Have you ever known someone who committed a serious crime?

[TheGhostsOfMeAndYou]

I’ve been listening to a true crime podcast recently and it got me thinking. One of the episodes was about Fred and Rose West. When Fred was first arrested (at the stage where police had only uncovered three bodies in the garden), his brother and sister-in-law spoke about him and said they couldn’t believe he’d done what he was accused of, as he had always seemed so gentle and polite spoken.

It made me wonder — has anyone here ever known someone who’s committed a serious crime, and did it come as a total shock? Or were there warning signs in hindsight? Did you ever suspect anything at the time? And how did others around them react — was it disbelief, or did some say they weren’t surprised?

I had a friend arrested and found guilty of serious sexual crimes. I was absolutely shocked, no warning signs at all, he seemed like a lovely person, had known him years. Monsters walk among us. He was presented with an opportunity and he took it.

Someone else in my friendship circle (like friend of a friend of a friend, someone I knew to talk to as he was sometimes at same pubs/clubs as me) was done for armed robbery. He was a bit simple but I had no idea he was a criminal until he was caught. He took huge risks for very little reward, still not sure what he was thinking.

Yes
They were/are a regular unassuming cordial person who committed a crime
No one retrospectively saw any sign/clue. No knew he was a bad un hunch

Well we all knoe someone with a criminal record surely as a quarter of people have one, and a third of men. As far as I'm aware I don't know any murderers, but I certainly know people with assault convictions, affray, different types of theft, drug dealing convictions.

Yes, two people. Different, unassociated crimes. One made the national papers. Both were murders

I used to know someone who turned out to be a paedophile

Yes, I worked with a man like that. The interesting thing is he had absolutely no idea of what was right or wrong, good or bad. He was pleasant but somehow empty. Gradually it all came out and he left in a hurry. He was a real creep.

Yes - a family ‘friend’ who sexually assaulted a number of young girls. I was one of them. I always knew something was wrong with him, my dad on the other hand welcomed him in with open arms.

A brother of a family friend got 10 years for pedophilia (not sure of full story). Wouldn't have said there were any red flags. Family friend was shocked/couldn't belive it until she sat through court case and came away believing he was guilty. She cut all ties.

An uncle of mine got 35 years for murder (been inside 34 years). His girlfriend/mum/sister still believe he's innocent but I'd say the red flags were flying in multiples (and I was only a teenager at the time). It split the family in two (those that believed he was wrongly convicted were very vocal afterwards).

Three men all in prison all for crimes against children. Two of them were not hugely surprising.

@TheGhostsOfMeAndYou What is the podcast out of interest? Looking for a new one.

So sorry that happened. In particular as you (correctly) knew he was a predator

Yes, pillors of the community, selling themselves as paragons of virtue and the first to judge other people.

Yes, a woman jailed for fraud against the company she was working for.
Quite a shock! She didn’t seem the type.

Family friend who murdered a man while they were high. I'm distantly related to a convicted serial-killer.

The podcast is ‘They Walk Among Us’

I have a great cousin who murdered a man during the war and disappeared abroad. Well I say disappeared abroad. He was last seen jumping into the Thames and was assumed drowned by the Police but he was a champion swimmer and was never seen again. He would done a flit. Him and all his family were hard as nails/survivor types.

Yes. Kidnap, torture and murder. Same person, 1 crime, convicted of all 3.

We were beach lifeguards together. Which obviously made it all the harder to imagine they’d take a life. But they did

I think I have lived a pretty sheltered life. I don’t know anyone who has committed a serious crime and it’s known about, nor anyone who has been to prison for any reason.

A former friend is in prison for multiple child sex abuse crimes. Seemed like a great guy, I picked up on no signs... Although in hindsight, I had asked him out of curiosity why he had never had a serious relationship at 50 years old, he told me he wasn't the 'settling down' type.
My friends and I were horrified when I heard, none of us had an inkling.

The treasurer of a club I was involved with as part of a hobby absconded with close to £20k of club funds.

Literally the last sort of person you would expect - solid professional background, very sociable, lovely family, very involved in the sport and community.

They were ultimately found, arrested and served a short sentence. It was very shocking at the time because nobody saw it coming.

It depends what we mean by serious crime. I know someone who has committed tax fraud for 30 years - not declared any rental income on a sizeable property portfolio. They must owe HMRC millions by now.

A boy my ds grew up with is now on the sex offender's register... Ds said he wasn't particularly surprised..

A friend from summer camp committed insurance fraud on a fairly massive scale and served time for it.

I had a very good friend who murdered someone, stabbed them to death. Totally shocked , a kind gentle soul who I had known for years.... You never know!

Yeah, on the flip side of some of these stories, I know someone now, who served time in prison years ago (long before I knew him) for manslaughter. He was a young lad at the time involved in a fight outside a pub, he punched his victim who fell backwards and cracked his head on the kerb and died a day later.

He's in his late 50's now, involved in lots of youth community work and a few charities, open about his past and has completely turned his life around from what it sounds like it/he was like when he was in his early 20's.

I'm racking my brains, but no.....can't think of anyone!

DD1, on the other hand, works in the prison service. She said it's weird how some of the nicest, most normal/friendly people inside turn out to be the ones who've done something truly awful.