The Beast of Jersey

TW: Sexual Assault of women and minors

The Beast of Jersey

If you have ever heard of Jersey you have either heard of award winning Jersey Cows, the fact that it was the setting for 1980's TV series 'Bergerac' or the fact that it was German occupied during the Second World War.

You might not have heard about the physical and sexual abuse allegations that stretch years.

A children's home on the island 'Haut De La Garenne' have had over 100 people recount takes about the physical and sexual abuse they experienced there. But that is not all.

Jersey was consumed by a reign of terror in 1957 that would last 12 years.

In November 1957, a 29 year old nurse was waiting for a bus in Monte a L'abbe are was attacked by a man wearing some sort of covering on his face and affecting an 'Irish' accent. She was dragged into a field with a rope around her neck and raped. She was left severely injured and left with wounds requiring stitches.

Things were quiet for a while until 1958, March. A 20 year old woman was walking home from a bus stop, in Trinity Parish, she was attacked, rope around her neck, dragged into a field and raped.

July 1958, a 31 year old woman was walking home from a bus stop, and with the same MO she had a rope around her neck, dragged to a field and raped. The same happened to a young girl walking home in the parish of Grouville in August 1959, and to a 28 year old woman attacked in the parish of St Martin's in October 1959. The latter whilst raped by the man was able to fight him off quickly enough so that he fled but the former was not so fortunate.

Detectives notice recurring things in each description of the attacker, he was early to mid 40's, 5' 6'' tall, affected an Irish accent, smelt musty and tied women's hands behind their head, tied a rope around their neck and dragged them to a field where he proceeds to assault them. Detectives suspected a serial attacker, who became known as the "Beast of Jersey."

However, in 1960 his MO - Modus Operandi - changed in frequency and savagery.

Valentines Day 1960, he began attacking indoors. A 12 year old boy was sleeping at home in the region of Grands Vaux, he was awoken by a man who had climbed through his bedroom window. The boy had a rope placed around his neck and was then led outside and raped. The following month, a 25 year old woman walking to a bus stop in St Brelade was offered a lift in a Rover car by a man claiming to be a doctor on his way to pick up his wife. She accepted and during the car journey she began to notice things she didn't at first. The fact that the man wore a cap, gloves and a duffle coat which smelt musty. He drove in to a field, punched the woman repeatedly and threatened to kill her, her hands were tied behind her head, she was dragged into the field and raped. She was then pulled back into the car and driven away, but she managed to escape and get away causing the Beast to flee.

In March 1960, a 43 year old woman and her 14 year old daughter underwent a petrifying experience. In their isolated cottage, the mother was awoken at approximately 12:30am by the telephone ringing downstairs. She went downstairs to answer it but only heard a click and the dialling tone. She went back to bed, but an hour later was awoken by a sound downstairs.

She started downstairs but as she reached the lights went out. In the dark she reached around trying to phone the police only to realise that the phone line has been cut. Suddenly, she was confronted by a dark figure of a man who grabbed her and demanded money, he was very rough with her, and threatened to kill her, but when he heard the daughter come down to investigate, he left the woman and started to her.

The mother fled to safety and to get help, but when she came back the man was gone but her daughter had been raped.

In April, a 14 year old girl woke up to find a man in her bedroom wearing a strange looking mask, but he bolted when she screamed. In July of that year, an 8 year old boy was abducted from his home by a man wearing a a raincoat and was raped. The attacks stopped for the rest of the year.

He wore a low thigh length jacket which gave off a musty smell, a peaked cap and gloves. His face was always covered.

Until February 1961, there was another attack on a 12 year old boy, then an 11 year old boy in March and an 11 year old girl in April.

By now, the "Beast of Jersey" had been at large for three years. and the Jersey police investigation were no where near to catching him. So they summoned Scotland Yard where they encouraged the rest of the islanders to become detectives in a sense and released a verbal identikit of the beast.

The identikit came in this form: he always struck at night between the hours of 10pm and 3am, he appeared to have intimate knowledge of the island, he was described as being 40 to 45 years old with a moustache and of medium build. He wore a low thigh length jacket which gave off a musty smell, a peaked cap and gloves. His face was always covered. He carried a touch with him which was duct taped so only a slit was visible, so he wouldn't wake people unless he wanted to. Every possible man was looked at, all men with a criminal record questioned but the Beast was not found.

The intervention of Scotland yard offered respite for two years, potentially out of fear of getting caught. However it did not last long, the Beast struck again in April 1963, attacking a 9 year old boy with a similar MO. Then an 11 year old boy in November 1963, after which the Beast went to ground again. But in 1964, August, a 16 year old boy was attacked followed by a lax for two years. When the Jersey police received a very unusual letter from an author claiming to be the Beast. The letter is reproduced below:

(SIC)

My Dear Sir,

                I think that it is just the time to tell you that you are just wasting your time, as every time I have done wat I always intended to do and remember it will not stop at this, but I will be fair to you and give you a chance. I have never had much out of this life but I intend to get everything I can now…..I have always wanted to do the perfect crime. I have done this, but this time let the moon shine very britte in September because this time it must be perfect, not one but two. I am not a maniac by a long shot but I like to play with you people. You will hear from me before September and I will give you all the clues. Just to see if you can catch me.

Yours very sincerely

Wait and See

The issue the letter produces is identity, was this the Beast and did this add to his MO? Were the attacks not enough that he gained pleasure from the chase?

It seems likely, because in august 1966 he struck again, this time on a 15 year old girl, in Trinity Parish. Whilst elements of the attacks mirrored previous, there were new developments, to indulge a dramatic streak possibly? Strange long scratches, parallel and regularly spaced were found on the victims bodies from this attack onwards.

August 1970, a 13 year old boy was woken up in his room by a torch shining in his face. The Beast made the boy leave his house, take off his pyjamas and raped him. The boy was returned home and threatened, if he revealed anything about this night his mother and father would be harmed. In the end the boy revealed what he endured, and his description remained the same, 'black spikey hair' and a terrifying mask. He also had the same scratches, as the previous victim.

The Beast of Jersey's Homemade Mask

Things came to a head 10th July 1971. It was a routine nightshift for Jersey Police officers, two officers were focussed around the St. Helier Area. 11:45pm, a small Morris 1100 saloon car shot past them at high speed, jumping the red lights and driving in an turbulent manner, peaking their suspicion. They immediately gave pursuit, and chased the Morris car for a number of miles at high speed. The Morris car sideswiped, drove on the wrong side of the road, even down footpaths to shake off the police, until finally it crashed in the middle of a tomato field. The police officers gave chase on foot, writing off their vehicle and managed to catch the driver who was ultimately arrested.

This was not a normal arrest, the man was wearing an old raincoat, which smelt musty, the raincoat had 1" nails protruding from both shoulders and the lapels of the coat, he was wearing cloth bands around each wrist that also had nails. He was wearing old trousers tucked into socks, slippers and gloves which was strange in itself but it only got stranger. From the pockets of the raincoat came a torch with black tape covering the front to provide a narrow shaft of light. A black wig with spikey hair, the mounting suspicion that they had finally, finally caught the beast was nearly overwhelming when they removed the final item from the coat: a horrific, homemade facemask.

The man was Edward John Louis Paisnel, a native Jersey man. He was 46 years old, a building contractor and well known and liked on the island. Married with a daughter and two step children. The only thing on his criminal record was when he served a months imprisonment for stealing food to distribute to starving families during the German occupation of the island during the Second World War.

The real Beast of Jersey: Edward Paisnel

His wife, Joan had run a foster home for children called La Preference and had met Edward there who was a handyman known by the children as Uncle Ted, who always had sweets and gifts for them.

Paisnel married Joan in 1959 but there were elements of their marriage which were peculiar, it was fluctuated with rows and low sex drive. When their daughter was born, they separated, living as husband and wife in name only. Paisnel lived in an annex in the same house, consisting of an office and a sitting room. He kept irregular hours and enjoyed roaming around at night.

With Paisnel under custody, the police set out to search his annex and what they found astonished them. A secret room in his bedroom that no one else in his family knew about.

The secret room smelt musty, inside the room hung several items of old clothing including a blue tracksuit, an old raincoat, home made wigs and hats, false eyebrows. There was a camera hanging on a hook and pictures of various houses, presumably to survey which house he wanted to infiltrate.

There was also several items of black magic paraphernalia, a library about the occult and a wooden sword. There was no doubt now that the "Beast of Jersey" had been caught.

Paisnel was charged on 13 counts including rape, indecent assault and sodomy against 6 victims, with all but one being a minor. It was revealed that he had an obsession with black magic and believed he was the descendent of one of the most evil men in history Gilles de Rais. Paisnel wanted to emulate the actions of Rais himself and only stopped short of murder.

He was sentenced to thirty years imprisonment, but was released in 1991, after being a model prisoner and returned to Jersey which went about as well as expected. Islanders remembered Paisnel's reign of terror and he was eventually driven out and lived the rest of his life on Isle of Wight, where he died of a heart attacked in 1994.

Since his death there have been unconfirmed reports that Paisnel was involved in child abuse concerned with the notorious Haut de la Garenne children's home. Papers revealed that during the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry revealed he was a regular visitor there.

There has also been evidence that he prowled the halls and rooms of The La Preference home during the 1960's in his terrifying mask. Chloroforming children to remove them from their beds and abuse them in his signature fashion.

However, despite former residents coming forward with evidence and statements, no investigation was made.

It appears likely that Paisnel had committed more crimes than he was tried and tested for. Who knows how many more survivors of this monster are out there. Paisnel is dead and gone now but his legacy will live on as the "Beast of Jersey."