Fear the Stranger by Hector Clark

Robert Black is a serial killer and child abductor of the early to late 1980's.

He is most famous for the murders of Caroline Hogg, Sarah Harper and Susan Maxwell although he has been linked to many others.

Mother: Jessie Hunter Black
Father: Unknown
Stepfather: Francis Hall

He was born on the 21 April 1947 near Falkirk, Scotland and was fostered out by his parents shortly after his birth. As a child he became aggressive and slightly odd in his behaviour. He was often bullied and was usually on his own. He preferred to spend time with younger children and would often commit random attacks of sexual violence. He claimed he felt that he should have been female.

After the death of his foster mother at the age of 11, he found himself back in a children's home where his fascination for sex crossed over from fantasy to reality. His first attempt at rape was at the age of just 12 along with two other boys. It failed and he was moved to the Red House in Musselburgh. There he was sexually abused by a male member of staff.

A job as a delivery boy at 15 he admitted to molestations of 30 to 40 girls. None were officially reported until the age of 17 when he strangled a seven year old girl and masturbated over her body.

Black then moved back to Grangemouth where he met Pamela Hodgson. The relationship lasted only a few months. He then molested his landlord's 9 year old granddaughter and was told to move.

Moved on to Kinlochleven, and moved in with a couple and their 7 year old daughter who he molested. He was reported to the police where he then spent a year in borstal. On his release he moved to London, got a job as a swimming pool attendant but subsequently lost his job after a girl complained that he had touched her.

Captivating, thought provoking and worrying all at the same time.

It takes you back to the three worst child killings in Britain's history and gives you the low-down on the whole police investigation.

It features details of each crime, interviews with the parents of the children involved and how police eventually caught up with Robert Black.

It allows the reader to really get a feel of the emotions that were involved in this investigation and the time, effort and skill it took to finally capture this cunning and dangerous killer.

It, in my opinion, is one book you should read to get an idea of how moving this particular true crime story really is.

Carrie White
Freelance Writer and Reviewer

There are three elements of a murder: Motive, Means and Opportunity. When all these elements are taken into consideration, the chances of solving the case is increased. If there is no obvious connection between murder victim and the criminal, then often these crimes will go unsolved.

Motive:

Robert Black is a paedophile. It's not clear whether he intended to kill his victims although the chances are that he did. By killing his victims he ensures that they cannot identify him or reveal important facts about him as a killer and his methods.

His victims were chosen at random and it was his lust for young children which caused him to strike more than once. An eye witness of the abduction of Teresa Thornhill was the downfall which led to his arrest.

Means:

Robert Black abducted his victims. He often slept in his white van which enabled him to be anywhere he chose within striking distance of his target. Black admitted that he looked for girls on bikes.

Opportunity:

His job provided him with a white van which he used to take him all over the country giving him plenty of means and opportunity.

Caroline Hogg - 5, from Portobello, Edinburgh.


Susan Maxwell - 11, from Cornhill on Tweed.


Sarah Harper - 10, from Morley near Leeds, West Yorkshire.


Jennifer Cardy - 9. 10th April 2008.
Jennifer Cardy was abducted and murdered in 1981. She was snatched from her bicycle on her way to a friend's house. Her red bicycle was discovered in a field beside a hedge near her home. Her body was found six days later by anglers at McKee's Dam, near Hillsborough, County Down.

Robert Black appeared in court (22Nd January 2010) and was charged with the murder of Jennifer Cardy.

Read more: Serial killer Robert Black back in court over murder of nine-year-old schoolgirl

April Fabb, Norfolk in 1969
Abducted from her bicycle on her way to Roughton from her home which was the same way that Genette Tate was abducted in 1978.

Christine Markham, 9. Scunthorpe, 1973
Snatched.


Genette Tate, 13. Devon, 1978
Currently not enough evidence to charge Robert Black with this crime. However he was in the area at the time of her disappearance and he betrayed detailed knowledge of the area where Genette disappeared.


Suzanne Lawrence, 14. Essex, 1979


Colette Aram, 16. Nottingham, 1983
Sexually assaulted and strangled. Found in a field.

Patsy Morris, 14. 1990
Found strangled on Hounslow Heath, West London in June 1990.
Levi Bellfield Linked With Murder When He Was 12
Re-investigate the brutal murder of 14-year-old Patsy Morris

Marion Crofts. 1990

Lisa Hession. 1990

Pamela Hastie, 16, 1981
Witness claims he hit Black with his van on the night she died in 1981. Miss Hastie was sexually assaulted and murdered in Rannoch Woods in Johnstone.

Tracey Waters, 11,
Killed in Johnstone just over a year after Pamela's murder.

Mary Boyle, 7, 1977
Disappeared from her home in County Donegal.

Robert Black has been linked to 10 unsolved abductions and murders in England, as well as others in France, Amsterdam, Ireland and Germany.