The Vampire Of Paris

Nico Claux "The Vampire Of Paris"

"Throughout my apartment,bone fragments and human teeth were scattered about like loose change;

vertebras and leg bones hung from the ceiling like morbid mobiles,and hundreds of videocassettes,mostly slasher and hardcore S&M flicks,filled my shelves.One can only imagine what went through the minds of the investigators as they looked around my living quarters.

On one wall hung a bullet-riddled target,while across the room sat a TV set with jars of human ashes resting on top of it.Several bondage magazines were piled in a far corner,and nearby my backpack was found,which contained handcuffs,surgical instruments and duct tape.In addition to my tastes and choice of decor,investigators also discovered several stolen blood bags inside of my refrigerator."

Born March 22nd 1972 in Cameroon,Nico Claux is the son of a banker who spent most of his childhood moving from country to country due to his fathers work.Finally settling in Paris at the age of 16,Nico claims he had already started his journey into the darkness.Nico has stated that his parents never expressed any sort of positive emotion towards him. Although he himself has never said it,many think that this lack of affection in a lonely life is what led him down the path he chose.

The Vampire of Paris started his dark work in 1990 when he started roaming Parisian graveyards. Although it was originally morbid fascination,like many other murderers throughout history,merely seeing the dead would not be enough.

Claux set his sights on a tomb in Passy Cemetery and armed with pliers,screwdrivers,a crowbar and black candles he set out to defile his first grave.Boldly deciding that the best time to do this would be during the middle of the day,he waited for the grave keepers to take a break and kicked in the door of the mausoleum having previously picked the lock.The tomb belonged to a family from Russia who had died during the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Taking his time as to make no noise,Claux has stated that he took hours in the tomb and a whole hour to remove a coffin and place it on the floor to open it.After unscrewing the lid of the coffin Nico states that the sight of the body drove him further down the rabbit hole.After nearly passing out from the smell,he used the screwdriver to stab the stomach of the half rotted corpse over 50 times.He only stopped when,in his own words,his arm was covered in corpse slime.

At 20 years old Nico decided to join the military,expecting to spend much of his time surrounded by the dead and dying,he was severely disappointed.He would spend only one year in the military and in that time he would be a gunsmith,cleaning and repairing weapons.

Once out of the military Nico would be rejected by a local embalming school but would be given a position in St Vincent de Paul's children's hospital.Although it is obvious that his morbid fascination/mental state was on a downward spiral and he was in constant contact with the dead while working,no illegal activity was carried out by him under the roof of the children's hospital.    

After only a few months he would move on to a position in St. Joseph's hospital as an apprentice mortician.

It was here that his taste for human flesh would be allowed to blossom.After being taught to prep bodies after autopsies,he would be left to do so in peace.This gave him the opportunity to strip meat off of the bodies before getting them funeral ready.He claims to have tried various body parts during this time but it seems that meat from around the ribs were his first choice mainly because he would have to stitch closed the stomach anyway which helped conceal his work.

Another one of his jobs during this time was transferring blood from the blood bank to surgery for the Digestive Surgery Unit of St. Josephs.He quickly realized that there were often times that some of the blood bags would be left unused,this gave him the perfect opportunity to try something new.During work he would store these unused bags in his locker and after work would take them home to mix with protein powder and human ashes and drink the vile concoction.He would state that the reason for mixing the blood rather than drinking it straight was due to it being too thin due to lack of plasma.

Although he managed to contain his desires for years on end,on October 4th 1994 his urges got the best of him.After talking to Thierry Bissonnier on a chat site called Mintel and discussing their love of bondage and S&M, the two decided to meet up that same day.Thierry gave Nico his home address in what would be a fatal mistake.

Once inside the door,Nico pulled out his.22 caliber handgun and shot Thierry in the head.Nico would sit down in a corner and eat cookies while watching Thierry bleed out.He would shoot the dying man several more times in the head and chest after being shocked by how long it was taking him to die.

Before leaving the apartment he would take several of of his victims personal belongings.

It would take three days before the body ot Bissonnier would be discovered by his parents and the man hunt began.

Nico would create his own undoing when he tried to use Bissonnier's ID and check book to purchase a VCR.The store employee noticed the signatures didn't match and called the police.Nico would try to run but was arrested outside Moulin Rouge on November 15th.

The Vampire of Paris would surprise investigators when,after being shown the ballistics report,admitted to all his crimes.Nobody was ready for the level of detail Nico would go in to over the course of his trial and on May 1997 he would be found guilty of murder and sentanced to a shocking 12 years in prison.What is even more shockin is that The Vampire would be released on March 22nd 2002 after less than 5 years in prison .

Since his release,Nico has gone on to become somewhat of a celebrity.Using skills he learned while in prison,he created his own website which he would use to sell his morbid art,paintings of famous serial killers.

He has also settled down with a long term girlfriend and seemingly filled the void which created the monster he became,surrounding himself with friends and like minded people.

Hopefully this has helped quench The Vampire of Paris' need for blood.               

Innocence Lost

The Case of Mary Bell

Mary Bell was born on the 26th of May 1957 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland,England.

The daughter of a sex worker who gave birth to Mary at the age of only 17,it seemed life was destined to be a story of hardship and horror for Mary Bell from day one.

Mary would grow up with her mother being absent from her life very regularly due to working in Glasgow.While it is unknown who Bells father truly is,she was raised believing that a career criminal known as Billy Bell.The two (Marys mother Betty and Bill) were married while Mary was still an infant but there are reports that they had become an item after the birth of Mary.

Perhaps Mary would have went on to live a far different life had her mother been a bit more absent from her childhood.A victim of abuse from the hands of her own mother,Mary would have several failed attempts on her life while she was an infant.From "falling"out the window of their home to being fed sleeping pills as candy,it seemed that that life couldn't be much worse for Mary.

For the young Mary this would unfortunately be proven wrong when at only four years old her mother started letting her customers abuse Mary for some extra cash.

With such a twisted childhood it is no real surprise that Mary would go on to commit some of the most heinous and talked about crimes in English history.

A four year old boy named Martin Brown would be the first to suffer at the hands of Mary Bell.

Just one day before Bell would turn eleven,she would take Martins life by strangulation inside an abandoned house on May 25th 1968.

In a strange twist,Norma Joyce Bell,a friend of Mary's who shared a last name by pure coincidence,would become an accomplice in the second murder Mary would commit. 

Before the two would carry out the terrible act they would break into a nursery in Scotswood and vandalize it.Mary would even scrawl on the walls of the nursery that she was the killer of Martin Brown.

Only two months removed from her first murder,on July 31st both Mary and Norma would lure three year old Brian Howe to the same area that the nursery was part of and strangler him to death.

On top of the strangulation,Mary would return to the scene to cut Brian's hair,slash his legs and penis.As if leaving a signature on a piece of art,Mary would carve the letter M into his chest.

It didn't take police long to pin the crime on the two girls and by the end of 1968 the court had reached a verdict.On December 17th Norma was acquitted for her part in the monstrous act, Mary however,would not be so lucky.After a psychiatrist appointed by the court said they felt Mary posed a grave risk to other children and displayed classic symptoms of a psychopathy,Mary was found guilty of manslaughter.Mary was sent to Red Bank secure unit in Newton-Le-Willlows and would be held at Her Majesty's pleasure,meaning she received no set jail time.

After 12 years in various institutions Mary was released at 23 years old in 1980.Upon her release Mary was given a new identity and was free to start a new life,putting the past 23 years behind her. 

It appears that life inside these institutions taught Mary a lesson that most learn from their parents as children,she seemed to finally learn about morals and right and wrong.

Four years would pass in complete normality and on May 25th (ironically the same date she committed her first murder) 1984 Mary would give birth to a baby girl.

Since then,the only times Mary has been mentioned in press has been times when she fought to protect her daughters anonymity in 1998 and again in 2003. The latter being due to the fact that her daughter was only protected by law until her 18th birthday.Bell would succeed in a High Court battle to protect both her and more importantly her daughters true identity on May 21st that year.

It seems that the case of Mary Bell,as disturbing and horrendous as it is,is proof that even those who seem like lost causes are capable of change given the chance and the right environment.It's just a shame that two young boys lost their lives for this change to occur.        

   

The One That Started It All

The Black Dahlia

If you asked a Hollywood producer to create the perfect murder mystery you'd have to believe it would play out pretty similar to the case that started me down the road of all things morbid and macabre,the case of Elizabeth Short "The Black Dahlia".

Everything about the case screams "Hollywood",a beautiful but troubled wannabe actress,a string of potential perpetrators and a crime scene so gruesome and over the top that even after more than 50 years it is still talked about by those unfortunate enough to have seen the images.

Born July 29th 1924 in Boston,Elizabeth Short was going to end up famous one way or another.

Somewhat of a wandering spirit,she never seemed to stay in one place for any great length of time.

This was due in part to doctors orders to move to a warm climate during the harsh winter months following lung surgery during her teenage years.

At 18 she decided to move Vallejo and  live with her estranged father whom she had last seen at 6 years old.After only 2 months with her father Elizabeth moved to live with friends while she worked at Camp Cooke.It was here that it appears her love of men in uniform started.After an abusive relationship with a sergeant,Short was once again on the road and this time she was headed to Santa Barbra,the place that would give us the now legendary mug shot of a young Elizabeth Short,arrested for underage drinking.

  

After going against authorities orders to go home,Elizabeth fled to Florida where she would meet Major Gordon,an Air Force officer whom Short would claim had proposed to her while he was recovering from a crash and whom would go on to pass away after being involved in yet another plane crash.Although it is hard to disprove, the mother of the fallen officer would go on to say that she was unaware that Elizabeth was romantically involved with her son,let alone engaged to be married.It appears he may just be another name on the list of men that Elizabeth either believed she was in a relationship with or flat out lied and said she was.

Next was Los Angeles and what appears to be a very tumultuous time prior to her murder.Short found it hard to hold down a steady job during this time and often reverted to going on dates just for a free meal.Most of this period was spent living in a nightclub with multiple other women but she was forced to leave after a fight over rent.

A string of meetings with "mystery men",multiple sightings of her looking distressed and disheveled and even a fearful meeting with a female officer mere hours before her demise.

It appears that Short may have known she was running out of time or had accidentally got on the wrong side of the wrong people but I doubt even Elizabeth Short knew just how horrific her future was about to become.

On the morning of the 5th of January 1947 the aspiring actresses body was found in an empty lot near South Norton Avenue.Originally believed to be a mannequin by Betty Bersinger,the police were left horrified upon discovering that the supposed discarded mannequin was in fact the brutally disfigured body of Elizabeth. Aggie Underwood,a local reporter,would be the first to collected photographs of the scene.He deemed them so gruesome that he had them edited before being published.
The images he took are as shocking today as they were 70 years ago.
Short,who was unrecognizable had been cut in two and carefully posed by her killer.
Her blood had been completely drained from her body and she had received numerous other wounds before having the area  between her second and third lumbar vertebrae severed with the precision of a surgeon.The face of the beautiful young woman was now slashed so her mouth resembled that of a clowns in full make up,due to stitches being placed on her face to close the wound during the autopsy there is a misconception that she was given a Chelsea Smile.   

Her right breast had also been attacked by a scalpel,removing tissue to leave muscle exposed.
There were several slices above her pubic hair and again on her thighs,they resembled an x and o grid.A tree branch had been inserted into her vagina (Short suffered from Infantile Genitalia,a condition that led her being unable to have sexual intercourse without great pain.) and had been beaten with a blunt object. One of the most degrading parts of her torture was being forced to eat her own feces after defecating due to shock.

After being identified by the use of Soundphoto scans of her prints that had been sent to Washington and put through their database the tabloid frenzy began.One of the more shocking tales comes from a reporter who rang Elizabeth's mother and claimed she had won a pageant so he could ask her questions only to tell her that her daughter had been brutally murdered.
It was the papers against the police as both battled for scoops and information.The papers got the upper hand when contacted by a man claiming to be Shorts killer,the Los Angeles Examiners' editor James Richardson was the man who received the call.Richardson was informed that the self confessed killer planned to turn himself in to police but only after a chase.More importantly though,the killer planned to sent the editor some of Elizabeth's personal items.
Surprisingly,on January 24th a parcel was received by the Examiner that did in fact contain items belonging to Elizabeth.Photographs,a birth cert,a bunch of random pieces of paper with notes scrawled on and most importantly an address book. The address book belonged to the owner of the nightclub that Short had been living in,one Mark Hansen.A single page had been torn from the book and the entire contents cleansed with gasoline in an effort to destroy finger prints.
Although prints were salvaged despite the efforts of the killer,these prints were damaged while on their way to be tested,thus destroying one of the best chances the police had to potentially catch the murderer.

Hansen would be questioned over the following days and despite witnesses claiming that Hansen and Short had fought just before her murder Hansen was cleared of suspicion.He would also positively identify a handbag and pair of shoes that were found in a restaurants trash near the dump site.
Police would use the address book to continue their questioning  but after more than 150 suspects were questioned police still had no solid leads.
Seemingly following through on his word,the killer again delivered a letter to the Examiner,claiming he would turn himself in to police on January 29th at 10 in the morning at a location never publicly revealed. Whether or not the man calling himself The Black Dahlia Avenger was ever going to follow through on this letter is unknown but  later that day a final letter would be received,this time stating that the murder was justified and that he was fleeing due to no chance of getting a square deal.

Unfortunately,it seems the case will likely never be solved as most of the evidence has either been lost or destroyed and what little remains is know in the LAPD museum and testing for DNA has been refused in recent years.What little chance there was of bringing the twisted killer to justice has been lost to time and it seems that the death of Elizabeth Short will forever leave a blood stained mark on the world of murder mysteries.