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Torture murder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Torture murder is a loosely defined legal term to describe the process used by murderers who kill their victims by slowly torturing them to death over a prolonged period of time. It is often a practice of serial killers.[citation needed]
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Torture murder is usually preceded by a kidnapping where the killer will take the victim to a secluded place. There, the killer will put the victim to death by slow torture, sometimes in very grisly ways.
Two of the most notorious torture murderers were Leonard Lake and Charles Ng who, during the 1980s in California, killed over 18 men, women, and children after torturing them for days or even weeks. The torture included putting infants to death in front of their mothers, burning alive victims bound to wooden planks, and whipping victims with barbed stakes.
A Japanese girl, Junko Furuta, was held captive for over forty days and tortured to death by four teenaged boys, including Jo Kamisaku, in 1988. The boys said that they had not intended to kill her and instead pled guilty to a lesser charge.
Torture murder is considered one of the most vicious crimes in existence, due both to its premeditated nature and the general attitude of those who commit torture murder; a total disregard for another's life and a feeling of pleasure from inflicting pain on others. In the United States, those killers accused of torture murder are most often charged with the crime of capital murder, which by definition carries with it a death sentence.
Torture murder may also be a legal act of a state, especially in nations which employ torture as a means of interrogation. Nazi Germany was well known for state sanctioned torture murder, as members of the SS were often employed to interrogate enemies of the state under slow torture, often killing them in the process. Death by slow torture was also a common occurrence in Nazi concentration camps.
Typically, one who kills by torture under the authority of the state is not considered a torture murderer unless later tried by another state or authority for such acts as war crimes. Such was the case with Klaus Barbie who was applauded by Nazi authorities for his abilities in the Gestapo to extract confessions under torture. Barbie was later tried and convicted of murder in several such cases.
Some notable perpetrators and victims include the following. The dates indicate the time of the crime or crimes.
- Moors murders (UK, 1963 to 1965)
- Rosemary and Fred West (UK, 1973 to 1979)
- Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo (Canada, early 1990s)
- Paul John Knowles (the Casanova Killer) (1974) (was known to have tortured several of his victims before killing them)
- Mary Ann Leneghan (UK, May 7 2005)
- Ilan Halimi (France, 2006)
- Sylvia Likens (Indianapolis, 1965)