I've been studying them since I was about 12-13. It probably stemmed from my love of horror films, but when I was 13 they had an experimental sociology and law class at our school and I jumped at the chance to be a "guinea pig" in the test class. I got access to much more information this way. I guess it's nothing compared to the internet now, but back then the web was still growing up.
We got to go on a trip to a prison that had murderers and they arranged for a couple of them to talk to us. I got in trouble for asking the "wrong" questions though, like specifics about their crimes. I think we were only supposed to be asking about prison life.
most of the addresses listed and many of the landmarks are within a mile of two of where i live
absolutely insane... i hadn't heard about Corll before, the wiki on him reads like a damn horror movie, especially the end.
for me, i've always been interested in Jeff Dahmer... mostly because i had read about all the things that he had done, and then i watched an interview of him... and he seemed like an average person. blew my mind, i thought he'd be even wackier than manson
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:50 am
by wormcode
Nah generally they are pretty normal on the surface. Part of the reason Manson is probably the most famous serial killer (though it's still debated if he himself ever killed anyone - most people say no) is because he's extremely eccentric, or whatever you want to call it, and naturally got a lot of media coverage. Most of them are probably very boring in comparison.
Another "entertaining" serial killer was Richard Ramirez aka The Night Stalker. That guy was a media circus and loved every minute of it.
Some of the court room footage I saw of him, he was like a celeb in front of papparazi. Smiling the whole time, and there was always several women there completely lusting after him, trying to sneak a peak at him... not even paying attention to what the prosecutor was saying. If they did actually pay attention, they might have realised if they were alone with him, he probably would have raped and killed them too.
I remember seeing an old documentary on him in prison, the guy was able to get married in prison (to a free woman), have sex with his wife and even had a TV and nice little garden. Was really surprising.
After being sentenced:
"Big deal, death always came with the territory. See you in Disneyland!"
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:09 am
by wormcode
Speaking of serial killers + media...
Maybe some of you will find this interesting. In the late 90s this historian Bill Geerhart sent a lot of letters to serial killers and politicians (though it can be argued they are one and the same. kidding.) posing as a 10 year old boy asking real questions. The responses he got were always surprising. I tried a similar project in the law class I mentioned, but I never got a response... I think it took him well over a year in some cases to get a response. Richard Ramirez asked for pics.
Also, once Charles Manson put his dirty underwear inside a biography about him and mailed it to someone. He wrote "Bullshit!" on the inner cover, placed his undies and mailed. I saw the underwear+book for sale once on murderauction.com for a few grand. They also had Ted Bundy's VW Bug for sale. Jonathan Davis of Korn used to own it, and planned on starting a serial killer museum with some friends but it fell through. (Yeah I know way too much about this horrible shit)
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:16 am
by nowaysj
wormcode wrote:Maybe some of you will find this interesting. In the late 90s this historian Bill Geerhart sent a lot of letters to serial killers and politicians (though it can be argued they are one and the same. kidding.) posing as a 10 year old boy asking real questions. The responses he got were always surprising. I tried a similar project in the law class I mentioned, but I never got a response... I think it took him well over a year in some cases to get a response. Richard Ramirez asked for pics.
What types of results did he get here?
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:20 am
by wormcode
nowaysj wrote:
wormcode wrote:Maybe some of you will find this interesting. In the late 90s this historian Bill Geerhart sent a lot of letters to serial killers and politicians (though it can be argued they are one and the same. kidding.) posing as a 10 year old boy asking real questions. The responses he got were always surprising. I tried a similar project in the law class I mentioned, but I never got a response... I think it took him well over a year in some cases to get a response. Richard Ramirez asked for pics.
What types of results did he get here?
They were actually pretty positive. Charles Manson told him to stay in school I believe, when "Billy" said he was thinking of dropping out.
I'm trying to find the scans I saved, but it was 3 or more years ago by now. All I remember about Richard Ramirezes response was that he kept asking for pics haha.
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:21 am
by nowaysj
Ramirez is nutters, no doubt.
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 7:13 am
by AntlionUK
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:54 pm
by jaydot
Dean Corll was one sick bastard.
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:02 pm
by apmje
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:17 pm
by bright maroon
I eat a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch
and feel like shit when I walk out the door and see a sparrow...
I can't even be properly mean to people I'm mad at usually...
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:26 pm
by weedlefruit
Definitely have an interest in the topic, It's just scary to think what people do but it's why they do it that interests me.
For a few years I read a lot about legendary nutcase but in a lot of ways unexplored mind of Charles Manson.
Some interesting people to have a read about as well - Woo Bum Kon, the highest kills for a serial killer still to this day I believe and it was both an emotional even that turned him to killing but also coupling that emotional unrest with an abuse of his power and position as a police officer.
Also, John Wayne Gacy who has had a few films made about him. This dude was unreal, They found like 26 bodies under his house and he used to work at a children's hospital and dressed up as a clown. Seriously twisted fella.
Oh yeah who could forget the gemini killer? There are websites with some of his cryptic codes published for hobby codebreakers decipher and after all these years there still remains a large number of these notes he left that we don't know the meaning of. Could they be clues to who he was or are they just random scribbles on a page to confuse people?
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:29 pm
by wormcode
H.H. Holmes is one of the world's worst serial killers, but he's not very well known. This guy operated out of Chicago in the late 1800s and had a real life torture house like you'd see in a movie like Saw or Texas Chainsaw Massacre where he experimented on people and then burned them in his furnace.
Serial killer, con artist. Born Herman Webster Mudgett in 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. Sometimes referred as the Beast of Chicago, H. H. Holmes killed many of the city’s inhabitants in his specially constructed home later nicknamed the Murder Castle. He has also been linked to deaths in other parts of the United States and Canada. http://www.biography.com/articles/H.-H.-Holmes-307622
(This documentary Portraits in Evil was a bit cheesy but it's priced at 5 bucks at stores for 4 DVDs and covers a lot of stuff, good bargain)
weedlefruit wrote:Woo Bum Kon, the highest kills for a serial killer still to this day I believe
he does not have the highest kills for a serial killer,
he does have the biggest killing spree recorded though,
also he is not a serial killer because it was all in one go
this is all just off the back of a 5 minute wiki search btw, I don't profess to be an expert or our, may be wrong
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 4:45 pm
by weedlefruit
capo ultra wrote:
weedlefruit wrote:Woo Bum Kon, the highest kills for a serial killer still to this day I believe
he does not have the highest kills for a serial killer,
he does have the biggest killing spree recorded though,
also he is not a serial killer because it was all in one go
this is all just off the back of a 5 minute wiki search btw, I don't profess to be an expert or our, may be wrong
Ah yeah that was it! Highest kills for a spree killer not serial! Either way, I'm not sure it makes him a winner ha.
I couldn't be bothered to check it, was too busy reading through that Dean Corll wiki page. Pretty remarkable he was able to get away with it all for so long, I mean given that they let one victim go and by the sounds of things weren't too shy.
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:32 pm
by capo ultra
weedlefruit wrote:
capo ultra wrote:
weedlefruit wrote:Woo Bum Kon, the highest kills for a serial killer still to this day I believe
he does not have the highest kills for a serial killer,
he does have the biggest killing spree recorded though,
also he is not a serial killer because it was all in one go
this is all just off the back of a 5 minute wiki search btw, I don't profess to be an expert or our, may be wrong
Ah yeah that was it! Highest kills for a spree killer not serial! Either way, I'm not sure it makes him a winner ha.
I couldn't be bothered to check it, was too busy reading through that Dean Corll wiki page. Pretty remarkable he was able to get away with it all for so long, I mean given that they let one victim go and by the sounds of things weren't too shy.
highest score or something
that Dean Corll shit is fucked up!
Re: Serial Killers
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:29 pm
by the acid never lies
Top movie serial killers? Here's mine:
Mark Lewis (Peeping Tom, 1960) for best development (and best film)
Michael Myers (Halloween, 1980) for creepiness and b-movie goods
Patrick Bateman (American Psycho, 2000) for the lulz