Delving into the darkest parts of human psyche is somewhat of a fascination for our generation.
True crime shows and podcasts are some of the most popular in the world and have been for ages. Entire TV series are based around analyzing killers and serial killers. So naturally we are fascinated by those that are one simple degree of separation from the killers.
u/StoneColdSleeper asked:
Has anyone known a killer before they killed? What were they like?
Here were some of the answers.
Yet Nobody Said Anything
My family bought a house from a man who flipped houses for a living back when I was growing up. He was a nice man, married with grown kids. He would often come over for dinner and help with minor repairs around the house.
We moved away a few years later and he wanted to buy the house back. Luckily, it was a cash deal because soon after it all went through, he was arrested for child porn. When the cops raided his house, there was no sign of his wife. Upon looking into it, no one had seen or heard from her in months.
Turns out, he had murdered her and buried her in their backyard.
I sat next to that man at the dinner table as a child. Still haunts me.
More Of Self Defense
The younger brother of a girl I was friends with in middle school and high school. They had some struggles growing up and I know their mother was an abusive relationship because we gave her some help getting away from her husband.
Are we connected many many years later and found out that the younger brother had murdered someone. Initially it sounded pretty gruesome but when I actually read Court reports I kind of felt bad for the kid.
he had some mental illness issues but as a teenager apparently he had been groomed by a much much older man into a relationship where the man provided money shelter and of course drugs. He was extremely controlling and abusive.
Eventually the kid tried to get away and was trying to start a new life with a girl he met but this guy tracked him down and blackmailed him.
Eventually kid snapped and murdered him. I think I felt worse for the kid because a lot of people can't get away from their abusers.
For those who asked, he was 16 year old runaway with a history of drug problems when he started seeing the more than 20-years older guy who used to film him. He struggled with drugs but was doing well and he met with the man to tell him he loved someone else and he want going to see him again.
His story is that the guy attacked him saying he'd rather he died than break up. He had injuries consistent with fending off a knife attack and said he killed the man in self-defense. What probably really screwed him over is that he didn't call the cops. He hid the body instead.
Despite all of the evidence pointing to him bring preyed on, he got a sentence that is longer than the average human lifespan. He committed the crime in a place where being gay or bisexual isn't really acceptable. a lot of the stories in the news refer to him as a hustler and say that he killed one of his patrons.
Snap
A few years ago I hired a father-son handyman team to help me get my house ready to put on the market. Among other things, my outside doorknobs were in bad shape so they installed new ones. The dad seemed pretty nice, even did a little bit for free. On their 3rd and last day at my house, he was pretty fired up about a big job they were starting the next day. Three days later he killed his new clients because they were unhappy with his work. A neighbor saw what happened and ran into her house and hid. He kicked her door in and shot her too. I was terrified until he was caught.
Doctor Death
I graduated high school with Dr. Death, Chris Duntsch.
He was a jerk. He was charming with teachers and people who could benefit him. He was awful to everybody else. I didn't see it, but one or more awkward and vulnerable classmates said he bullied them relentlessly, and I believe it.
He was easily irritated and if you got on his nerves he would really lose his cool. Remarkably mean. And people would just shrug their shoulders and say that's just how Chris is.
Beaten
My little sister dated a guy when she was in high school who ended up murdering a couple he owed money to for heroin. This dude beat them with a baseball bat and hammer. He almost got the death sentence, but ended up with life in prison with no possibility of parole.
He was a seemingly nice, polite teenager. I used to drive him and my sister around for various dates and things. He was quiet, but not oddly so. He just seemed like a normal teenage boy.
It All Comes Out
In my first semester of college, I had a computer science professor I really loved. Near the end of the semester, he told us he may be taking time off and finding a replacement for the semester. His severely autistic son had died in a 'tragic pool accident'. He noted that the media was trying to make him look bad. I created a GoFundMe for funeral expenses; he appreciated it and shared photos to use on the page.
Fast forward half a year. I get calls from news reporters asking what my thoughts are... He had been arrested on suspected unintentional manslaughter. It turns out, he had left his son outside in the cold by the pool, unsupervised, when he left for work. His son was never supposed to be unattended. His son was outside for who knows how long before the professor's daughter found the boy face down in the pool.
Further research into the case revealed the boy was living in an unfurnished basement, feces all over the walls, often left alone. The police were at the home frequently; CPS had made various safety requirements for them that they never followed.
He's being charged with unintentional manslaughter and various forms of child abuse. Him and his wife are being charged for filling the boy's Ritalin prescription for many, many months after the death.
I still believe it was intentional. Texts revealed the daughter discovered the boy when the professor texted her, asking her to check if 'Freak' was okay.
No Signage
[I knew this guy] (https://archive.naplesnews.com/news/crime/deputies-live-in-boyfriend-stabs-kills-girlfriends-59-year-old-mother-ep-397812443-343915212.html)
Before, like, literally the night before the crime, he was at my house talking about a new job he thought he'd gotten, how he was going to be able to take better care of his daughter, a new tattoo he was going to get, just random stuff.
Some backstory, he had a brain tumor when he was I think 9 or 10, not sure what kind or where but he was a 'make a wish' kid, I think he went to Disney or something, but they did manage to get it out with surgery. So he was a little, well, he wasn't stupid or disabled but I'd say 'slow', basically. He was a little jerk through his teen years, big pants, loud music, fast car, "Yo I'm gangstah!" kind of thing, but when he met his girlfriend and then especially when his daughter was born, he seemed to change a lot for the better.
He was the younger brother of a friend of mine. I went from "You can NOT bring Eddie to my house and I don't even want him to know where we live," to "Sure, Eddie and you can come for dinner," so yeah, lots of change.
The night it happened we played D&D that evening and he was as boringly normal as he ever was. Actually he'd never expressed any anger or anything toward the girlfriend's mother, at all. He'd said how happy he was that she was letting them live there and helping with the baby.
After, we only saw him once more, in court, when he was sentenced. We went with his mom, who we knew, and at the end, he turned his face and wouldn't even nod to us.
I just don't get it, I don't think I ever will.
How Do You See It Coming
My best friend's older brother killed her step mom. Strangled her and burned the house down. He was just like any other teenage older brother. A bit rebellious but nothing out of the ordinary. He was kinda goth and liked heavy metal and had dark humour. He played Goldeneye with us and always let me use the see-through purple controller. He teased his little sister just like any brother would. One time he took us for a car ride and did donuts in a church parking lot while blasting a Big Shiny Tunes album, and it was really fun. Nothing ever indicated what he would do later in life.
Hamlet In Life
I went to High School with a girl who poisoned her father. No one knew until she confessed a year later watching a Shakespeare play in College. She was a little weird in school, but I didn't think she was capable of that..
The Darkest Side Of Human Nature
Yes. Was hired at the same time as him. Worked right next to him for several years. He was one of those stoner guys always bragging about the parties he went to. He was a little obnoxious in a "bro" sort of way so I always skipped hanging out with him after work.
After I left that job a little while later he killed his ex girlfriend while her 5yo was in the apt watching tv, took the kid on a road trip to Texas, and smothered her on Christmas Morning and left her in a suitcase on the side of the road.
