R.J. Parker - The Serial Killer Compendium

The adopted child, Michael, was now two and a half years old, and on March 2nd of the following year, was carried into his pediatrician’s office wrapped in a blanket, unconscious. Tinning calmly claimed that she could not wake the child, and when the doctor examined him, discovered he was already dead. It was previously believed that there was a genetic origin for the deaths of all the infants, but when their adopted child died too, someone finally took notice.

The police were called in to investigate and found that Tinning had been present every time a child had died. After interrogating her, she confessed to smothering them, and received twenty years to life in prison for the deaths of eight babies.

She is now living at the Bedford Hills Prison for Women in New York, serving out her twenty-year sentence. She had parole hearings in 2007, 2009, and 2011. Each time she was denied parole. Her next hearing is scheduled for January, 2013.

Rosemary and

Fred West (Couple)

Rosemary Letts was born on November 29, 1953 in Devon, England. Frederick West was born on September 29, 1941 in Herefordshire, England.

Rosemary and Fred were married on January 29, 1972 and their daughter Mae was born on June 1. To make money, Fred encouraged his wife to become a prostitute and she had seven children, three of mixed race. Both Rosemary and Fred came from families of incest and on many occasions, her father, Bill Letts, would visit their house to have sex with his daughter.

As they had many children, they hired Caroline Roberts, seventeen, as a nanny. Rosemary had set up a room in the house for her prostitution and called it “Rose’s Room.” To offset any suspicion about all the men coming and going, they told the nanny that she was a masseuse.

Caroline rejected sexual advances from both Rosemary and Fred. She left the house but was brought back, tied up, and raped by the couple. They threatened to lock her in the cellar and let black male customers have their way with her if she did not behave. Fred told her that they had killed hundreds of young girls and that their bodies had never been found.

Realizing they would kill her, Caroline gave in to them sexually without a fight. The next day, she reported the rape to the police, but withdrew her accusation when the case came to court; however, for a reduced charge and a fine of only fifty pounds, the Wetts’ pleaded guilty.

Fred began raping his daughters while Rosemary watched and little Anne Marie, eight, became pregnant. Luckily, the pregnancy was terminated, as it was ectopic. In later years, both Anne Marie and her sister Heather could not take it any longer and left home.

Fred West would film himself raping his daughters until one day his daughter told her friend about it and she in turn told her mother. Her friend’s mother went to the police and on August 6, 1992, the authorities began their investigation which eventually led to the arrest of both Fred and Rosemary. The children were placed in foster care, but the daughter, Heather, could not be located. Social Workers talked with the children and learned that Heather was supposed to be buried under the patio. Based on this information, a search warrant was granted to excavate the garden in search of Heather. What they found was more than they were looking for. Eleven bodies were discovered in total.

On June 30, 1994, Rosemary and Fred West were both formally charged with these murders. Before Fred could be sentenced, he hung himself in his jail cell on January 1, 1995.

Rosemary was tried and convicted of ten murders in October of 1995, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Note: “While in prison, Fred West claimed he killed at least another twenty, including children he killed in a barn.”

Unsolved Serial Murder Cases

It is very frightening when serial murders are happening in a community. Just knowing there is someone stalking the neighborhood, looking for victims, is very frightening. Many of these killers hunt in the same area for years; others travel around spreading their fear in new regions and, luckily, many of them are captured. When the killer is not captured, however, the public is forced to envision when he or she will strike again.

There is sorrow in knowing that a serial killer was never brought to justice for the crimes they committed. There are several unsolved murder cases in the United States alone, not counting all around the globe, that are thought to have been the work of a serial killer. This book will depict several of them, as well as Serial Killers who were captured. Some of the unsolved cases in this book include The Axeman of New Orleans, The Capital City Killer, The Frankford Slasher, The Original Night Stalker, Highway of Tears Killer, The Servant Girl Annihilator, The Zodiac Killer and many more.

The Axeman of New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana (11 Victims)

It all began in New Orleans in 1918 with The Axeman of New York. He would chop a hole in a door to get into his victim’s house. He would then axe the man or woman to death. In one case he slit the victim’s throat with a barber’s razor. Often leaving the axe behind, he would flee the house.

He usually used the axe that belonged to the victim and took great joy in confusing the police with this. In several cases, a neighbor or relative was arrested for the murder.

The killer often had a cooling down period and would go months between killings. When that happened, the common folk of New Orleans would let their guard down. That’s when he would strike again. In 1919, the killings unexpectedly stopped.

In total, there were eleven people victimized by the Axeman, including one baby. Of the eleven, five people survived their attacks, though none could say who attacked them.

The Capital City Killer

Madison, Wisconsin (8 Known Victims)

In Madison, Wisconsin, over a fourteen year period, women would suddenly disappear, until, in 1968, bodies began to turn up. Police theorized it was the work of a serial killer, but because the bodies were badly decomposed, identification was near impossible, as was the cause of their deaths.

In total, there were eight victims, each a female between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four who wore her hair long and parted in the same way. They were associated with the University of Wisconsin in one way or another, either living on residence, working there, or attending as a student. For those whom the autopsy could verify cause of death, it was discovered that the victim was stabbed, charred, or had suffered blunt force trauma. It was also believed that many of the bodies have never been found as there were many more young women missing.

In 1984, the abduction of women ended, which makes one wonder again: did the serial killer simply stop, die, or move?

The Frankford Slasher

Frankford, Pennsylvania (8 or 9 Victims)

Between 1985 and 1990, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, nine females ranging from twenty-eight to seventy-four were assaulted, raped, and stabbed to death. One victim in particular was stabbed a total of seventy-four times and one was raped with a three-foot piece of wood.