201
murder in early 20th-century
France but acquitted because it
was assumed that women could
not control their emotions. Similarly,
the trial of American axe murderer
Lizzie Borden was governed by the
belief that a lady was incapable of
slaying with a hatchet. However,
such attitudes did not protect
19th-century London maid Kate
Webster – who murdered her
wealthy employer – nor Lindy
Chamberlain, whose unexpectedly
calm reaction to her baby’s
disappearance led to her wrongful
conviction for stabbing the child
to death in Australia in the 1980s.
The social stigma and harsh
legal penalties resulting from a
wrongful murder conviction can
devastate the life of an innocent
person. Former US Marine Kirk
Bloodsworth spent nine years ondeath row before his acquittal.
The Japanese artist Sadamichi
Hirasawa, who was widely thought
to be innocent in the Teigin Bank
murder case, died behind bars
without his name being cleared.
Even being acquitted, however,
leaves a stain on the character of
the person accused – particularly
when the defendant is a celebrity,
such as O.J. Simpson.Mass murderers
Mass murders are considered a
separate category and involve four
or more victims killed in the same
place: the Texas Towers Massacre
and the Teigin Incident are
examples of this type of crime.
The Manson Family tend to be
characterized as “spree killers” –
alienated individuals or groups
who embark on a deadly rampage.Although the number of victims
in such killings are higher than in
single, double, or triple homicides,
they are invariably regarded as
single events by the general public.
In contrast to a serial killer, a spree
killer does not return to the routine
of their daily life, only to strike
again at a later date. Typically,
spree killers either never reoffend
or, having crossed the line,
continue to murder until they are
killed or apprehended.
Technological advances in the
field of forensic sciences – from
DNA fingerprinting to forensic
facial reconstruction – are allowing
investigators to reopen closed and
unsolved cases. These advances
also make it increasingly difficult
for guilty people to walk free, and
correspondingly, for an innocent
person to remain behind bars. ■MURDER CASES
1947
1948
1966 1980 1995
1969 1993 1996–97
Elizabeth Short,
known as the Black
Dahlia, is murdered
and dismembered
in Los Angeles by
an unknown killer.Sadamichi Hirasawa is
found guilty of the
Teigin Incident, a mass
poisoning committed
by a bank robber in
downtown Tokyo.Charles Whitman
carries out the Texas
Towers Massacre, the
first mass shooting
on a US campus.Mark David Chapman
shoots John Lennon
dead in New York.Former football star
O.J. Simpson is tried
for the murder of his
ex-wife, Nicole, and her
friend Ron Goldman.In California, the
cultlike Manson
Family carry out nine
murders over a
five-week period.Two 10-year-old boys
become the youngest
convicted murderers
in British history for
the murder of
James Bulger.In the US, rival
hip-hop stars Tupac
Shakur and Biggie
Smalls are killed
in separate drive-by
shootings.200-201_Timeline_6.indd 201 13/01/2017 15:35