England
ERSKINE
Kenneth
Active 1986 in London, England
DID YOU KNOW...
Money Fact
Erskine was first arrested for benefits fraud
Interesting Fact
Erskine saved the life of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe
Sad Fact
Erskine killed 2 men in the same retirement home
THE DISPATCH
The Beginning
Kenneth Erskine is the only UK serial killer to be considered for parole. He is also the only killer to have his seven murder charges commuted to manslaughter. While in prison, he helped save the life of another serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe. His complicated childhood includes being abandoned by his parents, and trying to drown classmates.
Early Crimes
Unable to support himself with a regular job, the mentally ill and drug addicted man was capable of committing robberies and even managed to open almost a dozen bank accounts. Eventually, his crimes escalated to murder.
The Murders
John Jordan, Suspected
- February 4, 1986
- Josephine Avenue, Brixton
Fifty-seven year old John Jordan was found dead on February 4, 1986. The alcoholic labourer was found kneeling beside his bed, semi-naked. Although suspected in his death, Erskine was never charged.
Nancy Eileen Emms
- April 9, 1986
- 81 West Hill Road, London
Nancy Eileen Emms, 78, was Erskine’s first confirmed victim. The retired schoolteacher was found dead in her 81 West Hill Road, Wandsworth, home. She had been sexually assaulted, strangled and left on the bed.
Charles Quarell, Suspected
- May 6, 1986
- King James Street, Southwark
On May 6, 1986, Charles Quarell was suffocated in his King James Street home. He was found dead on his bed with two handkerchiefs stuffed into his mouth. Erskine was suspected but not charged in his death. Quarell was 73.
Wilfred Parkes, Suspected
- May 28, 1986
- Stockwell, South London
Wilfred Parkes, 70, was found dead in his bed on May 28, 1986. Unlike the others, Parkes was bound, a dish towel was shoved down his throat. Erskine was suspected of, but never charged with, his murder.
Janet Victoria M. Cockett
- June 9, 1986
- Overton Road Estate, Stockton
Janet Victoria M. Cockett, 67, was the second of three female victims of serial killer Kenneth Erskine. She died June 9, 1989 in her Overton Road Estate home. She was strangled and her body was found in her bed.
Frederick Prentice, Survivor
- June 27 1986
- Cedars Road, Clapham
Seventy-three year old Frederick Prentice survived an attack by Erskine. Having broken both legs in a previous incident, Prentice was bed-ridden when Erskine attacked. Prentice said Erskine was grinning the whole time he was trying to strangle the elderly man. He is the killer’s only confirmed survivor.
Grace Johnson, Suspected
- June 28, 1986 pt. 1
- Union Road, Clapham
On June 28, 1986, Erskine went into overdrive. He was suspected, but never charged with, an attack on 83-year-old Grace Johnson. At 3am, Johnson was awoken by the sound of stones against her bedroom window. As she sat up, one rock came through the window and showered her with glass, cutting her head. A hand reached through the window and grabbed her bed, dragging it –and her – toward the window. When she screamed, staff at the sheltered accommodation ran to her room. By the time they arrived, the intruder was gone.
Zbigniew Strabawa and Valentine Gleim
- June 28, 1986 pt. 2
- Stockwell Park Crescent, Stockwell
An hour later, he would attack again. In the early morning hours of June 28, a night attendant saw a dark shadow on a corridor ceiling, and armed herself with a stick. It appeared she saw Erskine’s shadow. She and a colleague checked the room and spotted Erskine leaving one man’s room. She later accompanied police to two dead bodies.
Zbigniew Strabawa was found murdered in his room at a Stockwell Park Crescent home for the aged on June 28, 1986. He was 94. Another resident, Valentine Gleim, 84, was also found murdered in his room, which was adjacent to Strabawa’s. He had been sexually assaulted before being strangled and left in his bed at the home.
William Carmen
- July 8, 1986
- Marquess Estate, Islington
William Carmen was attacked at his Marquess Estate home on July 8, 1986. He was sexually assaulted and strangled, and left dead on the bed. He was 84.
Trevor Thomas, Suspected
- July 12, 1986
- Barton Road, Lambeth
On July 12, 1986, 75-year-old Trevor Thomas was found dead in his bath in Lambeth. Thomas had been sexually assaulted. Erskine was suspected in his murder, but not charged. Note: his location has also been given as Jeffreys Road, Clapham (2.5 miles difference).
William Joseph Downs
- July 21, 1986
- Overton Road Estate, Stockton
On July 21, 1986, William Joseph Downs’s son called on his father to make him breakfast. Instead, he found his 74-year-old father murdered in his Overton Road Estate home. He was sexually assaulted and left on his bed, dead. He sustained injuries to his face after Erskine attacked him.
Florence Tisdall
- July 23, 1986
- Ranelagh Gardens, Fulham
On July 23, 1986, Erskine murdered Florence Tisdall in her Ranelagh Gardens home. She was found strangled to death, in her bed. Tisdall was home-bound, having broken her hip. She required regular visits, by ambulance, to the hospital, and relied on the estate’s caretaker for shopping and banking. She was 85. (photo obviously of her at a younger age).
Arrest & Trial
Erskine Arrested
- July 28, 1986
- London, England
Scotland Yard had reached out to police in France and the United States, where similar “mass murders” or serial killings had taken place. They brought in a psychologist to help build a psychological profile of the strangler. They contacted Interpol for assistance.
A team of more than 100 detectives finally tracked Erskine down, based on palm prints he left at two crime scenes. He was arrested in South London on June 28, 1986 for benefits fraud.
Shortly after his arrest, British police also considered whether he was responsible for any of the 32 unsolved murders of elderly people in Paris, France. There was no connection made.
Erskine Charged
- July 30-August 29, 1986
- London, England
Kenneth Erskine was charged with the murders of Cockett and Downs on July 30, 1986.
On August 6, 1986, Erskine was charged with the murders of Gleim, Strabawa and Emms. He was charged with the murder of Carmen. And finally, Erskine was charged with the murder of Florence Tisdall on August 29, 1986.
Erskine Convicted and Sentenced
- January 29, 1988
- London, England
On January 29, 1988, after a 15 day trial, the jury convicted the killer after 5 hours of deliberation. Erskine received the third highest sentence ever handed out by a judge in a British court. Mr. Justice Rose sentenced Erskine to 7 life terms, plus 12 years for attempted murder.
Erskine Saves Serial Killer Sutcliffe
- February 23, 1996
- Crowthorne, England
Erskine prevented murderer Paul Wilson from killing Peter Sutcliffe, a serial killer. Erskine raised the alarm with guards when Wilson tried strangling Sutcliffe with headphone cords. Erskine was eventually transferred to a medium security hospital, Thornford Park Hospital, from Broadmoor. Sutcliffe died in 2020 from COVID-19.
Appeals
In July 2009, Erskine won an appeal against the murder verdicts. The convictions were reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Erskine was considered severely schizophrenic at the times of the murders.
Erskine’s lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said his client had a chronic, incurable condition which would require life-long treatment. He said: “The basis on which Erskine will be released, if ever, will be that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public.”
Kenneth Erskine was transferred from a maximum to a medium security facility.
BOOKS
Books about or including serial killer Kenneth Erskine
Stockwell Strangler: The True Story Of Kenneth Erskine by Natalie Marshall
BN ID: 2940165627552
Publisher: Trellis Publishing, Incorporated
Publication date: 07/01/2021
Sold by: Draft2Digital
Format: NOOK Book
Kenneth Erskine, known as “The Stockwell Strangler” due to the geographic proximities of his murders, was a deeply troubled young man who had demonstrated worrisome signs of violence and schizophrenia from a young age. He was a gerontophile in that he had an unnatural sexual attraction to the elderly.
Catching Serial Killers: Learning From Past Serial Murder Investigations by Earl Wallace James
Publisher: Intl Forensic Services (Nov. 1 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0962971405
ISBN-13: 978-0962971402
Examines twenty-eight serial murderers to determine how the killers were finally apprehended. The purpose was to determine the most effective means of investigation for future cases. The book also delves into other areas, such as: The difference between a serial murder & other homicide investigations. Common errors made by the police during a serial murder investigation. Why it is very important for the police to have good community relations. Myths about serial killers. Why serial killers are frequently questioned by the police & released–only to kill again. How the attitude of a serial killer can be used to the investigator’s advantage. The types of trace evidence laboratory scientists are most likely to find at the body recovery site. Where the police are most apt to find evidence linking the murderers to the victims. Why an ad hoc task force is usually necessary in serial murder cases. Where materials can be found to help establish a task force. What kind of personnel should make up the task force. How an investigator can help avoid inconclusive or inaccurate polygraph tests. How to conduct a fair lineup. And other related areas.
The Serial Killers: A Study In The Psychology Of Violence by Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman
Publisher : Virgin Books; UK ed. edition (Nov. 8 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753513218
ISBN-13: 978-0753513217
As the number of serial killers worldwide has risen steadily – from the emergence of Jack the Ripper in 1888 to Harold Shipman and Ivan Milat, the backpacker killer of the Australian outback – the need to understand mass murder is becoming more urgent.
Using privileged access to the world’s first National Centre for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman bring you this incisive study of the psychology of serial killers and the motives behind their crimes.
From childhood traumas to issues of frustration, fear and fantasy, discover what turns an ordinary human being into a compulsive killer.
VIDEOS & PODCASTS
Videos and podcasts about The Stockwell Strangler, Kenneth Erskine
THE STATS
Statistical table for Kenneth Erskine
| Killer Name | Erskine, Kenneth |
| Killer AKA | Stockwell Strangler, Murder Mile Killings |
| Gender | M |
| Arrest Date | July 28, 1986 |
| Conviction Date | January 29, 1988 |
| Sentence | 7 Life terms, changed on appeal to hospitalization for undetermined period |
| Birth Location | Hammersmith London England |
| Birth Date | July 1, 1963 |
| Status | Alive or Unknown |
| Caused Problems in School | attacked and assaulted teachers and other students in school |
| Empl. Status | unemployed |
| Killer Type | Mentally Ill (voices/Munchausen), Sexual/Sadistic, Territorial |
| Drug Abuse | solvents |
| Psych Diagnosis | chronic and incurable schizophrenia, requiring life-long treatment |
| comment1 | Possible necrophilia in 5 cases |
| comment2 | In prison, on February 23, 1996, Erskine prevented killer Paul Wilson from murdering Peter Sutcliffe, a serial killer |
| comment3 | 14 July 2009 - appeal won to change cases to manslaughter due to diminished capacity (schizophrenia). Sentenced to hospitalization for undetermined period |
| Total Dead Victims | 11 |
| Victims (Suspected) | 4 |
| Victims (Convicted) | 7 |
| Victim Gender | Various |
| Victim Race | White |
| Victim Age | 57, 78, 73, 70, 67, 73, 94, 84, 75, 74, 85 |
| Victim Type | vulnerable |
| Method of Killing | strangulation, suffocation |
| Weapon | hands |
| Robbery | Yes |
| Sex Assault | Yes |
| Binding | Yes |
| Necrophilia | Yes |
| Washing/Water | Yes |
| Body - Left, Not Hidden | Yes |
| Previous Crimes | burglary, stabbed a teacher with scissors, |
| Previous Prison Time | Yes |
| Prison Problems | Broadmoor, Thornford Park Hospital |
| Investigation Errors | Assaulted prison officer during incarceration before murders |
Killer Rating
RESOURCES
- Daily Mirror (Jun 30, 1986)
- Sandwell Evening Mail (Jul 22, 1986)
- Evening Standard (Jul 24, 1986)
- Irish Independent (Jul 25, 1986)
- Aberdeen Evening Express (Jul 28, 1986)
- Pacific Daily News (Jul 30, 1986)
- Dundee Courier (Aug 4, 1986)
- Daily Mirror (August 7 1986)
- Daily Mirror (Aug 30, 1986)
- Daily Mirror (Jan 14 1988)
- Newcastle Journal (January 15, 1988)
- The Guardian (Jan 20, 1988)
- Evening Standard Pt. 1 (Jan 29, 1988)
- Evening Standard Pt. 2 (Jan 29, 1988)
- The Guardian (Feb 26, 1996)
- BBC News (Jul 14, 2009)
- Ancestry National Probate Calendar (retrieved Jan 19, 2022)
- Zip file of subscription-based resources