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Kenneth ERSKINE
A.K.A.: "The Stockwell Strangler"
Classification: Serial killer
Characteristics:
Rape - Sodomy
Number of victims: 7 +
Date of murders: April-July
1987
Date
of arrest:
July 28,
1987
Date of birth: 1962
Victims profile: Eileem Emms, 78 / Janet Cockett, 67 / Valentine Gleim,84, and Zbigniew Strabawa,
94 / William Carmen, 84 / William Downes, 74 / Florence Tisdall,
83
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: Stockwell, London, England, United Kingdom
Status: Sentenced to life in prison 1988. In July 2009 murder
convictions were reduced to manslaughter on the grounds on
diminished responsibility following an appeal
Nancy Eileen Emms a retired schoolteacher, lived on
her own in a basement flat in West Hill Road in the suburb of Wandsworth
in South West London. When she was discovered by her home help it was at
first thought that she had died of natural causes and there were no sign
of violence or indeed anything to suggest suspicious circumstances. She
was in bed with the bedclothes pulled up to her chin. When the doctor
first examined her he thought she had been dead for about three days and
as he had no reason to suspect otherwise he was happy to sign the death
certificate to say she had died of natural causes.
It was only when the home help noticed that some
things were missing from the flat that she began to suspect things were
not what they seemed. The police were called and the scene was re-examined.
It was found that she had been strangled with bare hands and that she
had some bruising on her chest as if the killer had knelt on her which
he had in fact done.
She had been murdered by Kenneth Erskine (the
Stockwell Strangler) on 9 April 1986. The only clue the police were able
to find was a single Afro-Caribbean head hair on the sheet. Nancy was in
fact the first of a very long line of victims that would meet with
devastating results Kenneth Erskine.
Mrs. Janet Cockett, who had led an active life as chairwomen of her
local tenants association, was found with two fractured ribs, the result
of Erskine having knelt on her, and a lock of hair that could have been
Erskine's was found in her bedroom. Her nightdress had been torn off and
neatly folded. Erskine's palm print was found on the bathroom window,
and his thumb print on a plant pot.
Zbigniew Stabrawa was the oldest victim of the
strangler at the age of 94. He had been born in Poland and had lived
there until the outbreak of World War Two when he had fled from the
Nazis. He was living in an old peoples home when he was murdered by
Kenneth Erskine (the Stockwell Strangler) on 28 June 1986. He had been
strangled with bare hands and sexually assaulted. His murder was one of
two murders that occured in the home that day.
*****
Name: William Carmen Age: 82 years-old (some publications claim that he was
84) Murdered: 8 July 1986 Location: Islington, North London
Mr. William Carmen was found by his daughter on the
Marquess estate, in Islington. He had been sexually assaulted, and
photographs in his flat had been turned to the wall. £300 had also been
stolen.
*****
Name: William Downes Age: 74 years-old Murdered: 20 July 1986 Location: Stockwell, South London
Mr Downes was murdered on 20 july 1986, he was found
by his son the next morning in his bedsit. His body was naked and the
sheets pulled up to his chin (a common feature with most of Erskine's
victims, who were tucked up in bed to make it look like they had died in
their sleep). Mr Downs had been raped and strangled, semen stains were
found on his sheets. His son had days earlier warned him to keep all
windows firmly locked at night. The pathologist described his death as
asphyxia due to manual strangulation. Police found an palm print on the
garden gate and on the wall.
*****
Name: Florence Tisdall Age: 80 years-old (some publications claim she was 83) Murdered: 23 July 1986 Location: Fulham, West London
Florence Tisdall was an 80 year-old widow who was
partly deaf and blind, and who could move around only with the help of a
walking frame. She lived in an almost empty block of flats. She had
lived in the same block for over sixty years. It was a hot night and she
had left a window open which was how the killer got in. She was murdered
on 23 July 1986. She had been strangled with bare hands and sexually
assaulted. she also had broken ribs caused by Erskine kneeling on her
chest.
More victims?
Following Kenneth
Erskine's Conviction, the police closed their files on four more
deaths thought to have been caused by the strangler.
Name: John Jordan Age: 57 years-old Murdered: 4 february 1986 Location: Brixton
Found dead strangled, beside his bed in his flat in Josephine Avenue,
Brixton
*****
Name: Charles Quarell Age: 73 years-old Murdered: 6 may 1986 Location: Southwark
Found suffocated on his bed at his home in King James Street,
Southwark.
*****
Name: Wilfred Parkes Age: 70 years-old Murdered: 28 may 1986 Location: Stockwell, South London
Mr Parkes was found strangled in bed. The police had
very strong suspicions that deranged half-caste Kenneth Erskine was
involved. But they never managed to get a conviction.
*****
Name: Trevor Thomas Age: 75 years-old Murdered: 12 July 1986 Location: Lambeth, South London
Trevor Thomas was a 75 year old man who was found
dead and sexually assaulted in his bath. He was found four days after
William Carmen. The bathwater had made the gathering of forensic
evidence difficult and his death was never proved conclusively to be one
of the stranglers. He was thought that he had been murdered by Kenneth
Erskine (the Stockwell Strangler) on 12 July 1986.
