Have you ever met a serial killer? What was s/he like in person?

OK, Sweetie, this Q is just a little creepy. And in General, so I’ll say

Not that I know of….

No, but I think it would be fascinating. (I mean that in the least morbid way possible.) I once read a book written by a woman that had interviewed several well known serial killers, and it was really interesting. I can’t think of the name of it, but I’ll come back and post when I find it. You might enjoy it.
I think this is it. I read it a long time ago, but I think that’s the book.

@ANef_is_Enuf: I’m wondering because we always seem to hear about/see the killers after they’ve been caught or if they’re in custody. I wonder what they’re like out in the real world.

I’m not sure how to answer this. I visited several prisons and befriended some of them [some were serial killers], though I’m not allowed to talk about these things.

@KatawaGrey well most of the stuff I’ve read about serial killers that was said about them before they were caught is that they seemed like normal, quiet people.
I can’t give any first hand accounts, though. Fortunately.

Does shooting one count?

I would suggest the effective ones would likely seem down right average and not overly remarkable; unless of course they took an unhealthy interest in you.

I’d also guess a certain amount of hard arrogance would lurk not too far beneath the surface.

I went to school with a guy that killed and ate his girlfriend…. but he wasn’t a serial killer. Got caught after the first one. In school, he seemed to be a nice kid. Very popular and into the wickedy whack Kris Kross way of dressing. Now, people who have seen him in prison say that he is quite evil…and has the blackest eyes. (sounds like Micheal Myers….)

No, but I would love to. They fascinate me.

I mean this in the least creepy way possible.

A male aquaintence of mine, who sat next to me in 10th grade English class, ended up killing 2 people with assistance from another guy (that I didn’t know) when they were in their early 20’s. It was completely shocking. The fellow that I knew, at least when he was in school, was a perfectly normal guy, nice enough, smart enough, not nerdy, not ugly, didn’t seem to be a stoner or an alcoholic, just normal. He wasn’t a weird loner or anything like that. He just seemed perfectly normal (at the time).

I heard that he and the other guy were on some sort of heavy drug induced spree on the day that they killed a young couple who were sitting in their car at one of our local parks. It did not appear to be a robbery based killing. More of a sick execution-style killing.

Not I, but someone I worked with. She picked that datum for one of those departmental offsite group-bonding exercises: “What’s one thing that nobody else in the group knows about you?” You write it on a slip of paper, and then everyone has to guess who it is. After you’ve done a few of those with the same people, you have to scrape the barrel.

So Judy’s factoid was that while she and her husband were on vacation at some major scenic-nature destination—it might have been the Grand Canyon—they called for room service at their resort, and their order was delivered by this somewhat scruffy-looking but pretty ordinary guy. Judy took the order and tipped him; her husband was in the shower at the time.

About two weeks later they saw the same guy’s picture in the paper, and Judy recognized him with a shock. He had been caught and arrested as the perpetrator of a series of gruesome murders of young women in the area.

So Judy’s autobiographical factoid was “I was alone in a room with a serial killer.”

And that’s as close as I have knowingly come to any such person. There’s no telling, of course, how many times I have ridden the bus, flown on an airplane, stood in an elevator, or walked down a dark street in close proximity to someone with blood on his hands.

@Jeruba that is terrifying.

My uncle worked in the prison that holds Dennis Rader, dunno if that counts. He said that the guy’s quiet, almost pleasant in person. Model prisoner. Kept in isolation, IIRC.

Whoa, some interesting stories here.

I’m also interested in this because my cousin recently got out of the Marines and one thing he and my mom talked about is how commanding officers sometimes have to watch out for the guys who join the military because they want to be able to legally kill people. Apparently there’s a feel to those soldier who want to go into battle a little much and enjoy the killing the enemy that scares even some hardened soldiers.

I have never knowingly met a serial killer, but I gotta tell ya, there are a few people who I’ve got my eye on. There’s at least one guy @JilltheTooth and I know who I bet is going to kill someone. I hope I’m not right, but he’s pretty sociopathic and has no problem with hurting other people to get what he wants.

I’ve talked to many convicted murderers. Never a certified serial killer though. Oh my goodness, @KatawaGrey. I just read your last post while I was typing. Be careful, please.

Not to my knowledge, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Lived down the street from from one of the Manson “family”. This was years before the event at Sharon Tate’s.
Okay person, but almost nine years between living down the street her and the murders.

No, but I want to. Okay, that’s weird…
There was a serial killer in the next town over, and I wanted to go get his autograph… But they moved him.
I’m planning to write a letter to Robert Hansen, because he’s my all time favorite serial killer.
Also, they’re making a movie about him in my home town. ;) I might have to look into this..

We all probably have met/interacted with a serial killer without knowing it.

Not serial, but the “Craigslist Killer” went to my high school. He was older enough that I never met him, but apparently he was a very normal, friendly guy.

I have dealt with two, as a police officer.

Serial killers have no remorse. They talk about murder as though it was a bag of popcorn.

They never stay focused on one subject. Their eyes appears as though they were way out there in la la land. They will give you answers, most of the time, that may or may not be true. Once law enforcement receives this information, it’s up to the detectives to prove or disprove the info given to them by serial killers.

I casually knew Bob Vaughn, who was a lovely man who played piano for silent movies in the Bay Area in the 70’s and 80’s. He wasn’t a serial killer, but was suspected of being the Zodiac. When I saw the movie, and saw how creepy he was portrayed, it made me laugh.

I had a friend named Maggie, who worked for KPFA in Berkeley. She was very Earth Girl. She went down to a prison, and interviewed Charles Manson. Charlie had a reputation of not talking to reporters, but Maggie had that Squeeky Fromme look, and he completely opened up to her. After the interview, she got him to do a couple air checks for her, which is why you can now hear this on the radio: “Hi, this is Charles Manson, and you’re listening to KPFA, 94.1 FM, Berkeley.”

Not a serial killer, that I’m aware of but I read that a former boss of mine was convicted of murdering his wife, dismembering her body and dropping the pieces into old mine shafts. That was weird to read. He was one of my favorite employers, always happy and joking, no creepy vibe at all. He and his wife seemed very happy when I knew them.

I’ve never known any killer (to my knowledge), though I did know someone who was murdered.

Yes, and he was in my house. My ex-husband grew up with this guy, and they were quite good friends in their younger years. When we bought our first home together, he came up and spent the afternoon with us (this is all pre-killing spree). He was a bit of a stoner, but a pretty normal kind of guy when I knew him. My ex and he fell out of touch after a while, but he still counted him as one of those friends you could call in times of trouble. When we heard about his crimes, we were completely stunned.

Even though he’s classified as a serial killer, I think of him as someone who went completely off his rocker and just started killing people all of a sudden, in a very short time period. More like a mass murderer, with very little time between killings.

@Only138 That is so awesome!

@Jeruba There’s no telling, of course, how many times I have ridden the bus, flown on an airplane, stood in an elevator, or walked down a dark street in close proximity to someone with blood on his hands.

I have a close friend who is a social worker, and according to her, you would be amazed at the number of people who have either been victims or perpetrators of horrible acts. This is, if you consider child abuse, incest, or rape to be horrible.

@GladysMensch: For the first year or so of my college experience, I was in a women’s rights and activism club. Probably about half those girls had been victims of violent, sexual assault and it was impossible to tell until they told me. I also recently found out that a guy I thought was a friend of mine is a serial rapist. Unfortunately, he has never been convicted or even accused and probably will never be. From what I know of his victims, his MO is to pick small, depressed girls who have been sexually assaulted before. In other words, he picks the kind of girls who he can subdue with little force and who would never go to the police.

It’s eerie and a little terrifying that someone like that can “pass” on the outside so well.

@GladysMensch Aw, those are just fun ways to say, ‘hello.’ ~

@Ayesha Thanks Ayesha. :)