What cases interest you the most?

[Left Is Write]

Those that hold perennial fascination for me are Ed Gein, The Black Dahlia, and Barbara Graham.

What about you?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. H. H. Holmes all the way!

Ed Gein would be second though.

[Left Is Write]

3. My interest in Ed Gein took on a new dimension

when I moved to the area where his crimes had taken place.

I was already interested in Ed Gein's story and had read "Deviant", and had asked my mother what she remembered from newspaper accounts at the time.

In 1993, I got offered a radio job in central Wisconsin, the very area where Ed Gein lived his bizarre life. I re-read "Deviant" paying greater attention to the various locations mentioned in the book.

I lived in Stevens Point for three years, and one of the first things my program director told me when I got there was that "we don't talk about Ed Gein." Ed Gein had lived in Plainfield, not far from Stevens Point, and there were still people living in the area who had known him. It was an upsetting subject, and my boss did not want me, in my capacity as a radio announcer, ever to mention Gein.

[johnnie]

2. The Black Dahlia case is very interesting

And it is one of the most bizarre cases I have seen. Every time I see those pictures, I am still disturbed by them. The fact that anyone could do that to her and then leave her out in the open like that for someone to find is too weird.
I don't know if it is the one that interests me the most, but it is close to the top of my list..

[Left Is Write]

4. It disturbs me too, and the fact that her murder was never solved

nags at my brain. It's definitely a bizarre case.

[Bunny]

6. Didn't a former LA cop conclude that the killer was his own father?

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=O9t1wsVnH9&isbn=0060589957&itm=1

This is a very interesting story.

[Left Is Write]

7. Yes, but there are evidently quite a few holes in his theory.

And very little to substantiate it.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/dahlia/7.html?sect=7

[XanaDUer]

5. Zodiac.

...

[BlueIris]

12. Same here. Add to that JB Ramsey and Scott Peterson.

Peterson still looks so open and shut to most, and while I think he was involved, definitely wanted her dead, and has no remorse, I also feel he had an accomplice. As I was impressed that some posters here noticed, it's strange that basically no one actually saw Peterson dispose of his wife's remains. It's not that I don't think he should rot in jail, I just think there's a lot more to that story. So much more that I actually expect an accomplice to pop up some day somewhere.

Same with the Ramsey murder--far too many unanswered questions, which I would think those on DU would never tire of. To me, the most compelling thing about the JB Ramsey's death is the degree of interference the CO police have admitted they experienced at the hands of...someone. Who definitely did not want the investigation into the Ramsey case to go forward. Did anyone here read that Mr. Ramsey recently took a stab at elected office? Not saying that means anything, but--not saying it doesn't either.

The Zodiac case is just--super creepy to me. The creepiness of the idea that the killer may have been using a real code, and the creepiness of the idea that somewhere, someone who knows the full truth may still lurk. It's just unsettling.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

8. Jon Bonet, OJ.

Lizzie Bordon, Jack the Ripper The Original Night Stalker aka East Area Rapist. Several others.

I know Jon Bonet & OJ have been overhyped & most people are probably sick of them, but they still interest me.

[Jamastiene]

9. Dahmer

Something about his case that has always fascinated me was that he said he didn't want his victims to leave him. I sort of understand loneliness, but I cannot understand how that can translate into necrophilia and cannibalism. I just don't understand why anyone would do that. Also Dahmer seemed to have that little boyish way about him. I can see how his victims fell for his tactics.

[ThingsGottaChange]

10. The Serial Killers

I've always been fascinated with them. I want to know what happened to them that made them into killers. The whole psychology of it. I've even felt sorry for some of them. Particularly, Dahmer. I truly believe that serial killers are made and not born. I was just reading a bit about him earlier tonight. Apparently he only went as far as trying to eat a bicep muscle in regards to the cannibalism.

But the reason for what he did is so deeply sad. He didn't want to be alone anymore but wasn't able to have any kind of a normal relationship with anyone. Be they straight or gay. The only way to keep them from leaving him was to kill them. I must sound kinda wacky myself, feeling bad for Jeffry Dahmer. But, in a way I could understand why he did what he did.

I never did read much about his true relatiionships with his parents. If anyone can recommend a book or other info that tells the true story of his childhood, I would appreciate it.

[ThingsGottaChange]

11. This was an excellent book

The Shoemaker: The Anatomy of a Psychotic by Flora Rheta Schreiber. It's about Joseph Kallinger. He had a horrific childhood. I read this probably 20 years ago and I still think about it. You can find it on Amazon if you're interested.

I better go find some kitty pics to make up for all this!!!

[shrike]

13. I know what you mean about Dahmer

He's the only one who's evoked some weird sort of sympathy from me.

Maybe it was because he seemed to fight his impulses at first. After his first killing he went for years, drinking, going to church, allegedly even visiting cemeteries to deal with these obsessions. Dahmer's attorney made a good point: at a very early age he knew he had a sexual obsession with dead things. Who's he going to tell, the lawyer points out.
Also, it was the fact he didn't blame anyone for what happened, not his family, not pornography (a la Bundy).
No one's ever been able to determine that Dahmer was abused while young, if that's what you mean. At least not to my knowledge. His father left the home while Dahmer was young, consumed with his own problems. Ditto for his mom.
I think it's an interplay between nature and nurture, with serial killers. The raw material is there, coupled with the right (or wrong) upbringing.

[Jamastiene]

15. Also, with some of them, like Dahmer, I think

it was maybe a sense of desperation that caused him to kill. I don't even think in his case it was his upbringing. I honestly think sometimes desperation causes the serial killings.

[Jamastiene]

14. A Father's Story

by his father, Lionel Dahmer. He tells about an incident when Jeffrey was four years old. His fascination with dead animals started at a very early age.

I can understand how you feel about Dahmer, btw. I feel pretty much the same way. I can totally understand the feeling of fear when someone is trying to leave. When I was younger, I had a terrible time with separation anxiety from my aunt, who helped raise me. Had she not taken the time to help me through that, who knows what may have happened with me and my life?

[pretzel4gore]

16. the houston murders case (corl and henley)

hh holmes, ted bundy and jack the ripper. the ripper case fascinates because (i believe) the police knew way back in 1888 who the killer was (montague john druitt) but because of class concerns (druitt was part of old line aristocratic family, he was a lawyer) several of the top men in brit law enforcement preferred to kill several birds with one stone, not the least of which was not upsetting queen victoria ( a lower class killer would be better then a graduate of kings college) loosing a publishing phenomenon on the world (hundreds of books written about saucy jack, free of positive id therefore they could speculate to hearts content) plus giving british tabloids at the time, a bonanza, which in turn gave newly literate british masses something to read, which neatly reinforced the old order/big lie ....not the least of the 'benefits' was that druitt committed suicide 2 weeks after the kelly murder, and his family had mentioned his name to scotland yard (all very hush hush)... no one's ever suggested that druitt's 'suicide' might have been encouraged by scotland yard, but it sure was convenient. Nevertheless, the suicide and the druitt family's tip were totally disconnected from any police work; revealing that jack was druitt wouldn't have gained the police anything, indeed it might have further embarassed them. People today forget how BRUTAL the class system rewarded the upper and dismissed the lower, and the jack the ripper case perfectly suited the times... imagine, upper class twits slumming, raping, stealing and doing drugs etc (drugs were legal) among the poor...as queen vic must have said, if/when she was told druitt was jack that 'that will not do!'

[Rich Hunt]

17. zodiac...

The Zodiac, the DC Sniper, the Unabomber, the Manson murders, the Tylenol murders...

People who appear to kill out of some beef with society in general.

[Skittles]

18. Lizzie Borden

just fascinating stuff