Children Who Kill: Profiles of Pre-Teen and Teenage Killers by Carol Anne Davis Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Carol Anne Davis
the twelve-year-old was living with his mother in Hull and tensions were high. In the middle of the night, he left the house and went walking around the town. Soon he made his way to the home of a six-year-old epileptic handicapped boy who travelled on the school bus with him. Peter entered thehouse by an open window and set the property on fire.
Both parents and their children suffered from severe smoke inhalation and the parents sustained injuries as they helped their able-bodied children escape by jumping from an upstairs window. But, despite Herculean efforts, they were unable to reach their handicapped child and he died.
It took firefighters two hours to bring the blaze under control, after which they carried out the six-year -old victim in a body bag. Twelve-year-old Peter was now a murderer.
Sexual identity
On the streets, with his paraffin and his matches, he was in charge – but at school and in his local authority home Peter was still an obvious target for older boys who wanted sexual satisfaction. One man went to jail for having sex with the adolescent boy. In time, Peter would become more predatory and would persuade younger boys to ‘muck about’ (as he put it) with him. Though aware that these were homosexual acts, he told anyone who asked that he wasn’t gay.
The second murder
Four months after killing the six-year-old boy, Peter was ready to set another fire. The date was 12th October1973. This time he chose the house of an elderly recluse who lived in squalor. He entered the home by a window in the early morning and saw the man sleeping in his chair. Peter lit a fire then raced out of the door. The seventy-two-year-old man, a semi-invalid, died from smoke inhalation. He had refused the help of social services and bravely maintained his independence, only to be killed by a deeply disturbed child.
The third murder
Less than a fortnight later the teenage Peter crept into a pigeon loft, possibly planning to torture or steal the birds. The pigeon fancier found Peter lurking there and hit him. Peter ran off, shouting that he would kill the man.
A few days later he strangled most of the pigeons. Then he crept into the owner’s house and poured paraffin on the thirty-four-year-old as he slept. His victim , clothes on fire, raced into the street and collapsed. He mumbled something about ‘why would anyone do that?’ to a neighbour then lapsed into unconsciousness , spending the next seven days in hospital in a coma before he died. The blaze was assumed to have started when some clothes drying by the fireplace went up in flames. Yet again, no one suspected an arson attack.
The fourth murder
Either Peter didn’t start a fire for the following fourteen months, or he did but didn’t give the police details. All that’s known is that on 23rd December 1974 he entered the house of an eighty-two-year-old female. He went into her bedroom and saw her lying in bed. He lit a fire in the corner of the room and the unfortunate woman burnt to death. It’s unlikely that he knew her. He simply hated what she stood for – someone with a home and a family. The unwanted boy loved fire and despised the people it destroyed.
The fifth murder
Another eighteen months elapsed before he started another lethal fire. It was June 1976 when he went to a house which included a seven-year-old spastic girl who went to the same special school as he did. Peter entered by an unlocked back door and heard someone moving about upstairs – the girl’s grandmother who was putting the child’s one-year-old brother to bed. Peter quickly started a fire in a downstairs cupboard and left
The grandmother came downstairs and found the rooms filled with smoke. She managed to get the seven-year-old girl to safety and her five-year-old brother made his own way out of the burning building . But, despite heroic attempts to save him, the one-year -old boy perished in the flames. Peter had done hiswork well, using paraffin as an accelerant, and
Both parents and their children suffered from severe smoke inhalation and the parents sustained injuries as they helped their able-bodied children escape by jumping from an upstairs window. But, despite Herculean efforts, they were unable to reach their handicapped child and he died.
It took firefighters two hours to bring the blaze under control, after which they carried out the six-year -old victim in a body bag. Twelve-year-old Peter was now a murderer.
Sexual identity
On the streets, with his paraffin and his matches, he was in charge – but at school and in his local authority home Peter was still an obvious target for older boys who wanted sexual satisfaction. One man went to jail for having sex with the adolescent boy. In time, Peter would become more predatory and would persuade younger boys to ‘muck about’ (as he put it) with him. Though aware that these were homosexual acts, he told anyone who asked that he wasn’t gay.
The second murder
Four months after killing the six-year-old boy, Peter was ready to set another fire. The date was 12th October1973. This time he chose the house of an elderly recluse who lived in squalor. He entered the home by a window in the early morning and saw the man sleeping in his chair. Peter lit a fire then raced out of the door. The seventy-two-year-old man, a semi-invalid, died from smoke inhalation. He had refused the help of social services and bravely maintained his independence, only to be killed by a deeply disturbed child.
The third murder
Less than a fortnight later the teenage Peter crept into a pigeon loft, possibly planning to torture or steal the birds. The pigeon fancier found Peter lurking there and hit him. Peter ran off, shouting that he would kill the man.
A few days later he strangled most of the pigeons. Then he crept into the owner’s house and poured paraffin on the thirty-four-year-old as he slept. His victim , clothes on fire, raced into the street and collapsed. He mumbled something about ‘why would anyone do that?’ to a neighbour then lapsed into unconsciousness , spending the next seven days in hospital in a coma before he died. The blaze was assumed to have started when some clothes drying by the fireplace went up in flames. Yet again, no one suspected an arson attack.
The fourth murder
Either Peter didn’t start a fire for the following fourteen months, or he did but didn’t give the police details. All that’s known is that on 23rd December 1974 he entered the house of an eighty-two-year-old female. He went into her bedroom and saw her lying in bed. He lit a fire in the corner of the room and the unfortunate woman burnt to death. It’s unlikely that he knew her. He simply hated what she stood for – someone with a home and a family. The unwanted boy loved fire and despised the people it destroyed.
The fifth murder
Another eighteen months elapsed before he started another lethal fire. It was June 1976 when he went to a house which included a seven-year-old spastic girl who went to the same special school as he did. Peter entered by an unlocked back door and heard someone moving about upstairs – the girl’s grandmother who was putting the child’s one-year-old brother to bed. Peter quickly started a fire in a downstairs cupboard and left
The grandmother came downstairs and found the rooms filled with smoke. She managed to get the seven-year-old girl to safety and her five-year-old brother made his own way out of the burning building . But, despite heroic attempts to save him, the one-year -old boy perished in the flames. Peter had done hiswork well, using paraffin as an accelerant, and
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