S&D: Serial Killers

obv destroy all of these motherfuckers. i think the creepiest one ever might the btk killer, since iirc he was a family man and a pretty normal churchgoing suburban dad type who was also a totally disassociated berserk killer.

Why do so many serial killers work as truckers?

Why do so many serial killers work as truckers? Does the transient, rootless nature of the job stir in some people a latent potential for violence? Or do the already violent seek out a job that provides the mobility, and soundproof vehicle, to hunt undetected?

The FBI was so alarmed by what they saw as a pattern of long-haul truckers preying on vulnerable victims like prostitutes, hitchhikers, and stranded motorists that they launched the Highway Serial Killings Initiative, a special unit that collects forensics data to track cases and suspects.

Investigators acknowledge that a specialized unit is needed because truck driver/highway murders are especially difficult to solve. They often involve multiple jurisdictions, isolated crime scenes with few witnesses, and little or no forensic evidence. Crisscrossing the country, truck drivers have a built-in ability to evade authorities.

One of the obvious, but nevertheless frightening, things about trucker killers is that while they're often caught for just one crime the far-reaching, wide-ranging nature of their routes suggests they're possibly, even likely, responsible for many more.

(more at link)

Viz beat them to it as did Clarkson

don't really see how one can be beaten to the punch on this subject...?

I find the fact if Kemper's self-reflexive comedy timing the most ugly and most scary fact abt him, actually — certainly the hardest for me to process and be comfortable with. I can't be comfortable with it, bcz it means a state of mind i put a lot of moral trust in and enjoy — a playful sense of fun — is not firewalled territory after all.

one of the best things ever said on ilx imo

it would be great if there was some serial killer who decided to be the greatest serial killer of them all by hunting down and killing all the others.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, November 5, 2003 2:51 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark

ok, weird

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkly_Dreaming_Dexter

when I was doing study on the biological bases of violence I spent a lot of time looking at serial killers obv.

the US produces more serial killers than any other nation. we have 6% of the world's population and 75% of its serial killers. europe combined is a distant 16%. it could be argued that the US has spent more time on analysis and detection of serial killers, but the percentages are so far off it's difficult to explain. it might sound like uber-romantic social criticism, but I started seeing serial killers as a nightmare byproduct of the american dream. all the highways, personal freedom, pursuing your dreams, ultimately leading to these aberrant extremes of nomadic personal freedom and individualism. so that truckers link above really resonated.

I also had the notion that myths of vampires and werewolves were based on early serial killers. imagine you're living in a small village hundreds of years ago where everyone knows everyone else. if strings of motiveless, savage murders began to occur, imagining that someone you knew was transforming into a monster nightly was likely more comforting than the ugly reality.

Doesn't Russia have a lot too?

I think they've had a handful of prodigious ones

It's that Kemper made what he did into a joke he was the subject of, isn't it? Which is why it's so awful, he knew exactly what he was doing. That was kinda the point. Like y'know the Joker, man

Yes v brilliant orig post

And I don't think that can be processed tbh, limits of humanity type stuff

it's similar to thinking about fetishes. I'm not really sure how/why people are attracted to animals, but they are.

I'd never heard of Kemper before.

Holy fuck, what a terrifying individual.

S: Jack the Ripper. Was genuinely scared of him opening my bedroom door at age 9 or so in I dunno, 1986? Despite the fact he would've been like 130 or so (and I wasn't a prostitute), was still terrified, the whole thing was so debased and awful. Wasn't fascinated, scared. Gave a speech abt him tht year which prob made me look a potential SK myself, really

factoid: the FBI originally called them "stranger killers" before they figured out serial killers do victimize people they know

A lot of them must've been pretty popular then

had not heard of kemper, *googles*

From Wikipedia:

At the time of Kemper's murder spree in Santa Cruz, another serial killer named Herbert Mullin was also active, earning the small California town the title of "Murder Capital Of The World." Also adding to the college town's infamy was the fact that Kemper's and Mullin's crimes were preceded three years earlier by multiple murders committed by John Linley Frazier, who murdered Santa Cruz eye surgeon Victor Ohta and his family. Kemper and Mullin were briefly held in adjoining cells, with the former angrily accusing the latter of stealing his body-dumping sites.

I'd never heard of Kemper before.

Holy fuck, what a terrifying individual.
--Huckabee Jesus lifeline (HI DERE)

kemper, the seinfeld of serial killers

The Night Stalker scared the crap out of me when i was a kid. I just remember that hot summer and that scary ass artist rendition of him, with those buggy eyes and creepy look. then there was something about him targeting yellow houses by freeways and we had a yellow house by the freeway!! i just knew this devil looking dude was gonna come climbing through my window.

kemper's wiki reads like

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FHAAH32TL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg

was kinda hard being in school in Santa Cruz and NOT hearing about Kemper

I find the fact if Kemper's self-reflexive comedy timing the most ugly and most scary fact abt him, actually — certainly the hardest for me to process and be comfortable with. I can't be comfortable with it, bcz it means a state of mind i put a lot of moral trust in and enjoy — a playful sense of fun — is not firewalled territory after all.

one of the best things ever said on ilx imo

― a full circle lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, December 3, 2009 5:54 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

it's not the same thing i realize but maybe it comes from the same place: this reminds me of all the jailhouse interviews/correspondence that the hipster grifter is doing, this self-awareness, self-clowning, matched with total sociopath behavior.

or you know the pages of vice magazine

didn't know where else to post this but O_O

http://io9.com/5448369/suspected-tylenol-poisoner-writes-science-fiction-novel-about-poisonings

James Lewis was accused of putting cyanide into Tylenol capsules back in 1982, causing several deaths. His involvement has never been proved, but now he's self-published a new science-fiction novel called Poison!, which is making people wonder anew.

Lewis' novel follows a psychologist named Dr. Charles Rivers, who can both read and control other people's minds (similar to Heroes' Matt Parkman). Rivers also has a slew of high-tech gadgets. He uses all of the resources at his disposal to investigate a rash of poisonings in his Missouri hometown, including his own father, who appear to have been poisoned with a bizarre mixture of toxic chemicals. But while Rivers is investigating the poisonings, he comes across evidence of a criminal mastermind named Agua Naranja (Orange Water), who has discovered a way to cause earthquakes, using techniques pioneered by Nikola Tesla.

okay WAHT

And wow, man that story they link to from the Boston Herald adds a whole new level of crepey to this guy: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=349846

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uf95INZmWI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Alcala

worst. date. ever.

He won a date with "bachelorette" Cheryl Bradshaw, who subsequently refused to go out with him, according to published reports, because she found him "creepy."

a peeled banana

Jed Mills, an actor who sat next to Alcala onstage as "Bachelor #2", later described him as a "a peeled banana" with "bizarre opinions."

LIFE slideshow of Ed Gein's house:

http://www.life.com/gallery/39992/inside-a-serial-killers-house#index/0

Serial killer and terrible housekeeper

i honestly dk how i got down this wormhole just now but reading this is p chilling/interesting in its mundanity, 'i stopped @ dennys for moons over my hammy and grabbed some chocolate milk' etc. not a serial killer but dude was inspired by the show dexter

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51760361/Manuscript-from-Mark-Twitchell-s-laptop#archive

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/calif-serial-killer-richard-ramirez-dies-19349065

Richard Ramierez was the first serial killer that ever caught my attention. In 6th grade, I accidentally videotaped Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker off of TV, for some reason thinking it was an actual horror movie based on the TV Guide description I guess. A year later, my English teacher found a true-crime paperback about Ramirez that I had left in my desk. It led to a parent/teacher/principal conference and was partially responsible for me being dropped from the GT program.

Hate him. Not for my personal reasons, just for the murders he committed. Didn't die soon enough.

i found myself googling 'where did all the serial killers go' like a month ago. seems like they've been replaced with spree killers in the 21st century

'siri, where did all the serial killers go?' would make a great song title

the new generation wants instant gratification, whatever happened to patience

There was one arrested in Alaska a few months ago. Maybe they just aren't as big a news draw.

there were 2 in sacramento area, the Speed Freak Killers (Herzog died last year but Shermantine is still on death row)-- suspected in the deaths of more than 70 ppl, many dating back to the 80's. FBI is still excavating the well where a lot of remains have been found

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Freak_Killers

I only just learned of these 2 recently myself. Crazy shit.

they are kind of rare, and yeah spree killers are the new serial killers as far as the media's concerned.

I remember when the night stalker was at large/when he was caught by the mob, that was crazy shit. for a brief period it was like all the Xtian right's hysteria about heavy metal-listening, satan-worshipping, killer rapists had some basis in reality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doodler

http://www.laweekly.com/2005-10-06/news/eastside-story/

Eastside Story
The day we caught the night stalker
By Ben Quiñones

The summer of 1985 was setting up to be a good, long, lazy one for L.A. The city was still on a sports high from hosting the ’84 Olympics, where Boyle Heights boxer Paul Gonzalez had won a gold medal, and Magic Johnson’s “Showtime” Lakers had just beaten the much-hated Celtics to win another NBA championship. And, if Ronald Reagan was turning Central America into a tropical war zone and AIDS was starting to devastate the world, at least Quincy Jones gave us a fleeting sense of unity by producing the all-star artist hit “We are the World: USA for Africa.”

I was a young Mexican growing up across the Los Angeles River in East L.A. and attending school as a seventh-grade scrub at Stevenson Junior High. My family lived on 4048 ½ Princeton Street, a back house on a dead end in the heart of the LiL Valley Gang. During that unbearably hot summer the sounds of Wham! and Punky Brewsterreruns would drift through open windows and screen doors.

It looked like I’d be doing the usual summer stuff — hanging out at the corner store, Ken’s Market, chewing on some Now and Later’s while playing Frogger, going to the Boulevard Theater on Whittier Boulevard to watch The Goonies for 99 cents and swimming at Ruben Salazar Park (formerly Laguna Park), also on Whittier.

But the summer of 1985 would also be a season of terror in L.A., thanks to the Night Stalker, a 25-year-old Mexican drifter from El Paso named Richard Ramirez. The Texan had two loves: AC/DC’s “Night Prowler” and crawling into open windows to kill. He began his murder rampage in June 1984, but it wasn’t until the summer of 1985 that the bodies started “making sense” to the cops. There were 13 victims in all, mostly girls and women between the ages of 6 and 83. Some had been beaten and raped, some savagely mutilated. (One woman’s eyes were gouged out.) As mementos, Ramirez would leave behind inked Satanic pentagrams.

Angelenos had seen death before, but this terror was on another level. Sales of guns, guard dogs and burglar alarms seemed to reach an all-time high. Neighborhood watch groups sprung up all over the city and vigilantes began patrolling the streets at night. Doing our part as good East Angelenos, we walked the beat around our street. I, along with my childhood friends Fernando and Efren Torres, and my older brother Rigo, protected our street with bats, pipes and homemade numchucks that we fashioned by taking old broomsticks, cutting off two pieces and then nailing or screwing on a thin chain to each end. We were Mexican ninjas. We also had the backing of the LiL Valley cholos, the older veteranoswho hid a greater arsenal on Raspberry Hill, a large brush area with raspberry shrubs on top of the hill beyond our street. It was a place where you could pick berries and pick up hidden knives and guns.

I was not afraid of the Night Stalker — I grew up in a gang war zone. I had seen the casualties of that war up close, including a drive-by where at least 10 LiL Valley cholos got shot up by rivals. I didn’t know it, but I was already suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Deep down I wanted a piece of the Night Stalker.

As the killer continued his spree, he got meaner but sloppier and was ID’d through fingerprints, his first mistake. On August 30, an arrest warrant was issued and Ramirez’s mug shot was plastered all over newspapers and broadcast on TV. He fled into, of all places, East L.A., where perhaps he felt he could hide out among the brown. That was his second and costliest mistake. The story goes that Ramirez showed up to the 3700 block of East Hubbard Street, just a few blocks from my house, looking for a car to steal. He found a red Mustang parked in a driveway, but its owner, Faustino Pinon, quickly grabbed Ramirez around the neck, pushed him off his property and began chasing him.

Ramirez then threatened to kill a neighbor unless she surrendered the keys to her Ford Granada. The screaming woman’s husband rushed to her aid with a metal post. He, along with other neighbors who’d quickly armed themselves with steel rods and tools, pursued Ramirez, who now ran for his life. He was hit with fist and metal post like an evil piñata. Finally, a block away from where it all began, the Night Stalker collapsed to the ground and was subdued, while the mob beat him until sheriff’s deputies arrived. Ramirez raised his hands to the deputies, begging for protection. The crowd had to be held back as the lawmen saved the killer’s life!

“They caught the Night Stalker!” Word quickly spread as my friends and I got on our old, beat-up Schwinn bikes (the kind you build and not buy) E.T.-style and rode with our adrenalin pumping to Hubbard a couple blocks away, where the sheriffs were placing a bandaged and demoralized Richard Ramirez into a squad car. As I stood behind the sheriffs and saw Ramirez in person from a few feet away, he didn’t seem like the monster that he was — no modern-day Jack the Ripper, just another hapless soul. (One who’d end up on Death Row, where he sits today.)

Soon every television crew converged here to let the world know that the Night Stalker had not only been caught but almost beaten to death in East L.A. The neighborhood that took great pride in the capture was allowed by Sheriff Sherman Block to have a huge block party with each end of Hubbard cordoned off by the sheriffs. That whole night a DJ played cha-chadisco jams like Tapps’ “Burning with Fire” and Lime’s “Babe We’re Gonna Love Tonight,” while what seemed like all of East L.A. danced their asses off. We had to celebrate — after all it’s not every summer when Satan’s right-hand man gets caught in East L.A.

SLEW of posts already from SoCal friends who remember that time vividly with Ramirez (I was living in upstate New York at that point, only returning right around July and even then just going to San Diego rather than LA/OC). One friend mentioned violence and murder done to family members by him -- another talked about how, after the police reconstructed his movements, she and her family were almost victims as he was breaking into their home, only to be stopped by the house alarm going off. Unsettling to say the least.

jesus. serial killers are the worst. when son of sam was active in the 70s in nyc my mom couldn't sleep because her brother was a hippie who lived in a brooklyn and didn't lock his door or window