Children Who Kill: Profiles of Pre-Teen and Teenage Killers (24 page)

Stephen was a gentle boy who lived with his parents and his sister in Bakewell, Derbyshire. He enjoyed hand-rearing orphaned baby hedgehogs in his garden shed. He was classified as educationally subnormal and could barely read and write.

By September 1973 seventeen-year-old Stephen was employed by the council to work as a groundsman in Bakewell Cemetery. After lunch one day he returned to work and found a half naked and badly battered woman lying face down on the cemetery footpath. He also noticed the weapon, a pick axe handle, lying nearby. Stephen did what any caring passerby would have done – he turned her over and felt for a pulse.

At this stage the victim sat up so the teenager ran to get help. Meanwhile the bloodied woman got to her feet and fell heavily against a gravestone. The police and ambulance arrived forty minutes later and she was rushed to hospital.

The local police asked Stephen to help with their enquiries. The seventeen-year-old – who had the reading age of eleven–was happy to do so. He had no idea that they might suspect him.

But for the next nine hours they questioned him
relentlessly. They shook him awake each time he started to doze off and they refused to let him see his parents who turned up at the station several times. He was only given one small sandwich to eat so was very hungry and cold. He also had a spinal problem at the time of the interview so was in pain from sitting on a hard wooden chair for nine hours. The police didn’t offer him a solicitor but suggested that if he signed a confession he might get to go home. Eventually the hungry and bewildered boy signed a confession that was not in his own words and, indeed, contained many words that he didn’t comprehend. He thought at this stage that the woman would regain consciousness and tell the police that he wasn’t to blame. Unfortunately for him, Wendy Sewell died of her massive head injuries without regaining consciousness.

But the youth should have had nothing to fear. After all, his fingerprints weren’t on the murder weapon. The blood on his clothes wasn’t consistent with the blood spatter there would have been if he’d attacked her. And a bloody palm print belonging to another person, plus hair and fibres that didn’t come from Stephen, had been found. The police had got the boy to say in his statement that he’d sexually assaulted her – but despite her partial undress it was later confirmed that she hadn’t been sexually assaulted. They’d also got Stephen to say that he’d hit her twice whereas the later autopsy showed that she’d been bludgeoned seven or eight times.

Wendy had allegedly told a friend that she was going to meet one of her lovers in the cemetery that day.
An attractive woman, she’d had several boyfriends who lived locally and it was rumoured that at least one of them held high office and had links with the police.

Meanwhile, Stephen went on trial for her murder. Incredibly, the jury weren’t told about his mental handicap or learning difficulties. After a three day trial they took just one hour to find him guilty and he was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, with the judge recommending a minimum sentence of seventeen years. Poor Stephen almost collapsed at the verdict and his family was also in shock.

Prison isn’t easy for most prisoners – but it was an especial hell for this gentle boy from a loving family. In prison he was assaulted by other prisoners, had boiling water thrown on him and was beaten up numerous times. He was also ill-served by the prison authorities on the basis that he was what they call IDOM – in denial of murder. As such, he was wasn’t sent on training courses or given the better prison jobs. Instead he was penalised again and again for asserting his innocence.

His parents and sister also continued to assert his innocence, going to MPs and newspapers and constantly reiterating that the evidence simply didn’t point to Stephen but they often met with hostility or indifference. They watched the years slip by without Stephen being granted parole as he ‘refused to show remorse.’ But how could he show remorse for a terrible murder that he didn’t commit? He even told his parents that he’d rather die in prison than pretend that he’d killed Wendy in order to go free. Because of his
continued claim to innocence, his seventeen year tariff passed and the authorities didn’t let him out.

When their son had been in prison for twenty years the Downings were joined in their campaign by Don Hale, a journalist who had become editor of the local paper, the
Matlock
Mercury.
He became convinced that this was a miscarriage of justice and obtained a court order which forced the police to release relevant documents.

For a while after this, Don Hale’s life became almost as frightening as Stephen’s. He had his phone tapped and was followed by the security services. He received death threats and survived three attempts on his life with vehicles been driven straight at him as he walked home at night. It was very clear that someone didn’t want the case reopened and was willing to use violence to keep the caring editor quiet. He also faced hostility from the police who threatened legal action claiming obstruction and defamation – but they backed down when challenged via the courts.

As the authorities became increasingly aware of Don’s campaign, Stephen was transferred to the freezing ‘troublemakers’ wing in Dartmoor Prison – his only troublemaking being to continually protest his innocence.

For the next seven years Don fought to clear Stephen’s name. During these years, various witnesses
contacted him and explained why they’d been too afraid to come forward. Others had been given the impression that Stephen was a pervert so thought that it didn’t matter if he was doing time for a murder he didn’t commit. But it turned out that these were rumours put about by people with a vested interest, determined to blacken the innocent teenager’s name.

Stephen Downing had by now become the longest serving prisoner to be detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure – and he was being detained on no evidence. But after seven years Don’s crusading paid off and in November 2000 the case was referred back to the court of appeal and by January 2002 his conviction had been quashed.

Don Hale – and Stephen’s parents – had mainly battled alone to end this travesty but the press were out in force when Stephen, now forty-four, was freed. By then he’d spent twenty-seven years in prison. ‘I could have done with the cavalry a few years ago, but nobody wanted to know’ Don Hale said ruefully.

But it should have been obvious from the start that Stephen didn’t fit the profile of a violent killer. He was from a loving home and he cared for animals. He had no history of violence – and we know that children who kill have usually displayed previous episodes of more minor violence towards animals, other children or towards themselves.

This author interviewed Don Hale in April 2002 immediately after publication of his inspiring book on the Stephen Downing case,
Town
Without
Pity.
Asked why he’d fought so determinedly for a teenager he
didn’t originally know, he said that ‘there were so many anomalies in the original evidence that it soon became obvious that Stephen was innocent.’

The facts do indeed prove that the gentle teenager was innocent – so why were so many people happy to believe in his guilt? ‘He was working class, from the wrong side of the tracks,’ Don says sadly, ‘If something went wrong in the town, the locals would say they were sure it was someone from the council estate. Stephen and his parents lived on that council estate.’

Don also got the impression that Stephen’s comparative solitude was enough to make him appear different – and some people are very threatened by anyone who isn’t like they are. ‘He was a bit of a loner in that he wasn’t involved in lots of clubs and societies. He liked to do mechanical work rather than go to discos with the local lads.’

Did the boy’s age at the time of his imprisonment make Don more sympathetic to his situation? ‘To a certain extent – but it was more about his low IQ. He was considered backward yet the police treated him very badly. He was a very naive boy, the ideal patsy really.’ Don’s own son was seventeen at the time he began researching the case so this made him additionally aware of how terrible it must be for an innocent teenager to lose everything he’d ever known.

So could this happen to another child or has the introduction of PACE in 1986 (a criminal law which ensures that prisoners have access to legal advice) put paid to such high pressure interrogations? ‘Well, it wouldn’t happen in the same way now,’ Don admits,
‘Interviews are taped, monitored, and the prisoner is accompanied but I’m sure there are still cases where the wrong suspects are rounded up and put in the frame for someone else. It’s especially difficult for teenagers who are loners to provide an alibi.’

In
Town
Without
Pity
Don describes how he was alternately mocked and ignored by prison wardens on his first visit to Stephen. ‘The wardens don’t like journalists getting involved in a case. Maybe they think that it will raise the prisoner’s hopes of an early release unfairly. But Stephen had already done ten years over his originally suggested time.’

Thankfully Don’s message – that innocent children sometimes go to jail – will reach an even wider audience in due course for he’s been co-writing a screenplay about this gross miscarriage of justice. He’s aware that the situation could have been even more dire for Stephen than it actually was. ‘If the boy had been convicted a few years earlier when we still had the death penalty he could have been hung.’ He would like to see a different judicial set-up that doesn’t send vulnerable seventeen-year-old boys to adult prisons.

After twenty-seven years in such prisons, Stephen is at last free. When he first left jail he found work as a trainee chef, but at the time this author talked to Don Hale he had just changed employment to become a security guard. Meanwhile, Derbyshire Police have announced that they intend to reopen the investigation into Wendy Sewell’s murder, so perhaps at last her killer will be tracked down.

There have been instances of children killing their friends in America because of the ready availability of guns. The argument that would once have been ended by juvenile shouts or blows turns into a fatal episode when one child shoots the other dead.

That said, many psychologists have pointed out that children who have never been hit by their parents don’t have this level of anger. Speaking at the Children Are Unbeatable seminar in January 2002, bestselling author Dorothy Rowe said that people who have never been hurt and humiliated by their parents have the capacity to talk things through without violence, to reach a compromise.

Sometimes the juvenile’s rage has been simmering under the surface for months, as in the following case of teen killers Karen Severson and Laura Doyle who murdered Missy Avila, their seventeen-year-old friend.

Karen was born on 17th October 1967 to a single mother who immediately gave her up for adoption. Three days later her new parents, Loyal and Paula Severson, took her to their Californian home. She was a lonely child who made up stories about having lots of
brothers and sisters. She overate and was clearly lacking in confidence.

When Karen was eight she befriended one of her schoolmates, Michelle Avila, who was always known as Missy. Karen started to spend most of her time at Missy’s house and started to call Missy’s mother ‘mom.’ For the next few years – up until weeks before she killed her – the girls appeared to remain best friends.

But the differences between them became more obvious as they matured into teenagers. Missy was less than five foot tall with pretty features, a little waist and long silken hair. The boys at school loved her. In contrast, Karen was plain and still overweight. And Missy was a first class scholar whilst Karen struggled to pass her exams. Missy also had an incredibly close relationship with her mother Irene and could tell her anything.

Karen watched for day after day as her best friend was admired and asked out by various boys. When someone at last asked her, Karen, out she was ecstatic. She soon slept with him and became pregnant at age fourteen.

She gave birth to a baby at age fifteen but couldn’t cope. She often fled to Missy’s house, leaving the baby with her adoptive parents. But being at Missy’s house just made her more envious – Missy could have fun with boys and had a freedom that Karen now lacked.

Karen had gained over three stone during her pregnancy so was mocked even more than before by the local youths. She started to smoke marijuana and
drink alcohol. Meanwhile, Missy’s parents had separated and Missy was very upset and even more reliant on her best friend. So when Karen enrolled in a less academic school, Missy joined her there.

But Karen became increasingly jealous of her friend. She started to set various schoolmates against each other, telling each of them that it was Missy who had started the ugly rumours. As a result, four of the girls jumped on Missy, causing facial bruising. They implicated Karen but Missy refused to believe that her best friend would set her up.

Soon afterwards Karen could see that sixteen-year-old Missy had fallen in love. She herself started dating a boy who had a crush on Missy. Karen was so terrified of losing him that she warned Missy to stay away.

Suddenly bereft of Karen’s friendship, Missy made friends with another pupil called Laura Doyle, a girl who – along with Karen Severson – would plot her death.

Laura had been born on 1st May 1967 to a couple who had problems with alcohol. They argued constantly, oblivious to the effects it was having on their little red-haired child.

Laura matured into a thin, anaemic-looking teenager. All the problems she’d had at home had made her awkward so her mother decided to send her on a modelling course. But being surrounded by natural beauties made the insecure child feel even worse about herself and she became increasingly withdrawn. Luckily she was allowed to leave the course prematurely because her family ran out of cash.

Laura was very glad to have Missy as a friend. She started spending lots of time at her house and also started to call Missy’s mother ‘mom’. She found a warmth in the Avila household that she’d never known in her own unhappy home.

When Laura was sixteen she started dating a boy who she liked a lot. She was terrified that he’d go off with someone else so clung to him tightly. But he said that she was too possessive and finished with her. He also started spending more time with Missy, who’d dated him in the past.

Laura now felt angry towards Missy for this supposed betrayal. Karen also became enraged when she saw her own boyfriend holding Missy close. Karen was pregnant for the second time and longed to get married. She was unjustifiably afraid that Missy would get in the way.

On 1st October 1985 Laura drove Missy up the local mountain road to a wooded area. Karen Severson and another girl (whose identity is secret so she’ll be called Annette throughout this case study) followed close behind in Karen’s car. When the cars stopped, Laura and Karen grabbed Missy, hauled her into the woods and shouted at her. They said that she’d ‘fucked’ their boyfriends and that she’d have to pay. In turn, Missy wept and looked to Annette for help, but Annette looked away.

When they’d run out of insults they proceeded to beat her. The seventeen-year-old tried to deflect the blows and received abrasions to her arms and hands. Other blows caused bruises to her chest and face.

Laura pulled Missy’s hair then Karen produced her penknife and cut shards of it off. Next, they dragged her into the stream in a standing position. A frightened Annette now ran back to the car. But Karen and Laura continued the assault, forcing their former friend into the shallow water whilst she pleaded and screamed. One girl grabbed Missy’s feet to stop her from kicking whilst the other twisted her arm behind her back. Then they held her face in the stream until she stopped writhing and was presumably dead. Even now the girls weren’t happy with their handiwork so they pushed, pulled and rolled a huge log from further upstream until it covered Missy’s small body, pinning her down.

Laura then phoned Missy’s house and said that Missy had gone off with some boys in a car and was she back yet? She and Karen would stick to that story for many months whilst Annette kept quiet and tried to put the death from her mind.

Karen and her little daughter went back to Missy’s house after the funeral and stayed for hours. They came back the next day and the next. Within a fortnight they’d moved in and Karen was helping with the housework and emotionally supporting the bereaved mother. It comforted Irene to have her daughter’s best friend there.

She noticed that Laura wasn’t coming around any more, then heard that the girl had left school and found a job in a bakery. And Laura sent a condolence card which said that Irene had been like a mother to her and that she still felt Missy’s presence all around.

But there were increasing clues that Karen wasn’t coping with the pressure of Missy’s death. Her weight soared to over fifteen stone. She started to imagine that she heard and saw Missy’s ghost – or at least she told Irene she did. She kept naming possible culprits and trying to set traps to catch the boys she said were Missy’s killers. She intermittently spoke to the police and probably acted strangely, but they suspected a man or men in this homicidal death.

When Karen was five months pregnant with her second baby she had an argument with her boyfriend and aborted his child. She began to visit Missy’s headstone most days and speak to it. This became so alarming that Irene asked her to get professional help.

Laura was equally lost. She’d originally avoided alcohol in favour of soft drugs as she didn’t want to emulate the drinking problems she’d witnessed throughout her childhood. But now she increasingly turned to drink. She looked blank when the police asked her questions about the youths that Missy had gone with and it was soon rumoured that she’d turned to cocaine. She lost so much weight that she was in constant ill health and looked skeletal.

It’s unlikely that either girl would ever have confessed but the third girl, Annette, remained troubled by Missy’s death. Three years later she told the full story to the police and Karen and Laura were arrested. In 1990 the case went to court. Both were found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to fifteen years each, to be served in a Californian prison.

Laura’s mother was honest enough to write a letter
to the authorities explaining that she hadn’t been strong enough to remove Laura from a very unhappy home situation. She admitted that Laura had suffered greatly as a result.