Martina Coles lady killers (docu)

[faginsgirl]

Hi.



I`m not sure what I think of this programme on ITV 3. Martina Cole is a crime writer and concentrates on female serial killers.



It is a really interesting programme but with these kinds of documentaries I never really get why they give the impression or imply that women serial killers are somehow different from male serial killers. I would think they kill for roughly the same psychological reasons. Maybe I`m wrong.



What do others think about this programme?



xx

[cully]

name='faginsgirl']Hi.



I`m not sure what I think of this programme on ITV 3. Martina Cole is a crime writer and concentrates on female serial killers.



It is a really interesting programme but with these kinds of documentaries I never really get why they give the impression or imply that women serial killers are somehow different from male serial killers. I would think they kill for roughly the same psychological reasons. Maybe I`m wrong.



What do others think about this programme?



xx

Nancy, are you sure the programme is about female SERIAL killers. I thought they were almost unknown and that Wuornos was the only one documented.



Similarly, black serial killers are virtually unknown and when they do occur they invariably target elderly white women.

[faginsgirl]

Well, how many people do you have to kill to be a serial killer? Rose West? Mind you, I dunno how many people she killed, I suspect more than two. Mary Ann Cotton killed approxomately 16 of her own family! Surely that counts!



xx

[Dame Starry]

name='cully']Nancy, are you sure the programme is about female SERIAL killers. I thought they were almost unknown and that Wuornos was the only one documented.

Similarly, black serial killers are virtually unknown and when they do occur they invariably target elderly white women.

Written by the programme's producer:

British crime writer, Martina Cole, examines the life and times of six of the most notorious female serial killers across history and asks: why do women kill and why are we surprised when they do?



If Amelia Dyer wasn't a serial killer, then I don't know who IS!



DS x.

[cully]

Yup, agreed!

[batman]

name='cully']



Similarly, black serial killers are virtually unknown and when they do occur they invariably target elderly white women.

There have actually been quite a lot of black serial killers in the US, for example the Atlanta Child Murders, the Washington Sniper killings, Henry Wallace and many more. The 'elderly white women' theory is a myth. Most of them kill other black people. Statistics also indicate that the percentage of US serial killers from each race (white, black, hispanic etc) is roughly the same.

[jaycad]

name='faginsgirl']Hi.



I`m not sure what I think of this programme on ITV 3. Martina Cole is a crime writer and concentrates on female serial killers.



It is a really interesting programme but with these kinds of documentaries I never really get why they give the impression or imply that women serial killers are somehow different from male serial killers. I would think they kill for roughly the same psychological reasons. Maybe I`m wrong.



What do others think about this programme?



xx

from what i've read,i'd say that the difference between male and female serial killers is that while the motive is often power over the victim,the sexual aspect of the crime is far more pronounced in the male,wuonos killed for revenge,cotton killed for gain(initially)then power-there are notable exceptions (hindley,west) but that's what makes the female serial killer a more sensational story i suppose.

[baggies1967]

hi all

don't know if this has come up beforeas i've only just joined...but if you like this series, go to SKY 553 - crime channel - i only found it last week and it is brilliant!!

[faginsgirl]

name='cully']Nancy, are you sure the programme is about female SERIAL killers. I thought they were almost unknown and that Wuornos was the only one documented.

You have made a good point there because before watching this programme if anyone had said to me name a female serial killer I would have said erm......



Somehow if we hear the word serial killer most people IMHO would immediately think of a man and name at least one or two. I know I would.



Interesting!



xx

[batman]

Apart from Wuornos there's been Beverley Allitt, Myra Hindley, Dana Sue Gray, Belle Guinness and quite a few more. I believe it is thought that, because female serial killers often have a different motivation to kill from men, that there are many female killers who remain undetected.

[faginsgirl]

Was Myra Hindley classed as a serial killer or an accomplice though?



xx

[jaycad]

name='batman']Apart from Wuornos there's been Beverley Allitt, Myra Hindley, Dana Sue Gray, Belle Guinness and quite a few more. I believe it is thought that, because female serial killers often have a different motivation to kill from men, that there are many female killers who remain undetected.

i've no doubt that there are! is infanticide classed as 'serial murder' if the victims are the offspring of the killer and were killed at different dates or is it it's own category? unsure about that one.

[batman]

name='jaycad']i've no doubt that there are! is infanticide classed as 'serial murder' if the victims are the offspring of the killer and were killed at different dates or is it it's own category? unsure about that one.

Yes it is, if they are killed over a period of time. If killed at the same time it is a different category. There are many different categories for serial killers, each with their own type of motivation and methodology. It is scary to think how many of them there may be out there!

[Dame Starry]

name='faginsgirl']Was Myra Hindley classed as a serial killer or an accomplice though?



xx

Martina Cole and I share the opinion that Hindley and also Rose West were far more involved than was ever admitted - if not the driving force. Brady has, on occasion, hinted at that - and Fred West was thought to have killed himself because he believed that Rose would go free if he couldn't be tried. Her defence of not knowing what he was up to, was laughable - they lived in a semi, not Buckingham Palace!

Without Hindley enticing the children into her car, it is unlikely that Brady would have been able to abduct the children on his own; they were local and they knew her so they, naturally, trusted her - she broke that trust in the most appalling way. In the unlikelihood that she wasn't directly involved in the assault and murder of the children, securing them for him was a vile thing for any woman to do just to please her partner; I, personally, think that made her worse than Brady.



Anybody who is involved with a serial killer, even without actually committing the act itself, HAS to be classified as a murderer as well, surely?



DS x.

[faginsgirl]

name='Dame Starry']Anybody who is involved with a serial killer, even without actually committing the act itself, HAS to be classified as a murderer as well, surely?

Yes, I know what you are saying.



I just wondered what the official vertict was on her part in the crimes.Presumably the jury saw them both as guilty as each other in every way.



xx

[Dame Starry]

name='faginsgirl']Yes, I know what you are saying.

I just wondered what the official vertict was on her part in the crimes.Presumably the jury saw them both as guilty as each other in every way.



xx

She was convicted of murder with Brady and, according to Wikipedia, was the longest-detained female prisoner and one of only two women ever given whole life sentences - the other is Rose West.



DS x.

[faginsgirl]

Thanks Dame.



xx