Serial killers are known to stalk their prey, display dangerous fetishes and murder innocent people yet these notorious individuals sometimes acquire a large fandom of lovers, fans and copycats.
San Jose State forensic science senior Adrianna Albanez said her interest in serial killers started in high school from crime show portrayals detailing the psychology behind these offenders.
“I find it interesting that someone could kill once, let alone more than once,” Albanez said.
She said her curiosity began with Ted Bundy, who murdered 30 women, according to a Jan. 30, 2020, ABC News article. She also said Bundy seemed relatively personable but was somehow capable of committing gruesome murders.
Despite his history of killing, Bundy’s deceiving personality has been an attractive quality to crime junkies and to women who fell in love with him during his murder trial.
Carol Ann Boone is famously known as one of Bundy’s many fans, but she was the only one who became Bundy’s wife and the mother of his child, according to a Feb. 26, 2020 Film Daily article.
Over the years, Netflix has released a slew of serial killer adaptations including, “The Confession Killer,” “Don’t Fuck With Cats,” and “Confessions with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.”
On Jan. 13, Netflix released the docuseries called “Night Stalker: The Hunger for a Serial Killer.”
The docuseries follows Richard Ramirez, a.k.a the “Night Stalker,” who murdered at least 13 people and assaulted 11 others throughout the '80s. Fans also may be interested in the illogical actions of serial killers.
SJSU forensics professor and former crime scene investigator, Mary Juno, said the theatrical quality of serial killer cases seem to reel in more intrigue than crimes without mystery.
“Most homicides are not even a mystery and serial killers are really rare,” Juno said. “It’s a fascination because it’s not you, so it’s
grief by proxy.”
She used Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. as an example, also known as the Golden State Killer. He escalated his crimes from break-ins to taking fetishtic objects, to rape and eventually, murder.
“When you think about people’s fascination with killers versus say, serial rapists, it’s the ultimate [crime],” Juno said. “What worse thing can you do to them than murder?”
She also said most serial killers are not as interesting as TV makes them seem, which causes an increased interest in serial killers.
“It makes for good TV,” Juno said. “Media doesn’t cause serial killers but they do give them attention.”
Nick Roland, a finance junior at Santa Clara University, said movies and series glorify criminals rather than punish them.
“I don’t understand the fascination,” Roland said. “I don’t think we should play into this Hollywood monopoly.”
Infatuation with serial killers goes as far back as the '60s and this was shown in 2017’s true crime thriller “Mindhunter,” which focused on the birth of the behavioral science unit within the FBI.
This obsession with serial killers could be everlasting and is an obsession that’s ingrained into American culture as the long list of documentaries continues to release.
