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Anne Perry, an English author of historical detective fiction is a best-seller best known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk series. But not all of it was fiction, turns out Perry was keeping a disturbingly dark secret. At the age of fifteen, she was convicted of participating in the murder of her friend's mother. After serving her five-year sentence, she changed her name and began a successful career as a crime novelist. Today in weird history, we're diving deep into a story that's almost stranger than fiction.
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A common question fans ask their favorite author is
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where do you come up with your ideas? For one award-winning mystery writer, the answer was that she actually committed murder
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when she was a teenager. Today, we are looking at the dark past of author Anne Perry
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Anne Perry, best known for the Thomas Pitt and William Monk series of historical detective fiction
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killed her friend's mother when she was just 15 years old. The details of this case are truly horrific
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She served her time and is now out in the world writing popular detective fiction
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Perry was successful at keeping the murderer secret from the general public until 1994
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Peter Jackson directed a film titled Heavenly Creatures. The psychological drama featured Kate Winslet
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in her feature debut, and it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay
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The film detailed the infamous 1954 murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand
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of which Anne Perry was part of. Peter Jackson and his colleagues did extensive research for the script
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speaking with neighbors, colleagues, and psychologists of the murderers. Perry was reluctant to come forward initially
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However, it wasn't long until she opened up to the filmmakers and later numerous publications about the murder
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Anne Perry was born Juliet Hume. Juliet was set to move to South Africa
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and she wanted her best friend, Pauline Reaper, to move with her. Pauline's mother, Honora, refused
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From there, the girls plotted the murder. On June 22, 1954, the girls invited Honora to go on a picnic with them near a tea kiosk in Victoria Park, a scenic spot in New Zealand
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Juliet distracted Honora by placing a pink pebble on the road. While Honora went to pick it up, the girls attacked
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The girls had a brick with them hid in a rolled-up newspaper. They placed the brick in a stocking and used it to bludgeon Honora to death
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After murdering Honora the girls went back to the kiosk they had eaten at with her just moments before They proceeded to tell the stand owner that Hanora was covered in blood not far from there
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The story the girls told was that Hanora tripped over a plank and that she continuously bumped and banged her head
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The girls washed the blood from their faces at the stand, and the owner later said she could hear them laughing while they cleaned themselves off
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Later, when a female officer escorted the girls to court, she heard them say
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The old girl took a bit more killing than we thought. When the officer asked her to repeat it, Juliet said
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Oh, aren't we the perfect little policewoman? Many people in their town believe Juliet and Pauline were romantically involved
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The girls vehemently denied this. Any romance would be a cause for concern for them
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since New Zealand viewed being gay as a mental illness in the 1950s. A major concern for someone who just committed murder, I guess
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The girls said that they were able to access another dimension, which they called the fourth world
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because their friendship provided such an intense spiritual enlightenment. While the girls came from different economic backgrounds, they both found solace in each other's company
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They were both avid escapists who were obsessed with movie stars. They even created alternate personalities for themselves named Gina and Deborah
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They bonded over the fact they both suffered from illnesses in their youth. Juliet had tuberculosis, while Pauline suffered from a bone marrow infection
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The girls went to separate prisons for a little over five years each
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A condition of their incarceration was that they were not to speak to each other, and they have not contacted one another since
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Juliet went to an Auckland women's prison. For the first three months, she was in solitary confinement
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She had to perform hard labor, but she eventually collapsed under the pressure of the work
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She later told the newspaper The Guardian, the prison was cold, there were rats, canvas sheets, and calico underwear
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When Pauline was released, she took the name Hillary Nathan and moved to Kent England She became a strict Roman Catholic and is now a retired principal of a special needs school Oh great You put a convicted murderer in charge of people who can advocate for themselves
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Makes sense. Upon her release, Juliet moved to England, where she worked at various jobs, including a flight attendant
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While she was in the UK, she changed her name to Anne Perry. Perry was her stepfather's surname
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In 1967, she moved to San Francisco. She eventually made her way down to Los Angeles, and it was here she began her writing career
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To support herself during this time, she worked as a nanny. She moved again to a distant village in Scotland to be close to her mother
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It was here she drew upon her own criminal experiences to write best-selling historical mysteries
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She published her first book, Decatur Street Hangman, in 1979. The novel was the first to introduce the husband and wife detective duo Thomas and Charlotte Pitt to the world
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Additional books featuring the characters include Calendar Square, Paragon Walk, and Resurrection Row
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Pauline's diary reveals that the girls plotted to kill her mother well before the crime took place
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She expressed the desire to kill her mother in terrifying detail. Why could mother not die
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Dozens of people are dying. Thousands are dying every day. So why not mother and father, too
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A few days before the murder, Pauline wrote, we practically finished our books today
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and our main like for the day was to murder mother. This notion is not new to me
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but this time it is a definite plan which we intend to carry out. We've worked it all out
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and both are thrilled with the idea. Naturally, we feel a trifle nervous
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but the anticipation is great. The night before the murder, Pauline wrote
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I am writing a little of this up before the death. I felt very excited
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and the night before Christmassy last night. Wow, she would be an incredibly hard person
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to buy a Christmas gift for. And Perry later said she helped with the murder because she thought Pauline would commit suicide otherwise Pauline was the only person there for Julia when she was hospitalized for tuberculosis as a child She felt a sense of obligation toward her friend Perry later told The Guardian
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Pauline was the only one who had written to me when I was in the hospital, and she threatened to kill herself if I didn't help her
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She was vomiting after every meal and losing weight all the time. I am sure now she was Bolina
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I really believed she would take her life, and I couldn't face it. Perry was introduced to Mormonism in the 1960s when she worked as a nanny in California
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The religion offered forgiveness for past sins. She became heavily invested in the faith
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In an interview with the Deseret News, Perry said, I got down on my knees before I went to bed, and I asked my Father in Heaven if it was true or not
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And when I woke up in the morning, the room was absolutely filled with light. And I don't mean sunlight
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Perry told the New Zealand Herald that doctors tested experimental drugs on her to treat her tuberculosis
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She told the newspaper, a long needle in your behind every third morning They'd catch you when you were still asleep
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There could be some truth to this At the time, some treatment facilities used Iproniazid
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Which caused some people to start dancing around and to become animated and happy
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According to Ann Perry's website, she has sold over 20 million books worldwide
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She frequently appears on the New York Times bestseller list. She has also appeared on bestseller lists around the globe, including Canada, Germany, and France
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She has written nearly 100 novels since 1979. Her most recent mystery novel, titled Dark Tide Rising, came out in 2018
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The Times listed her as one of their 100 Masters of Crime in 1998
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She has won the Agatha Award twice. The first was in 1990 for The Face of a Stranger
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In 2002, she won an Agatha Award for Best Short Story for Too Many Cooks
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And no, that story did not inspire the Adult Swim video. Anne Perry has earned millions of fans around the world
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and many of them are unaware of her dark past. Will you be reading her novels anytime soon