The Cinema Killer

North Wales, a beautiful part of the United Kingdom. Over the last few decades, it has become a place that is popular with summer tourists and retirees, looking for a quiet life by the sea. However, in years gone by, the area was formed of close-knit, rural small towns, where everyone knew everyone else. But, in the 1970s, the area was shaken when a series of assaults and robberies were reported, with the attacker outsmarting the police for twenty years.

Between the 1970s and mid-1990s, countless men reported that they had been assaulted. Every victim was male and and every attack was carried out at night. From the ones that could recall their attacker, they all told the police that he was a tall man that was dressed in black leather. Such attacks continued until September 1995, when the attacks turned into brutal murders.

In September 1995, Henry Roberts, a 56-year-old retired railway worker from Caergeiliog on the Isle of Anglesey, had not been seen at his local pub for a few days. This was unusual for Henry, as he visited the pub without fail every evening. Henry was a recluse, he lived alone, never married, and had no family. When a few locals went to check on Henry at his home, they found his partially naked body. Henry had been stabbed to death. The only clue that police had was a report of a van that had been seen parked in Henry’s driveway a few days prior.

Henry lived in a run down house that he had shared with his mother until she passed away. Local rumours were that Henry was homosexual, but he was never outwardly gay, nor did he have a partner that people knew of. Henry was also into Nazi memorabilia, when police searched his house, they found a large collection of items and flags that were related to Nazism.

Two months after Henry Roberts was murdered, the killer struck again.

In November 1995, Keith Randles, a 49-year-old traffic manager from Chester, had finished his shift where he was working along the A5. Keith had visited a local pub in Llangefni, on the Isle of Anglesey, and then made his way back to his caravan near Mona. Keith was staying in a caravan whilst working the job, as it was too far from his home to commute. When colleagues got to the site the next morning, they found Keith’s body. As with the murder of Henry, witnesses reported seeing a van near to the scene of the crime.

The murders of Henry and Keith were within five miles of each other, and were both on the Island of Anglesey. One month later, the killer struck again. This time, the killer struck on the mainland, some forty miles from the first two murders.

In December 1995, Anthony Davies, a 40-year-old married father of 2, did not return home one evening. This was out of character for Tony so his family reported him missing to the police. When Tony’s brother went out to look for him, he found Tony’s car at Pensarn Beach, but there was no sign of Tony. When a police officer searched the beach, he found a body lied in the sand. Tony had been stabbed to death. Pensarn Beach was known to locals as a meeting place for gay men. It was later reported on the news that Tony was homosexual, a secret that he kept from his family.

Police tried to piece everything together. They knew that the murders were connected because all the men were of a similar age, they had all been alone at night, two had been to the pub and there were the two sightings of a van.

Police appealed to the local press, from which, a man came forwards telling police that he had met a man dressed in black leather at Pensarn Beach, returning with him to a property in Kinmel Bay where he was badly assaulted. The man could not remember the exact address, but from the description, police were able to locate the house, it was an address that they knew well.

Police now had a suspect, local businessman and cinema owner, Peter Moore. Moore was already known to police. In September 1995, Moore had been fined for possessing an offensive weapon. They knew that he wore black leather and was homosexual. They also discovered that he had hired a van, similar to the one seen by witnesses at the murder scenes.

Moore was arrested, and on a search of his property, police discovered blood splattered on the walls and ceiling, an array of torture equipment, a police uniform and a Nazi costume, as well as Nazi paraphernalia. Police also found items belonging to the three victims, Peter had taken souvenirs from his crime scenes. They found Tony’s jacket hung up, a video which belonged to Keith and a swastika flag which was Henry’s. They also found other items, keys, wallets and watches, and a knife, which carried traced of the blood of all four victims.

Psychologists say that it is common for serial killers to take an object from their crimes, so that they can re-live the moment for their fantasies. Peter would later tell police that he would often wear the uniforms whilst attacking his victims, to scare them that little bit more.

Peter Moore initially denied the crimes. However, there was too much evidence against him. Peter confessed to all three murders, as well as to multiple assaults and a fourth murder, that of Edward Carthy, a 28-year-old man from Birkenhead. Moore met Edward in a Liverpool gay bar, taking him to the remote Clocaenog Forest and stabbing him to death. Peter later retracted his confession, saying that the murders were committed by someone called Jason, a character from his favourite movie, Friday the 13th.

Peter came to enjoy the attention that he was receiving, he acted like a star, smiling at cameras and waving at crowds of people. At the trial, Peter taunted the victims families, making eye contact and smirking as though he was proud of what he had done. He showed no remorse whatsoever. Peter Moor was found guilty to all four murders and sentenced to life in prison, with many branding him Wales’ worst serial killer.Peter Moore was born in 1946 in St Helens, Merseyside, England. At a young age, he moved with his parents to the small village of Kinmel bay in North Wales. The family was relatively wealthy, running a hardware store from their property at Darlington House, and were well-respected and active members of the local community.

Peter was an only child and spent most of his time with his mother, Edith, who he was very close to. His father was an ex-military officer, and it is said that he did not approve of Peter’s homosexuality, which was noticeable from quite a young age. However, Peter would later claim, in a letter that he wrote whilst at prison, that he once caught his father naked with another man in their living room. Mr Moore liked a drink and would often be violent towards Peter. His relationship with his mother, was significantly different to the one with his father.

When Peter’s father died in 1979, Peter took over the family business, running the hardware shop, where he began to sell videos that were a little X-rated. The local community knew that Peter was into S&M. However, it is said that his mother, who ran the business behind the scenes, had no idea of Peter’s alter-ego. Perhaps, or maybe she just turned a blind eye.

After Peter’s mother passed away in 1995, Peter became much more outward with his interest in S&M. It appeared that she was the only person whom he tried to hide it from. Her death had a significant effect on Peter, with locals saying that it was after his mother had died, that Peter started to change.

As well as his interest in S&M, Peter had a passion for cinema, in particular for horror movies. In 1990, he purchased a local cinema at Bagillt. At Bagillt, Peter would run a cinema club for children on a Saturday. Parents would leave their children at the cinema, in the care of Peter, whilst they went out shopping or to run errands. He also purchased the Empire cinema at Holyhead, the Wedgewood in Denbigh and a cinema at Blaenau Ffestiniog. His cinema’s brought him some media attention, appearing in the local paper and on the local news. Something which he enjoyed.

When Peter was arrested in December 1995, the local community was in shock and could not believe that this polite, quiet and popular man was guilty of these sadistic crimes. Peter’s killings were horrific, with at least one of the postmortems showing that he had not instantly killed the victim, instead, he made them die slowly and suffer. Psychologists stated that Peter would have got aroused by this.

Peter would later confess that he was unable to find a willing partner to torture, so would scour the rural areas at night, in search of drunk men to attack. How many men he attacked is not known as many did not report the crimes due to embarrassment.

When police entered Peter’s home, they found that his mother’s bedroom had been left just as it was when she was alive. Her dressing table was still covered with her trinkets, her bed was neatly made and her clothing was still hung in her wardrobe. They said it was like a shrine to her memory.

It remains unknown as to why Peter Moore killed these innocent men. Moore claimed that they were a stress release as he was financially struggling. His mothers’ death, as well as the death of his beloved German Shepard also contributed towards him committing the murders. However, police and psychologists believe that his strained relationship with his father could have also been a contribution. His victims were all male, of a smilier age and many of the men that he attacked had been drinking, something that Peter said he loathed. Peter could have taken his frustrations with his father out on these poor men. It was also reported that Moore claimed to himself have been sexually abused at age 11, by a local fairground worker. Police say that Peter liked to dominate men, and would get satisfaction from doing so.

Today, Peter is 75 years old and is incarcerated at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire.