Philip Smith

Who is Philip Smith?

Philip John Smith is a British spree killer serving a life sentence for the murders of three women in Birmingham. A former fairground worker employed at the Rainbow public house in the Digbeth area of the city, Smith killed his victims over a four-day period in November 2000, befriending two of them at the Rainbow before carrying out the crimes. All three victims were mutilated almost beyond recognition, but Smith was quickly identified as the killer because of the overwhelming evidence linking him to the deaths.

Smith's first victim was Jodie Hyde, a recovering butane gas addict whom he met at the Rainbow before killing her hours later. He is thought to have strangled her before setting her body on fire near a recreation ground. Three days later, he met mother-of-three Rosemary Corcoran at the same public house and drove her to a rural location, where he bludgeoned her to death and drove over the body. Then, as he drove home, he hit care worker Carol Jordan with his car and, fearing capture, beat her to death. All three bodies were discovered soon after the murders were carried out.