The Netflix Original series, Mindhunter, directed by David Fincher, follows FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench’s (Holt McCallany) attempts to profile some of the most famous serial killers. They aim to study the psychology of these serial killers to understand their minds and to be able to catch them in the future.
Although it is unclear whether there will be a third series of Mindhunter, it is still worth exploring the lives and crimes of these serial killers - why are they the way they are? How did they get there?
Monte Rissell
Monte Rissell didn’t grow up like most kids, experiencing serious sexual trauma before he reached adulthood. However, despite a violent background that would elicit sympathy from even the most hardened hearts, his reign of terror in the state of Virginia remains haunting in its atrocity decades down the line.
Over four years, he murdered five women, escalating in depravity until his final victim. Targetting single women that seemed content to keep to themselves, there's no denying that Rissell's actions were beyond monstrous. It comes as no surprise he was chosen as one of the killers to be profiled on Mindhunter.
Ed Kemper
Ed Kemper is perhaps one of the more featured serial killers on the series. He is intelligent, with an IQ of 145, and known for his imposing height, standing at six feet and nine inches. The press dubbed him The Coed Killer because nearly all of his victims were female college students. His four other victims were his mother, her best friend, and his paternal grandparents, whom he killed on Christmas Day when he was just fifteen years old.
Kemper's childhood was notoriously horrific, but the murders he committed tragically cut short the lives of several innocent women before he was taken into captivity. His calm and eloquent demeanor while talking about his crimes is so eerie that he stands out amongst the other killers in the series. His quote on Mindhunter, "Butchering people is hard work. Physically and Mentally. I don't think people realize. You need to vent," gave a general sense of his utter detachment from the pain he has caused.
Jerry Brudos
Jerry Brudos was a killer and necrophile who targeted women in the state of Oregon in the late 1960s before being apprehended by the police. Committing four known murders, he had a longstanding history of aggression and assault dating back to his teen years. Stalking women and knocking them down for sport, Brudos' violent inclinations only grew over time.
In 1961, Brudos eventually married a 17-year-old girl named Darcie, who did not know about his morbid sexual fantasies until his various kinks and a much more disturbing obsession with his mother became apparent. Brudos blamed migraines and blackouts, using them as an opportunity to steal women’s undergarments and shoes. His behavior continued to escalate, leading to the deaths of four known victims.
Richard Speck
Richard Speck grew up poor, but his family constantly moved to different houses and towns. He struggled with his childhood and fell into debilitating alcohol dependency as a preteen. His troubling behavior served him 42 arrests in Dallas alone, with some of his crimes including trespassing, forgery, burglary, and aggravated assault.
In July 1966, he entered a women's dormitory where he murdered eight student nurses within a few hours. He was eventually convicted for his crimes and died of a heart attack while serving at the correctional center at 49.
Dennis Rader
Dennis Rader began hurting and killing animals at a young age and only escalated from there. He developed sadistic sexual fantasies while perfecting the veneer of a well-adjusted family man and used his job installing security systems in suburban homes to gain entry into people's lives.
Between the years 1974 and 1985, Rader had at least ten victims. As his name suggests, he bound, tortured, and killed, inflicting horrific ends on those he targetted. The BTK killer was considered a cold case until his arrest in 2005, 20 years after his crimes.
David Berkowitz
Known as The Son of Sam, David Berkowitz killed six people with a .44 caliber gun and wounded seven others. He confessed to the shootings but claimed that an ancient demon in the form of a dog, belonging to his neighbor Sam, instructed him to do the crimes.
Berkowitz is the perfect killer to be interviewed because he enjoyed the media attention he received. He gained so much publicity that the New York State Legislature enacted "Son of Sam Laws," which were created to stop criminals from gaining celebrity status for their crimes. Despite the Netflix docuseries suggesting he worked with others, he is currently (the only one) serving six death sentences at Shawangunk Correctional facility.
William Henry Hance
William Henry Hance served as a soldier in the US Army, but he is best known for being later convicted of killing three women. He sent incriminating letters pretending to be seven white vigilantes who referred to themselves as the “Forces of Evil”. The police chief had to communicate with the so-called vigilantes via messages on the radio or television.
It was only later when FBI profiler Robert K. Ressler created a profile on the killer(s), and deduced that the killer was acting alone, probably not well-educated, and in a low-ranking position. Hance finally confessed due to incriminating evidence from his handwriting, voice recordings, and shoe marks.
Elmer Wayne Henley Jr.
After an abusive childhood, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. was sent to school due to his mother's wish that her children at least receive an education. However, there he met a senior student named David Brooks just before he left school. The two quickly became close friends. Brooks promised Henley that he could make a lot of money and thus was introduced to Dean Corll.
Henley started off by recruiting Corll's victims, forced into greater and greater acts of complicity as time went on. Henley eventually had enough of Corll and threatened to shoot him. Unfazed by this, Corll told Henley that he was a coward and wouldn’t dare to pull the trigger. Henley fired the gun and killed Corll. After the incident, he quickly released the victims that were being held hostage and called the police. He ultimately confessed to his role in the Houston Mass Murders.
Charles Manson
Charles Manson was the founder of The Manson Family cult in the late 60s and early 70s. Manson’s teachings centered around hippie culture - communal living and the constant use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. Manson is perhaps one of the most well-known criminals in American history due to his teachings and crimes.
Sharon Tate, the wife of Roman Polanski, along with Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steven Parent, was at Tate’s house on the night of the murder. Manson orchestrated the murders by instructing members of his cult to drive to Tate’s house and kill everyone in the house. The same members and three additional members drove to another house the following night and murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Tracking Manson down wasn't easy, and the following trials remain some of the most infamous in American history.