Editing Gordon Cummins

{{Villain Infobox
|Image = GordonF.CumminsBlackout_Ripper.jpg
|fullname = Gordon Frederick Cummins
|alias = The Blackout Ripper<br>
The Wartime Ripper<br>
The Blackout Killer
|origin = Yorkshire, England
|occupation = RAF serviceman
|hobby = Murdering women
|goals = Murder women <small>(succeeded, but got caught)</small>
|crimes = Serial murder<br>
Rape<br>
Attempted murder
|type of villain = Violent sex maniac}}
'''Gordon Frederick Cummins''' was a British spree killer known as '''The Blackout Ripper''' or '''The Wartime Ripper''' responsible for the murders of 4 - 6 women in London in February 1942. Despite evidence that he committed four murders, Cummins was only convicted of one murder, the murder of Evelyn Oatley, for which he was sentenced to death and hanged at Wandsworth Prison in June 1942.

==Crimes==
Cummins is suspected of committing his first murder on 13 October 1941, when the body of prostitute Mabel Church was found strangled on Hampstead Heath. Cummins is suspected, as he was known to reside at an address near to where the body was found. He is also suspected of the murder of Edith Humphries on 17 October.

On 9 February 1942, the body of Evelyn Hamilton was discovered in an air raid shelter in Marleybone, having been choked to death by Cummins. However, she had not been mutilated or sexually assaulted, although their were small cuts on her right breast and her left eyebrow. 

The same day, another of Cummins's victims, prostitute Evelyn Oatley, was found in Soho, having been sexually abused, mutilated with a can opener and strangled to death. Cummins's fingerprints were found nearby, but failed to identify him as he had no prior convictions. 

On 10 February, a prostitute, Margaret Florence Lowe was murdered in her flat at 11 Gosfield Street, Marylebone. She had been strangled to death upon her divan bed with a silk stocking which was still knotted around her neck. Her body had been extensively slashed and mutilated with a variety of implements including a razor blade, a knife and a poker, found beside her body. Forensic experts recovered fingerprints from a brass candlestick, a glass, and a half-drunk bottle of stout found at the crime scene. Her murder was quickly linked to that of Oatley.

On 11 February 1942, prostitute Doris Jouannet was murdered in the two-room ground-floor flat at 187 Sussex Gardens, Bayswater, that she shared with her elderly husband. She had been strangled with a scarf and her naked body sexually mutilated with a razor blade in a similar fashion to the bodies of Oatley and Lowe.

On the evening of 13 February 1942, Cummins accosted a young woman named Margaret Hayward in Piccadilly. After sharing a drink, Haywood began to walk home, having rejected his sexual advances. Cummins followed her out of the pub and pushed her into a shop doorway near Piccadilly Circus. She was strangled into unconsciousness. However, Cummins was disturbed by a delivery boy making his rounds as he rifled through her handbag, forcing him to flee the scene, leaving his RAF-issue gas mask in the doorway.

As police investigated the assault upon Margaret Hayward, Cummins accosted a young prostitute named Kathleen Mulcahy, who took him to her flat near Paddington railway station. Upon entering her flat, Mulcahy lit her gas fire and began removing her clothes but did not remove her boots. Mulcahy later stated a "strange smile" appeared on Cummins's face as she removed her clothing. He removed his coat and belt, then approached her and attempted to strangle her. Mulcahy fought her attacker, breaking free of his grasp, kicking his shins and screaming so loudly Cummins ceased his assault. Possibly as a means of deterring Mulcahy from reporting the assault to police, Cummins gave her five £1 notes before grabbing his coat and fleeing, leaving his RAF webbing belt at her address.

==Arrest==
As Cummins had left RAF-issue kit at the scene of both his attempted murders, the Air Ministry was asked to identify them, and told the police that both items had been issued to Cummins. He was arrested, and was immediately identified by Margaret Hayward as her attacker, although Mulcahy was unable to remember if he had attacked her. A search of his flat also revealed that he was in possession of items stolen from the corpses of the Blackout Ripper's victims, and his fingerprints were matched to the ones found at the scene of Evelyn Oatley's murder. 

Cummins was charged with the murder of Evelyn Oatley (charges for his other murders were left on file), convicted and hanged at Wandsworth Prison by Albert Pierrepont on 25 June 1942.
[[Category:List]]
[[Category:Male]]
[[Category:Serial Killer]]
[[Category:Deceased]]
[[Category:Rapists]]
[[Category:Execution]]
[[Category:Misogynists]]
[[Category:Perverts]]
[[Category:Modern Villains]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]