Michael Benneman Sams (born 11 August 1941) is an English kidnapper, extortionist and murderer.
1978
However, Sams turned to crime and was first imprisoned in 1978 for stealing a car and making a false insurance claim.
While in prison, Sams was diagnosed with a cancer that led to the amputation of one of his legs.
After his release, Sams was forced to sell his ailing business and gained a job for Black & Decker.
1980
He later started a new business in the 1980s, selling power tools.
Sams was married three times.
He had two sons by his first wife, but the marriage broke down shortly before he was sent to prison.
His second marriage also ended in divorce.
At the time of his arrest for the kidnappings he lived in Sutton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire with his third wife.
1991
He kidnapped Julie Dart in July 1991 and later murdered her following her attempted escape.
On 9 July 1991, Sams drove to a local red light area and picked up a sex worker named Julie Dart, an 18-year-old Leeds resident.
She was blindfolded and taken to Sams' warehouse, where she was placed in a coffin-like box and chained to the floor.
According to Sams' later confession, Dart freed herself from the box in an attempt to escape, but was unable to leave the room.
Sams, who had wired an alarm to the box, returned to chain her to a roof beam.
The following day, Sams forced Dart to write a letter to her boyfriend demanding a ransom of £140,000, or "the hostage would never be seen again".
He also made her write other notes.
After the notes were written, Sams murdered Dart with a hammer.
Nine days later he dumped her body in a field in Easton, Lincolnshire.
Since it was never likely that Dart's ransom would be paid, it has been suggested that Sams always intended to kill her.
Paul Britton, a clinical psychologist who advised the detectives who interviewed Sams, argued that he abducted a prostitute because it would be relatively easy and was good "practice".
It would also not create too much of "a stir".
By killing Dart, and leaving her body where it would easily be found, Sams would "convince the police that he was to be regarded as a serious adversary" and intimidate his next victims into paying up.
McGredy-Hunt, however, said that Sams continued to demand ransom for several days after Dart's death, only dumping her body (initially hidden in a wheelie bin) after the smell of decomposition became difficult to conceal.
Sams continued to send messages to the police.
One stated: "prostitutes are easy to pick up, and I won't spend any more time in prison for killing two instead of one."
He later claimed to have kidnapped another prostitute, but police could find no evidence any sex worker was missing.
Sams also sent messages stating he would intentionally cause a train crash unless he was paid a ransom.
He also attempted to blackmail supermarkets by threatening to poison food.
1992
He subsequently kidnapped Stephanie Slater in January 1992, eventually releasing her after payment of a ransom.
Slater was also raped during her imprisonment by Sams.
After Sams was convicted and imprisoned, he attacked a female probation officer.
He also became known for his attempts to sue the prison, initially successfully, for losing his artificial leg, and then because his bed was too hard.
Michael Sams was born and raised in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire.
He joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 20.
After three years, he returned to Keighley and worked as a lift engineer, graduating to become a central heating engineer, later establishing his own company.
Some months later, on 22 January 1992, Sams kidnapped another woman.
Using a false name, he arranged to meet Stephanie Slater, an estate agent with a local branch of the company Shipways, ostensibly to view a property in Turnberry Road, Great Barr, Birmingham.
At the property he attacked Slater, tied her up, and then took her to his workshop.
Sams again demanded a ransom, this time from Slater's manager at the estate agency.
