Serial Killers Who Have Inserted Themselves Into The Investigation

[Sam Flynn]

No what I was trying to say... was that if they wanted to insert themselves they would not be hindered by any feeling of putting themselves at risk.

Indeed, but it doesn't appear that there are too many examples of serial-killers having done so.

[GUT]

G'day Sam

No what I was trying to say, poorly as usual, was that if they wanted to insert themselves they would not be hindered by any feeling of putting themselves at risk, as opposed to making them predisposed to do so.

[Sam Flynn]

I don't really follow how that applies anymore than if it was a controlling type personalty that caused some to insert themselves, or OCD for that matter.

Sorry if I misunderstood your point, GUT. I took your last post as suggesting that having a sense of invincibility might predispose a serial-killer to risk "inserting" themselves into an investigation with more frequency than other criminal types.

[GUT]

G'day Sam

I don't really follow how that applies anymore than if it was a controlling type personalty that caused some to insert themselves, or OCD for that matter.

[Sam Flynn]

We also need to take into account their massive Egos which convinces them they will never be caught, so they can do whatever they please.

If that were the case, GUT, then I'd have expected rather more examples of "Serial Killer Insertion Syndrome" than we've seen thus far.

[GUT]

G'Day Jon

We do have good reason to identify a number of serial killers as control freaks, possibly the result of them suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This in turn may stretch to some of them going so far as to try and steer (control?) the direction of the investigation.

We also need to take into account their massive Egos which convinces them they will never be caught, so they can do whatever they please.

[Wickerman]

I think to some extent we have to accept it is statistically important aspect in the albeit small numbers of serial killers per se because otherwise criminal profilers wouldn't refer to it or have been able to note it as a trait.

The apparent need for a killer to get on the inside with police might be more related to some compulsion to be in control.

We do have good reason to identify a number of serial killers as control freaks, possibly the result of them suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This in turn may stretch to some of them going so far as to try and steer (control?) the direction of the investigation.

So this apparent need by a few to inject themselves into the investigation may be more a result of OCD, than being a Serial Killer.

[Bridewell]

Hello,

The Zodiac Killer- Wrote various confirmed letters to newspapers taunting the police. He included ciphers which he claimed would reveal his identity if they were cracked, however the cipher that was cracked did not reveal a name, and the rest have not been decoded.

Dennis Rader “BTK or Bind Torture Kill” - Wrote letters to newspapers and taunted the police. Was eventually caught when he sent a disc to the police that had a deleted file the police were able to recover that referenced his church and his first name.

Neither of these killers interacted face to face or in any sort of direct contact with the police, but both did inject themselves into the investigations. These are the two I could think of off the top of my head.

I would imagine direct face to face contact with the police with the intent to insert oneself into an investigation would be extremely rare, unless precipitated by some other event that would require contacting the police.

Welcome to the Boards, Akeneo.

David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) was caught, in part because he wrote a letter describing himself as "The Wicked Man of Wicker" - because his address was close to Wicker Street. He wrote letters to the police because (he thought) Jack the Ripper had done so - and he wanted to emulate him. He, like BTK and Zodiac, wrote letters to the police and others. Whilst that's of interest in itself it's not inserting themselves into police investigations as witnesses. As yet, we haven't had many specific examples of those, although the thread hasn't been running very long.

Babybird67,

Unless I've missed something Christie is the earliest so far.

[Sam Flynn]

I think to some extent we have to accept it is statistically important aspect in the albeit small numbers of serial killers per se because otherwise criminal profilers wouldn't refer to it or have been able to note it as a trait.

The data may well be skewed, however. The names that tend to crop up are relatively well-known killers who, incidentally are themselves only a subset of all killers. What of the much larger population of criminals (NB: criminals, not just killers) who don't make it into books or documentaries? For this reason, we know very little about them. If we knew more, then we might find that "Insertion Syndrome" is no more or less common in serial killers than it is among any other type of miscreant.

[GUT]

Wasn't Christie a "special constable" at one time?

Can anyone tell me what that would have entailed at the time?

[babybird67]

criminal profiling...

I think to some extent we have to accept it is statistically important aspect in the albeit small numbers of serial killers per se because otherwise criminal profilers wouldn't refer to it or have been able to note it as a trait.

Have we come up with anyone earlier than Christie yet though?

[GUT]

G'day Curious

I've got no trouble calling these two serial's but weren't Muhammad and Malvo's letters more about trying to get money than trying to either confuse the police or get information.

That was my take on it anyway.

[curious]

This doesn't meet the more than a month requirement, but . . .

from http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/pu.../serial-murder

In the Washington, D.C. area serial sniper case, John Allen Muhammad, a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, and Lee Boyd Malvo killed primarily for anger and thrill motivations. They were able to terrorize the greater Washington, D.C. metro area for three weeks, shooting 13 victims, killing 10 of them. They communicated with the police by leaving notes, and they attempted to extort money to stop the shootings. They are suspected in a number of other shootings in seven other states.

Hello,

The Zodiac Killer- Wrote various confirmed letters to newspapers taunting the police. He included ciphers which he claimed would reveal his identity if they were cracked, however the cipher that was cracked did not reveal a name, and the rest have not been decoded.

Dennis Rader “BTK or Bind Torture Kill” - Wrote letters to newspapers and taunted the police. Was eventually caught when he sent a disc to the police that had a deleted file the police were able to recover that referenced his church and his first name.

Neither of these killers interacted face to face or in any sort of direct contact with the police, but both did inject themselves into the investigations. These are the two I could think of off the top of my head.

I would imagine direct face to face contact with the police with the intent to insert oneself into an investigation would be extremely rare, unless precipitated by some other event that would require contacting the police.

[caz]

I agree that odds can't answer the question, Errata. But it is Ben's assertion that a 'significant percentage' of serial killers insert themselves into their own cases in one way or another, so that he can better argue for Hutchinson not being such a rare example if he was the ripper. It is also Ben's assertion that the vast majority of (caught) serial killers operate from within a comfort zone formed by their own local area, and that therefore the odds strongly favour the ripper following suit (even though a more remote killing field could explain why he was not caught - eg by the house-to-house searches). So it's clear that odds are important to Ben, and he'd be happier with a larger percentage than a smaller one of serial killers making voluntary contact with the authorities.

Zodiac is the only one I can immediately think of who communicated in some way but was never caught or identified. I believe Peter Kurten sent a letter (with a map?) to the police, and certainly the 'Gay Slayer', Colin Ireland, phoned the police with clues because they were failing to link his murders. When he was seen on CCTV, with a victim on the London Underground, he went to see a solicitor to make a statement to try and explain everything innocently, knowing the police would inevitably track him down and expect answers. He thought he had been careful enough not to leave evidence at any of his crime scenes, but a single fingerprint let him down in the end.

Ironically, Ireland's case would be similar to Hutch's, if the latter truly believed Sarah Lewis could have put him at the scene as surely as that CCTV image identified Ireland, and needed to get his excuses in early. But he wasn't a local man, commuting from Southend to the comfort zone of a Fulham pub, where he was able to pick up five gay strangers and murder them in the comfort of their own homes.

A rare example in more ways than one?

Love,

Caz
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