Reviewed by Krista Mckeeth

Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China
by Paul French

In the last days of old Peking, where anything goes, can a murderer escape justice?
Peking in 1937 is a heady mix of privilege and scandal, opulence and opium dens, rumors and superstition. The Japanese are encircling the city, and the discovery of Pamela Werner’s body sends a shiver through already nervous Peking. Is it the work of a madman? One of the ruthless Japanese soldiers now surrounding the city? Or perhaps the dreaded fox spirits? With the suspect list growing and clues sparse, two detectives—one British and one Chinese—race against the clock to solve the crime before the Japanese invade and Peking as they know it is gone forever. Can they find the killer in time, before the Japanese invade?
Historian and China expert Paul French at last uncovers the truth behind this notorious murder, and offers a rare glimpse of the last days of colonial Peking. Hardcover, 272 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Penguin (Non-Classics) ISBN 0143121006 (ISBN13: 9780143121008)

Historian Paul French puts a bit of a unique twist on True Crime. He focuses on a unsolved murder that took place in China just at the onset of war with Japan. The mixing of different cultures and peoples at this time in Peking’s history is pivotal factor in why this crime was unable to be solved .

The balance between the cultural history and development of Peking and the procedures taken to solve this crime were equal factors. As the murder victim was originally from Britain both police forces had to work together. They were also given a time limit on how long they had to unravel the details and arrest a suspect. When the time limit is up, Pamela’s father takes on the case himself and with all of these documents 75 years later, the author believes he has solved the mystery and presents it to us in a very convincing format.

After telling her father that she was going roller skating, Pamela fails to come home. He goes looking for her and comes across a murder scene in which the dead is literally gutted and unrecognizable that he has to identify her body by a piece of jewelery and her hair color. All of her body organs are removed and her face is butchered. Leading the investigation into several different directions, most likely being that this was not an crime of passion, and whereas there is no blood at the site of the body the murder had to have been carried out elsewhere. And this is what leads them into a large amount of questioning of people, business owners and possible witnesses that were out that night in various parts of the city that Pamela was known to frequent.

The author gives us insight into the city of Peking. How the people that were coming and going from this city at this particular part of history were just as much a part of the way that the investigation was handled as the murder itself. People and businesses coming and going in the recent years with the impending war with Japan looming upon them. The combination of rules and regulations that both sides of the police forces had to abide by and a time limit that could only frustrate matters. Even her own father who was very familiar with Peking himself, unable to to find the answers before he died as well. A sad story that the author was able to bring to light many years later.

CRIMINAL PROFILING

Article by: Kylie Fox

A specially trained detective walks around a crime scene, not swabbing for blood stains or measuring the size of the stab wounds that have penetrated a victim’s body. He notices instead the position her body lies in, whether any attempt has been made to cover or hide the body, the area of the body the wounds are administered, the type of weapon used, signs of struggle and items on or near the body.

This specialist learns all he can about the victim – victimology – so that he can walk in her shoes for a time, figure out why she was targeted. Was there something in her daily routine, in her recent or past history or in the way she looks that could have triggered this response?

He reconstructs the victim’s final day, final hours, final minutes in this world and plays them over in his mind until they make some kind of sense. He feels her horror, her fear and her pain emotionally and physically until he’s certain he has those last moments right.

Then, using all of the physical and psychological clues that he’s gathered, he inserts himself into the mind of a killer. Possibly an even more terrifying place to be than the mind of the victim. He walks the path the murderer would have taken, reconstructs the crime and, more importantly, the thought process that the perpetrator used.

He can tell us the age and sex of the killer. Possibly a range of occupations and his social status. He may tell us we’re looking for a plumber or a postman or an unemployed loner.

He cannot tell us his name.

But this kind of information can help narrow down a long, and ever growing, list of suspects. It can help police feel more confident when they make an arrest – this suspect fits the profile.

Criminal profiling is still looked upon by some as a bunch of hocus-pocus with no real place in criminal investigations. But when the police have run out of ideas or where there is no physical evidence to go on, the criminal profile is often the next point of call for investigators.

What are those clues that a profiler can see that leads to their often frighteningly accurate profiles? What do they see that other police cannot?

Using a series of case studies, many referencing John Douglas, one of the founders of the FBI’s profiling unit and author of the Mindhunter series, we are going to explore exactly that in this new regular column on the Tara Sharp site.

Next time – we’ll begin with the basics of the serial killer. The triad of symptoms almost always displayed in the perpetrators of serial murders.

“It wasn’t me, it was the ghost!”

Article by: Kylie Fox

I’m sure the courts have heard just about every excuse going to explain a criminal’s behaviour – but how many times do you think they’ve heard the “it wasn’t me, it was a ghost” defence?

That’s exactly what Wisconsin man, Michael F. West, told police to explain how his wife sustained severe injuries consistent with being punched in the face and strangled.

West first explained away the injuries by claiming his wife had fallen but when asked specifically about her neck injuries, he said, “A ghost did it!”

Of course it did!

West has been charged with strangulation and misdemeanours of battery, disorderly contact and resisting or obstructing an officer.

Oh, and he’s been ordered to stay sober until his case goes to court! Not a bad idea, I’d say.

It’s the winter of 1993 and a young girl huddles inside her warm coat against the chill of the air. Her steps are fast and she glances furtively at her surroundings, feeling reassured by the two male friends who flank her. She also feels somewhat ridiculous having her friends walk her everywhere, as though she needs bodyguards. After all, this was sleepy little Seaford, a suburb on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. She’d lived here her entire life; she’d walked its paths, played in its parks and generally come and gone as she’d pleased without ever giving her safety a second thought.

Until now.

Now, it wasn’t safe. Two young women had already been killed.  Another, her neighbour and the mother of two of her friends, had been attacked on the sporting reserve that her own house backed onto. The same reserve that she’d always seen as an extension of her own backyard.

Nobody was safe.

A serial killer, one who hunted young women as they walked alone, was on the loose – and he could be anywhere – he could be anyone. And he would strike again.

Eighteen year old Elizabeth Stevens was the first victim of the “Frankston Serial Killer”. She had been at TAFE in Frankston and had caught a bus to nearby Langwarrin where she alighted prepared to walk the small stretch home. But she never arrived.

Her body was found in nearby Lloyd Park, her throat slashed and her chest carved with a bizarre criss-cross pattern.

Rosza Toth was attacked on her way home from work, as she walked the short distance from Seaford train station to her home, past the North Seaford Soccer Reserve. She was dragged from the footpath towards the toilet block but managed to break free. She ran onto Railway Pde and hailed down a passing car who took her to safety.

On the same night, only a short time after the failed attack on Rosza Toth, Debbie Fream left her 12-day old baby with a friend to drive to the local milkbar, not far from Kanakook Railway Station, for some milk. Fream failed to lock her car doors, and was hijacked by a man who held a knife to her throat and forced her to drive.

She drove a few kilometres to Taylors Road where her body was later discovered in a paddock – her throat cut and body savagely slashed.

By this time, the panic in the Frankston area was palpable. It was clear that there was a serial killer on the loose but the police had no leads and no suspects. Women were warned not to go out after dark alone and residents were warned to be on the lookout for anyone exhibiting odd behaviour.

A community meeting was held in Seaford, attended by the police who were working the case. The atmosphere in the room was electric. Both police and the community were well aware that it was not only possible, but probable, that the killer himself was in the room with them. The lure would have been too great to deny.

People who had passed each other every day, usually nodding a friendly greeting, now eyed one another with suspicion.

Natalie Russell was a seventeen year old student at Frankston’s John Paul College. Pretty, smart and popular with her friends, she’d left school a little early to walk home along the much-used track that ran alongside a golf course on Golf Links Road.

Her murderer lay in wait for the first woman to walk past. He’d even cut a hole in the fence in preparation. Natalie was the unfortunate victim.

He confronted her, brandishing a knife. Natalie first tried talking her way out of danger, offering him money, offering him anything he wanted not to hurt her. He wasn’t interested. He attacked the girl who fought back bravely and with all she had. He slashed at her head and her neck, making her murder the most brutal of all.

The first murder had been committed on June 11, 1993, the third and final murder on July 30, 1993. But, the following day, July 31, 1993, his reign of terror, short-lived but brutal in the extreme, came to an end.

Following up leads of a suspicious car seen in the vicinity of both the murders of Debbie Fream and Natalie Russell, the police apprehended Paul Charles Denyer, at his home.

At first, Denyer denied any knowledge of the murders, other than what he had read in the newspapers and seen on television. He admitted having been in the area when two of the murders had been committed but maintained that it was purely coincidental.

He explained away several cuts on his hands, that police believed he sustained in the struggle with Natalie Russell, as having been caused by the fan while working on his car.

The detectives were not that easily fooled. They knew they had their man. They informed Denyer that his DNA was being matched with a piece of foreign skin found on Natalie’s Russell’s body. After a little discussion about likely DNA results, Denyer confessed. “I killed all three of them,” he said candidly.

He then went on to give full confessions to all three murders and the attack on Rosza Toth – sparing no details or sentiment.

POLICE: Can you explain why we have women victims?

DENYER: I just hate them.

POLICE: I beg your pardon.

DENYER: I hate them.

POLICE: Those particular girls or women in general.

DENYER: General.

Paul Charles Denyer was convicted of the murders and is currently serving three life sentences for the crimes with a minimum non-parole period of 30 years. However, a loophole in Victorian law at the time, could see him become eligible for parole after only 20 years. That is, in 2013.

In a bizarre twist, Denyer has petitioned the courts for tax-payer funded, gender reassignment surgery. He no longer identifies himself as Paul but as Paula Denyer.

Vikki Petraitis, author of The Frankston Murders, released shortly after the crimes, is re-releasing the book this year with Clan Destine Press, with the new title – The Frankston Serial Killer. The new book includes details of Denyer’s life since his imprisonment.

Vikki was kind enough to answer a few questions:

KYLIE: What was it about the Frankston serial killings that made you want to write about it?

VIKKI: I remember sitting in the back of a police car at the scene of Natalie Russell’s murder thinking: Here I am, a true crime writer, sitting at the crime scene of a girl murdered by a serial killer. I have to write this book. In those days, hardly anyone was writing true crime so there weren’t a bunch of writers vying for the story. I was privy to some of the behind-the-scenes stuff because I was spending time at the Frankston police station working on other stories. I knew the local detectives involved, and I saw first-hand how hard everyone was working to catch the guy. I’m glad it was me who wrote it – someone who lived in the area and felt what it was like.

KYLIE:  You interviewed most of the people involved in, and affected by, the killings while researching the book. Are there moments from those interviews that are still memorable?

VIKKI: I will never forget Natalie’s mum Carmel apologising for the way she explained Nat’s loss on the family. But in her simple eloquence lay the most profound understandings of loss. She said that the hardest thing was remembering to only set three places at the table instead of four. It was really moving stuff. I remember people asking me how I could listen to these stories and view the crime scene videos and look at photographs, but for me it was all about honouring these people by telling their story to the best of my ability. When I heard a harrowing story from the families about their loss, my first thoughts were: how can I show this to the reader? How can I give this the power in words that it has in life? The weight of the responsibility to tell the story well overshadowed my personal response. That’s not to say that I might not feel upset later, but the ability to postpone or redirect personal reactions is the asset required by crime writers and cops and forensic people alike.

KYLIE: I can remember, having lived in the area at the time, the overwhelming sense of fear that was almost tangible at the time. What was your impression?

VIKKI: I too lived in the area and it was something that we were aware of all the time. I remember going into the fish and chip shop and around to the video store and looking at me and thinking: is it you? Being a true crime writer and the reader of hundreds of true crime books, I probably felt safer than most. I knew that he picked women off the streets who were alone or didn’t lock their car doors. I made sure that if I had to go shopping, I took my daughter with me, and that I parked out the front of shops under the lights. People were out in droves buying security doors and guard dogs, but my perception was that he was unlikely to change his MO and break into my house and kill me. Knowledge is power in these situations.

KYLIE: Obviously these murders had a huge impact on the lives of those directly related but what do you think the long-lasting effects of this series of crimes have had on the public consciousness?

VIKKI: I’m not sure there is a long-lasting effect for the general public, and I’m also not sure there should be. One man made a choice to terrorise a community and murder three women. For a while, we were over-cautious and scared, but then things settle down and return to normal. I would hate to think that one man could have a long-term fear effect on people. I suppose that because he did what he did, he opened a door to the possibility of it happening again, but that possibility was always there. Maybe people who lived through it, trust a little less, or are more careful. Maybe that’s a good thing, maybe it’s not. I chose to believe that once he was caught and locked up, we were as safe as we were before he started killing. I don’t want to live in fear. He took enough with the lives of three women. I don’t want to think that he took any more.

KYLIE: Your original book, The Frankston Murders was released shortly after the events. It will be re-released under the title The Frankston Serial Killer, by Clan Destine Press this year. What new information will be included?

VIKKI: The new edition has been re-edited and streamlined. A writer develops a lot over 15 years and so I’ve changed bits and pieces all the way through. I’ve also added the update on what Denyer is doing now in prison. The fact that he wanted to wear make-up and now dresses as a woman, complete with pigtails, has certainly brought about a renewed interest in him.

KYLIE: How does it feel for you revisiting the crimes, and the devastation they caused, after all this time?

VIKKI: Surprisingly, I’ve found it quite distressing to revisit the story. I don’t usually read my own books, so once it’s out there, I move on to the next project. I think that as a writer, if you can’t let go of a story and move on to the next one, it would eat you up – especially true crime writers. Revising the story is different now, with time. I know that a number of the people I interviewed have passed away since then. I grew very fond of Natalie Russell’s aunt, Bernadette. She was so keen to keep the public aware of Denyer and what he did. Unfortunately, she didn’t live to do this. I visited her just before she died and I mourned at her funeral. The grief contained in the story is now much more real to me since I have experienced loss in my life. Until you lose someone you love, you can only sympathise rather than empathise with the families. Now I get it which is why I have found revisiting the story as distressing as I have.

KYLIE:  Is there any difference in the way you perceive Paul Charles Denyer now, to your perception of him at the time of his arrest and trial?

VIKKI: One thing that struck me was that as the years go on, people don’t even remember his name. When it first happened, everyone knew who he was – which I guess is the whole point of it for him – but with the passing of time, many wouldn’t even remember his name. I’m not sure if my perception of his has changed; he’s a woman-hating killer. Seeing the media photos of him with pigtails pretending to be the very thing he loathes is hard to understand.

KYLIE:  You’ve contacted Denyer for both the original book and again, for the new edition. Was he able to offer any insights?

VIKKI: When I first wrote The Frankston Murders, I wrote to Paul Denyer in prison to offer him the opportunity to contribute. I didn’t get an answer from him and one of the detectives spoke to him and Denyer told the detective that he had flushed my letter down the toilet. For the reprint, I wrote to him again with the same offer – did he want to tell his story, or at least explain the reasoning behind his decision to live as a woman. In only a couple of days, I received a reply from ‘Ms Paula Denyer’ – as Paul was now known. Paula explained that ‘she’ did not wish to make a contribution and that one day, she might like to tell her own story. The letter was respectful and well-written. She signed off with: ‘I plan to make this world better.’

Coming from a self-confessed woman-hating monster, that last sentence is one of the most frightening prospects I’ve ever read. I shudder to think how he would make the world a better place. You can read more in the upcoming, “The Frankston Serial Killer“.

Criminal Masterminds – or not!

Article by: Kylie Fox

Chances are that if you’re on this page, you like to sink your teeth into a good crime story. Nothing beats trying to outsmart that criminal mastermind and solve the mystery, right? We’ve all read the books, watched the tv or the movies where the plots are woven so intricately and the criminals so devious that only the brilliant deductive skills of the detectives or sleuths can solve the case.

Then there are these crimes. The ones that will have you scratching your head for an altogether different reason. There is not a criminal mastermind in the bunch. No fancy detective work or forensic mastery was necessary in nabbing these criminals. They managed, in every instance, to foil themselves.

These are some of the world’s dumbest criminals.

A Shotgun and a Bottle of Scotch

In Colorado Springs, US, a man, brandishing a shotgun, demanded the cashier of a corner store fill a bag with all the cash from the register. The cashier complied and the robbery should have been over. Instead, the thief spotted a bottle of scotch that took his fancy and told the cashier to add it to his bag of loot.

The cashier refused, saying he didn’t believe the robber was over 21.

The pair argued – the thief declaring he was of legal drinking age and the cashier refusing.

Finally, the thief pulled out his driver’s license and handed it to the cashier – proving he was in fact, over 21. He then left the store with the money and the bottle of scotch.

The cashier promptly called the police and supplied them with the man’s name and address which he’d supplied on his license. He was arrested less than 2 hours later.

Quality Crack

Eloise Reaves, of Florida, was aggrieved that the crack cocaine that she’d just scored wasn’t of an acceptable standard. Did she return to the dealer with her complaint? No. She waved down a passing police officer and made her complaint to him, even showing him the crack to prove her case. Unfortunately for Eloise, the officer didn’t offer to return the goods to the dealer and get her a refund, he arrested her.

Job Offer

In Georgia, 28 year old Demetrius Robinson, was set to rob a Golden Pantry store but didn’t want to do it with the store full of people. To pass the time until he could be alone with the clerk he decided to fill in a job application form. After he robbed the store and made a successful getaway, he was quickly arrested with the details he’d provided on the form. Oh yes, he’d supplied his real name, address and his uncle’s phone number.

Strangely enough, he didn’t get the job.

Billion Dollar Boo Boo

Charles Ray Fuller, 21 of Dallas, Texas might have set his sights a little too high when he tried to pass a forged cheque. Not only was the cheque not made out in his name, he’d made it out for 360 BILLION DOLLARS! Yeah, ‘cause that wouldn’t raise any suspicion.

Out With A Bang

A pair of criminals in Belgium attempted to crack open an ATM on the side of a bank. A minor miscalculation with the dynamite and instead of scoring the cash, they managed to blow up the entire bank – and themselves.

Murder He Wrote

Polish author Krystian Bala may well have gotten away with murder – if he’d been able to resist writing about it. Obviously the plot was too tempting and Bala wrote the best-selling novel Amok in 2003. Police noticed eerily similar details in the book to an unsolved murder from three years before and an investigation ensued. It ensued that the victim was romantically involved with Bala’s ex-wife. Bala was eventually jailed for 25 years for murder.

Facebook Faux Pas

Social networking is the way of the world but should probably be avoided by burglars – at least while they’re inside a victim’s home. Jonathon G. Parker, of Pennsylvania, was robbing a house and couldn’t resist taking a peek at his Facebook profile while he was there – and forgot to sign himself out. Police were quickly able to track him down from the details provided on his page.

Just Hanging Around

John Pearce, 32 of Dartford, England, provided quite a spectacle for locals when he attempted to break into a house, via a window, in broad daylight. His foot became entangled in the window, leaving him dangling upside-down much to the amusement of onlookers who mocked him mercilessly until the police came – to first rescue, then arrest him.

Calling Ahead

Daniel Glen, from Ontario, wanted to be sure that it was worth his while showing up to a robbery at a convenience store so had the bright idea of calling in advance to ask the clerk how much money was in the register. When he arrived, on schedule, to rob the store, the police were waiting for him.

Eeeew!

Motor home owner, Dennis Quigly, called the police one morning, reporting weird noises from outside. Apparently a thief was trying to siphon gas from the vehicle using a hose. When police arrived they found a man curled up in a ball next to the motor home and a pile of vomit. In trying to suck the gas from the tank, he’d ended up with a mouthful, as often happens – but this wasn’t gas. He’d sucked the wrong tank and ended up with a mouthful of sewage! Quigly chose not to press charges figuring the man had suffered enough.

The Ultimate Bank Robbery

I’ve left this one for last ‘cause for me it takes the cake!

A San Francisco man decided to rob a Bank Of America. He walked into the branch and wrote on a deposit slip “this iz a stickup. Put all your muny in this bag.”

He then stood in line and waited his turn so that he could give the note to the teller. He began to worry that someone may have seen him write the note and that the police might be called before the reached the window.

He left the Bank of America and crossed the road to another bank, Wells Fargo. He waited a few minutes in line and handed the note to the teller. She read it and surmised from his spelling that she wasn’t dealing with the brightest spark. She told him she could not accept the note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip, he would have to fill out a Wells Fargo slip or return to the Bank of America.

The man, defeated, merely said “Ok” and left, returning across the road, note in hand, to the Bank of America where he was promptly arrested.

Seriously, you couldn’t make this stuff up!

More Bizarre Laws From Around the Globe

Article by: Kylie Fox

Even when the laws have been written down, they ought not always remain unchanged. Aristotle.

Or maybe they should! It would seem that the ridiculous laws that abound on the books around the world kept up all amused the first time around, so I’ve compiled a second collection.

FRANCE

France may be considered the romance capital of the world, but you’d best keep that romance away from train stations. It is actually against the law to kiss at railway stations. So much for the teary, passionate goodbyes!

Lovers of George Orwell also have to be careful in France – it is prohibited to name any pig Napoleon.

ENGLAND

In England, it is a capital offence to commit suicide. Guess what the penalty is? You guessed it – death! Huh?

Be careful while mailing those postcards if you visit England – sticking any stamp bearing the queen’s head on it upside down is considered an act of treason. To the tower!

MIDDLE EAST

Most middle eastern countries abide by the following law – After having sexual relations with a lamb, it is a mortal sin to eat its flesh!

I should think so too! Eating your sexual partner has to be a no-no, right? The fact that you can have sex with a lamb doesn’t raise any eyebrows at all?

SWITZERLAND

The Swiss must have issues with aiming accuracy when it gets late at night – one law states that no man may relieve himself while standing up after 10pm.

AUSTRALIA

In Western Australia it is illegal for any woman to crush beer cans between her breasts. Sorry ladies, you’ll have to find another party trick!

Despite the Australian national anthem declaring proudly ‘for those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share”, policy states that anyone coming across those seas without a Visa will be kept in mandatory detention, generally far away from those boundless plains, while their refugee status is verified. Sometimes this process takes several years.

ALASKA

Moose are forbidden from having sex on the streets of Alaska. Um, are you going to break them up?

CALIFORNIA, USA

Thinking of a shopping expedition on Hollywood Boulevard? Better be careful how many of your sheep you take with you. The law states that no more than 2000 sheep may be driven down Hollywood Boulevard at one time.

FORT THOMAS, KENTUCKY

In Fort Thomas it is illegal for your pet to molest a vehicle. All those hamsters with tyre fetishes or dogs with a hankering for exhaust pipes had best be on their guard.

INDONESIA

Indonesians take the phrase “knocking the head off” before a big date a tad too literally. The penalty for masturbation is decapitation!

CHINA

Life guards aren’t necessary in China. Rescuing a drowning person is deemed to be interfering with their fate and is punishable by the law.

The laws of the world couldn’t get any more bizarre right? I only wish that were true. For every stupid act a person commits, another even stupider law seems to be added to the law books.

A World of Bizarre Laws

Article by: Kylie Fox

In this column, we’ve looked, so far, at the first known serial killer and an Australian bushranger, so I thought it was time to lighten up a bit. There is no doubt that Jack the Ripper and Ned Kelly broke the law – I’m pretty sure that murder is considered a no-no in any language - but what happens when the laws aren’t so clear cut?

What happens when the laws of the land are perverse or ridiculous? Let’s have a look at some of the more bizarre laws – some that may outrage, others that are so ludicrous the only proper reaction is to laugh. Surely these aren’t enforced … or are they?

England

It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament. That’s right. Feeling a bit sick? Best you get out quick or risk posthumously breaking the law! In fact, it is within the rights of Parliamentary officials to carry you outside quickly if it looks like you might die. Why? Apparently, anyone who dies there is technically entitled to a state funeral – an all too costly exercise.

If you’re a boy and over the age of 14 in England, best you find yourself a good clergyman adept in the art of the longbow.  All boys in this age group are, by law, required to carry out at least 2 hours longbow practise, supervised by the local clergy, per week. One must assume Sherwood Forest needs protecting!

If you like your breakfast eggs boiled, be wary of which end you crack the shell. Any person found breaking a boiled egg at the pointy end can be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks! Weetbix instead, anyone?

Germany

Planning on driving on Germany’s Autobahns? Best you check your fuel gauge. It is a jailable offence to run out of gas on an Autobahn!

China

In one of the most absurd laws, the Chinese government attempt to rule its people, and those of Tibet, even after their deaths. It is against the law for Buddhist monks to reincarnate without first gaining express permission from the government.

How do you enforce a law like that?

Australia

The Australian Government is happy to allow same-sex couples to pay joint-tax, to lose Social Security benefits based on their partner’s income and have rights to superannuation payments if a partner dies – but they cannot get married!

The Netherlands

Smokers in the Netherlands beware – pure cannabis only! It is perfectly acceptable to smoke cannabis in Dutch cafes and restaurants, but tobacco is strictly illegal.

Finland

If you’re a high earner, you wouldn’t want to be caught speeding in Finland where fines are calculated as a percentage of the offender’s income. The director of “Nokia” received the most expensive speeding ticket ever – $12.5 million – for riding his Harley at 75km/h in a 50km/h zone. Wow!

The USA

There is no doubting that some of the most bizarre laws in the world are recorded on American law books – here’s just a taste.

In Alabama it is an offence to open an umbrella on a street.

It is also illegal to have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time. Remember that one – it must be easy to get caught out on that – don’t we all keep ice cream in our pockets?

Women in Alabama had best leave the state if their sexual desires get too much. Any man who “deflowers” a virgin, regardless of age or marital status, may face up to five years in prison. Um, yeah, ok!

Meanwhile, women in Florida, while having the freedom to lose their virginity, had better stock up on coffee before visiting a hairdresser. Both client and the salon owner can be fined if a customer falls asleep under a hair dryer.

Florida’s porcupines can rest easy – it is illegal for any person to have sexual relations with a porcupine. Ouch!

Still in Florida: If you’re thinking about leaving your car at home to save on parking fees, instead riding your pet elephant to the office, think again. The law states that any elephant left tied to a parking meter must pay the same parking fees as for a car.

Well, damn, there goes that idea!

These are only a snippet of the ridiculous laws on record throughout the world – if you got a giggle out of this list, let me know – the possibilities for more stupidity are endless!

NED KELLY:  AUSTRALIAN HERO?

By Kylie Fox

The image of armour-clad Ned Kelly has become synonymous in Australia with the Aussie legends of a “fair go” of bucking the system – he has been immortalised as our own Robin Hood-like cult hero.

So what is it that makes a convicted horse-thief, cattle-rustler, bank robber and police murderer such an important figure in the collective consciousness of Australians?

Are we really so hard up for a cultural identity that a bushranger and outlaw is the best we can come up with?

Over the thirteen decades since Kelly’s capture, we’ve immortalised him in film, literature and song and he was recently an addition to a Legends of Australian poster by artist Hugh Fleming,  alongside the likes of Saint Mary MacKillop, Sir Donald Bradman and Dick Smith. Has he earned his place there?

Even the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, arguably the biggest world stage Australia has showcased itself on, paid homage to Kelly. Is that really the image of Australia we wanted to present? Isn’t it time we moved away from our colonial past of first a penal colony and then bushrangers?

Surely the last couple of centuries have given us more to add to our identity than that.

So, what were the events that marked Ned Kelly as a hero forever? Here’s a brief outline of the criminal life of Edward “Ned” Kelly.

Early Life

Ned was the son of an Irish man sentenced to deportation from Ireland to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). When he had served his time, he relocated to Victoria where he married Ellen.

Ned was the second surviving child, and eldest son, of Red and Ellen Kelly, with six younger siblings to follow.

Ned’s family did it tough but not much is known of his early life. However, it does seem that unlike many of the contemporary killers that we’ve become acquainted with, Kelly wasn’t “born bad”. One story has a very young Ned risking his own life to save that of another boy from drowning. The boy’s family presented Ned with a green sash which he is reported to have been wearing all those years later, beneath his armour for the final showdown. One has to wonder if that was an act of contrition, a symbol of the one act in his life that he was actually proud of.

First Arrest

Ned was first arrested at the tender age of just 14 for the assault and robbery of a pig-farmer by the name of Ah Fook. Ned spent 10 days in police custody before he was released without charge due to a lack of evidence.

Bushranger Harry Power

The following year, 15 year old Ned was arrested as an accomplice to the notorious bushranger, Harry Power. The police were unable to provide any evidence to hold him and he was released, once again without charge.

The local community became hostile towards Ned when it was rumoured that he’d actually turned police informant on the bushranger.

First Jail Sentence

Ned’s luck ran out in 1870 when he was arrested for assault and jailed for 3 months.

Isaiah “Wild” Wright

Not long after his release, Ned met Isaiah Wright who asked Ned to help him find the horse that, he said, had run off into the bush. Ned found the horse and rode it only to be apprehended by police for the possession of, what they knew to be a horse stolen from the local post master. Despite maintaining that he had no knowledge that the horse was stolen, Ned was sentenced to three years in prison for being in possession of stolen goods.

Ironically, Wright the actual horse-thief, only received a sentence of 18 months for stealing it.

While Ned was imprisoned…

Ned’s brothers continued to bring the Kelly name to police attention (much to their own detriment) during Ned’s years of imprisonment. There were several incidents of horse theft and cattle rustling.

September 1877

Not long after his release, Ned was once again arrested – this time for drunkenness.

Ellen Kelly Remarries

Red Kelly had died when Ned was only 11 years old, but in 1877 Ellen finally remarried. This was not to be the stabilising effect on her sons that she had hoped for however, with her new husband, George King, becoming involved in a cattle rustling operation with Ned and his brother Dan.

April 15, 1878 … from bad to worse

Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick claimed to have been attacked by Ned, Dan, Ellen and two other men who, he said, all armed with revolvers (except Ellen) had set upon him and shot him in the wrist.

The family maintained that Ned was in NSW at the time and couldn’t possibly have been involved and that Fitzpatrick had made a pass at Kate Kelly. Ellen had subsequently hit his hand with a coal shovel to fend him off but that they had then bandaged the constable’s wrist and sent him on his way.

Nobody accepted the Kelly’s version of events and Ellen was imprisoned, along with new baby Alice, where she remained until after Ned’s execution some years later.

The other two men were released but Dan and Ned were nowhere to be found.

The making of The Kelly Gang

Upon the heels of that incident, Dan and Ned Kelly went into hiding and were later joined by friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart. The four who would gain notoriety as the Kelly Gang.

The search and the ambush

On October 25^th, 1878, Sergeant Kennedy and Constables McIntyre, Lonigan and Scanlon, set out to search for the Kelly’s. It was agreed that they would split up into two pairs so as to cover more ground.

At some point it was decided that Lonigan and McIntyre would set up camp while the others continued their search.

The Kelly gang happened upon the search party, despite their unconvincing attempt to disguise themselves as prospectors. They ordered the two constables to surrender which McIntyre instantly did but Lonigan drew his gun. Ned, without hesitation, shot him dead.

Shortly after, the other two officers returned, and were told by McIntyre to surrender. Scanlon went for his gun and was shot dead by Ned. Kennedy ran, shooting as he went. In the exchange of gunfire that ensued, he was shot. Ned coldly fired a further shot, executing the already injured Kennedy.

McIntyre managed to escape on horseback.

In a final act, Ned stole the dead Kennedy’s gold fob watch. When asked later why, he stated, “What’s the use of a watch to a dead man?”

Outlawed

In response the Victorian parliament passed the “Felon’s Apprehension Act” – outlawing the gang and allowing anyone to shoot them on sight.

From outlaws to Bank Robbers

On December, 1878, the Kelly gang held up the Faithful Creek Station, imprisoning a number of hostages. They then raided the Euroa National Bank, netting themselves £2,260 – the equivalent of around $100,000 today. They took further hostages and forces them back to Faithful Creek where they were locked up with the other hostages.

Before leaving, the gang untethered the hostages but ordered them not to raise the alarm for three hours, giving them time to make a clean get-away.

Public Opinion Changes Tide

In January, 1879, police began arresting all known Kelly friends and sympathisers which created a groundswell of resentment toward the authorities and massive support for the, until now, feared and loathed Kelly gang.

This may well have been the beginnings of what became the Kelly legend.

Jerilderie NSW

On Saturday February 8, 1879, the gang arrived in Jerilderie NSW where they promptly broke into the police station and locked officers Richards and Devine in their own cell, then put on their uniforms and went out to mingle with the locals, posing as reinforcements from Sydney.

On the Monday they rounded up various people, including town officials, and herded them into the Royal Mail Hotel. Dan Kelly and Steve Hart plied them with “free” drinks while Ned and Joe Byrne robbed the local bank of £2,414. Ned then burnt all the townspeople’s mortgage deeds – further adding to his “Robin Hood” persona.(We must remember though that all cash netted was not distributed amongst the poor but kept within the gang.)

Police Informant Killed

June 26, 1880 was a momentous day for the gang for two reasons.

First, the Felon’s Apprehension Act expired thereby dismissing the gangs outlaw status.

On the same day, they discovered that their friend Aaron Sherritt, was a police informer. The gang went to his house and killed him.

Speculation is still rife that Sherritt was set up by police in order to draw the Kelly’s out of hiding.

Glenrowan – Scene of the Final Showdown

The Kelly gang arrived in Glenrowan on June 27, 1880. They took over the local Inn, taking about 70 hostages.

The gang had heard wind that a  train carrying a police detachment was on its way and so ordered that the tracks be pulled up to cause the train to derail.

The gang had equipped themselves with metal armour, consisting of back and breast plates and helmets that covered their entire heads except for slits for their eyes. The armour, forged from ploughs, weighed approximately 44kg for each suit.

All four wore long grey coats over their armour.

One hostage, Thomas Curnow (school master) convinced the Kelly’s to let him go. Freed he ran straight to the railway and flagged down the train, averting the probable disaster that a derailment would have caused.

Under Siege

At dawn on Monday 28^th, police laid siege to the Inn.

Who opened fire first is a matter of speculation but Ned Kelly claimed the police fired first, shooting several volleys of shots haphazardly into the inn, one shot hitting him in the arm and another in the foot.

Only then, he said, did the gang return fire. Ned emerged from the inn and “lurched” toward the police line, firing indiscriminately with his uninjured hand. He was shot again – twice to the body and once in his helmet but despite the impact of the bullets, he continued to advance.

When he was around 15m from the police lines, he was shot repeatedly in the legs, taking him down where he was, finally, arrested.

The rest of the Kelly gang died inside the inn.

Joe Byrne died from a gunshot that severed his femoral artery.

According to a witness, Dan Kelly and Steve Hart committed suicide but this was never verified with an autopsy as the bodies were too badly burnt when police set the inn ablaze.

Police suffered only one minor injury during the siege. Superintendant Francis Hare (the senior officer at the scene) received a slight wound to his wrist and withdrew from the fight. He was later suspended for his cowardice.

Several of the hostages were shot – presumably by the volleys of shots fired from outside the inn – two fatally.

Sentencing

Justice Redmond Barry sentenced Ned Kelly to death. Interestingly, when he uttered the customary “May God have mercy on your soul”, Kelly replied “I will go a little further than that, and say I will see you there when I go.”

Kelly showed some insight as the judge died just 12 days after Ned’s execution from an infection related to a carbuncle on his neck.

On November 11, 1880, at just 25 years of age, Edward “Ned” Kelly’s reign came to an end; he was hanged at Melbourne Gaol.

Two newspapers reported his last words as, “Such is life” but that has been denied by other witnesses to the execution. It has, however, made it into the annals of the Kelly legend.

The Legend

Ned Kelly’s life may have ended but certainly not his memory. Looking at the story of his life it is easy to sympathise with the plight of the Kelly’s and to cast serious doubts as to the way the authorities dealt with Ned and his family. But, does this excuse his actions?

Just about every criminal that enters a courtroom, every serial killer in history, has a tale of woe to tell about their childhood or the wrongs that had been inflicted upon them. Does that make their crimes any less abhorrent to us?

It’s true that the case of Ned Kelly did lead to enquiries about the state of the justice system of the time and eventually led to new legislations laying the groundwork for the police force that we have today. But, arguably, that was never Ned’s intention. He wasn’t thinking about changing the world, he wasn’t sacrificing himself for the good of others.

The hero worship of Ned Kelly goes a long way to explaining our current fascination with Australian underworld figures as depicted in the Underbelly television series. Thugs, crime bosses, drug dealers and their families have become celebrities.

Is it possible that Chopper Read could be endorsed as a representative of Australia in say, the political arena? You’re shaking your head as if that’s ridiculous. But I can only ask what makes Ned Kelly so different?

What do you think? Was Ned Kelly a common criminal or an Australian legend?

Fewer names are so deeply entrenched in the public psyche, instilling fear, loathing and a certain perverse thrill in us than does Jack The Ripper.

So why does a killer who terrorised the streets of London more than a century ago still have this affect on us? Was he the worst killer in history? Hardly. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a plethora of serial killers, some with many more victims, since.

Perhaps it’s because it still remains unsolved – nobody knows who Jack the Ripper really was. That mask was never removed.

So we’re all able to speculate, we can all steadfastly confirm our own suspicions that it must be the doctor, the musician or the prince!

The Crimes

In 1888, Whitechapel was an impoverished area of London, home mostly to prostitutes and the destitute. It was so rough, that even the police would only enter the area in groups.

It was at this time that over the span of just a few months, five female prostitutes were murdered and horribly mutilated by an unknown suspect.

The brutality of the crimes, the ritualistic setting out of the victims’ belongings and sometimes internal organs, and the apparent randomness of the killings, left the residents of Whitechapel and its surrounds in a state of panic. Several newspapers followed the story with possible sightings and conjecture on a daily basis.

The Victims

Mary Ann Nichols is the first known victim of the Ripper. Her body was discovered in the early hours of Friday morning on the 31^stAugust, 1888. Her throat had been severed by two deep cuts, her lower abdomen slashed open and several smaller incisions made on her abdomen by the same knife.

Annie Chapman was found a little over a week later, only a few streets away from the discovery of Nichols. Like the first victim, Chapman’s throat had been severed by two deep cuts but in this case, her abdomen was slashed completely open. It was later discovered that her uterus had been removed.

Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes were both murdered during the same night. It’s possible that the Ripper was interrupted during the first murder and that his blood-lust had not been sated, thus seeking out a second victim.

Stride’s throat had been severed like the earlier victims but there was an absence of injuries to the abdomen and the lack of mutilation caused investigators at the time to attribute her death, at first, to a culprit other than the Ripper. It has since been accepted that she was a Ripper victim.

Eddowes mutilated corpse, however, left little doubt. Her throat was severed and her abdomen slashed, the Ripper removing a kidney and part of her uterus.

Near the scene of the Eddowes murder, police found a blood-stained apron and upon a wall a message had been scrawled in blood. Police feared the graffiti which seemed to incriminate Jews may have caused anti-Semitic riots and ordered it washed away. The only real evidence in the case was simply wiped but we must remember that police of the day had no access to the kinds of forensic testing we do today.

Mary Kelly was Jack the Ripper’s fifth and final known victim – and the most horrific.

Whether the Ripper had simply escalated in his violence as many killers do, or if the mutilations were worse because her murder took place indoors and away from the threat of discovery, will never be known.

The scene that greeted police in Kelly’s room could not be replicated in a horror movie – her throat had been severed to the spine, her abdomen spilled open and most of her internal organs, including her heart, removed and much of her skin had been flayed and strewn about the room.

The Suspects

The list of suspects, official and fanciful, exceeds one hundred and vary from a local butcher to Prince Albert. Many believed at the time that the Ripper must have had extensive knowledge of medicine and anatomy considering the mutilations so several doctors, including the Queen’s own physician, have been posed.

One of the more bizarre theories is that of Lewis Carroll who one writer asserts used clever anagrams and other word tricks in his novels describing graphic details of the murders.

The Ripper Legacy

Jack the Ripper is considered the first of the serial killers; it was the first time a killer was known to murder, repeatedly, without an obvious motive – robbery, jealousy or rage. He killed to satisfy a pathological need.

Ripperology has become a study in its own right, paving the way for innumerable theories to be posed.

Not only have hundreds of non-fiction books been published posing author’s own spin on the evidence (the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Patricia Cornwell have each published their theories) but the Ripper legend has spawned many fictionalised accounts too.

“From Hell” was a graphic novel and later movie starring Johnny Depp and Richard Laymon wrote of a life after fleeing England to America in “Savage.”

Even Doctor Who has included a Jack the Ripper – with him killing on another planet.

One thing is for certain, unless some amazing new evidence miraculously appears after all these years, the speculation, conjecture and fascination with Jack the Ripper will remain.