22-year-old David McGreavy from Worcester moved in with his friend, Clive Ralph and his wife, Elsie Ralph, and their three children, 4-year-old Paul, 2-year-old Dawn and 9-month-old Samantha. David had been kicked out of his parents’ home due to his incessant drinking. Clive worked as a lorry driver while Elsie worked as a barmaid. When they went out to work, David would babysit the children. To those around him, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy spending time with the children and acted “like a father” to them.
On Friday the 13th of April, 1973, David went to a local pub and drank several pints of beer. He got into an altercation with a friend after he put his cigarette in his beer. From the pub, David went home to look after the Ralph children while Clive drove to pick up Elsie from work and have a pint. By the time Clive and Elsie arrived back home, the police were already at the house.
As David was looking after the children, Samantha started to cry for her bottle. For reasons unknown, this infuriated David. Instead of reaching for the bottle, David grabbed Samantha and swung her repeatedly again the wall, shattering her skull. He then picked up a razor blade and slit Dawn’s throat before strangling Paul. The most horrifying aspect of the crime came next when David took the lifeless bodies of the children into a neighbour’s garden and impaled their bodies on the spiked gate.
David was apprehended at around 4AM the next morning. He confessed to the gruesome murders claiming the only motivation was that Samantha was crying. He was sentenced to multiple life terms with a minimum of 20 years. During his time in prison, “The Monster of Worcester” was often targeted due to his vicious crimes. He once challenged Ian Brady a fight to prove he was the “most notorious” killer.
In 2006, David was transferred to an open prison and stayed in a hostel in Liverpool. After news of his transfer hit headlines, it was met by outrage; he was transferred back to a closed prison. He is up for parole later in 2018.
