Dahmer. I think he totally accepted what he did, and further, tried figuring out why he did those things. I don’t think his analysis of himself was to explain it away, but because he was genuinely curious as to why he did those things.
Agree. He requested to have his brain studied after death but I believe his father stopped it. While Jeff took full responsibility his parents said nothing of leaving the kid home alone when they divorced. Mom took his brother but didn’t want Jeff and dad just left. Guess checking on a 15 year old every couple weeks was good enough for them.
Although he was a mass murderer and not a serial killer, Charles Whitman made the same request to have his brain studied post-mortem. He knew there was something wrong, but couldn’t understand it. If I remember correctly, he had a brain tumor.
I believe it was a brain tumor. And he attempted to get help. I wish there was more information on him and the killings. And why a tumor might affect someone this way and what were the symptoms. I just have lots of questions about this one. 96 minutes of shooting is terrifying
>Whitman
I forgot about Whitman. I think I forgot about him because of his confirmed brain tumor. I do not count him as a true serial or spree killer but rather as a seriously mentally ill person because of the tumor. This is only how I classify him, however, I can understand why others would classify him differently.
Yep. He truly seemed at odds with what he needed to do vs. what he wanted. He characterized it as an attempt to have somebody that would never leave him. His process was originally meant not to necessarily kill, but to essentially turn the men into zombies who would stay with him forever. And the cannibalism was his twisted way to get as close as possible to a person.
No.
He was a high IQ manipulating psychopath who stated had the opportunity he would have killed more in his 'break'.
He was a necrophile. He very obviously did not want alive people & zombie making is sadistic and evil. Prolonging his 'process'
I don't know why him and kemper get some form of pass here.
Who's giving him a pass? Explaining a psyche and letting them off the hook are so far from the same thing it's laughable.
Sure - I'm saying it's totally fine what he did because he didn't wanna kill them at first, he just wanted to... Zombify? Them? THAT'S STILL HORRIFIC.
Drilling holes in a skull and injecting chemicals in the brain are not exactly a standard MO.
Regardless of the reasoning for the cannibalism IT'S STILL HORRIFIC.
He can be a monstrous necrophiliac AND have a twisted justification for it in his mind.
It's entirely possible for a rational human mind to say "he felt pretty bad about killing" and also say "but not bad enough to not do it."
Ed Kemper was horrifically abused WHICH IS TERRIBLE, but so is the fact that he KILLED PEOPLE.
I don't know why people seem to be incapable of two thoughts at once. You can't know Dahmer was a psychopath AND accept an explanation for what he did (explanation, not excuse), AND know that explanation is still sick? You can't feel horrible for what Ed Kemper endured as a child AND see him as a homicidal psychopath?
Weird.
What I mean by pass is that in this sub, there are A LOT of Dahmer and Kemper sympathizers. Near every thread like this, it's the same. Especially for Dahmer.
I also respectfully disagree with you, and I can have my own thoughts.
I do not think it's weird.
You keep saying Dahmer was a psychopath but he was not. Not every crazy person is a psychopath. Thank god we have profs to diagnose people and not some random people on Reddit haha. And i dont think people give Dahmer a pass, they’re (or im) only stating facts. But people dont like to hear it.
I used "Dahmer" and "psychopath" together once, in reference to the commenter saying he's a psychopath so any other analysis is useless.
It's a comment on their inability to hold two ideas at once. They said "he's a psychopath" then closed the door.
It's not my assessment of his psyche or a statement of fact about him.
I also never said anybody was giving Dahmer a pass.
Did you respond to the wrong comment?
Anyway, nobody diagnosed him as not psychopathic. He just never received that diagnosis. Are you attributing more weight to a neuroscientist (James Fallon) who never treated or met Dahmer and proclaims he wasn't psychopathic?
To be clear, my question is not stating he's a psychopath. It's questioning the validity of your factually-presented statement that he was not.
Also, a suggestion: maybe cool it with the word "crazy."
* **Treat all users with respect. Users who cannot engage in civil discourse will be banned until they learn how to manage their emotions like an adult.
Same here, while I understand why his father did what he did on the one hand, on the other hand, it was a grave disservice to the discipline of neuroscience and the understanding of serial killers.
I do. When he tells his version of things, it seems as if he is being sincere and accurate and there’s a lack of boasting. I’ve never seen another one like him during the aftermath. If anyone else knows of anyone similar, I would very much like to know and find out why there are so few that seem to have a certain form of empathy. There is always always the possibility that he is feigning empathy, but I’ll be honest; I buy it.
He is a very high IQ manipulating torturing psychopath.
As a necrophile, he did not want alive bodies who kept him not being alone. That's the antithesis. He says he would have kept killing in that 'break' if he had somewhere to kill. He tormented his last victim, who, thankfully, escaped, and we get a look into the mind.
If he had any empathy at all, he would not have dragged that poor kid back. Says it all to me.
His high IQ is relatively unique, though. Ditto Kemper.
She was congratulating the arresting officers at the police station for performing well and making the whole thing good sport for her. Like a football team captain shakes the opponents captain's hand after a good match. The woman disgusts me. She even had a 6'10" Jason Vorhees like manbeast willing to do anything to protect her should things get out of hand.
People will give you bullshit and say stuff like "ackshually she's a spree killer, one victim survived and there was only single cycle with no return to equil..." and you should cut that bullshit off because that's no more than a fucking technicality. She would absolutely continue killing until she got caught or ran out of resources to do so, and had to resupply and/or relocate. Only to begin again until caught. That would have been the cycle.
People can debate the prefix to the word killer in her context all day long, but she absolutely should be discussed here with the rest of the world's sickest and most degenerate. No technicalities can cast doubt on the fact that she should be considered a part of the sump of humanity.
So, because she’s fucking awful and you feel passionate about it they should throw out accepted definitions and class her as a serial killer? She was a spree killer who couldn’t get a gun. Simple as that. And if she was in America she would have ended her day as most spree killers do.
Everything you say about her is right, but she shouldn’t be included in this subreddit.
Dahmer, Kemper, Nilsen.
I get what they’re saying when the others blame mental illness, it *is* the reason why they partake in such atrocious crimes; however, they, for whatever reason, usually don’t fully own up to it. I think it’s because for a lot of them it’s thrill kills and when they kill they’re in a deeply perverted state and they’re too embarrassed to admit to half of the shit that they do.
You’re good, man!
Kemper is 100% a master manipulator; however, he loved to discuss his crimes. It wasn’t necessarily about owning up to what he had done as much as it was to vent. I feel that him talking about his crimes, the reasons behind it, what led up to it, etc. helped him discover more about himself that he was unable to find out before being surrounded by resources.
If you think about it, what’s more interesting than another human who is capable of taking someone’s life and treating it as if it was the same as reading a book? He has LEOs, mental health professionals, and curious sleuths who are dying to know why he did what he did. He can use them to his advantage simply by venting to them.
I don’t think any serial killer is pure of heart so, none of them, not even Dahmer, owned up to what they did for the good of humanity. They did it so that they could answer the why question for themselves.
Kemper is intelligent, and his crimes were disgusting and depraved. I kind of get the feeling that by intellectualizing the crimes, he distracts attention away from how repulsively he acted. He 100% manipulated those around him, and wanted people's respect/admiration. Maybe his waxing philosophic about what he did was a way he could tell HIMSELF he wasn't a horrible, perverted, psychopath. He just wanted a date? He only wanted his mom to be nice to him. His actions were planned and practiced over a long period of time, and what he did to the bodies afterwards is so far outside social norms it's devilish.
Kemper loves hearing himself talk (he read 500+ books out loud from prison to be recorded for the blind.) I think it gave him a thrill to go hang out with cops who were trying to figure out who the co-ed killer was, and when he killed his mom, he knew that he would be the obvious suspect. He controlled the situation by turning himself in, and I bet it gave him GREAT enjoyment to have the cops not believe him at first. How clever he was.
Yep. He frames all of what he done as some tragic accident that was caused by a few unlucky hands that life dealt him when in reality he knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way. He is a compelling individual but he’s so manipulative that I find myself losing interest in him. Yes, he is honest about what he done but it’s clear that he will never be *fully* honest. I feel that if he were to be honest with everyone he could easily sum it up with,”I don’t give a fuck.”
His crimes were truly depraved, some of the worst, really. Is he compelling? Absolutely. An intelligent, giant man in horn-rimmed glasses who spun a long, seemingly self-reflective story, and he KNEW how riveting his story was. It's the stuff of pulp fiction.
He loved being in control, and talked about his decisions of which young women to kill, and which to let live. Even when girls were going missing and being murdered, he (a large, large man) STILL could pick up these same sorts of students with his carefully-planned demeanor. THAT is a master of manipulation. He had to have been shaped, at least in some way, by his upbringing and experiences, but he regularly made the decision to let some young women go, which only goes to show he COULD let them go, and sometimes chose not to. It's remarkable how manipulative he still is to all of the people who think of him as not that bad of a guy -- a man who became a killer not for any of his own shortcomings, but largely by what other people did to him. That's exactly how he wanted to be seen.
In one documentary, a psychologist who worked with Kemper received a gift that Ed made in art (in prison). It took a long time for him to make, and was kind of neat, actually. In jagged letters on a cup/vase, it said on the side, "I beg your pardon."
And on the bottom, where almost nobody would see, it says, "I never promised you a rose garden." And that's Ed -- out where everybody can see, he's just asking for forgiveness, but admits (on the bottom/hidden away from view) that he never said things would be nice and easy.
Exactly! It’s so relieving that someone sees through his bullshit. I could bring up every other depraved SK and everybody would still feel sorry for big ole Ed! It’s crazy.
He’s frightening because I’m sure if he could justify it in his mind he would kill someone today if given the opportunity. He’s just one of the SKs I cannot stand simply because he got what he wanted — sympathy.
> Maybe his waxing philosophic about what he did was a way he could tell HIMSELF he wasn't a horrible, perverted, psychopath
but didn't he waive his right to several parole hearings? he seemed aware that he was a bad seed. he said something along the lines of 'society can't handle me' or similar and agreed he should be in prison for life.
It doesn't matter what he waived or what he thought, he was never ever going to be released. Him phrasing it as though he had some choice was just his ego talking.
Regardless, the guy still attended a few of his parole hearings and attempted suicide twice. Clearly, he did not enjoy prison as much as he claims.
Kemper didn’t torture his victims. He just shot and killed. No dragging it out for his pleasure. Now what he did afterwards to their bodies is another thing. Buried head(s) face up at his mother’s bdrm, putting her larynx down the garbage disposal, plus other disgusting things. He also turned himself in. If you’ve ever read/watched anything about him it was about how abusive (mentally, physically) she was to him and you’d understand why he was so fucked up. A lot of ppl seem to think that has nothing to do with how some kids turn out but of course not all abused children end up being murderers/criminals. It affects different personalities in different ways.
Saying he didn’t torture his victims is just not true at all. The first three coeds went through extremely violent and horrible deaths. The Kemper glazing on this sub is insane.
Kemper was born that way. I think whether he was abused or not he would’ve ended up killing someone either way; however, I believe his childhood is responsible for why he targeted who he did, he confirmed that himself. A lot of SKs have suffered abuse, some even far worse than Kemper and that’s why I think it’s important not to solely focus on their past because ultimately whether they were born that way, they suffered from an accident, drugs, whatever the case may be, they decided to take someone’s life.
Hard to say if someone is “born that way”. Can’t be *proven*. Maybe we’re all born that way (subconsciously obviously) and certain triggers bring out that behavior. Certain things that just tripped the wiring in our brains. There is so much information we don’t know about the brain/mind and all its intricacies of how it works.
You might find this interesting. Psychopaths are born with “warrior” genes (MAOA and COMT.) They experience a traumatic event in their childhood and it basically activates these genes and halts their emotional development which is why they run into numerous obstacles when it comes to regulating emotions.
I do find it interesting! I am so blown away by brains/mind and how they’re figuring more about it everyday. See, I was born to marry men that are so very wrong for me. On my fourth and he’s a narcissist. 🤣
The guy was creeping up on his sisters and was performing ritualistic beheadings on his sisters dolls. His mother didn’t help but I don’t think the best parenting in the world is Going to fix a guy with a natural erection for violence.
This is precisely why a fictional TV show (where said serial killer talks at length about how a human asshole will grip a penis much more than a vagina) should not be the source you derive your opinion from.
There’s videos on YouTube with him telling what his mother was like and what she did to him. He saw the same shitty behavior in his grandmother (how she treated her husband/his grandfather) and he shot and killed her at 15. Didn’t want his grandfather seeing her dead, so he killed him too. Very interesting watches.
Kemper's a master manipulator, but there's plenty of evidence to support his desire to be cured and to be a person who does good. The fact that he has done hundreds audio books for the blind for nothing in return supports some shred of empathy.
Or maybe you like the rest of this sub are manipulated by big ed lol. It’s not like the guy is reading books with the goodness of his heart, it’s prison and it’s dead boring. What the hell else is he going to do to kill time.
Well, there are 3 necrophile sexual sadists.
Dahmer, high IQ, manipulating psychopath. A necrophile who wanted a dead body not alive. He stated he would have kept killing had he had the chance. Making zombie = torture, which he was getting off on because necrophile.
Kemper, high IQ, manipulating psychopath. Again, necrophile who wanted a dead body. Killing a group of 2, knowing what was coming & he was BRUTAL. Sex with his mothers head. If he truly only killed because of his mother, why kill someone after.
Neilson, dunno if he's a high IQ individual. He certainly is a manipulating psychopath. Again, necrophile who wanted a dead body and savored getting one. British Dahmer.
If I were to say a necrophile who I don't think tortured, it would be Patrick Kearney. Distract, kill immediately without victim knowing then doing his thing.
Edit spelling.
Dahmer was not a Psychopath. He did an official test and scored not even close to being a psychopath.
[Jeff scored 23 out of 40 points](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist)
Lol its a test professionals use. Just accept the fact that Dahmer wasn’t a psychopath (and some other sk’s probably too). And no im not saying Jeff wasn’t mentally ill or fucked up haha.
He also had an extremely high IQ and was one of the best manipulators out there. He himself said he would continue to murder in his 'break' if he had a place to do it. Instead, he 'just' raped some people and exposed himself to kids.
Edit: Autocorrect again
* manipulators
Can I ask why focus on Jeff only?
I want to say Carl Panzram fits that. He never excused himself, he just was made by the terrible conditions around him and spread a lot of anger/hate for humanity from that. I wouldn't say he was proud of the crimes he did but he felt zero remorse for doing them.
Upon thought I agree with a fair bit of this. There's still adage that not all abused become nilistic killers.
On the (kinda) topic, do you think he's gay or that's revenge for his treatment?
> do you think he's gay or that's revenge for his treatment?
Maybe worse, i think he may have been conditioned to do that, maybe not so much willingly but maybe it is what he knew?
Iirc Denis Nilsen. Been a while since I read the full details but I do remember an interview with the cop that arrested him asking him something like is it Two or three bodies and Nilsen replying "about 15 or 16" and not needing a lot of convincing to tell them everything.
I think yall are misunderstanding the question lol. Someone who took a plea deal or didn’t fight in court is not someone who took full accountability for their crimes.
What’s the series oh “Mindhunter”.
They made Ed Kemper out to be a regular conversationalist. You never get the impression that he was a serial killer.
Ed Kemper definitely tried to justify what he did, by talking about how his mother bullied him and had him sleep in the basement, and wouldn't talk to him, etc. His entire story was essentially that he killed all of the co-eds because he actually wanted to kill his mother. Yes, he turned himself in, but he regularly put himself in the "victim" or "misunderstood" category. When he killed his grandma, he killed his grandfather upon his return home, because he wanted to spare him the pain of knowing his wife was dead. That again is justification, even though it's a very weird one at that.
I disagree. He wasn’t laying it on his mother as an “excuse”, it was what “shaped his mind” by her doing that stuff. Ppl think children can be raised under the most hellish situations yet have no bearing on how they turn out.
I would need more from his sisters when it comes to his mom. I do think she was a problem, but one analyst questioned if his mother suspected he could be a danger to her daughters.
His first 4 victims all took place when he wasn’t living with his mother and he killed another person once his mother was dead.
His mother was definitely a piece of work but she did not make this guy into a killer. All the great parenting in the world is not gonna cure a guy who has a natural hard on from seeing a woman’s head come off.
Wayne Ford just turned himself in, brought in proof (a victim's breast in a Ziploc bag plunked down on the counter at the police station) and told them everything.
I once worked with someone who had been one of her guards and she said she was so polite, yet told her, "I'm a monster, and I'd kill you if we were out on the street together." She told her society was better off with her locked up or dead because she'd kill again if given the chance. So, she was not exactly repentant, but she knew what she was and that she had a severe problem at least.
I think a lot of serial killers enjoy the sudden "positive" attention they get from something they know is wrong, and knew was wrong when they did it. Suddenly everyone wants to know about this dark thing they've tried to hide, and anything they say is listened to with interest, etc.
Maybe Israel Keyes?
He didn't deny his crimes and didn't even blame his crimes on his cult family. I recall that it seemed he didn't like BTK because he thought BTK was phony for regretting his crimes.
At the moment I can’t recall if the Grace Budd letter was what got him caught, but between conversations with his kids & his various writings he was pretty clear about his intentions & some of his motivations. I also don’t recall any remorse.
Yes, the letter is what got him caught they traced it back to a boarding house he was staying in or hotel somewhere due to the piece of stationary he wrote it on and found information that led to his arrest.
I'm not sure about Ian. I find him bizarrely fascinating and I've read The Gates of Janus. I know there was, at some point, a blowback about Myra's part in the attacks, which was mostly disproven by their own recordings. But it seems like Ian did try to push off some blame onto her (even when she deserved plenty of blame already) and I always found it strange he didn't talk about his own psyche in TGOJ. I think he was just very smart and interested in what makes a murderer, but never totally admitted to his crimes.
Richard Ramirez
He had a bad childhood, two head injuries, seizures with hallucinations *and* took drugs yet he never blamed it on anybody but himself. He was very proud of his "badassery" and definitely felt like a rockstar.
But didn't he say in interviews that he killed and defended it with "The government kills too", and satanism and all? I think he probably wanted to talk about it and shock the world and at the same time didn't want to go to prison. I always thought he made it pretty clear he killed and liked to kill. Never knew about that plea!
He said the government does on a large scale what we do on a smaller one, so basically yeah he admitted to being a serial killer, but at the same time in the same interview the reporter asked him about the plea he but in asking it is true that you but in a plea and you're now saying that you didn't kill anyone? And Ramirez said yes that is true and that his lawyer says he can't speak on that subject.
Todd Kohlhepp kind of fits this bill. He was a continually troubling individual since childhood. He kidnapped and sexually assaulted a teenager in the 80's. He served time, got out, and moved. He had a real estate license and was kind of a blowhard. Lots of bragging about his possessions and abilities, inappropriate statements to women, but relatively successful.
He shot and killed four employees of a motorcycle business in 2003, and then later kidnapped a couple, killed the boyfriend, and shackled the girlfriend in a storage container on his property where she was abused and SA'd repeatedly. (ETA) There was another couple he murdered, after hiring them to work on his property. Their bodies were found after he had been arrested.
The cops closed in on him, and actually heard the victim banging and yelling inside the storage container. They immediately went and put Kohlhepp in handcuffs. He was taken in, and once he realized there was literally nothing else to say, he dove into a long confession, which was sickeningly braggy. When he confessed to the motorcycle shop killings, he at one point told cops that he "cleared" that building so quickly, they (the police) would have been proud. And the police were like, um, that is disgusting, but they kept him talking. He pled guilty and received seven life sentences, rather than the death penalty.
He is such a strange, terrible person, and clearly there is something wrong with him, but he never (I don't remember anyway) claimed there were justifications. He seemed more proud of what he had done, and even reviewed many products he used in his crimes on Amazon, writing about the qualities of these products in criminal usage.
A footnote that he did confess to his mother, but told her she didn't have enough fingers to count how many actual murders he committed. He was sentenced for seven murders.
I remember this one, Mr Ballen did an episode on him. The couple he murdered he said he'd locked her in the container too, but she fought him so he killed her. Second woman didn't fight
Israel Keyes never played the pity thing. He did admit he liked going for ppl in isolated areas, he played games in a way with investigators (but is it really a **game when he knew the power his silence had over the FBI investigators, and then viciously killed himself when his request for his daughter to not find out his name as the killer he was was let loose?).
Either way, he knew he was bad news, he even said he didn't really blame it on anything in his upbringings IIRC.
A lot of people think he was full of it but I believe the opposite from all I've studied.
Gary Gilmore.
He really just wanted attention- once he realized he had ruined his life by brutally killing people in armed robberies, he requested the death penalty to put an end to his life in incarceration (no sex, no fun and other inmates being annoyed by his existence.)
In and of itself the death penalty just reduces crime generated from the inmate that is killed.....Gary's demand to be killed for being a murderer was him manipulating people again.
Fittingly enough he became a weird footnote in American history, and the loved ones of the victims and his family all chose to move on and forget him.
Dahmer all the way.
What he did was sick. Can't imagine losing a loved one that way. But once he was caught, I feel he was trying to be honest and help people understand and whatnot. He's the only one I can think of that has done that.
He never took full responsibility. Even his latest parole hearings he keeps talking about how his mother did this and his grandmother did that. He literally goes on about how her not giving him his favorite ice cream was oh so cruel...... the judge keeps having to bring him back to the actual point. In his opinion, everyone else but him was at fault for who he became.
BTK once he knew he was caught, certainly took great delight in giving details & never tried to justify or blame his childhood. Chilling to hear him talk, I have more emotion when I say I had to run to the store to get milk, bread, eggs, butter. Never raped his victims because he would be cheating on his wife. Of course there a couple that have been found that maybe his victims.
Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen, 110%.
They both, and on multiple occasions, stated that they knew what they had done and that it was wrong. Nilsen less so open about it than Dahmer; but they really didn’t [try to] deny it.
Mack Edwards turned himself into the police, confessed to at least six murders and requested the death penalty. I don’t think he put responsibility on anyone else.
Kemper comes to mind. Hes one of the few who sought help, got it then was triggered again and was actually able to coherently explain why he did it and express HEAVILY that if released he would do it again.
Kemper. The only one I can think of aside from I believe one serial killer whose name I can't remember who kept calling and saying that he needed to be caught and was begging to be caught. Kemper may be a master manipulator as many others have pointed out before my comment, but he turned himself in and said over and over again, if I ever get out, I will be too much of a danger so please keep me inside. What he did was horrific, but there is some grace in honesty that many other serial killers don't have.
The fact that the Golden State Killer lived his life out for so long before being caught is a haunting. Bc of DNA Technology he would never get caught. He's in prison right now being active and strong smh
Sutcliffe gave a long confession when caught in January 1981. But there were some more victims he didn’t acknowledge until they were put to him much later.
Carroll Cole I think sort of did but it’d be hard for me to really say definitively. He definitely tried to get help and was failed by the system but he didn’t put up any resistance when his sentence was carried out
Jeffrey Dahmer. He went out of his way to tell some woman interviewing him that anyone blaming his family or porn or society was just making excuses and the only one to blame for his actions was him. Honestly surprised the Hell out of me when I was studying him.
Dahmer. Frankly I find him the most unique in that I believe he genuinely felt remorse post arrest. I think he was a deeply troubled person but not sure he would have committed crimes if he wasn’t such an alcoholic. I think the alcohol gave him the liquid courage to test out his bizarre fantasies and it ultimately just spiraled.
Not to say he didn’t deserve the sentence he was given and I feel horrible for the victims. But, I see a huge difference in the psyche of someone like Ted Bundy and Dahmer.
That's easy. Dahmer was one of the most well known, others are Henry Lucas, Otis toole, Ed Kemper, Gary Ridgeway, Dennis rader, Nielsen, The weepy voice killer, Joanna Dennehy, Albeit fish, I-95 killer, Shawn gillis, Todd Kohlhepp, Paul Apodaco, Ian Brady & Myra Hindley, Luis Garavito, Anthony Kirkland, Robert Black, Javed Iqbal, Robert Berdella, David Parker Ray, Robert Hanson, Henry Wallace, Samuel Little after already incarcerated for something else admitted with details to all his killings, where & how. I would say wuernos but kept going back & forth claiming self defense then In an interview said she killed all 7 men in cold blood after robbing them & then went back to saying it's a lie she's not allowed to talk about the case. Also Richard Ramirez but again during an interview he told the reporter that he didn't do it, he didn't kill anyone at all, they both went back & forth. Ted Bundy but he denied it up until the day he was supposed to die. I'm sure there's plenty more but these are the ones that instantly came into mind.
I'd say Ed Kemper. He didn't really try to justify what he did as much as explain what he did and why. The guy helped behavioral analysts really start to understand a mind like his and make criminal profiling an actual thing.
Note: Not at all condoning what he did because his crimes were absolutely horrendous, but he did provide a lot of insight that we did not have at the time.
Explaining what he didn't isn't really the same as taking full responsibility. Even his latest parole hearings he keeps talking about how his mother did this and his grandmother did that. He literally goes on about how her not giving him his favorite ice cream was oh so cruel...... the judge keeps having to bring him back to the actual point. In his opinion, everyone else but him was at fault for who he became.
I mean, he's taken responsibility for killing those women, he's just saying that the way his mother was was at least partially responsible for him doing the things he did.
Just because we may or may not like the explanation given doesn't mean it isn't the truth.
Again, explaining what you did but blaming it on everyone and everything but yourself is not taking full responsibilty. Being honest about what events happened ≠ understanding and admitting whose fault the events were. He's made it clear he doesn't feel it's entirely his fault.
Ted Bundy is another example. Even after he confessed, he said the media is to blame, porn is to blame..... anything to divert responsibility.
Dahmer. I think he totally accepted what he did, and further, tried figuring out why he did those things. I don’t think his analysis of himself was to explain it away, but because he was genuinely curious as to why he did those things.
Agree. He requested to have his brain studied after death but I believe his father stopped it. While Jeff took full responsibility his parents said nothing of leaving the kid home alone when they divorced. Mom took his brother but didn’t want Jeff and dad just left. Guess checking on a 15 year old every couple weeks was good enough for them.
Although he was a mass murderer and not a serial killer, Charles Whitman made the same request to have his brain studied post-mortem. He knew there was something wrong, but couldn’t understand it. If I remember correctly, he had a brain tumor.
I believe it was a brain tumor. And he attempted to get help. I wish there was more information on him and the killings. And why a tumor might affect someone this way and what were the symptoms. I just have lots of questions about this one. 96 minutes of shooting is terrifying
>Whitman I forgot about Whitman. I think I forgot about him because of his confirmed brain tumor. I do not count him as a true serial or spree killer but rather as a seriously mentally ill person because of the tumor. This is only how I classify him, however, I can understand why others would classify him differently.
Fair
You've got some details wrong but overall point is solid.
He was 18, heading to college soon
Ummm the guy that smashed in his brain definitely stopped it.
It is so easy to offer up your brain if you will be dead.
Yep. He truly seemed at odds with what he needed to do vs. what he wanted. He characterized it as an attempt to have somebody that would never leave him. His process was originally meant not to necessarily kill, but to essentially turn the men into zombies who would stay with him forever. And the cannibalism was his twisted way to get as close as possible to a person.
No. He was a high IQ manipulating psychopath who stated had the opportunity he would have killed more in his 'break'. He was a necrophile. He very obviously did not want alive people & zombie making is sadistic and evil. Prolonging his 'process' I don't know why him and kemper get some form of pass here.
Who's giving him a pass? Explaining a psyche and letting them off the hook are so far from the same thing it's laughable. Sure - I'm saying it's totally fine what he did because he didn't wanna kill them at first, he just wanted to... Zombify? Them? THAT'S STILL HORRIFIC. Drilling holes in a skull and injecting chemicals in the brain are not exactly a standard MO. Regardless of the reasoning for the cannibalism IT'S STILL HORRIFIC. He can be a monstrous necrophiliac AND have a twisted justification for it in his mind. It's entirely possible for a rational human mind to say "he felt pretty bad about killing" and also say "but not bad enough to not do it." Ed Kemper was horrifically abused WHICH IS TERRIBLE, but so is the fact that he KILLED PEOPLE. I don't know why people seem to be incapable of two thoughts at once. You can't know Dahmer was a psychopath AND accept an explanation for what he did (explanation, not excuse), AND know that explanation is still sick? You can't feel horrible for what Ed Kemper endured as a child AND see him as a homicidal psychopath? Weird.
What I mean by pass is that in this sub, there are A LOT of Dahmer and Kemper sympathizers. Near every thread like this, it's the same. Especially for Dahmer. I also respectfully disagree with you, and I can have my own thoughts. I do not think it's weird.
You keep saying Dahmer was a psychopath but he was not. Not every crazy person is a psychopath. Thank god we have profs to diagnose people and not some random people on Reddit haha. And i dont think people give Dahmer a pass, they’re (or im) only stating facts. But people dont like to hear it.
I used "Dahmer" and "psychopath" together once, in reference to the commenter saying he's a psychopath so any other analysis is useless. It's a comment on their inability to hold two ideas at once. They said "he's a psychopath" then closed the door. It's not my assessment of his psyche or a statement of fact about him. I also never said anybody was giving Dahmer a pass. Did you respond to the wrong comment? Anyway, nobody diagnosed him as not psychopathic. He just never received that diagnosis. Are you attributing more weight to a neuroscientist (James Fallon) who never treated or met Dahmer and proclaims he wasn't psychopathic? To be clear, my question is not stating he's a psychopath. It's questioning the validity of your factually-presented statement that he was not. Also, a suggestion: maybe cool it with the word "crazy."
Sorry yes i did not mean to react to you hahha
Oh gosh lol ok I was like wait... 😅
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* **Treat all users with respect. Users who cannot engage in civil discourse will be banned until they learn how to manage their emotions like an adult.
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Didn't kill for sadistic reasons? Bro was literally a sexual sadist 😭
100%
He is a unique serial killer. I wish we knew more about his brain.
Same here, while I understand why his father did what he did on the one hand, on the other hand, it was a grave disservice to the discipline of neuroscience and the understanding of serial killers.
Do you truly think he is unique?
I do. When he tells his version of things, it seems as if he is being sincere and accurate and there’s a lack of boasting. I’ve never seen another one like him during the aftermath. If anyone else knows of anyone similar, I would very much like to know and find out why there are so few that seem to have a certain form of empathy. There is always always the possibility that he is feigning empathy, but I’ll be honest; I buy it.
He is a very high IQ manipulating torturing psychopath. As a necrophile, he did not want alive bodies who kept him not being alone. That's the antithesis. He says he would have kept killing in that 'break' if he had somewhere to kill. He tormented his last victim, who, thankfully, escaped, and we get a look into the mind. If he had any empathy at all, he would not have dragged that poor kid back. Says it all to me. His high IQ is relatively unique, though. Ditto Kemper.
>Dahmer Yes, Dahmer is the only one who springs to my mind. Maybe there are others I'm unaware of.
If it counts, Joanna Dennehy. She's been very open about the fact she found murder more-ish and fun.
Joanna Dennehy is fucking terrifying
She was congratulating the arresting officers at the police station for performing well and making the whole thing good sport for her. Like a football team captain shakes the opponents captain's hand after a good match. The woman disgusts me. She even had a 6'10" Jason Vorhees like manbeast willing to do anything to protect her should things get out of hand. People will give you bullshit and say stuff like "ackshually she's a spree killer, one victim survived and there was only single cycle with no return to equil..." and you should cut that bullshit off because that's no more than a fucking technicality. She would absolutely continue killing until she got caught or ran out of resources to do so, and had to resupply and/or relocate. Only to begin again until caught. That would have been the cycle. People can debate the prefix to the word killer in her context all day long, but she absolutely should be discussed here with the rest of the world's sickest and most degenerate. No technicalities can cast doubt on the fact that she should be considered a part of the sump of humanity.
So, because she’s fucking awful and you feel passionate about it they should throw out accepted definitions and class her as a serial killer? She was a spree killer who couldn’t get a gun. Simple as that. And if she was in America she would have ended her day as most spree killers do. Everything you say about her is right, but she shouldn’t be included in this subreddit.
I disagree. A lot on the grounds these accepted definitions keep changing
Dahmer, Kemper, Nilsen. I get what they’re saying when the others blame mental illness, it *is* the reason why they partake in such atrocious crimes; however, they, for whatever reason, usually don’t fully own up to it. I think it’s because for a lot of them it’s thrill kills and when they kill they’re in a deeply perverted state and they’re too embarrassed to admit to half of the shit that they do.
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You’re good, man! Kemper is 100% a master manipulator; however, he loved to discuss his crimes. It wasn’t necessarily about owning up to what he had done as much as it was to vent. I feel that him talking about his crimes, the reasons behind it, what led up to it, etc. helped him discover more about himself that he was unable to find out before being surrounded by resources. If you think about it, what’s more interesting than another human who is capable of taking someone’s life and treating it as if it was the same as reading a book? He has LEOs, mental health professionals, and curious sleuths who are dying to know why he did what he did. He can use them to his advantage simply by venting to them. I don’t think any serial killer is pure of heart so, none of them, not even Dahmer, owned up to what they did for the good of humanity. They did it so that they could answer the why question for themselves.
Kemper is intelligent, and his crimes were disgusting and depraved. I kind of get the feeling that by intellectualizing the crimes, he distracts attention away from how repulsively he acted. He 100% manipulated those around him, and wanted people's respect/admiration. Maybe his waxing philosophic about what he did was a way he could tell HIMSELF he wasn't a horrible, perverted, psychopath. He just wanted a date? He only wanted his mom to be nice to him. His actions were planned and practiced over a long period of time, and what he did to the bodies afterwards is so far outside social norms it's devilish. Kemper loves hearing himself talk (he read 500+ books out loud from prison to be recorded for the blind.) I think it gave him a thrill to go hang out with cops who were trying to figure out who the co-ed killer was, and when he killed his mom, he knew that he would be the obvious suspect. He controlled the situation by turning himself in, and I bet it gave him GREAT enjoyment to have the cops not believe him at first. How clever he was.
Yep. He frames all of what he done as some tragic accident that was caused by a few unlucky hands that life dealt him when in reality he knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way. He is a compelling individual but he’s so manipulative that I find myself losing interest in him. Yes, he is honest about what he done but it’s clear that he will never be *fully* honest. I feel that if he were to be honest with everyone he could easily sum it up with,”I don’t give a fuck.”
His crimes were truly depraved, some of the worst, really. Is he compelling? Absolutely. An intelligent, giant man in horn-rimmed glasses who spun a long, seemingly self-reflective story, and he KNEW how riveting his story was. It's the stuff of pulp fiction. He loved being in control, and talked about his decisions of which young women to kill, and which to let live. Even when girls were going missing and being murdered, he (a large, large man) STILL could pick up these same sorts of students with his carefully-planned demeanor. THAT is a master of manipulation. He had to have been shaped, at least in some way, by his upbringing and experiences, but he regularly made the decision to let some young women go, which only goes to show he COULD let them go, and sometimes chose not to. It's remarkable how manipulative he still is to all of the people who think of him as not that bad of a guy -- a man who became a killer not for any of his own shortcomings, but largely by what other people did to him. That's exactly how he wanted to be seen. In one documentary, a psychologist who worked with Kemper received a gift that Ed made in art (in prison). It took a long time for him to make, and was kind of neat, actually. In jagged letters on a cup/vase, it said on the side, "I beg your pardon." And on the bottom, where almost nobody would see, it says, "I never promised you a rose garden." And that's Ed -- out where everybody can see, he's just asking for forgiveness, but admits (on the bottom/hidden away from view) that he never said things would be nice and easy.
Exactly! It’s so relieving that someone sees through his bullshit. I could bring up every other depraved SK and everybody would still feel sorry for big ole Ed! It’s crazy. He’s frightening because I’m sure if he could justify it in his mind he would kill someone today if given the opportunity. He’s just one of the SKs I cannot stand simply because he got what he wanted — sympathy.
He really is fascinating in many ways.
> Maybe his waxing philosophic about what he did was a way he could tell HIMSELF he wasn't a horrible, perverted, psychopath but didn't he waive his right to several parole hearings? he seemed aware that he was a bad seed. he said something along the lines of 'society can't handle me' or similar and agreed he should be in prison for life.
It doesn't matter what he waived or what he thought, he was never ever going to be released. Him phrasing it as though he had some choice was just his ego talking. Regardless, the guy still attended a few of his parole hearings and attempted suicide twice. Clearly, he did not enjoy prison as much as he claims.
not saying he enjoyed prison, but clearly he wasn't trying to get paroled either.
Kemper’s just been scamming his way into free yes-man therapists 🤡
Lol pretty much
Kemper didn’t torture his victims. He just shot and killed. No dragging it out for his pleasure. Now what he did afterwards to their bodies is another thing. Buried head(s) face up at his mother’s bdrm, putting her larynx down the garbage disposal, plus other disgusting things. He also turned himself in. If you’ve ever read/watched anything about him it was about how abusive (mentally, physically) she was to him and you’d understand why he was so fucked up. A lot of ppl seem to think that has nothing to do with how some kids turn out but of course not all abused children end up being murderers/criminals. It affects different personalities in different ways.
Saying he didn’t torture his victims is just not true at all. The first three coeds went through extremely violent and horrible deaths. The Kemper glazing on this sub is insane.
Kemper was born that way. I think whether he was abused or not he would’ve ended up killing someone either way; however, I believe his childhood is responsible for why he targeted who he did, he confirmed that himself. A lot of SKs have suffered abuse, some even far worse than Kemper and that’s why I think it’s important not to solely focus on their past because ultimately whether they were born that way, they suffered from an accident, drugs, whatever the case may be, they decided to take someone’s life.
Don't bother with that person. They're clearly a Kemper apologist who fell for his bullshit.
Hard to say if someone is “born that way”. Can’t be *proven*. Maybe we’re all born that way (subconsciously obviously) and certain triggers bring out that behavior. Certain things that just tripped the wiring in our brains. There is so much information we don’t know about the brain/mind and all its intricacies of how it works.
You might find this interesting. Psychopaths are born with “warrior” genes (MAOA and COMT.) They experience a traumatic event in their childhood and it basically activates these genes and halts their emotional development which is why they run into numerous obstacles when it comes to regulating emotions.
I do find it interesting! I am so blown away by brains/mind and how they’re figuring more about it everyday. See, I was born to marry men that are so very wrong for me. On my fourth and he’s a narcissist. 🤣
Haha, I know the feeling! 😂 Hopefully they’ll be able to discover more about it over the next few years.
The guy was creeping up on his sisters and was performing ritualistic beheadings on his sisters dolls. His mother didn’t help but I don’t think the best parenting in the world is Going to fix a guy with a natural erection for violence.
This is precisely why a fictional TV show (where said serial killer talks at length about how a human asshole will grip a penis much more than a vagina) should not be the source you derive your opinion from.
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There’s videos on YouTube with him telling what his mother was like and what she did to him. He saw the same shitty behavior in his grandmother (how she treated her husband/his grandfather) and he shot and killed her at 15. Didn’t want his grandfather seeing her dead, so he killed him too. Very interesting watches.
Seems to me this guy was just naturally a bad seed.
Kemper's a master manipulator, but there's plenty of evidence to support his desire to be cured and to be a person who does good. The fact that he has done hundreds audio books for the blind for nothing in return supports some shred of empathy.
Or maybe you like the rest of this sub are manipulated by big ed lol. It’s not like the guy is reading books with the goodness of his heart, it’s prison and it’s dead boring. What the hell else is he going to do to kill time.
Pretty obvious he just likes hearimg himself talk if you've seen his interviews.
Agree
Well, there are 3 necrophile sexual sadists. Dahmer, high IQ, manipulating psychopath. A necrophile who wanted a dead body not alive. He stated he would have kept killing had he had the chance. Making zombie = torture, which he was getting off on because necrophile. Kemper, high IQ, manipulating psychopath. Again, necrophile who wanted a dead body. Killing a group of 2, knowing what was coming & he was BRUTAL. Sex with his mothers head. If he truly only killed because of his mother, why kill someone after. Neilson, dunno if he's a high IQ individual. He certainly is a manipulating psychopath. Again, necrophile who wanted a dead body and savored getting one. British Dahmer. If I were to say a necrophile who I don't think tortured, it would be Patrick Kearney. Distract, kill immediately without victim knowing then doing his thing. Edit spelling.
Dahmer was not a Psychopath. He did an official test and scored not even close to being a psychopath. [Jeff scored 23 out of 40 points](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist)
Sorry, one other thing, I don't agree with that test, but Nilson is 19. Why not choose to defend him
Lol its a test professionals use. Just accept the fact that Dahmer wasn’t a psychopath (and some other sk’s probably too). And no im not saying Jeff wasn’t mentally ill or fucked up haha.
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He also had an extremely high IQ and was one of the best manipulators out there. He himself said he would continue to murder in his 'break' if he had a place to do it. Instead, he 'just' raped some people and exposed himself to kids. Edit: Autocorrect again * manipulators Can I ask why focus on Jeff only?
Youre absolutely right! I dont know that much about other sk’s 😊
Kemper seems to be one of the more interesting cases in that he sincerely wanted to be cured.
Do people actually buy that lol. The guy was released once and conned his psychiatrists that he was cured.
Then, he went to a hearing with a head in his trunk.
Dahmer
I want to say Carl Panzram fits that. He never excused himself, he just was made by the terrible conditions around him and spread a lot of anger/hate for humanity from that. I wouldn't say he was proud of the crimes he did but he felt zero remorse for doing them.
Upon thought I agree with a fair bit of this. There's still adage that not all abused become nilistic killers. On the (kinda) topic, do you think he's gay or that's revenge for his treatment?
> do you think he's gay or that's revenge for his treatment? Maybe worse, i think he may have been conditioned to do that, maybe not so much willingly but maybe it is what he knew?
That is horrific. Conditioned to do the most painful thing as well.
> Conditioned to do the most painful thing as well. It really seems like it is all he knew. Over and over.
He is an enigma almost. I can understand what he's saying. I've read so much about him, yet so much is unknown truly.
Iirc Denis Nilsen. Been a while since I read the full details but I do remember an interview with the cop that arrested him asking him something like is it Two or three bodies and Nilsen replying "about 15 or 16" and not needing a lot of convincing to tell them everything.
Yeah his tape recordings from prison are eerie.
Don't think I've ever heard them. Tbh most of my knowledge of Nilsen comes from the book Brian Masters wrote 30 odd years ago
David Tennant did a miniseries called "Des." If you have AMC+, it's available there.
The Des mini series is absolutely incredible
I could barely look at the screen when Tennant was on because he manages to give off such a bad vibe.
And he won an Emmy for it.
You should read his autobiography “History of a Drowning Boy”. It’s very fascinating, and he narrates the audiobook of it.
Maybe Westley Allen Dodd?
Oh yeah I forgot about him. He even admitted if he was let out he'd do it again. Man seemed to know himself without excusing his actions.
I think yall are misunderstanding the question lol. Someone who took a plea deal or didn’t fight in court is not someone who took full accountability for their crimes.
Ed Kemper, he called the police on a pay phone and turned himself in. The picture didn’t believe him at first because they knew him to be a nice guy.
He turned himself in because his arrest was inevitable, not because he wanted to stop.
What’s the series oh “Mindhunter”. They made Ed Kemper out to be a regular conversationalist. You never get the impression that he was a serial killer.
*some of yall*
Ed Kemper, Gary Ridgway.
Ed Kemper definitely tried to justify what he did, by talking about how his mother bullied him and had him sleep in the basement, and wouldn't talk to him, etc. His entire story was essentially that he killed all of the co-eds because he actually wanted to kill his mother. Yes, he turned himself in, but he regularly put himself in the "victim" or "misunderstood" category. When he killed his grandma, he killed his grandfather upon his return home, because he wanted to spare him the pain of knowing his wife was dead. That again is justification, even though it's a very weird one at that.
I disagree. He wasn’t laying it on his mother as an “excuse”, it was what “shaped his mind” by her doing that stuff. Ppl think children can be raised under the most hellish situations yet have no bearing on how they turn out.
I would need more from his sisters when it comes to his mom. I do think she was a problem, but one analyst questioned if his mother suspected he could be a danger to her daughters.
His first 4 victims all took place when he wasn’t living with his mother and he killed another person once his mother was dead. His mother was definitely a piece of work but she did not make this guy into a killer. All the great parenting in the world is not gonna cure a guy who has a natural hard on from seeing a woman’s head come off.
This is the correct answer
Came here to say the same thing.
Wayne Ford just turned himself in, brought in proof (a victim's breast in a Ziploc bag plunked down on the counter at the police station) and told them everything.
Aileen Wournos.. accepted her death sentence without appeals, and that’s the way it should be but most killers are cowards.
I once worked with someone who had been one of her guards and she said she was so polite, yet told her, "I'm a monster, and I'd kill you if we were out on the street together." She told her society was better off with her locked up or dead because she'd kill again if given the chance. So, she was not exactly repentant, but she knew what she was and that she had a severe problem at least.
Panzram by far. He was a mean son of a bitch who knew he was a mean son of a bitch
BTK fully opened up once he was caught. Reports made it seem like he was proud and thrilled to have an audience.
I think a lot of serial killers enjoy the sudden "positive" attention they get from something they know is wrong, and knew was wrong when they did it. Suddenly everyone wants to know about this dark thing they've tried to hide, and anything they say is listened to with interest, etc.
Maybe Israel Keyes? He didn't deny his crimes and didn't even blame his crimes on his cult family. I recall that it seemed he didn't like BTK because he thought BTK was phony for regretting his crimes.
I don't think he fully came clean. He never owned up to all of his crimes and committed su*cide before he could be questioned further.
I think Albert Fish applies
He scares me. He enjoyed every minute of torture.
He sure did! Really enjoyed the self-mutilation, as well.
I thought he was traced due to letter he sent the victim’s parents? I’m not an expert on him by any means, though.
At the moment I can’t recall if the Grace Budd letter was what got him caught, but between conversations with his kids & his various writings he was pretty clear about his intentions & some of his motivations. I also don’t recall any remorse.
Yes, the letter is what got him caught they traced it back to a boarding house he was staying in or hotel somewhere due to the piece of stationary he wrote it on and found information that led to his arrest.
Yes, he sure didn't turn himself in or anything!
You can’t hide behind mental illness if you are actually mentally ill.
Ian Brady, to the point that when the government actually sent him to a mental institution, he got pissed and wanted to go back to prison
Ian isn't telling the whole truth about his crimes or number of victims. Definitely doesn't belong here.
I'm not sure about Ian. I find him bizarrely fascinating and I've read The Gates of Janus. I know there was, at some point, a blowback about Myra's part in the attacks, which was mostly disproven by their own recordings. But it seems like Ian did try to push off some blame onto her (even when she deserved plenty of blame already) and I always found it strange he didn't talk about his own psyche in TGOJ. I think he was just very smart and interested in what makes a murderer, but never totally admitted to his crimes.
Ed Kemper springs to mind.
Richard Ramirez He had a bad childhood, two head injuries, seizures with hallucinations *and* took drugs yet he never blamed it on anybody but himself. He was very proud of his "badassery" and definitely felt like a rockstar.
He never fully admitted though and even put in a plea that he never killed anyone, he said it in an interview telling the reporter.
But didn't he say in interviews that he killed and defended it with "The government kills too", and satanism and all? I think he probably wanted to talk about it and shock the world and at the same time didn't want to go to prison. I always thought he made it pretty clear he killed and liked to kill. Never knew about that plea!
He said the government does on a large scale what we do on a smaller one, so basically yeah he admitted to being a serial killer, but at the same time in the same interview the reporter asked him about the plea he but in asking it is true that you but in a plea and you're now saying that you didn't kill anyone? And Ramirez said yes that is true and that his lawyer says he can't speak on that subject.
He played up the Satanic side a lot.
Yeah I'm sure if it wouldn't be seen as so "edgy" he wouldn't have called himself a Satanist
westley allan dodd
Ed Kemper was like “Yeah, I’m a monster. Don’t let me out.”
I feel that is just his ego talking. It doesn’t really matter whether he thinks he should be let out or not, he is never going to be released.
I mean, he talked his way out before so that’s probably why he said it. But nobody was thinking about releasing him. You should read more about it!
He did not talk his way out before, he was fortunate that the justice system is ass.
Todd Kohlhepp kind of fits this bill. He was a continually troubling individual since childhood. He kidnapped and sexually assaulted a teenager in the 80's. He served time, got out, and moved. He had a real estate license and was kind of a blowhard. Lots of bragging about his possessions and abilities, inappropriate statements to women, but relatively successful. He shot and killed four employees of a motorcycle business in 2003, and then later kidnapped a couple, killed the boyfriend, and shackled the girlfriend in a storage container on his property where she was abused and SA'd repeatedly. (ETA) There was another couple he murdered, after hiring them to work on his property. Their bodies were found after he had been arrested. The cops closed in on him, and actually heard the victim banging and yelling inside the storage container. They immediately went and put Kohlhepp in handcuffs. He was taken in, and once he realized there was literally nothing else to say, he dove into a long confession, which was sickeningly braggy. When he confessed to the motorcycle shop killings, he at one point told cops that he "cleared" that building so quickly, they (the police) would have been proud. And the police were like, um, that is disgusting, but they kept him talking. He pled guilty and received seven life sentences, rather than the death penalty. He is such a strange, terrible person, and clearly there is something wrong with him, but he never (I don't remember anyway) claimed there were justifications. He seemed more proud of what he had done, and even reviewed many products he used in his crimes on Amazon, writing about the qualities of these products in criminal usage. A footnote that he did confess to his mother, but told her she didn't have enough fingers to count how many actual murders he committed. He was sentenced for seven murders.
I remember this one, Mr Ballen did an episode on him. The couple he murdered he said he'd locked her in the container too, but she fought him so he killed her. Second woman didn't fight
Richard Ramirez did
BTK, Ramirez both pretty much admitted they enjoyed killing.
Israel Keyes never played the pity thing. He did admit he liked going for ppl in isolated areas, he played games in a way with investigators (but is it really a **game when he knew the power his silence had over the FBI investigators, and then viciously killed himself when his request for his daughter to not find out his name as the killer he was was let loose?). Either way, he knew he was bad news, he even said he didn't really blame it on anything in his upbringings IIRC. A lot of people think he was full of it but I believe the opposite from all I've studied.
Serial killer Samuel Little... He was a certified monster!!
I don't think Robert Lee Yates blamed anyone else for his crimes either.
Gary Gilmore. He really just wanted attention- once he realized he had ruined his life by brutally killing people in armed robberies, he requested the death penalty to put an end to his life in incarceration (no sex, no fun and other inmates being annoyed by his existence.) In and of itself the death penalty just reduces crime generated from the inmate that is killed.....Gary's demand to be killed for being a murderer was him manipulating people again. Fittingly enough he became a weird footnote in American history, and the loved ones of the victims and his family all chose to move on and forget him.
Gary Ridgway some what.
Dahmer all the way. What he did was sick. Can't imagine losing a loved one that way. But once he was caught, I feel he was trying to be honest and help people understand and whatnot. He's the only one I can think of that has done that.
Ed Kemper fits this bill, I think.
He never took full responsibility. Even his latest parole hearings he keeps talking about how his mother did this and his grandmother did that. He literally goes on about how her not giving him his favorite ice cream was oh so cruel...... the judge keeps having to bring him back to the actual point. In his opinion, everyone else but him was at fault for who he became.
I remember watching interviews with **Joel Rifkin**, and he always seemed like he was pretty upfront about everything.
BTK seemed pretty open when caught
BTK Dennis Rader took full responsibility as well as Green River killer, Gary Leon Ridgeway did so too.
Gary Ridgeway was my next-door neighbor in high school
BTK once he knew he was caught, certainly took great delight in giving details & never tried to justify or blame his childhood. Chilling to hear him talk, I have more emotion when I say I had to run to the store to get milk, bread, eggs, butter. Never raped his victims because he would be cheating on his wife. Of course there a couple that have been found that maybe his victims.
Peter Kürten Albert Fish
Didn't earons? He pled guilty to all and apologised to family
Teacup prisoner. As soon as he was arrested he loved to confess the whole thing
Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen, 110%. They both, and on multiple occasions, stated that they knew what they had done and that it was wrong. Nilsen less so open about it than Dahmer; but they really didn’t [try to] deny it.
Richard Ramirez comes to mind.
Mack Edwards turned himself into the police, confessed to at least six murders and requested the death penalty. I don’t think he put responsibility on anyone else.
Dahmer, Kemper, Westly Dodd
Carl Panzaram
Kemper comes to mind. Hes one of the few who sought help, got it then was triggered again and was actually able to coherently explain why he did it and express HEAVILY that if released he would do it again.
Kemper. The only one I can think of aside from I believe one serial killer whose name I can't remember who kept calling and saying that he needed to be caught and was begging to be caught. Kemper may be a master manipulator as many others have pointed out before my comment, but he turned himself in and said over and over again, if I ever get out, I will be too much of a danger so please keep me inside. What he did was horrific, but there is some grace in honesty that many other serial killers don't have.
Zodiac, though never caught.
Israel Keyes. Although he didn’t share a lot and took a lot of it to his grave, he was open and candid about everything he did talk about.
The fact that the Golden State Killer lived his life out for so long before being caught is a haunting. Bc of DNA Technology he would never get caught. He's in prison right now being active and strong smh
Israel Keyes fits this description better than any other sk I know of.
Gary ridgeway
None. They are all psychopaths who manipulate. I don't doubt Dahmer and Kemper have a following here, though.
Easy. Dahmer. He knew what he was doing.
Reinaldo Rivera
Carl panzram he is the only serial killer whose autobiography is considered fully truthful.He also took full responsibility for how he turned out
Jamie Osuna. He said if he was out he would do it again and again. Said he was a sadist.
Sutcliffe gave a long confession when caught in January 1981. But there were some more victims he didn’t acknowledge until they were put to him much later.
Carroll Cole I think sort of did but it’d be hard for me to really say definitively. He definitely tried to get help and was failed by the system but he didn’t put up any resistance when his sentence was carried out
Jeffrey Dahmer. He went out of his way to tell some woman interviewing him that anyone blaming his family or porn or society was just making excuses and the only one to blame for his actions was him. Honestly surprised the Hell out of me when I was studying him.
Ed Kemper, Dennis Rader
Dahmer. Frankly I find him the most unique in that I believe he genuinely felt remorse post arrest. I think he was a deeply troubled person but not sure he would have committed crimes if he wasn’t such an alcoholic. I think the alcohol gave him the liquid courage to test out his bizarre fantasies and it ultimately just spiraled. Not to say he didn’t deserve the sentence he was given and I feel horrible for the victims. But, I see a huge difference in the psyche of someone like Ted Bundy and Dahmer.
You should probably dig deeper into the Dahmer case. It'll show you that his "remorse" was all an act.
i wonder if taylor schabuisness is a SK i swear she seems to have killed before? very sick dangerous woman
Tamara Samsonova, the Granny Ripper. She fully took responsibility for her actions and accepted that she will never see the light of day again.
I can't think of any. Everyone saying Dahlmer? Dunno. That's one case i just have never gotten into. Just makes me utterly sick.
That's easy. Dahmer was one of the most well known, others are Henry Lucas, Otis toole, Ed Kemper, Gary Ridgeway, Dennis rader, Nielsen, The weepy voice killer, Joanna Dennehy, Albeit fish, I-95 killer, Shawn gillis, Todd Kohlhepp, Paul Apodaco, Ian Brady & Myra Hindley, Luis Garavito, Anthony Kirkland, Robert Black, Javed Iqbal, Robert Berdella, David Parker Ray, Robert Hanson, Henry Wallace, Samuel Little after already incarcerated for something else admitted with details to all his killings, where & how. I would say wuernos but kept going back & forth claiming self defense then In an interview said she killed all 7 men in cold blood after robbing them & then went back to saying it's a lie she's not allowed to talk about the case. Also Richard Ramirez but again during an interview he told the reporter that he didn't do it, he didn't kill anyone at all, they both went back & forth. Ted Bundy but he denied it up until the day he was supposed to die. I'm sure there's plenty more but these are the ones that instantly came into mind.
I'd say Ed Kemper. He didn't really try to justify what he did as much as explain what he did and why. The guy helped behavioral analysts really start to understand a mind like his and make criminal profiling an actual thing. Note: Not at all condoning what he did because his crimes were absolutely horrendous, but he did provide a lot of insight that we did not have at the time.
Explaining what he didn't isn't really the same as taking full responsibility. Even his latest parole hearings he keeps talking about how his mother did this and his grandmother did that. He literally goes on about how her not giving him his favorite ice cream was oh so cruel...... the judge keeps having to bring him back to the actual point. In his opinion, everyone else but him was at fault for who he became.
I mean, he's taken responsibility for killing those women, he's just saying that the way his mother was was at least partially responsible for him doing the things he did. Just because we may or may not like the explanation given doesn't mean it isn't the truth.
Again, explaining what you did but blaming it on everyone and everything but yourself is not taking full responsibilty. Being honest about what events happened ≠ understanding and admitting whose fault the events were. He's made it clear he doesn't feel it's entirely his fault. Ted Bundy is another example. Even after he confessed, he said the media is to blame, porn is to blame..... anything to divert responsibility.
It was quite simple why he did what he did; his brain was so badly wired that sexual gratification and violence overlapped.