Austria school shooter was an ‘introvert' who led 'withdrawn life', police say
The Austrian identified by local media as Arthur A killed 10 people on Tuesday before shooting himself at his former high school in Graz, in the state of Styria, sending shockwaves through Austria, which declared three days of national mourning.
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RTÉ News
10-08-2025
- RTÉ News
Man clings to Austrian high-speed train and survives
A man has survived clinging to the outside of an Austrian high-speed train, Austria's state railway said, reportedly after it left whilst he was having a cigarette break. Yesterday, the man grabbed onto the outside of the train at St Poelten, west of Vienna, railways spokesman Herbert Hofer said, and was later taken onboard after the train performed an emergency stop. "It is irresponsible, this kind of thing usually ends up with someone dying," he said. "And you're not just putting yourself in danger, if you end up under the train there's rescuers, there's police, fire service that come," he added. The railjet train was on its way from Zurich in Switzerland to the Austrian capital and left Sankt Poelten on time but arrived in Vienna with a seven minute delay, Mr Hofer said. Citing a passenger onboard, Austrian tabloid Heute said the man jumped into the space between two carriages after the train began to set off from a planned stop in Sankt Poelten. The man had taken advantage of being at a station to smoke a cigarette on the platform, Heute said. The man soon began to bang on windows to attract attention, Heute said, resulting in the train's conductor activating the emergency brake before train crew took the man aboard. "The conductor really had a very big go at him," the passenger told Heute. The man is a 24-year-old Algerian and was led away by police after the train arrived in Vienna's Meidling station, Heute reported. Hofer said he could not comment on the man's background ahead of further investigations. In January, a 40-year-old Hungarian man survived clinging to a German high-speed train for 20 miles, likewise after it set off before he had finished his cigarette.
The Irish Sun
03-08-2025
- The Irish Sun
How Monster of Rillington Place evaded justice for evil killing spree…& why secret doc could prove he had MORE victims
PURE EVIL How Monster of Rillington Place evaded justice for evil killing spree…& why secret doc could prove he had MORE victims JOHN Christie is one of Britain's most notorious serial killers - a soft-spoken gentleman on the outside but a perverse and sadistic predator underneath. He targeted women, usually strangling and raping his victims, before burying them in the garden at the infamous 10 Rillington Place, in Notting Hill, London. 16 Serial killer John Christie murdered at least eight victims, including a baby Credit: Alamy 16 Christie covers his face as he's led to court 16 10 Rillington Place in west London where Christie hid many of the bodies Credit: Getty Christie carried out a decade-long murder spree from 1943, initially while working as a War Reserve Police officer following the Blitz. The monster used his role patrolling the streets of London to hunt out his victims and hid behind his uniform to lure women into a false sense of security. Despite racking up a gruesome kill count of at least eight victims, Christie managed to fly under the radar, in part thanks to a police blunder. It was only after his crime spree was finally exposed that Christie became known as the "Monster of Rillington Place". Now The Sun can reveal that Christie may have admitted to more victims after a bombshell piece of evidence was uncovered. Kate Summerscale - who wrote The Peepshow, a book on Christie - has also told how the killer was able to evade detection for so long. She said: "His first murder, that we know of, was just a case of opportunity. 'He was patrolling the streets of London during black outs, during bombing raids - he had the authority of the uniform." She added: "There was such chaos during the blitz, during the war people went missing, bodies were found, it was an environment in which people who wanted to do things might feel the power to do them." Christie had invited 21-year-old Austrian munitions worker and prostitute Ruth Fuerst back to his flat on August 24, 1943, while his wife Ethel was away. New York's most feared serial killer told me he was hunting women, but wanted to be a 'hero.' After having sex, he impulsively strangled her and stowed her body beneath the floorboards. Christie then had a sinister change of heart and buried Ruth in the back garden the following evening - the first of many victims to be hidden at 10 Rillington Place. The murder sparked a grisly spree across London that left local women terrified of going out alone. Nine years earlier, Christie and his wife Ethel - who would go onto be one of his later murder victims - had moved into the modest home - one of four families crammed into the squalid terraced block. The year after he left the reserve police, Christie took up employment as a clerk at an Acton radio factory, where he met colleague Muriel Amelia Eady - his second victim. On October 7 1944, Christie invited Eady back to his flat, promising he'd concocted a mixture that could cure her bronchitis. He in fact tricked her into inhaling domestic gas - which at the time had a 15% carbon monoxide content - through a tube. While Eady was unconscious he raped and strangled her before burying her next to Fuerst. 16 Police digging up the garden at 10 Rillington Place Credit: Getty Images 16 Crowds gathering outside 10 Rillington Place during the trial Credit: Getty Images 16 Christie stalked the streets of London during World War Two in police uniform Credit: Getty Christie's next two victims have caused some contention for decades. In October 1948, Timothy Evans and his wife Beryl moved into the top floor flat of 10 Rillington Place. Beryl soon gave birth to a baby girl named Geraldine but the joy was short-lived when Evans called police and cryptically informed them that his wife was dead 11 months later. After multiple searches, cops eventually found Beryl, as well as her baby daughter Geraldine and a 16-week male fetus all dead in an outdoor wash-house at the property. A post mortem found both mum and daughter had been strangled, with Beryl also raped and beaten before she was killed. Evans was arrested and initially claimed neighbour Christie had killed his wife during a botched abortion operation. Following questioning, a full confession signed by Evans emerged but it was marred by speculation that the cops had fabricated his admission. Evans withdrew it and again accused Christie, this time of both murders, but was charged. On January 11 1950, Evans was put on trial for the murder of his baby daughter Geraldine, the prosecution opting not to pursue a second charge of murder for Beryl. He was found guilty and then hanged on March 9 at HMP Pentonville. 16 Timothy Evans was convicted and later hanged for the murder of his wife Credit: Getty - Contributor 16 Beryl Evans and her baby Geraldine were murdered by Christie Credit: Getty Images 16 Ruth Fuerst, thought to have been the first victim of Christie Credit: Hulton Archive - Getty In the years since, Christie has been ruled responsible for both murders - and the blunder meant he was free to kill four more women - his wife Ethel on December 14 1952, then Kathleen Maloney, Rita Nelson and Hectorina MacLennan between January 19 and March 6, 1953. Each of these last three victims were killed with his gas and strangulation technique. He also repeatedly raped them while they were initially unconscious. The bodies were stowed in a small alcove behind the back kitchen wall - which was then covered with wallpaper. Ethel, strangled in bed, was hidden under the floorboards. Christie had been out of work since early December 1952 and following Ethel's death he began selling off furniture, then her wedding ring and clothes, and even forged her signature in order to clear her bank account. On March 20 1953 Christie illegally sublet the flat and hastily moved out - possibly fearing capture was imminent. Four days later the three bodies in the alcove were discovered and a manhunt was launched. He had been staying at Rowton House in Kings Cross until news of the grim discovery was made and then quickly packed up and left, wandering around London until he was arrested on March 31 1953 near Putney Bridge. Christie eventually admitted to all of the murders, except for that of baby Geraldine. He was tried only for the murder of Ethel in June 1953 - and with his plea of insanity failing, was convicted and hanged on July 15, aged 54. Unearthed documents During research for her book, Kate came across a memorandum written by a prison guard who spoke to Christie following his trial and prior to his execution. "I wasn't necessarily going into this to solve the mystery of the Evans case - but it was quite a shock," she told The Sun. He allegedly confessed to both Evans murders for the first time - while further letters allegedly reveal the Home Office opted against releasing the information to the public. Drudging up the case again and admitting to a potential miscarriage of justice would not have been a good look with capital punishment a particularly loaded topic at the time. Referring to the Evans murders, Kate told The Sun: "It was not a very high profile case, it was just seen as a domestic, fish and chip type of crime. "There was not a huge amount of police resources or press interest. It was quite a cursory investigation." Kate said confusingly Evans "told several stories about what happened". 16 Rita Nelson was murdered on January 19 1953 Credit: Getty - Contributor 16 Katheen Maloney was killed by Christie in February 1953 Credit: Getty - Contributor 16 Christie's second known victim Muriel Amelia Eady Credit: Alamy "In one of them he confessed in detail to how he'd killed them and why. That was enough." He had originally accused Christie of being responsible on being arrested - but after police questioning signed a confession which he later retracted and again pointed the finger at his neighbour. "He was a semi-illiterate van driver in his mid-20s and Christie was a middle-aged, apparently respectable man," said Kate. "He'd been injured in the First World War and a police officer in the Second World War. The authorities dismissed Evans' accusations against Christie." She said there was a "certain amount of class prejudice", adding: "Respectable middle aged men or hard-drinking van driver". During her research, Kate was surprised to find the forgotten documents in the archives that may well prove Evans' innocence once and for all. She unearthed the memo written by a prison guard claiming Christie had confessed to him in the cells. Kate said: "He had nothing to lose, he was going to be hanged - Christie made a confession to the murder of Beryl and Geraldine Evans, the only time he did so, and explained how it came about." She went on to say: "I then found letters between a government minister and the head of the Civil Service which shows the prison guard's memo was kept from the public and press in 1953 and remained in sealed files for decades." Kate said the prison guard had toyed with selling the story to the press but in the end reported it to his governor who gave it to the Home Office but the government department "hid it". She said: "It would have been a big scandal, a miscarriage of justice. Capital punishment was already a very hot topic." In 2004, the High Court had acknowledged that Evans did not murder his wife or daughter. But while the court recognised the case as a miscarriage of justice, it did not formally overturn the conviction due to the cost and resources required. Monster cop John Christie lived in a world of female independence similar to today By Ryan Merrifield SERIAL killer John Christie began his decade-long murder spree in 1943 while working as a War Reserve Police officer following the Blitz. The monster used his role patrolling the streets of London to hunt out his victims and hid behind his uniform to lure women into a false sense of security. Author Kate Summerscale told The Sun: "His first murder, that we know of, was just a case of opportunity. 'He was patrolling the streets of London during black outs, during bombing raids - he had the authority of the uniform." Kate continued: 'The freedom and the power of being in that role enabled him to start luring women and killing them, and feeling he could get away with it. 'There was such chaos during the blitz, during the war people went missing, bodies were found, it was an environment in which people who wanted to do things might feel the power to do them.' I said the image of a man in police uniform targeting young lone women reminded me of another more recent murder. Kate agreed. 'When I started researching the case, when I realised he secured his first victim in uniform, it did remind me powerfully of Wayne Couzens,' she said. Then-serving Met officer Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard, 33, in Clapham in March 2022 - having roamed the streets for a random victim, and using his police ID to gain her trust. Kate also thought of the murder of two sisters, Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, by Danyal Hussein not far from her home in Fryent Country Park, when she began toying with the idea of a new book. 'I started thinking about why men kill women that are strangers to them, without any personal animus and I remembered Christie.' She'd seen his waxwork in Madame Tussauds as a child, and then recalled watching the 'very creepy' 1971 film on late night TV as a teenager. 'That was my starting point,' she continued. 'To learn more about him as a serial killer, and to learn more about the women that he killed, and the world in which he lived, and how that might have contributed to the crimes.' She added: 'I'm quite interested in the incel culture rise, in a type of vengefulness in a certain type of men who feel threatened by the increasing independence of women." She explained that the immediate years after the Second World War's end, when Christie committed the majority of his at least eight murders, saw a 'similarly feverish attitude, a tension about gender roles' as perhaps today. This had come about because women had entered the workforce while the men were away fighting and when they returned home their wives, girlfriends and mothers 'returned to domestic duties' which led to a 'restlessness', she said. 'There was huge pressure on family life,' Kate continued. 'Families were broken up, separations, death, people moving around, a massive increase in divorce rate came after the war. 'It was a period of turbulence, particularly in power relations between the sexes and perhaps we've been in a similar period of turbulence recently.' 16 Ethel Christie was murdered by her husband in December 1952 Credit: Getty - Contributor 16 John Hurt as Timothy Evans, Judy Geeson as Beryl Evans, and Richard Attenborough as John Christie in 1971 film 10 Rillington Place Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 16 Christie in his reserve police uniform Credit: Reddit
Irish Daily Mirror
01-08-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Husband's horrifying murder plot exposed after wife survives 4,000ft plunge
After witnessing a woman plummet from an aircraft 4,000 feet above, horrified spectators could only look on helplessly as her body crashed into the earth. It had initially seemed like a tragic accident, both the primary and backup parachutes that experienced skydiver Victoria Cilliers had been relying on that day refused to deploy – but the sinister truth was that the horrifying incident had been an a deliberate attempt at murder. Speaking on the documentary SkyDive Murder Plot, Rob Camps, secretary of the parachuting club at Nertheravon Airfield in Witfield, described how it appeared almost as though a "bag of washing" had been hurled from the aircraft. Rob recalled that it was "sickening" to witness as Victoria plummeted for approximately 25 seconds. He had presumed that her descent would prove deadly, and had even seized a body-bag before rushing to the field where she had crashed. However, what Paul uncovered in the days after the dreadful incident proved that Victoria's sickening plunge had been planned in advance. Victoria Cilliers in the field where she landed (Image: Storyfilms TV) Victoria was a seasoned skydiver, a qualified accelerated freefall (AFF) instructor with 2,654 jumps under her belt, yet nothing she could have done during that terrifying 25-second descent could have stopped that bone-shattering collision. But, against all the odds, Victoria survived. She had sustained serious spinal and internal injuries, along with a fractured pelvis and five broken ribs, but was sufficiently recovered to be questioned by police several days afterwards. Police became interested in Victoria's accident after examining her parachutes revealed that the soft links – crucial components known to experts as "slinks" – appeared to be absent from both parachutes. Accident investigators recorded video footage of the moment they unpacked Victoria's faulty 'chute (Image: PA) Without these vital parts, leaping from an aircraft at 4,000 feet would virtually guarantee death. Rob Camps had contacted police after inspecting her parachute and discovering what had occurred. Investigators' suspicions swiftly turned to Emile Cilliers, Victoria's husband and father of her two children. He had been present with her the day before, when a scheduled parachute jump had been cancelled due to poor weather conditions, and had mysteriously taken her parachute with him into the toilets when one of their children announced she needed the loo. Wiltshire Police's suspicions fell upon Victoria's husband Emile Cilliers (Image: PA) Analysis of the 38 year old army officer's mobile phone records revealed that he had not only been having an affair with another woman, an Austrian skydiving instructor he'd encountered on Tinder, but had also accumulated substantial debts through his frequent use of prostitutes. However, the challenge for detectives probing the case was that Victoria couldn't bring herself to believe that the father of her two children would ever wish to murder her. She remained captivated by the charismatic South African even after evidence surfaced that the tampering with Victoria's parachute wasn't Emile's first attempt on her life. Six days prior to that tragic parachute jump, Victoria had detected a powerful gas odour in her kitchen. Emile hadn't been home, informing his wife he was remaining at the military barracks to ensure an early morning start. Investigation of the gas pipework entering the property revealed conclusive proof that Emile had interfered with the valve – and that he had been entirely prepared to murder his children alongside his wife. An examination of his online browsing history demonstrated he had been investigating the availability of wet-nurses to feed their newborn infant before his wife's anticipated "accident." Emile Cilliers also loosened a gas valve in their kitchen in hope of killing his wife and children (Image: PA) Nevertheless, Victoria struggled to acknowledge the reality, even when police confronted her with the undeniable evidence of her husband's culpability. She eventually consented to give evidence against him, but in a dramatic turn altered her testimony in the witness box, suggesting the possibility that she might somehow have been responsible for the incident. She gave evidence that she had misled officers during her original interviews, and had overstated the duration he had spent with her parachute: "I made it sound worse than it was because I was humiliated. I wanted him to suffer." Emile persistently refuted attempting to murder his wife throughout a seven-week hearing at Winchester Crown Court and the jury ultimately delivered a message to the judge declaring they would be unable to reach a decision. With the possibility of a retrial looming, DI Paul Franklin and DC Maddy Hennah found themselves back at square one. As police unravelled his story, police began to see Emile Cilliers as a narcissistic psychopath (Image: Getty Images Europe) They relentlessly gathered additional evidence, questioning Emile's former wife, Carly Cilliers, who is the mother of two of his elder children. Their investigation revealed that he had also rekindled his romance with her. DI Franklin observed that Emile's capacity to deceive all the women in his life with such ease was characteristic of a psychopath. He went on: "He can have a conversation with his wife about picking up the children or a bit of shopping at the same time as arranging to meet someone he knows from Fabswingers for some weekend fun, and ringing someone from Adultwork to see if they are available. "Three totally separate conversations at the same time, managed in such a way that there was never a wrong phone call to the wrong person. When you see that repeated constantly for years, you see what kind of person he was." (Image: Storyfilms TV) Even following Victoria's life-threatening plunge, Emile was messaging sex workers from beside her hospital bed and organising encounters with them in the vicinity. However, Emile's web of deception started to crumble during his retrial and he was convicted of two counts of attempted murder, plus a third charge of recklessly endangering life. He was handed a minimum 18-year prison term. Meanwhile – at the very same parachute club where she so narrowly cheated death – Victoria encountered former Royal Marine Simon Goodman and the pair wed in October 2024.
