Murders in history

[anotheoldgit]

Why is it that some murders do not even reach the front page these days. Yet some murders that were commited years ago, go down into the realms of history. To name a few Jack the Ripper, Dr Crippen, Neville Heath, John Haigh, John Cristie.

Why do these murderers and their crimes still fascinate the imagination (films made and books written) even after over one hundred years? Incidentlly Dr Crippen only murdered one victim, his wife.

What present day murders, if any will join these in the pages of History?

[wnjxc21]

Ian Huntley

[Barmaid]

Fred and Rosemary West?

[Ctrak]

Dr. Shipman will undoubtably do so...I think you also missed out Mary Ann Cotton from that list.

I think it's because those particular murderers were, according to social norms, particularly horrifying- e.g. they killed relatives, or vulnerable individuals like the elderly, young women or children...plus in some cases there's an element of mystery. No-one knows who Jack the Ripper was, or his motive, which continues to make it intriguing- if anyone ever solved that case then I think public attention would shrink by quite a bit.

[sp1814]

Female murderers who kill children will always be reviled by our society because the act breaks a social 'norm'.

Women are the protectors of children, not the destroyers - so someone like Hindley and Rose West will be judged worse monsters than the men they associated with.

(That's an opinion by the way, not fact - open to argument).

[joko]

People have an interest in the psychology of premediated murder.
if someone panics and reacts by killing, or gets drunk or snaps, the psychology is quite predictable...but calculated, planned, organised, sometimes for months, murders are always of more interest.

i think the jack the ripper case is also of interest because he was never caught and that he was apparently of some nobilty.
it was also unheard of, so more shocking.
i think he'd have been caught in a shot nowadays

[bigmalc]

There are usually a couple of brutal 'once-a-decade' crimes that make major headline news. It's funny, I mean a lot of people were born well after events such as the Moors Murders, and all of us after the Jack the Ripper case, but we still go on about them. My sister hated Myra Hyndley but she was born in 1980!

I understand some people are more reviled by female murderers, but I still think a murder is a murder, no matter who commits it.

Unfortunately, this Suffolk thing appears to have all the hallmarks of one of these major crimes (sensationalist media stories, body count etc.) and I think that soon the British public will have a brand new hate-figure.

[NJOK]

Very good point, sp1814.

Women provoke a far stronger reaction than male killers. In fact, look at the treatment of Maxine Carr. She committed zero murders and didn't even commit a crime until the two girls were already dead. She is despised almost as much as Ian Huntley.

anotheoldgit, it is weird how some murderers go down in history. Dennis Nilsen killed at least 15 men. He hardly ever gets a mention.

[pie+mash]

Dennis Nielson, stuffed the bones of his victims down the soil pipes outside his home, then one day phoned the council and complained that the drains were blocked....

[Toureman]

Around 10 people will be murdered today by their own or another drivers incompetency, never mind the front page, probably none will even be reported.