Great works of literature often come from complex, troubled minds. Throughout history, several renowned authors have been responsible for taking lives, whether in moments of rage, tragic accidents, or cold-blooded acts. These are nine writers who took lives.
1. William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs is one of the primary figures of the Beat Generation and is believed to have been one of the first people who started the weirdo/bizarro subgenre of literature. But on September 6, 1951, Burroughs, who had been drinking and using drugs, accidentally shot and killed his wife, Joan Vollmer. He had been shooting objects off her head with a shotgun when he accidentally shot Vollmer. She died almost immediately, but her death was ruled an accident. Burroughs only served time for a minor drug charge.
2. Anne Perry
Anne Perry is known for her historical detective fiction. But in 1954, Perry, whose real name was Juliet Hulme, was convicted alongside her friend, Pauline Parker, of killing Parker’s mother. Perry and Parker were said to have an “obsessive relationship,” and in 1954, Perry’s father decided to send his daughter off to South Africa. Parker’s mother forbade her from leaving the country with Perry. On June 22, 1954, the two teenagers decided to beat Parker’s mother to death with a brick knotted into a sock. They served five years in different prisons.
3. Hans Fallada
Hans Fallada was a famous German political novelist who was well-known for his criticisms of Nazism. Fallada struggled with depression and addiction and accidentally murdered his friend and lover, Hanns Dietrich von Necker. Fallada and Dietrich were fed up with the homophobic views of society and made a suicide pact. They decided to shoot each other with pistols, but Dietrich missed his target while Fallada’s shot struck Dietrich, killing him instantly. Fallada turned the gun on himself but survived. He was found not guilty of Dietrich’s death by reason of insanity.
4. Kenneth Halliwell
Artist and writer Kenneth Halliwell co-wrote many novels with his boyfriend and fellow writer/playwright Joe Orton. However, only two of their novels were ever published: Lord Cucumber and The Boy Hairdressers. On August 9, 1967, in a fit of jealous rage, Halliwell bludgeoned Orton to death with a hammer, fearing he would leave him. He then took his own life with sleeping pills.
5. J. J. Paulsen
J. J. Paulsen was a television writer for shows like Cosby and In Living Color. In the spring of 2007, Paulsen was arrested for the murder of his wife, Leanne Paulsen, after police found her mummified remains in the couple’s attic. When they found her, she had been in the attic for about three weeks while Paulsen planned to stage her disappearance. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the murder.
6. Mary Lamb
Mary Lamb and her brother, Charles, are best known for the book Tales From Shakespeare. The siblings struggled with mental health issues, and after Charles was institutionalized in 1796, Mary was left to care for her disabled mother, senile father, and elderly aunt. Mary couldn’t take it anymore, and on September 22, 1796, during a heated argument, she stabbed her mother to death with a kitchen knife.
7. Harry Horse
Harry Horse was an author and illustrator who battled serious depression and anger issues. On January 10, 2007, Horse and his wife, Mandy, were found deceased on their bed. Horse had stapped his wife, who was wheelchair-bound and suffered from a severe form of multiple sclerosis, thirty times before stabbing himself to death with two different knives. No one is sure why this happened.
8. Louis Althusser
Louis Althusser was a Marxist philosopher and author who strangled his wife to death. Althusser claimed to have no memory of killing his wife. He said he was massaging her neck when he blacked out. Moments later, he found her lifeless in his hands. He had depression and was committed to a psychiatric hospital.
9. François Villon
François Villon is the best-known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. In 1455, he was involved in a scuffle that led to the stabbing death of Philippe Chermoye, a priest. Apparently, Chermoye had attacked Villon with a dagger before Villion defended himself with his own knife. He also struck the priest in the head with a rock, which killed him.
Sources:
Writers Who Killed People
10 Writers Who Were Actually Criminals
5 Writers Who Definitely Killed Someone
