Photographs

Depicted in this antiquated Romanian wall drawing is Vlad Tepes. “Vlad the Impaler” is often labeled a serial murderer because he was responsible for killing thousands in the 1400s. But I don’t believe he was a serial killer at all, as you’ll discover. (© BY REUTERS NEWMEDIA INC./CORBIS)

Albert Fish stunned Manhattan in the 1920s with the killing and cannibalism of young Gracie Budd (the remains of which police search for here). An X ray later revealed Fish had stuck pins and needles into his groin area. (© BY BETTMANN/CORBIS)

The affable-looking Ed Gein made an ashtray of a woman’s skull and fashioned a suit of her skin, which he wore. But when I met with him at the Mendota Mental Health Institute, he was all used up and ready to die. (© BY BETTMANN/CORBIS)

Richard Macek was labeled “The Mad Biter” by the media. This photo of one of his deep bite marks on a victim shows why.

Richard Macek sent me many letters, but one of the most startling was this one, in which he suddenly confused me with his wife.

On the surface, this landscape painting by John Gacy seems perfectly realistic and cheery. On closer examination, the perspective is off kilter, somewhat like Gacy’s mind.

The lengthy article I cowrote in the West Virginia Law Review was a turning point in my research career. My profile of John Gacy began to change the way people think about serial murderers and the insanity defense.

Gacy was fond of sending greeting cards. In this one, painted by jewel thief Murph the Surf, Gacy’s typewritten comments show no emotion, even when he talks about his sick mother. The card’s inscription, “Your love reaches me,” is ironic to say the least.

This wedding photo shows Gacy playing the role of devoted husband and loving son. No one in his family knew that John had a dark, murderous side.

Police involved in the Wayne Williams child murders pulled this unfortunate victim from the muddy Chattahoochee River at midnight on April 1, 1981. When I spoke out about the Williams case before he was apprehended, I was greeted by much anger and hostility.

Serial killers sometimes psychologically overpower their partners, as Alton Coleman did with girlfriend Debra Brown. The “partnership killers” went on a killing spree in 1984 and even used Vise-Grip pliers on the head and face of one victim. (© BY BETTMANN/CORBIS)

John Gacy’s brain was given to me for scientific purposes after he died. I’ve kept pieces of it for many years in a plastic container.

In this page from Robert Berdella’s crime diary, he chronicles his torture objectively, coldly.

Bobby Joe Long wrote to me about his dreams, but the content of his letters was not so different from those I received from other serial killers. Even in his dreams he was overly concerned with being sick.

Eventually, Bobby Joe Long began to write to me in capital letters in an odd combination of anger against his victims, desperation, self-pity, hypochondria, even hope.