Stephen Akinmurele

Stephen Oladimeji K. Akinmurele (16 March 1978 – 28 August 1999) was a British suspected serial killer who was charged with murdering five elderly people between 1995 and 1998. Initially, he was charged with the murder of an elderly couple, Eric Boardman, 77 and his wife Joan Boardman, 74. His third suspected crime was the murder of Jemmimah Cargill. Following Ms. Cargill, he was also charged with the murders of Dorothy Harris and Marjorie Ashton.^[2] Akinmurele, who was of Nigerian descent, had a history of mental illness and had committed crimes against the elderly from the age of 11. He was drawn to situations in which he would encounter the elderly with the police asserting he got a "kick" out of killing old people. Akinmurele confessed to a number of the murders but committed suicide before his trial. Police believe he may have also been responsible for two further killings. The case is notable due to Akinmurele's long-standing hatred of elderly people.

He was arrested on the 1st of November 1998 for the murders of Eric and Joan Boardman after they were found strangled following post-mortem examinations. On the 6th of November he was also charged with the murder of Ms. Cargill, who was murdered in a fire at her home. After the arrest of Stephen Akinmurele, the police starting looking into unsolved murders and one in particular, Marjorie Ashton. She was strangled in her home in May 1995. The authorities also appealed for more information about Stephen Akinmurele when he lived in the area of Castletown and Douglas ^[2]

Victims[]

All of the victims in the case were senior citizens; the lead investigator in the case noted that Akinmurele had a "pathological hatred" of old people. He was dubbed "cul-de-sac killer" due to his choice of elderly victims living in quiet suburban streets. His first two known victims were Eric Boardman, 77, and his wife Joan Boardman, 74. One of their daughters discovered their bodies. Eric was found under a wardrobe in the hallway of their home and Joan was left on the living room floor. Stephen Akinmurele used batteries bound together to make a cosh or bludgeon. They found this bloody cosh beneath Eric's body. Even after examination of the bodies, they found only signs of strangulation.^[2]

Eric Boardman posthumously received an award for his bravery in defending himself and his wife from Akinmurele. Boardman's actions caused vital evidence to be left at the scene by Akinmurele, enabling the police to trace him through his fingerprints.

His third murder was Jemmimah Cargill, 75. She was killed in her flat about five days after Akinmurele murdered his first two victims.^[2]

Four days after the murder of Ms. Cargill, Akinmurele is suspected of murdering the elderly Dorothy Harris in February 1996 by arson. Once the Lancashire police caught on, they re-opened other files of unsolved arson cases resulting in death in north-west England over the previous two years.^[2]

Death[]

Akinmurele killed himself in Manchester Prison in August 1999. He hanged himself by a window with a ligature, just weeks before his trial. In his suicide note, Akinmurele admitted to the crimes, saying that he regretted them and feared he would kill again.^[3] He wrote to his mother that "I couldn’t take anymore of the feeling like how I do now, always wanting to kill".^[2] He had also earlier admitted to three other killings of younger victims, though police believe the confession to be false and an attempt to mask the ageist motivation behind his crimes.

See also[]

• List of serial killers by country

References[]

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