Kenneth Erskine
| Kenneth Erskine | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 1963 (age 53) Hammersmith, London, England |
| Other names | The Stockwell Strangler |
| Criminal penalty | Treatment at Broadmoor |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 7-11 |
|
Span of killings
|
9 April–28 July 1986 |
|
Date apprehended
|
28 July 1986 |
Kenneth Erskine (born July 1963) is a British serial killer who became known as the Stockwell Strangler.
Erskine was born in Hammersmith in July 1963 to a British mother and Antiguan father. Erskine has three brothers. He was abandoned by both parents during childhood and attended various special schools. His parents divorced when he was 12. He became homeless.
Erskine's criminal career began with a number of burglaries; he was able to open ten separate bank accounts with the proceeds of his crimes. Erskine served time in Feltham. During 1986, Erskine murdered at least seven elderly people, breaking into their homes and strangling them; most often they were sexually assaulted. The crimes took place in London.
His first victim was Nancy Emms, 78, of Wandsworth, who died on 9 April 1986. Her death was initially believed to have been due to natural causes, and declared as such by her doctor on her death certificate. It was only established that she had been murdered when her home help noticed that her television set was missing from her flat. A post mortem examination revealed that she had been raped and strangled.
His second victim was Janet Cockett, 67, who died on 9 June 1986 after being strangled in her flat on the Wandsworth housing estate on which she was chairwoman of the tenants' association. Her death was initially thought to have been from natural causes. She had not been sexually assaulted. A post mortem showed that she had been murdered. Erskine's palm print was found on a window at Cockett's flat.
Erskine broke into the residence of an elderly man. Erskine abandoned this burglary when a noise disturbed him enough to make him flee.
On 28 June 1986, Erskine claimed his third and fourth victims (both Polish men) at a residential home in Stockwell. His two Polish victims were a pensioner and a World War II veteran: Valentine Gleim, 84, and Zbigniew Strabawa, 94. Both men were sexually assaulted and strangled.
Erskine's fifth victim was William Carmen, 84, of Islington. He stole money from Carmen's flat before molesting him and strangling him in an attack on 8 July 1986.
He claimed his sixth victim on 21 July 1986, when he committed a similar fatal attack on 74-year-old William Downes in a Stockwell bedsit.
The final victim was Florence Tisdall, an 83-year-old widow who lived on her own at Ranelagh Gardens Mansions in Fulham. She was strangled and raped. She was found dead by the caretaker on the morning of 23 July 1986.
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