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Posted: 07-04-2013 12:02 Post subject:

I'm not so curious about crime scenes,only in how they relate to the investigation, location,possible routes etc, but not afterwards.
My what if's? are somehow 'knowing' who has commited a murder and got away with it and the location of victims,long since disappeared.
Anyone interested in real crime soon discovers that real serial killers don't live in cramped apartments with photographs with eyes cut out,biblical quotes and newspaper headlines circled in red all over the walls.
Or as I read somewhere, the serial killer is never the guy you don't get in the car with,he is the guy you do.
The image of Jack the Ripper,a man in an evening suit,top hat,red lined cape and a medical bag is a complete myth, no one looking remotely like that was ever seen by witnesses.
So,ordinary places where extraordinary events have ocurred remain ordinary places,undeniably wrapped in a sinister miasma of the human imagination,and I understand the fascination.
There is a website somewhere where people visit and photograph abandoned buildings,factories,hospitals,places like that.
It's a spooky site to visit, and it's that human factor, of workers and time long since past, but in some way leaving a residue on the present.

Posted: 07-04-2013 15:58 Post subject:

I see that the Philpot's house is going to be knocked down. I can't imagine anyone would want to live there after all that happened there.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-22057212

Posted: 07-04-2013 21:18 Post subject:

I was thinking about this thread recently when driving round my home town, thinking there's a murder site, and there, and there... Sad

There aren't that many but I seem to know them.

Anyway, some years ago a book came out about murders in my county. I bought it and enjoyed it and someone close to me liked it too.
We 'spotted' some of the murder sites that were accessible, purely in a local history interest way, of course. Wink

The book was lost somewhere along the line, possibly in the pocket of that dear person, who has since died. I've often thought about getting another copy. Today I picked one up for 50p. Happy days! Very Happy

Posted: 07-04-2013 23:20 Post subject:

Posted: 08-04-2013 13:37 Post subject:

You probably pass murder sites all the time, 152 murderers are in the files of the website British Murders for 2013 so far, the 2012 figure being 616.
Not all are reported by the national media,which tends to focus on serial killers, the elderly and young children and the phenomen known as missing white woman.
Most seem to involve drink/drug fuelled arguments that get out of hand,with tragically,jealous exes being a significant number,some are very strange,like the man murdered for not saying goodbye after borrowing a cigarette lighter(?).
On average it certainly means more than 1 person is murdered every day in Britain, chilling enough,although not a huge number in a population of nearly 70 million.
Another site Murderpedia lists murders by country,worth a look, and you may agree with me that in this respect,the USA and Britain are world leaders.

Posted: 08-04-2013 13:47 Post subject:

Posted: 08-04-2013 14:13 Post subject:

I bow to your greater knowledge, I was all set to post musings on the homicidal nature of our respective societies and implying our dog eat dog culture was a contributing factor.
I will insist we lead the world in serial murder, although there are some south Americans that have a phenomenal number of victims.
All the Best.

Posted: 08-04-2013 18:32 Post subject:

Posted: 09-04-2013 09:54 Post subject:

And Russians, now they are bloody nutters.
My point being hardly worth making,but they are just the figures for the last couple of years, and I've read about a couple of murders pretty close to my own adress.
It is peculiar in some ways how the media focus on this case,rather than that one, perhaps it represents a kind of responsibility on their part, despite their sensationalism for ratings, if they reported every murder in the same way,it could easily provoke a moral panic, people thinking we are all homicidal maniacs, the consequence of which would probably be more murders. Crying or Very sad

Posted: 09-04-2013 11:08 Post subject:

That's the nub of it - we hear about crime mainly through the media. They select juicy stories and ignore the less salacious ones.

On R4 recently I heard some senior journalist talking on this subject and recalling a summer where there were about 5 sensational murders, all unrelated, one after another.

He made the point that while one or two would nicely fill up the silly season, five was too many, as the public would be scared out of their wits!

Posted: 09-04-2013 13:20 Post subject:

Posted: 09-04-2013 14:06 Post subject:

His point was that people expect a mixture of stories, as if that's how 'news' really happens, whereas what is presented to us as 'news' is indeed sifted and carefully chosen before it ever reaches us. So a load of unrelated murder stories might, instead of being scarily titillating, come across as a sign of a complete social breakdown. No newspaper would take that risk, not because they care, but because in the long run it would be bad for circulation.

If instead there'd been loads of dog attacks, say, then the rags could connect them all and run a nice healthy moral panic. Outraged readers could write in or vote on the hotline with suggestions for curbing this new social evil - much more satisfying. Wink

Posted: 09-04-2013 14:49 Post subject:

You also have to remember that the media get their info from the emergency services press offices, who may not release everything in it's entirety straight away.

There is an element of "stage-managing" at that end as well.

Posted: 09-04-2013 15:34 Post subject:

That's true. The police and media, especially the press, have a long-established and not always ethical relationship. Wink

Posted: 09-04-2013 16:37 Post subject: