“They won’t hang me, I’m British.”
The above words were spoken by convicted murderer John Martin Scripps (36) in an interview with criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee in 1996. Four days later, he was executed at Changi Prison in Singapore for the murders of numerous fellow tourists. The following statements are excerpts from a discussion Scripps had days prior to his death about the murder of one particular victim named Gerard George Lowe (32):
CBD: So, let’s get this right, John. You slam this innocent man against the wall of the room, then beat him half-senseless. Then you drag him into the bathroom, lift him into the bath, forcing his head down to his knees. You turn on the taps, and cut through the back of his neck to paralyse him. Then, you stab him in the neck, or whatever, and let him bleed to death. Did he know what was going on by then? JS: Yes! He pissed and shit himself. It made a stink. He was shitting himself… It wasn’t good and I spewed up. He really shit himself, but he couldn’t do much about it, could he? CBD: What did you do after you’d killed him? JS: I cut him into parts so I could dump the body. CBD: Is it true you used the little saw that went with your Swiss Army knife? JS: That’s bollocks. I have a knife like that for camping, but anyone will tell you that you can’t use a little saw like that for cutting carcasses. CBD: Okay. What did you use? JS: A six-inch boning knife. Well, after the blood had been washed away, I took his head off. Just like a pig. It’s almost the same. You cut through the throat and twist the knife through the back of the neck. There ain’t much mess if you do it properly. I cut off his arms at the elbows. You just cut through the ball and socket joints. You don’t saw anything. CBD: And? JS: Well, the legs… I just stuck the knife in and twisted and cut until the legs came away at the hip joint, I suppose. When I got to the knees, I just cut through and they snapped back so I could fold them. Fuckin’ heavy stuff, right?”