Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme
Pauline Parker, 16, and Juliet Hulme, 15, were young women whose families, though successful, had secrets and lifestyles that must have affected their behaviour which led to them savagely killing Pauline's mother with a brick in a sock. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ These two young women had a relationship that could be based on adolescent "folie a deux". They supported their instabilities by their closeness to each other. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Pauline was dark and brooding while Juliet was bright and intelligent. They both thought they were superior to all people. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ There are two key points to why they murdered Mrs Parker. One was a scheme to save money and go to the United States to sell their novels. The second was that Juliet's father planned to move to South Africa and separate the two. Pauline's mother refused to let her go with Juliet and her family. The girls were determined not to be separated. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The plan to murder Pauline's mother was prepared over a long time. The event took place on 22 June, 1954. Pauline hit her mother repeatedly on the head with half a brick in a sock and Juliet also struck the victim with the brick. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The court was shocked with Pauline's diary. An entry for 22 June was headed " The day of the Happy Event". They were convicted but spared hanging and detained at her Majesty's Pleasure which was supposed to be indefinitely. They were released after four years. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A movie and a play was made called "Heavenly Creatures" which is a reference to themselves from the verse of a poem penned by Pauline Parker. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After the murder the judge said they were not mad, but bad. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hulme is now called Anne Perry. She lives in a small Scottish fishing village and is a best selling U.S. author, who writes mystery books. She has had no contact with Pauline Parker since their conviction, nearly 40 years ago, which was a condition of their sentence. She says she has tried to forget what happened and as a mature woman, believes she has long since paid her dues. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Pauline Parker is now running a children's riding school at Hoo, near Rochester, Kent, under the name of Hilary Nathan. She studied at Auckland University, graduating with a BA before training as a librarian and moving to Britain in 1965. She settled in Kent, retrained as a teacher, and taught mentally handicapped children at Abbey Court special school in Strood until her retirement three years ago, by which time she had become deputy headmistress. She is a regular worshipper at English Martyrs' Roman Catholic Church in the town, where members of the congregation were astonished to learn of her past.