True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

(David and Penelope Jackson. Picture credit: This Week)

In the past few posts here on my blog, I seem to have written about a few cases that are all in a similar vein. I didn't plan on doing this, it just happened. I'm always in the middle of researching cases and when this particular story popped up in the UK press recently, it was hard for me to ignore. 

There seems to be this frightening occurrence that some of these couples (who've known each other for decades) just suddenly fly of the handle and kill their partner and it isn't by slipping some arsenic into their tea, it's always up close and personal. Whether it be throwing boiling hot water over an individual as they slept, trap them in a bathroom and strangle them or in this case repeatedly stab your husband even when he's on the phone to the police. 

We have to use the word 'allegedly' in this case because the trial is currently ongoing as we speak, It's supposed to run for 3 weeks. Obviously I will be keeping an eye on things and updating you on the verdict but you don't have to be Albert Einstein to work out how all of this is going to pan out. 

So let's get into some of the background of the case. Penelope and David Jackson looked just like any other older happy couple posing for photographs and taking regular holidays but as we learn with all of these types of cases, all was not as it seemed. Penelope had been married 4 times previously and her husband 3 times, so both of them had been around the block a few times and had seen a bit of life, why their marriages never lasted is a bit of a mystery but sometimes people just grow apart or could it have been something to do with the fact that they were both very headstrong and controlling people?

Penelope (currently 66) was younger than David (78) and were reported to have a fiery relationship. Out of the pair of them, Penelope was the one in control according to people who knew the couple, David seemed to be on edge a lot of the time that he was around her. 

Penelope apparently loved to create negative atmospheres and would enjoy making people feel uncomfortable with her actions and words. 

In December of last year (2020) the police were called to the house where the couple lived after the neighbours complained of some commotion. When the police arrived they found that Penelope and David had been having a shouting match over a remote control for the TV. David had reportedly grabbed Penelope so hard that she had bruises on her arm. 

They were always fighting, it was like they couldn't be in the same room together for 5 minutes without getting at each others throats. One wonders why they stayed together, maybe it was a financial thing or a part of them enjoyed the constant turmoil, who knows?

They had been married for 24 years and lived in a comfortable bungalow in a place in England called Berrow in Somerset. David had been a retired lieutenant colonel and Penelope had been a former accountant for the Ministry of Defence. They were used to the good life and had visited many beautiful locations around the world. There was a very passionate side to their relationship with Penelope having the words 'Property of David Jackson' tattooed just above her bottom. But with the passion they both had for each other there was also a dark side, both were very jealous, particularly Penelope but David had his faults too. 

The arguments were frequent and on many occasions felt like they could get out of hand. Their marriage was a constant cycle of arguments day in, day out when things finally came to head in February of this year (2021). They'd had another one of their arguments after celebrating Penelope's birthday with a dinner of seafood and champagne. Penelope, who was sick to death of it,  stormed off to the bedroom with the intention of taking her own life. As she sat there with those thoughts she suddenly said to herself ''Why should I be the one who has to end my life. It's him! he's the problem, It should be him''.

She picked up a knife and found David in the kitchen and charged at him, stabbing him as hard as she could, trying to aim for his heart, there was blood everywhere and the pair struggled. In the middle of all of this, David was trying to dial 999 and told the cops that his wife was trying to kill him. Penelope wasn't phased by this and continued to attack her husband. As she stabbed him the final time, the police overheard David scream in agony. They tried to talk Penelope into giving David CPR until the ambulance arrived but she refused. 

When the police arrived they found Penelope, still standing in her nightwear covered in blood acting calm and very matter of fact. Without a tear, shock or any sort of emotion she told the police that her husband was in the kitchen and that she hoped that he was dead. She told them straight away that she was trying to stab him and that she hoped that she'd managed to do it properly so he would bleed to death. 

She claimed that it had been a long time coming after years of abuse by David. She said ''I tried to aim for his heart but he hasn't got one''

David was in the kitchen lying lifeless on the floor. The police arrested Penelope and took her to the station where she make flippant remarks, acting as if the whole situation was a joke. She was happy that her husband was dead and she had no remorse, care or feeling about it. She claimed that she was happy to accept anything that was going to come to her for what she had done, to her it was all worth it. She had been talking and joking that much that the police had to advise her to be quiet and wait for her lawyer. Penelope expressed that she wasn't bothered about a lawyer either, she told them she stabbed him and that was that. 

Right now the trial is ongoing at Bristol Crown Court and is set to wrap up in a couple of weeks. I will be updating this post with any new news and the verdict. Penelope is claiming manslaughter. 

Penelope claims that what she did was in self defence after being in an abusive relationship for years with David who she described as a control freak. On the night of the stabbing, the pair were drunk. Penelope had also left a note by the telephone which said:

''Self Defence. To whom it may concern. I have taken so much abuse over the years - look at my records. But he was a good Daddy. However, the mask slipped tonight. That was unforgivable. I accept my punishment, may he rot in hell'' 

People who knew David, such a his daughter from his first marriage and his ex wife, described how he was scared of Penelope and when asked why he did not leave her, he replied that she had threatened to cut off his penis if he did. 

It's unclear what was exactly said that night that they had that argument but it was enough to tip Penelope into full blown anger. 

Penelope had a history according to those close to the couple of being very argumentative and would love to provoke people. David was described as being a bit of a lap dog where Penelope was concerned, he seemed to be on edge and nervous around her. 

As I mentioned before, I will be updating this case over the next few weeks until the outcome is reached. What are your thoughts on this case? Why do people stay in such toxic relationships? You must get out if you are in one, it only leads to more trouble ahead and in some cases it can end in death. You have to get out. 

October 2021: Since I last wrote about this case, the trial has been ongoing with many details and shocking revelations revealed. In the beginning we had David's loved ones describing Penelope as the dominant one in the relationship who David was nervous to be around and due to how things ended, one could be forgiven for believing that to be the case as a lot of men suffer Domestic abuse too. 

But, now we have Penelope's side of the family revealing that there were two situations where David was quite a horrible individual towards his wife. At a family BBQ he held a knife to his wife's throat and on another, Penelope was seen with a bloody nose. 

Penelope claimed that David was verbally and physically abusive to her on a regular basis. The lawyers for David's family said that if David was so controlling then she would not have been able to leave the house, go to the Gym or see her friends 

Friday 29th of October: After 11 hours of deliberation and days of testimony, a verdict was reached, Penelope Jackson as found guilty of the murder of her husband. The Judge explained that he believed there had been difficulties in the relationship with abuse from each of the parties involved but that didn't excuse Penelope's actions during or after her husband's murder. The fact that she found the situation amusing as the offers arrested her and had shown no remorse throughout her trial, spoke volumes. She was sentenced to 18 years at Bristol Court in England. 

Thank you for joining me on following this case x

Further Reading & Sources:

- Penelope Jackson Trial | This Week

- Penelope Jackson: Article | The Times

- Penelope Jackson: Article | ITV News

- Penelope Jackson: Article | Daily Mail

- Penelope Jackson: Article | The Mirror

Thank you as always for checking out my latest case & I'll keep you updated x

This week I am bringing you another case from the UK, a recent one and this time it's not the wife who's responsible for the death of her partner, it is the husband who is at fault this time and what a shocking case this one is. 

Before I begin like always, just a reminder that you can find me on my social media links here, donations can be made here if you enjoy my weekly content and want to help support my work. You can also find my YouTube channel here

So, let's get into this shocking true crime story which takes place in a town called Brinnington, Stockport (England). Thomas and Yvonne had met each other as kids and became childhood sweethearts. The pair were inseparable and always seemed to be like two peas in a pod. Fast forward 32 years, they had eventually married and spent 24 of those 32 years married and for a long time things were great, they were like soulmates and best friends, they did everything together and had 3 children. 

In recent years however, the kids had grown up and flew the nest which left them both together for the majority of the time that Thomas wasn't at work. Thomas had a job as a truck driver, the hours could be stressful and he could spend long periods of time away from home but they needed the money and Yvonne understood this. Having what she thought was a solid marriage, Yvonne was soon shocked and heartbroken to discover that Thomas had been unfaithful to her. They managed to patch things up but deep down there was a sense that Yvonne never quite forgave him and felt that the trust in their relationship had lowered. 

With the stress of Thomas's job and the thoughts of his affair in the back of Yvonne's mind, it was understandable that things between the pair had been pretty tense. Yvonne's confidence had taken a bit of a knock and it didn't take long until she started enjoying the attention that came from another man. 

The marriage between Thomas and Yvonne had run it's course, possibly years before but they stayed together because it was comfortable for them both and they both had deep insecurities. Yvonne felt that Thomas didn't notice her anymore and no doubt he felt the same way. Yvonne continued to see this man behind Thomas's back and when he found out, all hell broke loose. 

Given that they'd been together for so long and knew each other inside out they somehow managed to keep things together after this crisis but Thomas had changed, he'd become more suspicious, more possessive and more jealous. 

The arguments between the pair got worse and at this point it is a wonder why they were even still married. They both existed in the same house but didn't get on the majority of the time. 

One Saturday morning on the 23rd of May 2020 the couple were snapping at each other over silly things and the neighbours could hear everything that was going on. It was 9am and the pair were screaming so much that the neighbour actually texted Yvonne to see if everything was ok. Yvonne replied back that they were just having a stupid argument over frozen chips. 

It seemed that the fight over the frozen chips was the straw that broke the camel's back for Thomas because he chased after his wife and trapped her in the bathroom where he proceeded to strangle her. 

[Just a warning that I'm about to share some disturbing details]

Once he strangled his wife and there was no pulse, he bundled her body into the bath tub and went in search of a knife and a tree lopper before coming back to the bathroom. There he began cutting up his wife's body, the woman he had known for over 30 years and the mother of his children. In another sickening fact in this case, it was later revealed that Thomas had been texting his children in between dismembering his wife's corpse. He was using Yvonne's phone pretending to be her. 

After he had done cutting up the body, he began placing the remains into black trash bags. He was captured on CCTV footage carrying these bags to a skip, a council tip and a park where he dumped them before returning home empty handed. 

The children and family were led to believe that Yvonne and Thomas just had an argument and she just took off. He told everyone that the last time he had seen her she had been going to see that other man she'd had the affair with. It was common knowledge that the pair had troubles in their marriage so it wasn't too suspicious until the moment one of the children found their mother's rings and phone in their Dad's pocket. 

Some dog walkers had discovered some of Yvonne's remains and went to the police and Thomas was pulled into the station for questioning, he was interviewed at least three times before he gave in and confessed. He said he was like Hannibal Lecter and just could not stop. He pleaded guilty for the murder of his wife. 

Investigators did their best to find all of Yvonne's remains but could only find around 50%. 

Thomas wrote a letter expressing how sorry he was for what he had done and that he hoped his children could one day forgive him. Their daughter spoke on behalf of the other children and said how extremely difficult this had been for them and how they loved their mother so much but that they also loved their father too. 

Thomas was portrayed in court as a man who was of good character up until that point. They believed that there had not been a history of violence (In my personal opinion, I find that hard to believe. A lot of domestic violence incidences go unreported and considering what he did to his wife and the lying he did afterwards says a lot about his character) and seemed to believe that this was a one off, unpremeditated incident. 

Thomas McCann was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 12 years and 182 days. 

It was later revealed that shortly after he began his sentence for the brutal murder of his wife, he wrote a letter to an ex-mistress of his begging her to write to him. He told the woman that he ''put her to sleep'', meaning his wife and said that he couldn't let go of feelings about Yvonne and only killed her because she kept rubbing her affair in his face. 

This was another shocking case to cover especially in the light of the recent murder of Gabby Petito (the 22 year old woman who had been on a road trip with her fiance who had reportedly assaulted her. She was later found dead and he went on the run) and the R Kelly case (where women were reportedly held against their will, forced into sexual slavery and beaten if they didn't do as he ordered). Gabby had known her partner since high school and obviously felt she could trust him. There are so many cases I could give as examples with both abusive male and female partners but that is for another post that I will be covering in the future. 

Just goes to show (as with my previous case) you could be married to someone for years and still not know them or what they are capable of. I do believe that there is red flags there though, for a man to react so violently like that over chips (sure he had been stewing over the affair and other things but all he had to do was walk out and get a divorce) and he didn't just kill his wife by strangulation (that is very up close and personal to do that, to choke the life out of someone) he cut her body into pieces and threw her remains away like trash and lied about it. 

This man (look who I'm calling a man) had the ability to disrespect the mother of his children, the woman he had known for over 30 years, affair or no affair, where is the humanity? And he went to a barbecue like nothing happened, telling people she just walked out on him. It's sickening. 

What are your thoughts on this case? Please leave them below I would love to hear your thoughts. 

RIP Yvonne (or as her friends and family often called her, ''Von'') 

Further Reading & Sources: 

- Thomas McCann: Article | Daily Mail

- Thomas McCann Trial | Manchester Evening News

- Thomas McCann Article | BBC News

- Thomas McCann Article | Mirror

- Thomas McCann Article | The Guardian

- Thomas McCann | Greater Manchester Police

Please check out my latest video on my YouTube channel

As always, thank you for checking out my latest case and I hope you will join me in the next one x 

I was in the middle of researching another true crime case when I stumbled across this shocking story in a newspaper article. I thought I would share it with you as it's a little known case which took place here in the UK not that long ago. 

Before I begin, I just wanted to let you know (if you don't know already) that I have recently posted a new video to my YouTube channel. I know a lot of you have been asking me for quite a while about podcasts and creating videos and I have had in my mind for quite a while that I wanted to do something with the channel.

I'm currently putting plans together and I will be sharing podcasts, audios and videos of cases that I have already covered here on my blog but also fresh new cases too. I will continue to post cases here every Sunday but you will have the option of whether you want to read the stories or listen to me talking about them. 

Obviously since my discovery of yet another YouTube channel ripping off my work (I talk about the whole situation here), I really wanted to leave my mark on YouTube with my content. I've been lucky enough that I have so many readers of my blog that I've been informed of times when my work has been stolen and read out word for word on certain YouTube channels. I have my own style of writing, talking and sayings that when I'm copied it stands out so much, I was annoyed at first but I suppose I should take it as a compliment in a way. These people who have to copy your content to the letter are not going to get very far and seeing the amount of views that I get on my posts compared to the views that they get on their videos, makes me feel so much better. 

You can tell who's serious about making true crime content and who's in it for the views and money. I want to be a true crime author. I want my books to be in the true crime section of the bookstores. I'm not interested in being a famous 'Influencer'. I take my work seriously. 

Anyway, please check out the video if you can, it would mean a lot to me if you did (a like & subscribing to the channel would be fabulous too if that's possible). Saying that line 'it would mean a lot to me if you did', reminds me of Matthew McConaughey's character in Dazed & Confused when he says ''It'd be a lot cooler of you did''. All of my readers are cool anyway but that just randomly popped into my head. 

I'll get on with this story but just a reminder that you can find all of my social media links here. I have to mention that too because lately it seems that if it's not my true crime content that's getting stolen, it's my pictures being used for fake accounts (and that's another story which I previously shared here - on a side note: I have had emails from girls who have said this post really helped them & I'm so glad to have something positive out of that situation) so I have to let people know which accounts I actually own so they don't get scammed. 

That's enough about me lol, let's get into this case....

So I stumbled across a newspaper article about this case and decided to do more research. There's not a whole lot of information about this online and a severe lack of pictures so I will tell you what I did manage to find out. 

Corinna and Michael Baines were a married couple from a place called Neston In Cheshire, England. The pair had been married for 38 years and seemed to have a good relationship according to friends and neighbours of the couple. They had a son and a daughter together and all seemed to be well with the family but like I always say in a lot of my previous posts, you never know what goes on behind closed doors with a relationship and with a family. 

Eyebrows may have been raised at the age gap between Corrina and Michael, she being just 59 and he was 81. Corrina had been her husband's carer. They'd had some trauma in the past when their son took his own life. It was a devastating shock to the whole family. Their son Craig had been troubled for quite a while and had spend some time in prison for an assault on a man he claimed was a child abuser. 

Shortly before he died, Craig tried to open up to his mother about the horrible sexual abuse that he endured but he could never bring himself to reveal the identity of the perpetrator. Corrina didn't push the issue because she knew how difficult it was for him to talk about it as it would be for anyone. She wanted to give him time to talk about it fully when he was ready but unfortunately even though Craig seemed to be getting better from what his family could see, he was struggling and couldn't go on anymore. 

For years, Corrina and the rest of the family struggled to come to terms with the loss of Craig and the unanswered questions. Corrina missed her son and it was very difficult for her to cope with. 

Craig was in his early 20s when he died, he had his whole life ahead of him and somebody out there had hurt him, caused him so much pain that he didn't want to live anymore, it was heartbreaking. Corrina and her daughter had a strong bond and she was able to see her daughter grow up and have a family of her own, Corrina couldn't have been more proud. 

Being 81 and having health issues, Michael mostly stayed at home and Corrina did all of the housework, cooking, shopping etc. Sometimes it would be very stressful and Michael would call her when she was out somewhere demanding to know where she was because he wanted something. It was hard work being a full time carer. To lighten the load, Corrina and her daughter would spend time together going shopping and having lunch. The women would catch-up and talk about whatever was on their minds and it really helped them both have a bit of a break from their everyday lives. 

One day in July of 2020, Corrina and her daughter were relaxing at a cafe when Michael phoned her demanding to know where she was. Corrina's daughter was growing tired of how her mother was being treated and offered her mother the chance to come back to her house for a little bit to relax so she wouldn't have to face Michael. 

At some point Corinna and her daughter started having a heart to heart about Craig and Michael when her daughter dropped a devastating bombshell. Corinna listened in horror as she heard her say that Michael had been sexually abusing her and her brother Craig for years when they were children and she was worried that Michael was going to try something with her children. 

Corinna was beyond anger and in her mind Michael had been the abuser that Craig had been trying to tell her about all those years ago before he took his own life. It made sense to her why he struggled so hard to reveal who the abuser was. Corinna was frantic and didn't know what to do, after further discussion with her daughter and other family members it was decided that they were going to arrange for Michael to take a lie detector test. It sounds crazy but I can imagine at that point Corinna being desperate to know the truth about the man she thought she knew and had been married to for 38 years. She also wanted to get to the bottom of what really happened to Craig. 

The situation must have been going over and over in her mind because she left her daughter's house that night and returned home. She paced the floor wondering what to do and the anger was eating her up inside. Michael was in bed sound asleep and when the clock struck just after midnight, Corinna was hell bent on revenge.

Going out to the garden she grabbed a bucket and went to the kitchen, She poured in as much boiling water ad she could carry and emptied in packets of sugar and headed to the bedroom. There before her was Michael, fast asleep. Without a word, she stood over him and poured the boiling liquid over him as he woke up in shock and screaming in pain. 

She threw the bucket down and walked out of the house, didn't bother to call for an ambulance. She went to a male neighbours house who lived 9 doors away and banged on the door. The man answered and could see she was in a bit of a state, she told him ''I think I've killed him''

The man got on the phone straight away and called for an ambulance and the police who rushed to the scene. When the cops and paramedics arrived they found Michael yelping in pain with his skin peeling off. Through the screams of agony he managed to tell the police ''I'm badly burned, I'm burned all over. She poured boiling water all over me. I just want to die''. 

Michael was rushed to a hospital and placed on a burns unit where he had several operations. He tried to cling onto life for a few weeks but passed away as a result of his horrific injuries. 

Corinna wouldn't plead guilty in the beginning and told the police a different version of events, she claimed that she had lost control and didn't know what she was doing. At her trial which lasted 5 days, the prosecution believed that she was influenced in her actions by the grief, loss and anger about what happened to her son and for the horrible news that she had just learned from her daughter. They believed that she wanted some sort of revenge and that the crime was planned due to the actions of filling the bucket with boiling water and adding sugar which is known to cause more severe damage to the skin. 

They also brought up the fact that Corinna's particular kettle took up to 13 minutes to boil so it was difficult for them to believe that it was a random moment of rage when there was some time that had to be spent putting everything together. Also, her action of not phoning for an ambulance and leaving Michael to carry on suffering was also taken into consideration when a verdict was being decided. 

Corinna was found guilty of her husband's murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 12 years. The judge expressed that another factor of tragedy in this case is that Corinna's actions had ruined any chance of a further investigation into the allegations that Michael was a child abuser. The answers to the questions that the rest of the family and Corinna herself had, would never be answered. 

One would ask why Corinna's daughter would lie about something as serious as that, especially as her own brother had been a victim and took his own life over it. I know we say innocent until proven guilty but going by this story I believe the daughter to be telling the truth. You can understand why Corinna came to the conclusion that Craig must have been talking about Michael. It's hard enough to talk about who your abuser is but when it's a close family member and in this case, father, it must have been incredibly difficult. 

So, what are your thoughts on this case? I know it's quite a sensitive one but I thought you would find it interesting as it is not a case which is well known. 

It's heartbreaking what happened with this family. When it comes to child abusers, I have no sympathy but I am sad for Craig and his sister. It's just a very difficult story.

RIP Craig.

Further Reading & Sources: 

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Mirror

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | BBC News

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Liverpool Echo

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Daily Mail

- Corinna Smith Baines | Court Documents

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest post and hope you will join me next time for another true crime case x 

(Top picture: Kathleen McCluskey. From bottom left: James McCluskey, Marvin Brodie, Ray Diaz. Mohammed Assadi was also a victim but his picture is not posted here due to lack of any proper photographs available online. Picture credit: pictures taken from BBC News and collage was created by myself)

This case is one of those that has had a brief mention in the press and then just totally disappeared from people's minds which is very unfortunate but is quite common. That is one of the positives of being a true crime blogger, you can refresh the story to help raise awareness so other writers can cover the case and it informs more people about what actually happened. 

I stumbled across this case recently and I'd never heard about it before. There's only a small amount of information online and forgive me for the pictures above but those were limited too. I had to leave the only available picture of one of her alleged victims out because it was completely blurry. 

Luckily I have a number of true crime books which had some details about the case which helped with my research. 

[Please note before I begin that I will be mentioning things to do with substance misuse, alcoholism and suicide]

So let's get into the case....

Kathleen McCluskey was born Kathleen Baxter in South Yorkshire in 1960, not much is known about her early childhood other than that she was the daughter of a hospital porter and had left home at the age of 16 to live in Brighton, England. 

She was involved in prostitution and became dependant on various substances and alcohol and would use her looks to get what she wanted from men. People who knew her would later tell investigators that Kathleen had a high sex drive as well as an overactive imagination. She would tell people that she was a witch and talked about Satan and witchcraft, she even insisted that every time a visitor visited her flat they had to stroke a brass statue that she kept in her living room. She also had a penchant for opening her front door naked to anyone who dare knock such as postmen, milkmen etc. 

Her life was a constant upheaval of drugs, alcohol, sex and various men. In the 1980s she continued to move around and at one point stayed in Cambridge before going to London. 

Fast forward to 1994 and Kathleen is now in a relationship and about to marry a man by the name of James Wormold (also known as James Baxter. He changed his surname to McCluskey when he married Kathleen - the confusion is real with the surnames). James actually came from a highly respected family and he even attended Eton but soon dropped out and became a bit of a rebel. Instead of focusing on a career and carrying on the family traditions, James decided to travel, take drugs, party and become a hippie. He and Kathleen got married in the December of 1994 and both were addicts and this caused issues for their sex life. James had such a problem with the drugs that he had difficulty maintaining an erection but the pair came up with a solution to the problem. 

As I mentioned earlier, Kathleen had a high sex drive and was very adventurous, James didn't seem to mind this and the pair decided that she would have sex with other men whilst her husband watched. Watching his wife with other men enabled James to ejaculate and this arrangement seemed to suit them both fine until disaster struck and one of the men she was having sex with, Mohammed Assadi, died. 

Apparently in the August of 1999, Kathleen and James were up to their usual tricks and Mohammed Assadi was their willing guest for the evening. James watched his wife and Mohammed have sex and at some point he left the flat to get a bottle of Methadone (a heroin substitute) whilst they carried on. Neighbours later reported that they heard Kathleen shouting ''I CAN F!CK ANYBODY'' during intercourse with Mohammed. Some time later, James returned with the methadone and all three of them (who'd been drinking and taking drugs all night) fell asleep. 

When Kathleen and James finally woke up they found Mohammed nude, unresponsive with the almost empty bottle of methadone by his side. Neighbours heard Kathleen shouting for Mohammed to wake up. An ambulance was called and when paramedics arrived at the scene they found Kathleen hysterical and shouting that she had poisoned him. James was a mess, he was high as a kite and told the paramedics ''SHE'S MY WIFE & HIS WHORE''

Mohammed was dead at the scene, the coroner recorded an open verdict and whether it was the problems with the drugs or guilt over what had happened, James decided that 16 months later he would take his own life by vehicular suicide (inhaling carbon monoxide in his car). 

Not long after the incident with Mohammed, two other men had died in suspicious circumstances involving Kathleen. Both of these men had been vulnerable addicts too who fell under her spell. 

Another two men that she was involved with by the names of Peter Bakulinsky and Charles Horsepool  claimed that she had tried to give them some kind of poison, luckily they survived. Another bizarre fact about this case is that Kathleen kept photographs of herself having sex with Mohammed just before he died. These photographs were on the wall in her bedroom along with the sex toys and handcuffs that she always had around. 

It seemed that Kathleen's taste for kinky sex went beyond just a bit of rough pleasure. The act of having sex with the men and then taking their lives seemed to be something that she enjoyed. It was a tricky situation because she lured the men to the flat, the men were only happy to go, they had this attractive woman who wanted to have sex with them and party with them, it must have been just too good an offer to refuse. 

With the men being highly intoxicated and high, she would persuade them to swallow whatever substance she gave them, making these men have an involuntarily hand in their own deaths. It was very cold and sadistic. 

The police launched a full investigation into Kathleen and then suddenly the party was over, she tried to deny everything but her manipulative ways and fluttering her eyelashes at investigators didn't work for her and she was found guilty but only convicted of the murders of Mohammed Assadi and Marvin Brodie. She was cleared of the other charges relating to the other men. It was a difficult case to prove especially as all the victims had a long history themselves of alcohol and substance abuse. At the trial some witnesses said that they had previously overheard Kathleen say ''I DON'T WANT TO GO TO PRISON, I'LL KILL YOU LIKE ALL OF THE REST''. A Pharmacists book was also found in her flat, a book which enabled her to learn about different types of drugs and their affects on the human body. 

Kathleen, who claimed to be innocent, screamed obscenities in the courtroom as she was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2003. 

It's now been 18 years since Kathleen McCluskey was sentenced to 10 years in prison which is a ridiculous sentence for the lives of two men and not to mention her other victims. Even the prosecutors doubted that her husband James had committed suicide himself, they felt she could have possibly had a hand in that too. 18 years and I can't find anything to suggest that she has been released so I can only assume that she is still behind bars, she was involved with psychiatric care and deemed mentally unfit so maybe that is the situation right now that she is to remain locked up. 

If there is any more updates on this case I will let you know but thank you as always for checking out my latest case and be sure to find more of my content etc here

Further Reading & Sources:

- Talking With Serial Killers by Christopher Berry-Dee

- Kathleen McCluskey | BBC News Article

- Kathleen McCluskey Artcle | The Guardian

- Kathleen McCluskey Article | The Free Library

- Kathleen McCluskey Article | Irish Examiner

Hopefully I will see you in the next post. Stay safe x