#multiple murderer

Which historical killers and/or events fascinate me the most? Gosh, I’m a total (Morbid) history buff so this is so difficult for me to choose just one! I have an affinity for the Tudors – King Henry vii and his wives. Then there his daughters, Queen Mary (who is often referenced as Bloody Mary today) and then “The Virgin Queen” Elizabeth. Ask me anything about them and I’ll tell you – and not…

The Lillelid murders were the result of a carjacking that escalated to muliplte murder on the 6th of April 1997. The Lillelid family, consisting of Vidar and Delfina and their two young children Tabitha (6) and Peter (2), were held at gunpoint after Vidar entered into a conversation with a teenage girl at a picnic spot on the side of the road. He was discussing his religious views with the teenager when two of her friends approached him and pointed a loaded gun at the father of two, stating he was going to have to take the family’s van.

Vidar initially offered the youths his wallet and keys on the condition that the teenagers would allow the family to remain at the rest stop, but instead the group insisted that they enter the back of the van. The group, which consisted of six teenagers, forced Vidar to drive to a secluded spot off the interstate, before the family were instructed to line up next to the ditch. Each of one of them were shot, before a member of the group, Jason Bryant, stated that they weren’t dead and shot the family again.

Vidar was shot a total of six times, once in the head and five times in the chest, he and Delfina died at the scene. Delfina had been shot once in the arm and once in the leg, shattering the bones, inducing incredible pain and making her unable to stand, but it was the six extra shots in her back that killed her. Tabitha, who was six years old, was shot once in the head which resulted in immediate brain death. The young girl was brought to the hospital and found eligible for organ donation, and her organs were successfully harvested. She was pronounced dead the day after the shooting. Two year old Peter was the only survivor, he was shot once in the head and once through his back, and was left with serious disabilities.

The six teenagers were rumoured throughout their trial to have been involved in satanism and the occult, but this was considered a distraction from the main issues at the heart of the case. Jason Byrant, pictured above, is thought to have committed the shooting itself but was the youngest at the time of the trial and the judge was not convinced that he was the only person to have pulled the trigger. Karen Howell (pictured above) had a long history of abuse, both physical and sexual, had a borderline IQ for a learning disability (78), and had multiple suicide attempts in her history.

The Hinterkaifeck murders are one of the most notorious crimes in German history. The Gruber family consisted of Andreas, his wife Cazilia, their adult daughter Viktoria, and her children, Cazilia and Josef. They also had a maid named Maria Baumgartner, who only worked a single day before she was killed; the previous maid had left because she believed the house was haunted. They lived on the Hinterkaifeck farmhouse 40 miles from Munich.

Andreas reported mysterious circumstances to neighbours in late March of 1922; he’d seen a set of footprints leading from the forest toward his farm, but none heading back. He heard footsteps in his attic and found a strange newspaper. A set of house keys went missing. And then, on March 31, the entire family was murdered in the barn, one by one, with a pickaxe. They were found a few days later. It was determined that whoever had done the killing remained on the farm for awhile; the neighbours saw smoke from the chimney, and the animals were fed. Police initially believed the motive was robbery, but  they dismissed the idea when a large amount of cash was found in the house.

Christine and Léa Papin were sisters who had an exceptionally close relationship and worked together in the same households as maids. It was while they were both employed by a retired solicitor named Monsieur René Lancelin that they committed a brutal joint murder, killing their employer’s wife and daughter.

The sisters had suffered a horrible childhood together, being subjected to abuse from their father and neglect from their mother. They found solace in each others company and when they were grown they tried sought employment as maids together. While they were employed by the Lancelin family they were described as quiet and withdrawn, and had little interest in people outside of their own, isolated relationship. On the 2nd of February 1933 Monsieur Lancelin went to the police when his wife and daughter did not show up for dinner at their friends home, and when he went to find them found that he could not open the doors to his own house. The police managed to enter the house by entering over the back wall, and found the bodies of Monsieur Lancelin’s wife and daughter inside. The police retrieved the Papin sisters from their bed, allegedly they were naked at the time.

During the trial the Papin sisters explained that Christine had got into an argument with the Lancelin women, Lea joined in and Christine retrieved weapons from the kitchen - consisting of a kitchen knife, a pewter pot and a hammer. The pair of them reigned down blows to the women’s facing, completely disfiguring them. Once they had finished they proceeded to gouge the women’s eyes out with their bare hands. They were both convicted of murder, Christine was sentenced to death which was commuted to life imprisonment, while Léa would serve only 8 years.