Serial Killers - Write thoughts and thunks about serial killers here

[Alex Hogendorp]

Ted Kaczynski is one of the extremely rare examples of deplorable people whose philosophy can be followed by a person in it's right mind owing to the fact that anyone can relate to the correlations of technology and damaged behavior as this was basically most of Ted's philosophy which is his concerns about technology.

 

[Osmosis Jones]

Ted Kaczynski is one of the extremely rare examples of deplorable people whose philosophy can be followed by a person in it's right mind owing to the fact that anyone can relate to the correlations of technology and damaged behavior as this was basically most of Ted's philosophy which is his concerns about technology.

Uncle Ted isn't a serial killer. He's a terrorist. The rest I agree with, though. He used violence to express and disseminate a political message. Serial killers operate completely differently.

 

[AmpleApricots]

I think it's a little bit of both, there needs to be a mental vulnerability to go down this road (lack of intrinsic empathy maybe, which is one of these things that's possibly bad in a person but not necessarily, such people can be wholly productive members of society) but it needs a fucked up upbringing for them to really go that off-road. One very common thing about serial killers is emotional and physical abuse in childhood, often way beyond the "usual" abuse stories and not rarely including sexual abuse. Not always, though.

I find none of them fascinating or interesting people. If you really look into them they're all lolcows with a severe lack of personality. Literal, soulless bug-people. They're mostly not getting caught not because they're geniuses, but because it's just really that hard to catch somebody who commits such a crime to an almost completely random person in a completely random place. If you spend some time with serial killer stuff, you notice quickly that there's no more of that as normally socialized people actually don't want to murder or even hurt people unprompted - It's an actually rare thing.

Good advice I took away from listening to serial killer stuff is to never go with somebody that threatens to shoot you if you don't. Let him shoot you then and there, not only will he probably not do it anyways, it'll also be much better than whatever he had in mind at that other place.

 

[Bonesjones]

Its weird how many serial killers have occult ties that get covered up or end up being the fall guy for probable groups of people. Son of Sam, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gaycie for instance. Both Son of Sam and Dahmer were tied to two branches of the same cult. Gaycie got blamed for murders that happened when he was out of time. It makes me wonder beyond that.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

I find historic and premodern serial killers pretty fascinating. My "favorite" might be Paul Ogorzow, a minor Nazi functionary involved with making the trains run on time. Dude raped and killed around a dozen women using blackouts and air raids as an excuse, but because he was a Nazi Party member, blamed it on the Jews and Polish laborers before he finally got caught and executed.

Serial killers managing to get into high positions is also pretty fascinating like SS general Oskar Dirlewanger, a child molestor and serial rapist who did time in a concentration camp for deviants (I mean look at the dude, he even looks like a freak) before his friend who was also Himmler's friend got him out and gave him a new job in the SS, and then in the war he got to rape and murder all he pleased in occupied Eastern Europe. Gilles de Rais probably counts too given his status in medieval France, but I'm not sure if he was genuinely guilty since there's a good argument that he was framed by his political opponents.

And then ones from really obscure times and places like Hadj Mohmmad Mesfewi. He's most famous for being walled up alive and dying of starvation because European diplomats in Morocco wanted him to be beheaded instead of crucified, but that wasn't good enough for the families of his victims. I also remember reading about an Indian serial killer in late 19th century Canada who killed a few people in his tribe and then was murdered in his sleep. He was still remembered in the area decades later as an example of people possessed by some sort of insanity spirit related to black magic.

I don't know, I just think the way these sorts of people keep popping up around the world throughout history incredibly fascinating. Some of them even became legends like Procrustes, the Ancient Greek version of HH Holmes.

Richard Kulinski AKA the Iceman was charged with 17 murders and claims to have committed over 100. He loved his wife to bits, loved his daughter like any man would, and yet he was (or so he claims) a tool for the mob, and he ran around killing and beating people to repay debts and other mob-ish things like that. Very well spoken, and by all means a family man with character to boot but he was an ice cold murderer. Didn't give a single fuck about anyone but his wife and daughter, not a modicum of empathy. On top of that he's a hairtrigger with his rage and it can be seen in one of the interviews. The interviewer asks a question that Rich doesn't like and you can see his entire demeanour change and he basically says if we weren't in this situation I would have already jumped over the table and killed you for asking that.

I always been fascinated with the Iceman's mob ties since he answers the question of "why don't any of these serial killers work as hitmen" although supposedly his Mafia business was either much exaggerated or even entirely fake.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

Richard Kulinski AKA the Iceman was charged with 17 murders and claims to have committed over 100. He loved his wife to bits, loved his daughter like any man would, and yet he was (or so he claims) a tool for the mob, and he ran around killing and beating people to repay debts and other mob-ish things like that.

I know this will sound ironic but a part of me feels like this is why serial murders should die and their families should be punished for it before they’re sent packing. Especially the ones they care about.. ideally in the same way they harmed innocents. Sadly, our legal system and culture would never permit it.

 

[AMHOLIO]

I know this will sound ironic but a part of me feels like this is why serial murders should die and their families should be punished for it before they’re sent packing. Especially the ones they care about.. ideally in the same way they harmed innocents. Sadly, our legal system and culture would never permit it.

Most serial killers don't care about anyone aside from themselves, however. It would be pointless unless they were in on it. They're people, they have rights and make moral choices.

 

[Banana Cat]

If anyone is looking for a decent true crime podcast check out Case File. They cover a lot of Australian cases but also do some from over the pond

 

[AMHOLIO]

If anyone is looking for a decent true crime podcast check out Case File. They cover a lot of Australian cases but also do some from over the pond

That's good with me, I like learning about other countries' crimes and histories. The main thing is finding decent podcast in a sea of crap, so any recommendations are always appreciated.

 

[Billy Bob Dick]

I just rewatched Bundychu's last interview after having not seen it in years.

When I was a stupid 16-year-old, I thought he came off as genuine. Upon a rewatch, he really seems like he's full of shit. (In my opion) He was still so concerned with optics during his final days, which is inappropriate but unsurprising. Before his verdict was read out, he maintained total innocence in a cocky sort of away.

He never concedes to expressing guilt or remorse in the interview — he alludes to it, but mostly seems inconvenienced to acknowledge the lives he's ruined. He refuses to say what he actually did with clarity.

The vaguest point of guilt has to do with the children victims who are mentioned. For some reason, he infamously never wants to talk about the kids he killed. Is that a guilt thing? I have no clue. It could be guilt, it could be about preserving his image too.

Probably the most generic serial killer I could've brought up, I know. He's the most recent one I've revisited.

I've read and watched everything I can find about Ted Bundy. There's a number of reasons why he's fascinating, a confluence of factors and events that make him worth studying:

1. Bundy was a chameleon. One of the reasons the police had such a difficult time catching him (aside from sheer bufoonish incompetence) was his constantly changing physical appearance. His mental state alone seemed to change his face until it was unrecognizable. It made him nearly impossible for eyewitnesses to identify.
   • https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/ted-bundys-many-faces-serial-killer-change-appearance-eyes
2. The cops repeatedly bungled the investigations into his victims, his kills/crime scenes, his arrests, and his incarcerations. Bundy attacked his final half-dozen victims during an escape from a jail in Colorado Springs while awaiting trial for the murder of Caryn Campbell.
3. Bundy's behavior followed an escalating arc culminating in wild animal-like behavior. His final attacks were his most savage and brutal: he bit his victims, clubbed them, raped them, stabbed them. He acted out his basest impulses with increasing intensity until he had not a single shred of decency or humanity left.
4. Bundy was a drunk. He committed nearly all of his attacks and murders in a blackout state of inebriation, in order to eliminate his own inhibitions.
5. Bundy was a necrophiliac. Like, dude. Ew.
6. Bundy was a gibbering misogynist and genuine psychopath. This quote from a letter he wrote haunts me to this day: "I have known people who ... radiate vulnerability", he wrote in a 1977 letter to Kloepfer. "Their facial expressions say 'I am afraid of you.' These people invite abuse ... By expecting to be hurt, do they subtly encourage it?"
   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy#Pathology
   • While on trial for murder, Bundy received literally *hundreds* of love letters from women who were besotted with him. To my dying day I will never understand this. What the fuck, seriously.

The evening before execution Bundy granted a final interview to a goody two-shoes evangelist named James Dobson, who if you are familiar is an overly pious, sanctimonious prick. Bundy clanged on about how pr0n had something or other to do with his murderous impulses, but everyone involved in the prosecution as well as the handful of legit researchers studying his case concluded that Bundy was full of shit, this was just one more attempt to deflect and shift blame.

THE DANGEROUS EFFECTS OF PORN (TED BUNDY INTERVIEW WITH DR. JAMES DOBSON)

Ted Bundy was a serial killer who was executed in 1989 for his crimes. In this video, he explains how pornography played a role in his behavior, and he wante...

www.youtube.com

Later that night in his cell, Bundy supposedly "wept and prayed."

Bundy Electrocuted After Night of Weeping, Praying : 500 Cheer Death of Murderer

Ted Bundy, the notorious serial killer, died today in the electric chair after a night of weeping and praying, just as the sun rose over the north Florida plains.

www.latimes.com

...fucking asshole.

On the day Bundy was executed, rumor has it (I read it somewhere but can't find it) that the guards had to drag him screaming from his cell, breaking one of his fingers in the process of prying it loose from the bars.

Conclusion: Bundy is fascinating because he was an interesting mix of viciousness, invisibility, brute luck, and abject cowardice. Once caught and condemned, he gradually melted into a giant blubbering pussy as his execution date closed in. He had no problem killing innocent women and children, but he was such an egomaniac it somehow never crossed his mind that he might actually be put to death.

Also, he was a fucking, fucking asshole. I mostly hate-watch footage of the Bundy case because in retrospect I can't believe anyone fell for this motherfucker's line of bullshit. Hindsight is 20/20, but as a fairly normal sane person who knows better than to trust anyone without a damn good reason, it's hard to believe people didn't just run away screaming from him at every turn. He was so clearly off, it's surprising people couldn't see it.

It's good to study predators like Ted Bundy so you know what to look out for.

 

[Afinepickle]

The two I find the most fascinating are Albert Fish and John Wayne Gacy.

In the case of Fish it's really just how fucking demented he was; he almost seems inhuman.

With Gacy it's just how many murders he managed to pull off in more or less exactly the same way and in the same location without detection for so many years and just how much of a respected member of his community he was. The idea that something like that can be going on right under the noses of a whole town like that is a unique kind of horrifying.

 

[Aero the Alcoholic Bat]

Horrorcows in general always intrigued me, morbid curiosity on how someone could sink so low and how they got there. I view political extremists and cultists in the same light.

Just as interesting are the stories of those who tried to expose what they did, or bring them to justice.

I don't even hide it, my parents once bought me a DVD copy of a documentary about young teens who defied Adolf Hitler and paid with their lives.

The two I find the most fascinating are Albert Fish and John Wayne Gacy.

In the case of Fish it's really just how fucking demented he was; he almost seems inhuman.

With Gacy it's just how many murders he managed to pull off in more or less exactly the same way and in the same location without detection for so many years and just how much of a respected member of his community he was. The idea that something like that can be going on right under the noses of a whole town like that is a unique kind of horrifying.

Your mileage may vary on how coherent this monologue is, but I found it interesting regardless:

 

[BestFriendsAnimalSociety]

You will read McGowan. NOW.

It's been a while since I read this but my tldr is:

The FBI's model of a serial killer (think Mindhunter) is bullshit and the serial killer phenomena is connected to child abuse, cults, organized crime, and gov't mind control experiments.
Beyond the schizo stuff, the book gives good summaries of a ton of serial killer cases and covers aspects of cases that are often overlooked.

Spoiler: non-exhaustive list of cases discussed

Marc Dutroux
Henry Lee Lucas
Richard Ramirez
Charlie Manson
Jeffrey Dahmer
Ted Bundy
Richard Chase
John Wayne Gacy
Leonard Lake & Charles Ng
Son of Sam
Zodiac Killer
The Finders
Atlanta Child Murders
Presidio Daycare
McMartin
Country Walk
Jon-Benet Ramsey

Overall it's a really interesting read.

 

[Desu Vult]

My personal fave: Heriberto Seda, aka the New York Zodiac Copycat. A zip gun toting tard that managed to go on for three years, with the NYPD tying itself into knots trying to catch him. Was eventually busted sevel years later, and only because he shot his sister in the ass during a nigga moment, then signed his arrest papers with the same symbol he used for his "Zodiac" letters. Everything about this case is pure lolmilk.

 

[Pitbull Victim]

Richard Kulinski has been discussed, but another interesting example of someone who may have become a run of the mill serial killer if they had not had the opportunity to join organized crime is Nicky Scarfo, boss of the Philadelphia mafia during a good portion of the 80s. Scarfo was genuinely a lunatic and in the book "Blood and Honor" one of his former henchmen who became a federal informant talks about how Scarfo would get totally psyched up on violence and basically acted manic after personally killing someone. The henchmen gives an anecdote where they were just hanging out with a contractor (one of Scarfo's front companies was a cement business) and Scarfo just went and randomly shot the contractor to death because he thought the contractor insulted his business, then kept raging and seething while the guy's body was just sat there bleeding out.

Scarfo is also interesting because he should never have been near the wheels of power in the first place. Because he was a bloodthirsty manlet he tried to become a boxer but didn't have much interest outside of just the hurting people aspect. When he ultimately failed to get anywhere, he was brought into the mafia by his family members because he really couldn't function anywhere else. After he stabbed a guy to death in the middle of bar over some dumb perceived slight, Scarfo got exiled to Atlantic City, which in the 70s was just a dead backwater. Scarfo scraped by as a loan shark and low rent pimp until by dumb luck (which seems to be the theme of his life) two things happened right around the same time: 1. The long time boss of the Philadelphia mafia was assassinated and a power struggle to replace him started and 2. Atlantic City legalized gambling.

What I also find fascinating is that Scarfo had this weird ability to change the entire culture of the people around him, despite not being particularly charismatic or even intelligent. The Philadelphia mob really became a reflection of him, going from fairly low-key and professional to a bunch of coked-out cowboy nutcases that would kill people publicly or deliberately leave bodies to be found out in the open. Scarfo's end was inevitable, especially because he unhesitatingly killed anyone he though might be cooperating with police, but he more or less sealed his fate by ordering the killing of his own former mentor's son really just out of jealousy that the guy was better-liked and seemed much more competent to everyone else. Everybody eventually sold out Scarfo to the feds, including his own nephew, and he finally just died in prison a few years ago after having been locked-up for close to three decades.

For the poster that mentioned punishment for killers' families, that also sort of happened to Scarfo. His middle son followed him into organized crime, got shot at a bunch, and now is locked-up for the foreseeable rest of his life, his oldest son changed his name and completely disowned his family, and his youngest son tried to kill himself when it became clear his dad was going to jail but only succeeded in ending up in a vegetative state for about 25 years before finally dying, which sounds just absurdly nightmarish.

My personal fave: Heriberto Seda, aka the New York Zodiac Copycat. A zip gun toting tard that managed to go on for three years, with the NYPD tying itself into knots trying to catch him. Was eventually busted sevel years later, and only because he shot his sister in the ass during a nigga moment, then signed his arrest papers with the same symbol he used for his "Zodiac" letters. Everything about this case is pure lolmilk.

I think there is a criminal lolcow thread floating around somewhere that definitely needs to be revived because stories like this are great.

 

[Bunny Tracks]

I like the ones that are pretty much retards, their stories are so much more entertaining because it's almost always just a cavalcade of incompetence from the murders right through to the investigations and trials.

These ones are my favorite, too.

Mark Twitchell in particular because the sperg thought he was the next Dexter when in reality he did such a bad job that the police interrogation is just the cops roasting him the entire time. They even took him for a drive where they just kept making fun of him.

In the case of Fish it's really just how fucking demented he was; he almost seems inhuman

With Fish, he might as well have been inhuman.

The fucker was into so much depraved, gruesome shit that even if he was caught, and prosecuted in modern times people still wouldn't believe he was a real person. Hell, even going so far with the letters like he did would be utterly insane for today.

 

[Lemmingwise]

I love women. Women are wonderful. If women ruled the world there would be no war or strife.

Why do women send fanmail to serial killers?

Also despite being 60ish % of the population 99% of serial killers are white.
Shit. I looked it up. Since the 80s, black serial killers have surpassed white ones.

 

[MadDisaster]

I find them interesting, but I noticed something that always bothers me. Serial killers are almost all liars. People who study them know this. They talk about it. They are skeptical of almost everything that they say - unless the killer talks about child abuse or their evil mother (I use mother, because usually with the evil fathers there's more documentation, police incidents, other witnesses of abuse, etc).

It makes think that, like pedophiles, they'd learned that an abusive childhood got them sympathy, so they'd create one, even if it had no basis in reality. It stands out more when you see many of them ready to say anything that might shift blame (Bundy and porn, or Burkowitz possibly faking schizophrenia) and get them leniency, so it's strange seeing so many podcasters and writers taking their abuse stories at face value.

Basically, a lot of them seemed to have been fucked up early on. Some had messed up lives, but others really just seem to have imprinted of violence as an outlet early on without any real need for a tragic backstory as cause.

 

[Bunny Tracks]

I love women. Women are wonderful. If women ruled the world there would be no war or strife.

Why do women send fanmail to serial killers?

To be fair, it's not like men don't send a bunch of fanmail to female serial killers like Carla Homolka, and irl yanderes like Jodi Arias.

Hybristophilia is one helluva drug.

 

[glass_houses]

That's what freaked me out so much about BTK, he was doing this stuff for years but at the same time he was by all accounts a loving husband and father to his children as well as Cub Scout leader and member of his church council. It's like there was this completely normal life built around a very evil core.

Really makes you wonder about people.

I remember reading that he terrorised his neighbours by measuring the length of grass in their lawns with a ruler.

Ivan Milat is an interesting man, especially when you consider his background and extended family. I recommend the book Sins of the Brother, which does a deep dive into his family's history. There is suspicion that he is linked to more cases. A relative of mine was involved in helping a police investigation into unsolved disappearances in his location, and one of the officers told him, "Everywhere Milat went, young women disappeared."