Maybe we need to believe because the reality is too much to bear. And so instead we create our own monsters. ibid.
The Hook is a cautionary tale warning teenagers everywhere about the dangers of sex. ibid.
Winston, tell them. Tell them all. Whoever comes. Whoever it is. I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all. John Wick: Chapter Two starring 2017 starring Keanu Reeves & Riccardo Scamarcio & Ian McShane & Ruby Rose & Common & Claudia Gerini & Lance Reddick & Laurence Fishburne & Tobias Segal et al, director Chad Stahelski, Jonathan to Winston
Well, don’t you ever think of killing anyone? Buffet Froid 1979 starring Gerard Depardieu & Bernard Blier & Jean Carmet & Liliane Rovere & Carole Bouquet & Denise Gence & Marco Perrin & Jean Benguigui & Jean Rougerie & Bernard Crombey et al, director Bertrand Blier, Alphonse to bloke on tube platform
Heck, if you’re so sure about it, maybe you should just kill him for me. Fargo s1e1: The Crocodile’s Dilemma, Lester to Malvo, FX 2014
I killed him. Ray. First I tricked him, then I killed him … You think there’s a special level of hell for people who kill their loved ones on Christmas eve? Fargo s3e9: Aporia, Emmit’s confession
I am just a completely ordinary killer. Lilyhammer s3e3: Homecoming, Jan, Netflix 2014
Sometimes, Ada, killing is a kindness. Peaky Blinders s5e1: Black Tuesday, Arthur, BBC 2019
Each year there are over 500 murders in Britain. Every one is a tragedy sending shockwaves through families and communities. But some murders have an impact that no-one could have predicted, sparking a chain of events that ripple far beyond overturning old laws, revolutionising crime detection and ultimately changing the world we live in. Catching Britain’s Killers: The Crimes that Changed Us I, BBC 2019
A hunt to find the killer of two teenage girls leads to a new science – DNA profiling. ibid.
Leicestershire: ‘Lynda left home at 7:15 last night. She told her mother and stepfather she was going to see friends in Enderby.’ ibid. television news
‘Someone who knew the area and was local.’ ibid. lead investigative rozzer
Linda’s killer was blood group A shared by one in three people. ibid.
The screening in Narborough had also demonstrated something else. The potential to collect DNA profiles and store them on a computer database. ibid.
A murderer who walked free, inspiring one another to challenge an 800-year-old law. Her campaign would bring killers to justice who had until then been getting away with murder. Catching Britain’s Killers: The Crimes that Changed Us II
In 1958 a shocking murder confession made headlines across the country: The Hume Confession: ‘I killed Setty’ … Donald Hume’s admission to the pictorial that started world controversy. ibid. newspaper article
Double Jeopardy: Julie Hogg: a forensic team went in to search Julie’s house … The police began looking at Julie’s private life … ‘All the evidence started to point to one of these men as the prime suspect: and that man was Billy Dunlop. ibid.
In 1991, over a year since Julie’s body was found, Billy Dunlop stood trial for murder in Newcastle’s Crown Court … They had failed to reach a unanimous decision and couldn’t come to a majority verdict either. The judge discharged them and ordered a retrial … A new jury heard the defence call all the evidence into question once more. ibid.
The injustice of double jeopardy would come into sharp focus in another very public case: Stephen Lawrence … The inquiry set up after the failure to convict Stephen Lawrence’s killers published a scathing report. ibid.
‘Dunlop has told the court that he did kill Julie Hogg. Why then is he serving a six-year sentence for lying and not a life sentence for taking the life of another human being.’ ibid. dude reading trial account
The confession was king and police were a law unto themselves. Catching Britain’s Killers: The Crimes that Changed Us III ***** introduction, BBC 2019
A miscarriage of justice so shocking it exposes the dark secrets of the police interrogation room and transforms the rights of us all. ibid.
‘Establishing time of death is terribly important: it is absolutely vital to get it right or the wrong people could finish up being convicted.’ ibid. Dr Cameron
Radio Times: After the body of Maxwell Confait was found in his south London bedsit in April 1972, three boys were quickly arrested and questioned. Confait had been strangled, and the trio – Colin Lattimore (18) who had learning difficulties, Ronnie Leighton, 15, and Ahmet Salih, 14 – confessed their supposed involvement to police. ibid.
In the early 1970s the questioning of a suspect often took place in a cellblock, and with no independent witness, the only version of what was said came from the police themselves. The three boys were taken to Lewisham police station. ibid.
All three boys were being tried for arson, but Colin and Ronnie were also standing trial for the murder. They all pleaded their not guilty and protested their innocence. ibid.
‘The confession had been obtained under threats, duress without strong strong evidence … The police behaved badly.’ ibid. brief
‘Colin’s alibi was absolutely superb.’ ibid.
Life sentences with no time limit. ibid.
The Fisher Inquiry set out to discover how the boys could have confessed to something they didn’t do. ibid.
‘The police were absolutely hostile to being with.’ ibid. Justice lady
New evidence emerged January 1980: a prison inmate was overheard discussing his and another inmate’s involvement in the crime. ibid.
‘One of the most serious miscarriages of justice in legal history.’ ibid. BBC news
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984: Pace. ibid. BBC news
The police culture of a previous era persisted. ibid. BBC news
Four years after Pace, a case in Cardiff would publicly expose the dangers of a police service that still chased confessions. On Valentine’s Day 1988 20 year old Lynette White was found stabbed to death in her flat in Butetown near the Cardiff docks. 10 months later her ex-partner Stephen Miller was arrested on suspicion of murder and questioned at Cardiff police station. After five days of interrogation he confessed to Lynette White’s murder … At his trial Miller was found guilty of murder along with two other men both implicated by his taped confession … ‘They’ve become known as the Cardiff 3: serving a prison sentence for life for a murder they say they didn’t commit.’ ibid. television news
In 2016 President Duterte of the Philippines launched a brutal war on drugs … ‘His orders to his people and to the police: Kill them.’ Storyville: On the President’s Orders, BBC 2019
Over the next year, police shot dead more than three-thousand addicts and dealers. Thousands more were executed by masked gunmen. ibid.
He will kill you too. When it suits him. Spotless s1e5: The Power of No, condemned Frank to Jean, Canal+ 2015
We’ve talked about it. You’re supposed to support me when I want to kill someone. What We Do in the Shadows s2e5: Colin’s Promotion, Nadja to Laszlo, BBC 2020
Portsmouth, South Virginia: ‘1-5-1 shots fired suspect down … 1-5-1 I’m not getting a pulse; starting CPR …’ This World: Unarmed Black Male, BBC 2020,
‘Deadly Officer-Involved Shooting: ‘An 18 year old male: he was allegedly …’ ibid. wavy online television news
1,146 people were killed by police in America in 2015. 36 officers were charged over the deaths. 6 were convicted. ibid. caption
William Chapman was one of 306 African-Americans killed by police last year. ibid.
42 police officers were killed in America last year. ibid.
No charges were brought against Officer Rankin over Kirill’s death. But he was put on desk duty for almost 3 years. ibid.
The judge has decided the jury won’t be told about Rankin’s previous shooting or William’s disciplinary record. ibid.