Criminol

Lily Sullivan was an 18-year-old college student living in Pembroke, Wales, she was learning to drive and was described as forgiving, kind and loving. She was a talented artist who loved music and spending time with her friends.

Lily went on a night out with friends on 16th December 2021. She met Lewis Haines, 31, in a nightclub and the two kissed. Friends of Haines reminded him that he had a girlfriend and cautioned him that Lily was ‘far too young.’ At some point, Lily and Haines left the club together. They were walking through an alleyway towards Mill Pond when at 2.47am, Lily phoned her mother and said 'I’ll be there now mam. I’m on my way. I’m a couple of minutes away. I’m nearly there,’ before the call was cut short. Her mother tried calling her back 30 times, CCTV shows Lily’s abandoned phone lighting up. At around 3am a local resident heard a woman scream.

Lily was found face down in Mill Pond reservoir, her top had been forcibly removed and she had been strangled.

After murdering Lily, CCTV chillingly captured Haines walking past Lily’s mother who was waiting at a nearby garage to pick her up. Lily’s mother noticed Haines acting strangely and followed him until he disappeared into nearby woods. Haines then went home to his girlfriend and said 'I’ve strangled somebody.’

It is thought that Lily had rejected Haines’ sexual advances and wanted to go home with her mother which angered him and led to him attacking her. Haines claims Lily threatened to report him for trying to rape her when she found out he had a girlfriend. The judge ruled, 'His intention was to silence her. He didn’t want anyone to know what had happened in the lane.’ Haines was sentenced to serve at least 23 years and 4 months in prison.

Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were ten-year-old girls murdered in Soham, England. Post on the murders here. Ian Huntley was sentenced to two life sentences for murder and Maxine Carr was found guilty of perverting the course of justice for lying. The five following areas have been highlighted as leading to the arrests:

1. Jessica’s Phone

Like many young girls, Jessica rarely went anywhere without her mobile phone, which her parents had bought her as a safety device. Jessica had phoned her parents shortly before her disappearance to tell them she and Holly were going to buy sweets, the mobile phone was turned off shortly after. The last traceable signal from the phone before it was turned off was traced to Huntley’s home. Jessica’s mother later attempted to phone the mobile and found it to be switched off.

2. Huntley and Carr Speaking to the Press

Huntley was eager to speak to journalists who noticed both his and Carr’s odd behaviour. Huntley appeared emotional, sweaty and erratic, he also initially refused to have his picture taken and was extremely keen to help with the search. Huntley also asked if they had found the girls’ shirts despite, a strange question which showed he was aware the shirts had been removed. Chillingly Carr gave an interview in which she showed journalists a card Holly had handmade her, describing Holly as ‘lovely’ but tellingly using the past tense (’she was just lovely,’ ‘that was the kind of girl she was’). This immediately rang alarm bells as Holly and Jessica were, at the time, thought to still be alive. Huntley also asked odd questions about DNA evidence.

3. The Girls’ T-shirts

The haunting photograph taken of Holly and Jessica the night they disappeared was published on the front page of every newspaper. Their distinctive, red Manchester United T-shirts with David Beckham’s name on the back were immediately recognisable. Footballer Beckham even appealed for the girls’ safe return. A reconstruction of Holly and Jessica’s final known movements also heavily focussed on the recognisable shirts. The first search of Soham failed to find the clothing however a second search of Huntley’s workplace found the cut and charred remains of the two t-shirts. This attempt to hide evidence led officers to believe Holly and Jessica were dead and arrest Huntley and Carr. Fingerprints on the bin liner the shirt were found inside matched Huntley’s, these fingerprints were consistent with someone attempting to push down and hide the bag. Fibres from the shirts were found in Huntley’s home and on his boots.

4. Huntley’s Car

Huntley had completely new tyres put on his car the day after the girls went missing which he had fitted under a false name and registration, the mechanic reported being paid ten pounds to forge the documents. The mechanic also noted the tyres coming off the car were in good condition and did not need changing. Huntley also replaced the boot carpet and was seen by multiple witnesses cleaning the car. Mud and chalk matching samples taken from the ditch where Holly and Jessica’s bodies were found was found on the bottom of Huntley’s car.

5. The False Alibi

Forensic Odontology is essentially forensic dentistry. It involves the analysis of the teeth such as x-rays. Dental records can be used to confirm the identity of bodies too decomposed to identify by other means, this is becoming less common as modern forensic scientists tend to use DNA.

Founded in 1993, The Chijon Family had a deep-seeded hatred of the rich - so much so that they slaughtered and cannibalised them. Consisting of eight people, including a young woman, the gang targeted people who appeared to be wealthy. Whether they were wearing expensive clothes or driving fancy cars, they became fair game to the Chijon Family, who called Seoul, Korea, their haunt. 

After kidnapping their target, they would demand a ransom in return for their safe return. However, the victims were never released. Once they received the ransom and were bored of torturing their chosen victim, they would then slaughter them. Disturbingly, they often cooked and ate the flesh of their victims, believing that it would give them courage. On one occasion, they managed to extort $100,000 from a terrified family member before dispatching of their loved one. Their preferred stomping ground was an exclusive department store, where they would zone in on the flashiest looking customers. At least until they managed to get their hands on the mailing list for a Hyundai garage. This list contained names of their very best, and very richest, customers - their perfect target.

They were finally apprehended in September of 1994, when a woman they had abducted miraculously managed to escape, but not before experiencing the absolute unimaginable. She had been brutally gang raped before being forced to shoot another abductee in the head. In addition to this traumatic experience, she was then forced to hold the head of her friend as she was suffocated by a gang member with a plastic bag. After showing no remorse other than that they had wished they had killed more, they were charged with five murders. They had burnt the majority of their victims in an incinerator at their cabin.

Kimberly Diane Leach was a 12-year-old schoolgirl, she was in the seventh grade. Kimberly, Kim to her friends, was described as a shy girl who worked hard at school.

On 8th February 1978, Kimberly was excited as her mother had said that afternoon she would take Kimberly shopping for a dress to wear to the upcoming Valentine’s ball. She arrived at school and ate doughnuts with her friend and went to her homeroom before leaving to go to her first class, PE. While in the homeroom Kimberly forgot her purse so went back to get it, she returned to the homeroom, picked up the purse and left, making her way back across campus- she never made it back to her lesson. Kimberly’s teacher assumed Kimberly had just gone to her second class and gave her books to her friend to put in her locker. Kimberly failed to show up at any of her classes that day, and her teachers grew worried and began searching for her. By 5pm when there was still no sign of Kimberly, the police were called.

Kimberly’s friends knew something was wrong immediately, they described how Kimberly never skipped class and was a shy girl who was unlikely to speak to strangers or go anywhere on her own. A witness had seen a girl walking towards a white van with a man he had assumed was her father, the man had brown hair and was clean-shaven and the girl matched Kimberly’s description down to the number on her sports jersey, the girl had looked unhappy but was not resisting. A schoolchild had also seen a slim man in his mid-thirties with brown hair standing near the school. Over 65 witnesses had seen this man in the vicinity of the school Kimberly attended.

In April 1978, about 2 months after Kimberly had gone missing her body was found in a pig shed wooded area, she had been raped and had lacerations to her neck.

Before Kimberly was found, Ted Bundy, a notorious serial killer and wanted fugitive was found when pulled over for a traffic violation. He had recently escaped from prison and was wanted for a string of recent murders of young women. Officers questioned him about Kimberly’s disappearance which he initially denied despite overwhelming evidence including fibres from the jacket he was wearing when arrested being found on her body.

In 1980, Bundy went on trial for the kidnap and murder of Kimberly Leach. He had previously been convicted for the murders of two sorority girls, Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, in the infamous Chi Omega attacks. During the trial for Kimberly’s murder, Bundy acted as his own council and asked Carole Ann Boone to marry him. He was found guilty and Bundy received a third death sentence for the murder of Kimberly Leach.