TRIPLE killer Robert Napper is also believed to be the "Green Chain Rapist" who carried out at least 70 rapes and sexual assaults in a four year period in the early Nineties.
But who is he and where is he now? Here's all you need to know…
Who is Robert Napper?
Robert Napper was born on February 25, 1966, in Erith, South East London and brought up in nearby Plumstead.
He had a troubled upbringing and witnessed his father Brian brutally beating his mother Pauline before their divorce when he was nine.
Along with his two brothers and sister, Napper was put into foster care and underwent psychiatric treatment.
When he was 13 he was sexually assaulted by a family friend on a camping holiday.
His mother said it was after this that his personality changed and he became introverted, obsessively tidy and reclusive.
He also bullied his siblings and spied on his sister when she was naked.
Napper has since been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and Asperger's syndrome.
He first came to police attention in 1986 when he was caught in possession of an airgun and given a conditional discharge.
He later confessed to his mother that he had raped a woman on Plumstead Common and she immediately called the police to report it.
But they said they couldn't find a trace of a rape and the inquiry was dropped.
Eight weeks earlier a 31-year-old mother whose home backed onto the Common had reported to police she had been raped in her home in front of her children.
After this his mother stopped all contact with him and he moved into a bedsit while holding down a string of menial jobs.
Who were Robert Napper's victims?
Rachel Nickell
Rachel Nickell, 23, had been living near Wimbledon Common with her boyfriend André Hanscombe, their two-year-old son Alexander and dog Molly.
She was a former model who had settled into becoming a full-time mum when she was brutally murdered on July 15, 1992.
Rachel was walking with Alexander on Wimbledon Common when Napper lurched from bushes and attacked.
He stabbed Rachel 49 times in the frenzy and sexually assaulted her in front of her son before fleeing.
Little Alexander was found pleading for his mum, whose throat had been cut, to get up.
Samantha Bisset and Jazmine Bisset
In November 1993, Napper stabbed 27-year-old Samantha Bisset in her neck and chest and then sexually assaulted her inside her home in Plumstead.
He then assaulted and smothered her four-year-old daughter Jazmine and left her body on her bed surrounded by her toys.
The twisted killer then mutilated the young mum's body and took parts away as a trophy.
Napper was arrested after a fingerprint was recovered from her flat and he was convicted at the Old Bailey in 1995.
He also admitted two rapes and two attempted rapes and sent to Broadmoor Hospital.
When was Robert Napper convicted?
Cops quizzed 32 men for Rachel's murder before attention focused on jobless local Colin Stagg, who often walked his dog on the common.
Although there was no forensic evidence linking him to the scene, in August 1993 the police charged him with Rachel’s murder.
An Old Bailey trial the following year heard that Stagg had been the victim of police entrapment and he was acquitted.
It was not until 2008 — 16 years after the attack — that Napper, then 42, admitted stabbing Rachel.
He was duly convicted of her manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Police had missed a series of chances to arrest Napper before his six-year spree of sex and rape attacks was brought to a close.
Why is Napper also known as the Green Chain Rapist?
Napper is believed to be the "Green Chain Rapist" named after the Green Chain Walk – a string of leafy pathways linking large parts of South East London.
The attacks took place in a four year period ending in 1994 – around the same time as Napper was arrested.
They all bore similar hallmarks to Napper's crimes and it's believed there could be at least 106 offences involving 86 victims.
The earliest of the "Green Chain" rapes are those he admitted to in 1995.
He was known to keep detailed records of sites of potential and actual attacks on women.
Where is Robert Napper now?
Napper was sentenced to be incarcerated indefinitely at Broadmoor Hospital for the criminally insane.
In his summing up at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Griffiths Williams said to Napper: "You are on any view a very dangerous man".
LONG ROAD TO JUSTICE
JULY 15, 1992: Rachel Nickell stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common.
AUGUST: Police visit Robert Napper in connection with two rapes and attempted rapes. He twice refuses to give a DNA sample.
SEPTEMBER: Colin Stagg arrested for Rachel’s murder.
OCTOBER: Napper ruled out of rapes investigation but found guilty of possessing a firearm and is jailed for eight weeks.
AUGUST 1993: Colin Stagg charged with Rachel’s murder.
NOVEMBER: Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine killed at their Plumstead home in South East London.
MAY 1994: Napper’s fingerprints identified from Bisset house. He is charged and a DNA sample taken.
JULY: Napper charged with two rapes and two attempted rapes.
SEPTEMBER: Colin Stagg released. Official review of Rachel Nickell inquiry launched.
OCTOBER 1995: Napper admits two charges of manslaughter, one rape and two attempted rapes. One rape charge is dropped. He is detained at Broadmoor Hospital.
DECEMBER: Napper interviewed in Broadmoor over Rachel’s death.
JANUARY 2002: Met Police asks LGC Forensics to work on review of Rachel’s murder.
JULY 2004: DNA from Rachel’s body matched to Napper.
JUNE 2006: Napper interviewed again at Broadmoor over Rachel’s murder. He denies involvement.
OCTOBER 2007: Independent review rules out contamination of DNA samples. Napper charged with Rachel’s murder weeks later.
DECEMBER 2008: Schizophrenic Napper pleads guilty to manslaughter of Rachel on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
JUNE 2010: IPCC reports “bad errors” by Met police and “missed opportunities” to find Napper before he killed Rachel.
Source: Read Full Article
