Women Who Kill
By Lindy Cameron and Ruth Wykes
Five Mile Press
We may be tempted to think of murder purely as the domain of men; however women do kill, sometimes in brutal and shocking ways.
This book explores some of Australia’s most chilling female killers in a frank and engaging manner. It is separated into sections: Truly, Madly, Deadly which explores women who teamed up with men to commit their crimes; Vicious Young Things which looks at the unnerving increase in young female murderers and Overkill which deals with the incredible lengths some killers will take to ensure the death of their victims.
One of the pivotal questions raised by the book is why women kill. Co-author Ruth Wykes says she is still no closer to finding the answer.
‘I can understand women being sad and angry and upset when they’ve been really badly hurt or their children have been hurt but what makes some people cross over that line?’ she said.
‘We all know what that line is- there are certain moral codes in our society that we don’t break and I think it’s too easy an excuse to blame a poor upbringing or abuse. There are plenty of people who have terrible upbringings but don’t grow up to kill someone.’
Perhaps the most unsettling element of the book is the fact that so many of these murders occurred in Western Australia. In fact it was the murder of Stacey Mitchell, who was killed by two young Perth women in 2006, that spurred Wykes to write about female homicide.
‘Something really affected me about that killing because not only did I feel terribly sad for Stacey Mitchell and her family but I just thought how can two women do this?’ Wykes said.
The Stacey Mitchell murder was particularly disturbing for the local queer community as her killers were a lesbian couple- a fact local media was quick to exploit.
‘There was a lot of reporting around the more salacious issues related to the relationship between (the killers) Valerie and Jessica but what they actually did was awful,’ said Wykes.
‘It was absolutely horrific and there has been very little in the media about that- just “well they’re lesbians, what else would you expect?‒
One of the most intriguing and disturbing stories included in the book is Wykes’ first-hand account of meeting the notorious Catherine Birnie, the serial killer who helped her partner David kidnap, torture and coldly murder a number of young women in the 1990’s.
Birnie has resided at Bandyup Women’s Prison since her conviction 22 years ago and while working for the WA AIDS Council, Wykes regularly made visits to the prison to conduct workshops. Her regular conversations and encounters with the killer provide a fascinating insight.
On the whole, Women Who Kill is an engaging and thought-provoking read. It avoids the common pitfall of some true crime novels by not dwelling on the gory details of murder, instead focusing on psychological and sociological circumstances.
Cameron’s skill as a crime writer (both fiction and non-fiction) and Wykes’ experience in the media and women’s prisons are a formidable combination. Both are authors to watch out for.
Amy Henderson
