Serial Killer Robert Maudsley- the Brain Eater #truecrime

Robert Maudsley

This subject was suggested by a friend of the channel- Mark D, check him out in the comments. Thank you mark!

Many of the vicious creatures we’ve looked at on this channel eventually end up in prison for their horrific crimes and some even met their end at the hands of other inmates. But there are others who are the ones taking lives behind bars.

But for this video we are going to look at a monster who committed the majority of his crimes behind bars.

From 1974 to 1978, one particular UK monster took the lives of 4 people- the first in London and the rest while incarcerated at the Broadmoor asylum and Wakefield prison. After a bumpy start in life, he began his series of murders at only 21 years old. The first victim was garroted, and the violence only escalated once he got behind bars, and the lives he took while incarcerated were also stabbed and one was tortured to death. In one case he claims to have eaten part of the brain of one victim leading to his ominous nickname. it is rare for a prisoner to receive a true life sentence in the UK and there are less than 100 of them in the whole country, but in this case it was totally justified. It is reported that this creature is also the current world record holder for most time spent in solitary confinement.

Robert Maudsley, the Brain Eater

Robert Maudsley was born in Liverpool, England on June 26 1953 as the youngest of 4 children. At 6 months old, he and his siblings were left at a Catholic orphanage in Crosby called the Nazareth house where they would spend 9 years before their parents came back for them.

Unfortunately, despite being back with his family, Roberts life would become drastically worse. He would later say how the only thing he could remember about his childhood was the punishments and beatings that landed on him and his 2 older brothers. He would also recount one instance where he was locked in his room for months and beaten several times a day.

After less than a year, Robert was sent away to live with foster parents. Considering he was the only child to
Be sent away, this must have had a profound impact on his developing mind and self esteem. By age 16 he was living rough in London using drugs heavily and had been hospitalized multiple times.

After trying to end his own life, the youth would end up in a psych ward where he would tell staff that he heard voices urging him to kill his parents. When he was on the streets of London, he had one way to make money to fuel his habits- selling his body.

It was as he was working as what they call a rent boy in London that Maudsley met his first victim. On March 14 1974, 30 year old John Farrell picked Robert up in the Wood Green neighborhood of London. According to the killer, Farrell showed him photos of boys the man had done terrible things to which sent Maudsley into a rage. He used a garrote to strangle Farrell then smashed his head with a hammer and stabbed him.

After the first murder, Maudsley turned himself in, telling police that he needed psychiatric help. And indeed, he was found to be unfit to stand trial so he was sent to Broadmoor hospital. It was after he was incarcerated that the creature made a reputation for himself. After 3 years in Broadmoor, Robert Maudsley would commit the crime that earned him his nickname.

On the 26th of February, 1977, Maudsley and another inmate named David Cheeseman attacker a man named David Francis. The 26 year old had been convicted of doing terrible things to kids. Maudsley and Cheeseman dragged him into a cell, tied him up, and blocked the door then spent the next 9 hours torturing him. Once again, the monster would use a garrote to dispatch his victim.

When they were done, the took Francis out of the cell and held his body up so that the facility’s staff would see. This is where the legend of the Brain Eater originates. Some reported that David’s head was split open and a spoon was hanging out of it. However, one of the guards would say that this was not true and that Maudsley had simply made a weapon by forming a plastic spoons handle into a point and stuck it into David’s ear.

The creature would claim that the crime was revenge on behalf of a friend but who knows whether this is true. He was convicted of manslaughter and transferred from Broadmoor hospital to Wakefield prison with a life sentence and recommendation that he never be let out. Robert Maudsley did not like the change of facilities and argued to be moved back to Broadmoor.

On the 29th of July in 1978, Maudsley committed 2 more brutal murders to protest being stuck in prison. The first to fall to the vicious killer was a 46 year old man named Salney Darwood who was in prison for killing his wife and assault. He was lured into Maudsleys cell then the creature wrapped his favored weapon- a garrote around Darwoods neck as he smashed his head into the concrete wall.

Once he was done, Robert stashed the body under his bed and attempted to lure other inmates into his cell. When he was unable to draw any other victims into his chamber of horrors, Maudsley went out in search of another victim, armed with a homemade knife. He was able to corner a 56 year old man named William Roberts who was locked up for abusing a young girl.

Using the homemade knife, Maudsley stabbed Roberts repeatedly, again swinging his victims head into the concrete wall. Once Roberts was dead, the creature approached the guard station , laid the knife on the table and declared that they would be 2 men short during the next roll call.

When asked why he committed these 4 murders, Maudsley claimed that they were all abusers and that he was not a threat to anyone but those who did horrible things to kids. From that fateful day in July of 1978, the creature has been in solitary confinement. But 5 years later in 1983, it was decided that he was too dangerous to be housed in a normal cell. So a glass box was constructed especially for him that is very much like that which housed Hannibal Lecter and he was literally put under the prison.

Maudsley corresponds with a variety of people, writing about the conditions he lives in and complaining. He’s been determined to have a very high IQ and some claim that his actions are a result of his mistreatment as a child. But while this is unfortunate, it does not excuse his brutal crimes. In 2000 he petitioned to be allowed to end his own life if his confinement could not be relaxed. Both requests were denied. This twisted monster also asked if he could have a pet bird, which leads to the question, does he actually think he deserves any sort of comfort after what he did? He is lucky that he is still allowed to go out to exercise.

At the time of writing, Robert Maudsley has spent more than 44 years in solitary confinement. At 69 years old, his days of violence maybe over, but his current living situation ensures that this is the case.

#crime #serialkillerdocumentary #london #listenable