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The beast of Jersey,
THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF THE MAN WHO TERRORISED THE ISLAND FOR ELEVEN YEARS.Edward Paisnel, the son of wealthy landowners, was a Jekyll and Hyde figure who terrorized the island for eleven years, and in 1971 he was convicted of thirteen sex offences against young children.Paisnel was obsessed with the powers of evil. In his Hyde moments he wore a hideous rubber mask and nail-studded bracelets. And at home he had a secret room filled with the ritual tools of Black Magic.But, from his second wife, Joan Paisnel, we learn of the Jekyll side of his character. To her, he was a kind generous man who loved small children.Yet for his offences against children he was sentenced to thirty years.
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First published January 1, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 30, 2018
The Beast Of Jersey tells the story of Edward 'Ted' Paisnel; a tyrannical sex offender who brutally assaulted upwards of 10 women and young children, over the course of 11 years.
I know all of this to be true, because of the forensics, witness statements, and evidence found in his 'secret room' linking him to the victims' homes. But someone really needs to let Joan Paisnel know.
This review is slightly biased, I must admit. I immediately took a dislike to Joan, Ted's wife and the author of this book, and all of my comments reflect that. For a more objective take on Ted's crimes, I really recommend listening to My Favourite Murder's retelling - one of the hosts, Karen, does it perfectly.
Within the first few pages of The Beast, my patience had already ran thin. I discovered Joan had a knack for finding all of the reasons that might account for the horrific crimes that occured in Jersey, except for the most obvious; her demonic husband. She was desperate to excuse him by blaming anything and everything; the island itself, with it's rich history of witchcraft and Black Magic, the 'incessant homosexuality' which 'corrupted' Jersey, or the family curse which had haunted every generation of the Paisnel's since the 1300's. Come on Joan! Your husband was a monster. It is not the island's fault! Or the wonderful Queens, living their best lives, in 1970 Jersey. Although, the fact Ted's parents were first cousins may not have helped...
Another thing that deeply upset me about this book, was the way Joan used 'sexual offender' and 'schizophrenic' synonymously - the latter being a word I don't particularly like anyway; use instead 'a person with a diagnosis of schizophrenia/who hears voices/who experiences paranoid beliefs'. Maybe that was the understanding at the time; that an individual who could be responsible for committing these horrific offences was bound to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. But maybe it's just another moronic Joanism. Probably the latter.
Simply put, I did not enjoy this. I love true crime, but when someone tries so desperately to sympathise with the offender at the expense of the victims, I deem that story shite.
I know all of this to be true, because of the forensics, witness statements, and evidence found in his 'secret room' linking him to the victims' homes. But someone really needs to let Joan Paisnel know.
This review is slightly biased, I must admit. I immediately took a dislike to Joan, Ted's wife and the author of this book, and all of my comments reflect that. For a more objective take on Ted's crimes, I really recommend listening to My Favourite Murder's retelling - one of the hosts, Karen, does it perfectly.
Within the first few pages of The Beast, my patience had already ran thin. I discovered Joan had a knack for finding all of the reasons that might account for the horrific crimes that occured in Jersey, except for the most obvious; her demonic husband. She was desperate to excuse him by blaming anything and everything; the island itself, with it's rich history of witchcraft and Black Magic, the 'incessant homosexuality' which 'corrupted' Jersey, or the family curse which had haunted every generation of the Paisnel's since the 1300's. Come on Joan! Your husband was a monster. It is not the island's fault! Or the wonderful Queens, living their best lives, in 1970 Jersey. Although, the fact Ted's parents were first cousins may not have helped...
Another thing that deeply upset me about this book, was the way Joan used 'sexual offender' and 'schizophrenic' synonymously - the latter being a word I don't particularly like anyway; use instead 'a person with a diagnosis of schizophrenia/who hears voices/who experiences paranoid beliefs'. Maybe that was the understanding at the time; that an individual who could be responsible for committing these horrific offences was bound to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. But maybe it's just another moronic Joanism. Probably the latter.
Simply put, I did not enjoy this. I love true crime, but when someone tries so desperately to sympathise with the offender at the expense of the victims, I deem that story shite.
January 25, 2018
Excellently horrific cover, but this book is such a product of its time. Joan Paisnel is convinced her husband must have been gay, because he was a pedophile as well as a rapist of adult women. This belief that homosexuality is the same as pedophilia runs throughout the whole book and becomes more and more maddening each time it is brought up.
I mean, where do you even begin to unpack that?
The maniac could not be anything like Ted. To start with, he would be a blatant homosexual. He would not be the sort of man who could be genuinely kind to children and be loved by them. Essentially he would be a callous and cruel man.
I mean, where do you even begin to unpack that?
September 12, 2015
This is an interesting book about the crimes of Edward Paisnel known as Ted, who was imprisoned for thirty years in 1971 for a string of sex offences on the island of Jersey. Those of you who visit my blog regularly will know that this is where I live and of course I’d heard of ‘The Beast’ over the years but I hadn’t read this book, written by his wife (although it was ghost written by two journalists Alan Shadrake and John Lisners)
The crimes committed by Ted Paisnel (pronounced Paynel) spanned eleven years and as his later modus operandi was to sneak into the bedrooms of children and take them outside to assault them the islanders were, as you can imagine terrified with some allegedly going to sleep with guns under their pillows. As the island is only 9 miles by 5 it seems incredible to believe that it took the police so long to apprehend their culprit and this book is in many ways an explanation why Joan didn’t know or suspect what Ted was up to. Of course these crimes were committed throughout the 60s and into the early 70s and life was very different then, crucially in the fact that there was no DNA testing available to the officers and at that time, the dual police system that still operates was run by the Honorary Police who are volunteers from each parish and they are the ones who have to charge a suspect with an offence. The idea is that these volunteers know all the comings and goings within their parish and are therefore able to provide background information but it appears none of these men suspected Ted of the crimes being committed.
In the end Ted was caught by jumping a red light while being followed by a police car – when finally apprehended in what sounds like a terrifying car chase, but as a local and knowing the roads mentioned clearly couldn’t have lasted that long, he was found to have items on his person that were odd, the main one being the mask that so fetchingly adorns this book cover!!
The book isn’t by any stretch of the imagination well-written, it is littered with typos and often repeats itself (maybe as a consequence of the two journalists writing separate parts in a rush to capitalise on the recent lurid headlines?) There is a focus on the ‘black arts’ which Ted was supposedly a member of and apparently there was a big contingent on the island at that time, although no-one else was arrested and Ted never gave any names of other members of this supposed coven. I believe this aspect came from some of the books he owned and a supposed ‘alter’ in a hidden cupboard – which was probably just a space saving device and a convenient place to keep the clothes he wore on his night-time outings, a presence of an ornamental toad was explained by his mistress as a present she’d bought him in a gift shop. Another interesting element is the insistence of Joan that Ted must have suffered from schizophrenia, something that we now know doesn’t only manifest itself in supposedly Jekyll and Hyde behaviour, but probably bought her some comfort and allowed her to live as part of a small community where Ted’s name had become synonymous with evil. There are other interesting snippets to try to explain why when he was so nice to the children at the children’s home that Joan ran with her mother why he committed these awful offences but again unfortunately it is now widely recognised that men that commit these types of crimes don’t usually come with ‘monster’ stamped on their forehead.
I’m not sure that this book would appeal to many people but I did find it incredibly interesting from a local standpoint – I lived in Jersey when Ted was released from prison in the early 90s and remember the controversy caused by his return (as a consequence he moved to the Isle of Wight where he died a couple of years later) It was also interesting to see how difficult policing was forty years ago, even on a small island, because of the limitations of policing at that time without the tools now available nowadays they simply had a variety of descriptions from his victims to go on. That said they gave it a good shot even having detectives seconded to the island from Scotland Yard, ironic really that it was a motoring offence that solved the crime!
The crimes committed by Ted Paisnel (pronounced Paynel) spanned eleven years and as his later modus operandi was to sneak into the bedrooms of children and take them outside to assault them the islanders were, as you can imagine terrified with some allegedly going to sleep with guns under their pillows. As the island is only 9 miles by 5 it seems incredible to believe that it took the police so long to apprehend their culprit and this book is in many ways an explanation why Joan didn’t know or suspect what Ted was up to. Of course these crimes were committed throughout the 60s and into the early 70s and life was very different then, crucially in the fact that there was no DNA testing available to the officers and at that time, the dual police system that still operates was run by the Honorary Police who are volunteers from each parish and they are the ones who have to charge a suspect with an offence. The idea is that these volunteers know all the comings and goings within their parish and are therefore able to provide background information but it appears none of these men suspected Ted of the crimes being committed.
In the end Ted was caught by jumping a red light while being followed by a police car – when finally apprehended in what sounds like a terrifying car chase, but as a local and knowing the roads mentioned clearly couldn’t have lasted that long, he was found to have items on his person that were odd, the main one being the mask that so fetchingly adorns this book cover!!
The book isn’t by any stretch of the imagination well-written, it is littered with typos and often repeats itself (maybe as a consequence of the two journalists writing separate parts in a rush to capitalise on the recent lurid headlines?) There is a focus on the ‘black arts’ which Ted was supposedly a member of and apparently there was a big contingent on the island at that time, although no-one else was arrested and Ted never gave any names of other members of this supposed coven. I believe this aspect came from some of the books he owned and a supposed ‘alter’ in a hidden cupboard – which was probably just a space saving device and a convenient place to keep the clothes he wore on his night-time outings, a presence of an ornamental toad was explained by his mistress as a present she’d bought him in a gift shop. Another interesting element is the insistence of Joan that Ted must have suffered from schizophrenia, something that we now know doesn’t only manifest itself in supposedly Jekyll and Hyde behaviour, but probably bought her some comfort and allowed her to live as part of a small community where Ted’s name had become synonymous with evil. There are other interesting snippets to try to explain why when he was so nice to the children at the children’s home that Joan ran with her mother why he committed these awful offences but again unfortunately it is now widely recognised that men that commit these types of crimes don’t usually come with ‘monster’ stamped on their forehead.
I’m not sure that this book would appeal to many people but I did find it incredibly interesting from a local standpoint – I lived in Jersey when Ted was released from prison in the early 90s and remember the controversy caused by his return (as a consequence he moved to the Isle of Wight where he died a couple of years later) It was also interesting to see how difficult policing was forty years ago, even on a small island, because of the limitations of policing at that time without the tools now available nowadays they simply had a variety of descriptions from his victims to go on. That said they gave it a good shot even having detectives seconded to the island from Scotland Yard, ironic really that it was a motoring offence that solved the crime!
September 28, 2010
True crime story of a guy who was sentenced for 30yrs for practicing the black arts,molestation & murder. Picked it up at a market stall thinking it was to be more about Jersey history (The Channel Islands).
There was a tv doco made in the 70's(?) that I remember watching, I can still see in my mind's eye the couple's house - a rambling kind of old stone building and thinking it was possible the wife did not always know her husband's comings and goings because of the layout of the house.
There was a tv doco made in the 70's(?) that I remember watching, I can still see in my mind's eye the couple's house - a rambling kind of old stone building and thinking it was possible the wife did not always know her husband's comings and goings because of the layout of the house.
May 29, 2023
why didnt she just make this a 12 minute youtube video?
September 10, 2023
weird, horrible book about a sicko paedo who liked to dress up as John Wayne
July 11, 2025
Surprised by some of the reviews, I found the book to be far more insightful than alot of the content online and documentaries that seem fairly shallow. I'd normally steer clear of this type of book but thankfully the crimes themselves are detailed clinically, in a detached way without too much lingering detail (thankfully). The multi faceted aspects of the killers life as detailed by his wife really give you a sense of the whole person and helps to provide more explanation of what may have motived him. There also seems to be a fair amount of research too as the car chase is explained in great detail from the perspective of the arresting officers as well as the beasts obsession with the black barron.
Despite the nature of the content I found the book to be engaging, in that I just wanted to know more and keep reading and found the flow and pacing were easy to follow.
Despite the nature of the content I found the book to be engaging, in that I just wanted to know more and keep reading and found the flow and pacing were easy to follow.
June 24, 2018
An interesting read, partly because of his relationship with his wife Joan who wrote this book. I first read this book many years ago after being loaned it by a friend who lived in Jersey. A 2015 article in the Jersey Evening news, reports on an investigation into child abuse in Jersey which involved allegations about both Joan & Ted. As Joan had been involved in a childrens home & modern allegations have emerged that include allegations about both of them.
September 8, 2025
Strange book written by his wife, who has little regard for the victims, and paints him in a fairly wholesome light.
There was a bizarre chapter on Gilles De Raus - at no point did Ted refer to himself as this earlier abuser.
However, very interesting.
There was a bizarre chapter on Gilles De Raus - at no point did Ted refer to himself as this earlier abuser.
However, very interesting.
August 14, 2019
Read this while I was on Holiday in Jersey this year, Scary to think that he got away with this for such a long time.
I am going to see what other books I can find.
I am going to see what other books I can find.
April 30, 2023
Hard to read, in more ways than one.
April 4, 2008
1st, my personal library is organized according to fairly conventional categories - easy ways of remembering where I've put bks. Subjects like "literature" & "crime". But such pre-existing categories don't really do the most interesting bks justice. E.G.: I have most or all of Timothy Leary's bks under "drugs" b/c Leary's so heavily associated w/ LSD - but there's more to Leary than just his use of drugs. He cd just as easily, & perhaps more appropriately, be categorized under "philosophy".
This bk, "The Beast of Jersey", that I'm reviewing here is the 1st of the bks I'm listing under "crime". But, of course, "crime", like everything else, is in the mind of the beholder. In my opinion, all political figures & ultra-rich people are the main criminals in this world but they're not often enuf categorized in that way conventionally. From the perspective of the 'criminal', their crimes might be something else indeed. As for "The Beast"? This bk was written by his wife - who claimed that she didn't know what he was doing. I'd like to know what HE thought he was doing.
Ok, I read this 20 yrs ago, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of my memory of it. What I do vaguely recall is the story of a man w/ a hidden rm in his house for practicing 'Black Magic' (How cd his wife have not noticed this?!), a man who dressed like a scarecrow & who went out at night & sexually assaulted & sometimes killed(? Actually, I don't remember whether he killed anyone, I think he might not've) women & the children of people that he wanted to get revenge on. Or something like that. A man who got away w/ this for 11 yrs & eventually got convicted to 30 yrs in prison. Hardly an ordinary tale - even for true crime stories.
The author, his wife, claims that "The Beast", Ted Paisnel, played the part of a concerned father when it was public knowledge that "The Beast" was at large but NOT public knowledge that it was Paisnel himself. SO, he'd be very protective of their children, worrying to his wife if their daughter didn't come home on time - that sort of thing. Assuming that the disingenuity here is NOT on the part of his wife & that her telling is the 'truth', Paisnel was, indeed, a twisted character, a true Jekyll & Hyde.
Joan Paisnel wrote: "For thirteen years I was married to and lived alongside a man who, unknown to me, not only practiced the Black Arts but created a reign of terror in the lovely island where I live with a series of the most terrible assaults and sex crimes on women and little children, both boys and girls. A man who came increasingly to identify himself and his actions with one of the most infamous mass-murderers in history, Gilles de Rais".
Whoever this guy was & whatever was going on in his head, he was no simple man. Joan Paisnel's telling of the story portrays someone w/ a labyrinthian & incredibly devious mind - a pathological liar. Even thinking about him from this distance disturbs me b/c I have such a strong motivation to organize info about the world into some form of 'truth' at the same time that I don't exactly believe in 'truth'. Ted Paisnel is someone who'll probably evade such attempts at clarification for eternity.
This bk, "The Beast of Jersey", that I'm reviewing here is the 1st of the bks I'm listing under "crime". But, of course, "crime", like everything else, is in the mind of the beholder. In my opinion, all political figures & ultra-rich people are the main criminals in this world but they're not often enuf categorized in that way conventionally. From the perspective of the 'criminal', their crimes might be something else indeed. As for "The Beast"? This bk was written by his wife - who claimed that she didn't know what he was doing. I'd like to know what HE thought he was doing.
Ok, I read this 20 yrs ago, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of my memory of it. What I do vaguely recall is the story of a man w/ a hidden rm in his house for practicing 'Black Magic' (How cd his wife have not noticed this?!), a man who dressed like a scarecrow & who went out at night & sexually assaulted & sometimes killed(? Actually, I don't remember whether he killed anyone, I think he might not've) women & the children of people that he wanted to get revenge on. Or something like that. A man who got away w/ this for 11 yrs & eventually got convicted to 30 yrs in prison. Hardly an ordinary tale - even for true crime stories.
The author, his wife, claims that "The Beast", Ted Paisnel, played the part of a concerned father when it was public knowledge that "The Beast" was at large but NOT public knowledge that it was Paisnel himself. SO, he'd be very protective of their children, worrying to his wife if their daughter didn't come home on time - that sort of thing. Assuming that the disingenuity here is NOT on the part of his wife & that her telling is the 'truth', Paisnel was, indeed, a twisted character, a true Jekyll & Hyde.
Joan Paisnel wrote: "For thirteen years I was married to and lived alongside a man who, unknown to me, not only practiced the Black Arts but created a reign of terror in the lovely island where I live with a series of the most terrible assaults and sex crimes on women and little children, both boys and girls. A man who came increasingly to identify himself and his actions with one of the most infamous mass-murderers in history, Gilles de Rais".
Whoever this guy was & whatever was going on in his head, he was no simple man. Joan Paisnel's telling of the story portrays someone w/ a labyrinthian & incredibly devious mind - a pathological liar. Even thinking about him from this distance disturbs me b/c I have such a strong motivation to organize info about the world into some form of 'truth' at the same time that I don't exactly believe in 'truth'. Ted Paisnel is someone who'll probably evade such attempts at clarification for eternity.
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