King James Bible?
Well, the Jack the Ripper murders were what popped into my head when I first read the thread title. Then I thought, it says “murder” not “murders”, so maybe he means Crippen. So in my mind, those are numbers 1 and 2 for English murders.
That one is particularly heartbreaking. Man its still so sad when I revisit the Wiki page dedicated to that subject.
Another vote for the Ripper.
He/they (not conclusively proven that the Ripper WASN’T actually a team) constitutes the first documented serial killer/s in history. To date, it’s still the most famous series of murders in history unsolved or otherwise. Professionals and amateurs both are still trying to solve it in fact.
I’m surprised no Brit Dopers brought up Derek Bentley: a shameful miscarriage of justice that took 45 years to finally earn that poor boy a posthumous pardon.
This is hilarious.
The Princes in the Tower.
Because it just isn’t that famous compared to the Ripper murders (and many others, including the Yorkshire Ripper and the Moors Murderers). It IS used as a great argument against the death penalty, however.
Becket’s murder is IMHO pre-eminent. Jack the Ripper doesn’t qualify because he was the murderer. But one widely referred to that people don’t realise they know is Fanny Adams, she of ‘Sweet FA.’
The quotation from the book doesn’t make any reference to history; it could just as easily be read as referring to what is currently the most famous murder—i.e., one foremost in people’s minds, or in recent newspaper headlines. That opens the door to a lot more murders than the ones that have been submitted for consideration so far.
I think one of the most internationally famous modern-day murders in England was that of James Bulger. Even though it happened in 1993, since 2010 it’s been occasionally in the headlines again owing to recent activity by of one of the murderers.
I’m glad you mentioned James Bulger. No one else had.
Oh, dammit… I was doing a search in the page for “Bolger” instead of “Bulger”. :smack:
As spankthecrumpet hasn’t been back I will point out that this refers to the other Cromwell, Thomas, executed under Henry VIII. His crime – arranging the marriage with Anne of Cleves the “fat Flanders mare”.
Happens to us all 
(for Psychonaut)
Indeedy doody.
The latter was the great-great-great-great-uncle of the former fwiw
He’s most certainly referring to Jack the Ripper.
If we count political executions, then I daresay Anne Boleyn ranks as high as St. Thomas Becket. The repercussions of that ill-fated relationship are staggering – England’s break with Rome and the birth of Elizabeth I being just two examples.
I notice the Bywaters and Thompson case mentioned upthread–long-forgotten, but fascinating, I recently read a 1970s-era book about the case.
And what was the other 1920s British case . . . another woman and her lover killing the older husband; I read a book about that, too–the lover was convicted and the wife killed herself right afterward?
Speaking of, the movie LONGFORD is one of the best character studies I’ve ever seen. It deals with the relationship of the title character Frank Pakenham, Earl of Longford, with Myra Hindley during her incarceration. Jim Broadbent plays the title role, and while I think I would have face-in-palms and :rolleyes: daily if I’d lived when the old fart was a man of influence, even with naivety/homophobia/Catholic fanaticism/general fanatical and aristocratic silliness and all accounted for he wasn’t a simple creature and there truly was a lot good in him.
To say too much would be to give a big spoiler, but the last third of the film features some great acting by Broadbent.
*Everything *with Jim Broadbent features great acting.
Maybe you’re defining ‘documented’ more rigidly than I would, but there were serial killers before Jack the Ripper. The first one that springs to mind is Elizabeth Báthory: Elizabeth Báthory - Wikipedia.
Yes, but per the OP, he’s asking for English monsters, not Hungarian ones.