Read Online Children Who Kill: Profiles of Pre-Teen and Teenage Killers by Carol Anne Davis - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Carol Anne Davis
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Chief Superintendent is a man with a lifetime’s worth of crime-fighting experience having spent thirty years as an operational detective in Britain before becoming a Criminal Investigation Adviser in Southern Africa. Though he and his wife have since returned to Yorkshire, they still make regular trips to Africa in their efforts to help the country’s poor.
Ron Sagar is equally aware of the poverty of Bruce Lee’s life. He interviewed the youth on at least twenty-eight occasions, both in police custody and in prison.Ron provided many of the details in this profile, details which aren’t readily available as so little truth – and so much fiction – has been written about this case.
Asked about his first impressions of Bruce, former Detective Chief Superintendent Sagar said that he was ‘insignificant – you wouldn’t notice him walking into a room.’ He could see that the young man was ‘an obvious loner’ yet he wasn’t totally reclusive as he was clearly searching for a friend. Ron Sagar quickly became a friendly figure to Bruce because of his non-macho approach to interviews. He simply refuses to engage in verbal battles. ‘I never fall out with offenders or potential offenders,’ he explains. This likeable manner would later work in his favour when he was libelled in a newspaper – many prisoners phoned up to say that he’d always treated them well and that they’d be happy to give him a reference.
Ron didn’t think that Bruce looked at all dangerous. His only previous conviction was for carrying an offensive weapon, but this could have been solely for self-protection as he was sometimes living rough on the streets. ‘It may even have been an appeal for attention ,’ Ron says.
When Bruce first started to confess to fire after fire, Sagar wondered if the boy was simply fantasising. At one stage he even thought he’d caught the youth out in a lie. Bruce had said he’d poured a circle of paraffin through a letterbox – but later he’d mentioned that there was a net curtain over the inside of the door. Ron figured that the curtain would have made it impossible to pour the paraffin as neatly as Bruce described –but when policemen checked on the door they found that the curtain only covered the upper glass panel. Bruce was right once more.
Nevertheless, the police hoped that Bruce would plead not guilty to the crimes so that the entire story would have to be laid out in court. Instead, Bruce pleaded guilty to each charge of manslaughter. He was so calm and so clearly spoken when answering the charges that he appeared to have a very high IQ. He always seemed to be careful about his answers in a legal situation and remained alert
During my interview, Ron Sagar was able to squash many of the myths involved in the case. For starters, Bruce didn’t say that he was only happy when he could hear people roasting. (Though he did admit to getting a kick from some of the fires.) Instead, he seemed sad about some of the deaths, including the second major fire he’d started. He told a doctor that it ‘killed me, mate. I didn’t mean to do it’ then added ‘I don’t like speaking about that one.’
Another myth is that he could only orgasm if he started a fire. He did obtain sexual pleasure from some of the arson attacks and this was noted in a legal document . But it wasn’t his sole source of satisfaction – he had relationships with various men in public toilets. It’s clear that he wasn’t acting as a rent boy as at least one of the boys (Charles Hastie) had demanded money from him.
Bruce also told a female senior medical officer that he had had relationships with females but that he had no children because he used contraception. He saidthat he’d never cohabitated with a female because he liked ‘keeping by myself.’ But he’d had relationships with a few females and had two girlfriend’s names tattooed on him. He at first denied to her that he’d had any homosexual experiences, but
Ron Sagar is equally aware of the poverty of Bruce Lee’s life. He interviewed the youth on at least twenty-eight occasions, both in police custody and in prison.Ron provided many of the details in this profile, details which aren’t readily available as so little truth – and so much fiction – has been written about this case.
Asked about his first impressions of Bruce, former Detective Chief Superintendent Sagar said that he was ‘insignificant – you wouldn’t notice him walking into a room.’ He could see that the young man was ‘an obvious loner’ yet he wasn’t totally reclusive as he was clearly searching for a friend. Ron Sagar quickly became a friendly figure to Bruce because of his non-macho approach to interviews. He simply refuses to engage in verbal battles. ‘I never fall out with offenders or potential offenders,’ he explains. This likeable manner would later work in his favour when he was libelled in a newspaper – many prisoners phoned up to say that he’d always treated them well and that they’d be happy to give him a reference.
Ron didn’t think that Bruce looked at all dangerous. His only previous conviction was for carrying an offensive weapon, but this could have been solely for self-protection as he was sometimes living rough on the streets. ‘It may even have been an appeal for attention ,’ Ron says.
When Bruce first started to confess to fire after fire, Sagar wondered if the boy was simply fantasising. At one stage he even thought he’d caught the youth out in a lie. Bruce had said he’d poured a circle of paraffin through a letterbox – but later he’d mentioned that there was a net curtain over the inside of the door. Ron figured that the curtain would have made it impossible to pour the paraffin as neatly as Bruce described –but when policemen checked on the door they found that the curtain only covered the upper glass panel. Bruce was right once more.
Nevertheless, the police hoped that Bruce would plead not guilty to the crimes so that the entire story would have to be laid out in court. Instead, Bruce pleaded guilty to each charge of manslaughter. He was so calm and so clearly spoken when answering the charges that he appeared to have a very high IQ. He always seemed to be careful about his answers in a legal situation and remained alert
During my interview, Ron Sagar was able to squash many of the myths involved in the case. For starters, Bruce didn’t say that he was only happy when he could hear people roasting. (Though he did admit to getting a kick from some of the fires.) Instead, he seemed sad about some of the deaths, including the second major fire he’d started. He told a doctor that it ‘killed me, mate. I didn’t mean to do it’ then added ‘I don’t like speaking about that one.’
Another myth is that he could only orgasm if he started a fire. He did obtain sexual pleasure from some of the arson attacks and this was noted in a legal document . But it wasn’t his sole source of satisfaction – he had relationships with various men in public toilets. It’s clear that he wasn’t acting as a rent boy as at least one of the boys (Charles Hastie) had demanded money from him.
Bruce also told a female senior medical officer that he had had relationships with females but that he had no children because he used contraception. He saidthat he’d never cohabitated with a female because he liked ‘keeping by myself.’ But he’d had relationships with a few females and had two girlfriend’s names tattooed on him. He at first denied to her that he’d had any homosexual experiences, but
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