Patrick David Mackay

Case record: Patrick David Mackay

Personal details

Patrick David Mackay was born on September 25, 1952, in England. He was the son of a violent, alcoholic father who kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach while she was carrying Patrick.

Harold, Mackay’s father, died from complications of alcoholism and a weak heart when Mackay was ten. His final words to his son were "remember to be good". Mackay told people Harold was still alive and kept a photograph of his father on his person.

Early life and behavioural history

As a child, Mackay was frequently a victim of physical abuse at the hands of his violent, alcoholic father. Mackay entered and was confined in mental homes and institutions during his teenage years.

When Mackay was in his mother’s womb, she was kicked in the stomach by her drunken husband. Mackay was said to be unable to come to terms with the loss of his father.

Mackay experienced extreme tantrums and fits of anger. He indulged in animal cruelty and arson. He set a pet tortoise on fire, played with dead birds, and had a preoccupation with death that manifested in habitual fondling of dead birds. He bullied younger children, stole from elderly women’s homes and people in the street, and attempted to kill his mother and aunt. He attempted to kill a younger boy and later said he would have succeeded had he not been restrained. He also attempted to set fire to a Catholic church.

Mackay was hauled into juvenile court for setting a Catholic church on fire and was let off with probation.

At thirteen, Mackay was committed to a mental hospital for the first time after trashing the furniture at home and assaulting his mother and sisters. Though he was large for his age, topping six feet in his early teens, Mackay insisted on taking a doll to bed in his hospital room.

By age 15, Mackay had compiled a long record of violent offenses, including the attempted strangulation of his mother and a near-fatal assault on a younger neighborhood boy. At 15, he was diagnosed as a psychopath by a psychiatrist, Dr. Leonard Carr. Carr predicted Mackay would grow up into a "cold, psychopathic killer". A doctor later said that he would evolve into "a cold, psychopathic killer." He was certified psychopatic and committed to Moss Side Hospital for four years. He was released in the summer of 1972 against staff recommendations.

In the book Psychopath, the authors stated:

Mackay adopted a bizarre name by which he demanded to be known... Franklin Bollvolt the First.."a name to be feared and remembered, like Hitler's."
The world, he decided, needed a change, and he would be the world figure to provide it.

Adult life before the murders

After his release in the summer of 1972, Mackay was usually drunk or drugged. He stayed with friends and entertained himself by building and burning the eyes out of Frankenstein models. His room was decorated with pictures from Nazi Germany. He made himself an outfit replicating a quasi-German SS uniform, complete with lapel badges and an armband.

After being ejected from a house for bizarre activities, he tried to rob the dwelling out of spite and drew six months in jail on conviction of burglary.

Fascination with Nazism and stated identity

Mackay developed a fascination with Nazism. He called himself "Franklin Bollvolt The First" and filled his flat with Nazi memorabilia. In public, he began to call himself "Franklin Bollvolt the First," imagining himself as a world dictator. He also fixed himself a stormtrooper’s uniform.

Crime period and victims

1973

In 1973, near his mother’s home in Kent, Mackay met and was befriended by Father Anthony Crean, a priest. Mackay broke into Crean’s home and stole a check for £30. Arrested and prosecuted by the police, he was ordered to pay the fine back but never did. The incident caused a rift between the two and Mackay returned to London.

It was around this time that Mackay said that he had drowned a tramp in the River Thames.

In July 1973, Mackay killed Heidi Mnilk, an au pair girl, by hurling her from a train near New Cross.

That same month, victim Mary Hynes was beaten to death in her Kentish Town apartment.

Mackay was also said to have begun a series of murders during this period.

Early 1974

In January 1974, Stephanie Britton and her four-year-old grandson were stabbed to death at Hadley Green, in Hertfordshire.

A few days later, Mackay tossed an aging vagrant to his death from Hungerford Bridge.

In February 1974, he invaded the Chelsea home of Isabella Griffith, strangling her to death and plunging a kitchen knife into her stomach.

By early 1974, Mackay lived with friends in Finchley, north London, proclaiming himself possessed by demons. Ejected from the house for his bizarre activities, he tried to rob the dwelling out of spite and drew six months in jail on conviction of burglary.

At Finsbury Park, he bludgeoned a 62-year-old tobacconist to death with a piece of lead pipe.

Sarah Rodwell, age 92, was beaten to death on her doorstep in Hackney and was robbed of a $10 Christmas bonus.

In Southend, cafe proprietress Ivy Davies was slain with an ax.

By autumn, Mackay had settled into a career of purse-snatching and mugging the elderly, chalking up three more homicides in the process.

March 1975

On March 10, 1975, Mackay strangled Adele Price, an elderly widow, in her London apartment.

Eleven days later, he invaded the home of Father Crean, in Gravesend, splitting the priest’s skull with an ax. Mackay stabbed the body repeatedly for good measure.

Confessions and alleged totals

Mackay bragged that he had murdered eleven people. He was said to have confessed to murdering eleven people in England in the early 1970s. He was described as murdering eleven people from July 1973 until his arrest on March 23, 1975. Mackay’s last victim was a Catholic priest that had befriended him, named Father Anthony Crean.

The wounds to Crean’s head were so devastating that his brain was exposed, and before he died, he reached his hand up and touched the exposed portion of his brain.

Investigation and police focus

After Mackay’s arrest, police considered him to be a suspect in at least a dozen other killings over the past two years. Most victims were elderly women who had been stabbed or strangled to death during robberies.

Police dismissed him as a petty criminal prior to the later recognition of the grave mistake too late to save an estimated dozen lives. The rash of "unconnected" slayings would be solved with Mackay’s confessions in 1975, but none of the crimes were ever charged against him.

Arrest and charging

Mackay was swiftly arrested after the murder of Father Crean.

At some point, Mackay was charged with five murders. Two charges were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence.

In the account describing the disposition, Mackay was sentenced to life following guilty plea on three counts of manslaughter, and two other counts were dropped in a plea bargain.

Trial and sentencing

Mackay was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in November 1975.

It was also stated that he was reported to be among the 50 or so prisoners in the United Kingdom who had been issued with a whole life tariff and were unlikely ever to be released from prison.

Timeline

• summer of 1972 — Mackay was released from the asylum against staff recommendations.
• 1973 — Mackay met and was befriended by Father Anthony Crean near his mother’s home in Kent; Mackay stole a check for £30 from Crean’s home.
• July 1973 — Mackay killed Heidi Mnilk by hurling her from a train near New Cross; Mary Hynes was beaten to death in her Kentish Town apartment.
• January 1974 — Stephanie Britton and her four-year-old grandson were stabbed to death at Hadley Green, in Hertfordshire.
• February 1974 — Mackay strangled Isabella Griffith to death and plunged a kitchen knife into her stomach.
• March 10, 1975 — Mackay strangled Adele Price in her London apartment.
• March 21, 1975 — Mackay used an axe to kill Father Anthony Crean, hacking through the victim’s skull and watching him bleed to death.
• March 23, 1975 — Mackay was arrested two days later in one account.
• Eleven days later — Mackay invaded the home of Father Crean in Gravesend and split his skull with an ax.
• November 1975 — Mackay was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Other details

Mackay described being possessed by demons while living in Finchley. He repeatedly committed robberies and used stabbing or strangling methods on victims. He was living in London and was frequently drunk or on drugs.

He used an axe to kill Father Crean in the account dated March 21, 1975. In the same event, it was also described that he split the priest’s skull with an ax and stabbed the body repeatedly.

He was said to have stolen a check for £30 and to have escaped with a $50 fine on conviction of theft in one account.

He was reported to have murdered eleven people in England in the mid 1970s and to have confessed to murdering eleven people in England in the early 1970s.