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Frank van Oploo
Detective Sergeant
Username: Franko
Post Number: 129
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2004 - 6:34 pm: | 
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Hi all,
In his book ‘The Jig Saw Man’, Paul Britton relates about a murder case which was quite similar to Mary Jane Kelly’s case. I thought I couldn’t withhold it from you. Perhaps you’ve read it already, but nevertheless, here it is.
In the night from 3 to 4 November 1993 an attractive young mother and her 4 year old daughter were brutally killed in South-East London. On November 9th the police asked Paul Britton for his advise.
This is part of what Paul Britton wrote about it in his book.
“The scene was almost surrealistic. The naked body of a young woman was lying on the floor. Her complete trunk had been cut open and her rib cage pulled back so that her organs were exposed. … I had already seen dozens of other murder photos – each burnt into my soul never to vanish again – but this one was different. It was almost a tableau, as if people had butchered and opened her in the perverse exhibition of something they regarded as an objet d'art.
Jack the Ripper would have been proud, I thought. I’ve seen some photos of his victims. Especially de last woman he is supposed to have killed, Mary Jane Kelly, was found lying in a position very similar to that of Samantha Bisset.”
The woman was attacked and killed at her front door, which she probably hadn’t locked, for there were no traces of a forced entry and the locks on her door were good ones. Or at least, after consideration it was assumed she hadn’t opened the door to her killer. Samantha died as a result of a number of stabs, 4 of which to the heart. She was found by her boyfriend the next morning, lying in front of the gas-heater with a large pillow under her hips. Her arms were beside her head and she was wearing a bloody gown with 3 cuts at the right shoulder, stockings and a bra. Her trunk and face were covered by the gown and all sorts of linen from the kitchen. About a month after the murders and on a suggestion by Paul Britton it was discovered that a piece of abdominal wall was missing.
One neighbour remembered that during the night of 4 November at 3 in the morning she was woken up by a short cry. She looked out of her window and saw that there was light in Samantha’s apartment. There were strong indications that Samantha had been prostituting herself, although perhaps not very seriously, and she was known to sunbathe topless in her garden and walk through her apartment half naked without closing the blinds.
Another quote from Paul Britton: “Mickey Banks (the leader of the police investigation) and his colleagues talked about a murderer who had violently slashed around, but that wasn’t true. There were no wild hacks and stabs like with Rachel Nickell (another murder victim by another killer). Compared to that this was a surgical operation or anatomic lesson. Stabbing her was the least that he had done – he had also practically filleted her.
At some point he had apparently tried to cut the legs from the body, but by then the knife had probably already become too blunt and the murderer perhaps didn’t have the anatomic knowledge to cut a joint loose.”
According to Paul Britton the killer suffered from a sexual dysfunction for which the seeds had probably been sown early in the life of this man. Some want to see their sexual ‘partner’ suffer, to others it’s the violence or murder itself, some get a kick out of the raping and some want to mutilate. Mutilation was clearly the thing for Samantha’s murderer. His fantasy had grown more and more sophisticated over the years and mutilation played an important part in it. He wanted total power over a woman and with the mutilation of Samantha’s body he achieved the most intimate power, something that he wouldn’t have succeeded in by torture alone or by having a sex slave. The mutilation gave the impression of a discovery and exploration.
In Britton’s opinion the murderer was older than 25 and it wasn’t his first crime or sexual offence. Voyeurism, exhibitionism, assault and rape probably were his less picky sexual hobbies. He could also have used prostitutes and maybe he stabbed or tried to stab them instead of sexually assaulting them. The way the man gained entrance to the apartment and the fact that he had remained there at least an hour without leaving many traces pointed to a man in control of himself and the situation. The man was at least of average intelligence. The leaving of so few traces also indicated that he calculated his risks carefully and that his self-preservation was important to him. Britton emphasized that the offender had developed into a careful killer, but might not always have been that careful.
“He will always look out for new victims and reacts immediately on higher-risk victims or when the opportunity arises. … But every now and then a much stronger need, connected to the kind of fantasies leading to Samantha’s death, emerges. When this happens he has to go out to find new victims. In those situations he’s guided by fierce anger and lust, combined with feelings of personal shortcomings.”
Britton doubted if the killer had a wife or girlfriend, because he probably lacked the capability to project himself in a serious and normal relationship. He thought the killer felt certain in what he did and wanted, but doubted whether he could handle a woman who had her own sexual needs and wanted to feel equal instead of inferior. All these things prevented him from entering into a relationship. His deviant sexuality had grown, his personality however hadn’t. He probably suffered from some mental disorder, although Britton didn’t know which form. But this didn’t mean that the offender had poor social skills or couldn’t join society without being conspicuous. With his intelligence and social skills Britton thought the murderer could have a job, but nothing conspicuous. He probably worked as an unskilled labourer.
The forensic psychologist thought the killer wasn’t looking for attention and didn’t want to be notorious, although he probably left his victims in a certain position to shock the people that would find them, which would only be a relatively small audience. As the man didn’t like the world and vice versa, Britton feared that the media calling him a monster could evoke other murders. Britton was certain the killer would show no remorse.
He felt also sure the killer had been watching his victim’s apartment on several occasions from a hill nearby, where he couldn’t easily be seen by others, before he finally struck. He was sure the offender lived in the neighbourhood.
After some months the police arrested the killer. It was 29-year old Robert Clive Napper, who worked at a plastic factory and lived in the neighbourhood. He seemed to have done well at school although he had had a childhood filled with misery. He finally got a diploma that qualified him to work in the hotel and catering industry. After that he had all kinds of jobs and was never without one. (Ex-)colleagues told the police that Napper was accurate and worked fairly hard.
His apartment was quite clean and tidy. Neighbours told the police that he was known to make long walks and afterwards clean his shoes. In his flat the police found a number of maps of London upon which several places were marked, including where Samantha Bisset had lived – but there were also marks there that linked him to a series of rapes in the Green Chain Walk, a nearby park. Besides the maps also one or more books or magazines about combat sports were found and a drawing of the neck and its muscles. Other marks were thought to be observation posts and probable points where he might have stored incriminating objects.
Twelve months had passed since the first rape of this series when Samantha and her little daughter were killed. The first victim in the series was the only one who had been attacked in her own house and like Samantha she was an attractive blonde. He had wore some sort of mask then and he had cut the telephone line before going upstairs where his victim was. During the outside rapes Napper didn’t seem to have worried that much about the risks he was taking.
Although the case of this serial rapist was handled by an other police district, Britton had also been asked for his expertise in this investigation. He had drawn up a profile which agreed with Napper. Just before this series had started or somewhere during it, Napper had tried to commit suicide, but obviously hadn’t succeeded. He had been in contact with the police three times before. Once he was arrested for possessing a gun, another time he was arrested for trying to copy police stationary and the third time it was for ‘Peeping Tommery’. He had been standing on a wall surrounding a garden belonging to an attractive young woman.
Not only maps were found at Napper’s home, but also one or more journals. From them it was clear that he hated women, but not everything in it was clear – there were also some strange remarks and scribbles that led Britton to believe Napper was slightly paranoid. Whether it was schizophrenia or something similar, he couldn’t tell.
Britton was present at at least some of the interviews by the police and at those instances Napper behaved calmly and confidently. Before he went to court he was examined by 5 psychologists and they were of the opinion that Napper suffered from schizophrenia or a similar disorder. Very shortly before a jury would decide about Napper’s mental capacity, he pleaded guilty on the basis of diminished imputability.
Although Britton didn’t say it clearly in connection with the murderer – he merely said it somewhere in one of the chapters about these murders - he did say that a murder wouldn't necessarily be caused by a mental disorder, in case someone suffering from such a disorder had committed a murder.
All the best,
Frank
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Sarah Long
Inspector
Username: Sarah
Post Number: 386
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 07, 2004 - 12:03 pm: |
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Gruesome!! I don't know about anyone else but this sounds more like Kate's murder than Mary's. Mary was skinned and mutilated beyond all recognision and here it sounds like she was mutilated but you could still tell who she was. Kate was terribly mutilated but people could still identify her which is how this sounds.
Just my opinion.
Sarah
P.S. It's strange, I can't find anything about this murder on the internet though.
(Message edited by Sarah on January 07, 2004) |
Kris Law
Detective Sergeant
Username: Kris
Post Number: 60
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 07, 2004 - 3:18 pm: |
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That is fantastically gruesome. Sarah, I see your point, but with the ribcage and abdomen opened up, it certainly leans toward Mary for me.
It's a scary sick world. |
Dan Norder
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 07, 2004 - 7:22 am: |
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Frank,
Yeah, parts of that are eerily reminiscent to the MJK murder.
I'm sure there's only so far the comparison can be taken, but the differences between some the crimes point to the idea that it is at least possible that Jack the Ripper had a number of other victims that wouldn't be linked if all you were looking for were the mutilation deaths. The victims list on this website could very well contain several more examples of Jack's handiwork than just the canonical ones.
In fact, the case above started with an indoor attack and went outdoor and then back, which is somewhat reminiscent of the idea that Ada Wilson (attacked inside her home by an intruder) was an early victim of Jack.
If only Jack had been caught with a map detailing his crimes like this guy was. |
Frank van Oploo
Detective Sergeant
Username: Franko
Post Number: 136
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 9:44 pm: |
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Hi Sarah,
"P.S. It's strange, I can't find anything about this murder on the internet though."
I couldn't find anything on the internet either, but this could be due to the fact that Paul Britton may have changed the name of this killer and his victims. He made a remark at the beginning of his book saying something to this extent.
All the best,
Frank |
JefftheRippersolver
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Friday, May 14, 2004 - 7:49 pm: |
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Now we know why Saucy Jack was never caught. He time travels. |
twistedtower
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 9:12 am: |
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Napper is his real name, he was just not very 'famous' and the bisset murder did not attract much media attention. Unlike the other murder Paul Britton talks about - Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common. Bizarrely, since the failed prosecution of Colin Stagg for that murder, Napper is often mentioned as a suspect for the Nickell murder. Try looking under 'Samantha Bisset' or 'Rachel Nickell' for more info. |
twistedtower
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 9:12 am: |
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Napper is his real name, he was just not very 'famous' and the Bisset murder did not attract much media attention, unlike the other murder Paul Britton talks about - Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common.
Bizarrely, since the failed prosecution of Colin Stagg for that murder, Napper is often mentioned as a suspect for the Nickell murder. Try looking under 'Samantha Bisset' or 'Rachel Nickell' for more info. |
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