Jill Dando

Jill Dando, the well known and loved television presenter Jill Dando was murdered on her own doorstep. "Jill became known as the 'Golden Gorl of Television' due to her blonde hair and good looks." (Press 147) She presented news and was popular among both men and women. Many men were attracted by her good looks while women respected her for her achievements, grace, and beauty. After her death on April 26, 1999, the murderer and the cause for the murder were not found. One of the theories was that an obsessive fan killed her. This leads me to my connection with that of a mind of a killer. Clearly, Jill Dando was an easy target since she was beautfiul, recently engaged, in the eye of the public, and desirable in every sense. Being that, it was simple for her to be the target of an over obsessive fan or person who could not deal with her engagement; in general commitment to another. Obession over something or someone like in many of the previous blogs i have posted have lead to an extreme action. Such as in "A Tale of Two Sisters", Leone had become completely obsessed with Emile, and after neglecting her she had been driven to the extreme and killed him. I see a similar pattern in the case of Jill Dando and the case of "A Tale of Two Sisters" where obsession got the best of a person and resulted in murder.

The Deadly Aperitif

On the morning of Friday, August 1973, Renata, the wife of Tranquillo Allevi received a bottle of aperitif by a well known Italian liquor manufacturer along with an invitation to represent new sales campaign. It was addressed to her husband. Since Allevi was a prosperous dairy farmer, it was not uncommon for him to receive such invitations. When Allevi received the bottle from his wife, he placed it in the refrigerator at his office. One day, after dinner with Renata, he went to his office along with a salesman and another friend to clear up some business. The three rejoiced and indulged themselves with the chilled appetizer that awaited them in the refrigerator. As the other two gentlemen took sips of the beverage, and Allevi quickly finished his drink, “…Allevi crumpled to the floor. He was racked with spasms and gasping for breath.” (Press 254) Allevi died soon after, and his friends survived. All fingers pointed to Renata who was said to have lovers and admirers outside of her marriage. Suspected was a veterinary surgeon called Dr. Renzo Ferrari. Police discovered those 6 days previous to the incident, Ferrari had purchased 6 grams of strychnine.
According to wikipedia.com, strychnine is: a very toxic colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion.
After proving that Ferari used a typewriter accesible to him in the town hall to write a false invitation and send it to Allevi. It was quite evident that Ferrari had poisioned Ferrari with the paraphanielia that was accesible to him. “The poision, according to the prosecution, had been inserted by syringe through the vork of the intact bottle. And the final, damning evidence was supplied by a represnetative of the drinks firm. He stated that although no bottle had been sent from the company to Mr. Allevi, one had been dispatched-with an invitation-to Dr. Renzo Ferrari.” (Press 256)

Oh, God, I am Not Guilty!

Percy and Edith Thompson married in February 1915; everyone believed they were the picture perfect couple. Frederick Bywaters, a young lad met the couple at an August Bank Holiday on the Isle of Wight. There, Edith and Bywaters became mutually attracted to one another, and Percy grew suspicious. Bywaters suggested a divorce between Percy and Edith, but Percy refused to grant it. Since Bywaters was in the S.S. Morea, he was only in England between voyages. During their separation, Edith would write him love letters. In the 62 love letters mailed to Bywaters Edith mentioned how she put poison or ground glass in his food. Edith also sent her lover snippets of cases concerning death by poisoning. On the afternoon of October 3, Bywaters and Edith had a meeting in a London teashop. Afterwards, Edith went to the theatre with her husband when Bywaters suddenly sprung out. There was a quarrel between Bywaters and Percy and finally, Bywaters stabbed Percy eventually leading to his death. Edith, happier to see Bywaters then pained by her husband’s death did not tame the killer but eventually Bywaters did fall under suspicion. “Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters was charged with murder and Edith Jessie Thompson with incitement of the crime.” (Press 250) At this point, we see that even though the killer, Bywaters acted alone, Edith Thompson was also accounted for the murder. She instigated the crime and convinced Bywaters to aid in her attempt to kill Percy. Unfortunately for Edith, she was sentenced to death along with Bywaters and was said to have last stated, “Oh, God, I am Not Guilty!” (Press 253)

The Headless Wife Case

Michael Telling, a 34 year old man who was part of the vastly rich Vestey family was indulged in millions of dollars worth of money. Growing up from a miserable childhood, Telling was emotionally disturbed. He was constantly bullied at school mercilessly. He was twice expelled from school and “only nine years old he was drinking sherry and smoking heavily. He kept carving knives in his room and once threatened his mother with a blade.” (Press 212) Entering his adult life in such a manner, Telling married Monika Zumsteg. Monika claimed several times that she had no intention of making a life with her husband, but only wanted his money. In other words, she was a gold digger only looking to only pilfer from the wealth he acquired from the Vestey family. After much disrespect, abuse, and failure of a relationship with Telling, the relationship was bound to explode and terminate. After Monika continuously taunted Telling to no extent, Telling picked up picked up a Marlin 30-30 hunting rifle and shot her. He left the body in a summer house where it remained for 5 months. Telling would tell others that he believed she moved back to America. Telling even hired private detectives to look for her, posing as completely innocent to his crime, “In September 1983, Telling hired a van and drove to Devon with the body. On Telegraph Hill outside Exeter he cut off Monika’s head with an axe. He dumped the headless body there but could not bear to part with the head itself. Instead, he brought it home and hid it in the locked boot of his Mini in the garage. It was kept there wrapped in plastic.” (Press 215) The headless body was discovered a few days later and detectives discovered it belonged to Monika Zumsteg.
Like many others, Telling did what most criminals do today; conceal the crime.
Telling used Monika’s credit card and continuously used it to give the impression that she was still alive and using it to make purchases. Telling also hired private detectives to give the impression that he truly did not know what occurred with his wife and was in desperate need of finding her. He told people he was going camping when in reality he was traveling to Devon to dump the body. He decapitated Monika and kept her head in his house not for remembrance like he claimed, but to avoid identification of the corpse.
The mind of this killer was completely sane, Telling knew what he was doing and the actions he was taking. His plan was to hide any suspicions of his doing the crime, but in the end, he was arrested and found guilty.

A Tale of Two Sisters

The title of my blog pertains to both sisters even though one sister, Gerogette, was barely effected by the corruption of the Bouvier family while the other, Leone, was effected greatly.

Leone Bouvier, a young French girl dealt with the corruption of her father’s alcoholism and her mother’s irresponsibility and lack of heart. Aside she was her sister Georgette who luckily managed to escape to a covenant at Angers, becoming a disciplined nun. As Leone was left alone to tend to her family, she dealt with her mother showing no gratitude towards her. She was rejected by all those around her; in response, Leone looked for love elsewhere in particular towards men.
As Leon directed her attention towards men, she fell in love with a 22-year-old garage mechanic, Emile-Clenet. As they convened on a weekly basis (every Sunday) Leon learned to love Emile and appreciate the attention he gave her which she so lacked from her childhood. As time progressed and Leon discovered that Emile’s “so called love” for her was more of a false emotion she became restless and distraught. “Emile could be cruel, too. Once, snapped by a street photographer, the couple went to pick up the picture. Emile took one look and said he didn’t want it. When Leone asked why, he said: “Just look at that face and you’ll understand.” She hurried off to cry alone…It took her all night to cycle the 30-odd miles to Nantes where Emile worked. But when she got there in the morning, Emile was annoyed. Their arrangement was only for Sundays, he said. It was a weekday. She must leave.” (Press 177-178) As Emile began to neglect Leone, she took her anger out by purchasing a .22 automatic pistol and shooting him in the neck after kissing his cheek and saying goodbye.
After reading this, I realized that many characters throughout the novel such as Leone have been driven to commit murder because of people like Emile. After dealing with neglect from her family, she was looking for a person to love her and care for her. After being betrayed by the one person she depended on and made her happy, she was driven to insanity. Leone's betrayl by her loved ones throughout her life led her to murder the one person she loved most.