Horror that’s horribly real
QUESTION Has anyone been inspired by a fictional crime in real life? There have been a number of unpleasant cases in Britain. In 2003, 22-year-old Allan Menzies of Fauldhouse, West Lothian, became obsessed with Queen Of The Damned, the 2002 film version of Anne rice’s vampire novel, which he watched more than 100 times.
When his friend Thomas McKendrick made a disparaging remark about the film, Menzies bludgeoned McKendrick with a hammer before stabbing him 42 times, after which he drank some of his victim’s blood and ate part of his skull before burying him in a shallow grave.
Menzies claimed in his defence that he’d been ‘visited’ by a vampire queen from the movie called Akasha, who had offered him immortality by turning him into a vampire in exchange for a life. Menzies took his own life while serving an 18-year sentence for the murder.
The Loved Ones, a 2009 horror film, is the story of a teenager so upset by her love interest’s refusal to go to the prom with her that she kidnaps and tortures him with the help of her equally deranged father.
The movie was a favourite of Gary George of Chester, who murdered his friend Andrew Nall in the latter’s flat in 2016.
During the attack, George carved into his friend’s stomach and threw salt onto the open wound, mimicking a scene from the film. George was sentenced to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison.
Several crimes have been linked to the 1998 Wes Anderson film Scream, which featured a mask-wearing maniac called Ghostface. In 1999, Daniel Gill, 14, and robert Fuller, 15, both of harrogate, were found guilty of the attempted murder of Ashley Murray, 13, after watching the film.
And in 2001, 24-year-old Belgian truck driver Thierry Jaradin stabbed his 15-year-old neighbour Alisson Cambier to death while dressed as Ghostface after she rebuffed his advances.
Liam Morre, Hull. IN 1987, 17-year- old San Gabriel high School student Jeffrey Lyne Cox, tormented by a broken family and a broken romance, felt his pain alleviated by a book called rage, by richard Bachman (a nom de plume for horror author Stephen King).
The book is about a high school student who kills a teacher and takes his classmates hostage.
Cox read the book repeatedly before, in 1988, he entered his humanities class brandishing a rifle. When Cox put the rifle between his legs, a classmate rushed at him and knocked him to the ground. Other students assisted, and the incident ended without any loss of life.
Cox was only the first of four shooters to draw inspiration from the novel. After Michael Carneal shot a prayer group at his high school in 1997, King requested that the book never be printed again.
In 2012, three black robbers wore latex masks to dress as white cops when they robbed a New York cheque-cashing store. Akeem Monsalvatge, Derrick Dunkley and edward Byam lifted their ideas from the 2010 Ben Affleck film The Town, about a gang of bank robbers who use clever disguises to cover their tracks. Ian White, Skipton, N. Yorks.
QUESTION Why is Montenegro allowed to use the euro even though it is not part of the EU?
MONTeNeGrO has used the euro since 2002 as a means to stabilising its economy. Though the former Yugoslav state is hoping to join the eU, its use of the euro is not officially sanctioned by the eU, though as a freely traded currency they are allowed to use it.
After the collapse of Yugoslavia during the Nineties, Montenegro began to sever economic ties with Serbia to try to insulate itself from hyperinflation. While the Yugoslav Dinar remained the currency on the street, the country began using the Deutsche Mark as a parallel currency, switching over entirely in 1999.
In 2002, when the euro was introduced, Montenegro simply exchanged its currency. Former Montenegro Central Bank governor radoje Zugic said: ‘We brought in the Mark then made the conversion to the euro payment system and now it’s a kind of tacit consent.’
The european Central Bank takes the view that the euro is a global currency which may be freely traded and ‘it is not for the eCB to either prohibit or promote the use of the euro’. The same principle is used by other countries that use the euro, despite not being members of the european monetary union: these include the Vatican, Andorra, San Marino, Monaco and Kosovo.
Dr Ken Warren, Glasgow.
QUESTION Have any celebrities become members of the clergy?
FUrTher to the recent named celebrities, David Shepherd played county cricket for Sussex and Test cricket for england, captaining them twice before becoming ordained in the Church of england and becoming the Bishop of Liverpool from 1975 to 1997.
A. Heywood, Clitheroe, Lancs. heNrY ‘ homicide hank’ Armstrong (1912-88) was born henry Jackson, but took the name Armstrong from his friend and mentor, harry Armstrong.
he was the only professional boxer to hold titles in three different weight divisions simultaneously, at featherweight (1936), lightweight (1938) and welterweight (1938).
he defended the welterweight title 19 times. his record is 181 fights, 159 wins (101 by knockout), 21 losses and 10 draws (though there are some discrepancies depending on the source). Armstrong is ranked number two of all time by ring magazine.
he retired in 1946 and became a bornagain Christian, eventually being ordained a Baptist minister in 1951.
Digby Stevenson, Pevensey, East Sussex.