COLD BLOODED KILLERS (Killers from around the World) (16 page)

Ryan moved on down Priory Road where he spotted Ian Playle, thirty-four, returning from a shopping trip with his wife and two young children. Playle crashed his car into a stationary car after being shot in the neck by Ryan; his wife and children were unhurt. Soldier Carl Harries again rushed over to administer first aid to Mr. Playle, but again the wound proved to be fatal. After shooting and injuring sixty-six year old, George Noon, while he was in his garden, Ryan broke into the John O' Gaunt Community Technology College, which was empty due to summer holidays. Ryan barricaded himself in a classroom where he once had been a student.

Police surrounded the building and negotiators made contact with Ryan only after he’d taken potshots at circling helicopters. At one point Ryan waved what seemed to be an unpinned grenade at them through the window, though reports differ as to whether Ryan really was armed as such. Police attempted to entice Ryan out of the school, but these attempts failed. At 6:52pm, Ryan committed suicide. One statement Ryan made towards the end of the negotiations was widely reported. He said, "Hungerford must be a bit of a mess. I wish I had stayed in bed." Hungerford is a small community. At the time of the shooting spree, it had a population of about 5500 citizens. It was policed by two sergeants and twelve constables, and on August 19
^th
, 1987, the duty cover for the section consisted of one sergeant, two patrol constables and one station duty officer.

A number of factors hampered the police response:

• The telephone exchange could not handle the number of 999 calls made by witnesses.

• The Thames Valley firearms squad were training forty miles away.

• The police helicopter was in for repair, though was eventually deployed.

• The local police station was undergoing renovations and only two phone lines were in operation at the time.

- 19 - 
Patrick Henry Sherrill

The term “Going Postal” was coined as a result of this killing spree. On August 20
^th
, 1986, Patrick Henry Sherrill, a “disgruntled postal worker,” killed fourteen fellow employees at the United States Post Office in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Sherrill was a recluse and socially incompetent. He was unable to hold a job for long and blamed management for his problems. His fascination with guns was fed by service in the U.S. Marines and active involvement in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, where he became a small arms expert. Aggravated at being officially disciplined by his postal supervisor on numerous occasions, Sherrill had, on two occasions, threatened retribution. After receiving a warning the day before, he reported to work on the morning of August 20
^th
armed with three semi-automatic handguns and ammunition. He entered the facility, shot his Supervisor to death, and tracked his co-workers through the building, killing fourteen and wounding six. He then killed himself.

In 1987, a seven thousand page United States Postal Inspector's Report analyzed the Edmond massacre, and a one-day Congressional Hearing allowed the survivors and families a brief forum on March 18
^th
, 1987. Each concluded that measures should have been in place to profile Sherrill and prevent his hiring, and to apply Occupational Health and Safety Standards and Federal regulations to Postal facilities.

No words can assess or mitigate the shooting's terrible impact on the victims and their families. Emotional and physical recovery was slow but sure. To honor the dead and the survivors, in 1989 the community of Edmond and the United States Postal Service placed a large sculptural memorial on the grounds of the Edmond Post Office. Sculptor Richard Muno depicted a standing man and woman holding a yellow ribbon; they are surrounded by fourteen fountains, one for each victim. The inscription lists the victims: Patricia Ann Chambers, Judy Stephens Denney, Richard C. Esser, Jr., Patricia A. Gabbard, Jonna Ruth Gragert, Patty Jean Husband, Betty Ann Jared, William F. Miller, Kenneth W. Morey, Leroy Orrin Phillips, Jerry Ralph Pyle, Paul Michael Rockne, Thomas Wade Shader, Jr., Patti Lou Welch.

The Edmond incident was one of fifteen homicide incidents by postal employees from 1986 through 1999 in which thirty-four postal workers and six non-employees were killed. In turn, these spawned numerous workplace violence studies by Criminologists, Psychiatrists, and Federal Agencies. New hiring, employee management, and safety practices resulted, and federal law concerning homicide against Federal employees was expanded in 1996 (after the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing) to include all Federal employees.

In perspective, by the year 2000, workplace violence took the lives of an average of one thousand people per year, in all workplace environments. Of those, only .2 percent of incidents involved postal workers. It is ironic and unfortunate that, at the end of the twentieth century, the Edmond Post Office Massacre was most often remembered for instigating the use of the term "going postal" to describe workplace violence in general.

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The following is an excerpt from

Serial Killers Series Boxed Set (4 in 1)

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Karla Homolka, the eldest of three daughters, was born on May 4th, 1970 in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, to Karel and Dorothy Homolka. Paul Bernardo was born on August 27th, 1964 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Marilyn and Kenneth Bernardo. Paul and Karla met in 1987 and married in 1991. Shortly after they married, it was all downhill from there. Author Note: I am not proud to say that this lovely couple is from my country.

Before they started their team rape and killings in 1991, Bernardo already had quite the history of rape, although he was not known to the authorities at that time. Between May 1987 and July 1990, he had raped eighteen young girls between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two.

His first murder victim was Tammy Homolka, Karla's younger sister. Bernardo encouraged Karla to drug her sister. When she did, Bernardo raped her before she woke up. Several months later they drugged Tammy again and both of them raped her, but this time Tammy died after choking on her own vomit. The police ruled it an accidental death, not knowing that before they called 911, Bernardo and Homolka had redressed Tammy and removed any incriminating evidence. Tammy Homolka died at the tender age of fifteen on December 23rd, 1990.

Meet Leslie Mahaffy, a young girl, only fifteen, born on July 5th, 1976, and murdered on June 16th, 1991. Two day before her death, Leslie went out for an evening with a few friends. Her curfew was 10 p.m. as the Scarborough rapist was active and like many parents, Leslie's were afraid. Unfortunately, Leslie was having fun with the girls and ignored the ground rules set up by her parents. Her parents anticipated that she would break curfew and decided to teach her a lesson which they would forever regret. Leslie arrived home after 2 a.m. to find herself locked out of the house. She did not know what to do so she called a friend to see if she could stay over, but her friend's mom told her to go home and face the consequences. 

Bernardo was crouched behind a car when Leslie came strolling by. Carrying a hunting knife, he forced her into his car and drove her to his house where he undressed her, blindfolded her, and videotaped her naked. He was going to have vaginal intercourse with Leslie but he ejaculated prematurely. When Karla woke up, he gave her instructions on how he wanted her to have sex with Leslie while he videotaped. This done, he instructed the submissive Karla to film him while he sodomized Leslie. The brute power of his anal penetration caused Leslie to cry hysterically. After twenty-four hours of disgusting rape and torture, the couple killed Leslie and, later that night, Bernardo used a circular saw to dismember her body and place her in cement.

On June 29th, 1991, a couple enjoying canoeing trip on Lake Gibson spotted a concrete block in the water. The cement block had what looked like animal flesh coming out of the cracks. There were anglers on the bank; they were asked to help retrieve the cement block. After splitting it with a crowbar, they were devastated when they saw a foot and the calf of a human crawling with maggots.

Enter Kristen French, born May 10th, 1976, a beautiful fifteen year old young girl. On April 16th, 1992, one month shy of her 16th birthday, she was walking home from school when Homolka lured her over to her car on the pretense of asking for directions. As Kristen was giving directions on the map, Bernardo, brandishing a knife, attacked her from behind and forced her into the car. This hostage-taking was observed by several witnesses. A BOLO was sent out to all units and a sketch was prepared of Bernardo by a witness. Kristen was kept for three days, being raped and tortured while the couple videotaped it all, and was forced to drink large quantities of alcohol before she was killed by Bernardo and Homolka. She was found in a ditch on April 30th, but as she was not dismembered, the investigators did not believe it was the same person who had killed Leslie Mahaffy.

The Green Ribbon Task Force was set up by the police with Superintendent Vincent Bevan taking the lead. The F.B.I. in the U.S. was consulted in an effort to profile the rapist. Citizens were concerned and kept their children at home. In the meantime, after the death of Kristen French, the newlywed-killing-duet moved to the Niagara Falls area.

As the drawing sketch of the rapist was plastered on TV, in post offices, in stores, and sidewalks, the police received calls saying that the man they were looking for resembled a man named Paul Bernardo. The investigators went to Bernardo's home where he claimed he was not the rapist/killer but admitted that, yes, the picture did resemble him, which he said was embarrassing.

While the detectives were there, they noted that the car in the driveway looked nothing like the Capri which witnesses had seen, but instead was a Nissan. Paul Bernardo, therefore, was not considered a suspect. Police were no further ahead and Bernardo continued his spree of rape and murder of teenage girls. By February, 1993, Bernardo made a mistake that would put him in the limelight as a suspect. After he blackened both eyes of Homolka and knocked out several of her teeth, she called 911. The police in Niagara Falls took her to the hospital and began investigating the matter. Karla was admitted to hospital and her uncle came to visit her. She whispered to him that Bernardo had killed Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French and went on to tell her uncle that he was indeed the Scarborough Rapist.