Serial killers

[ZachariahDaMan]

I thought I'd make a thread about serial killers since they are a fascination of mine. Since I am only 17 I was curious as to what serial killers were all over the news and newspaper in the past, I would assume that Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, BTK killer (Dennis Rader), Zodiac killer.

I was also wondering if you lived in a city when a killer was on the loose there.

For the record, I'm not just some creepy kid that can't stop reading about serial killers, I am going to get a degree in criminal justice and be a cop or do some type of investigative work.

I am in the middle of a little project. Between 1967 and 1969 there was a serial killer up here in Ann Arbor, Michigan that killed girls. The guy is in prison now in the Upper Peninsula but I have found out 2 of the houses he lived at, his uncles house, and a victims house. It's pretty cool seeing places like that that he spent so much time at.

[RestedTraveler]

Do some research on Danny Rolling. He made my life and the lives of 50,000 other college students at the University of Florida (and Santa Fe Community College) a living hell back in the Fall of 1990.

Aileen Wuornos was in the news not long after that, too. I think the movie, "Monster" was based on her story.

There must have been some freaky cloud or something hanging over North Central Florida around that time.

[ZachariahDaMan]

I've read some on Danny Rolling. I can't imagine what it would be like going through something like that. I read that there is a memorial wall for his vitims in Gainesville. I'll have to check it out someday. The crime library has a TON of interesting info on Rolling: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers...ing/gain_1.html

Yep, "Monster" was based after Aileen Wuornos, I haven't seen it but I have seen a documentary on her. She grew up in the suburbs of Detroit like me.

[dpbaker]

There is of course the infamous Zodiac killer here in California.......

[ZachariahDaMan]

Zodiac is probably the most infamuous serial killer (besides Jack the Ripper in London) to never get caught. There always the chance that they will get caught though becase it took them a long time but the Green River Killer (Gary Ridgway) and BTK killer (Dennis Rader) were finally caught.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

Has anyone ever noticed FL has had a large number of serial killers? Even when they weren't captured in FL, many serial killers calim to have killed people while "passing through" FL. This is a mystery that has plagued me my entire life.

I remember the Atlanta Child Murders, but mostly just bits and pieces from the news. I do remember well when Wayne Williams was convicted. Naturally, it was all over the news. DH was a student at UF when Danny Rolling escaped from jail. I think he was only out for 24 hours.

[RestedTraveler]

I've read some on Danny Rolling. I can't imagine what it would be like going through something like that. I read that there is a memorial wall for his vitims in Gainesville. I'll have to check it out someday.

It was pretty horrible. I remember parking at the parking garage and walking the mile or so across the campus to my classes. Everyone I looked at could have been the killer...I simply didn't know. People probably looked at me wondering the same thing, too, I'm sure. Many students dropped out of school and returned home that semester. Some never returned. The ones that remained were urged by authorities to put locks on their windows and doors and to remain in groups while walking around the campus.

I remember the entire Plaza of the Americas was just blanketed with News Vans from throughout the State of Florida and all across the country. You couldn't walk through there without somebody stopping you to try to get an interview. I remember being asked, "How do you feel?" by some reporter from Sarasota. I replied, "How the hell do you think I feel?," and kept walking.

There is a wall along 34th Street in Gainesville that has, for years and years and years, been covered with graffiti, murals, and other art. There is a section of this wall that was dedicated to the five victims of Danny Rolling shortly after they were found and, from what I can tell, that section of the wall has pretty much remained untouched since 1990.

Also, there were five trees planted on the campus of U.F.. They're on your right as you pass by the Smathers library and are looking at Anderson Hall while walking toward the College of Business Administration.

Most students today, I'm certain, have no idea what the memorial wall and those five trees represent. Many of the ones who have heard of it, I've read, even consider the whole thing to be an urban legend.

[Mikejesmike]

I like to read about killers. Here are the books I have.

Cannibal Killers The History Of Impossible Murders (various)

The Cannibal (Albert Fish)

Deranged (Albert Fish)

The Milwaukee Murders Nightmare In Apartment 213 (Jeff Dahmer)

The Diary Of Jack The Ripper

Edward Gein America's Most Bizarre Murderer

Ed Gein Psycho

Time Life Serial Killers (various)

Murder Next Door (various)

Dracula Prince Of Many Faces His Life And His Times

I generally like biographical books in general.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Nice collection of books, Albert Fish and Ed Gein are two weirdo's that are always fun to read about. Have you seen the movie about Gein called "Ed Gein"?

[Southernyank]

I thought I'd make a thread about serial killers since they are a fascination of mine. Since I am only 17 I was curious as to what serial killers were all over the news and newspaper in the past, I would assume that Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, BTK killer (Dennis Rader), Zodiac killer.

I was also wondering if you lived in a city when a killer was on the loose there.

For the record, I'm not just some creepy kid that can't stop reading about serial killers, I am going to get a degree in criminal justice and be a cop or do some type of investigative work.

I am in the middle of a little project. Between 1967 and 1969 there was a serial killer up here in Ann Arbor, Michigan that killed girls. The guy is in prison now in the Upper Peninsula but I have found out 2 of the houses he lived at, his uncles house, and a victims house. It's pretty cool seeing places like that that he spent so much time at.

I think maybe you should have opened your post with this statement instead.

[Mikejesmike]

Nice collection of books, Albert Fish and Ed Gein are two weirdo's that are always fun to read about. Have you seen the movie about Gein called "Ed Gein"?

Thank you. Yes I've seen Ed Gein (also known as In The Light Of The Moon) I even taped it. I thought it was better than most people did,they apparently either wanted faster paced action or a ton of gore. I thought Steve Railsback nailed the performance, I've never heard Gein speak or watch him talk, but Steve's performance was how I always imagined Gein would be like. He also did an unforgettable Charles Manson in Helter Skelter, making it easy to forget that Charles didn't get time off to make a movie about himself.

There's also an Albert Fish movie coming out, except I don't know if it's a full on movie like Ed Gein or a docudrama,showing actors playing the parts and real life people discussing what went on. Similar to what you might see on the Discovery Channel.

The book Cannibal Killers is what got me started, I remember I got it the day I got suspended from school. My sister came and picked me up and we went to the mall and I bought it. I knew of Albert Fish and Ed Gein, but it was a trip learning the details. This was back around 1993-94. I was either 16 or 17. In the back of the book I found they got some info on Gein from America's Most Bizarre Murderer so of course I had to get it, except it was no longer in print, but I got the bookstore at the mall to look for me and they found it. The other one I just had to get was The Cannibal, it too was mentioned in the back of the book. It too was long out of print but years later I found it on ebay (the internet rules) and got it in excellent shape,hardcover, with tiny tears on the sleeve. I also got Deranged on ebay too.

[Mikejesmike]

As to if any serial killer was around my town. I lived in California when the Night Stalker was going around, at one point he took his killings from LA to San Francisco. The quickest way for him to travel from LA to SF was to take I-5 north. I-5 will take you to Tracy, where I lived, from there you can either head towards Oakland and San Francisco or towards Stockton and Sacramento. When we found out about the killings in the bay area I remember my older brother commenting that he had to have come near our town to get there, I was young and hardly ever looked at a map,much less one showing the interstate, but I took his word for it. After that he made sure his baseball bat (the peace maker) was within easy reach of his bed.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Thank you. Yes I've seen Ed Gein (also known as In The Light Of The Moon) I even taped it. I thought it was better than most people did,they apparently either wanted faster paced action or a ton of gore. I thought Steve Railsback nailed the performance, I've never heard Gein speak or watch him talk, but Steve's performance was how I always imagined Gein would be like. He also did an unforgettable Charles Manson in Helter Skelter, making it easy to forget that Charles didn't get time off to make a movie about himself.

There's also an Albert Fish movie coming out, except I don't know if it's a full on movie like Ed Gein or a docudrama,showing actors playing the parts and real life people discussing what went on. Similar to what you might see on the Discovery Channel.

The book Cannibal Killers is what got me started, I remember I got it the day I got suspended from school. My sister came and picked me up and we went to the mall and I bought it. I knew of Albert Fish and Ed Gein, but it was a trip learning the details. This was back around 1993-94. I was either 16 or 17. In the back of the book I found they got some info on Gein from America's Most Bizarre Murderer so of course I had to get it, except it was no longer in print, but I got the bookstore at the mall to look for me and they found it. The other one I just had to get was The Cannibal, it too was mentioned in the back of the book. It too was long out of print but years later I found it on ebay (the internet rules) and got it in excellent shape,hardcover, with tiny tears on the sleeve. I also got Deranged on ebay too.

I have a nice collecton of serial killer books too, my favorite being The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. I really like her books. The book is about Ted Bundy, he is probably my favorite serial killer to read about. He was smart, charming, the girls thought he was good looking yet he ended up killing so many of them. I also like to read about the Green River Killer (Gary Ridway). I have a book about him called The Search for the Green River Killer. BTK (Bind them, torture them, kill them a.ka. Dennis Rader) has always interested me because for a while there he was on America's Most Wanted a lot. I have a book about him called The Hunt for the BTK Killer. I have a lot more books but those are my favorites.

I really like the movie about Ed Gein also.

What got me into serial killers was that for some reason a lot of my teachers would mentioned Jeffrey Dahmer and I decided to look him up online and see what info I could find about him. After that I wanted to read more about messed up people and before you know it I have a fascination with them!

[Snowguy716]

It's fun stuff to read about, but I get the creeps... like I have this realization that this stuff really happens. And then I start to wonder.. what about the familes of those killed. Or the family of the killer? What must they think? I can't imagine it's easy to find out that your son or daughter is a serial killer.

It's just creepy. I'm glad I'm not going into criminal justice. I'm too sickened by some of the things I've heard of, let alone to see it and discover it.. bleh.

[BarGal]

What about the Oakland County Child killings in Michigan back in 1976 - 1977?

I saw a news story last night on Channel 7 and in today's Free Press there was an article about it. Here's the link:

Murderer Stays Silent on Child Killings

Apparently, there's this guy who's going away for the rest of his life for some other unrelated murder, who fested up that he knows two guys who were the Oakland County Child Killers. He met them while working undercover for the Detroit Police Department back in the '70s on a sting operation for an underground child pornography ring that was operating in the Cass Corridor back then.

Who knew that kind of stuff was going on?!?! I was going to Cass Tech High School, in the Cass Corridor, back then. I didn't have any idea that this pornography ring was around. (And I'm glad I didn't or it would have freaked me out.)

Well, anyway, I thought you serial killer "fans", might find the article interesting...

[ZachariahDaMan]

I read that article yesterday, actually I cut it out to save it too. That so odd that he won't tell the cops about everything he knows, what does he have to lose? He'd actually be gainings something by being able to live in any prison in the U.S.

[BarGal]

I thought this was interesting...(It's meant for fun)

Psychopath Test

Read this question, come up with an answer and then scroll down to the bottom for the result. This is not a trick question. It is as it reads. No one I know has got it right.

A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a guy whom she did not know. She thought this guy was amazing. She believed him to be her dream guy so much, that she fell in love with him right there, but never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later she killed her sister.

Question: What is her motive for killing her sister?

[Give this is some thought before you answer, see answer below]

Answer:

She was hoping the guy would appear at the funeral again. If you answered this correctly, you think like a psychopath. This was a test by a famous American Psychologist used to test if one has the same mentality as a killer.

Many arrested serial killers took part in the test and answered the question correctly.

If you didn't answer the question correctly, good for you.

If you got the answer correct, please let me know so I can set you up as an "ignored user"...

[ZachariahDaMan]

haha, that's funny, darn I guess I'm not a psychopath afterall.

[colin]

There was the so-called "Railroad Killer" around the country, but mostly in Houston, in 1999, Angel Resendez.

He rode around on trains, got off at random places, broke into a house and killed the people inside. 9 people dead, they chased him for two years.

Wiki article

[dimebag1980]

Zodiac is probably the most infamuous serial killer (besides Jack the Ripper in London) to never get caught. There always the chance that they will get caught though becase it took them a long time but the Green River Killer (Gary Ridgway) and BTK killer (Dennis Rader) were finally caught.

There's also the Phantom Killer up in Texarkana who committed numerous slayings in Spring Lake Park back in the 40's and was never caught.

This particular killer was the subject of a low-budget movie, which I've seen numerous times, called The Town That Dreaded Sundown.

When I was dating my wife a few years back, we spent a lot of time in Spring Lake Park like lovers have throughout the decades, and it's a little chilling to know the guy committed all those slayings in that very park and was never captured.

Phantom Killer info

Info on Danny Rollings' involvement in Shreveport crimes:

Danny Rolling in Shreveport

Nathaniel Code... black serial killer in Shreveport's Cedar Grove neighborhood (the neighborhood I work in and am in as I type this)...

Nathaniel Code: black serial killer

This page talks about numerous killers, one of which is Glen Rogers, the "cross-country killer" who killed a woman in Bossier City, the twin city to Shreveport, back in the mid-to-late 90's, so this one is a fairly recent case:

read about Glen Rogers here

I never have understood why so many serial killers have either come from, or through, Shreveport... but the fact is they have and it's actually quite disturbing.

[dimebag1980]

There was the so-called "Railroad Killer" around the country, but mostly in Houston, in 1999, Angel Resendez.

He rode around on trains, got off at random places, broke into a house and killed the people inside. 9 people dead, they chased him for two years.

Wiki article

I forgot all about him. I remember when he came through here. I believe he was suspected in some crimes here but could never be linked to them. I remembr everyone freaking out when they discovered he was riding trains from city to city and town to town.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Interesting links, supkof.

It's incredible the amount of terror that the Phantom Killer put Texarkana through. It's too bad that he was never caught, I would of loved to get into his mind and hear about why he would only kill couples. Sometime I'll have to see if I can find "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" at the video store.

Below is a link to an article that was on the front page of the Detroit Free Press today. Some guy thinks his imprisoned dad could be the Oakland County Child Killer from the 70s. 4 kids were victims.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006604050423

[facilities man]

Interesting article in the current Time Magazine. There's a picture of the author who wrote the book "The Perfect Storm" in the picture with him is the Boston Strangler. Apparently when the author was a toddler in the early 60's his mother had a couple handy men build a studio behind their house. One of the workman was the Boston Strangler. Coincidentally a woman was raped and murdered, (strangled), about five blocks away from their house during this time period. It was and still is the only murder to happen in the small town where they were. The murder was blamed on a drifter who was convicted and the Boston Strangler never admitted to that murder even though he confessed to most of his others I believe. Anyway the author of "The Perfect Storm" is writing a book about the coincidence. I think it's coming out soon.

[dimebag1980]

Interesting article in the current Time Magazine. There's a picture of the author who wrote the book "The Perfect Storm" in the picture with him is the Boston Strangler. Apparently when the author was a toddler in the early 60's his mother had a couple handy men build a studio behind their house. One of the workman was the Boston Strangler. Coincidentally a woman was raped and murdered, (strangled), about five blocks away from their house during this time period. It was and still is the only murder to happen in the small town where they were. The murder was blamed on a drifter who was convicted and the Boston Strangler never admitted to that murder even though he confessed to most of his others I believe. Anyway the author of "The Perfect Storm" is writing a book about the coincidence. I think it's coming out soon.

Holy crap, it would disturb me to no end to know I was in the picture with a serial killer... or even to know I was ever in his presence.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Just thought I'd share some random info with you guys. Lately I've been happening to find people with connections to Ted Bundy. My friends dad went to school with one of his victims in high school. Cathryn Campbell was killed in Utah on vacation with her husband doctor from Farmington, MI. My other friends friend and former baby sitter went on a date with Bundy. At least that's what she told me. I'd be interested to talk to her about it though. If she has lived in Michigan her whole life then it doesn't seem too possible considering Ted's only Michigan connection is when he took the train from Chicago to Ann Arbor after he escaped prison (the second time I belive). He decided not to stay in Ann Arbor though, would of been excellent college prey but he didn't like the weather.

Does anyone else have any stories like these?