Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "david-wilson"

Signs of Murder: A small town in Scotland, a miscarriage of justice and the search for the truth by David Wilson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


July 1973. In the small Scottish town of Carluke, Margaret McLaughlin was brutally murdered, stabbed a total of nineteen times on her way to catch a train one evening. Local man George Beattie was convicted of her murder.

Yet, behind closed doors, many of Carluke’s residents were dubious about Beattie’s guilt. Despite providing a confession to police, Beattie maintained his innocence throughout his trial and subsequent prison sentence.

Leading criminologist David Wilson, himself a resident of Carluke as a child, reexamines Margaret McLaughlin’s murder and the evidence against George Beattie. Uncovering new evidence and exploring different perspectives of the evidence in the public domain, which suggests Beattie’s conviction may have been a devastating miscarriage of justice – for Margaret, for George, for their families and the wider Carluke community, Wilson pursues lines of enquiry that should have undoubtedly been explored more by the police at the time of the murder, which may lead to the true perpetrator of this horrific crime.

I first encountered Wilson’s work when I, with much excitement, spied ‘Hunting Evil’ on bookshelves – the definitive account of the case of the Suffolk Strangler and the serial murders in Ipswich in 2006. I’d followed the case in the media from the beginning (which had comprised a small single column, with no photograph, midway through the newspaper) and had become fascinated by it. Later, I was hooked by Wilson’s TV series on criminal psychopaths, and have since looked out for his documentaries in TV schedules, most recently ‘In the Footsteps of Killers’, in which he and Emilia Fox reexamine cold cases, as well as his published works. His autobiography, ‘My Life With Murderers’, was a fascinating insight into his time working in the prison system and latterly as a criminologist, exploring the criminal justice system and the psychopathology of violent criminals.

‘Signs of Murder’ is a natural successor to ‘My Life With Murderers’, exploring a case that is close to Wilson’s heart, one that took place in his hometown during his childhood. Reexamined in later years through the eyes of a criminologist, the concerns with the handling of the case and inconsistencies in the evidence become glaring, both the true murderer and corrupt officials protected by a veil of silence – something that, as a society, we are growing ever more conscious of, a discomforting issue that we must tackle again and again if we hope to overcome it.

Drawing on psychological analysis, investigative techniques and historical research, ‘Signs of Murder’ is an engrossing account of the unofficial investigation into a decades-old crime and exploration of how the system and society of the time may have enabled a miscarriage of justice. Reviewing the events and evidence in detail, while always sensitive to the pain caused to the individuals involved, this is gripping true crime and highly recommended to anyone who has an interest in detection, psychology and criminal justice.



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A Plot to Kill by David Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An engrossing study of a murder in a small English town.

October 2015. Peter Farquhar - writer, lecturer and former teacher - is murdered by his abusive partner and former student, Benjamin Field.

Farquhar's death would initially be ruled non-suspicious, allowing Field to continue his schemes and crimes, including an alleged attempted further murder, before he was apprehended and subsequently convicted of Peter's murder in August 2019.

Criminologist David Wilson undertakes an analysis of the crime and the relationship between the victim and his murderer. With emphasis on psychology, sociology and literature, Wilson examines the circumstances surrounding the murder and how Field was able to abuse and ultimately kill in plain sight and avoid apprehension for so long.

The book details investigations into many aspects of the case - including the domestic violence and abuser's modus operandi of gaslighting and manipulation, in the context of Field's probable psychopathy. Also explored are the attitudes and prejudices of wider society towards homosexual relationships and those perceived as elderly, as well as the beliefs of the Church with regard to homosexuality, contributing to a culture in which abuse and murder are able to be perpetrated and remain undetected.

For legal reasons, Wilson is unable to explore certain peripheral elements of the case in great detail, which may leave some unanswered questions. Of course, that is often the nature of reality, without the neatness of fiction. This, too, is an ongoing theme of Wilson's analysis - the murder having appeared like a plot from 'Midsomer Murders' or a traditional English mystery, complete with poisonings and malice aforethought. In the same way that fiction can be a reflection or imitation of reality, so too can reality reflect or imitate fiction.

At its core, the book explores the question as to our duty, as a society, to protect the most vulnerable; and, within our organisations and institutions, our obligation to safeguard and protect others from harm. While the primary responsibility for someone's murder absolutely belongs with their murderer, we must continue to confront the often uncomfortable reality that they may be enabled and that they will, until society accepts certain responsibilities, be able to continue causing harm.

Insightful and fascinating, 'A Plot to Kill' is another brilliant book from David Wilson, examining a true crime plot as absorbing as a mystery novel.



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MURDER AT HOME by David Wilson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Professor David Wilson explores murders in our safest of places – our homes.

There is no place like home: our sanctuaries, the scenes of family drama and tranquillity, host to social gatherings, witness to the entire span of our lives. But within the bricks and mortar that we transform into a home, there may be hidden darkness.

Statistically, you are more likely to be murdered in your home than in a public place. While we may be familiar with the dictum that you are more likely to be murdered by someone known to you (the data fluctuates year on year, with significant difference between genders), it is not only these ‘domestic’ situations which impact the location statistics – even stranger attacks and the relative anomalies of serial murder contribute to this sobering data. Criminologist David Wilson investigates how our safest space is actually where we are most in danger.

Fascinating, informative and as gripping as fiction, Wilson takes us on a tour through the home – from the public threshold of the front door step to the back garden, into the semi-privacy of our living rooms and bedrooms, and the shadowy recesses of our attics and cellars. Alongside the case studies and analysis of the crimes, there is also exploration into the general psychology of our perceptions of these rooms – their differing and sometimes conflicting levels of access and privacy – something to which everyone can relate. Wilson never fails to keep the narrative grounded in our everyday experience, juxtaposed as it may be with these horrific crimes.

Detailing a mix of infamous and lesser-known cases – amongst them the crimes of Ian Brady (and Myra Hindley), Mary Ann Cotton, Fred and Rose West, and Peter Tobin, and a review of the Clydach Murders – each chapter groups them by the location within the home where significant elements of the crimes took place. Where necessary, there are some graphic crime scene descriptions and insights into the murders as they were committed, though Wilson ensures the victims are front and centre of his analysis and treats them with respect. The subject of dark tourism is also touched upon: murderers fascinate us – perhaps certain types of murderers more so – their psychology and the circumstances surrounding their crimes never failing to mystify and intrigue, but it is always important, specifically when dealing with true crime, to remember that people have tragically lost their lives and the impact still felt by their loved ones to this day.

Spanning over a century and a half of murder, the narrative interrogates how time has impacted these spaces and individual rooms, as the result of changing social attitudes and even technology. In recent times, we have only to open our social media feeds to see inside people’s homes; yet, perhaps, never before has there been such a veneer over those private spaces. Sometimes, the more we can see, the less we are seeing. We truly never know what is happening behind closed doors.

A riveting and thought-provoking study of murder, ‘Murder at Home’ is a superb addition to Wilson’s already expansive library of criminological works.



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