Stephen Akinmurele charged over five killings of elderly people

Stephen Oladimeji K. Akinmurele (born 16 March 1978, died 28 August 1999) was a Nigerian-born man of Nigerian and British parentage. He was charged with five murders of elderly people committed between 1995 and 1998. He died in custody before any trial took place, so none of the allegations was tested in court and he was never convicted.

He was first charged over the deaths of an elderly married couple, Eric and Joan Boardman. He was later charged over the death of Jemimah Cargill, and then over the deaths of Dorothy Harris and Marjorie Ashton. Police said they believed he might also have been responsible for two further killings. The media gave him the nickname "the Cul-de-Sac Killer".

Background

Mr Akinmurele was born in Nigeria. His father was Nigerian and his mother was white and British. He moved with his mother to the Isle of Man in 1988. He later moved to Blackpool, England, where he worked as a barman.

He was reported to have a history of mental illness. He was also reported to have committed offences against elderly people from the age of [CHECK: age missing in source]. Police said he sought out situations in which he would meet older people, and asserted that he got a "kick" out of killing them. The motive attributed to him was gerontophobia, a deep-seated fear or hatred of older people.

The people he was charged with killing

All of those he was charged with killing were elderly. The lead investigator said Mr Akinmurele had a "pathological hatred" of older people. The nickname referred to his alleged choice of victims who lived in quiet suburban streets.

Eric and Joan Boardman

Eric Boardman, 77, and his wife Joan, 74, were found dead at their home in Blackpool on 30 October 1998. One of their daughters discovered their bodies. Mr Boardman had died from a beating and was found in the hallway, beneath a wardrobe. Mrs Boardman had been strangled and was found in the living room. A makeshift cosh made from batteries bound together was found beneath Mr Boardman's body. Mr Akinmurele was arrested and charged with both murders on 1 November 1998.

Jemimah Cargill

In November 1998 he was charged with the murder of Jemimah Cargill, 75, who had previously been his landlady. She died in a fire at her flat in Blackpool in October 1998, before the Boardmans were killed.

Dorothy Harris and Marjorie Ashton

In November and December 1998, after a joint investigation by Lancashire police and Manx police, he was charged with two murders on the Isle of Man.

• Dorothy Harris, 68: she was partially blind and deaf, and was found after a fire at her home in Ballasalla in February 1996.
• Marjorie Ashton, 72: she was found strangled at her home, also in Ballasalla, in May 1995.

Detectives in Lancashire and on the Isle of Man believed he might have been responsible for other deaths. They re-examined house fires and sudden deaths in both areas.

Further confessions

While in custody, Mr Akinmurele reportedly confessed to three more murders. One was of a rambler on the Isle of Man, whom he said he had killed and buried on a clifftop overlooking the sea. Manx police found a gun bearing his fingerprint, but despite extensive excavation they found no body. Police believe these confessions were false and were made to conceal that his true motive was hatred of older people.

Death

Mr Akinmurele died by suicide at Manchester Prison in August 1999, a few weeks before his trial was due to begin.

A note was found in his pocket. In it he wrote: "I know it's not right always thinking like this but it's always on my mind. I can't help the way I feel, what I did was wrong — I know that and I feel for them — but it doesn't mean I won't do it again. I'll keep on having this feeling I'm going mad because I can't take any more of this and that's why I'm saying goodbye." He also wrote to his mother: "I couldn’t take anymore [sic] of the feeling like how I do now, always wanting to kill".