I wrote to Elizabeth Yardley and David Wilson telling them I'd like to discuss the Ben Geen case with them and offering to come to Birmingham and give them a talk about the Lucia de Berk case. I pointed out that "being convicted of being a serial killer" is not the same as "being a serial killer". Prof Wilson told me that in criminology one studies people convicted of crimes, full stop. I protested, and they blocked my emails.
We do not know there is higher incidence of deaths on Lucy's shifts because we have never been told what the ratio was of deaths during her shifts to the number of her shifts, preferably statistically corrected for likely confounding factors.
An FBI profiler, Alan Brantley, gave evidence for the prosecution in the case of Lucia de Berk. He wrote up his experiences in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin https://pub.math.leidenuniv.nl/~gillrd/Brantley_FBI_LEB_jan05.pdf. The psychological features of Lucia de Berk contributed items on Katherine Ramsland's red flag list via an earlier list compiled by Yorker, B. C., Kizer, K. W., Lampe, P., Forrest, A. R. W., Lannan, J. M., & Russell, D. A. (2006). "Serial Murder by Healthcare Professionals". Journal of Forensic Sciences, 51(6), 1362–1370.
I wrote to Elizabeth Yardley and David Wilson telling them I'd like to discuss the Ben Geen case with them and offering to come to Birmingham and give them a talk about the Lucia de Berk case. I pointed out that "being convicted of being a serial killer" is not the same as "being a serial killer". Prof Wilson told me that in criminology one studies people convicted of crimes, full stop. I protested, and they blocked my emails.
Good grief.
There is definitely a sense amongst the “guilty crew” that the case is determinative, but it is pretty disappointing hearing a criminologist say that!
We do not know there is higher incidence of deaths on Lucy's shifts because we have never been told what the ratio was of deaths during her shifts to the number of her shifts, preferably statistically corrected for likely confounding factors.
An FBI profiler, Alan Brantley, gave evidence for the prosecution in the case of Lucia de Berk. He wrote up his experiences in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin https://pub.math.leidenuniv.nl/~gillrd/Brantley_FBI_LEB_jan05.pdf. The psychological features of Lucia de Berk contributed items on Katherine Ramsland's red flag list via an earlier list compiled by Yorker, B. C., Kizer, K. W., Lampe, P., Forrest, A. R. W., Lannan, J. M., & Russell, D. A. (2006). "Serial Murder by Healthcare Professionals". Journal of Forensic Sciences, 51(6), 1362–1370.
That is a fascinating insight Richard!
"Remarkably citing a refusal to explain her motive"
Only the true Messiah denies his divinity.
Alright I AM the Messiah. Now — !!
Powerful piece, Olly (and you know I don't hesitate to say when I disagree).
cheers G - that one was like wrestling with a bear so it is gratifying indeed to hear that from a discerning critic!