“To protect and serve “ is the motto most identify with police officers , but what happens when the honor and trust behind the sentiment is violated? This list has some who even investigated their own crime scenes, and they all abused their power and authority to carry out heinous crimes.
Tore Hedin was a Swedish serial killer, arsonist, and police officer. In 1951, a rally was held in Hedin’s honor to keep him as the local police officer for the city. After the rally, he committed his first murder by killing his best friend, John Allan Nilsson, after a poker game. He then set fire to the crime scene.
In an ironic twist, Hedin took part in the investigation of the murder he committed and even spoke to national media concerning the case. About a year after he killed Nilsson, Hedin went on a killing spree after his girlfriend, Ulla Ostberg, broke up with him.
His first stop was at his parents’ house in Saxtorp. He killed them both, and then he set the house on fire. Afterward, he went to the retirement home where Ostberg worked and climbed through a window to her bedroom.
When he didn’t find her in her room, he searched the floor and found Ostberg in the matron’s room. He killed them both with an axe, barred the doors, and set fire to the building. Four elderly people died in the home, and a fifth died later of burns in the hospital.
After the spree, Hedin went into hiding. The local police agency had already realized he was behind the crimes, and they set out on a manhunt. They found Hedin’s car parked in front of a cabin by a lake, and a suicide note was on the front seat.
In the note, Hedin claimed he was only good at tracking other criminals and explained that he killed his parents so they would not have to suffer for the crimes he committed. He ended the note with his name, occupation (murderer), and whereabouts (unknown).
His body was later found weighted down in the lake. Hedin’s corpse was transported to the Institution of Anatomy at Lund University. It was stored at the institution until 1974, when it was cremated.
Serial killer John Christie should have never been a cop to begin with. He had a criminal record that included theft and violent assault, and head spent time in prison. But all of this was overlooked, and he was able to join the War Reserve Police, where his service was deemed highly efficient and credible.
While serving as a policeman, however, he committed his first of many murders. Ruth Guest was a 21-year-old prostitute having an affair with Christie. He impulsively strangled her to death while having sex with her one night, and he then buried her in the communal garden of his residence at 10 Rollington Place.
This ignited his desire to murder more women, and he settled on his neighbor , Muriel Eady. Christie invited her over on the false pretenses of being a doctor who could help with her chest ailment. Using carbon monoxide in an inhaler, he rendered her unconscious, then strangled and raped her before burying her body in the garden alongside Fuerst.
Another neighbor, Beryl Evans, would become his third victim. Beryl and her husband, Timothy, wanted to end Beryl’s pregnancy, fearing they would be unable to support another child. Christie offered help, again claiming to be a doctor.
Instead, he raped and strangled Beryl with a necktie, then hid her body in the garden shed on the property. Christie reported to Timothy Evans that his wife died of septic shock, and claimed that he would find a suitable home for their one-year-old baby.
The infant was later discovered with Beryl’s body in the garden shed. Evans, overcome with grief and wanting to protect Christie, actually confessed to killing his wife and child and was later hanged for the crimes.
In the years to come, Christie would kill three more prostitutes and his wife, Ethel. He stored their bodies in various areas of the house. The three prostitutes would be discovered hidden in a papered-over alcove in the kitchen by a new tenant after Christie suddenly moved out.
Ethel’s body would be discovered underneath the floorboards when police came to investigate. Christie was soon found in London and tried for his crimes. He originally entered into an insanity plea, but with less than two hours of reflection, the jury ruled against him, sentencing him to hang for the murder of his wife.
Christie was executed later on July 25, 1953,in Pentonvilla Prison in London. In 1966, after a long campaign, Timothy Evans was granted a royal pardon, 13 years after his wrongful execution.
Mikhail Popkov would use his uniform and patrol car to gain his victims’ trust before luring them to their deaths. From 1992 to 2000, Popkov targeted full-figured women who resembled his abusive mother, attacking them with a screwdriver, axe, or knife.
He would then rape his victims before leaving their mutilated bodies in forests throughout the town of Angarsk, Russia. Popkov murdered at least 22 women, but the exact number could be well over 30. The brutality of the murders would haunt the townspeople and make national headlines, giving Popkov the nickname “The Werewolf “ due to the nature of his attacks.
But then the killings stopped. Popkov said he’d contracted a venereal disease that was left untreated and caused him to become impotent, leaving him unable to take pleasure from his murders and rapes. Popkov managed to elude detectives for two decades, even after one of his potential victims escaped and positively identified Popkov as her attacker
However, a mandatory DNA test was administered in 2012 for all law enforcement officials in Angarsk, thus identifying Popkov as the notorious Werewolf. Most of his victims were aged between 18 and 28, and had been drinking at the time they accepted a lift from him in his car.
The majority died instantly from their horrific injuries, but three did survive only to succumb in the hospital. Popkov who had retired from the police, having reached the rank of second lieutenant, was arrested in June 2012. In January 2015, Popkov was sentenced to life imprisonment
Gennady Mikhasevich was a volunteer police officer for the Voluntary People’s Druzhina in the USSR. He was often assigned to work the cases of his own murders, conducting interviews and handling evidence.
This resulted in him pinning his crimes of rape and murder on innocent men. Tragically 13 people were convicted in his place, 12 of whom were sent to labor camps. One unfortunate individual was even executed after being tortured and forced to confess.
However, police eventually deciphered a pattern in the killings that led them to believe they were all being committed by the same person. With the serial killer theory in mind, Mikhasevich began worrying he would be captured.
He sent an anonymous letter to the police signed “Patriot of Vitebsk,” stating the corruption of the times was the cause of the killings. This actually gave police a lead, and after another note was left next to a victim, police decided to compare the letter to the handwriting of over 500,000 males in the city of Oblast.
The analysis pointed to Mikhasevich as the prime suspect. While he confessed and was arrested, Mikhasevich’s fate isn’t clearly known. Some reports say he committed suicide in jail. Others say he was executed by firing squad. He was the first serial killer acknowledged by the state-controlled Soviet media.
A veteran police officer, Norbert Poehlke’s daughter passed away from cancer in March 1984, leaving the family with around $400,000 debt. As Poehlke struggled to provide for his loved ones, he eventually resorted to criminal methods.
From May 1984 to October 1985, police noticed a pattern in bank robberies occurring in West Germany. This pattern was repeated at least three times, which gave police the impression they were dealing with a serial killer.
The robber would smash the teller window with a sledgehammer, demand the money, and then escape in a stolen vehicle. The owner of the getaway vehicle would be found dead – shot in the head --- in an area near the bank.
After the last robbery, which was unsuccessful, police identified the gun as a Waltham P5 pistol, a gun commonly issued to police. Investigators then discovered the police uniform of Norbert Poehike in a locker at the Ludwigsburg train station.
Pairing this with Poehike’s recent strange behavior, his daughter’s death , and his large debts, police decided to pay him a visit to ask a few questions . But Poehike realized the police were on to him and, tragically, before they could reach him for questioning, he shot and killed his wife and two sons.
Poehike then disappeared with his other boy, but police soon found their bodies in Northern Italy. Both were shot in the head with the Walther P5 in what was clearly a murder-suicide. Ballistics would further conclude that Poehike was involved in all three robberies and shootings, indicating the case was closed.
A crooked Streetwater police officer-turned-serial killer from the height of Miami’s “cocaine cowboys” Era now has a date with death. The former cop admitted to killing nine drug dealers and witnesses during a four-month span in 1986, saying they were “scum of the earth.”
Though initially arrested in May 1986 for the slayings of 49-year-old Ramon Alvero and his girlfriend 37-year-old Daisy Ricard, a police search of Pardo’s Hialeah apartment revealed a calendar where he dated his killings.
Other evidence implicated him and a fellow officer in seven other Miami-area homicides earlier that year. After a heavily-watched trial, a 12-member jury sentenced Pardo to death by electric chair. He asked for execution in his final address, claiming “I’m a soldier, “ and “I’m begging you to allow me to have a glorious end.”
Pardo is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection December 11, 2012, at the Florida State Prison near Raiford.
After eight years of service, Anthony “Jack” Sully, left the Millbrae City Police Department and started an independent contracting business. In February 1983, Sully committed his first of six heinous murders. Sully began freebasing , cocaine and hiring escorts, preferring the girls who worked for Tina Livingston.
He had Livingston bring Gloria Fravel to his company warehouse, and after Fravel denied Sully’s advances, he gagged and handcuffed her. He then suspended her from the ceiling and raped her repeatedly over the weekend, with Livingston and another prostitute’s assistance.
Eventually, Fravel’s gag became loose, and she screamed for help. That’s when Sully tightened the noose suspending her until her body went limp. Thinking she was dead, they loaded her in the car to dispose of the body, but upon unloading, they realized she was still alive.
Sullivan then hit her with a hatchet repeatedly until she died. Her body was found later, and Sully kept the newspaper article detailing the investigation, thinking it humorous that Fravel was discovered by a butcher.
Two months later, Sully killed another of Livingston’s prostitutes, a 19-year-old Brendan Oakden, in a very similar fashion. This time he stored her body in a barrel before disposing of it. A month later he murdered another prostitute and her pimp.
Once again he stored their bodies in barrels. A fourth prostitute was his next casualty , and a final known victim, bringing his total to six. Sully was arrested in August 1983. Materials used to dispose of the bodies was found in both his truck and warehouse.
Sully’s footprint was captured on plastic sheeting used to cover two of his victims. His fingerprints were also found on the barrels. After seven-week trial, Sully was convicted and given the death penalty in June 1986.
As much as we all want to believe that law enforcement officials are always the good guys who will do whatever they can to serve and protect the community, there have been a number of cases over the decades and in recent years that demonstrate exactly the opposite. Cases like these really test the boundaries of trust in those you thought would protect you, leaving questions in your mind about who you can turn to.
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