What crime stories have you been obsessed by?

[WomenHour]

I was griped by the James Bulger murder 25 years ago

The Moore's murders always captivated me, it's fairly local to where I am and I find it inconceivable that a woman could commit those crimes, especially Lesley Ann Downey, horrendous

Dr David Kelly

Maddie McCann. I think about her quite often. If she was taken, I hope, for her sake, that she was actually killed fairly quickly. Anything else doesn't bare thinking about.

And the Soham murders. I was on holiday with a friend at the time, and we remember Huntley being interviewed on the news, and both of us saying, "he did it". There was just a vibe, straight away.

Can’t see that she’s been mentioned but Tia Sharp. She often pops in to my head.

Jon Benet Ramsey

Little bits I've heard/read about why some people kill like this.

One is that there were so many serial killers in US (a term, I think, coined. In the 70s) in the 70s was because they were children of men who had been brutalised fighting in WW2. The father's often took to drinking, and couldn't settle down to relationships and beat their sons etc. And then these sons (seems to largely be sons) had these chaotic upbringings, combined with various other difficulties, can go on to be serial killers. That seems to be a common theme in their background.

Also, a psychiatrist who studies psychopaths, seems ti think you are born with psychopathic behaviours. However, plenty of psychopaths live in the world. They aren't all Hannibal Lectors. His theory is that if they are shown great love by their parents and have good upbringings, they are less likely to use their tendencies for good.

Although that doesn't fit Joanna Dennehey...

Sorry that was badly written but I hope my point comes across.

*less likely to use their tendencies for bad I meant !!

I think the family are campaigning for Dai Morris convicted of the Clydach Murders. There is a Facebook page. The book ‘The Clydach Murders:- a miscarriage of justice’ seems to have led to additional interest in the case so hopefully there will be further investigation.

I wonder if something happened to Joanna Dennehey to make her go so off the rails. By all accounts she had a loving family and a good upbringing.
If there was something though would they have used it in her defence? She seemed to have such a hatred of men.

I'm not obsessed by any but some come to mind at times. Tia Sharp is one. Also poor Tia Rigg who was let down by so many people. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-13381695

The two often come to mind together not only because they shared a name, but also because they were so young, just 12, and both horrifically murdered by relatives

I've never forgotten Francesca Bimpson. www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/dec/08/arsonist-graham-heaps-murder-jailed I remember watching the Crimewatch appeal and how that poor baby hid in terror in her bed.

Oscar Pistourious.. I don't recall, your honour,. I don't understand the question M'lady.
OJ Simpson
I'm really fascinated by famous people who murder murdered

April Jones. 😢 Her parents and their strength.

@GreenLowe Francesca’s father recently died too, tragic

Whats sad also about April Jones murder is her dad having to be told again after becoming ill with a brain virus and suffering memory loss as a result

Shooting of Rhys Jones..and how far the parents went to cover up their sons crimes. Burning the sim card and the threats to another parents. Horrible people. Then the behaviour of the sons in court as well...

Makes sense to me @tobee 👍
Paris Bennett who at the age of 13 convinced the babysitter to go home so he could stab his four year old sister to death was deemed to be a psychopath.

Heidi Broussard.... best friend killed her and took her 2 week old infant.
Best friend pretended she was pregnant and was at the birth.
People Initially blamed the husband.

Wow. I’d never heard of the Clydach murders before. How terrible. Seems to be an awful miscarriage of justice. I’m always interested in cases that link back to police coverups or corruption. The Daniel Morgan murder is very interesting, theres a fantastic podcast about it. It’s a very complex case, but it highlighted the corruption between the press and the police years before Leveson enquiry etc.

I am staggered, and quite disturbed by how many people are 'obsessed with' such awful, disturbing crimes. 22 pages in, and - with some exceptions who explain that they are 'haunted by' or 'often think of' - there are over 500 posts of people picking over the bones of murders.

These aren't story books, or films. These are real people - with families, potentially on MN.
People are talking about them as if it is a drama written for people to watch and chat about

I understand people being haunted by a crime - as some have said, where they used that park, or where they had a child that age. Thinking about the 'what ifs' when your child of the same age reaches milestones the victim never will, but some of this discussion doesn't sound at all healthy to me.

I am intrigued by murders especially horrific murder because For me I want to get inside the mind of the killer, what makes someone want to do such a thing and what went wrong with that person to make them do it- especially those who are serial killers, and what indicators there may have been of something being wrong before they took the steps to kill, and if there is indicators what can we do to prevent it from escalating to murder?

Backforgood it’s pretty common to be interested in true crime. There are literally thousands of podcasts and films about it. If it’s unhealthy then an awfully large % of the population are weirdos according to you. It’s extremes of human nature plus intrigue of not knowing what happened in many cases, both of which are clearly interesting to anyone who is interested in people and the way we behave.

It would be disturbing if people were making light of these crimes.