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Why Serial Killers Write to Each Other? · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, so, like, have you ever heard of fan mail?
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  But like the kind that's super creepy, the kind that
• 0:05
  gives you shells instead of warm fuzzies.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Uh Okay, I know where you're going with this.
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  Speaker 1: What if I told you there are killers out there
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  and they write letters not to their victims' families or anything,
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  but to each other.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, No, that's definitely a thing killer pen pal societies. Right,
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  It's a bit more than just more big curiosity though.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't it? It is it is. That's what we're diving
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  into today, this whole world of killers connecting with each other.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a fascinating look into I think the psychology
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  of these individuals exactly.
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  Speaker 1: We've got this article we're looking at today, and it
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  dives into the why, like why would someone who's done
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  these horrific things seek out that kind of connection?
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  Speaker 2: And what I find really interesting is this idea that
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  understanding these letters, these communications can actually give us insights
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  that might help predict future violence.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, now we're talking real world application here. This isn't
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  just some creepy sideshow. This stuff matters. So where do
• 1:01
  we even begin? Like how does a killer decide? Okay,
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  this is who's going on my creepy contact list.
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  Speaker 2: Well, this article we're looking at it kind of breaks
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  it down into three main categories for why killers connect
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  with each other attention, affinity, and inspiration.
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  Speaker 1: Three reasons. All right, lay it on me. What's first.
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  Speaker 2: Let's start with attention. And it seems kind of counterintuitive, right,
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  You commit these horrific crimes often to gain notoriety, but
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  then you crave even more attention, even from behind bars.
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  Speaker 1: It's like notoriety is a currency even in prison exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Take the Happy Phase killer Keith Jesperson, for example, murdered
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  eight women in the nineties. Just recently we learned he's
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  been writing letters from his prison cell to the accused
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  Gilgo Beach four killer Rex Heireman. No way, and get this,
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  Jessperson actually told a podcaster about it.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, so he was he was bragging about writing to
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  another alleged killer. That's like next level attention seeking, even
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  for a guy who drew smiley faces on his confession letters.
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  Speaker 2: Right. I mean it just goes to show for some
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  individuals that notoriety, that attention, even within the confines of prison,
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  can be a powerful, powerful motivated.
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  Speaker 1: Oh absolutely, And like the irony of all this, right,
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  just person's big advice to Horrorman in these letters confess
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  and avoid trial because things are a lot quieter in prison.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, the irony is palpable. A perfect illustration of how
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  deeply ingrained this desire for attention can be, even when
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  offering advice that contradicts their own behavior.
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  Speaker 1: Unbelievable. Okay, so we've got attention seeking. Check what about
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  that second category affinity? I have to admit the idea
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  of killers, you know, finding common ground is well, it's
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  pretty unsettling, it is.
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  Speaker 2: It really dies into this idea that killers might seek
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  out others like them because they feel misunderstood. Yeah, like
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  they're part of this exclusive and terrible club that only
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  people who've done what they've done could ever understand.
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  Speaker 1: Right right.
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  Speaker 2: It does raise a big question, though, Oh like, what
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  are these feelings of isolation and misunderstanding genuine? Or are
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  they a way to rationalize their actions?
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  Speaker 1: So are they justifying what they've done by believing that
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  no one else could possibly get them?
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  Speaker 2: Exactly? And there are definitely examples that kind of muddy
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  the waters. Take healthcare. Serial killer Donald Harvey, for instance,
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  he claimed that he believed Charles Cullen, another healthcare killer
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  who preyed on patients, had written to him.
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  Speaker 1: Oh Man, just a quick refresher for our listeners. Colin
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  was eventually convicted of murdering dozens of patients in hospitals
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  across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
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  Speaker 2: Right, And both of them, they use their positions of
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  trust to commit their crimes exactly, and both initially at
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  least claimed these were mercy killings.
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  Speaker 1: Which of course turned out to be a complete lie exactly.
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  Speaker 2: So it really makes you wonder did Harvey did he
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  feel some sort of warped sense of connection because of
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  their shared methods, the manipulation of trust, that sort of.
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  Speaker 1: Thing that's seriously messed up. So in some really twisted way,
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  they bonded over their shared darkness.
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  Speaker 2: It's a possibility. But then you have cases that make
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  it clear that this need for affinity isn't always about
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  mirroring the crimes exactly. Dennis Sue Gray, for example, who
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  murdered three women in California. She wrote to BTK killer
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  Dennis Rader after his arrest.
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  Speaker 1: Now those two their cases couldn't be more different. I mean,
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  she targeted older women. He was infamous for stalking and
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  torturing entire families exactly.
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  Speaker 2: So it suggests that sometimes it's more about this desire
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  for I don't know, maybe camaraderie or even just a
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  twisted sense of notoriety by association. Wow, Okay, it's a
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  good reminder that there's no single profile for a killer,
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  and their motivations for reaching out could be just as
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  varied as their crimes.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so it's not as simple as birds of a
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  feather flocked together in the killer community. That actually makes
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  this whole thing even more unsettling though, I mean, if
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  there's no predictable pattern, how can anyone possibly, you know,
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  keep up.
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  Speaker 2: You've hit on a really critical point, and that leads
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  us to that third and perhaps most disturbing category, inspiration.
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  This is where the study of these communications I think
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  becomes crucial for risk.
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  Speaker 1: Assessment, because now we're talking about the potential for these
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  letters to like fuel further violence exactly, kind of like
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  how I don't know, some fans might take their obsession
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  with a celebrity too far, but instead of it just
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  being creepy, it turns deadly.
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  Speaker 2: That's a good way to put it. And there's one
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  case that really illustrates this danger. It involves a sixteen
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  year old named Liam mccatteer. This kid he idolized Ian Brady.
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  He was obsessed with him.
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  Speaker 1: Brady.
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  Speaker 2: That's yeah, the Moore's murderer.
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  Speaker 1: Oh right, right with uh Myra Hindley Henley. Okay, gruesome, gruesome?
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  What were they late fifties, early sixties and early sixties.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they tortured and killed five children in England.
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  Speaker 1: God awful.
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  Speaker 2: Well macatteer he was writing letters to Brady in prison.
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  Speaker 1: He was writing fan mail to a child killer at sixteen.
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  That's I don't even know what to say to that.
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  Speaker 2: It gets worse.
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  Speaker 1: Oh god, how.
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  Speaker 2: Mccatteer he became fixated on this idea of copying Brady's crimes.
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  O way. Oh yeah, he attacked another boy with a hammer,
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  intending to kill him.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my god. Did he live?
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  Speaker 2: Thankfully? Yes, the victim survived. But I think mccatteer's case
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  really just underscores this chilling reality that these letters they
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  aren't just about, you know, morbid fascination. They can actually
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  incite violence, especially in impressionable minds.
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  Speaker 1: That's terrifying. So we're not just talking about a couple
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  of messed up people, you know, finding solace in shared darkness.
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  We're talking about the potential to create more darkness, to
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  inspire more violence exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And it's made even more complicated by the fact that,
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  as we've seen, not all killers are driven by the
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  same motivations. Righty's this complex web of factors. But one
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  thing's for sure. Analyzing these letters, these connections between killers,
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  it's crucial for risk assessment.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So how do experts even begin to untangle all
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  of that? I mean, if someone's writing about I don't know,
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  their favorite brand of coffee, that's one thing. But if
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  they're going on about their you know, quote unquote favorite victim,
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  how can you tell if it's just talk or if
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  they're actually going to act on it.
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  Speaker 2: That's where things get really tricky, and that's why it
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  requires expertise. Right, It's about looking at the content of
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  the communications, the frequency, the level of detail they use
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  to describe their crimes, any indication of planning future acts
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  or even seeking guidance or validation from other killers.
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  Speaker 1: So like if jessperson was coaching horrmen on how to
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  I don't know, dispose of evidence, versus just making small
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  talk about prison food that would be a huge red flag.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. It's about recognizing those subtle but crucial shifts from
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  admiration to emulation, from seeking connection to actively seeking instruction,
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  and that requires, like I said, expertise, careful analysis, and
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  often collaboration between different fields law enforcement, psychology, and even linguistics.
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  Speaker 1: Linguistics like the way they use language.
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  Speaker 2: Per cisely, Forensic linguistics is becoming increasingly important in these investigations.
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  Wow experts. They analyze the language used in these letters,
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  the grammar, the syntax, even the handwriting, looking for clues
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  about the author's state of mind, their level of education,
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  their regional dialect, any indication of deception or manipulation.
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  Speaker 1: So it's like detective work, but instead of fingerprints and DNA,
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  they're analyzing words and phrases to build a psychological profile exactly.
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  Speaker 2: For example, let's say a killer consistently uses passive language
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  when describing their crimes. You know it happened instead of
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  I did it. That could be a subconscious indication of
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  guilt or an attempt to distance themselves from their actions.
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  This kind of linguistic analysis, combined with other evidence, can
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  be incredibly valuable for building a case or you assessing
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  the risk of future violence.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, so every word, every comma could be a clue.
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  That's fascinating but also kind of terrifying when you think
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  about the potential implications.
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  Speaker 2: It's a double edged sword, for sure, and it's becoming
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  even more complexes technology evolves around. More and more of
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  these communications are happening online and encrypted chats on the
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  dark web, of sure, making them even harder to track
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  and monitor.
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  Speaker 1: It's like these killer pen pal societies are going digital,
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  becoming more insidious and difficult to infiltrate, which is, you know,
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  kind of a scary thought, it is.
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  Speaker 2: But on the slip side, you know, those digital footprints
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  they can offer a wealth of information for those who
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  know how to look for it, and law enforcement agencies
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  are developing increasingly sophisticated tools to monitor these online communities,
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  track down suspects, and hopefully prevent these tragedies before they happen.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a constant game of cat and mouse. It
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  makes you wonder, though, who are the people on the
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  front lines of this you know, disturbing but crucial field.
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  Who's actually reading these letters, analyzing these online chats, trying
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  to make sense of it?
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  Speaker 2: All, that's an excellent question and one we should explore further.
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  It's not a job for the faint of heart, that's
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  for sure.
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  Speaker 1: I can only imagine. So who are these people piecing
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  together these morbid puzzles? Let's let's dive into that right
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  after this.
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  Speaker 2: So we were talking about, you know, the people on
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  the front lines of all this, trying to make sense
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  of these killer pen pal societies, right, Like, who are they?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? It takes a certain kind of person to deal
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  with this stuff day in and day out. You've got
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  your forensic psychologists.
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  Speaker 2: For one, right, trying to get inside the minds of
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  these killers exactly. They're looking for like patterns and the
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  writing obsessions, anything that might point to a higher risk
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  of violence.
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  Speaker 1: So it's like they're piecing together these puzzles, but the
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  pieces are all dark and twisted.
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  Speaker 2: That's a good way to put it. Yeah, And then
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  you've got the forensic linguists.
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  Speaker 1: We talked about, right, the grammar gurus.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're analyzing the language itself, like the word choices,
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  the grammar, even if someone uses a lot of exclamation
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  points or writes in all caps, that kind of thing.
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  Speaker 1: So what a killer who uses perfect grammar is more dangerous.
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  Speaker 2: It's not quite that simple. It could be a sign
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  of a methodical mind, someone who plans carefully, takes pride
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  in their work, even if that work is horrifying, or
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  you know, maybe they're trying to present a certain image,
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  someone educated in control to throw investigators off. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: So it's all about context, like you said.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, every little detail matters. And of course we can't
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  forget about law enforcement and all of this.
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  Speaker 1: Right, they're the ones actually out there using this information.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely tracking down suspects, building cases, trying to prevent the
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  worst from happening.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a real team effort, like a multidisciplinary approach
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  to understanding this dark side of humanity.
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  Speaker 2: It really is. And I think what gets me is
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  for so long these letters they were just seen as
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  you know, more big curiosities. But now we're finally realizing
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  how important they can be.
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  Speaker 1: Like clues to a puzzle we're still putting together.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly they can help us understand and hopefully prevent more violence.
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  Speaker 1: Knowledge is power, right, But in this case, that knowledge
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  doesn't come easy.
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  Speaker 2: It definitely doesn't. Yeah, it takes a strong stomach to
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  deal with this kind of darkness.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this entire deep dive has been pretty wild, to
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  be honest. We started with this simple question why would
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  killers write to each other? And it turns out the
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  answer is way more complicated than we probably thought.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and kind of unsettling totally.
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  Speaker 1: We talked about the attention seeking, the weird sense of camaraderie,
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  the danger of copycats, even how experts are analyzing these
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  letters to try and stay one step ahead.
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  Speaker 2: It's all connected and it all matters.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely so to everyone listening. Next time you hear about
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  a crime, remember there's always more to the story, and
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  sometimes the most disturbing discoveries can lead to breakthroughs.
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  Speaker 2: That's a great point to end on.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's all the time we have for today's deep dive.
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  Thanks for coming along on this journey with us, and
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  we'll be back next week with another topic. Until then,
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  stay curious.