The Blackout Murders

The Blackout Murders
Author: Neil R. Storey
Publisher: Pen and Sword True Crime
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2023-02-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 139907105X

Nostalgic recollections of wartime Britain often forget that when the blackout was enforced at night in an attempt to foil Nazi bombers a crime wave, cloaked by the inky black darkness, ensued on many of our streets. There were petty crimes, robberies, sexual assaults and, as The Blackout Murders reveals, some horrific murders took place on our home front during the Second World War. Some of them still rank among the most shocking crimes in modern British history. Some of the murders recounted within the pages of this book remain infamous, others are almost forgotten and some remain unsolved to this day. Several cases have new light shed on them from recently released archives and records uncovered by the author. Every case has been carefully selected for its reflection of wartime conditions and each one has a powerful, poignant and tragic story to tell. Readers will gain insights into the darker narrative of our home front and learn about some of the men and women who strove to maintain law and order under the most challenging circumstances. Others innovated and developed ground-breaking forensic techniques to identify bodies, recognize if foul play had occurred and as a direct result brought murderers to justice who may otherwise have gone undetected and unpunished. Anyone reading The Blackout Murders will never look at Britain's Home Front during the Second World War in the same way again.

A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin

A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin
Author: Scott Andrew Selby
Publisher: Scott Selby
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2024-05-27
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:

Revised Edition: As the Nazi war machine caused death and destruction throughout Europe, one man in the Fatherland began his own reign of terror. This is the true story of the pursuit and capture of a serial killer in the heart of the Third Reich. For all appearances, Paul Ogorzow was a model German. An employed family man, party member, and sergeant in the infamous Brownshirts, he had worked his way up in the Berlin railroad from a manual laborer laying track to assistant signalman. But he also had a secret need to harass and frighten women. Then he was given a gift from the Nazi high command. Due to Allied bombing raids, a total blackout was instituted throughout Berlin, including on the commuter trains—trains often used by women riding home alone from the factories. Under cover of darkness and with a helpless flock of victims to choose from, Ogorzow's depredations grew more and more horrific. He escalated from simply frightening women to physically attacking them, eventually raping and murdering them. Beginning in September 1940, he started casually tossing their bodies off the moving train. Though the Nazi party tried to censor news of the attacks, the women of Berlin soon lived in a state of constant fear. It was up to Wilhelm Lüdtke, head of the Berlin police's serious crimes division, to hunt down the madman in their midst. For the first time, the gripping full story of Ogorzow's killing spree and Lüdtke's relentless pursuit is told in dramatic detail. Note: The ebooks and new paperbacks are the 2024 revised edition.

Story of a Murder

Story of a Murder
Author: Hallie Rubenhold
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2025-03-27
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1473578558

BY THE AUTHOR OF MULTI-AWARDWINNING #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER: THE FIVE, THE WOMEN KILLED BY JACK THE RIPPER A fascinating feminist retelling of the historical true-crime story of infamous wife-murderer Dr Crippen in Edwardian England, brought to justice by an extraordinary group of musichall women 'Unbelievably addictive. Written with a unique combination of sleuthing, storytelling and compassion' LUCY WORSLEY ___________ No murderer should ever be the keeper of their victim's story ... On 1 February, 1910, vivacious musichall performer, Belle Elmore, suddenly vanished from her north London home, causing alarm among her circle of female friends, the entertainers of the Music Hall Ladies’ Guild who demanded an immediate investigation. They could not have known what they would provoke: the unearthing of a gruesome secret, followed by a fevered manhunt for the prime suspect: Belle’s husband, medical fraudster, Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen. Hiding in the shadows of this evergreen tale is Crippen’s typist and lover, Ethel Le Neve – was she really just ‘an innocent young girl’ in thrall to a powerful older man as so many people have since reported? And what is the story behind the death of Crippen's first wife, Charlotte, who died so quietly, never to be heard of again? In this epic examination of one of the most infamous murders of the twentieth century, prizewinning social historian Hallie Rubenhold gives voice to those who have never properly been heard – the women. Featuring a carnival cast of eccentric entertainers, glamorous lawyers, zealous detectives, medics and liars, STORY OF A MURDER is forensically researched and multi-layered, offering the contemporary reader an electrifying snapshot of Britain and America at the dawn of the modern era.

Blackout Murders

Blackout Murders
Author: Simon Read
Publisher: Robson Books Limited
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2008
Genre: Serial murder investigation
ISBN: 9781906217303

In February 1942, a woman was found strangled in a London air raid shelter. Seven days later, the man dubbed as the 'Blackout Ripper' had struck six times, his crimes becoming more brutal at each turn. The killer left few clues in his bloody wake, until a slip up revealed his true identity, and shocked a city that thought it had seen it all.

The Blackout Ripper

The Blackout Ripper
Author: Stephen Wynn
Publisher: Pen and Sword True Crime
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2022-09-21
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1526711818

Two days before the outbreak of the Second World War, the British government imposed blackout regulations across the nation as it was believed that in the event of war, Germany would very quickly begin conducting air raids on British towns and cities. The measures included covering windows in a dark, thick material at night to ensure no light could be seen from the outside. The use of vehicle headlamps was also prohibited, which resulted in a number of accidents and pedestrians being killed. These restrictions, enforced by Air Raid Precaution wardens and the police, were for the benefit and safety of the British public, but it also unintentionally made life a lot less dangerous for members of the criminal fraternity, allowing them to go about their regular night time activities with less chance of being caught by the police. As a result, during one week in February 1942, Gordon Cummins, RAF, was able to move around freely to carry out his attacks and make it back to his billet without being caught, or even stopped, by the police. The very restrictions put in place to protect the British public from German bombers actually placed women in danger from men such as Cummins: three of his victims were known prostitutes, as was at least one of the two women he is known to have attacked, but who survived. All of Cummins victims were attacked during the hours of darkness while the ‘blackout was in place, leading to him becoming known as the Blackout Ripper.

The London Blitz Murders

The London Blitz Murders
Author: Max Allan Collins
Publisher: Disaster
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781612185200

By day, she's Mrs. Mallowan, hospital pharmacist. By night, she's Agatha Christie, queen of crime. Doing her part for the war effort, Agatha dispenses medicine in shell- shocked London. But the world's most renowned mystery writer is troubled. Compared to the horrors of World War II, her detective novels seem trivial and quaint. When a Jack the Ripper-style murderer strikes, Agatha lobbies her friend, forensics expert Sir Bernard Spilsbury, to take her to the crime scenes. But the killings are far more gruesome than any that her fictional detectives have ever solved. Can a crime writer also be a crime fighter? Joining forces with London's top investigators, Agatha risks her life to stop the monstrous serial killer. With this ripped-from-the-headlines mystery, author Max Allan Collins presents a blood-stained valentine to the most celebrated author of detective fiction.

Cold North Killers

Cold North Killers
Author: Lee Mellor
Publisher: Dundurn
Total Pages: 475
Release: 2012-03-03
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1459701259

Canada is seen as a peaceful place, but this wake-up call shows us that there have been more than 60 serial killers in our history. Limited time offer. There are more than 60 serial murderers in Canadian history. For too long awareness of serial murder in Canada has been confined toWest Coastbutcher Clifford Olson and the "Schoolgirl Murderers" Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, along with the horrific acts of pig farmer Robert Pickton. Unlike our American neighbours, Canada has been viewed as a nation untouched by the shadow of multiple murder. Then came Colonel Russell Williams and his bizarre homicides and serial home invasions, which were sensational news worldwide on the Internet and television and in scores of newspapers and magazines. The reason for Canada’s serial killer blackout is clear: until now such information has never been compiled and presented in a single concise work. ColdNorth Killers is a wake-up call. This detailed and haunting account of Canada’s worst monsters analyzes their crimes, childhoods, and inevitable downfalls. It is an indispensablecompendium for any true crime lover, criminologist, or law-enforcement officer.

Blackout

Blackout
Author: Simon Scarrow
Publisher: Headline
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021-08-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781472258564

THE STUNNING SECOND WORLD WAR THRILLER FROM THE CELEBRATED SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR SIMON SCARROW The Richard and Judy Bookclub Pick The Times Top Ten bestseller 'A wonderfully compelling thriller, reeking of authenticity, and a terrific depiction of the human world within the chilling world of the Third Reich' Peter James Berlin, December 1939 As Germany goes to war, the Nazis tighten their terrifying grip. Paranoia in the capital is intensified by a rigidly enforced blackout that plunges the city into oppressive darkness every night, as the bleak winter sun sets. When a young woman is murdered, Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is under pressure to solve the case, swiftly. Distrusted by his superiors for his failure to join the Nazi Party, Schenke walks a perilous line - for disloyalty is a death sentence. The discovery of a second victim confirms Schenke's worst fears. He must uncover the truth before evil strikes again. As the investigation takes him closer to the sinister heart of the regime, Schenke realises there is danger everywhere - and the warring factions of the Reich can be as deadly as a killer stalking the streets . . . Readers love BLACKOUT: 'Superb thriller, with a heroic anti-Nazi Kripo detective ... I look forward to more books about him' ***** 'Highly recommended ... A top-class murder case set in war-time Berlin' ***** 'Fantastic ... Keeps you guessing and in suspense until the end' ***** 'Great story about the excessive Nazi regime ... Really loved this book' *****

The Case That Foiled Fabian

The Case That Foiled Fabian
Author: Simon Read
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2014-06-02
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0750957220

On Wednesday 14 February 1945, the body of Charles Walton was discovered on the lower slopes of Meon Hill near the sleepy Warwickshire village of Lower Quinton, his torso pinned to the ground by a pitchfork. Myths and rumours soon swirled about the crime. Accounts claim Walton, a retired labourer and a lifelong resident of Lower Quinton, was believed by many to be a clairvoyant who could talk to birds and exercise control over animals. It has even been reported that many villagers attributed Walton's death to ritual witchcraft. But what is fact and what is fiction? The most famous police officer in Britain, Chief Inspector Robert Fabian, was promptly dispatched by Scotland Yard to solve this increasingly peculiar and foreboding mystery. 'Fabian of the Yard' was not a man prone to superstition and had dealt with some of the most notorious killers of his time – but there was something strange about the Walton murder. Did the clues point to ritual witchcraft as the modus operandi, or was the black magic angle merely a ruse? With the villagers unable – or unwilling – to shed light on the matter, Fabian faced, for the only time in his glittering career, the daunting prospect of failure. The Case That Foiled Fabian lays out for the first time what actually happened and distills the truth from the many myths about this case that are today mistaken for facts.