Interviews With Murderers
The Right Manner and Questions are Imperative to Getting Answers
Even among murderers, there is a certain social stratum. Ted Bundy told interviewers Hugh Aynesworth and Stephen Michaud in the book Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer (Barnes & Noble, Inc., 2000) that no one on death row in Florida’s Starke Prison bothered him. His reputation as a cold-hearted sociopath made even other death row inmates nervous.
Ted Bundy and Gary Leon Ridgway
Bundy danced around details, but the interviewers hung tough and eventually, he agreed to tell a story of serial murder in third person, describing the frightening thought processes of a disturbed mind driven to kill.
The art of interviewing murderers has been perfected by Robert Keppel, Ph.D., who spent years interviewing Bundy about another nightmarish serial killer whom Bundy called The Riverman and everyone else called the Green River Killer. Talking to Keppel and detective Dave Reichert, in the book The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer by Keppel with William Birnes (Pocket Books, 1995, 2005), Bundy wove a horrifying tapestry of the threads of thought that criss-cross a psychopath’s mind before, during, and after a murder is committed. By speculating on the mindset of the Green River Killer, eventually identified as Gary Leon Ridgway, Bundy told his own story along the way.
In an A&E original production called "Obsession," Reichert described Bundy as small and said that he was disgusted when he shook Bundy’s hand, imagining how it had been around a woman’s throat, squeezing her life out. Yet Reichert stood firm. Keppel and Reichert were determined to catch a serial killer and meant to come away from the interview with certain, specific answers. They did not let Bundy’s reputation or demeanour intimidate them, and that is what it takes to get answers.
Later, when Reichert interviewed Ridgway after he was arrested, Reichert kept leaning forward in his chair and Ridgway kept leaning backwards until he was almost falling out of his chair. Reichert made it a point to not let Ridgway’s small, squinting dark eyes intimidate him.
As horrible as coming face-to-face with a serial killer may seem to be, there also may be a twisted sense of celebrity associated with that person, as in the case of Bundy. But that is only a persona built up by media coverage that generated publicity. In the end, Bundy was nothing more than a small-framed man with a somewhat nice smile offset by dark, cold eyes who liked to smoke marijuana and kill women.
William Heirens in Illinois
William Heirens, on the other hand, known publicly as the Lipstick Killer due to a scrawled message asking for help at one of four murder scenes for which he was eventually held responsible, was only 17 when police attacked him during arrest, injuring him, and later savagely interrogating him, so that the frightened boy eventually pled guilty to save himself from the death penalty.
Heirens spent his time in prison learning, teaching, earning a diploma, and pleading his innocence. Heirens, now in his 80s and in somewhat poor health, has been turned down by the Illinois parole board every year, but he keeps a positive attitude and is approachable and non-threatening, so that one wonders if so many years ago, a murderer did go free and an innocent man was sent to prison.
There were no forensics in the late 1940s, and the police were under pressure to convict someone. Heirens, who admits to petty thievery, says that he simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was a convenient scapegoat.
Texas' Huntsville Prison
In Texas, Huntsville Prison, known as “The Walls,” formerly housed Texas’ Death Row and is still a maximum security prison, housing plenty of murderers, some in poor health or reduced mental capacity.
An interviewer must show no fear when confronted with a blank face and dark eyes. An interviewer must be willing to ask the tough questions, such as, ‘Why are you in prison?’ and not flinch when the prisoner says, ‘I killed my father,’ then laughs maniacally.
Tips for Interviewing Murderers
- Ignore personas created by media coverage. Research the subject or subjects and go in with personal notes and knowledge.
- Show no fear of the convicted murderer.
- Prepare a list of questions, but be willing to veer from them if the interview takes another direction. However, absolutely stay in control of the interview.
- Expect denials, and assume lies. To offset this, follow journalism tenets and interview others connected to the murderer, people such as investigators, past victims who survived, family members, and friends and acquaintances.
All interviews pose a challenge to writers who are seeking the truth, but those with convicted murderers have their own set of challenges writers must overcome if they are to conduct a meaningful interview.
Ted Bundy was a Challenging Person to Interview.
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