Clues From Killers — Serial Murder And Crime Scene Messages

Serial killers come from different backgrounds, attain different levels of education, and hold various types of jobs. However, many serial killers do have at least one thing in common: the desire to communicate regarding their crimes. Killers from Jack the Ripper to the Son of Sam often provide clues to their identities, their motives--even their future targets--through crime scene notes, letters to the media, calls to police, messages scrawled on victims, and, increasingly, email and other technology. Here, Gibson takes a look at ten notorious serial killers, their crimes, their victims, and their communications to uncover new insights into the minds of these unusual and dangerous people.

DIRK C. GIBSON is Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico. He has published numerous articles on a variety of topics in such journals asPublic Relations Quarterly, Public Relations Review, and Southern Communication Journal. He has also published several book chapters and one book,The Role of Communication in the Practice of Law (1991).