British Serial Killer Essay -- Psychology, Allitt

She is best known as the famous notorious British serial killer. Her crimes horrified and sickened many British families. I first heard about Beverly Allitt when I was watching TruTV. The show had a feature on Allitt and her crimes, this instantaneously caught my attention. The fact that a nurse would intentionally harm children seemed immensely ironic and riveting to me. In my eyes, a nurse was someone who cared and showed concern for a patient. Not someone who intentionally caused anguish and trauma upon innocent children. Coming into this topic, I didn’t know much about the scandalous nurse. I scarcely knew about her history and background. I had heard that Allitt was mentally sick and had suffered some obstacles during her childhood. I also knew that her main way of killing was through over doses of insulin, and that she worked at a ward for infants. The speculations that Allitt suffered from an odd mental illness always intrigued me. I’ve always had many questions about Allitt and her murders. Like, why the children were killed and why they were so young? Children would’ve been easy targets for Allitt. Since most children are smaller than most adults, it would be easier for an adult to over power a child. Also, young children are innocent and might not realize what is happening in there surroundings. This leads me to my next question, how many children were killed and how were they killed? From my small knowledge of Allits history, I thought that she had killed five children. I also knew, that her main way of killing was through large amounts of potassium or insulin. Allit’s murder weapons were easily accessible to her. I’ve always wondered if Allitt really had a mental disorder, or if she was faking it for sympathy. I t... ...lthy appendix; she then plucked at her surgical scar, causing it not to heal correctly. Allitt had been in the hospital for numerous reasons. She complained of â€Å"gall bladder pain, headaches, urinary infections, uncontrolled vomiting, blurred vision, minor injuries, appendicitis, back trouble, and ulcers†(Ramsland 2). When she was hospitalized in 1991, Allitt puzzled nurses when she â€Å"tampered with the thermometer to produce [perplexing] readings, and [also] punctured her right breast to inject herself with water† (Ramsland 2). While working at the ward, Allitt was known for doing weird things. She was suspected of â€Å"smearing feces on the walls and putting it into the refrigerator for others to find† When Beverly was convicted of her murders; she cut herself with paperclips, and burned herself with hot water. She was later placed in a mental ward for her own safety.