Colin Ireland (born March 16, 1954) is a British serial killer known as the "Gay Slayer" because he specifically murdered gay men. March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in leap years). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Serial killers are individuals who have a history of multiple slayings of victims who were usually unknown to them beforehand. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ...

Ireland, a former soldier who had picked up convictions for burglary and robbery in his twenties, decided to become a serial killer as a New Year resolution at the beginning of 1993, when he was 39. That year, while living in Southend, he started frequenting Coleherne pub, a gay pub in west London. Ireland claimed to be heterosexual — he had been married — and that he feigned homosexuality only to lure pub patrons into his clutches. It is unknown whether Ireland's murders were sexually motivated. A New Year resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Southend-on-Sea is a resort town in Essex, England. ... The Coleherne is a pub located at 261 Old Brompton Road, in the Earls Court section of west London. ... Heterosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love or sexual desire exclusively for members of the opposite sex or gender, contrasted with homosexuality and distinguished from bisexuality and asexuality. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ...

Murder 1: Peter Walker

A choreographer, Peter Walker, approached Ireland and the two left the pub for Walker's flat in Battersea. After he was willingly bound and gagged by Ireland, he was subjected to a beating which Ireland administered with his fists and a dog lead. Ireland then killed him by suffocating him with a plastic bag. Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... Battersea is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... Suffocation can mean two things: Suffocation, or Asphyxia, is a medical condition where the body is depraved of oxygen. ...

Ireland thoroughly cleaned Walker's flat and disposed of any items that could lead to him. While searching through personal items, Ireland discovered his victim was HIV positive. Enraged, Ireland stuffed a condom in his mouth. Ireland stayed in the flat until the next morning and travelled home on the train with the rush hour commuters. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. ... A 67 m long condom on the Obelisk of Buenos Aires, Argentina, part of an awareness campaign for the 2005 World AIDS Day A condom is a device, usually made of latex, or more recently polyurethane, that is used during sexual intercourse. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Commuting is the process of travelling from a place of residence to a place of work. ...

Ireland later rang Samaritans to tell them where he had put Walker's dogs. He had locked them away before killing their owner. Samaritans (until 2002 known as The Samaritans) is a British and Irish-based registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in distress or at risk of suicide. ...

Murder 2: Christopher Dunn

Two months later, Ireland returned to the pub to seek his next victim. He turned out to be Christopher Dunn, a librarian. Again the murder took place in the victim's flat, in Wealdstone. Dunn was wearing a body harness and had been willingly handcuffed and had his feet tied together. Ireland then beat, tortured and suffocated his victim. The Librarian, a 1556 painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo A librarian is an information professional trained in library science: the organization and management of information and service to people with information needs. ... Wealdstone is a place in the London Borough of Harrow, north-west Greater London where Ash and Binz can often be found ratted out of their heads on strong cider and cheap spirits. ... Hiatts Speedcuffs in holster, as used by UK police A model wearing handcuffs, waist chain, and thumbcuffs Old handcuffs Handcuffs are restraints designed to secure an individuals wrists close together. ... Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he...

Before killing Dunn, Ireland demanded the personal identification number for his bank card, and used it to take money from Dunn's account. Having meticulously studied serial killing, he knew that he had to throw away the gloves and shoes he was wearing each time he killed. As an unemployed man on benefits, Ireland needed to get the money from elsewhere. A personal identification number (PIN) is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. ... Banker redirects here; see wiktionary:banker for more meanings. ... Unemployment rates in the United States. ... Social welfare can be taken to mean the welfare or well-being of a society. ...

Murder 3: Perry Bradley III

Six days later, Ireland once again picked up a man at the pub. It was Perry Bradley III, who was 35 and the son of a serving US congressman. They went to Bradley's flat in Kensington, and Ireland persuaded him to be tied up (Bradley wasn't into S&M) saying he couldn't get aroused otherwise. Once his victim was helpless, Ireland again used torture to get his bank card number. He delayed the killing until Bradley had actually fallen asleep, still trussed up, and then strangled him with a noose. Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Kensington is an area to the west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. ... Flogging demonstration at Folsom Street Fair 2004. ...

Again, Ireland carefully cleaned or removed anything in the flat which could incriminate him before leaving the next morning.

By the time Bradley's body was discovered, police had still to connect the three killings: there were time gaps between them, they were committed in three different areas with enough distance between them to cast doubt, and the police suspected that the victims died during sex games that had gone wrong.

Murder 4: Andrew Collier

Ireland, angered that he had received no publicity even after three murders, killed again within three days. At the pub he met and courted 33-year-old Andrew Collier, a housing warden, and the pair went to Collier's home in Dalston. Once he had tied up his victim on the bed, Ireland again demanded his victim's bank details. This time, however, his victim refused to comply. Ireland strangled him with a noose. Dalston, looking south towards The City. ...

Ireland left the next morning with £70, having also killed Collier's cat in an angry reaction to finding out his victim was HIV positive while rummaging through his personal effects in an attempt to find the bank card number. Another alleged reason for killing the cat was because when Ireland killed Peter Walker and protected the dogs, by locking them in a room, the media called him an animal lover so, in order for Ireland to prove the media wrong he killed Andrew Collier’s cat and draped it over his dead body. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. ...

Ireland finally left a clue for the police: He put a condom in Collier's mouth, just as he had done to Walker, creating a visible link between the two murders.

Murder 5: Emanuel Spiteri

The fifth victim of Ireland's series (he had read that serial killers needed at least five victims to qualify as such) was Emanuel Spiteri, aged 41, a chef whom Ireland had met in the same pub. They went to Spiteri's flat in Catford, and again Spiteri was persuaded to be cuffed and bound on his bed. Once more, Ireland demanded his bank number but didn't get it. He used a noose again to kill his victim. Catford is an area in the London Borough of Lewisham, England. ...

After carrying out his post-murder ritual of cleaning and clearing the scene, Ireland set fire to the flat and left. He rang the police later to tell them to look for a body at the scene of a fire and added that he would probably not kill again. However, he had forgotten to wipe off one set of fingerprints he had left on the window. Fingerprints can refer to: Human fingerprints Fingerprints, a Leonard Cohen song. ...

The connection

At last the police connected all five killings, and word spread fast among the whole of London, not just within the gay community, that a serial killer who specifically targeted gay men was operating and could strike again at any time.

Investigations revealed that Spiteri had left the pub and travelled home with his killer by train, and a security video successfully captured the two of them on the railway platform at Charing Cross station. Ireland recognised himself and decided to tell police he was the man with Spiteri but not the killer — he claimed to have left Spiteri in the flat with another man. However, police had also found the fingerprints in Collier's flat which matched those of Ireland. The Victorian Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross The name Charing Cross, now given to a district of central London in the City of Westminster, comes from the original hamlet of Charing, where King Edward I placed a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. ...

Pleading guilty

He was charged with the murders of Collier and Spiteri, and confessed to the other three while awaiting trial in prison. He told police that he had no vendetta against gay men, but picked on them because they were the easiest targets. He had robbed those he killed to finance his killings because he was unemployed at the time, and he needed funds to travel to and from London when hunting for victims. A feud is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. ...

When his case came to the Old Bailey on December 20, 1993, Ireland admitted all charges and was given life sentences for each. The judge, Mr Justice Sachs, said he was "exceptionally frightening and dangerous", adding: "To take one human life is an outrage; to take five is carnage." The Old Bailey An Old Bailey trial circa 1808. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ...

Ireland's name was on the last published list of whole life tariff prisoners, meaning that he will have to stay in prison for the rest of his natural life. The Home Secretary has since had powers to impose such tariffs removed by the European Court of Human Rights, although this does not clarify Ireland's position, as the judge at his trial did not publicise his recommendation for how long Ireland should spend in prison — concurrently or otherwise - for his crimes. He is unlikely to be released for a very long time yet, if ever at all. The whole life tariff is a mechanism in British law whereby a prisoner is sentenced to remain in prison until death. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ... European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), often referred to informally as the Strasbourg Court, was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints against States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by...

Popular culture

Ireland has since become the subject of many books on serial killers, and is mentioned in the Manic Street Preachers song, Archives Of Pain. It has been suggested that Jenny Watkins-Isnardi be merged into this article or section. ...

External link

• Crime Library article on Colin Ireland