Mark Pulham

Mark Pulham was born in London, England in 1955, and lived in Battersea for most his life. In the mid-1970s he started working in the publishing industry, and worked for Andre Deutsch and Victor Gollancz among others. In 1990 he moved to Canada, where he was a stay-at-home dad for his four children. He wrote book reviews and articles for The Mystery Review and The Antigonish Review, and has written articles for some websites. He’s lived on Vancouver Island, in Duncan, BC, for the last 15 years. His interests are historical crime, reading, the English language, and films. Currently, he’s working on two novels and a screenplay.<br><br>

Mark can be reached at: MDPulham@shaw.ca

Myopia at Scotland Yard – Murder on Wimbledon Common

Dec. 3, 2012

Rachel Nickell, Andre Hanscombe and their son Alex in the park

Not even Scotland Yard’s famed Murder Squad is immune from locking in on one suspect to the exclusion of all others and allowing its conceit to permit a serial rapist and murderer to stay at large for years after the evidence to convict him was in the police’s hands.

by Mark Pulham

In the photograph, her smile is wide and bright. A blue sky is behind her and she squints slightly from the sun as a wisp of blonde hair drifts across her face in a breeze. She seems incredibly happy. In another photograph, she and her boyfriend smile at the camera, bundled up against the chill. Between them is the buggy holding their young son.

Some people just radiate happiness, people who are attractive and put a smile on the face of those who saw them, even if they didn’t know the person.

Rachel Nickell was one of those people. Bright, attractive, and with boundless generosity, she was instantly likeable, and was capable of achieving anything that she set out to do.

Rachel Jane Nickell was born on November 23, 1968 to Andrew Nickell, an officer in the army, and his wife Monica, and brought up in Great Totham, a village near Colchester in Essex. From a very young age, Rachel was naturally charitable, helping out with the elderly and with the disabled children in the area.

When she turned 11, Rachel went to the Colchester High School for Girls, and in her spare time, she joined the Essex Dance Theatre and took up singing, dancing, and acting. She could have pursued this course, but instead, decided to study and get a degree in History and English.

Rachel Nickell

Rachel got a job at a Richmond swimming pool as a lifeguard, and it is there, in 1988, that she met a young motorcycle courier named Andre Hanscombe. The couple fell in love, and a year later, Rachel gave birth to her son, Alexander Louis. Rachel and Andre never married, and there is no indication that they were even thinking about it.

Rachel decided to stop working, at least for then, and devoted herself to being a full-time mother, even though she had been offered work as a photographic model. Maybe when Alex was old enough, she would pursue her ambition to be a children’s television presenter, an ambition in which she no doubt would have excelled.

The young family moved to Balham, in South London, and life seemed perfect. Wimbledon is also in South London. Known throughout the world for hosting the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament, people flock there in the summer to watch the matches and eat strawberry cream tarts at the afternoon teas in the pavilions.

But tennis is not the only thing the area is known for.

Drew Peterson: Officer of the Year

Oct. 15, 2012 Updated Feb. 25, 2013

Drew Peterson with Stacy Peterson

Stacy and Drew Peterson

For over 25 years, Bolingbrook, Illinois, Police Officer Drew Peterson used his connections to the police department to intimidate, threaten, and abuse his successively younger wives. He was untouchable. When his fourth wife went missing in 2007, state police took another look at the “accidental death” of his third wife.

by Mark Pulham

Update: Former Police Officer Drew Peterson – now 59 years old – was sentenced on February 21, 2013 to 38 years in prison for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Drew Peterson seemed to be unlucky with women. His first three marriages failed and ended in divorce, with his third wife dying in a tragic accident. And now his fourth wife had run away with another man. Not too surprising given their 30 year age difference.

But did that really happen? Things were not all they seemed in the Peterson household.

Drew Walter Peterson was born in 1954, and all his life he wanted to be a cop. After graduating from Willowbrook High School in Chicago, in 1972, he joined the U.S. Army where he was trained to be a military police officer.

At high school, he met Carol Hamilton and the two started dating. She described him as a person who was very outgoing and told lots of jokes. He was very confident. Carol fell in love with Peterson, and in 1974, the couple married.

In 1977, Drew Peterson got his wish when he joined the police department in Bolingbrook, Illinois. A year later, Peterson became part of the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad, and started going undercover. He was so good at his job that in 1979, he was named “Officer of the Year.”

The “Road Rage” Incident at Newhall

Aug. 20, 2012

A simple “road rage” incident led to the shooting deaths of four rookie California Highway patrol officers in the Newhall section of Santa Clarita on April 5, 1970. The officers’ deaths led to major changes in how the California Highway Patrol and other police departments train their officers.

by Mark Pulham

Santa Clarita, in Southern California, is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County. It is known as the home of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, though the park is actually just outside the city limits.

The city, just 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, was, in 2006, ranked as number 18 in the top 100 places to live by Money Magazine. On a list of cities that have at least 100,000 inhabitants, it is ranked as the sixth safest in the United States, according to the FBI.

The southernmost, and the oldest, district in Santa Clarita is Newhall, a location for many television shows and movies, such as the 1954 suspense film Suddenly in which Frank Sinatra’s character attempts to assassinate the President of the United States as he passes through town.

But to many, the name of Newhall is synonymous with one thing, an incident that occurred in April, 1970. At the time, Newhall was more rural than it is now, some may even have described it as a “sleepy town.” In one night, that image would change.

It began with a small event, a minor occurrence that should have blown over a moment after it had happened, and then forgotten. Instead, what happened snowballed into a major tragedy.

The Great Ponzi

Aug. 6, 2012

Charles Ponzi

Charles Ponzi, a poor immigrant from Lugo, Italy, pulled off an amazing investment scam in 1920 that defrauded U.S. investors of $20 million ($240 million in today’s money). In the process, he perfected the infamous “Ponzi Scheme” that was taken to new heights by the likes of Bernie Madoff, Tom Petters and Allen Stanford.

by Mark Pulham

Recently, on its website, Time Magazine listed its Top Ten Swindlers. They ranged from William Miller in 1899, to the recently convicted Allen Stanford in 2012. All 10 had something in common, apart from being crooks. They decided to steal their money by using a Ponzi scheme.

The Ponzi scheme has now become so common that, seemingly, hardly a month goes by without hearing an incident of another one. The financial pages are always reporting them, and those who run them become criminal superstars.

And we are not talking about amounts that run into the hundreds or thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. These are schemes that bring in millions, and sometimes, in the case of three on the list, billions. Tom Petters took in $3.65 billion; Allen Stanford $7 billion; and the man whose name is now synonymous with fiscal immorality, Bernie Madoff, between $50-$65 billion.

Surprisingly, there are still some people who don’t know what a Ponzi scheme is, or how it works.

A Ponzi scheme is amazingly simple to run. Except for some minor details, it is similar to a pyramid scheme.

It begins when a con man finds someone to invest with him. He will likely talk about financial matters, throwing around buzzwords such as hedge funds and high yield returns, and will present himself as someone very knowledgeable in financial matters and investment strategy. He may even hint that he has insiders giving him tips.

One thing he will do is guarantee that you, the investor, will make a larger than average profit on this investment within a short space of time.

The investor does not have to do anything other than sit back and wait for the money to start rolling in.

It sounds like a great deal. Almost too good to be true, which should be everyone’s first warning.

The Son of Sam

June 27, 2012

David Berkowitz

David Berkowitz, “the Son of Sam,” terrorized New Yorkers during a 13-month long killing spree in 1976-1977 before a parking ticket at his last crime scene led to his capture. Now a born-again Christian, he calls himself “the Son of Hope.”

by Mark Pulham

The year was 1976, and the United States was celebrating its Bicentennial, especially in the month of July. It was also the year of the summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, and 14-year-old Nadia Comăneci stole the show by becoming the first person in modern Olympic history to achieve a perfect 10.00.

Music was important, and the disco was the place to be. On the week of July 24, the top song on the Billboard Charts was “Kiss And Say Goodbye” by the Manhattans, who had knocked off the previous weeks “Afternoon Delight” from the number one spot.

The Manhattans would stay at number one for the following week, only to be knocked off by Elton John and Kiki Dee singing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” That same week, Tavares would release “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel.”

But, by the end of that week, Heaven would be getting an Angel back, and more than one heart was going to be broken.

The First Victims

Jody Valenti

It was around 1a.m. on Thursday, July 29. It was a warm night, and Jody Valenti had parked her blue Oldsmobile Cutlass on Buhre Avenue in the Pelham Bay area of the Bronx. Her friend, Donna Lauria, lived in an apartment at 2860 Buhre Avenue with her parents. Jody was 19 years old, a student nurse, and Donna, just one year younger, was a medical student.

As Jody and Donna sat in the car, Donna’s parents, Mike and Rose Lauria, were returning home and saw the girls. It was getting late, so Mike told Donna that she should be getting inside. Donna said that she would be up soon. Mike and Rose went upstairs to the apartment, but Mike would be back down in a few minutes to walk the dog.

A few minutes before that a Ford Galaxie had cruised past. The driver of the Galaxie drove a couple of blocks away and parked, then made his way back on foot, keeping to the shadows.

It had been a fun night for the girls. They had spent the evening at the Peachtree Disco in New Rochelle. Now, they chatted together, reliving the night and talking about boys. As they talked, the man circled and came closer to their car, like an animal creeping closer to its prey.

Donna decided it was time to go upstairs and opened the door to get out. As she did, she spotted the man standing at the curb just several feet away from them. He was staring at her. Donna sat back and closed the car door a little, and said, “Who is this guy? What does he want?”

The man was carrying a brown paper bag, and as she watched, he reached in. When his hand came out, he was holding a Charter Arms.44 caliber Bulldog, a snub nosed five-shot revolver.

He dropped to a shooters crouch and aimed the gun using both hands, his elbow resting on his knee to steady his aim. Quickly, he squeezed off five shots, emptying the gun.

The bullets smashed through the windshield.

The Mad Bomber Meets the Profiler

May 28, 2012

George Metesky

For six years during the early 1950s, “The Mad Bomber” terrorized New Yorkers by planting 32 pipe bombs all over Manhattan. Bombs were left at Grand Central Station, Penn Station, The Port Authority, at subway stations, at Radio City Music Hall, at Macy’s, at various movie theaters, at the New York Public Library, at the RCA Building and at the Con-Edison building. Bringing Con-Ed to “justice” was the reason for them all.

by Mark Pulham

It was Monday, May 23, 1994 when the old man died. He passed away at the age of 90 in his home town of Waterbury, Connecticut. It was not a huge news event, probably only mentioned in the local newspapers, in the obituary section. Among the general media, his death went unnoticed. There was no reason why it would be noticed, after all, the death of a 90 year old man was not news, it happens all the time.

But at one time, this man had been in the newspapers with an alarming regularity, though not by the name his family knew him by, and it is partly due to him, and a second man, that a new and powerful weapon was added to the crime investigation arsenal.

It began quietly, not with a bang, over 50 years earlier, in 1940.

The Consolidated Edison Company had been around for well over a hundred years, since 1823, when it was still known as the New York Gas Light Company. In 1884, it combined with five other gas suppliers to form the Consolidated Gas Company, and later acquired the new electrical companies as well.

Eventually, on March 23, 1936, the company renamed itself and became the Consolidated Edison Company of New York.

By 1940, Con-Ed was the main supplier of energy to New York City. Several thousand people worked for the utility, and their customers numbered several million people and businesses.

Con Ed’s huge offices were at 170 West 64^th Street in Manhattan. On November 16, 1940, a man entered the building. With hundreds of employee’s working there, the man didn’t stand out, and no one noticed him among the all the others.

“F.P.” Leaves a Pipe Bomb

He carried with him a wooden toolbox which he placed on a window sill. No one took any notice of the man as he walked away, leaving the toolbox behind. No one took any notice as the man quietly left the building.

How long the toolbox sat there is unknown, but eventually, someone saw it and went to examine it. Inside, they found a short brass pipe that had been filled with gunpowder, probably taken from bullets. There were flashlight batteries and sugar, which made up the mechanism that would set it off. Wrapped around this crudely constructed pipe bomb, hand written in neat block letters, was a note. It read: “CON EDISON CROOKS. THIS IS FOR YOU.” It was signed “F.P.”

Killing For Fun

May 7, 2012

Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker

Repeated psychiatric evaluations conducted by various prison doctors showed that Lawrence Bittaker was a psychopath who should not be paroled. Yet he was paroled time and time again before being convicted of brutally raping, torturing and murdering five teenage girls over a four-month period in 1979.

by Mark Pulham

The San Fernando Valley is a familiar sight for moviegoers. The Valley is the home to Universal Studios, and is filled with beautiful homes, and is a destination point for visitors from all over the world. It’s the setting for such films as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and the Back To The Future series. Less wholesome is the fact that it’s also the porn center for the United States, with 90 percent of legally distributed porn films that are made in the U.S. being made by companies based in the Valley.

Despite the less than respectable industry that is based there, the Valley is a great place to live.

But at the end of 1979, the Valley got an unwelcome shock.

For the previous couple of years, Los Angeles had been terrorized by a series of murders committed by the Hillside Strangler, a singular name given to two killers, cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, with some of the victims connected to the Valley.

There was relief when Angelo Buono was arrested on October 22, to join his cousin in custody, maybe the city could relax.

But the relief was short lived.

It was Halloween night in the San Fernando Valley, and a young girl was hitchhiking in the Sunland-Tujunga residential district. It was late, and when the GMC van drew alongside her, she was grateful for the ride. But, appropriately for Halloween, her night turned into one of terror.

For the residents of one house in Hermosa Beach, the fictional horrors of the night before turned into a real one the next morning. Displayed on their lawn, like a discarded Halloween prop, was the naked and tortured body of the young girl.

The police and the community were stunned by the discovery. Ten days had passed since the arrest of the second Hillside Strangler, could there have been a third that no one knew about? But it was plainly obvious that this was not a strangler victim, this was something much worse. The community was horrified, they had just ended one serial killer spree, and now they were facing another.

But this young girl was not the first victim, she was the last, and unknown to the residents of the city, this was a team that had been working for months.