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John Martin Scripps: Body-parts murder

John Martin Scripps, a.k.a. John Martin, 35, was the first Westerner to be hung in Singapore for murder on 19 April 1996. He was convicted in the sensational "Body-parts" or "Black bin-bags" murder of South African tourist, Gerard George Lowe, 32, in March 1995. The police were alerted when various parts of Lowe's dismembered body were found floating in black bin-bags off Clifford Pier. Investigations led to the arrest of Martin, his eventual conviction and death sentence.

Background
Martin was born in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, in December 1959 to Leonard and Jean Scripps. He had an elder sister, Janet. His parents moved to London when he was very young. He was close to his father, who was a lorry driver. However, when Martin was 10, his father committed suicide. Martin left school when he was 15 because of dyslexia.

Known as a mild-mannered, reserved and polite man with "no friends", Martin had spent most of his adult life behind bars for petty crimes and drug-related offences before the body-parts murder. Martin was also linked to murder cases in Thailand, Mexico, Belize and San Francisco. The only love of his life outside his family, was said to be his Mexican ex-wife, Maria Arellanos, whom he married when he was in his 20s and who divorced him while he was in prison.

Scripps' life before the "Body-parts" murder
1973 : At age 14, Scripps disappeared in France from a cadet training camp.
1974 : Convicted for burglary and theft in juvenile court
1978 : First adult conviction for indecent assault
1978-1982 : Burglaries in London, jailed in Israel for burglary
1982 : Jailed for burglary and assault in Surrey. He absconded and travelled to Southeast Asia and America
1985 : Jailed again in Surrey for burglary. He absconded again to smuggle drugs through various countries
1987: Jailed in London for heroin offences
Jun 1990 : Absconded from London jail
Nov 1990 : Jailed for heroin possession at Winchester
1993 : Acquired butchery skills in prison
31 Oct 1994 : Absconded from Mount Prison in Hertfordshire. Travelled through Holland, Belgium, Paris, Spain

Description
In mid-March 1995, Singaporeans were gripped by the news that dismembered parts of a human torso and lower limbs were found floating in black garbage bags in the waters off Clifford Pier. Fears that this was the work of a killer at large proved true. The body parts were identified as belonging to a South African tourist, Gerard George Lowe, 32, who went missing. His head and arms were never found. Following police investigations, John Martin Scripps, was caught and charged in court to stand trial for the murder of Lowe. Martin was accused of killing Lowe, in Room 1511 which they shared in River View Hotel between noon on 8 March and 8:00 am on 9 March. Acting for the prosecution were Jennifer Marie, Noral Huda and Toh Han Li. They highlighted that Martin had a reputation of befriending tourists, killing them and then dismembers their corpses. He robs them of their wallets, credit cards, cash and passports. Martin had considerable skill as a prison butcher and Lowe's body showed signs of being dismembered professionally. In Lowe's case, the defence mooted that Martin killed Lowe unintentionally when he rebuffed the latter's unwanted homosexual advances in their River View Hotel room. In the ensuing fight, he hit Lowe with a camping hammer. He panicked and fled when Lowe was dead. An anonymous British friend disposed of the body. Acting for the defence were Edmond Pereira and Joseph Theseira. Justice T.S. Sinnathuray found Martin was found to be a calculative killer who set out to murder and rob the unsuspecting Lowe. He was sentenced to death, by hanging.

Timeline
8 Mar 1995 : Martin arrived in Singapore on a flight from San Francisco. He met South African tourist Gerard George Lowe at Changi Airport and agreed to share a room at River View Hotel. Martin later murders Lowe and dismembers the body.
9-10 Mar 1995 : Lowe's name was removed from hotel registry at Martin's request.
9-10 Mar 1995 : Martin used Lowe's credit cards, withdrawing $8, 775 in cash and buying a $499 videocassette recorder. He attended a Singapore Symphony Orchestra performance on March 10.
11 Mar 1995 : Security guards observed Martin walking out of hotel around 6:35 a.m with a heavy suitcase. About 15 minutes later Martin returns without the suitcase. He checked out of hotel and left for Bangkok.
13, 16 Mar 1995 : Human body parts including torso, thighs and legs in black plastic bags were recovered off Clifford Pier. Positive identification of Lowe was made by his widow.
15 Mar 1995 : Martin meanwhile flew to Phuket from Bangkok. Canadian tourists Sheila Mae Damude, 49, and her son Darin, 22, were on the same flight. They were later found murdered and dismembered.
19 Mar 1995 : Martin returned to Singapore and was arrested at Changi airport. He was found to have knives, a 1.3 kg hammer, an electrical stun device, handcuffs, a can of mace, credit cards, possessions and the passports of Lowe and the Damudes with him.
21 Mar 1995 : Martin was charged for forgery. He told police he was Simon James Davis, age 29, the same named he used to check into River View Hotel with Lowe.
24 Mar 1995 : Martin -- his true identity now known - was convicted of Lowe's murder.
2 Apr 1995 : A third bin bag with body parts was found floating off Clifford Pier.
4 Apr 1995 : Martin gave statement to Singapore police, claiming that an anonymous British friend was responsible for disposing of Lowe's body.
18 Sep 1995 : Martin was formally charged for the Lowe's murder in Singapore court.
2 Oct 1995 :  Martin's trial begins in Singapore high court.
10 Nov 1995 : Martin was found guilty and sentenced to hang. Defence lawyers indicated they would appeal.
4 Jan 1996 : Martin withdrew his appeal
10 Mar 1996 : Martin declined to seek pardon from President Ong Teng Cheong
19 Apr 1996 : Martin hung at Changi Prison


Author
Nureza Ahmad



References 
Johnson, C. (1995, September 17). Briton in Singapore charged with bin-bag murder. Reuters News.

Joshi, V. (1995, November 9). Briton sentenced to death in body parts case. The Associated Press.

Joshi, V. (1995, October 5). Ex-prison butcher linked to string of murders. The New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Lewis, M. (1995, October 26). Briton on Singapore murder charge cites conscience. Reuters News.

Parameswaran, P. (1995, April 1). Another decomposed body found in Singapore, murder probe widens. Agence France-Press.

Tan, O. B. (1995, October 5). Martin-I hit Lowe, but friend disposed of body. The Straits Times.

Singapore finds Briton guilty in grisly murder case. (1995, November 10). Reuters News.

Singapore opens hearing on Briton called murderer. (1995, September 18). Reuters News.

Body in bag picked up from sea off Clifford Pier. (1995, April 2). The Straits Times.

7 countries probe man in murder of B.C. pair. (1995, April 1). The Toronto Star.


Further Readings
Cumming-Bruce, N. (1995, November 11). Quiet man who went from drug-smuggling to serial murder. The Guardian.

Sherwell, P. (1995, November 11). Singapore judge sentences British murderer to death. The Globe and Mail.

Who is John Martin? (1995, November 12). The Straits Times.

Key events in Britons Singapore murder trial. (1995, November 10). Reuters News.

Capital Punishement UK. (n.d.). John Martin Scripps - the tourist from hell. Retrieved June 16, 2004, from 
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6142/scripps.html 

The information in this article is valid as at 2004 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Events>>Disasters
Murderers--Singapore
Hanging--Singapore
Singapore--History--1990-
People and communities>>Social problems>>Crimes and delinquency



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