Torture: The Iron Maiden

An upright sarcophagus with a hinged door evoked fear in those who were threatened with being placed inside. The Iron Maiden was often designed to look like a woman on the outside; some were even made to resemble the Virgin Mary. It was the inside that you had to worry about. Small spikes protruded from the back and the door, strategically placed to pierce the eyes and other vital organs, but not long enough to cause instant death. Instead, the victim would be left inside to slowly bleed out over several hours.

The Iron Maiden, found in Northumberland, England.
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The Brutal Murder of Sylvia Likens

The story of Sylvia Likens was popularized in the movie, An American Crime. Sometimes art imitates life, and not in a good way.

Sylvia was born on January 3, 1949 the third child of five to carnival workers Lester Cecil Likens and Elizabeth, “Betty,” Frances. Both her older siblings, Diana and Danny, and her younger siblings, Jenny and Benny, were fraternal twins.

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The Torture and Murder of Kelly Anne Bates

First love is always the sweetest, or is it? Kelly Anne Bates thought so. She gave everything to her first love – even her life.

Kelly Anne Bates

Kelly Anne Bates was born on May 18, 1978 in Hatterslay, England, United Kingdom. Her family was always very close, and described Kelly as confident, independent, mature for her age. So it wasn’t a big surprise when, at age 14, she told her parents she had a boyfriend named, Dave. And that’s where the trouble began.

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James Bulger, A 2 Year Old Tortured

February 12, 1993, James Bulger, age 2, was with his mother in Bootle, Merseyside England at the New Strand Shopping Centre. While inside the A. R. Tym’s butcher’s shop on the lower floor of the shopping center, his mother became distracted. She took her eyes off him for just a moment, and he was gone. His dead body was found two days later on a railway line, 2.5 miles away in Walton, Liverpool.

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The Rack

The Rack is a torture device created in Medieval Britain. It consists of an oblong, rectangular frame usually made of wood. This frame would be slightly raised off the ground, with a roller at either one or both ends. There would be a fixed bar at one end to which the victim’s legs would be fastened, and on the other end, a movable bar to which the hands would be tied. A handle and ratchet would be attached to the top roller.

Picture By David Bjorgen – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1069250

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Torture Device: The Iron Chair

The Iron Chair was a device used extensively during the Middle Ages. It’s primary strength lied in the psychological fear it caused its victims. It was common practice to coerce a confession by forcing a victim to watch someone else be tortured with the chair.

The chair was lined with hundreds of sharp spikes, which would cover the back, seat, arm rests, leg rests and foot rests. The number of spikes in a chair would range from 500 – 1,500. Some versions of the chair even had spikes on the headrest, and the torturer would push the victim’s head against it.

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Torture Device: The Judas Cradle

The Judas Cradle was a tall, thin, stool with a metal or wooden pyramid on top. The victim would be stripped and bound with ropes. The victim would then be lowered, very slowly, onto the device, where the pyramid would then enter the vagina or anus. Any movement by the victim would cause an increasing amount of pain.

The Judas Cradle was often used to acquire vital information. If he or she refused to talk, the torturer would then rock the victim, raise and drop them repeatedly onto the device, move the legs, causing the tip of the pyramid to protrude in different ways. Often olive oil would be spread over the pyramid, or brass weights hung from the victim’s legs.

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Fan Man-yee and the Hello Kitty Murder

Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀) was finally living a clean life. At 23, she was married, had a son, and had cleaned up her act, having worked as a prostitute and been a drug addict in the past. Unfortunately, past mistakes could still haunt you, even if you had changed. And though you yourself may have had no affinity for Hello Kitty, that’s what you would become known for. The Hello Kitty Murder.

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44 Days of Torture – Junko Furuta

You have a good future ahead of you.  You’re attractive and receive a lot of attention, sometimes making others jealous.  You don’t smoke or do drugs.  You’re doing well in school, in fact, you’re in your third-year at Yashio-Minami High School.  But you made one mistake. Normally, turning down a boy who likes you, results in some hurt feelings and maybe a little intimidation or harmless retaliation – especially when the boy you turned down is part of a gang. Little did she know, Junko Furuta had made the biggest mistake of her life.

WARNING: The following content may be considered graphic or shocking. Read at your own risk.

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