. If I ever walked through there alone at night I would Find someone would appear from the shadows and walk me home. When I once I was told they did didn't want some silly student getting raped /murdered/ beaten up on "their" turf so the police ended up crawling all over it. I imagine the being nice, polite and helpful to your neighbors falls into the same category.

I spent a year working in a secure psych hospital. Sutton Strangler was there at one point. But lots of non "famous" but equally prolific rapists, murderers and sadists.