Okay, after the comments I made on here last Friday, you are probably wondering where I am going with this! Well, it does continue the theme of "vampires", though not in the legendary sense. While those kind creatures don't - or PROBABLY don't - exist, it is true that some creatures DO exist that drink the blood of their victims. What is worse, some of these are actually human...
You see, today is the anniversary of the demise of one of the most notorious criminals in British history, a gentleman by the name of John George Haigh.
Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, in 1909, Haigh was born into a very religious - and very strict, even harsh - family. Despite being largely shut off from the outside world, the young Haigh developed an interest in music. He became quite an accomplished pianist before taking on the role of choirboy at Wakefield Cathedral.
1934- and 1935 were an emotional period for Haigh. He married 23-year-old Beatrice Hamer, was jailed for fraud, became a father of a daughter (whom his wife immediately put up for adoption), became single again when Beatrice left, and was disowned by his family. This was just the beginning of the Haigh story...
After moving down to London in 1936, Haigh again found himself incarcerated for fraud - more than once. After being released in 1943, Haigh again engaged in fraudulent activity, but this time, it led to the murders of his former employer, 'Mac' McSwan, and his parents William and Amy. He disposed of the bodies in a bath of acid.
By 1947, Haigh was in another financial bind, so he murdered Archie and Rose Henderson, and sold their possessions. Again, he disposed of the bodies in the same ghastly manner. In 1949, Haigh killed wealthy widow Olive Durand-Deacon. When she was reported missing by a close friend, enquiries led the police to Haigh. To make matters worse, the murderer had yet to dispose of the sludge left from depositing the body in acid, and a positive identification was made from some undissolved remains.
Haigh soon confessed to the above murders, plus three additional unsolved killings. Understandably, he became known as the "Acid Bath Murderer", but during the trial, something else - even more shocking - was revealed,.. Haigh claimed that he had a fixation with blood, and he claimed that he had consumed the blood of several of his victims before disposing of the bodies. That is where the "Smiling Vampire" moniker originated.
On the 10th of August, 1949, John George Haigh was hanged at Wandsworth Prison.
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