Mark Dixie
Mark Dixie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mark Philip Dixie 24 September 1970 Streatham, London, UK |
| Other names | Mark Down Mark McDonald Steven McDonald Shane Turner |
| Occupation | Former Chef |
| Children | 3 |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment with a minimum term of 34 years |
Mark Philip Dixie (born 24 September 1970)[1] is a British serial rapist and a murderer who was convicted on 22 February 2008 of murdering 18-year-old singer and model Sally Anne Bowman on 25 September 2005 in South Croydon, London.[2] He has 17 other criminal convictions.[3] He was known by various pseudonyms.
Early life
[edit]Dixie was born in Streatham, South London. His parents separated when he was 18 months old.[1] When he was eight, his mother remarried; she had two sons by her new husband.[1] Dixie admits to having been a heavy drinker and user of cannabis and cocaine for years.[1]
Criminal record and deportation
[edit]Dixie has a long criminal record.[1] His first conviction was for robbery – he mugged a woman at knifepoint in Stockwell in 1986, for which he was sentenced to six weeks' detention. In 1987, he moved to Sidcup and was convicted of burglary and robbery.[1] In 1988, he was convicted of indecent assault and indecent exposure and sentenced to two years' probation. Later in 1988, he was convicted of indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.[1] In 1989, he was convicted of indecent exposure and sentenced to 80 hours' community service. In 1990, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer.[1]
Dixie lived in Australia from 1993 and overstayed his visa. He was deported in 1999 after being convicted of a sex offence, for which he was fined.[1]
Dixie was accused of a sexual assault in 2001, where it is believed he masturbated in front of a woman in a telephone booth. He was not prosecuted for this.[4]
Personal life
[edit]Dixie has three sons.[1]
Dixie worked as a chef at the Ye Old Six Bells in Horley, Surrey at the time of Bowman's rape and murder. [5]
Murder conviction
[edit]Sally Anne Bowman was stabbed to death yards from her home after a night out with friends. Almost a year later, Dixie's DNA was taken when he was arrested in Crawley, West Sussex,[6] after being involved in a pub fight while watching a World Cup football match. It matched DNA found on Bowman's body.
In October 2006, Dixie's DNA was sent to Western Australia to be tested against that of the DNA evidence in the Claremont serial killer case between 1996 and 1997, as it was believed he was in the area at the time of the killings, and may have committed them.[4] However, WA Police Deputy Commissioner Murray Lampard was later quoted as saying that Dixie had been ruled out as a suspect.[7][n 1] At his trial for the murder of Sally Anne Bowman, an unnamed Thai woman gave evidence that Dixie had stabbed and raped her in Australia in 1998; Dixie has yet to be formally charged with this attack, though a DNA sample from the woman's underwear has been matched to him.[9]
Dixie denied the murder but, as part of his defence, claimed that he had spent the night drinking and doing drugs and had gone out to buy more cocaine. He claimed to have come across Bowman's body, who was already dead, he said, by a third party, and had sex with her after she was killed.[10]
In 2007, Dixie's DNA was matched to the rape of a woman in Fuengirola, Spain, in August 2003. A Dutchman – Romano van der Dussen – had already been sentenced to 15 years in prison for this rape and two sexual assaults that were committed nearby and in the same way as the rape.[11] In June 2015, the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported that Dixie confessed to this rape, but not to the two sexual assaults.[12] van der Dussen was finally exonerated and freed in February 2016 after spending over 12 years in prison.[13]
Dixie was found guilty of murdering Bowman on 22 February 2008 and was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey, where Judge Gerald Gordon recommended that Dixie should not be released for a minimum of 34 years, by which time he will be 70 years old.[14] This means he is likely to remain in prison until at least 2040.
Following Dixie's conviction, Detective Superintendent Stuart Cundy, who had led the Bowman investigation, said: "It is my opinion that a national DNA register – with all its appropriate safeguards – could have identified Sally Anne's murderer within 24 hours. Instead it took nearly nine months before Mark Dixie was identified, and almost two-and-a-half years for justice to be done." The calls for such a register were, however, turned down by ministers and other politicians who claimed that it would raise practical as well as civil liberties issues.[15] Dixie confessed to the murder in January 2015.[16]
Rape convictions
[edit]In 2017, Dixie was convicted of two rapes – one of which happened in 1986 and the other in 2002. He received two life sentences.[17]
See also
[edit]- David Smith, another British killer and multiple rapist
- Batman rapist, an unidentified UK serial rapist who has eluded capture since 1991
- House for sale rapist, an unidentified UK serial rapist who has eluded capture since 1979, suspected to be John Cannan who is the prime suspect in the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The killer on the doorstep". Archived from the original on 19 April 2014.
- ^ Henry, Emma (22 February 2008). "Mark Dixie guilty of Sally Anne Bowman murder". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ Pidd, Helen (23 February 2008). "Profile: Mark Dixie". The Guardian.
- ^ a b Hughes, Gary (2 October 2006). "UK link in WA serial murders?". The Australian. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ Grant, Rachel (22 February 2008). "Killer kept friends at a distance". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ Gammell, Caroline (12 April 2008). "Mark Dixie: 20 years of sexual violence". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ Russell, Mark (24 February 2008). "Did this man kill his first victims in Australia?". The Sunday Age. p. 6. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^ Andrea Mayes (23 December 2020). "Claremont killer Bradley Edwards gets life sentence for murder of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "Woman 'stabbed by murder suspect'". BBC News. 18 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ "Man 'had sex with victim's body'". BBC News. 5 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ Belaza, Mónica Ceberio (13 June 2015). "I've been through an indescribable hell — the worst 4,000 days of my life". El País.
- ^ "Brit bekent misdrijf waarvoor Nederlander al 12 jaar vastzit". de Volkskrant. 13 June 2015.
- ^ "Man freed from jail after serving 12 YEARS for rape committed by British criminal". metro.co.uk. 11 February 2016.
- ^ "Man gets life for model's murder". BBC News. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ "Mandatory DNA database rejected". BBC News. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ "Teen model killer admits other attacks". BBC News. 26 July 2017.
- ^ "Model killer 'monster' jailed for attacks". BBC News. 24 November 2017.
- 1970 births
- Living people
- 20th-century English criminals
- 21st-century English criminals
- British people convicted of burglary
- English people convicted of indecent assault
- British people convicted of robbery
- Criminals from London
- English chefs
- English people convicted of murder
- English people convicted of rape
- English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
- Necrophiles
- People convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm
- People convicted of murder by England and Wales
- People deported from Australia
- People from Streatham
- Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales