Michael Sams
Michael Sams | |
---|---|
Born | Michael Benneman Sams 11 August 1941 Incarcerated |
Conviction(s) | Murder, kidnapping, blackmail (1993) |
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment (1993) |
Michael Benneman Sams (born 11 August 1941)[1] is an English kidnapper, extortionist and murderer. He kidnapped Julie Dart in July 1991 and later murdered her following her attempted escape. He subsequently kidnapped Stephanie Slater in January 1992, eventually releasing her after payment of a ransom. Slater was also raped during her imprisonment by Sams.
After Sams was convicted and imprisoned, he attacked a female probation officer. He also became known for his attempts to sue the prison, initially successfully, for losing his artificial leg, and then because his bed was too hard.
Life
Michael Sams was born and raised in
Sams was married three times.[4] He had two sons by his first wife, but the marriage broke down shortly before he was sent to prison. His second marriage also ended in divorce.[4] At the time of his arrest for the kidnappings he lived in Sutton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire with his third wife.
Kidnappings
Julie Dart
On 9 July 1991, Sams drove to a local
Since it was never likely that Dart's ransom would be paid, it has been suggested that Sams always intended to kill her. Paul Britton, a clinical psychologist who advised the detectives who interviewed Sams, argued that he abducted a sex worker because it would be relatively easy and was good "practice". It would also not create too much of "a stir".[7] By killing Dart, and leaving her body where it would easily be found, Sams would "convince the police that he was to be regarded as a serious adversary" and intimidate his next victims into paying up.[7][8] McGredy-Hunt, however, said that Sams continued to demand ransom for several days after Dart's death, only dumping her body (initially hidden in a wheelie bin) after the smell of decomposition became difficult to conceal.
Sams continued to send messages to the police. One stated: "prostitutes are easy to pick up, and I won't spend any more time in prison for killing two instead of one."[6] He later claimed to have kidnapped another sex worker, but police could find no evidence any sex worker was missing. Sams also sent messages stating he would intentionally cause a train crash unless he was paid a ransom. He also attempted to blackmail supermarkets by threatening to poison food.[9]
Stephanie Slater
Some months later, on 22 January 1992, Sams kidnapped another woman. Using a false name, he arranged to meet Stephanie Slater, an estate agent with a local branch of the company Shipways,[10] ostensibly to view a property in Turnberry Road, Great Barr, Birmingham. At the property he attacked Slater, tied her up, and then took her to his workshop. Sams again demanded a ransom, this time from Slater's manager at the estate agency.[10] When it was paid, Sams released Slater.[11] Given his previous crime, police had expected the kidnapper to kill Slater. They hoped to stop him by following him after he picked up the ransom, but Sams had anticipated this, and devised an elaborate scheme to successfully give them the slip.[10]
Interviewed in 2013 on BBC Radio 4's One to One programme, Slater said that for eight days she was held – handcuffed, legs bound, blindfolded and gagged – in a "coffin" inside a wheelie bin laid horizontally. Sams had told her she would be electrocuted if she tried to move. Slater said that when she was allowed out of the coffin for food, she chatted about herself to Sams, "to humanise" herself and to increase her chances of survival. Within twelve hours of her release, she was made to face a press conference, even though she was still drugged and highly distressed. Police later acknowledged that this was an error of judgement.[12]
In her 1995 book about her ordeal, Beyond Fear: My Will to Survive, Slater wrote that Sams
Out of the £175,000 ransom that was paid for the release of Slater, police located £150,000 buried in a field by using ground-penetrating radar. The remaining £25,000 was never recovered.
Following her release, Slater felt unable to return to work as an estate agent, and moved to the Isle of Wight in 1993. She subsequently worked with police forces to advise them on how to deal with kidnap survivors, and with the survivors themselves, to help them to recover from their ordeals. She died on 31 August 2017, aged 50, from cancer.[17]
Arrest and conviction
On the BBC television programme
At his trial at Nottingham Crown Court in 1993, Sams admitted to the kidnapping of Slater, but denied the kidnap and murder of Dart.[19] On 8 July that year the jury found him guilty of murdering Dart, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder and the abduction of Slater.[20][21] He was also found guilty of attempting to blackmail the police and British Rail; he was sentenced to 10 years for each of four blackmail attempts.[21] Sams confessed to Dart's murder in prison, three days after he was found guilty.[22][23] He had asked the senior investigating police officer, Roy Taylor, to visit him in jail. During this visit he confessed to Dart's murder, and revealed the date upon which he had carried it out;[24] his confession was covertly recorded and not released for thirty years. The recording was used in a Discovery Plus documentary Michael Sams: Kidnapper Killer,[25] which was aired on 30 July 2022. Sams told officers he had made the confession for the sake of Julie's grieving mother. He stated: "I've been going over it and thinking it's only fair that she knows I did it. I mean, obviously, I did do it. What can I tell her? I do feel sorry for her, yes."[26][27]
Imprisonment
Sams continued to offend after he was imprisoned, attacking a female
Sams was awarded £4,000 damages when the prison service lost his
As of March 2022, Sams remains in prison.[32] No recommended minimum term was reported at his trial, and it is unknown whether any Home Secretary or High Court judge subsequently ruled how many years Sams must serve before he can be considered for parole.[citation needed] He is among the oldest and longest-serving life sentence prisoners in England and Wales.[33] His latest parole denial was in April 2023.[34]
Other allegations
Crime writer Christopher Berry-Dee, in Unmasking Mr Kipper: Who Really Killed Suzy Lamplugh?, argued Sams killed estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in 1986, but this has been dismissed by police.[35]
Dramatisation and documentaries
In 1993, the kidnapping of Slater and subsequent manhunt for Sams was the subject of an edition of the
See also
- David Smith, another British killer of sex workers
References
- ^ "FreeBMD – Search". www.freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Kirby, Terry (8 July 1993). "The Michael Sams Trial: Train spotter's obsession left chain of clues". The Independent. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ "Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837–2006 – findmypast.co.uk". search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Police recall 'nasty piece of work' with the constant smile. Outwardly quiet and easy-going Michael Sams disguised his darker side", The Herald (Glasgow), 9 July 1993.
- ^ a b c Richard Whittington-Egan, Molly Whittington-Egan, Murder on File, Neil Wilson Publishing, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Newton, Michael, The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, Infobase Publishing, 2006, p.275.
- ^ a b Britton, Paul, Picking up the Pieces, Random House, 2013, p.396.
- ^ Kinnell, H., Violence and Sex Work in Britain, Routledge, 11 January 2013, p.194.
- ^ Duncan Maclaughlin, William Hall, The Filth: The Explosive Inside Story of Scotland Yard's Top Undercover Cop, Random House, 2012, p.236.
- ^ a b c "Kidnap victim's boss tells of fear during ransom drop". The Independent. 18 June 1993. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
- ^ This is Bradford
- ^ BBC Radio 4, "One to One", 10 September 2013.
- ^ a b BBC Radio 4, "One to One: Carolyn Quinn speaks to Stephanie Slater", 10 September 2013. Online
- ^ "Kidnapper Sams sues victim for libel: Briefly", The Independent, 29 January 1995.
- ^ "Detectives eventually got on right track to catch Sams", Birmingham Mail, 20 April 2011.
- ^ Crimes that Shook Britain: Stephanie Slater. Crime+ Investigation (Television production). 10 November 2008.
- ^ "Kidnapped Great Barr estate agent dies". Great Barr Observer. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Davis, Caroline (1 September 2017). "Stephanie Slater, estate agent kidnapped in 1992, dies aged 50". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ "Sams says he knows killer of teenage prostitute: Kidnapper of estate agent tells court a friend copied his plan, but 'it went wrong'". The Independent. 1 July 1993. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ Tingle, Len. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire: The Price of Justice?, BBC News, 6 November 2003. Accessed 4 June 2008
- ^ a b "The Michael Sams Trial: Kidnapper who killed teenager is jailed for life". The Independent. 8 July 1993. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19980816/ai_n14179797.
{{cite news}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) [dead link] - ^ "Today's killers put behind bars by former CID boss. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ "BBC Local Radio - The Kidnapping of Stephanie Slater". BBC. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "discovery+". www.discoveryplus.com. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Secret confession of Stephanie Slater's evil kidnapper to air on TV". 26 July 2022.
- ^ "How to watch new documentary on kidnapper killer Michael Sams - and what to expect from show". Yorkshire Post. 14 July 2022.
- ^ a b Haldenby, Andrew. "Sams receives further 8 years for cell attack". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 16 March 2005.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20150924075247/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20000119/ai_n9537565. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
{{cite news}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ Keely, Alistair, "Luff Challenges Murderer's Right to Take Legal Action Behind Bars", The Birmingham Post, 2000, p.3.
- ^ "Jail life better for pensioners". BBC. 18 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
- ^ The girl in the box: The kidnapping of Stephanie Slater. Channel 5. March 2023
- ^ "State pension for prisoners". Inside Time. 18 April 2007. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
- ^ Sherdley, Rebecca (5 April 2023). "Notorious Nottinghamshire killer is refused parole". Nottinghamshire Live. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "The Suzy Lamplugh Trust". BBC h2g2. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "Crimewatch File – BBC One London – 21 September 1993 – BBC Genome". The Radio Times (3637): 66. 16 September 1993. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ "BBC Local Radio - the Kidnapping of Stephanie Slater".
- ^ "TV listings guide". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
External links
- Thrown in at the deep end Archived 8 August 2014 at the Family Liaison Officer in the Slater case, by the West Midlands Police