MURDER ON THE ADULT FRIENDFINDER EXPRESS
Paula and Lillian Entwistle:
In January 2006, Neil Entwistle's wife and baby daughter were found shot dead in their family home in the American state of Massachusetts. With Neil Entwistle, then aged 27, nowhere to be seen, the police assumed he was on the run.
Neil Entwistle was later found living with his parents in Worksop, a town in the English county of Nottinghamshire and very near to where I live.
Neil Entwistle was born in Worksop. While studying at the University of York, an English university, he met Rachel Souza, an American student from Massachusetts, via the university's rowing club. Though they got married in Plymouth, Massachusetts in August 2003, they continued to live and work in England. In September 2005, a few months after the birth of their baby daughter Lillian, the couple emigrated to America eventually setting up home in Hopkinton, a small town 30 miles west of Boston in Massachusetts. Apart from this double murder, the town is best known as the starting point for the annual Boston Marathon.
The couple, with their daughter, lived in a luxury home. Though Neil Entwistle was a skilled IT expert, he was unable to find employment in America. He soon racked up debt. Neil Entwistle then started selling computer products through eBay but many buyers complained that, despite sending him money, no products were delivered to them. He also ran a website called millionmaker.co.uk, which was a get-rich-quick scheme promising those who signed up to it a profit of $6,000 a month within the first six months. The site was later closed down.
While trying to scam people for money, Neil Entwistle was also looking for sex on the internet. He regularly visited websites for local escorts and he became a member of Adult FriendFinder (AFF). Perhaps he too was lured by the 'get laid tonight' marketing messages of AFF! Neil Entwistle's AFF profile read:
"I'm looking to meet American women of all ages. I need to confirm what friends have told me that you are much better in bed than the women over the ocean, as from here. We both want the same thing so there is little point dragging it out here."
It seems male charmless entitlement still thrives on AFF!
Neil Entwistle:
On the day of the shooting of his wife and daughter, Neil Entwistle drove to his father-in-law's town. His father-in-law was a member of the Old Colony Sportsman's Club, a shooting club in Carver 50 miles from where the Entwistle family lived. His father-in-law had introduced Neil Entwistle to the 'joys' of using a revolver at the club's shooting range. On returning home from his visit to Carver, Neil Entwistle shot his wife in the head and his daughter in the chest. Both victims were later found holding each other dressed in pyjamas (pajamas to my American friends). After the shootings, Neil Entwistle drove back to Carver to return the revolver.
Neil Entwistle claimed to police that on discovering the bodies of his wife and daughter that he was shopping at the time and that he had only driven to Carver to get a gun to kill himself. He never called emergency services. Instead he drove to Boston airport to get a one-way British Airways flight to London Heathrow with no luggage.
While in England, Neil Entwistle was eventually arrested for murder and extradited to America. In March 2006, Neil Entwistle pleaded not guilty to the charges of first degree murder in a Massachusetts court. He claimed that his wife had shot their daughter before shooting herself in a fit of depression and that he had removed the gun to protect his wife's honour. Neil Entwistle was found guilty of murder because his DNA was found on the grip, ammunition container and gun lock of the revolver whereas his wife's DNA was only found in and on the muzzle of the gun. DNA evidence stems from the work of Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century; it's a brilliant tool for solving crime.
Neil Entwistle was sentenced to life in prison but he had to be moved prisons because of threats to his life as a baby killer. In one prison, Neil Entwistle shaved his hair in an attempt to join a white supremacist group active in that prison. One prison official overheard a member of that supremacist gang saying to Neil Entwistle: "It's a nice gesture, on your part, but we're still going to kill you." It seems certain prisoners (eg paedophiles, rapists and child murderers) aren't safe in prisons. Some will say that's justice, I say all prisoners should be safe while incarcerated.
The punishment for a prisoner is the loss of liberty and not death by extrajudicial means. And this isn't me defending paedophiles, rapists and child murderers. I don't defend them, I just prefer the rule of law. I don't believe in the death penalty, not least because certain innocent people will be convicted of crimes they didn't commit. As a liberal, I place great emphasis on the rehabilitation of prisoners. But as a realist, I realise certain prisoners can't be rehabilitated. Paedophiles and serial murderers seem to fall in that category. So for the sake of public protection, they should remain in prison (or, particularly in the case of paedophiles who are more likely to be released from prison before serial murderers, constantly and effectively monitored when released). And this doesn't even touch on what to do with members of drug gangs/cartels and of so-called terrorist organisations!
I'm interested how others see the purpose of prison. Is it punishment, rehabilitation and/or public safety? I'm quite taken with the merits of restorative justice in which, if both parties agree, the person who commits the crime talks to the victim/s of their crime. I can see this helping both parties but I suspect it all depends on the crime committed. I'd be happier to talk to a burglar of my home far more than a murderer of my parents, not that my parents were murdered though my home has been burgled several times.
Obviously I couldn't post this on AFF no matter how factual I've tried to keep it. The post would almost certainly be denied despite not breaching the site's terms of use. Now I'm not saying AFF in any way contributed towards the murder of Paula and Lillian Entwistle. However, having said that, I remain largely unconvinced that AFF takes the safety of its members, particularly female members, seriously. It's easy to publish a guide about safe internet dating, but it's far more difficult and less profitable dealing with the abuse that most women receive on the site.
Neil Entwistle:
I don't know, this one may actually make it through if you take out that he visited AFF in particular, and leave it at "had profile on dating site". Regardless it's a fascinating story.
ReplyDeleteI have very complex feelings about the prison system in America. I am against the death penalty for the same reasons you are. It doesn't matter the crime, I don't think we should be killing people. Murderers and Pedophiles can spend their lives in prison but I will never be okay with possibly killing someone who could be innocent of the charges.
I believe in restorative justice and have seen the results of such in my own life. Not that I have what anyone would call a "good" relationship with my brother. The man did steal not only mine and my sister's innocence. he also stole our inheritance. He did not face punishment for the crimes, but has turned his life around, apologized, and does volunteer work with adults. I forgave him long ago, and harbor no ill will towards him.
That said, sometimes restorative justice won't and can't work for whatever reason.
While prison, in my mind, should be rehabilitative, I know for a fact is more punishment based and more than likely will cause re offenders. In fact, people are learning to be better criminals and do more crimes in prison. This, in my opinion, has much to do with our Capitalistic Prison Complex where our country allows Private Corporations to run prisons for profit. If you can fucking imagine...
Anyhoo, I have no answers...I just have a whole lot of questions as to why we continue in a system that doesn't work all that well.
Prisons here are full. The Tories priding themselves as a law-and-order party are now releasing prisoners early and telling courts not to send people to prison.
DeleteUnbelievable.
DeleteIt is. The Conservative government had plenty of advance warning that prisons were filling up but chose not to build new prisons. Not that I think that was the best solution.
DeleteWe have the same problem here with Canada's prison system being full, yet Canada is/has built new facilities all through the provinces. I believe prison is for both punishment as well as for the public's safety..
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DeleteHere new prisons tend to be run by private companies. I don't know whether that's the case in Canada.
Not the prisons No. They are government run..
DeleteGovernment-run prisons are much better than private prisons - prison officers are generally better trained in government-run prisons.
DeleteI agree. Our political government run systems, whether it is the Liberal party, the NDP's and our own Progressive Conservative parties, which ever Federal party in power are all on the same page pretty much about what to privatize and what not too..
DeleteBritain has privatised many of its public services. The NHS is just about standing public.
DeleteCanada has no "Brexit" so to speak like Britain has now even though Canada is a country under what used to be known as the "British Commonwealth". Quebec here has always wanted to separate from the rest of Canada and our government to be able to privatize Quebec. It has been turned down relentlessly since the late 1970's and to have that one lone province in the middle of Canada, privatize every thing under the sun which includes government run prisons Canada wide made Private, strictly to "Quebec" has been a bone of contention for the rest of Canada and it's 9 other provinces along with three territories..
DeleteYour Quebec is our Scotland!
DeleteI feel for Britain if your NHS ever gets privatized much like the United States.. Scary thought there..For me in Canada here, when Quebec wants to separate itself again, next time a Federal election comes along, I will vote yes to letting them separate and watch them hang themselves when it comes to Public Health Care that all of Canada has due to our government and see them drown when they want to separate and try to privatize it along with Canada's government run prison systems and so very many other issues..
DeleteThe NHS won't go American as the institution is far too popular here. But the private sector is encroaching on NHS work.
DeleteI adore both England and Scotland as my Dad's parents are from Scotland and emigrated over to Canada. Having either Provinces like Quebec in the Middle of Canada which is the world's 2nd largest country Land Mass wise, and Europe's Scotland both trying to separate. no matter both our own continents political climate and separate parties in power, it is a no win situation for any of us..
DeleteI'm quite relaxed about Scottish independence. Scotland is very dependent on England trade-wise and finance-wise, As I suspect Quebec is with the rest of Canada. Independence makes little sense other than an assertion of identity. I think it's good that different parts of our countries are different. But the differences rarely outweigh the similarities, so let them be different within the same country.
DeleteDespite the fact that I worked in the corrections system for 14 years (on the financial/budget side of things) I don't have much of an opinion. Aside from agreeing that there shouldn't be executions.
ReplyDeletePrison isn't effective, but putting someone on probation probably isn't very effective either. I think people picture probation as the probation officer keeping an eye on the offender - that just isn't possible. Our PO's with the lowest caseloads (those were for the most serious offenders) still often were supervising 60-70 people. Other PO's doing what we called "group supervision" might have a caseload of 250-500 offenders. Some offenders immediately went on no supervision, others might reach that status after going to substance counseling or doing community service. Those people are still formally on probation in that if they re-offend, there will also be a consequence for breaking probation. But nothing is done with them.
Probation officers have almost an impossible job. Their caseload is too big, and the risks too high of one of their cases committing crime after being released from prison.
DeleteProbation was privatised here, the private sector only wanted to look after low-risk offenders. The caseload of high-risk offenders just increased for the experienced probation officers still employed by the public sector.
It appears that Norway has the right idea of rehabilitation, what with their system being renowned as one of the most effective and humane in the world. Sadly, the concept would never fly in capitalistic US where profit is above all else.
ReplyDeleteNorway is a very progressive country. If I had the money, I'd be happy to live there.
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