The death of RACHEL NICKELL in 1992 stunned the country.
After 16 years of searching for the truth, Robert Napper finally accepted responsibility in 2008. What is known about him is as follows.
Who is Robert Napper?
Robert Napper was raised in the neighbouring community of Plumstead after being born on February 25, 1966, in Erith, South East London.
Before his parents’ separation when he was nine, he saw his father Brian severely assaulting his mother Pauline, which contributed to his turbulent upbringing.
Napper received psychiatric care and was placed in foster care alongside his two brothers, sister, and other family members.
On a camping trip when he was 13 years old, a family acquaintance sexually attacked him.
His mother said it was after this that his personality changed and he became introverted, obsessively tidy and reclusive.
Additionally, he harassed his siblings and watched his sister when she was naked.
Since then, Napper has been identified as having Asperger’s syndrome and being a paranoid schizophrenic.
When he was found in possession of an airgun in 1986, the police first became aware of him and gave him a conditional release.
He then admitted to his mother that he had sexually assaulted a woman on Plumstead Common, and she called the police right away.
But they said they couldn’t find a trace of a rape and the inquiry was dropped.
Eight weeks earlier a 31-year-old mother whose home backed on to the Common had reported to police she had been raped in her home in front of her children.
Following this, his mother cut off all communication with him, and he moved into a bedsit and worked a series of low-paying jobs.
Who were Robert Napper’s victims?
Rachel Nickell
The 23-year-old Rachel Nickell, her boyfriend André Hanscombe, their 2-year-old son Alexander, and their dog Molly had been residing close to Wimbledon Common.
On July 15, 1992, a former model who had gotten used to being a full-time mother was brutally killed.
On Wimbledon Common, Rachel and Alexander were strolling when Napper charged out of the bushes.
In his rage, he stabbed Rachel 49 times and attacked her sexually in front of her son before running away.
Little Alexander was found pleading for his mum, whose throat had been cut, to get up.
Samantha Bisset and Jazmine Bisset
Samantha Bisset, then 27 years old, was stabbed in the neck and chest in November 1993 by Napper, who then beat her in her Plumstead home.
He then attacked and strangled Jazmine, her four-year-old daughter, leaving her dead on her bed with her toys.
The young mother’s body was subsequently mangled and bits were taken as a trophy by the sick killer.
Napper was apprehended after a fingerprint was found in her apartment, and he was found guilty in 1995 at the Old Bailey.
He was also committed to Broadmoor Hospital after admitting to two rapes and two attempted rapes.
