Robert Napper – Compulsiveness, Opportunism, and Pure Evil By Sensei Liam Musiak

When we look at the darkest cases of British crime, Robert Napper sits among the most disturbing. Active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Napper was a serial rapist and double murderer whose crimes revealed a terrifying combination of compulsiveness, opportunism, and pure evil.

Napper’s crimes escalated over time. He began as a peeping tom, spying on women through windows, violating privacy and boundaries. This behaviour may have seemed minor compared to what followed, but it was the first clear warning sign of an obsession with control and intrusion. From there, his compulsions spiralled into something far darker.

By the end of his spree, Napper had committed:

The brutal murder of Rachel Nickell (1992) – Rachel was a young mother walking with her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common when Napper attacked her in broad daylight. She was stabbed 49 times. Her little boy was left physically unharmed but witnessed the entire assault.

The murders of Samantha Bisset (1993) and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine – Napper broke into their home in south-east London. He killed Samantha with extreme violence before smothering Jazmine. It was one of the most horrific double murders in British criminal history.

Dozens of sexual assaults and rapes across London – Napper was linked to at least 100 attacks between the late 1980s and early 1990s, many under the “Green Chain Rapist” series. His victims were almost always women, and often those who were alone or with young children.

Napper’s style of violence showed deep hatred and uncontrollable compulsion. He wasn’t a cold, calculating killer who could turn it off. He was driven by urges he could not control, escalating from spying to rape to murder. That escalation pattern is common in compulsive predators: once they start, they cannot stop, and their attacks become more violent over time.

He was also an opportunist. He deliberately targeted women who were isolated or disadvantaged. He struck when his victims were least likely to be able to fight back — women alone in parks, women at home, or mothers with children. He made sure the odds were completely in his favour, proving once again that predators seek control, not confrontation.

The pure evil of Napper’s crimes is hard to comprehend. To murder a mother and a child, to destroy families with such violence, shows an utter absence of humanity. His compulsions and opportunism made him one of the most dangerous predators the UK has ever seen.

The lesson is clear:

Predators thrive on isolation. Avoid being alone in vulnerable situations whenever possible.

Early behaviours like peeping, stalking, or testing boundaries are not harmless — they can be the start of escalation. Communities must take these behaviours seriously.

Self-defence is not just about fighting techniques. Against someone with Napper’s compulsions, your best weapons are awareness, avoidance, and decisive action to escape before control is lost.

Robert Napper’s crimes devastated countless lives, but they also serve as a stark reminder. Evil does not always appear obvious. It can look ordinary, even unnoticed, until it erupts. That is why I believe self-defence must go beyond the dojo: it must prepare us mentally, physically, and socially to resist the predators who rely on our trust, our isolation, and our silenc