The weekly serial killer profile thread

[Elitest]

Originally posted by DLR7884
Eat my ass, and enjoy it.

DLR7884

:p

[ELVIS]

He wasn't talkin' to you...

<marquee></marquee>

[Elitest]

I know sweetie

Im not stoopid

I was being droll

[flappo]

DLR7884 STFU

FLAPPO 1984

[Igosplut]

Got any requests flap old boy??? Well I think I can dig you up one, Let me see.........

Ahhh maybe this'll do it........

FRANK G. SPISAK Jr.

"My aim was pretty good."
Spisak states the obvious.

BORN :

DIED :

VICTIMS : 3

Frank Spisak's neighbours knew him as 'Frankie Ann Spisak.' He was a frizzy-haired transvestite who was looking forward to having a sex-change operation. They didn't know about Spisak's other side, a side that eventually took over his personality. Spisak eventually decided he no longer wanted to be a woman, but instead he wanted to be Hitler. He stopped wearing frocks and make-up, and changed to silly suits, slicked back hair and a toothbrush moustache. I'm not sure which gathered the most amount of laughs, but either way Spisak was serious about this new style.
In February 1982, Spisak launched his first "seek and destroy mission" in which he was attempting to "clean up the city". He walked onto the Cleveland State University and shot a black minister, Rev. Horace Rickerson, in a men's room. The Reverend died.
Four months later he shot another black, John Hardaway, 55, only wounding this one.
During August Spisak struck three times. The first was Timothy Sheehan, 50, also at Cleveland State University. Sheehan was caucasian but Spisak suspected that he may have been Jewish. He then gunned down 17-year-old Brian Warford, another black, at a bus stop near the campus. His next attack failed, narrowly missing another CSU employee.
Spisak was arrested in September for firing his gun out of his apartment window, but was released on bail. Police then received an anonymous phone call telling them to check the gun, a .22-caliber pistol. The gun was linked to the Warford murder and Spisak admitted to the others.
At the trial Spisak pled insanity, saying that the one-man war was launched under direct orders from God, his "immediate superior." He also blamed his transvestite period on the Jews saying that they "seized control of my mind when I wasn't looking". No one fell for this crap and Spisak was sentenced to death on August 10, 1983.

"Even though this court may pronounce me guilty a thousand times, the higher court of our great Aryan warrior God pronounces me innocent.
Heil Hitler!"
Or so Spisak thought after the trial.

After Spisak was sentenced to death the Social Nationalist Aryan Peoples Party stepped forward to claim him as a dues-paying lieutenant. The party's leader, ex-con Keith Gilbert, announced that Spisak was "acting under direct orders of the party" when he murdered the three victims in Cleveland. The orders, according to Gilbert: "Kill all blacks until the last one is dead."

Ya meet the nicest people in prison........

And the quote of the week.....

"We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere.
And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow"
TED BUNDY

[Mr Walker]

Thanks for filling my request Professor Igo.

Have you ever wondered which serial killer you are?

Here I am...

[High Life Man]

Don't post in red...it's too hard to read!

How about some info on H.H. Holmes...this guy will be very famous soon as they're making a movie about him. The famous Chicago World's Fair serial killer.

Read "Devil in the White City," recently released in paperback. Very interesting.

[Elitest]

send it me then!!

[Igosplut]

Yea HLM, I did notice that the red was hard on the eyes..... We'll just have ta change that around. Cant have your eyes botherin ya reading about all this blood and gore now can we??

Another request, happy to oblige, we'll be gettin right on it. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, I gotta go do some grave robbing as it were!!.....

[Igosplut]

Did you ever notice that if you double post the delete option doesnt work??

Somebody should look into that.....

[DLR7884]

Originally posted by flappo
DLR7884 STFU

FLAPPO 1984

Flappo, you're cordially invited to fuck yourself.

DLR7884
Don't have too much fun though, ya sick fuck ya.

[Igosplut]

Here ya go, The one and only H H Holmes.... I've read about this guy before......

The Man

In the summer of 1886, evil stepped into the Englewood community. A growing suburb of Chicago, Englewood flourished with business opportunities due to its proximity to the railroads.

Mrs. Holton, wife of the local druggist, moved her overweight 63-year-old body up and down the counter filling orders. Hot and tired, her dress rustled from too much starch every time she moved, bent or stretched to reach a bottle of tonic. Her gray hair, matted and limp fell across her flushed face. Her customer Mrs. McNamara had flashing red hair and good teeth. "It’s my boy, Johnny. He’s feeling poorly, complains of a bellyache. Would you have something?" she asked.

"Be with you in a second, ma'am", said Mrs. Holton. Busy, her back turned; she checked the shelves for a stomach cure, unaware of a person entering the store. Mrs. Holton wrapped up a mixture in a small paper envelope and handed her the order. Every now and then she’d stop and look up toward the ceiling. Closing her eyes with every moan from her sick husband, his pain became part of her. The pain from the prostate cancer worsened every day. Even the morphine would not hold the pain at bay.

Although not a doctor, Mrs. Holton tried to fill the prescriptions she knew well enough, otherwise, she would run upstairs and ask her husband for help.

Turning, she saw a young man, handsome and fashionably dressed, standing near the door looking over the store. Gold cufflinks adorned his starched white cuffs. His vested suit tailored to fit his small frame gave him an air of elegance and grace. Immediately, he took off his derby and nodded when Mrs. Holton noticed him. She nodded back. "May I help you?" She asked.

"I am here concerning the position of pharmacist you posted in the daily newspaper. I’m Dr. Holmes."

"My husband is very ill.... he is no longer able to function as a pharmacist", her voice trailed off as a customer entered the store, pale and in pain. He held his left side, then, handed the prescription to her. Mrs. Holton read it and started to go toward the stairs to ask her husband for help. Hesitating, she turned, and gave the prescription to Dr. Holmes. He laid his walking stick against a shelf, stepped behind the counter, quickly taking bottles moving up and down, gathering the materials, grinding powders with the mortar and pestle, nimbly shifting the powder in a small envelope completing the order.

Impressed, Mrs. Holton hired him on the spot never checking his credentials, never knowing how he mixed a prescription poisoning a woman in Philadelphia several months before.


Herman W. Mudgett - aka H.H. Holmes
(Illinois State Historical Library)
Within a short time, the suave, handsome Henry H. Holmes increased business in the drugstore. He had a way with the ladies that made them come back too often. This delighted Mrs. Holton, who could spend more time with her dying husband. Holmes took over the books. He understood the lucrative business of selling medicine.

When Mrs. Holton’s husband died, Holmes saw the opportunity to approach the old woman. "You need to rest...retire from this business", said Holmes.

"Yes...but the store...there is so much to do...I can’t abandon it." Always tidy, Mrs. Holton busied herself dusting the shelves.

"Madame, I can buy the business and pay you every month.... You would have an income for life without all the work and worry", Holmes said.

"I could never leave the rooms, I feel Mr. Holton is still in them...no, Mr. Holmes I can’t sell."

"My dear woman", he took her hand and put the duster on the counter. "I never want you to leave your rooms. My interest is in the business."

"I can stay, and you will pay me money?" She smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, Mr. Holmes you can buy my business." She shook his hand, pleased at the great deal she made. Unfortunately it was her last deal.

When Holmes failed to pay Mrs. Holton the agreed-upon payments, she took him to court. Before the case closed, she disappeared. Customers asked about her whereabouts but Holmes told them she moved to California, too distraught after the death of her husband to live in his rooms. No one knew where she went and her body was never found.

The Castle

Shortly after Mrs. Holton's disappearance, Holmes married Myrta Z. Belnap, a young, pretty woman with an innocent face framed by blond curls. Her sweet brown eyes and shy manners contrasted with Holmes' self-assured flirtatious charm. Myrta's devoted demeanor soon changed as she worked side by side with Holmes. His romantic interest in other women made Myrta angry. Yet this shy woman protested meekly to Holmes. People noticed that after a year of putting up with her husband's behavior, Myrta's gentle protest became angry outbursts in front of customers. Divorce was not possible because she had become pregnant. Holmes made an effort to divorce himself from his first wife Clara A. Lovering Mudgett of Alton, New Hampshire. Mudgett was his real name and Holmes one of his many aliases. Finally, Holmes sent Myrta to his parents. Now rid of a nosy wife, Holmes had an open field to pursue his needs.


Benjamin Pitezel (Mildred Kerr)

Benjamin Pitezel, of Galva, Illinois married Carrie Canning after impregnating her at eighteen. Handsome, over six feet tall, with big shoulders and muscular arms, Benjamin cut a good-looking figure in those days. His face was fine featured with light blue eyes, dignified angular nose, black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache. A large warty growth on the back of his neck was his only physical flaw. His other flaw was a weakness in character. An early marriage, five children and a slew of jobs that dragged his family from town to town and a particular affection for liquor would change the handsome young man.

Benjamin worked as a janitor, lumber mill worker, railroad worker, circus roustabout and had done several stints in jail for petty crimes. No one knew when Benjamin met Holmes. Their symbiotic relationship began in November 1889. Benjamin bound himself to Holmes like a parasite. He fed off Holmes' bigger than life persona, gave himself up to his bidding without question and in the process lost his soul.

At 63rd and Wallace, Holmes began the construction of his castle. The 50-foot x 162-foot corner lot took on a mystery of its own. When the workers started to ask questions, they were replaced, usually within a week or two. In fact, by the end of the construction over 500 carpenters, laborers, and other craftsmen had been employed. An amazing fact considering the building was only three stories.

Holmes took advantage of the workers. After they worked a week or two, he had accused them of inferior work, fired them, and did not pay a penny in wages. If they sued, he would ask for one continuance after another until out of frustration, the worker gave up.

Holmes had installed an enormous walk-in safe in his office but stalled in paying. When the safe company sent over a couple of workers to remove the safe, Holmes threatened to sue. He built a room around the safe and warned them that they would pay for any damage. His tactic worked, the safe stayed.

Not only did Holmes cheat the workers out of their wages, but also he kept them in the dark about the building's design. He did not want anyone to question the enormous kiln with its cast iron door, or the vats of corrosives like quicklime and acid, or iron-plated rooms, secret passages, hidden chutes that ended in the basement directly above zinc-lined tanks, sealed rooms with gas-jets, stairways that led nowhere, and a secret room only Holmes could enter. Fifty-one doors and corridors snaked around like some mad house, trapdoors, closets with secret passages, dissecting table, surgeons' tools and even an invention Holmes said could stretch a human to twice their height. Truly, the modern looking building was a Castle of Horrors inside.

The Seducer

A year later, the castle was finished. Holmes sold the drugstore and opened another in the castle. The new drugstore captured the whole community's attention with its elegant design; roman columns, gold-lettered signs, polished wood paneling, frescoes, and arched ceilings. Next to the drug store he had a jewelry shop, restaurant, and barbershop. An astute businessman, Holmes invested in one of the first copier companies and even manufactured glycerin soap. In 1890, Holmes was 30 years old. His empire grew at a tremendous rate and he put an ad in the newspaper for more help.

Ned Conner had the same lifestyle as Benjamin, foundering from job to job, dragging his wife and daughter along. When he answered the ad for manager and got the job, Ned thought all his problems ended. He had married Julia Smythe, a 6-foot-tall, green-eyed woman with reddish brown hair piled in curls on her head. Holmes noticed her talent for detail and quickly fired his cashier, giving the position to Julia.

Thrilled about her good fortune, Julia invited her sister Gertie to Chicago. Gertie, all of 18, with a captivating innocence that caught Holmes at his first meeting, was flattered by the older man's attention. He wined and dined the young woman, showing her all the exciting sights of the big city. However, when Holmes professed love for her and told her he would divorce his wife, she was appalled. Rebuking his offer, she immediately confessed to her brother-in-law Ned. Ned helped her high tail it out of the city back to the small town of Muscatine.

Rejected by Gertie, Holmes turned his attention to Julia. In a short time, it was noticeable to the people around them that the two had become lovers. Ned seemed to turn a blind eye to his wife's infidelity and took comfort in the fact that he was working a good job and had a place to stay, after a stream of failures. One day everything changed when several friends cornered Ned to let him know about his wife's behavior. In a saloon down the street from the castle, Ned slugged back a few after work. This day, some of his bar buddies decided to let him know what everyone else knew.

"My wife saw them kissing from the window. They didn't even close the door to the back room," Ned said to his friend.

"Why I saw him touching her bottom as she stood to get some them there liver pills I use," said another man.

"Last week when you were downtown, he closed the shop. I saw both of them get into a cab."

By the time Ned heard everything, he was pretty liquored up. Slamming down his drink, sending the whiskey splashing all over the bar, he stormed out.

Julia opened the door to her room, reached to light the gas lamp on the wall. She wore a navy blue dress that curved around her body ending in a bustle. Her jacket, trimmed in red piping gave her a smart professional look; it matched her navy and red hat. Turning around, she was startled to see Ned sitting in the chair near the window. A cloud of smoke obscured his face. Julia walked over to the bed and removed her hatpins placing them on the night table.

"Had a talk with some people today", he said.

"Oh", said Julia, who began unbuttoning her jacket, "about what?" She walked to the closet and hung her jacket.

"About my dear, sweet, beautiful wife", he spit out as he put down his pipe, and walked to the bed, "being bedded by my employer!"

"I don't believe I like your tone, Ned ... people gossip, ignore them."

"No one had to tell me what I already suspected ... I wanted to believe it was just innocent flirting ... Holmes is a destroyer of marriage ... he wanted to divorce his wife for your sister ... you were just second best."

She whipped around the bed and faced Ned. "He loves me...he's handsome, successful, intelligent caring...everything you aren't. You couldn't shine his shoes, Ned Conner."

"I forbid you to see him again ... you will quit the job and be my wife. You don't have to work. Never see Holmes again."

"I will not quit my job. I will not stop seeing Holmes."

The fighting went on for hours and resulted in Ned packing and sleeping on the floor of the barbershop downstairs.

Julia continued her affair with Holmes and inevitably became pregnant. By that time, Ned had moved out of the castle, filed for divorce, and was about to marry another woman.

Julia had entrenched herself into Holmes' business so deeply she had become a threat. He convinced her she was the love of his life and wanted to marry her only if she had an abortion. When she thought of her daughter, Pearl, she could not bring herself to do it. Holmes persisted and assured Julia he had performed many such procedures during his time as a medical student. Julia kept putting it off. Finally, on December 24, 1891, Julia agreed to an abortion. Too upset to put Pearl to bed, she asked Holmes to do it. Afterwards, he led her down to the dark basement and makeshift operating room. Gripping his arm and sobbing she had no idea she would never see another Christmas again, and neither did Pearl.

Hell of a guy Huh??

[Igosplut]

The Medical Skeleton Business

Charles M. Chappell worked for Holmes doing a variety of jobs around the castle for about two years. His previous job was in the same building that housed the Bennett Medical School. Curious by nature, and good with his hands, Chappell picked up a rather unusual skill -- articulating skeletons. He first observed the procedure and, after a short time, he actually did the work. In the winter of 1892, a few months after the disappearance of Julia, Holmes summoned Chappell to his office.

"Charles, would you like to pick up some extra money?" asked Holmes.

Charles stood in front of his desk and smiled. "Of course, Mr. Holmes."

"I would like to use your special skills...to articulate a skeleton."

He led Chappell to a second floor room with poor lighting. On a table, a cadaver of a female lay. Chappell told authorities that the body looked like a jackrabbit that has been skinned by splitting the skin down the face and rolling it back off the entire body. He also said, considerable flesh had been taken off. Chappell thought Holmes was doing an autopsy on one of his patients. After stripping the flesh off and articulating the bones the body was prepared. Chappell was paid $36 for his work.

The skeleton was sold to Hahnemann Medical College for $200. Dr. Pauling, a surgeon, had the skeleton placed in his private offices in his home. Looking at the skeleton, he often wondered what had taken her life, consumption, childbirth, a bad heart? Fascinated with the skeleton he often would show visitors his unusual female skeleton that was over six feet tall.

_______________________________

Emeline Cigrand was a stenographer in her hometown of LaFayette, Indiana at the County Recorder Office. In July 1891, she began working in Dwight, Illinois, home of a sanitarium for alcoholics. Dr. Keeley, the director, had discovered a treatment for alcoholism by giving injections of bichloride of gold, a mixture of gold salts and vegetables. (fuckin imagine that!)

Emeline's stunning beauty caught the eye of Benjamin Pitezel, a patient in for "the Cure." Tall, blond, with piercing blue eyes and a captivating smile, she fascinated Pitezel. Emeline enjoyed conversations with Pitezel about his job and his interesting, wealthy employer, Dr. Holmes.

Intrigued with Pitezel's description, Holmes wrote Emeline, enticing her with a job paying over 50% more than the sanitarium. She accepted the job working for Holmes and lived in a boarding house one block from the Castle.

Holmes began his seduction: sightseeing, flowers, dinner, jewelry and compliments. By summer they were lovers and Emeline had written back home about her fiancé, Robert E. Phelps, an alias Holmes told her to use so as not to jeopardize his eminent divorce from Myrta. Emeline wrote her sister Philomena, that they might be moving to England to share an estate with her beloved's father, an English lord.

In the fall, Emeline's relatives arrived. Holmes, conveniently busy, did not meet with them. One of them pointed out the poor workmanship of the building and the inferior quality lumber that was used. But Emeline did not want to hear any disparaging remarks about her perfect love, so she ignored the suggestions that Holmes was not what he appeared to be.

Holmes planned the wedding for December -- a civil ceremony with just his witness. "Simple, quick and then a long trip abroad, so I may spend all my time with you, only you", Holmes said.

"It will be beautiful no matter where we wed because I'll be with you", Emeline said. Her eyes traced his face; Holmes pulled back from their embrace, reached in his inner pocket and presented her with 12 envelopes.

"Address these my dear, with your beautiful handwriting to all the family and friends back home.... I have ordered printed announcements of our wedding etched in gold."

Holmes planned to kill her, not for money, but for lust. Only in a dead state could he achieve the ultimate sexual thrill. In early December, probably a few days before the wedding, Holmes summoned Emeline. He sat at his desk, papers stacked, looking busy. "My dear, can you fetch me the white envelope in the vault marked property deeds?"

"Of course," Emeline said. She unspun the lock and stepped into the vault. Standing on her tiptoes, she slid her hand back and forth along the shelf as she looked for the envelope. The light from the other room dimmed. She did not hear Holmes walk up to the vault door. She did not notice the door slowly begin to close until darkness surrounded her. Then, Emeline froze, as the vault door shuddered close, the lock spun, and the room became her tomb.

Holmes stood near the vault excited at what he had done. He pressed his cheek against the metal, feeling the coolness and the tiny thumps on the door as Emeline pounded for her life. Emeline's screams were deep and guttural. Holmes felt their vibration against his groin as he pressed against the door. Aroused, by the power of life and death, he exposed himself and masturbated as he listened to Emeline's screams. His eyes glazed in ecstasy as he chewed on his lower lip and jerked vigorously to his ultimate climax.

Holmes went back to work, occasionally listening to Emeline's screams, which according to Holmes, "continued for hours."

Several weeks after the incident, the LaSalle Medical School bought a skeleton from Dr. H.H. Holmes -- a young female.

Shit, this is a long one!!

Female Troubles

One of the requirements of employment with Holmes was a life insurance policy for $5000 naming Holmes as beneficiary. This was money in the bank in case his other swindles slacked off.

When Jennie Thompson, 17, blond, blue eyed, small-town girl from Eldorado, Illinois came to work in the Castle, Holmes saw another opportunity. Jennie confided in Holmes that she had not written her family. Originally, she told the family she was going to New York to live. They had no idea she landed such a good job in Chicago. Again, he used the vault trick. Jennie suffocated in the vault; her body was stripped of flesh, skeletonized and sold to University of Illinois Medical School.

Another victim, Mrs. Pansy Lee, a widow from New Orleans, took a room in the Castle. Holmes used his usual charm after learning Pansy had $4000 in a false bottom of her trunk. He asked her to let him put it into his vault for safekeeping. Pansy refused, insisting she could take care of the money as she had done travelling all over the United States. Holmes killed her and cremated her body in his custom built oven.

Holmes' ever-faithful dog, Pat Quinlan, got a girl that worked at the Castle in trouble. His wife lived in Ohio, but she planned on joining her husband at the Castle sometime in the future. Heated arguments with his mistress made Quinlan confide in Holmes about his problem.

"Can ya deliver the baby, Dr. Holmes? I need to keep this quiet so the missus don't find out", said Quinlan. His eyes were tired; his thin nose flared, lifting his moustache with each heavy breath. Quinlan's agitation grew as Holmes stroked his chin, and stared at the distraught man before him.

"I'll do anything I can", said Holmes, smiling and patting him on his back.

Shortly after Holmes offered to help, Pat again found himself in a state of panic. Clutching a telegram, Pat paced back and forth in front of his boss's desk. Handing Holmes the telegram, he stepped back, hands in his pockets, waiting for the response.

"There's something else, sir besides my missus coming today...the girl knows and threatened to tell my wife."

"You know what must be done, Pat?" Pat hung his head and said, "Yes."

Quinlan unable to look Holmes in the eye cleared his throat. "One more problem...the girl told her sister."

"That makes one for each of us to take care of...doesn't it, Pat?"

Quinlan looked up. "I can't possibly..." Holmes' icy stare made Quinlan's words dissolve in fear. "I mean whatever ya say, Mr. Holmes."

That day, Quinlan brought the two women to a small room in a remote part of the building, explaining to his mistress and her sister that the room would be better for the baby so the child's crying would not disturb the other tenants. He left the two women and met Holmes in the basement. The two men turned on the various gas jets to the room. Within a few minutes the two sisters were dead. Their bodies disposed of in the usual manner.

In the early 1890's, Chicago became the site of a kind of world's fair, celebrating the four hundred year anniversary of Columbus's voyage to America. Holmes's castle was a perfect place to lure tourists, steal their money and murder them. There were gas jets in the rooms to asphyxiate the victims and the kilns below to cremate the bodies. Fifty tourists who visited the Columbian Exposition and took rooms in the Castle never returned home. Many of those who met their doom in the "Castle of Horrors" were young women.

In the midst of his murderous pursuits as a hotelkeeper, Holmes fell in love with a young woman named Georgiana Yoke. To keep her interest, Holmes told Georgiana lies upon lies. First, he told her both his parents were dead as well as his brothers and sisters. His only family left was a bachelor uncle, Henry Mansfield Howard, telling her this to justify the reason he sometimes used two names H.H. Holmes or H. Howard -- his adopted name as opposed to his birth name.

When he asked her to marry him, she accepted him and his two names. Little did she know he was considered married to Myrta, who continued to live in Wilmette with their child Lucy. Technically, he was married to his first wife, Clara Lovering, who lived in Tilton, New Hamphsire where Holmes' parents lived.

Holmes and Georgiana decided to wed in the winter of 1893, but the stress of his murderous and larcenous past began to take its toll. Creditors caught up to Holmes, threatening to take the Castle.

Harold Schechter in Depraved says of Holmes: "Deception was so deeply ingrained in H.H. Holmes's character that he was incapable of telling the truth about the simplest matter. Nothing he said could be trusted or taken at face value. Ironically, Holmes possessed the sort of boldness, savvy and boundless ambition that might well have earned him the financial success he so frantically craved. His colossal energies (when they weren't being misspent on his countless frauds, scams, and far more sinister pursuits) were devoted to outwitting his creditors."

Holmes, always several jumps ahead, planned a quick retreat with Georgiana. A few weeks after Georgiana accepted Holmes' proposal, Pat Quinlan set the Castle on fire. The fire destroyed the top floor. As usual, he had insured the building with several companies for a total of $25,000. An astute investigator noted the fire started in several places. After investigating Holmes, his report that Holmes tried to defraud the insurance companies did not pan out. Holmes was not charged and was free to go. However, he did not collect the insurance.

More tomorrow kids, stay tuned!!

[High Life Man]

Originally posted by Elitest
send it me then!!

I borrowed the book. It's available in paperback now.

Maybe someone could deliver you two...umm...packages next week!

[High Life Man]

From today's headlines...

This is
LONDON
11/02/04 - News and city section

12 victims of 'Ripley' killer?
By Finian Davern, Evening Standard

Fears are growing that a serial killer has murdered 12 men, hidden their bodies and assumed their identities, police have revealed.

Detectives believe the killer followed the pattern of The Talented Mr Ripley, the character portrayed on film by Matt Damon, who murdered a friend and took over his victim's wealth and his life.

A major search has been launched for 11 missing men after blood was found at the home of a retired librarian.

The 63-year-old is believed to have been dismembered and dumped elsewhere. Then, it is alleged, the killer assumed his identity to plunder more than £30,000 from his investments.

The librarian's name was found with 11 others on a list at the suspect's home. All 11 have been reported missing and senior police sources say they have "grave concerns" for them.

More than 100 officers are working on the case and forensics experts are at two homes 200 miles apart. One, in eastern England, belongs to the librarian. The second is the 49-year-old suspect's flat. Neither can be identified for legal reasons.

The librarian had been reported missing and police last week found blood in a number of rooms in his house.

They checked his finances and found that a £12,000 life insurance policy and £20,000 of premium bonds has recently been cashed in. His bank cards had also been used.

Police tracked down a suspect and have sealed off his home. He lives in a council flat but is not its main tenant. Detectives also searched a nearby lock-up.

Neighbours of the suspect said he had lived there for five months and had told them he was looking after the flat for a friend. One resident, who did not want to be named, said she heard a "blood-curdling" yell from the flat last Friday.

"There was a commotion and I heard a scream. It sounded like a man's scream."

She said the suspect often travelled in his van and was often seen "carrying holdalls which looked to be full of bulky items".

The known murder victim, who was single, had lived alone near London before moving to eastern England 18 months ago. A former neighbour said: "He was the type of person not to hurt a fly. He was a very shy person. I can't imagine him ever getting into an argument."



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