The Crime Book

262

See also: Ted Bundy 276–83 ■ Fred and Rosemary West 286–87 ■ Harold

Shipman 290–91 ■ Jeffrey Dahmer 293

S

erial killers are by no means

a modern phenomenon.

Centuries before Jack the

Ripper, Rosemary and Fred West, or

Ted Bundy murdered their victims,

Prince Liu Pengli slaughtered

dozens of men, women, and

children in ancient China.

Liu Pengli, one of five brothers,

ruled over the principality of Jidong

during the second century bce.

It was a tempestuous time of

rebellion and political machinations

that led to the banishment of Liu

Pengli’s father, the beloved younger

brother of Emperor Jing.

Soon after coming to power in

Jidong, Liu assembled a gang of

slaves and young men on the run.

Together, they went out at night to

terrorize anyone they found. The

people lived in fear of their ruler.

Liu killed his subjects and stole

their possessions, with no higher

motive than pleasure.

In the 29th year of his rule, the

serial killer’s run came to an end

when the son of one of his victims

went to the only person who could

stop the wave of terror – Liu’s uncle,

Emperor Jing. Investigations finally

brought Liu Pengli’s crimes to light,

and he was found responsible for at

least 100 murders.

Under pressure from his

courtiers, who demanded Liu

Pengli’s execution, the emperor

acknowledged the severity of the

crime, but was reluctant to kill his

own nephew. Instead, he stripped

Liu Pengli of his royal status and

banished him to another province.

The sentence was considered the

next best thing to execution. ■

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

Jidong, China

THEME

Serial killing thrill-seekers

BEFORE

313 bce In ancient Rome,

rumours circulate of a mass

poisoning by Roman matrons

after several men drop dead.

Some 170 women are arrested.

They claim that their potions

are medicinal but two of them

die when they are made to

drink their own concoctions.

AFTER

2007 In Russia, Alexander

Pichushkin is brought to trial

for the murder of at least

48 people between 1992

and 2006. Known as the

Chessboard Killer, Pichushkin

claims that he wanted to kill 64

people – the number of squares

on a chessboard. Moscow’s

Bitsa Park, where Pichushkin

played chess, is the scene of

many of his murders.

MURDERING

PEOPLE... FOR

SHEER SPORT

LIU PENGLI, 144–121 bce

He was arrogant and cruel,

and paid no attention to the

etiquette demanded between

ruler and subject.

Sima Qian

262-263_Liu_pengli_Alice_Kytele.indd 262 02/12/2016 15:04

263

See also: Lizzie Borden 208–11 ■ Dr Crippen 216

T

o lose one husband is

unfortunate; to lose four in

rapid succession is bound

to raise eyebrows, especially if all

the men are wealthy. When the

death of Dame Alice Kyteler’s

husband, John le Poer, left her a

widow for the fourth time, local

people accused her of witchcraft.

Satanic accusations

In the 14th century, Catholic

orthodoxy did not generally take

the idea of sorcery seriously – the

great European witchhunts took

place in the 16th and 17th

centuries. However, the Catholic

church frowned on heresy, and

some members of the clergy were

prepared to define this broadly.

Dame Alice had repeatedly

clashed with Kilkenny’s Bishop of

Ossory, who resented her wealth

and connections among Ireland’s

elite. When le Poer’s children came

to him with stories of finding

satanic powders, the body parts of

unbaptized babies, and the toenails

of corpses boiled up in a robber’s

skull, the bishop did not probe too

deeply. Dame Alice was brought

to trial and convicted. Delays in

procedure allowed Kyteler to

escape to England, but her

maidservant, Petronilla de Meath,

was condemned for being her

accomplice, and was burned at

the stake on 3 November 1324. ■

SERIAL KILLERS

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

Kilkenny, Ireland

THEME

Witchcraft and sorcery

BEFORE

1317 Hugues Géraud, Bishop

of Cahors, France, is flayed

alive and burned after an

ecclesiastical court finds him

guilty of using sorcery in an

attempt to assassinate Pope

John XXII.

AFTER

1597 In Scotland, the Great

Scottish Witch Hunt, which

began in the 1550s, concludes

with the trial and conviction of

200 people for witchcraft.

Confessions are extracted

through torture, or guilt is

decided by witch prickers, who

pierce the accused with a

sharp implement. If they fail to

bleed, they are found guilty.

THE SAID DAME

ALICE HAD A

CERTAIN DEMON

ALICE KYTELER, 1324

Kilkenny’s Kyteler’s Inn, reputedly

established by Dame Kyteler herself,

continues to trade, bolstered by its

connection to the first person

convicted of witchcraft in Ireland.

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