People Who Knew A Killer Explain If They Saw Any Red Flags

Like many Gen X women, I watch a lot of true crime. In fact, that's my go-to background noise when I'm writing.

In these programs, killers seem to always fall into one of two categories:

• no one can believe they did it
• no one is surprised they did it

Did people see any signs? Or was it a complete shock?

Reddit user Anonymousdisaster_ asked:

"People who knew a killer, did you ever suspect they would do it? What happened?"

They Warned Him

"A former roommate hit and killed a guy on a bike while he was drunk driving."

"He drove home from the bar drunk every single day. I had been saying for years he was going to kill someone and then it finally happened."

"Did 6 months in jail."

~ loltittysprinkles

Really Aggressive

"I had a coworker who went from being a really smart and cultured guy, to having wild ideas about catching STDs from working with coworkers (who didn’t have STDs that I was aware of) and started getting really aggressive with certain people."

"One day he came in and started taking pictures of the people he had been aggressive with, the last one being me. I told my boss I wasn’t going to continue working there if he was, that he made me feel threatened, and I was sure those pictures were for some kind of kill list."

"She let him go and after speaking with HER boss, we decided to close the store because he seemed like the kind of guy that would come back and do something."

"I never saw him again, but Googled him every so often because I just knew he was going to end up in the news one day. About five years later he shot up a hospital.

"Among the evidence found in his home, were lists and photos of the people he wanted to kill. It turned out he had schizophrenia and went off of his meds a few months after we started working together."

~ Dreamfinder82

Nicest, Friendliest Houseguest

"I was absolutely stunned to learn my older brother's friend from high school, who was the nicest, friendliest houseguest when he was over, ended up murdering his 2 kids years later."

"He was like a second older brother to us younger kids, and lived with us for a while when there was some family issue on his side."

~ entity2

Danger!

"I had this coworker that the very first time I met him, the primal part of my lizard brain was just all like 'DANGER DANGER!'. Something in my brain just KNEW, and I always felt really uneasy around him."

"He never did anything directly to me, but just something about him felt off in a way I can't really even describe."

"One day he doesn't come in for his shift, and it turned out he was in jail for strangling his girlfriend to death the night before."

~ moonbunnychan

Never Suspected

"We used to meet up for a week every Spring with two couples. One of the couples were old college friends and the other couple were coworkers of theirs."

"We really liked the coworkers and their two young children. We got together for several years."

"Then we got the call that the wife had been killed with a hammer in their basement. The scene was expertly cleaned and police were zeroing in on the husband who happened to be a nurse."

"We never suspected he was capable of something like this and we don't know why he did it."

"I hope the kids turned out OK."

~ Agitated_Answer8908

A**hole

"I grew up with a guy in a wealthy area in Maryland. He was an ahole then. Really mean to me after he told his friends he had a crush on me (in like seventh grade) and then they made fun of him."

"In college he was charged and convicted of murdering his girlfriend."

"I was surprised in the sense that it’s weird to see a guy you knows face on the cover of People magazine for murder, but not at all surprised that it was him, if that makes sense."

"It was highly publicized nationally because of who his family is."

~ why_renaissance

Nice Kid

"No red flags at all."

"I looked up a friend from college to see where he ended up, and found an obituary and a news story. It turned out his younger brother killed him during an argument just a couple months earlier."

The brother seemed like a nice kid when I met him."

~ Highway_Man87

No Doubt They Did It

"Four students in my high school murdered a 13-year-old boy that caught them stealing a mini-bike with no engine and an estimated value of $5."

"When I heard about it, I had no doubt that they did it. None."

"And they were all convicted."

~ Adddicus

Quiet, Calm Guy

"I went to high school and was pretty good friends with a guy who ended up doing a mass shooting at a college a couple of years after graduation."

"This was completely at odds with the person I had known in school, and I almost didn't believe the friend that told me about it."

"It was so completely bizarre to think about this guy who was quiet and calm and just all-around mild-mannered being the kind of person who goes and shoots half a dozen random people for no apparent reason."

~ LaRoseDuRoi

Not Surprised At All

"I grew up in a very small town <500 people. Three guys i grew up with and another guy ambushed a drug dealer for his drugs. They called him to buy some drugs, he drove to town, and then they beat him."

"The dealer's cousin escaped out the other side of the car, and they were all caught within 12 hours."

"Rumor had it that when they were caught, the bloody clothes and weapons were still in the house."

"The youngest one was 16 at the time. Knowing them I was not surprised at all."

~ AussieWalk

Well-Mannered

"I was a server at a diner and one of the regulars, Johnny, was a quiet and aloof guy. He was a little 'slow' but well-mannered, kind."

"He knew the menu well and knew what he liked. One day he casually mentioned his dad was the original owner of the diner, and that he himself used to work there."

"After he left another regular told me he was shocked Johnny brought up his dad considering he had killed his dad to death in a crack and alcohol induced psychosis. I was floored."

"It ended up being a very well known case when it had happened. He had gotten out of jail and was under heavy psychological supervision, understandably."

~ bodhi-r

All Casual Like

"I had a friend group online for a couple years, and someone invited a friend of theirs into the group chat. Shy kid, seemed like a baby compared to the rest of us in our late 20s."

"Someone I was closer to in the group talked to me about him, said he was lonely and was probably dealing with some heavy stuff. He could use a friend, or maybe an older male role model."

"All I knew about this guy's interests was that he liked anime. So I hit him up, we made small talk about anime. He recommended meFood Wars."

"I watched some of it that night before going to bed real late. I woke up to texts around noon the following day from my friend who told me to check the news."

"There was a mass shooting in Ohio. Sad, gut wrenching even."

And then I saw who did it, and it was lonely anime guy. The Dayton, Ohio shooter recommended me Food Wars, all casual like, told me to let him know what I think about it, then he woke up the next day and went on a shooting spree."

"Never suspected I was trading anime recs with a future mass shooter. He died in the shootout with cops, the whole thing was insanely surreal."

~ NiteOwl94

SHOCKED

"I was SHOCKED. This was a woman I'd let hold my child, was best friends with my sister-in-law, came to all the family parties, and we'd always had a good time when I saw her."

"She was the caretaker for her mom with Alzheimer's and I think must have had some sort of mental problem going on for a while, because she smothered her mom and has special charges for elder abuse and the crime involving great violence."

"She was found wandering the streets, asking strangers to, 'Please kill me'. When cops were called, they went back to her place and discovered that her mom had been dead for about a week."

"She had been texting and calling friends, talking about sports, like nothing was amiss while living in the house with her dead mom in the other room until the day she went out and asked people to kill her."

"I later found out she had also randomly attacked a friend while they were hanging out a few months before she murdered her mom. Just laughing and having drinks, and the next thing the friend knew, the woman was on top of her and trying to strangle her."

~ DontCryYourExIsUgly

Unstable As Hell

"Know a woman, my friend's ex-wife, she 'accidentally' killed a cyclist while driving. I don't believe her story at all."

"She says she sneezed and hit him, but they were in a residential area where the speed limit was 15mph (near a school) and the extent of his injuries don't make sense for what she says happened."

"She is f*ckin' crazy. She is prone to emotional outbursts, tantrums, speeding when angry—just unstable as hell."

"After this man died, she posted all over social media about how SHE was so traumatized and how SHE's a survivor of trauma and how she wants to be an example of a 'strong woman' to her kids.

"Never mentioned that she killed someone, never expressed remorse or sadness or condolences for his family, and when pressed she just cries and plays victim and blames him for 'coming out of nowhere'."

"We think she was arguing on the phone and speeding home."

~ Sufficient-Berry-827

Should Have Known

"This happened to a guy I went to high school with. He and his mom lived with grandma, who was suffering from dementia."

"One day mom sent him to the store. When he left his mom killed grandma and then herself."

"Afterwards, he said he should have known something was wrong because his mom gave him $100, and that was way too much money for what he was getting."

"Being a full-time caregiver is very difficult."

~ Ok_Risk_4630

Never Would Have Predicted It

"Absolutely would never have predicted it. Super sweet, super talented guy I knew in college."

"He had a psychotic break and murdered his mom, grandparents, and the grandparents' carer.

"Then he walked next door—naked and covered in blood—and told the neighbors 'I freed them'."

~ twistthespine

Have you ever known someone who later killed someone? Were you surprised, or did you see warning signs before it happened?