Rough Justice

How he worst criminals paid for their crimes.

Harold Shipman, the worst know serial killer in British history, was determined to die. He tied a homemade noose around this throat and threw himself against his cell’s window in a desperate attempt to knock himself out. After several attempts Shipman succeeded and slowly asphyxiated while his leg smoldered and burnt on the iron-barred heater under the cell’s window.

Shipman committed suicide so that his wife would be eligible for the full pension.

Bluebeard, the monstrous French widow killer, never admitted his guilt but seemed eager to die on the morning of his execution. He refused the traditional brandy snifter and almost ran to the guillotine, eager to get the job finished. Years later Bluebeard’s lawyer found a note that seemed to confess his guilt.

Bonnie and Clyde were hit by at least forty bullets that tore through the cabin of their high speed tourer. The ambushing posse opened up with submachine guns and military style automatic weapons. Once their magazines were empty the sheriffs dumped the heavy weaponry and advanced on the gangster’s crashed and smoking vehicle while discharging pistol rounds through the back window. The autopsy report showed that Clyde Barrow died almost instantaneously but many of the bullets tore through his flesh and bone before smashing into Bonnie making her ‘dance around like a jack-rabbit.’

This book not only catalogues the dreadful deeds of some of the worst killers in history but draws on a wealth of sources to describe their last moments. Whether these criminals died in the chair, at the end of a rope or in a hail of bullets it is up to the reader to determine if they deserved ‘Rough Justice.’