In September 1971 Ion Rîmaru stood trial for the murder of several women. The indictment accused him of committing 23 serious offences over a period of one year from May 1970 to May 1971: murders committed in aggravated circumstances, with cruelty, with premeditation, with bestiality and sadism.
Rîmaru - Butcher of Bucharest is a factual account of Ion Rîmaru’s crimes, their social environment, their impact on the culture of their times, and their lingering legacy in the present day. Mike Phillips and Stejãrel Olaru, have had unprecedented access to police and secret police records, including the testimonies of the killer and his family. They also conducted interviews with various protagonists, and researched the surviving mountain of statements.
The social context, however, and what it tells us about Romanian society at the time and in the present day makes this a remarkable, uneasy and illuminating story.
“May 1971. I approached a woman and I attacked her with a metal rod and a knife. I hit her with the metal rod with spiral grooves. I hit her some three times. Because she was screaming I slashed her neck with the knife that is presented to me here in the court. The victim collapsed in the street and then I dragged her into a courtyard and had sexual relations with her.” (Ion Rîmaru - statement to the police after arrest)
MIKE PHILLIPS is author of several crime fiction books featuring black British journalist Sam Dean: Blood Rights (1989), The Late Candidate (1990), Point of Darkness (1994), and An Image to Die For (1995). He was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger in 1990. Other novels include: Fast Road to Nowhere (1994, as Joe Canzius), The Dancing Face (1997), A Shadow of Myself (2000) and The Name You Once Gave Me (2006).
STEJÃREL OLARU is a university lecturer in the history of intelligence gathering. Born 1973 in Bucharest, Romania. He is author of several studies and books on recent Romanian history.
• Rîmaru - Butcher of Bucharest
Edited by Ramona Mitricã. Paperback, Profusion (London, Nov 2011), ISBN 13: 978-0-9568676-3-6
Profusion Crime Series
Attack in the Library by George Arion, Kill the General by Bogdan Hrib, Anatomical Clues by Oana Stoica-Mujea, Rîmaru - Butcher of Bucharest by Mike Phillips and Stejarel Olaru.
Series Editor: Mike Phillips