I like serial killers because I want to know why people do the things they do—specifically the really bad stuff. How can someone be so twisted up in their head they can torture another human being, especially a child? What happened to us in adolescence shapes who we are as people, and that’s definitely the case for some serial killers. But not all serial killers are equal (and not all are psychopaths) but they are all unique. This is essentially the basis for the hit Netflix show MINDHUNTERS, based on John Douglass’s book. The main characters are based on Douglas and another pioneer in the behavioral science unit, Robert Ressler. And please note, there are MANY more key profilers who helped create the BSU, including Robert Keppel and Roy Hazelwood. In the 70s, talking to people like Ed Kemper—having a real conversation with him without showing any disgust for his crimes—was unthinkable. But the profilers pressed on and changed how we catch and study criminals. The show is amazing. Highly encourage you to watch if you haven’t already!

But the crux of the show and their research is this: what are these killers thinking, and why did they do those horrible things? Kemper’s issues go back to his mother—when you hear his stories, it’s not a huge shock he became a killer. Others are wired that way. Gary Ridgway/The Green River Killer told psychiatrists he wanted to see what killing felt like, although he also had a serious lack of confidence around women and saw prostitutes as trash; Bundy wanted to control and frighten, and he wanted private time with the bodies; Jeffrey Dahmer had a substance abuse problem and issues with his sexuality but he had a normal upbringing and no specific triggers in his background. BTK was a family man who deftly compartmentalized his life into specific boxes, keeping careful not to allow his killing box to intersect his personal life, until his ego got the best of him. If you’re interested in Radar, read Katherine Ramsland’s book on him, CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KILLER. She spent several years interviewing BTK, and the information comes straight from the source.

We know all of these things (and a whole lot more I don’t have space for) because of guys like Douglas, Ressler, Keppel and Hazelwood, and many more. We can never truly understand these people because we don’t know what it’s like to live in their heads. But we can certainly study and try, and that helps law enforcement catch them. And it helps writers come up with seriously scary villains.

Every one of my bad guys—including my Ripper character—is inspired by research into the dark and twisted. I certainly don’t compare what I do to the likes of Douglas and his cohorts, but I do try and understand as much of the bad guy’s psyche as possible before I start writing. The antagonist—and in my case, usually the killer—drives the plot. Everything the protagonist does is really in reaction to whatever the villain is doing, so it’s crucial to understand every little detail about him before I start writing. 99% of that backstory doesn’t make it into a novel. But it still shapes the entire story.

Have you read KILLING JANE? Reviewers are love!

Between 1964-65, six women were murdered, their bodies found around the Thames River. All were prostitutes. All had been strangled and left naked. Because of their locations and similarity to the Jack the Ripper case, the unidentified assailant was given the nicknamed Jack the stripper.

The Victims:

Hannah Tailford, 30. Found dead February 2, 1964 near the Hammersmith Bridge. Hannah was strangled and several teeth were missing. Her underwear had been forced down her throat.

Irene Lockwood, 26. Found April 8, 1964 near the same area where Hannah’s body was found.

Helen Barthelemy, 22. The third victim and first break in the case, Helen was found on April 24, 1964 in an alleyway. Flecks of paint used in car factories.

Mary Flemming, 30. Found July 14, 1964 in an open street. The paint spots were found on the body.

Frances Brown, 21. Found November 25, 1964 after missing for a month. A friend was with Brown when the man believed to be her killer picked her up, and a composite sketch was created.

Bridget O’Hara, 28. Found dead behind the Heron Trading Estate. Again flecks of paint were present.

The paint pattern was found near a paint spray shop on the Heron estate, near the location of Bridget O’Hara’s body. Investigators realized this was where the bodies were stored before being dumped. 7,000 people were questioned.

Police announced the suspect list was being narrowed down in the hopes of causing the killer to make a mistake, but an arrest never happened.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Du Rose was in charge of the investigation, and in his book, Murder was my Business, Du Rose states the prime suspect committed suicide before an arrest could happen.

We had done all we possibly could but faced with his death no positive evidence was available to prove or disprove our belief that he was in fact the man we had been seeking. Because he was never arrested or stood trial, he must be considered innocent and will therefore never be named. – John Du Rose

Writer David Seabrook later identified this suspect as Mungo Ireland. Ireland gassed himself with exhaust on March 3, 1965. He left a note behind:

“I can’t stick it any longer… PS. To save you and the police looking for me I’ll be in the garage.”

Opinions vary on whether or not this man was actually the killer, and the case remains unsolved.

What do you think? Is the suicide note enough? Could Du Rose have been reaching to cover a failed investigation?

For more detailed accounts, visit here. For an entirely new theory, check out this interesting post.

Coming Soon: TIN GOD.

The official blurb for my second novel, TIN GOD (April 2013) is below! 

If you’d like to read the first chapter for FREE, visit my website.

TIN GOD
Mystery/Romantic Thriller

Getting pregnant as a teenager and being coerced into giving her baby up for adoption left a festering scar on Jaymee Ballard’s life. Trapped by poverty and without many allies, Jaymee nearly gives up hope of getting her daughter back after her best friend is murdered. Now, four years later, a wealthy woman with legal connections hires her as a housekeeper, and Jaymee gathers the courage to seek her help. But Jaymee’s last chance ends up in a puddle of blood in one of the historic antebellum mansions in Roselea, Mississippi.

I just murdered your wife…again.

An unsigned letter consisting of six horrifying words turns Nick Samuels stagnant life upside down. Stuck in emotional purgatory since his wife’s unsolved murder four years ago, Nick is about to self-destruct. The arrival of the letter claiming credit for his wife’s murder and boasting of a new kill sends Nick to Roselea, where he and Jaymee’s worlds collide.

Jaymee and Nick realize exposing the truth about her daughter’s adoption is the only way to solve the murders. Up against years of deception, they rush to identify the killer before the evidence–and Jaymee’s daughter–are lost.

But the truth doesn’t always set the guilt-ridden free. Sometimes, it destroys them.

Old fairy tales are scary as hell. In The Legend of Bluebeard (“La Barbe bleue”, Tales of Mother Goose, Charles Perrault, 1697), a hideous man with a strange blue beard and a wealthy estate is known to have had several wives who disappeared. His new wife is soon left alone on the estate, and he hands her a set of keys. She may open any room she wishes, except for the small closet at the end of the basement. Naturally, as soon as he was gone, the wife rushed to the basement closest, only to find the seven previous wives of Bluebeard, their throats slashed from ear to ear. Bluebeard discovers her treachery and vows her to death, but her brothers arrived to save her. The wife inherited his fortune, and she and her family lived happily ever after.

A children’s fairytale, meant to teach God only knows what, but in the early 1900s, one of the world’s first lonely hearts predators killed ten women, earning the chilling nickname Bluebeard.

Short and bald, with bushy eyebrows to match his equally overgrown beard, Henri Landru wasn’t exactly an Adonis. By looks alone, he wasn’t the type of man you’d expect to woo hundreds of women, let alone bilk them out of their lives savings. And yet he did. A second-hand furniture dealer and automobile mechanic, something about Landru lured women by the hundreds.

He killed ten of them.

Born in 1869 to an average family, Landru’s childhood was uneventful. His mother was a housewife, his father a fireman at Paris’ Vulcain Ironworks. Landru attended Catholic school and was drafted to the French Army at the age of 18. In 1891, he managed to seduce his cousin, who bore him a daughter. He married another woman two years later, quit the military, and began working as a clerk.

Unfortunately, his employer swindled Landru out of a large sum of money. This turned Landru to a life of crime and revenge. Many of his victims were windows he’d meet through his legitimate furniture business. Lonely and faced with poverty, these widows made easy targets.

Between 1900 and 1908, Landru served several stints in prison. He was released in 1908 with the understanding he would re-enlist in the French Army. Instead, he honed his skills and continued to prey on vulnerable women.

His first known murder victim is Madame Cuchet, a 39-year-old widow. She was nearly destitute when Landru swept in to save the day. Cuchet’s brother was suspicious of Landru, but she ignored his warning. She and Landru moved to a villa in Vernouillet with her son. Mother and son were last seen alive in 1915. Landru’s wife was later presented with Cuchet’s watch as a present.

Next was an Argentine widow named Madame Laborde-Line. She told friends she was marrying an engineer from Brazil, but the two decided to move in together. Laborde-Line was last seen in July 1915.

Then came Madame Guillen, a 51-year-old widow, followed by Madame Heon. Both visited Landru’s villa in Vernouillet and disappeared.

Andree Babelay, a servant girl, also disappeared. No one knows why Landru chose to kill her–she certainly had no money to offer.

Landru eventually left Vernouillet for a new home in Gambais, where he had a large cast-iron oven installed.

His first known Gambais victim was Madam Buisson. It took Landru almost a year to estrange the wealthy widow from her family. She was last seen in 1917.

Madame Louise Leopoldine Jaume disappeared in September 1917.  Annette Pascal vanished in the spring of 1918. Marie Therese Marchadier disappeared in late 1918 after visiting Landru in Gambais.

For years, Landru wasn’t suspected in these women’s disappearances. He worked hard to separate his victims from their families, but then worked even harder to make the families believe their loved ones were alive long after he’d killed them. He sent postcards, forged letters, pretended to be an attorney–the list goes on.

Remember the first Gambias victim, Madame Buisson? Two years after she’d disappeared with Landru, her son passed away. Her sister began searching for the woman, finally writing to the mayor of Gambais. She told the mayor her sister’s intention had been to run away with a man named Guilett (Landru’s alias). The mayor suggested she meet with the family of Madame Collumb, who had also vanished under similar circumstances in 1917.

Landru’s aliases were soon discovered and searched for, but his known residence at Gambais was empty. Buisson’s sister refused to give up. She remembered what her sister’s lover had looked like, and in 1919, spotted Landru strolling out of shop. She lost him in the crowd, but the owner of the shop told her the man’s name was Guilett, and that he lived in the Rue de Rochechouart with his mistress. Landru was soon arrested.

They didn’t have much to hold him on. Police searched the homes and gardens in Gambais and Vernouillet but only found a memo book where Landru recorded his financial status. Landru believed he was in the catbird’s seat and kept quiet. Authorities spent two years investigating, eventually discovering that all the women in Landru’s notebook, whom he’d med through marriage advertisements, had disappeared. He’d also recorded one-way trips from Paris for each victim, but round-trips for himself.

Still, no bodies. The gardens at both his residences were repeatedly dug up. The break came when neighbors at Gambais mentioned noxious fumes coming from the kitchen. Police searched the iron stove and found bones, as well as women’s fasteners. Landru was charged with 11 counts of murder.

Remember, in 1919, there were no terms like “serial killer.” Only Jack the Ripper was widely known to have killed multiple people, and a murderer like Landru was a shocking affront to the French people. His trial lasted a month. He believed that without a body, he could stonewall the court and kept virtually silent during trial. A jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death.

In February, 1922, Landru faced the guillotine. He showed little remorse for his actions, although he did express embarrassment his wife would discover the affair he was having at the time of his arrest. Some argue that because Landru killed for financial gain rather than a sexual motive, he can’t be classified as a serial killer. Rather, he overlaps categories, becoming a sort of Black Widow spider, taking what he needed and killing his mate with no remorse.

What do you think? Was Landru more complex than the modern serial killer? Did he receive a fair trial, or should he have been released for lack of a true body?

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Thanks to Catie Rhodes for the topic!