Shirley Winters: Evil or Insane?

by Diane Fanning

Roughly twenty percent of serial killers are women. Of serial arsonists, less then twelve percent are female. Shirley Winters was both.

Over twenty-seven years, she killed four children, attempted to murder a fifth and was responsible for setting eighteen fires. And yet, until recently when I talked to St. Lawrence County Fire Investigator Joe Lacks (below right with K9 Alex), I had never heard of her.

The trail of crime began on September 12, 1979, when Shirley killed her 3-year-old daughter Colleen with blunt force trauma to her head. She also injured her 18-month-old son Johnny and left him for dead. Then she set fire to her parents' cottage in Theresa, New York. John died of smoke inhalation. Shirley was never charged.

On November 21, 1980, she smothered her 5-month-old son Ronald. His death was labeled a case of sudden-death syndrome.

Shirley was arrested for arson in connection with two seperate fires at her mobile home in Otisco, New York, in 1981. She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of criminal mischief and was sentenced to three years probation and mandated counseling.

The next year, she set a fire that destroyed her mobile home. Again, there was a plea agreement that allowed her to remain free.

On November 12, 1986, a fire broke out in the apartment complex in Marcellus where Shirley lived. She was not considered a suspect at the time, but investigators were not aware of her history.

On that same date in 1989, she set a fire in the basement storage room of the house where she lived. She grabbed her two youngest children, but told 5-year-old Joy to stay in the house. When Shirley ran for help, she said she could not find her older daughter. Fortunately, Joy did not listen to her mother. She was found whimpering on the front porch of the blazing home. Shirley was found "Not guilty" of arson.

Shirley started another blaze on January 6, 1990, in her new home. Custody of her children was awarded to her ex-husband. On March 18, she set another fire in a house she shared with two adults. On September 21, she torched the garage of her aunt's home. On October 5, she set the same place on fire again, this time destroying both the garage and the house. She topped that off the following January by assaulting the officer who arrived to arrest her after she made harassing calls to a neighbor.

In October, 1991, Shirley was sentenced to state prison for one to three years. She remained behind bars until November 1992 when she was released on parole. Except for harassment and larceny charges, her record remained clear until January 17, 1997 when she set a trailer on fire. Then in April, she ignited another blaze in the home of her mother, who had died in an automobile accident two months earlier. This time, Shirley was incarcerated for eight years.

She was the same person after serving time. On November 28, 2006, just three days before little Ryan Rivers would turn 2 years old, Shirley drowned him in the bathtub in the home. He was found flat on his back, fully clothed, in the bathtub. She set fire to a neighbor's trailer on December 31 before her arrest for the homicide of Ryan.

On June 16, 2008, she received a 20-year sentence for Ryan's death. The next day, she received an eight-and-a-half to 25 year sentence for killing her son, Ronald, in 1980. She will be eligible for parole in 2025 when she is 67 years old.

But that's not the whole story of Shirley Winters. Many believe her problems go back to 1966 when she was only 7 years old. She was at her grandmother's house that night when a natural gas leak caused the family home to fill with carbon monoxide fumes. Her 10-year-old brother Peter and her sisters, 4-year-old Liteta and 11-year-old Joyce, died.

After that, her cousins said she would bite, throw things and claw at people with her fingernails. Her classmates called her Squirelly Shirley. She told a psychiatrist that her sexual molestation began after the fire. And the violence escalated.

She was first admitted into a mental health facility in 1978. In all, she has been in psychiatric wards twenty-eight times over thirty years. She's attempted suicide on multiple occasions. She's been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, disassociative disorder, bipolar disorder, psychogenic amnesia, pyromania and, even once, with anti-social personality disorder.

And yet, she was diagnosed and released, sometimes in as little as two days. Shirley was clearly a danger to herself and to others and still she was released to wreak havoc in the lives of others again and again.

Maybe there weren't enough indicators to spare the lives of her own children, Colleen, Johnny (left) and Ronald, but, surely, the signs were obvious before the death of Ryan Rivers. I cannot understand why she was not forcibly committed until, if ever, mental health professionals could affect a change in her illness, outlook and behavior.

With someone as dangerous as Shirley Winters, does it really matter whether she's evil or crazy? The important question is this: How can society be protected from the serial malignant acts of Shirley Winters and others just like her?

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Cirque Du Salahi: Diane Dimond Digs Deep

by Stacy Dittrich


It was the crime of the century (cough). A beautiful couple waltzes into the White House uninvited—allegedly, to pose for pictures with President Obama, posting the pictures on their Facebook page. Almost a year later, no criminal charges have ever been filed. A White House secretary lost her job, but the self-proclaimed power couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, remains untouched—by criminal charges, that is. Their public image didn’t get off quite so easily. As most people saw it, the couple barged into the White House uninvited, posed a potential threat to the President of the United States, got away with it, and wound up getting a fantastic gig on the reality TV show, “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” airing on the Bravo network.

That’s not exactly how it happened. Women in Crime Ink’s own investigative journalist, Diane Dimond, spent countless months—conducting over 70 interviews—to find the true story behind what the media dubbed “The White House Gate Crashers.” In her new book, Cirque Du Salahi: Be Careful Who You Trust, Dimond delves deep into the true chain of events that occurred on the night of November 24, 2009. She answers the questions regarding the nature of the Salahi’s “invitation” and whether or not the situation (no, not that “Situation”) was a complete cover-up by the White House. Some other interesting details uncovered by Dimond include the fact that the Bravo network was actually filming the Salahis on the night in question, and captured the entire debacle on tape—a tape that somewhat backs up the Salahis' story. However, Bravo chose to sit on the tape for almost a year as the Salahis were skewered by the court of public—and media—opinion.

Dimond’s Amazon page summarizes the book accurately:

“Cirque Du Salahi: Be Careful Who You Trust tells the INSIDE STORY of Michaele and Tareq Salahi—the never before revealed details of what happened before, during, and after their November 2009 appearance at the Obama administration' first state dinner. This journalistic autopsy reveals how one event can capture a ravenous media's attention, become the fodder for bogus political drama, and with razor-sharp and misplaced attention, ruin the reputation of a politically connected couple who did little more than attend a White House function for which they believed they had an invitation. Make no mistake. The copycat journalism surrounding the Salahis, which resulted in headlines like, "White House Gate-Crashers Investigated, Likely to be Indicted," could happen to any citizen who stumbles into the eye of a media storm.

“But this book is about more than what happens when the unsuspecting find themselves in the crosshairs of the national media. It reveals the truth about Michaele and Tareq Salahi: where they came from; what shaped their personalities; what obstacles they overcame; and what motivates them to do what they do. It is quite simply the background of the story heard 'round the world and how this couple, from the tiny town of Hume, Virginia, was able to survive the onslaught. What happened to the Salahis is much more than any reality television show can capture. The true story about this couple should serve as a mirror held up to the media to point out the disturbing trend of trimmed-to-the-bone newsrooms overreacting and exploiting certain stories. It also offers a wake-up call to Americans who believe that their news sources of choice are still trustworthy, when in reality they are often simply parroting the poorly researched work of others. The reader will be left wondering what ever happened to good journalism but not wondering what really happened that night at the White House.”

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Salahis won’t be going away anytime soon. Most recently, the Salahis’ attorney, Lisa Bloom, fired off a letter to media outlets threatening to sue anyone who referred to her clients as “White House Gate Crashers.” This sparked Michaele’s fellow “Real Housewives” cast mates to ridicule her using the defamatory term, but with air quotes and the word “allegedly” before it.

I can attest that I had zero interest in the couple, but Dimond’s Cirque Du Salahi: Be Careful Who You Trust, is quite fascinating. If you recall, Diane Dimond is the sole reporter who broke the Michael Jackson molestation case and later wrote about it in her first book, Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case. She is methodical, descriptive, and very detailed in her findings. If you think Dimond was entirely “Pro-Salahi,” think again. Although she worked with the couple during her research, she was brutally honest in formulating her conclusions and opinions. She had sole editorial control over the book.

You may not have much interest in this couple, but if you are looking for an investigative story done right, Diane Dimond’s book is it.

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Citizen Revolt – Sweep Out the Bums!

by Diane Dimond

Could it be a trend? Oh, please tell me it’s a trend.

There seems to be a mini-movement underway of disgruntled taxpayers and law enforcement officials intent on sweeping out the bums who play-act at being our political leaders while lining their own pockets.

You may have already heard about the situation in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell, California, where eight current and past city leaders were arrested and charged with illegally awarding themselves exorbitant salaries and misappropriating public funds. When filing the charges District Attorney Steve Cooley called it a case of “corruption on steroids.”

The scandal erupted when private citizens of that working-class suburb began to show up at public meetings and demand accountability. The drumbeat got loud enough that the law moved in, arrested the eight and made sure they’d never hold political office again. How bad was it? The city manager of Bell, where one in six residents lives in poverty, was “earning” nearly $800,000 a year, twice President Obama’s salary! And even though Robert Rizzo was forced to resign, he’s still in line to draw a pension as high as $880,000 a year!

So, Attorney General Jerry Brown announced his office is suing to try and stop Rizzo’s outrageous pension, along with the excess salaries of all the city leaders. These announcements were met with bursts of cheers and tears by local residents who realized firsthand what community involvement could achieve.

Three thousand miles away, in North Providence, Rhode Island, there is a similar public corruption scandal unfolding--again spurred by angry citizens who said, in effect, were mad as hell and just weren’t going to take it anymore.

In the Rhode Island case, three city council members were forced to resign after a federal indictment reported they had demanded and split a $25,000 bribe to change zoning laws for a supermarket developer. But after U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha announced the charges--and called for anyone with knowledge of other bribery demands to come forward--they did. Citizens exhausted by the stink of corruption in their Rhode Island community reportedly told authorities about other demands the political trio had made, and the councilmen were slapped with more extortion, bribery and conspiracy charges. Two others, a local developer and an attorney, were also charged for acting as middlemen in the illegal demand for more than $100,000 in bribes. There’s an indication that one of the fed-up residents was a fellow city council member who volunteered to wear a wire to help investigators gather evidence. More charges could be on the way as more brave residents come forward to report on similar shakedowns.

In Cleveland, Ohio, the FBI began investigating citizen complaints and the resulting public corruption scandal has already resulted in three dozen guilty pleas. Just last month, the feds charged eight public officials, including Cuyahoga County commissioner Jimmy Dimora and two county judges, in a pay-for-play scheme that allegedly traded jobs for bribes and campaign donations. The FBI says, for example, that Dimora got jobs for people and in exchange he received call girl sex, fancy steakhouse meals, four-figure discounts on a Rolex watch, a gambling trip to Vegas, and free improvements on his home. After this latest round of arrests one jubilant voter showed up at the county building wearing an FBI T-shirt and carrying a sign that she’d made that read, simply: "Thanks, FBI!"

“People are overjoyed,” Rachel Manias told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I feel like we can move forward with honest government. We have a real fresh slate.”

Look, most public officials are honest, hard working and keep the best interests of their community in mind. But there are some who don’t think twice before violating the public trust. It might be a border official who takes cash in exchange for letting an un-inspected truck through a border crossing or a building inspector who looks the other way at a construction site’s bad wiring. What if that truck carried a weapon of mass destruction or that building later had a deadly fire? There are culpable people on both sides of this type equation--those who take the payoff and those of our neighbors who give it. And with every act of corruption the public’s trust in government erodes that much more. The FBI says it is determined to hold corrupt public officials accountable but the Bureau needs our help.

Let’s face it, rotten politicians and public officials thrive when we ignore what they do. They fail when we are active in our neighborhoods, when we go to public meetings, when the media shines the white-hot spotlight on their actions and when we show up at the polls to vote out the bums. They fail when citizens are courageous enough to go to authorities and report their dishonesty. In other words, public corruption exists only when we let it.

Let’s not let it anymore. Let’s all be brave.

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Hate Crimes and the Homosexual Refugee

by Gina Simmons, Ph.D.

Before he became famous for the Star Wars films, writer/director George Lucas made a movie called THX 1138. In this film, set in a dystopian future, opposite-sex passion was forbidden and punishable by death. Two lovers of the opposite sex try to hide their feelings, only to find it impossible to do so. For heterosexuals, this film shows how it might feel to be gay in a hostile world. This experience of forbidden love forms the narrative for the lives of many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) youth.

When Tyler Clementi leaped to his death from the George Washington Bridge last month, he left behind a sea of grief and a mountain of unanswered questions. New to Rutgers University, like most freshmen, he likely felt awkward and afraid. Hoping for social acceptance and connection, he set up dates in his room, after asking his roommate for privacy. His roommate allegedly conspired with another student to broadcast Tyler's private homosexual encounters over the Internet. Charged with invasion of privacy and possible hate crimes, the two voyeurs likely ruined their lives and destroyed Tyler's.

A hate crime, under current federal law, comprises criminal conduct motivated by prejudices based on some aspect of a victim's identity, such as race or religion. Victims of hate crimes often suffer more depression, stress, anxiety and anger than victims of other violent crimes. This may stem from the very frightening prospect of being hated for something you can't change in yourself. Targets of hate crimes often suffer symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, including nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and emotional numbness.

Before the Internet, a kid could reinvent himself by moving away to another school or another town. You could escape from gossip and find yourself in a better place. Now, there is no escape from your digital past. Want a government security clearance? Sorry, you've done some obscene stuff on video. Want to win a beauty contest? Well, that mean girl took pictures of you in the shower and there's a Web site to prove it.

A recent study by Dr. Karen Franklin from the University of Washington found half of all young men surveyed admitted some form of anti-gay aggression. Of those who did not admit to anti-gay aggression, three in ten reported a likelihood to behave aggressively if a homosexual attempted a seduction. Penn State researcher Sue Rankin co-authored a report showing high rates of harassment and a lack of safety for GLBT youth on college campuses. In this hostile climate it's no wonder that GLBT youth have higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicide attempts than their heterosexual counterparts.

I've counseled GLBT youth who felt accepted by one parent and loathed by the other. One could tell his parents, but had to stay closeted for the grandparents. Another bright and compassionate teen lost his church youth group leadership position after a peer revealed his sexual orientation. Though still an innocent virgin, the fact that he had homosexual feelings made him unfit to lead.

Many churches across the country actively foment hatred for homosexuals. Ironically, the same religious leaders and politicians spitting hate speech from the podium often hide a history of criminal predatory sexual behavior. Psychologists have a name for this. When we have feelings that make us uncomfortable, our mind comes up with a quick defense so that we can feel all right about ourselves. Reaction Formation is an ego defense mechanism that allows one to hide uncomfortable, anxiety-provoking feelings by expressing the opposite emotion. One can protect a heterosexual image by loudly expressing hatred for homosexuals.

Tyler Clementi left digital clues about how he felt shortly before he killed himself. He wrote in a chat forum:

...and so I feel like it was 'look at what a fag my roommate is.'--other people have commented on his profile with things like "how did you manage to go back in there?" "are you ok?" and the fact that the people he was with saw my making out with a guy as the scandal, whereas I mean come on...he was SPYING ON ME...do they see nothing wrong with this?

The world might still get to hear Tyler Clementi's wonderful violin music if one person had written, "How dare you invade his privacy like that! You should be ashamed of yourself!" How lonely Tyler must have felt when he realized that hostile voyeurism and humiliation were socially acceptable, but he was the pervert because he kissed a boy in his own room.

We can all help prevent teen suicides. Parents and friends of GLBT youth can join Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). We all should read the information accumulated by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Here, you can learn how to support the healthy development of young people struggling in a hostile world. Post the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number in your workplace (1-800-273-TALK). And for you GLBT teens out there, don't give up hope. As lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge sings, "You don't have to live like a refugee."

Photos courtesy of JoeHallock.com and ozap.com

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Getting Away with Murder

by Kathryn Casey

We like to think that the bad guys get caught, and that when a murder takes place, the person responsible is held accountable and punished. Unfortunately, that often doesn't happen. One of the most disturbing headlines I've seen ran in the Houston Chronicle on a recent Sunday: People Are Getting Away with Murder.

Reading the piece, I learned that the national clearance rate on homicides is a dismal 64 percent. As the cause, the article cites a lack of money, manpower, too many murders and not enough folks in law enforcement investigating. It points out that in a city like Houston, with six million folks, there's more crime than cops to go around. In all, 120 Texas communities didn't even reach the national threshold, with clearance rates of 63 percent or lower. Take Galveston, for instance, where of the 32 murders committed in 2004, only seventeen were solved. That means that fifteen families are still waiting for justice. San Antonio is even worse, with a clearance rate of only 39 percent. The trend isn't new. One study showed that from 1980 to 1996, the national clearance rate dropped by 7 percent, and since then it's continued to slide.

Why? Multiple reasons. The above study noted an increase in stranger-on-stranger killings, which are harder to solve than crimes of passion. While another study, one from 2001, agreed that the main issue may be manpower, both stressed that quality police work is also an issue, especially the actions of the first officers on the scene. Was homicide notified quickly? Was the CSI unit called? Were witnesses identified and statements taken?

Yet, one of the cases in the Chronicle article was particularly disturbing, because three years after Bridgette Gearen's murder, the 28-year-old's family is still waiting for the lab results to come in that could point to her killer.

From its first moments, the Gearen case has been both perplexing and terrifying. This young mom disappeared one night simply by walking out a door.

It was July 2007, and Gearen was staying at a beach house with friends, enjoying a bit of R&R, needed time off from the stress of work, watching over an elderly grandparent and caring for her toddler, Kyra. The group planned to take a drive on the beach at midnight, and Bridgette was the first one out the door. She walked down the stairs, and they heard the gate close behind her. Minutes later, her friends followed, but by then, Bridgette was gone.

Beachcombers discovered her body near the shoreline the next morning. The autopsy said Bridgette had been strangled, battered and raped.

Some witnesses have come forward to say that they heard screams and others that they may have seen Gearen get into a dark-colored SUV, although they couldn't tell if she did so voluntarily. Many wonder why Bridgette was the first one out the door, since she had a fear of going out at night and rarely would alone. Did she see someone she knew? Or was there a stranger waiting in the shadows?

Perhaps some or all of these questions could be answered by the lab results. But the forensic evidence analysis in the Gearen murder is still bogged down at the apparently overwhelmed Texas Department of Public Safety's crime lab.

"It's horrible that a case like this takes so long," Detective Tommy Hansen of the Galveston County Sheriff's Office told the Chronicle. "You can have the suspects committing more crimes, but we can't do anything until we get the results back."

So Gearen's family and friends wait. The community waits. And, at least for now, one or more murderers remain free, with nothing to prevent them from taking other lives. In this age of strained resources, Bridgette Gearen's case is far from an anomaly. I talked with a homicide detective a few weeks ago who told me he literally had dozens of murder investigations assigned to him, some recent but others cold and growing colder. And every day when he walked into his cubicle, there were more case files on his desk crying for his attention.

Bridgette's daughter, Kyra, was 2 when her mother disappeared. She's 5 now. At some point, she'll grow up and begin asking questions. Let's hope that by then law enforcement will have answers for Kyra, and, looking at the bigger picture, that this disturbing trend will be reversed. Resources are tight, it's true, but is that sufficient reason to allow killers to get away with murder?

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Guest Michael Streed talks about SketchCop

by Andrea Campbell 

There is so much involved with being a forensic artist and it is a small community. Today we have an interview with Michael Streed, artist extraordinaire. 

Q.: Michael, thank you for being my interview guest. Can you tell WCI readers something about your background?

M.: I began my career as a ‘street cop’ and retired 31 years later as “The SketchCop.” During that time, I worked several investigative assignments that helped me learn a lot about eyewitnesses. It also helped hone my interviewing skills. Shortly after becoming a police officer, I trained as a police composite artist with the Los Angeles Police Department. My career as a forensic artist paralleled my work as a police officer and took me throughout the country to train with the best forensic artists of that era. I blended my forensic art training with college courses in life drawing and was privileged to become trusted to work on some of the country’s worst cases including the torture murder of a DEA agent in Mexico, The Baton Rouge Serial Killer, The Samantha Runnion Abduction/Murder and the Anthony Martinez Abduction/Murder. In addition, I have logged over 600 hours of forensic art training, 1,300 hours of law enforcement training to supplement the casework I have done. 

Q.: Eyewitness drawings are more difficult than the average person thinks. I was trained for forensic art but never pursued it because I am an alpha type, have a tendency to ask leading questions, and haven’t learned the proper interview techniques. Can you speak to that?

M.: To become a successful forensic artist, you must be an active listener. A successful interviewer guides an eyewitness versus leading them. Most important is that the eyewitness must trust you immediately, from the moment you walk into the room. Interviewing is an art that is often overlooked in favor of an aesthetically pleasing sketch. Luckily, interviewing is a skill that can be taught. Without it, you’ll sketch nothing but a useless, but ‘pretty’ picture. The good news is, you can become a good interviewer as long as you know when to hide the alpha. 

Q.: We’re here today to talk about a software program called SketchCop Facette Design, can you explain what that is?

M.: SketchCop Facette Face Design System is a software program that allows law enforcement personnel the ability to create digital composite images that appear as if they were prepared by a skilled forensic artist.

Q.: Two-part question here: What was your impetus for designing this program?

M.: My motivation for creating the software was to provide a viable tool for law enforcement agencies that did not have access to a qualified forensic artist and if they did, I wanted them to have a reliable backup tool to use when their artist wasn’t available.

And how is yours different or better than what’s out there currently?

M.: SketchCop Facette Face Design System creates an image that appears as if sketched by an artist even though it was created by computer using a software solution. Our program is intuitive, portable and easy to use with modification tools that can create subtle changes similar to those a forensic artist would make. We also support the software and it’s users by offering online training. No other company can boast having software that was developed and supported by an experienced forensic artist still working in the field.

Q.: What are the actual problems inherent with designing a program such as this?

M.: I think the most difficult part of conceiving such a program is not allowing it to get away from you and become too complicated. The software must have a low learning curve and be easy to use; otherwise, you’ll frighten away potential users. As a forensic artist there is a natural tendency to want to the software to be perfect and do everything. I have always had the mindset that like a forensic artist, it is only a tool, albeit a valuable one. With that in mind, we are creating a legion of officers who can turn out high-quality images without the burden of feeling like they have to become artists themselves. Luckily, I found a software company with a strong architecture that we were able to combine with our database and wealth of experience to create SketchCop Facette Face Design System Software. 

Q.: How did you even know where to begin?

M.: From the day I began my career as a forensic artist, I knew there would always be a technology solution looming on the horizon. Several companies had already developed such a program hoping that pencils would soon be replaced by pixels. I had done consulting work for a couple of these companies, hoping that input from an experienced police detective/forensic artist would help advance their products. It didn’t. So, it wasn’t long before I figured out that it would be better to help drive the technology train rather than be left behind at the station. 

Q.: Can you explain briefly how the program works and who it is for?

M.: SketchCop Facette Face Design System Software is for law enforcement/military and select investigative personnel, both sworn and civilian support staff. No artistic skills are required. This allows us to focus on the importance of the interview process. The process for interviewing and building the composite closely mimics that of a forensic artist. During the interview, the eyewitness selects various facial components to create the suspect’s face. With a few clicks of the mouse, the user can complete the composite image and easily make the necessary modifications.

Q.: Would you like to talk about one case you are particularly proud of?

M.: My most challenging case to date and the one that is most personal is the abduction/rape/murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in 2002. My witness in that case was her 5-year-0ld playmate who witnessed the abduction. We worked together to create a composite image of the suspect who was identified in two days. I could not have done it without her.

At the time of the incident, my wife of 25 years had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment. I had one son in the police academy and another at war in Iraq. By the time the suspect was convicted and sentenced to death, my wife had passed away, my son had graduated the police academy, my other son was still at war, and forensic art became my salvation.

Q.: Is there anything else you care to tell WIC readers?

M.: I am happy to say that my career has come full circle, yet it is far from being complete. I am currently a forensic artist with the Los Angeles Police Department, right back where my forensic art career began. My services are also in demand from many other police agencies throughout the Southern California area. SketchCop Facette Face Design System is gaining traction in law enforcement circles and the feedback has been fantastic. Many police officers have commented that it is the best digital composite imaging software they’ve experienced.

Over the years I have been blessed with many opportunities to help victims overcome their experiences while trying to figure out new ways to help cops catch crooks. I have a fascinating career, balanced by a loving, supportive family, that should keep me going for years to come.

Note: To contact Michael or try out a demo, click here.

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Burke and Hare: Victorian Serial Killers

by Cathy Scott

Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist and expert witness, introduced the Victorian term “burking” to jurors in a 21st century case. It happened during the trial of two people charged with the murder of casino magnate Ted Binion. The prosecution's theory of the murder included burking, a term derived from the slaying style that two 19th century murderers used in Scotland. William Burke and William Hare killed by putting pressure on their victims' chests while covering the mouths and noses. Burke and Hare, two Irish laborers who originally went to Edinburgh to work on the Union Canal, ultimately became known as murderers and body snatchers.

In the Ted Binion case, Dr. Baden claimed that not only did Binion die from a drug overdose, but that he also was strangled using the same technique Burke and Hare specialized in two centuries earlier. Burking is not a theory typically prosecuted in modern courtrooms. Burke and Hare used the method they’d perfected because it left no obvious trace of foul play and little evidence of murder.

Yet, according to Dr. Baden's theory, this remarkable cause of death was performed in the late 1990s by defendant Sandra Murphy--who weighed 120 pounds--by sitting on Ted's chest, causing his sternum and upper ribcage to collapse, leaving it concave. By Sandra’s side, the prosecution and Baden contended, was her co-conspirator and co-defendant Rick Tabish. The motive? Binion’s millions. The jury believed Baden and, in 2000, they convicted the couple of murder. My book Death in the Desert, about the Ted Binion case, goes into depth about Baden's theory of old-fashioned burking.

On a technicality, the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Murphy and Tabish. Prosecutors, in turn, charged and tried the couple again. The defense countered the burking theory with photos and medical evidence proving that Binion had always had a concave chest--a physical defect he was born with. Yet despite evidence to the contrary, Dr. Baden took the stand and stuck to the burking theory. I was in the courtroom when Baden's testimony appeared to captivate the jury in Clark County District Court. This time around, however, while the latest jury seemed fascinated, they apparently didn't buy Baden's burking theory and handed down “not guilty” verdicts.

Back in the 19th century, Burke and Hare moved from Ulster to Edinburgh, where they lodged with a pair of prostitutes named Maggie Laird and Nell MacDougal. Maggie rented out rooms. On November 29, 1827, when an elderly pensioner boarding with them passed away of natural causes, they seized the opportunity and hit on the idea of selling the boarder’s remains to a local anatomy school desperately in need of bodies for dissection. They took the corpse to Dr. Robert Knox, who worked out of a private anatomy classroom in the Royal Medical Society's Hall in Surgeon's Square at the Edinburgh Medical School. Knox paid them seven pounds and ten shillings for the corpse.

Medical schools required cadavers for anatomy classes, and the demand always outstripped the supply. Attracted by the ease with which they had made the money, Burke and Hare decided to go into the business full-time. They upped their price to ten pounds and, for the next 10 months, the two ferried miscellaneous corpses of more than a dozen boarders to the dissection school, earning them ten pounds from Dr. Knox for each body in good condition.

Schools invariably accepted bodies with no questions asked. Thus, Burke and Hare set themselves up as procurers of human bodies to satisfy the demand of Edinburgh's medical schools. In today’s world, the pair would be labeled serial killers.

Most of the corpses were of drunken down-and-outs who Burke and Hare suffocated when their victims fell into alcoholic stupors. Originally, they set about digging up the graves of the recently departed in the dead of night, stealing the bodies and selling them for cash to a doctor for use in anatomy demonstrations. But digging up bodies was apparently too much work for the pair. So the entrepreneurs started murdering people in Edinburgh's old town and selling the cadavers. Early in 1828, another of their fellow lodgers--Joseph--came down with a fever. Burke took a small pillow and laid it across Joseph's mouth, and Hare lay across the body to keep down Joseph’s arms and legs. Thus, the term "burking" was born. They would employ that technique in all the murders that followed.

Their greed, however, got the better of them when they started killing and disposing of people whose disappearances were noticed by the police. Also, students began recognizing the corpses and became suspicious. Both men, along with their female companions, were arrested. The evidence against the men was circumstantial, despite local cries for justice. Then a deal was struck: Hare agreed to give evidence against Burke in exchange for immunity against prosecution. And Maggie Laird turned King's Evidence and testified against Burke and Nell MacDougal. Nell received a "Not Proven" verdict but Burke was found "Guilty."

The trial of William Burke began at 10 a.m. on Christmas Eve 1828 and lasted no longer than Boxing Day morning (celebrated the first weekday after Christmas when gifts are given to service workers). The jury, following a brief deliberation, found him guilty of murder. On January 28, 1829, William Burke went to the gallows and was hanged at Edinburgh in front of a large crowd.

In a twist of irony, Burke’s body was given to a local medical school for dissection. A free man, Hare left Edinburgh shortly after the execution of his partner. He died penniless in London in 1859. Dr. Robert Knox, the physician who so willingly purchased most of Burke and Hare's bodies, was never prosecuted.

William Burke and William Hare are remembered in Scotland with a degree of romantic nostalgia. In Nevada, they are remembered for the trial and retrial in which Dr. Michael Baden tried to pass the pair's particular style of murder onto a case that was proven an accidental self-overdose of prescription and street drugs.

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