In 1981, when the twins were 18 years old, they were caught committing arson (via All That’s Interesting). They had triggered fires in three separate buildings, according to NPR. Initially taken to prison, a judge eventually ruled that they must be interred in a high-security mental institution in Britain called Broadmoor. The logic behind the decision? According to one journalist, Marjorie Wallace, “no other institution would accept them and that was because everyone who interviewed them found them too eerie, too spooky,” (via NPR).
But, life inside the mental hospital didn’t agree with the girls. Both June and Jennifer were miserable, sometimes even refusing to eat, and June would in fact go on to describe this time as “twelve years of hell” (via All That’s Interesting). During this period, the twins developed a relationship with the journalist, Wallace, who would one day write the book about their life story (via NPR). She was sympathetic to the girls, and visited often. She even helped the twins lobby to be rleased from Broadmoor. Eventually, that wish was granted — though Wallace had no idea what would happen to the girls on their way out the door.
