Nova (1974–…): Season 20, Episode 3 - Mind of a Serial Killer - full transcript
Narrator:
DAVID BERKOWITZ, THE SON OF SAM
SHOT AT LEAST SIX YOUNG LOVERS
IN NEW YORK CITY.
ALBERT DeSALVO
RAPED AND STRANGLED
MORE THAN TEN WOMEN IN BOSTON.
AND WITH 13 GRISLY MURDERS
IN NORTH CENTRAL ENGLAND
PETER SUTCLIFFE BECAME KNOWN
AS THE YORKSHIRE RIPPER.
SERIAL KILLERS
GRIP THE PUBLIC'S ATTENTION
AND CONFRONT OUR
OWN PRIVATE DREAD.
THEY COME IN ALL SHAPES...
AND SIZES...
FROM EVERY WALK OF LIFE.
THEY'RE OFTEN INTELLIGENT
AND RESOURCEFUL.
THEY ARE NOT DRIVEN
BY SUCH CONVENTIONAL MOTIVES
AS REVENGE, GREED,
JEALOUSY, PROFIT
SO THEY DO NOT RESPOND
TO SUCH CONVENTIONAL EMOTIONS
AS GUILT OR REMORSE.
THEY ARE, THEREFORE,
VERY DIFFICULT TO CATCH.
( police siren blares )
SINCE 1960, THE MURDER RATE
IN THE UNITED STATES
HAS ALMOST DOUBLED.
NOW APPROXIMATELY 55 PEOPLE
ARE SLAIN EACH DAY
AND THE NUMBER OF MASS,
SPREE AND SERIAL MURDERS--
CRIMES GENERALLY COMMITTED
AGAINST TOTAL STRANGERS--
HAS INCREASED STEADILY
AND ALARMINGLY.
SPECIAL AGENT JAMES WRIGHT
SUPERVISES THE INVESTIGATIVE
ANALYSIS PROGRAM
OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU
OF INVESTIGATION.
Wright:
BACK IN THE 1960s, THE SOLUTION RATE FOR HOMICIDE
IN THE UNITED STATES
WAS OVER 90%.
THE SOLUTION RATE LAST YEAR
WAS 68%.
WE'RE NOT SEEING
THE TYPE OF CRIME
THAT IS COMMITTED BETWEEN
TWO PEOPLE THAT KNOW EACH OTHER.
WE'RE GETTING MORE AND MORE INTO
TO STRANGER-TYPES OF CRIMES.
THOSE ARE THE MOST
BAFFLING TYPES
BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE
A READY POOL OF SUSPECTS
AND VERY OFTEN WE DON'T HAVE
A MOTIVE FOR THESE CRIMES--
NOT AN OBVIOUS MOTIVE.
( trainer shouts command )
( runners grunt as they rise )
Narrator:
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
MUST CONFRONT
THE REALITY OF THESE TRENDS
AND SEEK WAYS
TO GRAPPLE WITH THEM.
AT THE F.B.I.'s NATIONAL ACADEMY
IN QUANTICO, VIRGINIA
ALL OF THE TRADITIONAL WEAPONS
ARRAYED AGAINST CRIME
ARE TAUGHT AND PRACTICED.
BUT NONTRADITIONAL CRIMES
REQUIRE NONTRADITIONAL METHODS
AND SERIAL KILLERS--
THOSE WHO KILL REPEATEDLY--
ARE PERHAPS THE MOST TERRIFYING
CHALLENGES OF ALL.
IN A SUITE OF OFFICES
TWO FLOORS BELOW THE GROUND
A SMALL AND ELITE GROUP KNOWN AS
THE INVESTIGATIVE SUPPORT UNIT
JOURNEYS INTO THE VERY
HEART OF DARKNESS--
INTO THE MINDS AND MOTIVATIONS
OF SERIAL KILLERS.
Man:
OVER THE WEEKEND WE HAD SEVERAL CASES CAME IN
SEVERAL OF WHICH ARE SERIAL
MURDER INVESTIGATIONS...
Narrator:
THE UNIT'S OBJECTIVE IN MORE THAN 1,000 CASES EACH YEAR:
INTERPRET BEHAVIORAL CLUES
LEFT AT A CRIME SCENE
TO COME UP WITH
A PERSONALITY PROFILE
OF AN UNKNOWN
AND ELUSIVE OFFENDER.
THEY JUST CAME UP WITH
ANOTHER BODY LAST WEEK
SO THEY'VE HAD FOUR KILLED
IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS.
Narrator:
THIS TECHNIQUE GREW OUT OF A PIONEERING STUDY BEGUN IN 1978
OF MULTIPLE MURDERERS
AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMINALS.
ITS KEY CONTRIBUTOR
WAS SPECIAL AGENT JOHN DOUGLAS
NOW THE UNIT'S CHIEF.
Douglas:
YOU INTERVIEW THE SUBJECTS, THEY'LL TELL YOU
THAT WHAT WAS REALLY APPEALING
TO THEM WAS THE HUNT--
THE HUNT AND TRYING TO LOOK
FOR THE VULNERABLE VICTIM.
AND ONCE THEY HAVE THAT VICTIM
AND THEY HAVE THAT VICTIM
UNDER THEIR CONTROL
THEY FEEL THE STRENGTH
OR THE POWER
AND TO CONTROL THE LIFE
OR DESTINY OF THIS VICTIM.
THEY BELIEVE THROUGHOUT THEIR
LIFE THEY HAVE BEEN MANIPULATED
THEY HAVE BEEN DOMINATED
AND CONTROLLED BY OTHERS.
THEY HAVE A VERY,
VERY POOR SELF-ESTEEM
SO HERE, FOR THIS ONE SITUATION
THAT WAS FUELED BY FANTASY
THAT THEY CAN GET A VICTIM,
THEY CAN BE IN CONTROL
THEY CAN ORCHESTRATE WHATEVER
THEY WANT TO DO TO THE VICTIM
AND THEY CAN DECIDE
WHETHER OR NOT
THIS VICTIM SHOULD LIVE OR DIE
OR HOW THE VICTIM SHOULD DIE--
IT'S UP TO THEM.
Narrator:
DOUGLAS AND HIS PARTNER ROBERT RESSLER
WENT INTO THE PRISONS AND
CONDUCTED EXTENSIVE INTERVIEWS
WITH THE MOST DANGEROUS
CRIMINALS
TO FIND OUT WHAT MADE THEM TICK.
OUT OF THE STUDY CAME A SYSTEM
TO UNDERSTAND AND CLASSIFY
TYPES OF KILLERS
AND OTHER VIOLENT OFFENDERS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE F.B.I. WAS ABLE TO LINK
WHAT WAS GOING ON
IN THE PERPETRATOR'S MIND
TO THE EVIDENCE HE LEFT
AT A CRIME SCENE.
Man:
RECENTLY IN COLORADO
A 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS DEPOSITED
OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
THE SAME SIGNATURE
KIND OF ASPECT
WITH THE WAY THE BODY
WAS DEPOSITED
THE TYPE OF LIGATURE
STRANGULATION...
Douglas:
THERE ARE COMMON DENOMINATORS WITH ALL OF THESE PEOPLE.
THEY COME FROM,
GENERALLY, BROKEN HOMES.
THEY'RE THE PRODUCT
OF SOME ABUSE.
AND BY THE TIME WE BEGIN
SEEING HIS FIRST KILL
HE'S SOMEWHERE IN HIS EARLY 20s.
HE HAS A BAD TRACK RECORD--
HE'S BEEN A BURGLAR
HE'S BEEN MAYBE INVOLVED
IN RAPE, OR RAPE ATTEMPTS
AND HE'S BEEN EXTREMELY
HOSTILE AND VIOLENT
TO AUTHORITY TYPE OF FIGURES.
Man:
THE BEST PREDICTOR OF FUTURE BEHAVIOR
OR FUTURE VIOLENT ACTING OUT,
IS A PAST HISTORY OF VIOLENCE.
Narrator:
THE JOURNEY INTO THE MIND OF THE VIOLENT OFFENDER
REMAINS AN ONGOING QUEST
OF DISCOVERY.
WHAT IS LEARNED IS THEN TAUGHT
IN THE F.B.I. ACADEMY'S
CLASSROOMS.
JUST AS AN OFFENDER
LEAVES FINGERPRINTS
OR OTHER PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
AT THE SCENE OF A CRIME
THE F.B.I. LOOKS FOR HIS
PERSONALITY PRINT AS WELL.
THEY'RE SUSPICIOUS OF OTHERS
THEY'RE PARANOID,
OVERLY SENSITIVE...
Narrator:
INVESTIGATORS ARE TRAINED
TO INTERPRET
THIS BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE
TO CREATE A PROFILE
OF THE UNKNOWN OFFENDER.
THIS TECHNIQUE CAN HELP POLICE
NARROW THEIR LIST OF SUSPECTS
AND SOMETIMES
SUGGEST ACTIVE STRATEGIES
TO CATCH THE PERPETRATOR.
AT THIS SCENE, A MILDLY
HANDICAPPED TEACHER
WAS FOUND BRUTALLY BEATEN,
RAPED AND STRANGLED
ON THE STAIR LANDING
OF HER APARTMENT BUILDING.
SHE WAS ATTACKED IN THE MORNING
IN A HIGH-TRAFFIC AREA
AND WAS KNOCKED OUT
BEFORE BEING VIOLATED.
AFTER DEATH,
HER BODY WAS MUTILATED
AND DISPLAYED
IN A RITUALISTIC FASHION.
Man:
WE'VE YET TO SEE A CASE
INVOLVING THIS KIND
OF POSTMORTEM MUTILATION
WHERE YOU HAD A BLACK
OR AN HISPANIC PERSON.
THIS SEEMS TO BE THE PURVIEW
OF WHITE MEN
AND THE MANNER
IN WHICH THEY KILL...
Narrator:
SPECIAL AGENT JUDSON RAY
BRINGS HIS EXPERIENCE
AS A POLICEMAN
TO HIS PROFILING WORK.
Ray:
THE FACT THAT THIS WAS A MILDLY CRIPPLED VICTIM
AND ALSO THE PERPETRATOR
HAD TO RENDER
THIS INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS
BEFORE HE BEGAN HIS ACTIVITIES
SUGGESTED TO US
A KIND OF INADEQUACY
ON THE PART OF THIS PERPETRATOR;
A PERSON WHO'S NOT
VERY, VERY SURE
A PERSON WHO PERHAPS
REQUIRES BEING ALONE A LOT
AND IS NOT VERY,
VERY COMFORTABLE
IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHER PEOPLE.
THE FACT THAT THIS CRIME
OCCURRED IN THE DAYTIME--
IT WAS A VERY HIGH-RISK MANEUVER
FOR THE OFFENDER--
SUGGESTED TO US THAT
THIS INDIVIDUAL HAD AT LEAST
A PASSING FAMILIARITY
WITH THE APARTMENT BUILDING.
THE FACT THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL
WAS OUT AT THIS TIME OF THE DAY
SUGGESTED TO US THAT
HE WAS NOT GAINFULLY EMPLOYED
THAT HE WAS PROBABLY
LIVING IN A RELATIONSHIP
DEPENDENT UPON PARENTS
OR SOME OTHER
SIGNIFICANT PERSON IN HIS LIFE.
THIS WOMAN WAS KILLED
BY LIGATURE STRANGULATION
AND THE ITEM USED TO FASTEN
THE LIGATURE WAS FROM HER PURSE.
THIS SUGGESTED TO US
THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL
HAD NO PLAN OF KILLING,
AND PROBABLY WAS NOT AWARE
THAT HE WOULD COME INTO CONTACT
WITH THIS INDIVIDUAL
ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY.
THERE WAS A UNIQUE ASPECT
OF THIS CRIME:
THE PERPETRATOR TOOK THE
EARRINGS FROM THE VICTIM'S EARS
AND SYMMETRICALLY PLACED THEM
EQUAL DISTANCE FROM HER HEAD.
THIS INDICATED TO US
THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL
PERHAPS MAY HAVE BEEN SUFFERING
SOME SORT OF PSYCHOSIS;
CERTAINLY SOME MENTAL DISORDER
THAT WOULD ALLOW THE POLICE
TO FURTHER NARROW THE FOCUS
ON A PARTICULAR KIND OF SUSPECT.
Narrator:
THE POLICE CHECKED LOCAL MENTAL HOSPITALS
AND FOUND ONE MAN WHO HAD
LEFT WITHOUT PERMISSION
THE DAY OF THE MURDER.
HIS FATHER HAD ONCE LIVED IN
THE VICTIM'S APARTMENT BUILDING
AND IN VIRTUALLY
EVERY OTHER RESPECT
HE MATCHED THE F.B.I.'s PROFILE
PRECISELY.
HE WAS ARRESTED, TRIED,
AND FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER.
THE PROGRAM BEGAN
IN THE LATE 1970s
WHEN WE BEGAN CONDUCTING
THE RESEARCH.
WITHIN THE F.B.I. THERE
WERE STILL A LOT OF SKEPTICS
AND IT REALLY WASN'T
UP UNTIL ABOUT 1982
IN THE WAYNE v. WILLIAMS CASE
IN ATLANTA
THAT WE REALLY GOT
A NAME FOR OURSELVES.
WE WENT ON-SITE, WE DID
AN ANALYSIS, WE DID A PROFILE
THAT DESCRIBED HIM
RIGHT DOWN TO A "T."
Narrator:
IN 1982, ATLANTA WAS A CITY UNDER SIEGE.
DOUGLAS WENT TO THE SITE
WHERE EACH OF MORE
THAN 20 BLACK CHILDREN
HAD BEEN FOUND SMOTHERED
AND STRANGLED.
COULD THIS BE
SOME TYPE OF A CONSPIRACY?
COULD WE HAVE MULTIPLE
OFFENDERS INVOLVED?
COULD WE BE DEALING
WITH SOME TYPE OF GROUP--
THE KU KLUX KLAN
OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF GROUP
WHO HAS HATRED TOWARDS BLACKS?
GENERALLY WITH
THOSE TYPES OF CASES
THE CRIME SCENES ARE VERY
SYMBOLIC-- WE DIDN'T SEE THAT.
Narrator:
DOUGLAS FELT A WHITE PERSON
PROWLING THESE
BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS
COULD NOT HAVE AVOIDED NOTICE,
AND THAT TOLD HIM SOMETHING.
BUT HE ALSO KNEW
THAT THE CHOICE OF VICTIM
COULD TELL HIM EVEN MORE
ABOUT THE TYPE OF MURDERER.
Douglas:
TO UNDERSTAND THE VICTIM
THAT REQUIRES
REINTERVIEWING FAMILY MEMBERS
AND PEOPLE WHO WERE VERY,
VERY CLOSE TO THAT VICTIM
SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND
THE DYNAMICS THAT IS GOING ON
BETWEEN THE VIOLENT OFFENDER
AND THE VICTIM
AT THE TIME OF THE ASSAULT.
Narrator:
AMONG CERTAIN VICTIMS, A COMMON PROFILE EMERGED:
YOUNG, ADVENTURESOME MALES,
CURIOUS AND INQUISITIVE CHILDREN
SUSCEPTIBLE TO A COME-ON
OR A CON FROM THE RIGHT PERSON.
AND THAT PERSON,
DOUGLAS BELIEVED
WOULD BE A BLACK MALE
IN HIS EARLY 20s
HOMOSEXUALLY ATTRACTED
TO THE BOYS
AND CLEVER ENOUGH
TO GAIN THEIR TRUST.
SOMEONE THIS INTELLIGENT AND
MANIPULATIVE, DOUGLAS SURMISED
WOULD FOLLOW THE INVESTIGATION
PLAYING A CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME
WITH THE POLICE.
Douglas:
WE BEGAN SEEING THAT ANYTIME SOMEONE WOULD TALK TO THE PRESS
THE MEDICAL EXAMINERS OR POLICE,
HE WOULD RESPOND TO THAT
AND HE WOULD RESPOND BY
PRESENTING ANOTHER BODY TO US
AND NOW THE BODIES WERE FOUND
IN OPEN VIEW, ALONGSIDE OF ROADS
WHERE HE WANTED US
TO FIND THE VICTIMS.
Narrator:
THEN WHEN THE MEDICAL EXAMINER ANNOUNCED THAT
HAIR AND FIBER EVIDENCE
HAD BEEN FOUND
DOUGLAS PREDICTED
THE NEXT BODIES
WOULD SHOW UP IN THE RIVER
WHERE THE WATER
WOULD WASH AWAY CLUES.
A STAKEOUT WAS MOUNTED.
WAYNE B. WILLIAMS, A SELF-STYLED
MUSIC PROMOTER AND POLICE BUFF
WAS APPREHENDED ON A BRIDGE
OVER THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER
WHERE ANOTHER BODY
WAS SOON DISCOVERED.
HAIR AND FIBER
FROM WILLIAMS' HOME
MATCHED SAMPLES
FROM 12 OF THE VICTIMS--
THE ONLY 12 DOUGLAS
ASSOCIATES WITH WAYNE WILLIAMS.
DURING THE TRIAL
WILLIAMS APPEARED
SYMPATHETIC AND BELIEVABLE
SO THE PROSECUTION TURNED
TO DOUGLAS'S PERSONALITY PROFILE
IN AN EFFORT TO CONVICT HIM.
Douglas:
WHAT I SUGGESTED TO THE PROSECUTORS
WAS TO DO
A "THIS IS YOUR LIFE" STORY.
I WANTED TO INFRINGE
UPON HIS BODY SPACE;
I WANTED THE PROSECUTOR
TO GET IN BETWEEN THE JURORS
AND WAYNE WILLIAMS
AND I WANT HIM TO BE
VERY METHODICAL
AND VERY LOW
IN HIS SPEAKING VOICE
AND AT ONE POINT I WANT YOU TO
SAY, "WHAT WAS IT LIKE, WAYNE?
"WHAT WAS IT LIKE, WAYNE,
WHEN YOU WRAPPED YOUR FINGERS
"AROUND ONE
OF THE VICTIM'S THROATS?
DID YOU PANIC?"
AND WILLIAMS SAID, "NO."
BUT THEN HE CAUGHT HIMSELF
AND HE WENT INTO A RAGE
AND SCREAMING AND YELLING,
AND HE STARTED SAYING
"I KNOW YOU'VE GOT THAT F.B.I.
PROFILE OVER THERE
BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET ME
TO FIT THAT PROFILE."
ATLANTA IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE
OF HOW A SINGLE PERSON
CAN LEAVE A TRAIL OF HUMAN
DEVASTATION IN HIS WAKE.
AND THE F.B.I. BELIEVES THERE
IS HARDLY A MAJOR JURISDICTION
IN THE UNITED STATES
THAT HAS NOT BEEN TRAUMATIZED
BY SERIAL KILLERS.
WHEN THE BODIES
OF TWO PROSTITUTES
TURNED UP IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
IT DIDN'T CREATE MUCH OF A STIR.
IT WAS A ROUTINE INVESTIGATION
FOR CAPTAIN LYNDE JOHNSTON
AND HIS OFFICERS AND DETECTIVES.
Johnston:
IT STARTED VERY QUIETLY.
THE POLICE WERE CONCERNED
BUT THERE'S A CERTAIN NUMBER
OF HOMICIDES WITH PROSTITUTES
THAT HAPPEN EVERY YEAR
BECAUSE OF THE NATURE
OF THEIR BUSINESS.
IT'S NOT UNUSUAL TO HAVE
TWO OR THREE BODIES
THAT ARE HOMICIDE-RELATED
WITH PROSTITUTES A YEAR.
Reporter:
IT STARTED IN MARCH 1988 WITH THE SHOOTING DEATH...
Johnston:
AND THESE WERE SPREAD OUT.
THEY WERE IN THE CITY,
IN THE COUNTY.
THERE WERE LITTLE...
METHODS WERE DIFFERENT--
ONE WAS ASPHYXIATED,
THE OTHER ONE WAS SHOT--
SO THERE DIDN'T SEEM TO BE
A CLEAR-CUT PATTERN.
Reporter:
IT WAS ANOTHER SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE NEXT VICTIM...
Johnston:
AND THEN THERE CAME A TIME
IN WHICH A SKELETONIZED BODY WAS
FOUND DOWN IN THE RIVER GORGE.
COULDN'T FIND OUT WHO SHE WAS.
IT WAS REAL HARD
TO START AN INVESTIGATION
NOT EVEN KNOWING
WHO THE VICTIM WAS.
ANOTHER ONE SHOWS UP
DOWN AT THE GORGE--
ANOTHER SKELETONIZED BODY--
THEN THERE WAS ANOTHER
PROSTITUTE THAT ENDED UP DEAD
BEHIND THE Y.M.C.A.
THERE SEEMED TO BE
A LITTLE CLUSTER GOING.
Narrator:
PATRICIA IVES WAS YOUNG AND PRETTY
AND THE FOURTH VICTIM FOUND
IN ROCHESTER'S SCENIC
GENESEE RIVER GORGE.
Johnston:
WHEN PATTY IVES WAS FOUND
THE POLICE WERE REALLY CONCERNED
FOR THIS REASON:
YOU HAD FOUR BODIES DOWN THERE
AND WHETHER THEY'RE RELATED
OR NOT AT THAT POINT
THERE WERE SOME SIMILARITIES
AND THERE WAS A CONCERN
THAT IF IT WASN'T A SERIAL
SOMEBODY WAS DOING MORE THAN ONE
OF THESE KILLINGS.
Narrator:
THE INVESTIGATORS SEARCHED FOR LINKS BETWEEN THE CASES
SIFTING THE SCANT EVIDENCE
FOR ANY LEAD.
Johnston:
YOU RUN THROUGH YOUR FILES OF PEOPLE
THAT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED
IN SEX-TYPE MURDERS.
WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR CASES AGAIN
TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T
OVERLOOK ANYTHING
LOOKING FOR COMMONALITIES
BETWEEN CASES.
THEN GO OVER EVERYTHING
WITH A FINE-TOOTH COMB.
YOU PICTURE IN YOUR MIND
WHAT THE PERSON COULD LOOK LIKE
BUT YOU REALLY CAN'T.
Narrator:
THE BADLY DECOMPOSED BODIES
OFFERED VIRTUALLY NOTHING
IN THE WAY OF FORENSIC CLUES.
AND THEN A FIFTH BODY
WAS DISCOVERED IN THE GORGE.
Man:
THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ONE IS THAT SHE WAS REASONABLY FRESH
COMPARED TO THE OTHER ONES
WHICH WERE EITHER DECOMPOSED
OR DEAD FOR QUITE SOME TIME
AND THERE WASN'T ANYTHING THAT
WE COULD HAVE DONE WITH THEM
FOR ANY TYPE OF EVIDENCE.
Narrator:
OFFICER ROBERT GARLAND HAD BEEN THE CRIME-SCENE TECHNICIAN
IN EACH
OF THE PROSTITUTE KILLINGS.
Garland:
WE'D FOUND HER WAY DOWN THE HILL DOWN HERE
AND IT'S SO STEEP HERE WE HAD
TO CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
AND THEY USED ROPES
TO PUT HER IN A BASKET
TO DRAG HER UP HERE.
WE WERE VERY HOPEFUL
THAT WE WOULD GET SOME
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OFF THE BODY.
UNFORTUNATELY WE HAD
TOTALLY NEGATIVE RESULTS.
Reporter:
FEAR AND ANXIETY
HAS AREA PROSTITUTES
DRAWING THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS.
ONE OF THE RUMORS
ON THE STREETS IS
IT'S A JOHN WHO CAUGHT AIDS
AND IS STRIKING BACK.
Woman:
MAYBE A GUY DON'T KNOW WHICH GIRL BURNT HIM
SO HE'S TAKING THEM OUT
ONE BY ONE.
Johnston:
WHEN BODIES STARTED TO COME AT A LITTLE MORE RAPID RATE
WE BROUGHT IN SOME PEOPLE
FROM QUANTICO, VIRGINIA--
THE F.B.I.--
TO LOOK AT THESE CASES FOR US
AT THE BEHAVIOR,
AND TO LOOK AT IT AS OUTSIDERS
THAT COULD SIT BACK
A LITTLE MORE CALMLY
THINK ABOUT IT
A LITTLE MORE RATIONALLY
AND PAINT US A PICTURE,
IF YOU WILL
OF WHO OUR OFFENDER MIGHT BE.
FREEZE, F.B.I.!
PUT YOUR HANDS UP.
Man 1:
NOW, DON'T MOVE.
Man 2:
DON'T MOVE.
OKAY?
Narrator:
THE CASE CAME TO SPECIAL AGENT GREGG McCRARY
IN WHOSE TERRITORY
ROCHESTER FELL.
HIGHLY TRAINED IN TRADITIONAL
INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES
McCRARY HAD ALSO SPENT YEARS
DISCIPLINING HIS MIND AND BODY
THROUGH THE ORIENTAL MARTIAL ART
OF SHORINJI KEMPO.
IT'S A CASE INVOLVING
A SERIES OF HOMICIDES
IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,
OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
Narrator:
AT HIS UNIT'S MORNING CONFERENCE
HE REPORTED THE FACTS
TO HIS COLLEAGUES.
WE'VE GOT
A SERIES OF CRIMES...
McCrary:
WE TOLD CAPTAIN JOHNSTON
WE NEEDED A SUMMARY
OF THE INVESTIGATION;
THE CRIME-SCENE PHOTOS,
WE NEEDED VICTIMOLOGY--
AS MUCH ABOUT EACH OF THESE
VICTIMS AS THEY COULD TELL US--
BECAUSE WE HAD TO LOOK
AT THESE CRIMES
FROM THE OFFENDER'S PERSPECTIVE
IN THE ORDER THAT THE OFFENDER
HAD ENCOUNTERED THESE VICTIMS
AND COMMITTED THE CRIMES
AND THAT WOULD GIVE US
THE PATTERN;
THAT WOULD ALLOW US
TO SEE CHANGES, PATTERNS
IN THE ACTIVITY OF THE OFFENDER.
McCrary:
THE NEXT ONE I BELIEVE TO BE
THE FIRST
TO BE RELATED HERE
DEALS WITH A WHITE
FEMALE PROSTITUTE
NAMED DOROTHY BLACKBURN.
MANY OF THE VICTIMS
YOU'RE GOING TO SEE
ARE RIGHT DOWNTOWN
IN THE RIVER GORGE AREA.
THE SIMILARITY HERE, THOUGH
DEALS WITH DUMPING
THE BODY IN WATER.
THAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE
TIME AND AGAIN HERE.
Douglas:
DID HE WEIGHT HER DOWN IN THE WATER?
NO.
THESE ARE NOT THE AREAS
THEY WOULD GO TO--
WHERE WE'RE FINDING
THESE VICTIMS?
NO, NO, IT'S NOT.
OBVIOUSLY
THE OFFENDER'S GOT A CAR.
THEY'RE GETTING IN A CAR.
HAS THERE BEEN A LOT
OF PUBLICITY HERE?
HAS THIS BEEN
CONNECTED IN THE MEDIA?
EVERY DAY.
EVERY DAY.
I THINK THERE DEFINITELY IS
A SERIAL KILLER WORKING HERE.
HE'S A WHITE MALE.
THE VICTIMS ARE
PREDOMINANTLY WHITE.
WE HAVE A CORE GROUP HERE OF
HOMICIDES I FEEL ARE RELATED.
HE'S VERY COMFORTABLE ON
THE STREET WITH HIS VICTIMS.
DOESN'T APPEAR OUT OF PLACE
IN THAT ENVIRONMENT.
( siren blaring )
Narrator:
AS McCRARY FOLLOWED THE UNFOLDING CASE
ROCHESTER POLICE STEPPED UP
THEIR PATROLS AND SURVEILLANCE.
DETECTIVE LEONARD BORRIELLO WAS
ONE OF THE KEY INVESTIGATORS.
Borriello:
DURING THE PERIOD THAT THE GIRLS WERE BEING FOUND DEAD
OUR TACTICAL UNIT
WAS STRATEGICALLY PLACED
AROUND THE ENTIRE AREA
OBSERVING PROSTITUTES--
NOT ARRESTING THEM-- AND
TAKING DOWN THE PLATE NUMBERS
OF VEHICLES THEY WOULD GET INTO.
WE ASKED THE GIRLS
TO CALL US AND REPORT ANY--
ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY--
ANY KINKY INDIVIDUALS
THEY MIGHT HAPPEN ACROSS
THAT WOULD BE JUST
OUT OF THE ORDINARY.
( siren wailing )
McCrary:
ONE OF THE PROSTITUTES WORKING IN THE AREA
THESE VICTIMS DISAPPEARED
CAME TO THE POLICE
WITH INFORMATION ABOUT A JOHN
WHO WANTED HER TO PLAY DEAD.
HE, AS A MATTER OF FACT,
WAS SUFFERING OR EXPERIENCING
ERECTILE INSUFFICIENCY
PRIOR TO THAT
AND THEN ONLY
WHEN SHE PLAYED DEAD
WAS HE ABLE TO BE SEXUALLY
AROUSED AND GRATIFIED.
WE COULDN'T SAY THAT,
"THAT'S YOUR GUY"
BUT WHAT WE SAID IS,
"THAT'S THE TYPE OF THING.
"THAT'S THE TYPE OF BEHAVIOR
THAT WE EXPECT YOUR OFFENDER
TO SHOW."
HE WAS REAL NERVOUS,
AND THAT MADE ME NERVOUS
AND I CARRY A KNIFE
TO PROTECT MYSELF
AND I DO KNOW HOW TO USE IT
SO I JUST LET HIM KNOW
POINT BLANK THAT I HAD A WEAPON
AND THAT I WAS NERVOUS
THAT THERE WAS A SERIAL KILLER.
THE ONLY TIME HE WAS
REALLY ABUSIVE TO ME
IS WHEN I ASKED HIM
WHY WAS IT TAKING--
I HAD BEEN THERE
LIKE 40 MINUTES.
THAT'S WHEN HE SAID,
"IF YOU JUST PLAY DEAD, BITCH
WE'LL GET THIS OVER
IN A FEW MINUTES."
AND LITTLE THINGS KEPT CLICKING
AND THE HAIRS ON THE BACK
OF MY NECK STARTED STANDING UP
AND I SAID, "THIS IS THE GUY.
I JUST KNOW THIS IS THE GUY."
Reporter:
IT'S BECOMING A FAMILIAR SCENE FOR ROCHESTERIANS--
CITY POLICE, MEDICAL EXAMINER
AND A FEMALE BODY FOUND
HIDDEN IN A REMOTE AREA.
THE BODY, DESCRIBED AS A FAIRLY
HEAVYSET WHITE FEMALE
WAS DISCOVERED BY A MAN
WALKING HIS DOG
AROUND 11:00 THIS MORNING.
POLICE THINK THERE IS A CHANCE
IT MIGHT BE LINKED
TO THE OTHER BODIES
RECENTLY FOUND.
Johnston:
IT WAS THANKSGIVING DAY.
A VERY COLD DAY.
A VERY, VERY COLD DAY.
AND THE MEDICAL EXAMINER COMES,
AND WE PROCESS THE SCENE
AND WE FIND OUT THAT THE BODY
HAD BEEN EVISCERATED
AND CUT FROM THE NECK
TO THE VAGINA AREA
AND WE'RE CONCERNED,
VERY CONCERNED.
EVERYBODY THERE,
THEY'RE LOW, REAL LOW...
THE SPIRITUAL COLD,
THE THANKSGIVING DAY
ANOTHER DAY AWAY FROM THE FAMILY
AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT
THIS INDIVIDUAL'S UP TO--
HE SEEMS TO BE ESCALATING IN
THE TYPE OF ACTIVITY HE'S DOING.
Narrator:
JUNE STOTT WAS THE TENTH VICTIM FOUND--
THE FIRST WHO WAS
NOT A PROSTITUTE
AND THE FIRST WHOSE BODY
THE KILLER HAD MUTILATED
AFTER DEATH.
McCrary:
WHEN HER BODY WAS FOUND LATE IN NOVEMBER
THAT, I THINK FOR THE POLICE,
FOR THE INVESTIGATORS
WAS A LOW POINT.
THEY JUST REALLY FELT
THEY WERE LOOKING
INTO THE ABYSS AT THIS POINT.
FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW,
AS PARADOXICAL AS IT MAY SOUND
THAT WAS GOOD--
THAT WAS GOOD NEWS FOR US
BECAUSE WE HAD MORE BEHAVIOR
TO WORK WITH;
MORE BEHAVIOR TO ANALYZE.
McCrary:
JUNE STOTT IS ALSO THE FIRST VICTIM
WHERE WE HAVE AN EFFORT
AT POSTMORTEM EVISCERATION.
AND THE QUESTION IS, IS THIS...
IS THIS PART OF THE SAME SET?
IS THIS ANOTHER
OFFENDER WORKING?
IS THIS THE SAME OFFENDER NOW
LIVING OUT HIS FANTASY MORE
AND BECOMING MORE INVOLVED WITH
THESE BODIES AS TIME GOES ON?
Wright:
DO WE HAVE, IN THIS CASE
PRETTY MUCH THE SAME
MODUS OPERANDI
AS FAR AS WE KNOW
AS WITH THE OTHER CASES
THAT YOU THINK ARE CONNECTED?
WE'RE SEEING
A BIG CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR
BUT IS THERE ALSO A LOT
OF CONSISTENT BEHAVIOR?
YEAH, THERE IS.
I THINK THERE'S A LOT
OF CONSISTENT BEHAVIOR.
MY FEELING IS THAT THIS
IS PART OF THE SAME SERIES.
WE'VE GOT AN OFFENDER
THAT'S SPENDING
MORE AND MORE TIME WITH THESE VICTIMS.
AN EVOLUTION
ON HIS PART?
RIGHT, HE'S ACTING OUT
HIS FANTASY NOW.
MAYBE HE'S WANTED
TO DO THIS BEFORE
HE JUST HASN'T HAD THE TIME
OR FELT COMFORTABLE ENOUGH
TO DO IT.
HE'S NOW SPENDING TIME,
THE SAME TYPE OF VICTIM.
I THINK WE'LL SEE
WITH THE VICTIMS AFTER THIS
THAT THIS TYPE OF POSTMORTEM
MUTILATION WILL CONTINUE;
THAT THIS IS PART
OF ACTING OUT HIS FANTASY;
HE'S GOING TO CONTINUE
TO DO THIS SORT OF THING
WITH THE VICTIMS.
Narrator:
McCRARY WENT TO ROCHESTER IN EARLY DECEMBER
AND REPORTED HIS CONCLUSIONS
TO THE INVESTIGATION TEAM.
Man:
DO YOU THINK HE'S STILL GOING TO GO
FOR THE SAME TYPE OF INDIVIDUALS
LIKE PROSTITUTES?
McCrary:
YES, HE'S TARGETING VULNERABLE VICTIMS.
HE'S NOT AN ADEQUATE
ENOUGH INDIVIDUAL
TO GO AFTER A MORE
DIFFICULT TARGET.
McCrary:
OUR INITIAL ANALYSIS
AFTER A COUPLE DAYS
OF GOING THROUGH THE CASES
LED US TO BELIEVE THAT THIS
WOULD BE A LONE WHITE MALE.
THE AGE WOULD BE THIRTYISH.
THE VICTIMS WERE LATE 20s OR SO.
WE FELT THAT HE'D BE JUST
A LITTLE BIT OLDER PERHAPS
THAN THE VICTIMS.
THE CRIME SCENES THEMSELVES
REFLECTED AN INDIVIDUAL
WHO DID NOT PANIC.
THE RAGE WAS CONTROLLED.
THESE WERE METHODICAL,
PREDATORY KIND OF KILLS
THAT GENERALLY INDICATE
A CRIMINALLY EXPERIENCED
MORE MATURE TYPE OF OFFENDER.
WE FELT HE WOULD BE FAMILIAR
WITH THE ROCHESTER AREA;
BE FAMILIAR
WITH THE RIVER GORGE AREA.
COULD BE A FISHERMAN, A HUNTER.
THE DUMP SITES AND THINGS
THAT HE WERE CHOOSING
WOULD BE AREAS HE'D BE
COMFORTABLE AND FAMILIAR WITH.
HE'D BE A FUNCTIONAL INDIVIDUAL,
EMPLOYABLE
BUT THE EMPLOYMENT
WOULD BE MENIAL.
HE'S NOT A PERSON WHO HAS
A LOT OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS;
DOES NOT INTERACT WITH PEOPLE
IN DEPTH IN ANY WAY.
SUPERFICIALLY HE'D BE FINE,
HE'D BE OKAY TO GET ALONG WITH
AND TO HAVE A BEER
IN THE BAR WITH--
THERE'D BE NO REAL PROBLEM
THAT WAY.
CERTAINLY HE WAS DRIVING.
HE HAD ACCESS TO A CAR
AND THE CAR WOULD
REFLECT THE PERSONALITY.
THIS WOULD BE A FUNCTIONAL
KIND OF A VEHICLE;
NO NEW CAR OR SPORTS CAR.
THAT'S HOW HE WOULD DRESS.
THAT WOULD BE HIS DEMEANOR,
HIS CLOTHING--
A FUNCTIONAL KIND OF GUY.
WE TALKED WITH ROCHESTER POLICE.
THEY WERE STOPPING PEOPLE
THEY THOUGHT LOOKED SUSPICIOUS;
STOPPING TRANSVESTITES.
THEY STOPPED A GUY DRIVING
A VAN DRESSED UP AS A WOMAN
SO WE SAID,
"THAT'S NOT YOUR GUY."
THIS OFFENDER MAY APPEAR
ALMOST TRANSPARENT
TO THE OFFICERS ON THE STREET.
THEY'RE LOOKING
RIGHT THROUGH HIM.
THERE'S PANIC
AMONG THE PROSTITUTES
YET HE STILL HAS NO TROUBLE
OBTAINING VICTIMS.
THEY GET IN THE CAR WITH HIM.
WHY DO THEY?
BECAUSE THEY DON'T THINK
HE LOOKS LIKE THE GUY.
THEY DON'T THINK HE'S THE GUY.
Man:
GREGG, WHAT YOU'RE TELLING US IS
THIS GUY PROBABLY WILL
KILL AGAIN.
McCrary:
YES, HE WILL KILL AGAIN.
HE'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT GETTING
THE VICTIMS TO LEAVE WITH HIM
AND HE'LL CONTINUE AS LONG AS
HE FEELS COMFORTABLE DOING THAT.
Reporter:
THE BODY WAS DISCOVERED...
Narrator:
McCRARY'S PREDICTION PROVED CORRECT.
THE PATTERN OF KILLING CONTINUED
WITH ELIZABETH GIBSON--
ANOTHER PROSTITUTE.
BECAUSE PROSTITUTES LIVE
A DANGEROUS
AND VULNERABLE LIFESTYLE
THEY'RE AMONG THE MOST COMMON
VICTIMS OF SERIAL MURDERERS.
IT IS TEMPTING FOR MANY OF US
TO FEEL SECURE
IN OUR DISTANCE AND DETACHMENT.
THE MAN WHO IS GOING TO BECOME
A SERIAL KILLER
BEFORE THAT FIRST SEXUAL MURDER
ALREADY HAS A FANTASY SCENE
IN HIS MIND.
IT HAS ITS ORIGINS IN THINGS
THAT REALLY HAPPENED TO HIM
THINGS HE IMAGINED
HAPPENED TO HIM.
Narrator:
DR. PARK DIETZ, A FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST
HAS SPENT HIS CAREER
STUDYING THESE MEN
TRYING TO LEARN WHAT DRIVES THEM
TO THEIR HEINOUS ACTS.
THEY OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES
IN THE EARLY OFFENSES
THAT THEY LEARN FROM
AND TRY TO ENSURE THEY
DON'T MAKE IN LATER OFFENSES.
THEY OFTEN CHOOSE
MORE VULNERABLE VICTIMS
FOR THE EARLY OFFENSES
SUCH AS YOUNGER PEOPLE OR
PEOPLE WHO ARE PHYSICALLY FRAIL
WHEREAS LATER
THEY BECOME EMBOLDENED
AND TAKE ON
MORE POWERFUL PEOPLE.
THERE ARE SOME PATTERNS
ABOUT HOW THEIR CRIMES
PROGRESS OVER TIME.
WHAT IS ALWAYS THE CASE
FOR SEXUAL SERIAL KILLERS
IS THAT THE FANTASY EXISTS
BEFORE THE ACTION.
A STRIKING NUMBER
WILL HAVE TORTURED ANIMALS
IN SOME EXTRAORDINARY WAY
OR WILL HAVE BEEN VERY CRUEL
TO CHILDREN--
TYING THE NEIGHBOR TO A TREE
AND TORMENTING THE CHILD
AND INFLICTING VARIOUS HARM
ON THE CHILD.
SOMETHING THAT SETS THEM APART
FROM OTHER CHILDREN
WHICH IS AN EXPRESSION
OF THEIR EARLY AGGRESSION
AND WHICH SHOWS
THAT THEY'RE ALREADY
THINKING IN ADULT-LIKE WAYS
ABOUT DOING TERRIBLE THINGS.
Narrator:
DR. DOROTHY LEWIS--
A PSYCHIATRIST
AT BELLEVUE HOSPITAL
HAS AUTHORED MANY STUDIES
ON THE LINKS BETWEEN CHILDHOOD
VIOLENCE AND ADULT CRIME.
WHAT MOST OF THE
EXTRAORDINARILY VIOLENT
CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, ADULTS
HAVE IN COMMON
SEEMS TO BE A VULNERABILITY
TO IMPULSIVITY
TO PARANOID MISPERCEPTIONS, TO
DISTORTING WHAT IS AROUND THEM
BUT ALSO A HISTORY OF HAVING
BEEN SEVERELY PHYSICALLY ABUSED
SEVERELY... OFTEN SEVERELY
SEXUALLY ABUSED
OFTEN RAISED IN
AN EXTREMELY VIOLENT HOUSEHOLD.
AND AGAIN FROM
A PSYCHODYNAMIC POINT OF VIEW
YOU CREATE
A VERY, VERY ANGRY CHILD
AND YET VERY FEW OF THE KIDS
EVER ATTACK THE PERSON
WHO HAS ABUSED THEM.
IN FACT, MANY OF THEM
DON'T REMEMBER IT
PUT IT OUT OF THEIR HEADS
BUT THEY DISPLACE A LOT
OF THIS RAGE ONTO OTHER PEOPLE
IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT
SO THAT THE
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS ALONE
DON'T MAKE YOU VIOLENT.
PROBABLY THE ENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORS, IN AND OF THEMSELVES
DON'T MAKE YOU
A VERY VIOLENT PERSON.
WHEN YOU PUT THEM TOGETHER
YOU CREATE
A VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTER.
Narrator:
RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THERE IS NO PSYCHOLOGICAL FORMULA
FOR CREATING A SERIAL KILLER.
TED BUNDY GREW UP HANDSOME
AND WELL EDUCATED
CHARMING TO THOSE AROUND HIM,
AND KILLED AT LEAST 23 WOMEN
FROM WASHINGTON STATE
TO FLORIDA.
OTHERS COME FROM
DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS.
Douglas:
DAVID BERKOWITZ IS KNOWN AS THE SON OF SAM IN NEW YORK CITY.
HE WAS THE PRODUCT
OF AN ADOPTED FAMILY.
HE NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS.
HE WOULD LATER LEARN ABOUT THIS
AFTER HE GOT OUT OF THE MILITARY
AND BY THE WAY, HE HAD NO SEXUAL
RELATIONSHIPS WITH ANY FEMALES
THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE
UNTIL HE WENT TO KOREA
AND LO AND BEHOLD,
HE CONTRACTS V.D.
SO IT ADDS FURTHER HOSTILITY
TO WOMEN.
HE GOES BACK TO NEW YORK
TO LOOK FOR HIS MOTHER.
HE FINDS HIS MOTHER
AND HIS SISTER
IN LONG BEACH, LONG ISLAND,
AND MUCH TO HIS SURPRISE
THEY DON'T WANT
A THING TO DO WITH HIM.
AT THAT POINT,
HE BLOSSOMS AS A SERIAL KILLER.
SO HE PROCURES
A 44-CALIBER WEAPON--
A VERY STRONG, POWERFUL WEAPON.
HE GOES TO AREAS WHERE
HIS POTENTIAL VICTIMS
ARE PARKED IN LOVER'S LANES.
WHAT'S VERY, VERY INTERESTING IS
RATHER THAN GO
TO THE DRIVER'S SIDE
WHICH IS THE THREAT,
IT'S THE MALE PART
HE SHIFTS AROUND THE CAR
AND GOES TO THE PASSENGER SIDE
WHICH IS TELLING YOU
AS HE'S FIRING INTO THAT VEHICLE
IN A POLICE TYPE OF STANCE
THAT HIS HATRED IS DIRECTED
AT THE WOMAN.
THE MALE IS SIMPLY IN THE
WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME.
WHAT HE TOLD US,
WHICH WAS VERY INTERESTING
IS THAT HE'S ON THE HUNT NIGHTLY
LIKE SO MANY OF THESE GUYS.
WHEN THEY CANNOT FIND
THE VICTIM OF OPPORTUNITY
WHO'S GOING TO BE IN THE
WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME
THEY GO BACK TO THE AREAS
WHERE THEY'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL
IN THE PAST.
THEY GO BACK TO
THE CRIME SCENE AREAS.
THEY GO BACK TO
THE DISPOSAL AREAS
AND THEY SYMBOLICALLY
ROLL IN THE DIRT
AND RELIVE THAT FANTASY
OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
Reporter:
THE GRUESOME DISCOVERY WAS MADE THIS MORNING ON MEG STREET.
A MAN PULLED OUT HIS TRAILER
TO GO ON A HUNTING TRIP
AND FOUND THE BODY.
POLICE SAY IT WAS COVERED UP
BY LEAVES.
Narrator:
NOT ONLY DID JOHNSTON HAVE 11 HOMICIDES TO CONTEND WITH
MORE PROSTITUTES WERE MISSING.
Reporter:
THERE ARE THREE MISSING WHITE WOMEN FROM ROCHESTER.
Narrator:
BASED ON THE PROFILE EMERGING FROM THE EVIDENCE
McCRARY OFFERED ROCHESTER POLICE
A STRATEGY TO CATCH THE KILLER.
McCrary:
WE HAD MISSING PROSTITUTES
WHO WE FELT WERE POTENTIAL
VICTIMS OF THE OFFENDER.
WE KNOW THAT JUNE STOTT
HAD BEEN SUBJECTED
TO A POSTMORTEM MUTILATION.
WE KNOW IT'S NOT UNCOMMON
FOR THIS TYPE OF OFFENDER
TO HAVE SEX WITH SOME OF
THEIR VICTIMS ONCE THEY'RE DEAD.
WE FELT THAT THAT
MAY BE OCCURRING.
SO WE FELT THAT HE WAS BEING
DRAWN BACK TO THESE SITES.
IF THE POLICE COULD LOCATE
ONE OF THESE DUMP SITES
AND NOT TELL, AND THEN SURVEIL
THAT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME
AFTER THEY FOUND IT
THEY MAY WELL FIND THIS OFFENDER
RETURNING TO THAT SITE.
Narrator:
WITH THREE MISSING WOMEN PRESUMABLY DEAD
THE PROFILE INDICATED
THE KILLER WOULD BE DRAWN
BACK TO THE BODIES.
SO McCRARY'S STRATEGY LAY
IN FINDING AT LEAST ONE
AND THEN WAITING AND WATCHING.
Man:
WE'D BEEN SEARCHING IN WESTERN MONROE COUNTY FOR SEVERAL DAYS
CONCENTRATING ALONG WATER,
DITCHES AND ALONG ROADWAYS
WHERE SOME OF THE BODIES
HAD BEEN FOUND.
THE PILOTS HAD BEEN UP
SEVERAL TIMES
AND WERE STARTING
TO BE CONVINCED
THAT THE BODY WAS NOT IN THE
AREA THAT WE WERE SEARCHING.
THERE CAME A TIME
DURING THE SEARCH
THAT WE MADE A DECISION
TO FLY FROM NORTHAMPTON PARK
BACK TOWARDS THE CITY
OF ROCHESTER ALONG ROUTE 31.
WHILE FLYING ALONG ROUTE 31,
WE FINALLY SAW A BODY.
Narrator:
THE BODY WAS THAT OF JUNE CICERO
KNOWN AS THE MOST STREETWISE
PROSTITUTE IN THE AREA.
IF SHE COULD FALL VICTIM
TO THE KILLER, NO ONE WAS SAFE.
McCrary:
I WAS BACK AT QUANTICO WHEN I GOT A CALL
THAT A STATE HELICOPTER
HAD FLOWN OVER
AND FOUND A BODY
IN THE SALMON CREEK AREA
WHICH WAS THE SAME CREEK
THAT ONE OF THE FIRST VICTIMS--
DOROTHY BLACKBURN--
HAD BEEN DUMPED IN
AND THAT THERE WAS AN INDIVIDUAL
PARKED THERE ON THE ROADSIDE
RIGHT ABOVE,
ADJACENT TO THE BODY.
AS SOON AS
THE HELICOPTER APPEARED
THEY COULD SEE UNDERNEATH THEM
ABOUT 15 FEET DOWN
WAS A BODY,
AND A CAR WAS RIGHT ON TOP.
THE MAN SWUNG HIS LEGS
INTO THE CAR.
HE WAS ON THE PASSENGER SIDE.
THIS INDIVIDUAL FLED
WHEN THEY SAW THE NEW YORK STATE
POLICE HELICOPTER.
THEY HAD THEIR
PATROL UNITS CONVERGE
ON THE AREA THAT HE WENT IN,
LOCATED HIM, IDENTIFIED HIM.
IT WAS CONTAINED EXCITEMENT
ON MY PART.
YOU'RE ALWAYS HOPEFUL THAT IT'S
WORKED, THAT YOU'VE GOT THE GUY
BUT YOU'RE NOT SURE.
WE FOUND OUT THAT THE INDIVIDUAL
ON TOP OF THE BRIDGE
WAS A PERSON KNOWN TO US NOW
AS ARTHUR SHAWCROSS.
Narrator:
McCRARY'S TACTIC HAD PAID OFF.
THE KILLER HAD RETURNED
TO SEXUALLY MUTILATE
ANOTHER OF HIS VICTIMS.
POLICE FOLLOWED ARTHUR SHAWCROSS
TO NEARBY SPENCERPORT.
THEY STOPPED HIM
AT THE NURSING HOME
WHERE HIS GIRLFRIEND
CLARA NEAL WORKED.
HE WAS TAKEN
TO STATE POLICE BARRACKS
WHERE HE WAS INTERVIEWED
BY INSPECTOR DENNIS BLYTHE.
HE WAS VERY CALM
WHEN I TALKED WITH HIM.
OUR... I ASKED HIM,
"DO YOU NOW WHY...
DO YOU KNOW WHY WE STOPPED YOU,
AND WHY WE WANT TO TALK TO YOU?"
"WELL, I ASSUME IT'S BECAUSE I
DON'T HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE."
AND HE WAS VERY COOL
AND VERY CALM.
SO I ASKED HIM, "I'D LIKE...
YOU'VE BEEN VERY COOPERATIVE.
GEEZ, I'D REALLY LIKE
TO TAKE YOUR PICTURE."
"WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO THAT?"
"WELL, I JUST KNOW
YOU WANT TO COOPERATE."
"OH, OKAY, FINE."
AND SO AT THAT POINT I HAD
HIM STAND UP AGAINST THE WALL
AND I ASKED HIM, "SMILE,"
AND HE LET ME TAKE HIS PICTURE.
WE THEN TOOK THIS PICTURE
AND PUT IT IN WITH
FIVE OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS.
THEY SHOWED ME LIKE SIX PICTURES
IN A LITTLE COMPOSITE THING
AND THEY TOLD ME,
"TAKE YOUR TIME"
AND I SAID, "I DON'T HAVE TO
TAKE MY TIME, THIS IS THE GUY."
IT WAS HIM, YOU KNOW,
IT WAS HIM.
Narrator:
SHE NOT ONLY IDENTIFIED SHAWCROSS
AS THE MAN WHO HAD PICKED HER UP
BUT ALSO AS THE ONE ELIZABETH
GIBSON HAD BEEN RIDING WITH
THE NIGHT SHE WAS MURDERED.
McCrary:
WE FELT THAT THIS TYPE OF OFFENDER
WOULD NEED TO BE CONFRONTED
WITH EVIDENCE
THAT HE WOULD NOT CONFESS
UNLESS HE FELT STRONGLY
THAT THERE WAS EVIDENCE
LINKING HIM TO THE CRIME
THAT THIS WAS A MATURE,
EXPERIENCED OFFENDER.
HE WOULD NEED TO BE CONVINCED
THAT WE KNEW WHAT HE HAD DONE
AND WERE ABLE TO PROVE IT.
WE HAD A LOT OF AMMUNITION
TO QUESTION HIM ABOUT
REGARDING THE FIRST CASE,
WHICH WAS ELIZABETH GIBSON
WHICH WAS SUPPLIED
BY MISS VAN NOSTRAND.
IT WAS 28 MINUTES BEFORE
WE GOT THE FIRST CONFESSION.
IT WAS PROBABLY THE LONGEST 28
MINUTES I'VE EVER GONE THROUGH.
WE WERE BOTH VERY NERVOUS.
WE KNEW WE HAD THE KILLER,
BUT WE WANTED A CONFESSION SO BADLY.
YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHEN THAT
MOMENT IS THEY'RE AT THE TOP
AND THEY'RE READY TO GO OVER
AND WHAT BROUGHT HIM
OVER THE TOP WAS
WE STARTING TALKING TO HIM
ABOUT HIS GIRLFRIEND CLARA.
AND I TOLD HIM...
AND THE WHOLE TIME I'M
PATTING HIM ON THE LEG.
I SAYS, "I WOULD
HATE TO THINK
THAT CLARA'S
INVOLVED IN THIS."
AND HE PUT
HIS HEAD DOWN;
"NO, CLARA'S NOT
INVOLVED IN THIS;"
AND AT THAT POINT
YOU KNOW YOU'VE GOT HIM.
YEAH.
HE PROBABLY LOVED
CLARA ENOUGH
NOT TO GET
HER IN TROUBLE
FOR SOMETHING
HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR
BECAUSE HE KNEW HE DID THEM
AND HE THOUGHT WE COULD PROVE
THAT CLARA'S CAR WAS
AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.
HE WASN'T GOING TO
LEAVE HER ON A LIMB.
HE ALSO GAVE HIMSELF
A REASON AND A DEFENSE
FOR KILLING ELIZABETH GIBSON
BY STATING SHE STARTED
SCRATCHING HIS EYES.
HE ALSO STATED
THAT HE PUT HIS
FOREARM UNDER HER CHIN
IN THE THROAT AREA
AND MAY HAVE PRESSED DOWN
TOO HARD
BECAUSE OF HIS EYES,
ACCIDENTALLY.
HE SAID HE TRIED TO GIVE HER
MOUTH-TO-MOUTH RESUSCITATION
AND CRYING BECAUSE HE FELT
SO BADLY THAT SHE HAD DIED
WHICH I DOUBT
VERY, VERY MUCH.
NO.
AS HE PUT IT, WHY DID
HE KILL THESE GIRLS?
"TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS."
THAT'S WHAT HE SAID,
"TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS."
NO REMORSE WHATSOEVER.
NO.
VERY CALM, VERY EASYGOING,
A FRIENDLY SOMEBODY.
AND HE NEVER SAID NOTHING
OUT OF THE WAY TO ANYBODY
TO GET YOU NERVOUS
OR UPSET OR NOTHING.
SOURCES TELL EYEWITNESS NEWS
THAT SHAWCROSS WORKED HERE
AT G & G FOOD SERVICE.
HIS BOSS SAID HE WAS QUIET
AND A GOOD WORKER.
HE WASN'T AWARE
SHAWCROSS HAD A PRISON RECORD.
ARTHUR SHAWCROSS'S TROUBLES
WITH THE LAW BEGAN IN 1969.
HE WAS CONVICTED OF BURGLARY
AND ARSON IN WATERTOWN
NORTH OF SYRACUSE.
A YEAR LATER
HE WAS ARRESTED AGAIN
AND ADMITTED KILLING A YOUNG
BOY AND GIRL IN HIS HOMETOWN.
BOTH WERE STRANGLED, AND THE
GIRL WAS SEXUALLY MOLESTED.
SHAWCROSS SERVED
15 OF A 25-YEAR SENTENCE.
HE WON AN EARLY PAROLE
AFTER THE PAROLE BOARD
DENIED HIS FREEDOM EIGHT TIMES.
SHAWCROSS ENDED UP IN BINGHAMTON
FOR TWO MONTHS.
AN ANGRY COMMUNITY
CAMPAIGNED AGAINST HIM
AND SHAWCROSS WAS RELOCATED
TO ROCHESTER.
A YEAR AFTER HIS ARRIVAL,
THE KILLING BEGAN AGAIN.
Narrator:
AS SOON AS THE SUSPECT WAS IN CUSTODY
THE F.B.I. BEGAN ASSESSING
ITS PROFILE.
ARTHUR SHAWCROSS WAS
A CALM, NONDESCRIPT PERSON
EASY TO OVERLOOK, WHO DID
LIVE AND WORK IN THE CITY
IN A REGULAR BUT MENIAL JOB.
HE WAS AN AVID HUNTER
AND FISHERMAN
WHO WAS FRIENDLY AND PERSONABLE
ON A SUPERFICIAL LEVEL.
HE LIKED TO DRIVE
FOR LONG PERIODS
IN AN ORDINARY, FUNCTIONAL CAR.
HE DID RETURN TO SPEND TIME
WITH THE BODIES OF HIS VICTIMS
AND TO MUTILATE THE LATER ONES
TO FULFILL HIS OWN
INNER DESIRES.
BUT THE PROFILE WAS WRONG
ON ONE IMPORTANT COUNT.
THE AREA WHERE WE WERE
MOST ERRANT HERE IN THIS THING
WAS WITH THE AGE
OF THE OFFENDER.
WE FELT HE WAS LATE 20s,
EARLY 30s.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS...
HE WAS, OF COURSE, 45--
THE DIFFERENCE BEING
THAT HE HAD BEEN IN PRISON
FOR THAT 15-YEAR PERIOD.
AND THAT REALLY IS SIMPLY
LIKE PUTTING HIM ON HOLD
FOR A 15-YEAR PERIOD.
SO WHEN HE WAS RELEASED
15 YEARS LATER
HE REALLY PICKED UP
JUST WHERE HE LEFT OFF.
Borriello:
HE TOLD US ALTOGETHER 11 WOMEN THAT HE HAD KILLED.
THERE MAY POSSIBLY BE MORE.
WE'LL PROBABLY NEVER KNOW THAT.
HE ALSO TOLD US THAT HE WOULD
BRING US OUT, WHICH HE DID
AND SHOW US PHYSICALLY
WHERE HE HAD DUMPED TWO BODIES
THAT HADN'T BEEN LOCATED YET.
AND WE ASKED HIM, "TAKE US
THE WAY YOU TOOK THEM"
AND HE TOOK US
STREET BY STREET
AND HE REMEMBERED EVERY
DETAIL OF THE STREETS.
WE GOT
THE FLASHLIGHT
AND WE'RE
GOING LIKE THIS TRYING TO FIND...
WE CAN'T FIND HER
SO WE GO BACK,
"COME ON, WHERE IS SHE?"
"SHE'S RIGHT THERE."
"COME ON, SHOW US."
"WHERE IS SHE, ART?"
AND HE TAKES A FLASHLIGHT...
RIGHT AT OUR FEET
AND THERE SHE IS... FACE UP
ABOUT SIX INCHES
UNDER THE WATER;
AND IT NEVER BOTHERED HIM.
Narrator:
DARLENE TRIPPI WOULD BE THE LAST VICTIM OF ARTHUR SHAWCROSS.
THE NEXT DAY HE WAS ARRAIGNED
IN ROCHESTER CITY COURT
AND CHARGED WITH MURDER.
THE PROSECUTOR WAS
FIRST ASSISTANT DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES SIRAGUSA.
SHAWCROSS DID NOT DENY
THE MURDERS
BUT CLAIMED HE WAS
INSANE AT THE TIME
AND THEREFORE NOT RESPONSIBLE
FOR HIS ACTIONS.
AFTER ALL, WHAT ELSE
COULD COMPEL A PERSON
TO COMMIT SUCH HORRIBLE ACTS?
IF NOT INSANITY, THEN WHAT?
IN NEW YORK STATE,
IN ORDER FOR A DEFENDANT
TO PROVE TO A JURY
THAT THEY'RE INSANE--
THE BURDEN OF PROOF
IS ON THE DEFENDANT--
HE'S GOT TO PROVE
ONE OF TWO THINGS;
EITHER THAT AT THE TIME
HE COMMITTED THE HOMICIDE
OR HOMICIDES
HE DIDN'T KNOW THE NATURE
OR CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS
OR HE HAS TO PROVE
THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT HE WAS DOING WAS WRONG.
IF A DEFENDANT CAN PROVE
EITHER OF THOSE TWO THINGS
THEN THE JURY WOULD BE BOUND
TO FIND HIM INSANE.
FOR IN RETROSPECT, IT SIGNALED
THE BEGINNING OF A NIGHTMARE
THAT HAUNTED THIS COMMUNITY
FOR 21 MONTHS.
THE MOST DAMNING EVIDENCE
WILL COME
FROM THE DEFENDANT'S OWN MOUTH.
Narrator:
RATHER THAN A MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS, INSANITY IS A LEGAL CONCEPT
UPON WHICH PSYCHIATRISTS
ARE ASKED TO GIVE OPINIONS.
THE DEFENSE CHOSE DR. DOROTHY
LEWIS TO PRESENT ITS CLAIM.
IT ISN'T A POWERFUL CUE
IN THAT IT DOESN'T TELL
A PERSON WHAT TO SAY...
Siragusa:
WHAT DR. LEWIS TRIED TO CONVEY TO THE JURY
BASED ON HER OPINION
WAS THE FACT
THAT ARTHUR SHAWCROSS
BECAUSE OF WHAT
SHE REFERRED TO
AS POSTTRAUMATIC
STRESS SYNDROME
AND EXTREME EPISODES
OF DISSOCIATION
AND BECAUSE OF ORGANIC DAMAGE
THAT SHE DIAGNOSED
AS COMPLEX PARTIAL SEIZURES
WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE WHEN
HE KILLED ANY OF THE TEN WOMEN.
TOWARD THAT END, SHE ATTEMPTED
TO CONVINCE THE JURY
THROUGH THE USE OF VIDEOTAPES
IN WHICH SHE SUPPOSEDLY
HYPNOTIZED SHAWCROSS
THAT HE HAD UNDERGONE
IN HIS YOUTH
SEVERE SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE
AT THE HANDS OF HIS MOTHER.
Oh!
( groaning )
I can't walk.
Lewis:
Why can't you walk, Arty?
I can't get up.
Why can't you
get up, Arty?
Why?
Shawcross:
My back hurts.
Lewis:
HE WAS IN A PECULIAR STATE
AT THE TIME THAT HE
COMMITTED HIS ACTS.
SO THAT I THINK THERE'S
A GOOD QUESTION
REGARDING WHETHER HE REALLY KNEW
WHAT HE WAS DOING
AT THE TIME THAT
HE WAS DOING IT.
I KNEW FROM MATERIALS
THAT HIS ATTORNEYS HAD SENT ME
THAT HE HAD A CYST
IN THE ANTERIOR PART
OF HIS TEMPORAL LOBE.
THAT KIND OF DAMAGE COULD
CERTAINLY PRODUCE EPISODES
OF INTENSE FEELING, AND POSSIBLY
EPISODES OF EXTREME VIOLENCE
FOR WHICH MEMORY WOULD BE
CLOUDED OR IMPAIRED OR ABSENT.
Narrator:
THE PROSECUTION CALLED ON DR. PARK DIETZ
WHO ALSO EXAMINED SHAWCROSS.
Shawcross:
Do you fail to realize what I said earlier?
I said I used
a jackknife on one.
I remember that.
And a saw on the other.
There was
only two of them.
There wasn't any other
time you used a hacksaw?
( clears throat )
Why are you trying
to get me mad?
Dietz:
NONE OF THE SERIAL KILLERS
THAT I'VE HAD OCCASION
TO STUDY OR EXAMINE
HAVE BEEN LEGALLY INSANE,
BUT NONE HAS BEEN NORMAL EITHER.
THEY'VE ALL BEEN PEOPLE
WHO HAVE GOT MENTAL DISORDERS
BUT DESPITE THEIR MENTAL
DISORDERS, WHICH HAVE TO DO
WITH THEIR SEXUAL INTERESTS
AND THEIR CHARACTER
THEY'VE BEEN PEOPLE WHO KNEW
WHAT THEY WERE DOING
KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING
WAS WRONG
BUT CHOSE TO DO IT ANYWAY
BECAUSE THIS FOR THEM WAS
THE ULTIMATE SEXUAL EXPERIENCE.
THE FACT THAT SHAWCROSS
MADE SURE THAT NO ONE WAS AROUND
WHEN HE KILLED HIS VICTIMS
IS INDICATIVE THAT HE KNEW
WHAT HE WAS DOING.
THE FACT THAT DURING THIS TIME
WHEN THE KILLINGS WERE GOING ON
HE COULD HOLD DOWN A JOB
WITHOUT ANY APPARENT
MALFUNCTIONING AT HIS WORK
HE WAS ABLE TO CARRY ON
A RELATIONSHIP
WITH HIS WIFE AND CLARA NEAL
I THINK ARE ALL FACTORS, APART
FROM THE PSYCHIATRIC EVIDENCE
THAT SPEAK TO AN INDIVIDUAL WHO
KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DOING.
...COLD, CALCULATING
AND REMORSELESS
FOR WHOM KILLING WAS NOT
AN EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE
BUT, IN THE DEFENDANT'S
OWN WORDS
"BUSINESS AS USUAL."
Narrator:
THE TRIAL LASTED MORE THAN FIVE WEEKS.
THE JURY DELIBERATED
LESS THAN ONE DAY.
THE VERDICT: GUILTY OF MURDER
IN THE SECOND DEGREE
ON ALL CHARGES.
THE SENTENCE: 250 YEARS TO LIFE
IN THE STATE PENITENTIARY.
THE CONVICTION
OF ARTHUR SHAWCROSS
RAISES A FINAL QUESTION
ABOUT SUCH VICIOUS KILLERS:
WHAT TO DO WITH THEM.
AFTER ALL, SHAWCROSS,
LIKE MANY OTHER SERIAL KILLERS
HAD ALREADY MURDERED
TWO CHILDREN.
Wright:
WE'VE SEEN MANY CASES
WHERE THESE PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN PUT INTO PRISON.
THEY'VE BEEN "REHABILITATED,"
PUT BACK OUT INTO SOCIETY
MANY YEARS LATER, AND THEY
CONTINUE DOING THE SAME THING.
WE TRULY BELIEVE
THAT REHABILITATION IS
IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE,
IT'S EXTREMELY DIFFICULT
AND WE REALLY BELIEVE
THAT SOCIETY
HAS TO BE PROTECTED
FROM THESE PEOPLE.
I THINK THAT IT DOES
VERY BAD THINGS FOR OUR SOCIETY
IF WE BECOME A MINDLESS
KIND OF GROUP OF PEOPLE
WHO DOESN'T CARE WHY
SOMEONE DID WHAT HE DID
AND THINKS ONLY IN TERMS
OF PUNISHING THE INDIVIDUAL
OR OF DOING AWAY WITH HIM.
I THINK THAT IF WE'RE
GOING TO BE A HUMANE SOCIETY
WE HAVE TO PROTECT OURSELVES,
BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT MADE THESE PEOPLE
THE WAY THEY ARE
AND THEN I WOULD SAY
WORK VERY HARD
TO PREVENT CREATING
MORE PEOPLE LIKE THAT.
WHAT I HAVE TO FEEL,
AND WHAT MY PEOPLE HAVE TO FEEL
WE HAVE TO PUT OURSELVES
IN THE SHOES OF THE VICTIMS
SO WHAT I FLASH BACK TO
IS A VICTIM
WHO'S BEGGING FOR THE LIFE.
I HAVE TAPES OF VICTIMS
WHO ARE BEING MURDERED
WHO ARE REGRESSING
IN THEIR BEHAVIOR
CALLING OUT
FOR THEIR MOMMIES AND DADDIES
AND BEGGING, "PLEASE, GOD,
PLEASE DON'T KILL ME"
BUT THEY KILL THEM.
WHEN I SEE THE DAY OF EXECUTION
AND THE LITTLE VIGILS
OUTSIDE OF THE PENITENTIARY
I MAY FOR A SECOND FEEL SORRY
BUT THEN I WANT TO PULL OUT
THE FILE JACKET OF THESE GUYS.
I WANT TO LOOK AT THOSE
CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHS.
I WANT TO LOOK AT
THAT AUTOPSY PROTOCOL
AND THOSE AUTOPSY PHOTOGRAPHS.
I WANT TO SEE THE INTERVIEWS
OF THE VICTIMS AND THE FAMILIES
PUT MYSELF BACK
INTO THAT VICTIM.
SO I HAVE NO SYMPATHY AT ALL
FOR THESE PEOPLE.
Wright:
THE CASES THAT COME TO US
ARE CERTAINLY
THE WORST OF THE WORST.
WE SEE WHAT SOME HUMAN BEINGS
HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF DOING
TO THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS
AND IT ALMOST DEFIES
DESCRIPTION.
IT'S NOT PLEASANT WORK.
IT'S NOT PLEASANT MATERIAL
THAT WE DEAL WITH
ON A DAILY BASIS
BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK
WE ALL GET
SOME SATISFACTION OUT OF
AND WE HAVE TO TAKE
THAT PERSONAL SATISFACTION
FOR EVERYTHING
WE CAN GET FROM IT.
Narrator:
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS MUST GRAPPLE
WITH THE NEW REALITIES
OF THEIR WORK.
BRUTAL, SENSELESS ACTS
COMMITTED AGAINST
SEEMINGLY RANDOM STRANGERS
HAVE COME TO CHARACTERIZE
A PARTICULAR EVIL OF OUR AGE.
SERIAL KILLERS ARE BY DEFINITION
SUCCESSFUL KILLERS
WHO LEARN FROM
THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES
AS THEY GO ON TO INCREASINGLY
MORE GRUESOME CRIMES.
IT CAN ONLY BE HOPED
THAT THE MEN AND WOMEN
WHO STUDY AND HUNT THEM DOWN
ARE LEARNING EVEN FASTER.
DAVID BERKOWITZ, THE SON OF SAM
SHOT AT LEAST SIX YOUNG LOVERS
IN NEW YORK CITY.
ALBERT DeSALVO
RAPED AND STRANGLED
MORE THAN TEN WOMEN IN BOSTON.
AND WITH 13 GRISLY MURDERS
IN NORTH CENTRAL ENGLAND
PETER SUTCLIFFE BECAME KNOWN
AS THE YORKSHIRE RIPPER.
SERIAL KILLERS
GRIP THE PUBLIC'S ATTENTION
AND CONFRONT OUR
OWN PRIVATE DREAD.
THEY COME IN ALL SHAPES...
AND SIZES...
FROM EVERY WALK OF LIFE.
THEY'RE OFTEN INTELLIGENT
AND RESOURCEFUL.
THEY ARE NOT DRIVEN
BY SUCH CONVENTIONAL MOTIVES
AS REVENGE, GREED,
JEALOUSY, PROFIT
SO THEY DO NOT RESPOND
TO SUCH CONVENTIONAL EMOTIONS
AS GUILT OR REMORSE.
THEY ARE, THEREFORE,
VERY DIFFICULT TO CATCH.
( police siren blares )
SINCE 1960, THE MURDER RATE
IN THE UNITED STATES
HAS ALMOST DOUBLED.
NOW APPROXIMATELY 55 PEOPLE
ARE SLAIN EACH DAY
AND THE NUMBER OF MASS,
SPREE AND SERIAL MURDERS--
CRIMES GENERALLY COMMITTED
AGAINST TOTAL STRANGERS--
HAS INCREASED STEADILY
AND ALARMINGLY.
SPECIAL AGENT JAMES WRIGHT
SUPERVISES THE INVESTIGATIVE
ANALYSIS PROGRAM
OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU
OF INVESTIGATION.
Wright:
BACK IN THE 1960s, THE SOLUTION RATE FOR HOMICIDE
IN THE UNITED STATES
WAS OVER 90%.
THE SOLUTION RATE LAST YEAR
WAS 68%.
WE'RE NOT SEEING
THE TYPE OF CRIME
THAT IS COMMITTED BETWEEN
TWO PEOPLE THAT KNOW EACH OTHER.
WE'RE GETTING MORE AND MORE INTO
TO STRANGER-TYPES OF CRIMES.
THOSE ARE THE MOST
BAFFLING TYPES
BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE
A READY POOL OF SUSPECTS
AND VERY OFTEN WE DON'T HAVE
A MOTIVE FOR THESE CRIMES--
NOT AN OBVIOUS MOTIVE.
( trainer shouts command )
( runners grunt as they rise )
Narrator:
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
MUST CONFRONT
THE REALITY OF THESE TRENDS
AND SEEK WAYS
TO GRAPPLE WITH THEM.
AT THE F.B.I.'s NATIONAL ACADEMY
IN QUANTICO, VIRGINIA
ALL OF THE TRADITIONAL WEAPONS
ARRAYED AGAINST CRIME
ARE TAUGHT AND PRACTICED.
BUT NONTRADITIONAL CRIMES
REQUIRE NONTRADITIONAL METHODS
AND SERIAL KILLERS--
THOSE WHO KILL REPEATEDLY--
ARE PERHAPS THE MOST TERRIFYING
CHALLENGES OF ALL.
IN A SUITE OF OFFICES
TWO FLOORS BELOW THE GROUND
A SMALL AND ELITE GROUP KNOWN AS
THE INVESTIGATIVE SUPPORT UNIT
JOURNEYS INTO THE VERY
HEART OF DARKNESS--
INTO THE MINDS AND MOTIVATIONS
OF SERIAL KILLERS.
Man:
OVER THE WEEKEND WE HAD SEVERAL CASES CAME IN
SEVERAL OF WHICH ARE SERIAL
MURDER INVESTIGATIONS...
Narrator:
THE UNIT'S OBJECTIVE IN MORE THAN 1,000 CASES EACH YEAR:
INTERPRET BEHAVIORAL CLUES
LEFT AT A CRIME SCENE
TO COME UP WITH
A PERSONALITY PROFILE
OF AN UNKNOWN
AND ELUSIVE OFFENDER.
THEY JUST CAME UP WITH
ANOTHER BODY LAST WEEK
SO THEY'VE HAD FOUR KILLED
IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS.
Narrator:
THIS TECHNIQUE GREW OUT OF A PIONEERING STUDY BEGUN IN 1978
OF MULTIPLE MURDERERS
AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMINALS.
ITS KEY CONTRIBUTOR
WAS SPECIAL AGENT JOHN DOUGLAS
NOW THE UNIT'S CHIEF.
Douglas:
YOU INTERVIEW THE SUBJECTS, THEY'LL TELL YOU
THAT WHAT WAS REALLY APPEALING
TO THEM WAS THE HUNT--
THE HUNT AND TRYING TO LOOK
FOR THE VULNERABLE VICTIM.
AND ONCE THEY HAVE THAT VICTIM
AND THEY HAVE THAT VICTIM
UNDER THEIR CONTROL
THEY FEEL THE STRENGTH
OR THE POWER
AND TO CONTROL THE LIFE
OR DESTINY OF THIS VICTIM.
THEY BELIEVE THROUGHOUT THEIR
LIFE THEY HAVE BEEN MANIPULATED
THEY HAVE BEEN DOMINATED
AND CONTROLLED BY OTHERS.
THEY HAVE A VERY,
VERY POOR SELF-ESTEEM
SO HERE, FOR THIS ONE SITUATION
THAT WAS FUELED BY FANTASY
THAT THEY CAN GET A VICTIM,
THEY CAN BE IN CONTROL
THEY CAN ORCHESTRATE WHATEVER
THEY WANT TO DO TO THE VICTIM
AND THEY CAN DECIDE
WHETHER OR NOT
THIS VICTIM SHOULD LIVE OR DIE
OR HOW THE VICTIM SHOULD DIE--
IT'S UP TO THEM.
Narrator:
DOUGLAS AND HIS PARTNER ROBERT RESSLER
WENT INTO THE PRISONS AND
CONDUCTED EXTENSIVE INTERVIEWS
WITH THE MOST DANGEROUS
CRIMINALS
TO FIND OUT WHAT MADE THEM TICK.
OUT OF THE STUDY CAME A SYSTEM
TO UNDERSTAND AND CLASSIFY
TYPES OF KILLERS
AND OTHER VIOLENT OFFENDERS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE F.B.I. WAS ABLE TO LINK
WHAT WAS GOING ON
IN THE PERPETRATOR'S MIND
TO THE EVIDENCE HE LEFT
AT A CRIME SCENE.
Man:
RECENTLY IN COLORADO
A 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS DEPOSITED
OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
THE SAME SIGNATURE
KIND OF ASPECT
WITH THE WAY THE BODY
WAS DEPOSITED
THE TYPE OF LIGATURE
STRANGULATION...
Douglas:
THERE ARE COMMON DENOMINATORS WITH ALL OF THESE PEOPLE.
THEY COME FROM,
GENERALLY, BROKEN HOMES.
THEY'RE THE PRODUCT
OF SOME ABUSE.
AND BY THE TIME WE BEGIN
SEEING HIS FIRST KILL
HE'S SOMEWHERE IN HIS EARLY 20s.
HE HAS A BAD TRACK RECORD--
HE'S BEEN A BURGLAR
HE'S BEEN MAYBE INVOLVED
IN RAPE, OR RAPE ATTEMPTS
AND HE'S BEEN EXTREMELY
HOSTILE AND VIOLENT
TO AUTHORITY TYPE OF FIGURES.
Man:
THE BEST PREDICTOR OF FUTURE BEHAVIOR
OR FUTURE VIOLENT ACTING OUT,
IS A PAST HISTORY OF VIOLENCE.
Narrator:
THE JOURNEY INTO THE MIND OF THE VIOLENT OFFENDER
REMAINS AN ONGOING QUEST
OF DISCOVERY.
WHAT IS LEARNED IS THEN TAUGHT
IN THE F.B.I. ACADEMY'S
CLASSROOMS.
JUST AS AN OFFENDER
LEAVES FINGERPRINTS
OR OTHER PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
AT THE SCENE OF A CRIME
THE F.B.I. LOOKS FOR HIS
PERSONALITY PRINT AS WELL.
THEY'RE SUSPICIOUS OF OTHERS
THEY'RE PARANOID,
OVERLY SENSITIVE...
Narrator:
INVESTIGATORS ARE TRAINED
TO INTERPRET
THIS BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE
TO CREATE A PROFILE
OF THE UNKNOWN OFFENDER.
THIS TECHNIQUE CAN HELP POLICE
NARROW THEIR LIST OF SUSPECTS
AND SOMETIMES
SUGGEST ACTIVE STRATEGIES
TO CATCH THE PERPETRATOR.
AT THIS SCENE, A MILDLY
HANDICAPPED TEACHER
WAS FOUND BRUTALLY BEATEN,
RAPED AND STRANGLED
ON THE STAIR LANDING
OF HER APARTMENT BUILDING.
SHE WAS ATTACKED IN THE MORNING
IN A HIGH-TRAFFIC AREA
AND WAS KNOCKED OUT
BEFORE BEING VIOLATED.
AFTER DEATH,
HER BODY WAS MUTILATED
AND DISPLAYED
IN A RITUALISTIC FASHION.
Man:
WE'VE YET TO SEE A CASE
INVOLVING THIS KIND
OF POSTMORTEM MUTILATION
WHERE YOU HAD A BLACK
OR AN HISPANIC PERSON.
THIS SEEMS TO BE THE PURVIEW
OF WHITE MEN
AND THE MANNER
IN WHICH THEY KILL...
Narrator:
SPECIAL AGENT JUDSON RAY
BRINGS HIS EXPERIENCE
AS A POLICEMAN
TO HIS PROFILING WORK.
Ray:
THE FACT THAT THIS WAS A MILDLY CRIPPLED VICTIM
AND ALSO THE PERPETRATOR
HAD TO RENDER
THIS INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS
BEFORE HE BEGAN HIS ACTIVITIES
SUGGESTED TO US
A KIND OF INADEQUACY
ON THE PART OF THIS PERPETRATOR;
A PERSON WHO'S NOT
VERY, VERY SURE
A PERSON WHO PERHAPS
REQUIRES BEING ALONE A LOT
AND IS NOT VERY,
VERY COMFORTABLE
IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHER PEOPLE.
THE FACT THAT THIS CRIME
OCCURRED IN THE DAYTIME--
IT WAS A VERY HIGH-RISK MANEUVER
FOR THE OFFENDER--
SUGGESTED TO US THAT
THIS INDIVIDUAL HAD AT LEAST
A PASSING FAMILIARITY
WITH THE APARTMENT BUILDING.
THE FACT THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL
WAS OUT AT THIS TIME OF THE DAY
SUGGESTED TO US THAT
HE WAS NOT GAINFULLY EMPLOYED
THAT HE WAS PROBABLY
LIVING IN A RELATIONSHIP
DEPENDENT UPON PARENTS
OR SOME OTHER
SIGNIFICANT PERSON IN HIS LIFE.
THIS WOMAN WAS KILLED
BY LIGATURE STRANGULATION
AND THE ITEM USED TO FASTEN
THE LIGATURE WAS FROM HER PURSE.
THIS SUGGESTED TO US
THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL
HAD NO PLAN OF KILLING,
AND PROBABLY WAS NOT AWARE
THAT HE WOULD COME INTO CONTACT
WITH THIS INDIVIDUAL
ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY.
THERE WAS A UNIQUE ASPECT
OF THIS CRIME:
THE PERPETRATOR TOOK THE
EARRINGS FROM THE VICTIM'S EARS
AND SYMMETRICALLY PLACED THEM
EQUAL DISTANCE FROM HER HEAD.
THIS INDICATED TO US
THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL
PERHAPS MAY HAVE BEEN SUFFERING
SOME SORT OF PSYCHOSIS;
CERTAINLY SOME MENTAL DISORDER
THAT WOULD ALLOW THE POLICE
TO FURTHER NARROW THE FOCUS
ON A PARTICULAR KIND OF SUSPECT.
Narrator:
THE POLICE CHECKED LOCAL MENTAL HOSPITALS
AND FOUND ONE MAN WHO HAD
LEFT WITHOUT PERMISSION
THE DAY OF THE MURDER.
HIS FATHER HAD ONCE LIVED IN
THE VICTIM'S APARTMENT BUILDING
AND IN VIRTUALLY
EVERY OTHER RESPECT
HE MATCHED THE F.B.I.'s PROFILE
PRECISELY.
HE WAS ARRESTED, TRIED,
AND FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER.
THE PROGRAM BEGAN
IN THE LATE 1970s
WHEN WE BEGAN CONDUCTING
THE RESEARCH.
WITHIN THE F.B.I. THERE
WERE STILL A LOT OF SKEPTICS
AND IT REALLY WASN'T
UP UNTIL ABOUT 1982
IN THE WAYNE v. WILLIAMS CASE
IN ATLANTA
THAT WE REALLY GOT
A NAME FOR OURSELVES.
WE WENT ON-SITE, WE DID
AN ANALYSIS, WE DID A PROFILE
THAT DESCRIBED HIM
RIGHT DOWN TO A "T."
Narrator:
IN 1982, ATLANTA WAS A CITY UNDER SIEGE.
DOUGLAS WENT TO THE SITE
WHERE EACH OF MORE
THAN 20 BLACK CHILDREN
HAD BEEN FOUND SMOTHERED
AND STRANGLED.
COULD THIS BE
SOME TYPE OF A CONSPIRACY?
COULD WE HAVE MULTIPLE
OFFENDERS INVOLVED?
COULD WE BE DEALING
WITH SOME TYPE OF GROUP--
THE KU KLUX KLAN
OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF GROUP
WHO HAS HATRED TOWARDS BLACKS?
GENERALLY WITH
THOSE TYPES OF CASES
THE CRIME SCENES ARE VERY
SYMBOLIC-- WE DIDN'T SEE THAT.
Narrator:
DOUGLAS FELT A WHITE PERSON
PROWLING THESE
BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS
COULD NOT HAVE AVOIDED NOTICE,
AND THAT TOLD HIM SOMETHING.
BUT HE ALSO KNEW
THAT THE CHOICE OF VICTIM
COULD TELL HIM EVEN MORE
ABOUT THE TYPE OF MURDERER.
Douglas:
TO UNDERSTAND THE VICTIM
THAT REQUIRES
REINTERVIEWING FAMILY MEMBERS
AND PEOPLE WHO WERE VERY,
VERY CLOSE TO THAT VICTIM
SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND
THE DYNAMICS THAT IS GOING ON
BETWEEN THE VIOLENT OFFENDER
AND THE VICTIM
AT THE TIME OF THE ASSAULT.
Narrator:
AMONG CERTAIN VICTIMS, A COMMON PROFILE EMERGED:
YOUNG, ADVENTURESOME MALES,
CURIOUS AND INQUISITIVE CHILDREN
SUSCEPTIBLE TO A COME-ON
OR A CON FROM THE RIGHT PERSON.
AND THAT PERSON,
DOUGLAS BELIEVED
WOULD BE A BLACK MALE
IN HIS EARLY 20s
HOMOSEXUALLY ATTRACTED
TO THE BOYS
AND CLEVER ENOUGH
TO GAIN THEIR TRUST.
SOMEONE THIS INTELLIGENT AND
MANIPULATIVE, DOUGLAS SURMISED
WOULD FOLLOW THE INVESTIGATION
PLAYING A CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME
WITH THE POLICE.
Douglas:
WE BEGAN SEEING THAT ANYTIME SOMEONE WOULD TALK TO THE PRESS
THE MEDICAL EXAMINERS OR POLICE,
HE WOULD RESPOND TO THAT
AND HE WOULD RESPOND BY
PRESENTING ANOTHER BODY TO US
AND NOW THE BODIES WERE FOUND
IN OPEN VIEW, ALONGSIDE OF ROADS
WHERE HE WANTED US
TO FIND THE VICTIMS.
Narrator:
THEN WHEN THE MEDICAL EXAMINER ANNOUNCED THAT
HAIR AND FIBER EVIDENCE
HAD BEEN FOUND
DOUGLAS PREDICTED
THE NEXT BODIES
WOULD SHOW UP IN THE RIVER
WHERE THE WATER
WOULD WASH AWAY CLUES.
A STAKEOUT WAS MOUNTED.
WAYNE B. WILLIAMS, A SELF-STYLED
MUSIC PROMOTER AND POLICE BUFF
WAS APPREHENDED ON A BRIDGE
OVER THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER
WHERE ANOTHER BODY
WAS SOON DISCOVERED.
HAIR AND FIBER
FROM WILLIAMS' HOME
MATCHED SAMPLES
FROM 12 OF THE VICTIMS--
THE ONLY 12 DOUGLAS
ASSOCIATES WITH WAYNE WILLIAMS.
DURING THE TRIAL
WILLIAMS APPEARED
SYMPATHETIC AND BELIEVABLE
SO THE PROSECUTION TURNED
TO DOUGLAS'S PERSONALITY PROFILE
IN AN EFFORT TO CONVICT HIM.
Douglas:
WHAT I SUGGESTED TO THE PROSECUTORS
WAS TO DO
A "THIS IS YOUR LIFE" STORY.
I WANTED TO INFRINGE
UPON HIS BODY SPACE;
I WANTED THE PROSECUTOR
TO GET IN BETWEEN THE JURORS
AND WAYNE WILLIAMS
AND I WANT HIM TO BE
VERY METHODICAL
AND VERY LOW
IN HIS SPEAKING VOICE
AND AT ONE POINT I WANT YOU TO
SAY, "WHAT WAS IT LIKE, WAYNE?
"WHAT WAS IT LIKE, WAYNE,
WHEN YOU WRAPPED YOUR FINGERS
"AROUND ONE
OF THE VICTIM'S THROATS?
DID YOU PANIC?"
AND WILLIAMS SAID, "NO."
BUT THEN HE CAUGHT HIMSELF
AND HE WENT INTO A RAGE
AND SCREAMING AND YELLING,
AND HE STARTED SAYING
"I KNOW YOU'VE GOT THAT F.B.I.
PROFILE OVER THERE
BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET ME
TO FIT THAT PROFILE."
ATLANTA IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE
OF HOW A SINGLE PERSON
CAN LEAVE A TRAIL OF HUMAN
DEVASTATION IN HIS WAKE.
AND THE F.B.I. BELIEVES THERE
IS HARDLY A MAJOR JURISDICTION
IN THE UNITED STATES
THAT HAS NOT BEEN TRAUMATIZED
BY SERIAL KILLERS.
WHEN THE BODIES
OF TWO PROSTITUTES
TURNED UP IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
IT DIDN'T CREATE MUCH OF A STIR.
IT WAS A ROUTINE INVESTIGATION
FOR CAPTAIN LYNDE JOHNSTON
AND HIS OFFICERS AND DETECTIVES.
Johnston:
IT STARTED VERY QUIETLY.
THE POLICE WERE CONCERNED
BUT THERE'S A CERTAIN NUMBER
OF HOMICIDES WITH PROSTITUTES
THAT HAPPEN EVERY YEAR
BECAUSE OF THE NATURE
OF THEIR BUSINESS.
IT'S NOT UNUSUAL TO HAVE
TWO OR THREE BODIES
THAT ARE HOMICIDE-RELATED
WITH PROSTITUTES A YEAR.
Reporter:
IT STARTED IN MARCH 1988 WITH THE SHOOTING DEATH...
Johnston:
AND THESE WERE SPREAD OUT.
THEY WERE IN THE CITY,
IN THE COUNTY.
THERE WERE LITTLE...
METHODS WERE DIFFERENT--
ONE WAS ASPHYXIATED,
THE OTHER ONE WAS SHOT--
SO THERE DIDN'T SEEM TO BE
A CLEAR-CUT PATTERN.
Reporter:
IT WAS ANOTHER SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE NEXT VICTIM...
Johnston:
AND THEN THERE CAME A TIME
IN WHICH A SKELETONIZED BODY WAS
FOUND DOWN IN THE RIVER GORGE.
COULDN'T FIND OUT WHO SHE WAS.
IT WAS REAL HARD
TO START AN INVESTIGATION
NOT EVEN KNOWING
WHO THE VICTIM WAS.
ANOTHER ONE SHOWS UP
DOWN AT THE GORGE--
ANOTHER SKELETONIZED BODY--
THEN THERE WAS ANOTHER
PROSTITUTE THAT ENDED UP DEAD
BEHIND THE Y.M.C.A.
THERE SEEMED TO BE
A LITTLE CLUSTER GOING.
Narrator:
PATRICIA IVES WAS YOUNG AND PRETTY
AND THE FOURTH VICTIM FOUND
IN ROCHESTER'S SCENIC
GENESEE RIVER GORGE.
Johnston:
WHEN PATTY IVES WAS FOUND
THE POLICE WERE REALLY CONCERNED
FOR THIS REASON:
YOU HAD FOUR BODIES DOWN THERE
AND WHETHER THEY'RE RELATED
OR NOT AT THAT POINT
THERE WERE SOME SIMILARITIES
AND THERE WAS A CONCERN
THAT IF IT WASN'T A SERIAL
SOMEBODY WAS DOING MORE THAN ONE
OF THESE KILLINGS.
Narrator:
THE INVESTIGATORS SEARCHED FOR LINKS BETWEEN THE CASES
SIFTING THE SCANT EVIDENCE
FOR ANY LEAD.
Johnston:
YOU RUN THROUGH YOUR FILES OF PEOPLE
THAT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED
IN SEX-TYPE MURDERS.
WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR CASES AGAIN
TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T
OVERLOOK ANYTHING
LOOKING FOR COMMONALITIES
BETWEEN CASES.
THEN GO OVER EVERYTHING
WITH A FINE-TOOTH COMB.
YOU PICTURE IN YOUR MIND
WHAT THE PERSON COULD LOOK LIKE
BUT YOU REALLY CAN'T.
Narrator:
THE BADLY DECOMPOSED BODIES
OFFERED VIRTUALLY NOTHING
IN THE WAY OF FORENSIC CLUES.
AND THEN A FIFTH BODY
WAS DISCOVERED IN THE GORGE.
Man:
THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ONE IS THAT SHE WAS REASONABLY FRESH
COMPARED TO THE OTHER ONES
WHICH WERE EITHER DECOMPOSED
OR DEAD FOR QUITE SOME TIME
AND THERE WASN'T ANYTHING THAT
WE COULD HAVE DONE WITH THEM
FOR ANY TYPE OF EVIDENCE.
Narrator:
OFFICER ROBERT GARLAND HAD BEEN THE CRIME-SCENE TECHNICIAN
IN EACH
OF THE PROSTITUTE KILLINGS.
Garland:
WE'D FOUND HER WAY DOWN THE HILL DOWN HERE
AND IT'S SO STEEP HERE WE HAD
TO CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
AND THEY USED ROPES
TO PUT HER IN A BASKET
TO DRAG HER UP HERE.
WE WERE VERY HOPEFUL
THAT WE WOULD GET SOME
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OFF THE BODY.
UNFORTUNATELY WE HAD
TOTALLY NEGATIVE RESULTS.
Reporter:
FEAR AND ANXIETY
HAS AREA PROSTITUTES
DRAWING THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS.
ONE OF THE RUMORS
ON THE STREETS IS
IT'S A JOHN WHO CAUGHT AIDS
AND IS STRIKING BACK.
Woman:
MAYBE A GUY DON'T KNOW WHICH GIRL BURNT HIM
SO HE'S TAKING THEM OUT
ONE BY ONE.
Johnston:
WHEN BODIES STARTED TO COME AT A LITTLE MORE RAPID RATE
WE BROUGHT IN SOME PEOPLE
FROM QUANTICO, VIRGINIA--
THE F.B.I.--
TO LOOK AT THESE CASES FOR US
AT THE BEHAVIOR,
AND TO LOOK AT IT AS OUTSIDERS
THAT COULD SIT BACK
A LITTLE MORE CALMLY
THINK ABOUT IT
A LITTLE MORE RATIONALLY
AND PAINT US A PICTURE,
IF YOU WILL
OF WHO OUR OFFENDER MIGHT BE.
FREEZE, F.B.I.!
PUT YOUR HANDS UP.
Man 1:
NOW, DON'T MOVE.
Man 2:
DON'T MOVE.
OKAY?
Narrator:
THE CASE CAME TO SPECIAL AGENT GREGG McCRARY
IN WHOSE TERRITORY
ROCHESTER FELL.
HIGHLY TRAINED IN TRADITIONAL
INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES
McCRARY HAD ALSO SPENT YEARS
DISCIPLINING HIS MIND AND BODY
THROUGH THE ORIENTAL MARTIAL ART
OF SHORINJI KEMPO.
IT'S A CASE INVOLVING
A SERIES OF HOMICIDES
IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,
OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
Narrator:
AT HIS UNIT'S MORNING CONFERENCE
HE REPORTED THE FACTS
TO HIS COLLEAGUES.
WE'VE GOT
A SERIES OF CRIMES...
McCrary:
WE TOLD CAPTAIN JOHNSTON
WE NEEDED A SUMMARY
OF THE INVESTIGATION;
THE CRIME-SCENE PHOTOS,
WE NEEDED VICTIMOLOGY--
AS MUCH ABOUT EACH OF THESE
VICTIMS AS THEY COULD TELL US--
BECAUSE WE HAD TO LOOK
AT THESE CRIMES
FROM THE OFFENDER'S PERSPECTIVE
IN THE ORDER THAT THE OFFENDER
HAD ENCOUNTERED THESE VICTIMS
AND COMMITTED THE CRIMES
AND THAT WOULD GIVE US
THE PATTERN;
THAT WOULD ALLOW US
TO SEE CHANGES, PATTERNS
IN THE ACTIVITY OF THE OFFENDER.
McCrary:
THE NEXT ONE I BELIEVE TO BE
THE FIRST
TO BE RELATED HERE
DEALS WITH A WHITE
FEMALE PROSTITUTE
NAMED DOROTHY BLACKBURN.
MANY OF THE VICTIMS
YOU'RE GOING TO SEE
ARE RIGHT DOWNTOWN
IN THE RIVER GORGE AREA.
THE SIMILARITY HERE, THOUGH
DEALS WITH DUMPING
THE BODY IN WATER.
THAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE
TIME AND AGAIN HERE.
Douglas:
DID HE WEIGHT HER DOWN IN THE WATER?
NO.
THESE ARE NOT THE AREAS
THEY WOULD GO TO--
WHERE WE'RE FINDING
THESE VICTIMS?
NO, NO, IT'S NOT.
OBVIOUSLY
THE OFFENDER'S GOT A CAR.
THEY'RE GETTING IN A CAR.
HAS THERE BEEN A LOT
OF PUBLICITY HERE?
HAS THIS BEEN
CONNECTED IN THE MEDIA?
EVERY DAY.
EVERY DAY.
I THINK THERE DEFINITELY IS
A SERIAL KILLER WORKING HERE.
HE'S A WHITE MALE.
THE VICTIMS ARE
PREDOMINANTLY WHITE.
WE HAVE A CORE GROUP HERE OF
HOMICIDES I FEEL ARE RELATED.
HE'S VERY COMFORTABLE ON
THE STREET WITH HIS VICTIMS.
DOESN'T APPEAR OUT OF PLACE
IN THAT ENVIRONMENT.
( siren blaring )
Narrator:
AS McCRARY FOLLOWED THE UNFOLDING CASE
ROCHESTER POLICE STEPPED UP
THEIR PATROLS AND SURVEILLANCE.
DETECTIVE LEONARD BORRIELLO WAS
ONE OF THE KEY INVESTIGATORS.
Borriello:
DURING THE PERIOD THAT THE GIRLS WERE BEING FOUND DEAD
OUR TACTICAL UNIT
WAS STRATEGICALLY PLACED
AROUND THE ENTIRE AREA
OBSERVING PROSTITUTES--
NOT ARRESTING THEM-- AND
TAKING DOWN THE PLATE NUMBERS
OF VEHICLES THEY WOULD GET INTO.
WE ASKED THE GIRLS
TO CALL US AND REPORT ANY--
ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY--
ANY KINKY INDIVIDUALS
THEY MIGHT HAPPEN ACROSS
THAT WOULD BE JUST
OUT OF THE ORDINARY.
( siren wailing )
McCrary:
ONE OF THE PROSTITUTES WORKING IN THE AREA
THESE VICTIMS DISAPPEARED
CAME TO THE POLICE
WITH INFORMATION ABOUT A JOHN
WHO WANTED HER TO PLAY DEAD.
HE, AS A MATTER OF FACT,
WAS SUFFERING OR EXPERIENCING
ERECTILE INSUFFICIENCY
PRIOR TO THAT
AND THEN ONLY
WHEN SHE PLAYED DEAD
WAS HE ABLE TO BE SEXUALLY
AROUSED AND GRATIFIED.
WE COULDN'T SAY THAT,
"THAT'S YOUR GUY"
BUT WHAT WE SAID IS,
"THAT'S THE TYPE OF THING.
"THAT'S THE TYPE OF BEHAVIOR
THAT WE EXPECT YOUR OFFENDER
TO SHOW."
HE WAS REAL NERVOUS,
AND THAT MADE ME NERVOUS
AND I CARRY A KNIFE
TO PROTECT MYSELF
AND I DO KNOW HOW TO USE IT
SO I JUST LET HIM KNOW
POINT BLANK THAT I HAD A WEAPON
AND THAT I WAS NERVOUS
THAT THERE WAS A SERIAL KILLER.
THE ONLY TIME HE WAS
REALLY ABUSIVE TO ME
IS WHEN I ASKED HIM
WHY WAS IT TAKING--
I HAD BEEN THERE
LIKE 40 MINUTES.
THAT'S WHEN HE SAID,
"IF YOU JUST PLAY DEAD, BITCH
WE'LL GET THIS OVER
IN A FEW MINUTES."
AND LITTLE THINGS KEPT CLICKING
AND THE HAIRS ON THE BACK
OF MY NECK STARTED STANDING UP
AND I SAID, "THIS IS THE GUY.
I JUST KNOW THIS IS THE GUY."
Reporter:
IT'S BECOMING A FAMILIAR SCENE FOR ROCHESTERIANS--
CITY POLICE, MEDICAL EXAMINER
AND A FEMALE BODY FOUND
HIDDEN IN A REMOTE AREA.
THE BODY, DESCRIBED AS A FAIRLY
HEAVYSET WHITE FEMALE
WAS DISCOVERED BY A MAN
WALKING HIS DOG
AROUND 11:00 THIS MORNING.
POLICE THINK THERE IS A CHANCE
IT MIGHT BE LINKED
TO THE OTHER BODIES
RECENTLY FOUND.
Johnston:
IT WAS THANKSGIVING DAY.
A VERY COLD DAY.
A VERY, VERY COLD DAY.
AND THE MEDICAL EXAMINER COMES,
AND WE PROCESS THE SCENE
AND WE FIND OUT THAT THE BODY
HAD BEEN EVISCERATED
AND CUT FROM THE NECK
TO THE VAGINA AREA
AND WE'RE CONCERNED,
VERY CONCERNED.
EVERYBODY THERE,
THEY'RE LOW, REAL LOW...
THE SPIRITUAL COLD,
THE THANKSGIVING DAY
ANOTHER DAY AWAY FROM THE FAMILY
AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT
THIS INDIVIDUAL'S UP TO--
HE SEEMS TO BE ESCALATING IN
THE TYPE OF ACTIVITY HE'S DOING.
Narrator:
JUNE STOTT WAS THE TENTH VICTIM FOUND--
THE FIRST WHO WAS
NOT A PROSTITUTE
AND THE FIRST WHOSE BODY
THE KILLER HAD MUTILATED
AFTER DEATH.
McCrary:
WHEN HER BODY WAS FOUND LATE IN NOVEMBER
THAT, I THINK FOR THE POLICE,
FOR THE INVESTIGATORS
WAS A LOW POINT.
THEY JUST REALLY FELT
THEY WERE LOOKING
INTO THE ABYSS AT THIS POINT.
FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW,
AS PARADOXICAL AS IT MAY SOUND
THAT WAS GOOD--
THAT WAS GOOD NEWS FOR US
BECAUSE WE HAD MORE BEHAVIOR
TO WORK WITH;
MORE BEHAVIOR TO ANALYZE.
McCrary:
JUNE STOTT IS ALSO THE FIRST VICTIM
WHERE WE HAVE AN EFFORT
AT POSTMORTEM EVISCERATION.
AND THE QUESTION IS, IS THIS...
IS THIS PART OF THE SAME SET?
IS THIS ANOTHER
OFFENDER WORKING?
IS THIS THE SAME OFFENDER NOW
LIVING OUT HIS FANTASY MORE
AND BECOMING MORE INVOLVED WITH
THESE BODIES AS TIME GOES ON?
Wright:
DO WE HAVE, IN THIS CASE
PRETTY MUCH THE SAME
MODUS OPERANDI
AS FAR AS WE KNOW
AS WITH THE OTHER CASES
THAT YOU THINK ARE CONNECTED?
WE'RE SEEING
A BIG CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR
BUT IS THERE ALSO A LOT
OF CONSISTENT BEHAVIOR?
YEAH, THERE IS.
I THINK THERE'S A LOT
OF CONSISTENT BEHAVIOR.
MY FEELING IS THAT THIS
IS PART OF THE SAME SERIES.
WE'VE GOT AN OFFENDER
THAT'S SPENDING
MORE AND MORE TIME WITH THESE VICTIMS.
AN EVOLUTION
ON HIS PART?
RIGHT, HE'S ACTING OUT
HIS FANTASY NOW.
MAYBE HE'S WANTED
TO DO THIS BEFORE
HE JUST HASN'T HAD THE TIME
OR FELT COMFORTABLE ENOUGH
TO DO IT.
HE'S NOW SPENDING TIME,
THE SAME TYPE OF VICTIM.
I THINK WE'LL SEE
WITH THE VICTIMS AFTER THIS
THAT THIS TYPE OF POSTMORTEM
MUTILATION WILL CONTINUE;
THAT THIS IS PART
OF ACTING OUT HIS FANTASY;
HE'S GOING TO CONTINUE
TO DO THIS SORT OF THING
WITH THE VICTIMS.
Narrator:
McCRARY WENT TO ROCHESTER IN EARLY DECEMBER
AND REPORTED HIS CONCLUSIONS
TO THE INVESTIGATION TEAM.
Man:
DO YOU THINK HE'S STILL GOING TO GO
FOR THE SAME TYPE OF INDIVIDUALS
LIKE PROSTITUTES?
McCrary:
YES, HE'S TARGETING VULNERABLE VICTIMS.
HE'S NOT AN ADEQUATE
ENOUGH INDIVIDUAL
TO GO AFTER A MORE
DIFFICULT TARGET.
McCrary:
OUR INITIAL ANALYSIS
AFTER A COUPLE DAYS
OF GOING THROUGH THE CASES
LED US TO BELIEVE THAT THIS
WOULD BE A LONE WHITE MALE.
THE AGE WOULD BE THIRTYISH.
THE VICTIMS WERE LATE 20s OR SO.
WE FELT THAT HE'D BE JUST
A LITTLE BIT OLDER PERHAPS
THAN THE VICTIMS.
THE CRIME SCENES THEMSELVES
REFLECTED AN INDIVIDUAL
WHO DID NOT PANIC.
THE RAGE WAS CONTROLLED.
THESE WERE METHODICAL,
PREDATORY KIND OF KILLS
THAT GENERALLY INDICATE
A CRIMINALLY EXPERIENCED
MORE MATURE TYPE OF OFFENDER.
WE FELT HE WOULD BE FAMILIAR
WITH THE ROCHESTER AREA;
BE FAMILIAR
WITH THE RIVER GORGE AREA.
COULD BE A FISHERMAN, A HUNTER.
THE DUMP SITES AND THINGS
THAT HE WERE CHOOSING
WOULD BE AREAS HE'D BE
COMFORTABLE AND FAMILIAR WITH.
HE'D BE A FUNCTIONAL INDIVIDUAL,
EMPLOYABLE
BUT THE EMPLOYMENT
WOULD BE MENIAL.
HE'S NOT A PERSON WHO HAS
A LOT OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS;
DOES NOT INTERACT WITH PEOPLE
IN DEPTH IN ANY WAY.
SUPERFICIALLY HE'D BE FINE,
HE'D BE OKAY TO GET ALONG WITH
AND TO HAVE A BEER
IN THE BAR WITH--
THERE'D BE NO REAL PROBLEM
THAT WAY.
CERTAINLY HE WAS DRIVING.
HE HAD ACCESS TO A CAR
AND THE CAR WOULD
REFLECT THE PERSONALITY.
THIS WOULD BE A FUNCTIONAL
KIND OF A VEHICLE;
NO NEW CAR OR SPORTS CAR.
THAT'S HOW HE WOULD DRESS.
THAT WOULD BE HIS DEMEANOR,
HIS CLOTHING--
A FUNCTIONAL KIND OF GUY.
WE TALKED WITH ROCHESTER POLICE.
THEY WERE STOPPING PEOPLE
THEY THOUGHT LOOKED SUSPICIOUS;
STOPPING TRANSVESTITES.
THEY STOPPED A GUY DRIVING
A VAN DRESSED UP AS A WOMAN
SO WE SAID,
"THAT'S NOT YOUR GUY."
THIS OFFENDER MAY APPEAR
ALMOST TRANSPARENT
TO THE OFFICERS ON THE STREET.
THEY'RE LOOKING
RIGHT THROUGH HIM.
THERE'S PANIC
AMONG THE PROSTITUTES
YET HE STILL HAS NO TROUBLE
OBTAINING VICTIMS.
THEY GET IN THE CAR WITH HIM.
WHY DO THEY?
BECAUSE THEY DON'T THINK
HE LOOKS LIKE THE GUY.
THEY DON'T THINK HE'S THE GUY.
Man:
GREGG, WHAT YOU'RE TELLING US IS
THIS GUY PROBABLY WILL
KILL AGAIN.
McCrary:
YES, HE WILL KILL AGAIN.
HE'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT GETTING
THE VICTIMS TO LEAVE WITH HIM
AND HE'LL CONTINUE AS LONG AS
HE FEELS COMFORTABLE DOING THAT.
Reporter:
THE BODY WAS DISCOVERED...
Narrator:
McCRARY'S PREDICTION PROVED CORRECT.
THE PATTERN OF KILLING CONTINUED
WITH ELIZABETH GIBSON--
ANOTHER PROSTITUTE.
BECAUSE PROSTITUTES LIVE
A DANGEROUS
AND VULNERABLE LIFESTYLE
THEY'RE AMONG THE MOST COMMON
VICTIMS OF SERIAL MURDERERS.
IT IS TEMPTING FOR MANY OF US
TO FEEL SECURE
IN OUR DISTANCE AND DETACHMENT.
THE MAN WHO IS GOING TO BECOME
A SERIAL KILLER
BEFORE THAT FIRST SEXUAL MURDER
ALREADY HAS A FANTASY SCENE
IN HIS MIND.
IT HAS ITS ORIGINS IN THINGS
THAT REALLY HAPPENED TO HIM
THINGS HE IMAGINED
HAPPENED TO HIM.
Narrator:
DR. PARK DIETZ, A FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST
HAS SPENT HIS CAREER
STUDYING THESE MEN
TRYING TO LEARN WHAT DRIVES THEM
TO THEIR HEINOUS ACTS.
THEY OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES
IN THE EARLY OFFENSES
THAT THEY LEARN FROM
AND TRY TO ENSURE THEY
DON'T MAKE IN LATER OFFENSES.
THEY OFTEN CHOOSE
MORE VULNERABLE VICTIMS
FOR THE EARLY OFFENSES
SUCH AS YOUNGER PEOPLE OR
PEOPLE WHO ARE PHYSICALLY FRAIL
WHEREAS LATER
THEY BECOME EMBOLDENED
AND TAKE ON
MORE POWERFUL PEOPLE.
THERE ARE SOME PATTERNS
ABOUT HOW THEIR CRIMES
PROGRESS OVER TIME.
WHAT IS ALWAYS THE CASE
FOR SEXUAL SERIAL KILLERS
IS THAT THE FANTASY EXISTS
BEFORE THE ACTION.
A STRIKING NUMBER
WILL HAVE TORTURED ANIMALS
IN SOME EXTRAORDINARY WAY
OR WILL HAVE BEEN VERY CRUEL
TO CHILDREN--
TYING THE NEIGHBOR TO A TREE
AND TORMENTING THE CHILD
AND INFLICTING VARIOUS HARM
ON THE CHILD.
SOMETHING THAT SETS THEM APART
FROM OTHER CHILDREN
WHICH IS AN EXPRESSION
OF THEIR EARLY AGGRESSION
AND WHICH SHOWS
THAT THEY'RE ALREADY
THINKING IN ADULT-LIKE WAYS
ABOUT DOING TERRIBLE THINGS.
Narrator:
DR. DOROTHY LEWIS--
A PSYCHIATRIST
AT BELLEVUE HOSPITAL
HAS AUTHORED MANY STUDIES
ON THE LINKS BETWEEN CHILDHOOD
VIOLENCE AND ADULT CRIME.
WHAT MOST OF THE
EXTRAORDINARILY VIOLENT
CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, ADULTS
HAVE IN COMMON
SEEMS TO BE A VULNERABILITY
TO IMPULSIVITY
TO PARANOID MISPERCEPTIONS, TO
DISTORTING WHAT IS AROUND THEM
BUT ALSO A HISTORY OF HAVING
BEEN SEVERELY PHYSICALLY ABUSED
SEVERELY... OFTEN SEVERELY
SEXUALLY ABUSED
OFTEN RAISED IN
AN EXTREMELY VIOLENT HOUSEHOLD.
AND AGAIN FROM
A PSYCHODYNAMIC POINT OF VIEW
YOU CREATE
A VERY, VERY ANGRY CHILD
AND YET VERY FEW OF THE KIDS
EVER ATTACK THE PERSON
WHO HAS ABUSED THEM.
IN FACT, MANY OF THEM
DON'T REMEMBER IT
PUT IT OUT OF THEIR HEADS
BUT THEY DISPLACE A LOT
OF THIS RAGE ONTO OTHER PEOPLE
IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT
SO THAT THE
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS ALONE
DON'T MAKE YOU VIOLENT.
PROBABLY THE ENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORS, IN AND OF THEMSELVES
DON'T MAKE YOU
A VERY VIOLENT PERSON.
WHEN YOU PUT THEM TOGETHER
YOU CREATE
A VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTER.
Narrator:
RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THERE IS NO PSYCHOLOGICAL FORMULA
FOR CREATING A SERIAL KILLER.
TED BUNDY GREW UP HANDSOME
AND WELL EDUCATED
CHARMING TO THOSE AROUND HIM,
AND KILLED AT LEAST 23 WOMEN
FROM WASHINGTON STATE
TO FLORIDA.
OTHERS COME FROM
DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS.
Douglas:
DAVID BERKOWITZ IS KNOWN AS THE SON OF SAM IN NEW YORK CITY.
HE WAS THE PRODUCT
OF AN ADOPTED FAMILY.
HE NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS.
HE WOULD LATER LEARN ABOUT THIS
AFTER HE GOT OUT OF THE MILITARY
AND BY THE WAY, HE HAD NO SEXUAL
RELATIONSHIPS WITH ANY FEMALES
THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE
UNTIL HE WENT TO KOREA
AND LO AND BEHOLD,
HE CONTRACTS V.D.
SO IT ADDS FURTHER HOSTILITY
TO WOMEN.
HE GOES BACK TO NEW YORK
TO LOOK FOR HIS MOTHER.
HE FINDS HIS MOTHER
AND HIS SISTER
IN LONG BEACH, LONG ISLAND,
AND MUCH TO HIS SURPRISE
THEY DON'T WANT
A THING TO DO WITH HIM.
AT THAT POINT,
HE BLOSSOMS AS A SERIAL KILLER.
SO HE PROCURES
A 44-CALIBER WEAPON--
A VERY STRONG, POWERFUL WEAPON.
HE GOES TO AREAS WHERE
HIS POTENTIAL VICTIMS
ARE PARKED IN LOVER'S LANES.
WHAT'S VERY, VERY INTERESTING IS
RATHER THAN GO
TO THE DRIVER'S SIDE
WHICH IS THE THREAT,
IT'S THE MALE PART
HE SHIFTS AROUND THE CAR
AND GOES TO THE PASSENGER SIDE
WHICH IS TELLING YOU
AS HE'S FIRING INTO THAT VEHICLE
IN A POLICE TYPE OF STANCE
THAT HIS HATRED IS DIRECTED
AT THE WOMAN.
THE MALE IS SIMPLY IN THE
WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME.
WHAT HE TOLD US,
WHICH WAS VERY INTERESTING
IS THAT HE'S ON THE HUNT NIGHTLY
LIKE SO MANY OF THESE GUYS.
WHEN THEY CANNOT FIND
THE VICTIM OF OPPORTUNITY
WHO'S GOING TO BE IN THE
WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME
THEY GO BACK TO THE AREAS
WHERE THEY'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL
IN THE PAST.
THEY GO BACK TO
THE CRIME SCENE AREAS.
THEY GO BACK TO
THE DISPOSAL AREAS
AND THEY SYMBOLICALLY
ROLL IN THE DIRT
AND RELIVE THAT FANTASY
OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
Reporter:
THE GRUESOME DISCOVERY WAS MADE THIS MORNING ON MEG STREET.
A MAN PULLED OUT HIS TRAILER
TO GO ON A HUNTING TRIP
AND FOUND THE BODY.
POLICE SAY IT WAS COVERED UP
BY LEAVES.
Narrator:
NOT ONLY DID JOHNSTON HAVE 11 HOMICIDES TO CONTEND WITH
MORE PROSTITUTES WERE MISSING.
Reporter:
THERE ARE THREE MISSING WHITE WOMEN FROM ROCHESTER.
Narrator:
BASED ON THE PROFILE EMERGING FROM THE EVIDENCE
McCRARY OFFERED ROCHESTER POLICE
A STRATEGY TO CATCH THE KILLER.
McCrary:
WE HAD MISSING PROSTITUTES
WHO WE FELT WERE POTENTIAL
VICTIMS OF THE OFFENDER.
WE KNOW THAT JUNE STOTT
HAD BEEN SUBJECTED
TO A POSTMORTEM MUTILATION.
WE KNOW IT'S NOT UNCOMMON
FOR THIS TYPE OF OFFENDER
TO HAVE SEX WITH SOME OF
THEIR VICTIMS ONCE THEY'RE DEAD.
WE FELT THAT THAT
MAY BE OCCURRING.
SO WE FELT THAT HE WAS BEING
DRAWN BACK TO THESE SITES.
IF THE POLICE COULD LOCATE
ONE OF THESE DUMP SITES
AND NOT TELL, AND THEN SURVEIL
THAT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME
AFTER THEY FOUND IT
THEY MAY WELL FIND THIS OFFENDER
RETURNING TO THAT SITE.
Narrator:
WITH THREE MISSING WOMEN PRESUMABLY DEAD
THE PROFILE INDICATED
THE KILLER WOULD BE DRAWN
BACK TO THE BODIES.
SO McCRARY'S STRATEGY LAY
IN FINDING AT LEAST ONE
AND THEN WAITING AND WATCHING.
Man:
WE'D BEEN SEARCHING IN WESTERN MONROE COUNTY FOR SEVERAL DAYS
CONCENTRATING ALONG WATER,
DITCHES AND ALONG ROADWAYS
WHERE SOME OF THE BODIES
HAD BEEN FOUND.
THE PILOTS HAD BEEN UP
SEVERAL TIMES
AND WERE STARTING
TO BE CONVINCED
THAT THE BODY WAS NOT IN THE
AREA THAT WE WERE SEARCHING.
THERE CAME A TIME
DURING THE SEARCH
THAT WE MADE A DECISION
TO FLY FROM NORTHAMPTON PARK
BACK TOWARDS THE CITY
OF ROCHESTER ALONG ROUTE 31.
WHILE FLYING ALONG ROUTE 31,
WE FINALLY SAW A BODY.
Narrator:
THE BODY WAS THAT OF JUNE CICERO
KNOWN AS THE MOST STREETWISE
PROSTITUTE IN THE AREA.
IF SHE COULD FALL VICTIM
TO THE KILLER, NO ONE WAS SAFE.
McCrary:
I WAS BACK AT QUANTICO WHEN I GOT A CALL
THAT A STATE HELICOPTER
HAD FLOWN OVER
AND FOUND A BODY
IN THE SALMON CREEK AREA
WHICH WAS THE SAME CREEK
THAT ONE OF THE FIRST VICTIMS--
DOROTHY BLACKBURN--
HAD BEEN DUMPED IN
AND THAT THERE WAS AN INDIVIDUAL
PARKED THERE ON THE ROADSIDE
RIGHT ABOVE,
ADJACENT TO THE BODY.
AS SOON AS
THE HELICOPTER APPEARED
THEY COULD SEE UNDERNEATH THEM
ABOUT 15 FEET DOWN
WAS A BODY,
AND A CAR WAS RIGHT ON TOP.
THE MAN SWUNG HIS LEGS
INTO THE CAR.
HE WAS ON THE PASSENGER SIDE.
THIS INDIVIDUAL FLED
WHEN THEY SAW THE NEW YORK STATE
POLICE HELICOPTER.
THEY HAD THEIR
PATROL UNITS CONVERGE
ON THE AREA THAT HE WENT IN,
LOCATED HIM, IDENTIFIED HIM.
IT WAS CONTAINED EXCITEMENT
ON MY PART.
YOU'RE ALWAYS HOPEFUL THAT IT'S
WORKED, THAT YOU'VE GOT THE GUY
BUT YOU'RE NOT SURE.
WE FOUND OUT THAT THE INDIVIDUAL
ON TOP OF THE BRIDGE
WAS A PERSON KNOWN TO US NOW
AS ARTHUR SHAWCROSS.
Narrator:
McCRARY'S TACTIC HAD PAID OFF.
THE KILLER HAD RETURNED
TO SEXUALLY MUTILATE
ANOTHER OF HIS VICTIMS.
POLICE FOLLOWED ARTHUR SHAWCROSS
TO NEARBY SPENCERPORT.
THEY STOPPED HIM
AT THE NURSING HOME
WHERE HIS GIRLFRIEND
CLARA NEAL WORKED.
HE WAS TAKEN
TO STATE POLICE BARRACKS
WHERE HE WAS INTERVIEWED
BY INSPECTOR DENNIS BLYTHE.
HE WAS VERY CALM
WHEN I TALKED WITH HIM.
OUR... I ASKED HIM,
"DO YOU NOW WHY...
DO YOU KNOW WHY WE STOPPED YOU,
AND WHY WE WANT TO TALK TO YOU?"
"WELL, I ASSUME IT'S BECAUSE I
DON'T HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE."
AND HE WAS VERY COOL
AND VERY CALM.
SO I ASKED HIM, "I'D LIKE...
YOU'VE BEEN VERY COOPERATIVE.
GEEZ, I'D REALLY LIKE
TO TAKE YOUR PICTURE."
"WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO THAT?"
"WELL, I JUST KNOW
YOU WANT TO COOPERATE."
"OH, OKAY, FINE."
AND SO AT THAT POINT I HAD
HIM STAND UP AGAINST THE WALL
AND I ASKED HIM, "SMILE,"
AND HE LET ME TAKE HIS PICTURE.
WE THEN TOOK THIS PICTURE
AND PUT IT IN WITH
FIVE OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS.
THEY SHOWED ME LIKE SIX PICTURES
IN A LITTLE COMPOSITE THING
AND THEY TOLD ME,
"TAKE YOUR TIME"
AND I SAID, "I DON'T HAVE TO
TAKE MY TIME, THIS IS THE GUY."
IT WAS HIM, YOU KNOW,
IT WAS HIM.
Narrator:
SHE NOT ONLY IDENTIFIED SHAWCROSS
AS THE MAN WHO HAD PICKED HER UP
BUT ALSO AS THE ONE ELIZABETH
GIBSON HAD BEEN RIDING WITH
THE NIGHT SHE WAS MURDERED.
McCrary:
WE FELT THAT THIS TYPE OF OFFENDER
WOULD NEED TO BE CONFRONTED
WITH EVIDENCE
THAT HE WOULD NOT CONFESS
UNLESS HE FELT STRONGLY
THAT THERE WAS EVIDENCE
LINKING HIM TO THE CRIME
THAT THIS WAS A MATURE,
EXPERIENCED OFFENDER.
HE WOULD NEED TO BE CONVINCED
THAT WE KNEW WHAT HE HAD DONE
AND WERE ABLE TO PROVE IT.
WE HAD A LOT OF AMMUNITION
TO QUESTION HIM ABOUT
REGARDING THE FIRST CASE,
WHICH WAS ELIZABETH GIBSON
WHICH WAS SUPPLIED
BY MISS VAN NOSTRAND.
IT WAS 28 MINUTES BEFORE
WE GOT THE FIRST CONFESSION.
IT WAS PROBABLY THE LONGEST 28
MINUTES I'VE EVER GONE THROUGH.
WE WERE BOTH VERY NERVOUS.
WE KNEW WE HAD THE KILLER,
BUT WE WANTED A CONFESSION SO BADLY.
YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHEN THAT
MOMENT IS THEY'RE AT THE TOP
AND THEY'RE READY TO GO OVER
AND WHAT BROUGHT HIM
OVER THE TOP WAS
WE STARTING TALKING TO HIM
ABOUT HIS GIRLFRIEND CLARA.
AND I TOLD HIM...
AND THE WHOLE TIME I'M
PATTING HIM ON THE LEG.
I SAYS, "I WOULD
HATE TO THINK
THAT CLARA'S
INVOLVED IN THIS."
AND HE PUT
HIS HEAD DOWN;
"NO, CLARA'S NOT
INVOLVED IN THIS;"
AND AT THAT POINT
YOU KNOW YOU'VE GOT HIM.
YEAH.
HE PROBABLY LOVED
CLARA ENOUGH
NOT TO GET
HER IN TROUBLE
FOR SOMETHING
HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR
BECAUSE HE KNEW HE DID THEM
AND HE THOUGHT WE COULD PROVE
THAT CLARA'S CAR WAS
AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.
HE WASN'T GOING TO
LEAVE HER ON A LIMB.
HE ALSO GAVE HIMSELF
A REASON AND A DEFENSE
FOR KILLING ELIZABETH GIBSON
BY STATING SHE STARTED
SCRATCHING HIS EYES.
HE ALSO STATED
THAT HE PUT HIS
FOREARM UNDER HER CHIN
IN THE THROAT AREA
AND MAY HAVE PRESSED DOWN
TOO HARD
BECAUSE OF HIS EYES,
ACCIDENTALLY.
HE SAID HE TRIED TO GIVE HER
MOUTH-TO-MOUTH RESUSCITATION
AND CRYING BECAUSE HE FELT
SO BADLY THAT SHE HAD DIED
WHICH I DOUBT
VERY, VERY MUCH.
NO.
AS HE PUT IT, WHY DID
HE KILL THESE GIRLS?
"TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS."
THAT'S WHAT HE SAID,
"TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS."
NO REMORSE WHATSOEVER.
NO.
VERY CALM, VERY EASYGOING,
A FRIENDLY SOMEBODY.
AND HE NEVER SAID NOTHING
OUT OF THE WAY TO ANYBODY
TO GET YOU NERVOUS
OR UPSET OR NOTHING.
SOURCES TELL EYEWITNESS NEWS
THAT SHAWCROSS WORKED HERE
AT G & G FOOD SERVICE.
HIS BOSS SAID HE WAS QUIET
AND A GOOD WORKER.
HE WASN'T AWARE
SHAWCROSS HAD A PRISON RECORD.
ARTHUR SHAWCROSS'S TROUBLES
WITH THE LAW BEGAN IN 1969.
HE WAS CONVICTED OF BURGLARY
AND ARSON IN WATERTOWN
NORTH OF SYRACUSE.
A YEAR LATER
HE WAS ARRESTED AGAIN
AND ADMITTED KILLING A YOUNG
BOY AND GIRL IN HIS HOMETOWN.
BOTH WERE STRANGLED, AND THE
GIRL WAS SEXUALLY MOLESTED.
SHAWCROSS SERVED
15 OF A 25-YEAR SENTENCE.
HE WON AN EARLY PAROLE
AFTER THE PAROLE BOARD
DENIED HIS FREEDOM EIGHT TIMES.
SHAWCROSS ENDED UP IN BINGHAMTON
FOR TWO MONTHS.
AN ANGRY COMMUNITY
CAMPAIGNED AGAINST HIM
AND SHAWCROSS WAS RELOCATED
TO ROCHESTER.
A YEAR AFTER HIS ARRIVAL,
THE KILLING BEGAN AGAIN.
Narrator:
AS SOON AS THE SUSPECT WAS IN CUSTODY
THE F.B.I. BEGAN ASSESSING
ITS PROFILE.
ARTHUR SHAWCROSS WAS
A CALM, NONDESCRIPT PERSON
EASY TO OVERLOOK, WHO DID
LIVE AND WORK IN THE CITY
IN A REGULAR BUT MENIAL JOB.
HE WAS AN AVID HUNTER
AND FISHERMAN
WHO WAS FRIENDLY AND PERSONABLE
ON A SUPERFICIAL LEVEL.
HE LIKED TO DRIVE
FOR LONG PERIODS
IN AN ORDINARY, FUNCTIONAL CAR.
HE DID RETURN TO SPEND TIME
WITH THE BODIES OF HIS VICTIMS
AND TO MUTILATE THE LATER ONES
TO FULFILL HIS OWN
INNER DESIRES.
BUT THE PROFILE WAS WRONG
ON ONE IMPORTANT COUNT.
THE AREA WHERE WE WERE
MOST ERRANT HERE IN THIS THING
WAS WITH THE AGE
OF THE OFFENDER.
WE FELT HE WAS LATE 20s,
EARLY 30s.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS...
HE WAS, OF COURSE, 45--
THE DIFFERENCE BEING
THAT HE HAD BEEN IN PRISON
FOR THAT 15-YEAR PERIOD.
AND THAT REALLY IS SIMPLY
LIKE PUTTING HIM ON HOLD
FOR A 15-YEAR PERIOD.
SO WHEN HE WAS RELEASED
15 YEARS LATER
HE REALLY PICKED UP
JUST WHERE HE LEFT OFF.
Borriello:
HE TOLD US ALTOGETHER 11 WOMEN THAT HE HAD KILLED.
THERE MAY POSSIBLY BE MORE.
WE'LL PROBABLY NEVER KNOW THAT.
HE ALSO TOLD US THAT HE WOULD
BRING US OUT, WHICH HE DID
AND SHOW US PHYSICALLY
WHERE HE HAD DUMPED TWO BODIES
THAT HADN'T BEEN LOCATED YET.
AND WE ASKED HIM, "TAKE US
THE WAY YOU TOOK THEM"
AND HE TOOK US
STREET BY STREET
AND HE REMEMBERED EVERY
DETAIL OF THE STREETS.
WE GOT
THE FLASHLIGHT
AND WE'RE
GOING LIKE THIS TRYING TO FIND...
WE CAN'T FIND HER
SO WE GO BACK,
"COME ON, WHERE IS SHE?"
"SHE'S RIGHT THERE."
"COME ON, SHOW US."
"WHERE IS SHE, ART?"
AND HE TAKES A FLASHLIGHT...
RIGHT AT OUR FEET
AND THERE SHE IS... FACE UP
ABOUT SIX INCHES
UNDER THE WATER;
AND IT NEVER BOTHERED HIM.
Narrator:
DARLENE TRIPPI WOULD BE THE LAST VICTIM OF ARTHUR SHAWCROSS.
THE NEXT DAY HE WAS ARRAIGNED
IN ROCHESTER CITY COURT
AND CHARGED WITH MURDER.
THE PROSECUTOR WAS
FIRST ASSISTANT DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES SIRAGUSA.
SHAWCROSS DID NOT DENY
THE MURDERS
BUT CLAIMED HE WAS
INSANE AT THE TIME
AND THEREFORE NOT RESPONSIBLE
FOR HIS ACTIONS.
AFTER ALL, WHAT ELSE
COULD COMPEL A PERSON
TO COMMIT SUCH HORRIBLE ACTS?
IF NOT INSANITY, THEN WHAT?
IN NEW YORK STATE,
IN ORDER FOR A DEFENDANT
TO PROVE TO A JURY
THAT THEY'RE INSANE--
THE BURDEN OF PROOF
IS ON THE DEFENDANT--
HE'S GOT TO PROVE
ONE OF TWO THINGS;
EITHER THAT AT THE TIME
HE COMMITTED THE HOMICIDE
OR HOMICIDES
HE DIDN'T KNOW THE NATURE
OR CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS
OR HE HAS TO PROVE
THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT HE WAS DOING WAS WRONG.
IF A DEFENDANT CAN PROVE
EITHER OF THOSE TWO THINGS
THEN THE JURY WOULD BE BOUND
TO FIND HIM INSANE.
FOR IN RETROSPECT, IT SIGNALED
THE BEGINNING OF A NIGHTMARE
THAT HAUNTED THIS COMMUNITY
FOR 21 MONTHS.
THE MOST DAMNING EVIDENCE
WILL COME
FROM THE DEFENDANT'S OWN MOUTH.
Narrator:
RATHER THAN A MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS, INSANITY IS A LEGAL CONCEPT
UPON WHICH PSYCHIATRISTS
ARE ASKED TO GIVE OPINIONS.
THE DEFENSE CHOSE DR. DOROTHY
LEWIS TO PRESENT ITS CLAIM.
IT ISN'T A POWERFUL CUE
IN THAT IT DOESN'T TELL
A PERSON WHAT TO SAY...
Siragusa:
WHAT DR. LEWIS TRIED TO CONVEY TO THE JURY
BASED ON HER OPINION
WAS THE FACT
THAT ARTHUR SHAWCROSS
BECAUSE OF WHAT
SHE REFERRED TO
AS POSTTRAUMATIC
STRESS SYNDROME
AND EXTREME EPISODES
OF DISSOCIATION
AND BECAUSE OF ORGANIC DAMAGE
THAT SHE DIAGNOSED
AS COMPLEX PARTIAL SEIZURES
WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE WHEN
HE KILLED ANY OF THE TEN WOMEN.
TOWARD THAT END, SHE ATTEMPTED
TO CONVINCE THE JURY
THROUGH THE USE OF VIDEOTAPES
IN WHICH SHE SUPPOSEDLY
HYPNOTIZED SHAWCROSS
THAT HE HAD UNDERGONE
IN HIS YOUTH
SEVERE SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE
AT THE HANDS OF HIS MOTHER.
Oh!
( groaning )
I can't walk.
Lewis:
Why can't you walk, Arty?
I can't get up.
Why can't you
get up, Arty?
Why?
Shawcross:
My back hurts.
Lewis:
HE WAS IN A PECULIAR STATE
AT THE TIME THAT HE
COMMITTED HIS ACTS.
SO THAT I THINK THERE'S
A GOOD QUESTION
REGARDING WHETHER HE REALLY KNEW
WHAT HE WAS DOING
AT THE TIME THAT
HE WAS DOING IT.
I KNEW FROM MATERIALS
THAT HIS ATTORNEYS HAD SENT ME
THAT HE HAD A CYST
IN THE ANTERIOR PART
OF HIS TEMPORAL LOBE.
THAT KIND OF DAMAGE COULD
CERTAINLY PRODUCE EPISODES
OF INTENSE FEELING, AND POSSIBLY
EPISODES OF EXTREME VIOLENCE
FOR WHICH MEMORY WOULD BE
CLOUDED OR IMPAIRED OR ABSENT.
Narrator:
THE PROSECUTION CALLED ON DR. PARK DIETZ
WHO ALSO EXAMINED SHAWCROSS.
Shawcross:
Do you fail to realize what I said earlier?
I said I used
a jackknife on one.
I remember that.
And a saw on the other.
There was
only two of them.
There wasn't any other
time you used a hacksaw?
( clears throat )
Why are you trying
to get me mad?
Dietz:
NONE OF THE SERIAL KILLERS
THAT I'VE HAD OCCASION
TO STUDY OR EXAMINE
HAVE BEEN LEGALLY INSANE,
BUT NONE HAS BEEN NORMAL EITHER.
THEY'VE ALL BEEN PEOPLE
WHO HAVE GOT MENTAL DISORDERS
BUT DESPITE THEIR MENTAL
DISORDERS, WHICH HAVE TO DO
WITH THEIR SEXUAL INTERESTS
AND THEIR CHARACTER
THEY'VE BEEN PEOPLE WHO KNEW
WHAT THEY WERE DOING
KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING
WAS WRONG
BUT CHOSE TO DO IT ANYWAY
BECAUSE THIS FOR THEM WAS
THE ULTIMATE SEXUAL EXPERIENCE.
THE FACT THAT SHAWCROSS
MADE SURE THAT NO ONE WAS AROUND
WHEN HE KILLED HIS VICTIMS
IS INDICATIVE THAT HE KNEW
WHAT HE WAS DOING.
THE FACT THAT DURING THIS TIME
WHEN THE KILLINGS WERE GOING ON
HE COULD HOLD DOWN A JOB
WITHOUT ANY APPARENT
MALFUNCTIONING AT HIS WORK
HE WAS ABLE TO CARRY ON
A RELATIONSHIP
WITH HIS WIFE AND CLARA NEAL
I THINK ARE ALL FACTORS, APART
FROM THE PSYCHIATRIC EVIDENCE
THAT SPEAK TO AN INDIVIDUAL WHO
KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DOING.
...COLD, CALCULATING
AND REMORSELESS
FOR WHOM KILLING WAS NOT
AN EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE
BUT, IN THE DEFENDANT'S
OWN WORDS
"BUSINESS AS USUAL."
Narrator:
THE TRIAL LASTED MORE THAN FIVE WEEKS.
THE JURY DELIBERATED
LESS THAN ONE DAY.
THE VERDICT: GUILTY OF MURDER
IN THE SECOND DEGREE
ON ALL CHARGES.
THE SENTENCE: 250 YEARS TO LIFE
IN THE STATE PENITENTIARY.
THE CONVICTION
OF ARTHUR SHAWCROSS
RAISES A FINAL QUESTION
ABOUT SUCH VICIOUS KILLERS:
WHAT TO DO WITH THEM.
AFTER ALL, SHAWCROSS,
LIKE MANY OTHER SERIAL KILLERS
HAD ALREADY MURDERED
TWO CHILDREN.
Wright:
WE'VE SEEN MANY CASES
WHERE THESE PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN PUT INTO PRISON.
THEY'VE BEEN "REHABILITATED,"
PUT BACK OUT INTO SOCIETY
MANY YEARS LATER, AND THEY
CONTINUE DOING THE SAME THING.
WE TRULY BELIEVE
THAT REHABILITATION IS
IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE,
IT'S EXTREMELY DIFFICULT
AND WE REALLY BELIEVE
THAT SOCIETY
HAS TO BE PROTECTED
FROM THESE PEOPLE.
I THINK THAT IT DOES
VERY BAD THINGS FOR OUR SOCIETY
IF WE BECOME A MINDLESS
KIND OF GROUP OF PEOPLE
WHO DOESN'T CARE WHY
SOMEONE DID WHAT HE DID
AND THINKS ONLY IN TERMS
OF PUNISHING THE INDIVIDUAL
OR OF DOING AWAY WITH HIM.
I THINK THAT IF WE'RE
GOING TO BE A HUMANE SOCIETY
WE HAVE TO PROTECT OURSELVES,
BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT MADE THESE PEOPLE
THE WAY THEY ARE
AND THEN I WOULD SAY
WORK VERY HARD
TO PREVENT CREATING
MORE PEOPLE LIKE THAT.
WHAT I HAVE TO FEEL,
AND WHAT MY PEOPLE HAVE TO FEEL
WE HAVE TO PUT OURSELVES
IN THE SHOES OF THE VICTIMS
SO WHAT I FLASH BACK TO
IS A VICTIM
WHO'S BEGGING FOR THE LIFE.
I HAVE TAPES OF VICTIMS
WHO ARE BEING MURDERED
WHO ARE REGRESSING
IN THEIR BEHAVIOR
CALLING OUT
FOR THEIR MOMMIES AND DADDIES
AND BEGGING, "PLEASE, GOD,
PLEASE DON'T KILL ME"
BUT THEY KILL THEM.
WHEN I SEE THE DAY OF EXECUTION
AND THE LITTLE VIGILS
OUTSIDE OF THE PENITENTIARY
I MAY FOR A SECOND FEEL SORRY
BUT THEN I WANT TO PULL OUT
THE FILE JACKET OF THESE GUYS.
I WANT TO LOOK AT THOSE
CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHS.
I WANT TO LOOK AT
THAT AUTOPSY PROTOCOL
AND THOSE AUTOPSY PHOTOGRAPHS.
I WANT TO SEE THE INTERVIEWS
OF THE VICTIMS AND THE FAMILIES
PUT MYSELF BACK
INTO THAT VICTIM.
SO I HAVE NO SYMPATHY AT ALL
FOR THESE PEOPLE.
Wright:
THE CASES THAT COME TO US
ARE CERTAINLY
THE WORST OF THE WORST.
WE SEE WHAT SOME HUMAN BEINGS
HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF DOING
TO THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS
AND IT ALMOST DEFIES
DESCRIPTION.
IT'S NOT PLEASANT WORK.
IT'S NOT PLEASANT MATERIAL
THAT WE DEAL WITH
ON A DAILY BASIS
BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK
WE ALL GET
SOME SATISFACTION OUT OF
AND WE HAVE TO TAKE
THAT PERSONAL SATISFACTION
FOR EVERYTHING
WE CAN GET FROM IT.
Narrator:
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS MUST GRAPPLE
WITH THE NEW REALITIES
OF THEIR WORK.
BRUTAL, SENSELESS ACTS
COMMITTED AGAINST
SEEMINGLY RANDOM STRANGERS
HAVE COME TO CHARACTERIZE
A PARTICULAR EVIL OF OUR AGE.
SERIAL KILLERS ARE BY DEFINITION
SUCCESSFUL KILLERS
WHO LEARN FROM
THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES
AS THEY GO ON TO INCREASINGLY
MORE GRUESOME CRIMES.
IT CAN ONLY BE HOPED
THAT THE MEN AND WOMEN
WHO STUDY AND HUNT THEM DOWN
ARE LEARNING EVEN FASTER.