Write to: Opinion, Murder Most Foul, PO Box 735, London SE26 5NQ or email
[email protected] (please put your address on emails). We pay £
each for any letters that are publishedshe went to meet her victim armed
with a gun. Three things about her
case surprise me – 1). After two failed
marriages, why did she want to risk
another? 2). Her own four children
did not live with her but stayed with
relatives yet she chose to foster and
was obviously passed fit to do so by
the relevant authorities. 3). If, as she
hoped he’d do, Bill Bergen had divorced
his wife and married Edythe, didn’t
she consider the fact that when a man
marries his mistress it creates a job
vacancy?
Ann Nicholl, StrabaneMen And Domestic Homicide
I felt compelled to respond to Andrew
Stephenson’s letter (Opinion, MMF
108), in which he claims that the
“distaff ” spouse usually commits
domestic homicide. Actually, the
opposite is true.
Worldwide, the proportion of women
killed by their male spouses or partners
is more than six times that of men killed
by intimate partners (39 per cent to six
per cent, respectively). In the UK, 70
per cent of domestic homicide victims
are female. In the US, 83 per cent of
spouse murderers are male. The only
countries where the rates of domestic
homicide are close to equal for men and
women are Panama and Brazil.
Women are more likely to use poison,
as did most of the “black widow” killers
listed by Mr. Stephenson. In historic
crimes, clever poisoners could often
get away with several murders before
they were caught. Perhaps this makes
it seem like there is a disproportionate
number of husband-killers in the annals
of history.
This is an unfortunate conclusion to
draw, because it minimises the very real
danger that women across the world
face. Women’s main risk of homicide is
from spouses or intimate partners. This
is not the case for men.
Whitney Hedges, AlabamaTell Us About Poisoner Stacey
Has Murder Most Foul covered the
murder career of Stacey Castor, who
intentionally poisoned her husband
with anti-freeze mixed in with vodka
and orange? It was suspected that she
was also responsible for the death of
her first husband. The combination of
poison, intrigue and murder should
make an interesting feature article.
Stacey Castor was found dead in her
cell on June 11th, 2016. The cause of
death was reported as a heart attack.
Cameron Camilla Boyle, LeicesterGreat idea, Ms. B. Watch this space!FIND US
ONLINE AT http://www.truecrimelibrary.comHolmes Surely Not The Ripper
The feature on H.H. Holmes was very
interesting (“American Ripper? He Killed
Many But Was He Jack?”–
MMF 108). I first became
aware of this case after
reading Robert Bloch’s
fictionalised novel American
Gothic which was based on
Holmes. Bloch also wrote
a factual study on Holmes
entitled Dr. Holmes’ Murder
Castle which was published
in 1983.
Despite all the recent
speculation that Holmes
was possibly Jack the Ripper, I doubt
very much that he was. It now seems that
any murderer from the late 19th century
automatically qualifies as a possible
Ripper suspect!
Mark Russell, Liverpool
Haarmann Had Nothing On Fish
I was interested to learn that Albert Fish’s
idol was Fritz Haarmann (“Little Girls
Have More Flavour” – MMF 108). Both
men spent time in lunatic asylums and
both men were sadistic but there the
similarities end. Albert Fish
loved the taste of human
flesh whereas Haarmann
sold the flesh of his murder
victims for profit. He also
killed some victims because
he, or his male lover, liked
their clothes. Both food
and material were in short
supply after the First World
War so he made enough
of a profit to keep his
paramour in the style he desired.
Fritz Haarmann had his share of
fetishes – including cross-dressing and
fatal biting – but he has nothing on
Albert Fish, surely one of the most
depraved individuals ever. He would have
been able to tick most of the boxes in a
quiz about aberrant sexuality. His claim
that he didn’t hurt little Grace before
killing and cooking her is unlikely given
his love of binding and whipping his
previous victims.
C. Davis, Weston-super-Mare
Complicated And Cold-Blooded
Edythe Klumpp was certainly a very
complex character (“Edythe Set Fire
To Love Rival’s Face” – MMF 108).
On the surface she presented herself
as a hard-working foster carer to three
young children and a woman of religious
devotion so strong that she sang in the
church choir and taught Sunday school.
She was not someone you’d expect to
become a cold-blooded murderess –
and cold-blooded her actions were as
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American
monster:
H.H.
HolmesDepraved
killer:
Albert
Fish