True crime has become incredibly popular with the introduction of cable television then streaming services and podcasts.
Once just a section in bookstores, there are entire cable channels dedicated to recapping crime.
An always popular subject are serial killers, with many becoming household names.
But consuming thousands of hours of true crime content offers more than just entertainment. Connoisseurs of criminal activity learn the dos and don'ts of a wide variety of illegal activities, including the commission of multiple murders.
Reddit user legendofmyarea asked:
"From what we see in crime documentaries and real cases, what are the dumb mistakes serial killers usually make that end up getting them caught?"
Retail
"Shopping at Home Depot for 'supplies' in front of security cameras."
~ Art_In_Space
"This is why I've been saving my lawn darts since 1972."
"I don't really want to murder anybody, but if it comes to that, the cops will just have to sit in their car and cry because I was way ahead of them since age 8."
~ Amish_Robotics_Lab
Moving Violations
"Not obeying the traffic code. Ted Bundy was stopped because he was driving without headlights."
"Joel Rifkin, Randy Kraft, there’s several serial killers that were caught due to basic traffic violations."
~ cantcountnoaccount
"Also Tim McVeigh."
~ a_natural_chemical
"Also the Yorkshire Ripper who was caught by a copper because he was driving a car with false plates."
~ mostly_kittens
"Only break one law at a time."
~ stedun
Bragging Rights
"Communicating with the police. Sending taunting letters with clues like, 'I coded my name so you will never identify me, hahahahaha!' then signing 'oJhn mthiS rJ'."
~ OrioleTragic
"So this actually happened with the BTK Killer. He sent the police a 3.5" floppy disk with a letter or something and they were able to easily trace it to him."
~ MeatShield12
"It's even dumber than that. In one of his BTK letters to the police, he specifically asked if a floppy disk could be traced."
"The police obviously lied and told him no. So he sent them a floppy and they figured out his identity in no time using the floppy disk metadata."
~ WakingWaldo
"In a later interview he was apparently deeply hurt that the police lied to him. He thought they had a 'respected opponent' relationship like in a comic book."
~ MeatShield12
Returning to the Scene
"Most are seeking attention, and return to the scene of the crime to watch the drama unfold. Kind of like going back and rereading a social media post you're proud of."
"When chatting casually, they can sometimes reveal that they know more than they should."
~ SaveFerrisBrother
"That is the big one, to me. Coming back to the scene of a crime you committed is the number one thing they tell you not to do, but they all do it, it seems."
"Arsonists love to watch the fires they set burn things up, but you can tell by a person's interest in it who set the fire."
"Ted Bundy used to return to where he buried bodies all the time, except they were usually up on mountains and such so it was harder to see him doing it."
~ xXAcidBathVampireXx
Habits
"I thought Richard Ramirez wearing the same exact shoes to almost all of his murder scenes and leaving footprints everywhere was pretty stupid."
"Investigators really ran with that, as they should have. Until it was leaked to the press."
~ waytogo-paul
Rituals
"They tend to be rather ritualistic, doing the same things in the same ways again and again, so things add up."
"And of course, even if every murder someone has a 90% chance of getting away with it, after a couple dozen of them, there's a 92% chance of getting caught."
~ ThreadCountHigh
Body Removal
"Knowing just how heavy a dead body is to move is another mistake."
~ rata_s80_v8
Clogged Drains
"Complaining to your landlord after blocking your own drains with the remains of your victims. This is how Dennis Nilsen was caught."
~ FScrotFitzgerald
"That's the one where a distressed plumber called the police because he found meat in the pipes."
"I feel so bad for that guy. Just wanted to show up and do a job, got free trauma instead."
"The whole case feels like a skit on how not to commit crime."
~ PlasticGirl
Loose Lips
"I watch a ton of True Crime stuff and people running their mouths in jail awaiting trial is absolutely insane to me and it happens all the f*cking time."
"The best is if they're caught admitting sh*t or ordering more crimes to be carried out while using the jail phones."
~ WaterlooMall
"Everyone thinks 'snitches get stitches', but the reality is that a lot of folks in prison would sell out almost any of their 'friends' in there if the price was right."
~ djmax101
"Yeah but 'Snitches get reduced sentences and cash in the commissary' doesn't rhyme."
~ 3_34544449E14
Wrong Victim
"An inappropriate victim is another mistake."
"Focusing on someone that could potentially draw a lot of media attention for example."
~ rata_s80_v8
Left Behind
"I was listening to a podcast about the blackout ripper in London during WW2. He brought nothing literally with him to the scenes of the crime."
"Just used whatever he found in his victim's houses. Police were baffled until the one time he brought something, his RAF-issued gas mask case with a SERIAL NUMBER inside, and left it at the scene."
~ Reikko35715
"It's funny how many suspects turn out to have Googled things like 'How do you dispose of body parts without being detected'."
"Like they have no idea that Google is tracking everything you write in its prompt."
~ Dimpleshenk
DNA
"Moving forward, DNA is going to be the serial killer killer. Before, police needed DNA evidence from the scene, but still had to do old fashioned police work to find a suspect in order to compare the DNA."
"Now, they can just use genetic genealogy to find a suspect. This process will eliminate a lot of the hard work that was previously needed to catch a killer."
"Brian Kohlberger is a perfect example. The touch DNA from the knife sheath would have been next to useless twenty years ago without a suspect to compare it to. And Brian probably would have gotten away with it."
"Instead, the touch DNA is what led police straight to Brian. They had to do some old fashioned police work once they had their man, to back up the DNA evidence, but that’s a lot easier when you already have a solid suspect."
"The DNA led to him, cell phone pings placed him near the crime scene, security footage showed his car at the scene, his Amazon purchase of the knife, etc..."
"Police suspected a white Hyundai Elantra was the killer’s vehicle, but without a license plate number, they had literally thousands of cars/owners to comb through. Since Brian has Pennsylvania plates, he might not have ever been identified."
~ Personal-Bonus-9245
Cell Phones
"Phone pinging to cell towers."
~ BandicootSpecific286
"I put on some 'real crime' videos in the background a while ago, and pretty much every modern one had an interrogation scene with 'So, you had your cell phone on you the whole time...'."
"Can't get through a murder without a little GPS and Spotify, apparently."
~ CleverInnuendo
"To be fair, if I commited murder I wouldn't be able to find my way to the dump site then back home without GPS."
"They would catch me because I would be wandering in circles with all the evidence still on me."
~ Green7000
Narcissism
"Wanting to be called a serial killer and the notoriety."
"Narcissistic tendencies are the Achilles heel of patterned sociopaths."
~ rata_s80_v8
What mistakes have you noted?
