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Tag: killers

  • Joss Stone Would-Be Killers Get Reduced Sentence

    Kevin Liverpool and Junior Bradshaw could have killed Joss Stone. The songstress may have narrowly escaped being beheaded by these two blokes.

    In June of 2011, the two men travelled from Manchester to the where Stone lived in Devon. They were armed, they were determined, and they had a plan. They were going to cut Joss Stone’s head off and throw her body in a river.

    “I’ve got no doubt that Liverpool and Bradshaw intended to harm Miss Stone and that without the vigilance of the public and the good work of our officers, they represented a serious threat to her,” said Superintendent Steve Parker, the senior investigating officer on the case.

    The two men drove around, trying to find Joss Stone’s house. They even stopped a postman and asked for directions. Eventually area residents got suspicious and called police.

    The men were stopped and searched. It was discovered that they carried weapons, including a samurai sword, and notes detailing their plan to kill Stone.

    During the trial, it was revealed that robbery was the motive.

    When sentencing the two men, Judge Gilbert said, “It is clear from your text messages on your phone that from as early as November 2010 you had been planning to rob someone of what you hoped would be in excess of £1 million. By January 2011… you had identified Joss Stone as the target.”

    The two men were given stiff jail sentences. Liverpool was sentenced to life, with a minimum of ten years to serve before any parole hearing. Bradshaw was given 18 years.

    But now an appeals court judge has reduced the sentences for the two men. Liverpool had his minimum reduced to 6 1/2 years. Bradshaw’s total sentence was reduced to 10 years. No explanation has been given for the reduction.

    Image via YouTube

  • Lizzie Borden Case Still Fascinates And Frightens

    Lizzie Borden may be among the most notorious and well-known suspected criminals who literally got away with murder; however, the case is still classified as unsolved. Tragically, Lizzie Borden’s claim to fame is that she may be forever immortalized for her suspected involvement in the murder of her father and her stepmother as depicted in the following verses:

    Lizzie Borden took an axe,
    And gave her mother forty whacks.
    And when she saw what she had done,
    She gave her father forty-one.

    In truth, Lizzie killed her stepmother, Abby Borden, with 18 strikes instead of the “40 whacks” mentioned in the previous verse. Lizzie’s wealthy banker father, Andrew Borden, was also subjected to extreme brutality though the popular phrase of “41 whacks” was in actuality no more than 11 forceful attacks. Andrew had a reputation for being stingy where many within the community of Fall River, Massachusetts, had contempt for the successful self-made bank president.

    Lizzie Borden was noted for showing unusual behavior during the days surrounding the trial. Her infamous and dramatic swoon in the courtroom upon hearing revelations of the crime scene is still considered when discussing courtroom theatrics. Some of these revelations included gruesome details such as Andrew’s eyeball being sliced in half. The fate of Lizzie Borden was decided by a jury consisting of 12 men where the deliberations lasted for 90 minutes before the announcement of Lizzie Borden’s innocence was delivered to the courtroom.

    According to the closing arguments made by George D. Robinson, who was part of the defense team representing Lizzie Borden, “… one of the most dastardly and diabolical crimes that was ever committed in Massachusetts… Who could have done such an act? In the quiet of the home, in the broad daylight of an August day, on the street of a popular city, with houses within a stone’s throw, nay, almost touching, who could have done it? Inspection of the victims discloses that Mrs. Borden had been slain by the use of some sharp and terrible instrument, inflicting upon her head eighteen blows, thirteen of them crushing through the skull; and below stairs, lying upon the sofa, was Mr. Borden’s dead and mutilated body, with eleven strokes upon the head, four of them crushing the skull.”

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons