339
Sallins, County Kildare, and
made off with around £200,000
(£1.3 million today). Although
three men – Osgur Breatnach,
Nicky Kelly, and Brian McNally –
were found guilty, the authorities
relied too heavily on the men’s
confessions. Allegations of coercion
saw their convictions overturned.
See also: The Great Train Robbery
30–35 ■ The Wild Bunch 150–51ALAIN LAMARE
1978–79The case of the “Killer of l’Oise”
rocked France – and not just
because of his attacks on young
women. He ran over several victims
with his car, and also picked up
and murdered several female
hitchhikers. The killer, Alain
Lamare, was discovered to be one
of the very gendarmes involved in
the investigation. Diagnosed as
schizophrenic, he was declared
unfit for trial, and now resides in
a French mental hospital.
See also: John Leonard Orr 48–53
■ Daniel M’Naghten 204–05JONESTOWN MASSACRE
18 November 1978More than 900 men, women, and
children died after drinking a soft
drink laced with cyanide. The
massacre took place at a settlement
established by cult leader Jim
Jones in Guyana, South America.
The leader of the “Peoples Temple”
died along with his followers,
having persuaded many to commit
“revolutionary suicide”. Others were
forced to swallow the poison.
See also: Sadamichi Hirasawa
224–25 ■ The Manson Family
230–37DENNIS NILSEN
1978–93Nilsen brought homeless young
men and gay men that he picked up
in bars back to his flat in Muswell
Hill, London, to murder them. He
strangled his victims until they
became unconscious, and then
drowned them in his bathtub. The
“Muswell Hill Murderer” engaged
in necrophilia with his victims after
ritualistically bathing and dressing
them. He dissected and disposed
of the bodies: some were burned,
others hidden under the floorboards
or in drainpipes. Nilsen’s crimes
were discovered when the remains
blocked his building’s drains.
See also: Andrei Chikatilo 292
■ Jeffrey Dahmer 293ASSASSINATION OF
GEORGI MARKOV
11 September 1978After his defection to the UK in
1969, Bulgarian writer Georgi
Markov became a major irritant to
his country’s Communist regime.
Markov was standing at a bus stop
in London, England, when he felt a
sharp jab in his leg; he died four
days later. Forensic experiments
determined the cause of death was
a ricin pellet that had been shot
into his thigh. Markov said he saw
someone with an umbrella at the
scene, which led investigators to
theorize that a modified “umbrella
gun” had been used to inject
Markov with the pellet. Although
the killer was never caught, many
suspect he was a KGB member
who worked with the Bulgarians.
See also: The Murder of Roberto
Calvi 241 ■ The Poisoning of
Alexander Litvinenko 326–31PETER SUTCLIFFE
1975–80Lorry-driver Peter Sutcliffe prowled
Bradford, Leeds and other towns in
the north of England, attacking and
killing women. His victims were
often prostitutes, and in many
cases the so-called “Yorkshire
Ripper” also mutilated their dead
bodies. West Yorkshire Police were
criticized for attaching too much
importance to a tape, purportedly
recorded by the “Ripper”, that was
subsequently discovered to be a
hoax. Nonetheless, Sutcliffe was
apprehended in January 1981 and
convicted on 20 counts of murder.
See also: Jack the Ripper 266–73
■ Andrei Chikatilo 292PATRICK HENRY
1976–77Seven-year-old Philippe Bertrand
was snatched by Henry as he left
school in Troyes, France, in January- Henry called Philippe’s
mother to demand a ransom but
garrotted the boy soon after, all the
while continuing to seek money
from his parents. Henry’s trial made
history in January 1977, when his
lawyer, Robert Badinter, persuaded
the court not to insist on the
guillotine, which heralded the end
of capital punishment in France.
See also: The Lindbergh Baby
Kidnapping 178–85 ■ The
Abduction of Aldo Moro 322–23
SALLINS TRAIN ROBBERY
31 March 1976Members of the Irish Republican
Socialist Party waylaid and robbed
a Cork–Dublin mail train outsideDIRECTORY
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