Det er ikke så tit jeg læser om autentiske sager, men jeg faldt over bogen her på biblioteket og tænkte, at den måske kunne være nyttig læsning for en lærling i krimiforfatterfaget.Det specielle ved disse bøger er, at mange af dem er skrevet af kriminalfolk med fingeren på pulsen: vidende og erfarne opdagere, men ikke nødvendigvis særligt dygtige forfattere.
Indtil videre er det kun Peter Lundin-sagen fra 2000, som har vakt min interesse. Lundin, som myrdede sin amerikanske mor, afsonede en fængselsstraf og bagefter blev udvist til Danmark. Her gifter han sig straks med en dansk pige, som har skrevet til ham i fængslet, og bliver hurtigt involveret i et forhold til den enlige mor Marianne også.
Et år senere bliver han anholdt for mordet på Marianne og hendes to halvstore drenge. En tragisk sag, som sandsynligvis huskes af de fleste danskere.
Et spørgsmål jeg sidder tilbage med efter at have læst om sagen: Hvad er det, der får adskillige kvinder til at skrive kærlighedsbreve og fri til en kvindemorder, som sidder i fængsel?
Authentic Crime Cases.
I don´t often read about real crime cases, but I stumbled upon this book in the library and thought it might come in handy for an apprentice in the crime writing business.
What is special about these books is that many of them have been written by experienced detectives, but not necessarily skilled writers.
So far the only case which has caught my attention is the Peter Lundin case of 2000. Lundin murdered his American mother, went to prison and was deported to Denmark afterwards. Here he married a young Danish woman immediately, a woman who had written to him during his stay in prison, and he soon got involved in a relationship with the single mother Marianne.
A year later he was arrested for the murder of Marianne and her two school boys. A tragic case which most Danes will probably remember.
What really puzzles me is this: what makes several women write love letters and propose to an imprisoned murderer?
.jpg)
10 kommentarer:
I always wonder the same thing. I mean how sick do you have to be or how not right in the head to start a relationship with a murderer, especially when you have children to worry about, not only yourself.
I never thought about reading true crime cases as research for writing crime fiction - that's a good idea! As for your question, I really don't know. There must be something about the danger that's enticing, I guess.
I can't imagine why anyone would do this. Clearly, they do. But is beyond my comprehension.
Like you, I don't read "true crime", these books hold no interest for me. Once, when I was quite young, I read a book by a respected playwright, Emlyn Williams, about the Moors Murderers - and swore to myself "never again will I read a "true crime" book". There is something awful about the "banality of evil" combined with awful writing. (I assume Mr Williams's effort was better than most of this type, as he was not simply in it for the money but was apparently honestly trying to work out what drove this ghastly pair, but it was still awful, with its cod psychology and leaden prose.)
Lilly and Maxine, I usually reject the idea that some women want to be victims, to be treated roughly, but it is hard not to wonder whether some of them are attracted to danger. (As Belle suggests).
Belle, I also thought the idea was good, and I have come across better books which aim at information, not speculation or sensation, but the threee cases I have read have neither been well-written nor very interesting.
Very interesting post. As is the question of what attracts women to prisoners. I wonder - has a crime novel ever been written on this theme? It might work really well.
Didn't Mao ask Kissinger, how did a fat man get so many beautiful women?
Kissinger answered power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. {update to Sarkozy today}
I suppose it is the power that these criminals have wielded over their innocent victims that is the attraction. It surely can't be the danger as I would guess that most women with violent men got into the relationship before the violence started.
I once worked with a girl who started writing to a convicted murderer in prison and then started visiting him and then used to talk about her love for him. I heard many years later that she had ended up marrying when he was released from prison but honestly that could have been a bit of a local urban myth. I wondered at the time if part of the attraction was the notion that she could be the one to change or tame him. Or maybe she was just nuts.
Thanks, Martin. Trust you to take the crime writer´s point of view :)
I don´t know if anyone has written the story, but there is certainly material for a thriller in Lundin´s life - or in the aspect we discuss here. If you should feel inspired, feel free to use it.
Norman, your suggestion of power is interesting. I think there may also be an element of fame, just like hanging out with a footballer to prove that you are someone.
Bernadette, I really like your last sentence (which is probably my own point of view). Your idea that these girls think they can reform a criminal certainly makes sense. Sadly, only one of the marriages I have heard about where a girl tried to rescue an alcoholic or drug abuser has been successful.
We discussed Peter Lundin at work one day, and apparently the sister of a colleague was very interested in him. As my colleage dryly remarked: we are very different!
Send en kommentar