Robert Clive Napper (born 25 February 1966) is an English

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

and rapist. He has been convicted of two murders, one

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

, two rapes and two attempted rapes. He was sentenced to indefinite detention at

Broadmoor Hospital Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of England's three high-security psychiatric hospitals, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure ...

on 18 December 2008 for the manslaughter of Rachel Nickell on 15 July 1992. He was previously convicted of the 1993 double

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

of Samantha Bisset and her daughter Jazmine Bisset. Napper has been diagnosed with

paranoid schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, hearing voices), delusions, disorganized thinking and behavior, and flat or inappropriate affect. Symptoms develop gradually and typically begin ...

as well as

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

Early life

Robert Napper is the eldest child of Brian Napper, a driving instructor, and his wife Pauline. Born in

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

, southeast London, Napper was brought up in nearby

Abbey Wood Abbey Wood is an List of areas of London, area in southeast London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and bordering the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 ...

. His background was troubled and dysfunctional. The marriage of his parents was violent and Napper witnessed his father abusing his mother. His parents divorced when he was nine and he and his siblings (two brothers and a sister) were placed in foster care and underwent psychiatric treatment for six years at the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the I ...

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

. Napper was socially awkward at school, where he was shunned by his peers who later described Napper as being "despised". At age 13, Napper underwent a personality change after a family friend sexually assaulted him on a camping holiday. The offender was jailed, but Napper became introverted, obsessively tidy, and reclusive, according to his mother. He also bullied his siblings and spied on his sister while she was naked.

Criminal activities

In 1986, Napper first came to police attention after being convicted of an offence with an airgun. In October 1989, police had rejected information conveyed in a phone call from Napper's mother that her son had admitted to committing a rape on

Plumstead Common Plumstead Common is a common and urban park in Plumstead in the Royal Borough of Greenwich ( SE18), south-east London. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. Location and geology Plumstead Common is bound to the north by Old Mill Roa ...

. No case apparently matched the evidence. However, it emerged at the time of Napper's second conviction, that the rape of a 30-year-old woman, in front of her children, eight weeks earlier, had been reported to have occurred in a house which backed onto Plumstead Common. At this point, Pauline Napper broke off all contact with her son. On 15 July 1992 on

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Co ...

, Napper stabbed the young mother Rachel Nickell 49 times in front of her son Alex, then aged two, who clung on to his mother's body begging her to wake up. Napper was questioned about unsolved attacks on other women during the year, but was eliminated from inquiries. In November 1993, in the Bisset home in

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. ...

, Napper stabbed 27-year-old Samantha Bisset in her neck and chest, killing her, and then sexually assaulted and smothered her four-year-old daughter, Jazmine Jemima Bisset. In her sitting room, Napper mutilated Samantha Bisset's body, taking away body parts as a trophy. The crime scene was reportedly so grisly that the police photographer assigned to the case was forced to take two years' leave after witnessing it. After a fingerprint belonging to Napper was recovered from Samantha's flat, he was arrested by DS Alan Jackaman, and charged with the murders of Samantha and Jazmine Bisset, in May 1994. Napper was convicted at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

in October 1995. He also admitted two rapes and two attempted rapes at this time. From the time of the first Old Bailey trial, he has been held at Broadmoor. In December 1995, he was questioned about Nickell's death but denied any involvement. Napper is also believed to have committed most or all of the attacks attributed to the "Green Chain Rapist" (named after the

Green Chain Walk The South East London Green Chain, also known as the Green Chain Walk, is a linked system of open spaces between the River Thames and Crystal Palace Park in London, England. In 1977 four London boroughs and the Greater London Council created t ...

– a string of leafy pathways linking large parts of southeast London) who carried out at least 70 savage attacks across south-east London over a four-year period ending in 1994. The earliest of the 'Green Chain' rapes have been linked to Napper and were those he admitted to in 1995. Napper is known to have kept detailed records of the sites of potential and actual attacks on women. During the investigation into the rapes, Napper had been eliminated due to his 6' 2" height, as detectives had decided to exclude anyone over 6' based on the description of a 5' 7" rapist. However, there are conflicting witness reports of the rapist's height and Napper walked with a stoop. The investigation to find Nickell's murderer resulted in the attempted prosecution of an innocent man,

Colin Stagg Rachel Jane Nickell (23 November 1968 – 15 July 1992) was a British woman who was stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common in south-west London on 15 July 1992. The initial police investigation of the crime resulted in the arrest in controversial ...

, until, in 2004, advances in

DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting and genetic fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is cal ...

revealed Napper's connection to the case. On 18 December 2008, Napper was convicted of the

of Nickell on the grounds of

diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental funct ...

. He also admitted to four other attacks on women. Napper was sentenced to indefinite detention at

. In his summing up at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Griffiths Williams said to Napper: "You are in any view a very dangerous man".

Depictions in popular culture

Napper was portrayed by Jack Riddiford in the 2021 miniseries ''

Deceit Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deceit ...

'', which retold the story of Operation Edzell.

References

External links

LE CRIME DE ROBERT NAPPER (British Media Coverage of Napper's Crimes)

THE RACHEL NICKELL CASE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napper, Robert 1966 births 1992 murders in the United Kingdom 1993 murders in the United Kingdom 20th-century English criminals Child murder in England Criminals from London English murderers of children English people convicted of manslaughter English people convicted of murder English people convicted of rape English rapists English serial killers History of mental health in the United Kingdom Living people Murder in London Necrophiles People acquitted by reason of insanity People convicted of murder by England and Wales People detained at Broadmoor Hospital People from Erith People with Asperger syndrome People with schizophrenia

Early life

Criminal activities

Depictions in popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links