Bad People: Who marries a serial killer? BBC Sounds
One side effect of lockdown, has been the sudden onset of a passion for crime fiction.
Can’t bury myself in a classic but can get buried in any book with a body.
It’s all about the cliffhangers, the page turners, the twists and the red herrings that are addictive at a time when the Booker shortlist is too demanding.
And so to this podcast – two women, a criminal psychologist and a comedian – Dr Julie Shaw and Sofie Hagen – explore “the thing we call evil”.
This is not fiction. They are talking bizarre but true stories.
They ramble, but they draw you in. Both have a wealth of true crime information.
This episode asked why some women fall in love with very dangerous people.
Take the Killer Clown, one John Wayne Gacy who dressed up and performed at kids’ parties.
Strangers clearly trusted him.
The irony is that if you met him, argued Sofie, and you knew nothing about him, you could introduce him as your boyfriend and go out to dinner and it would go well.
He also raped and murdered at least 33 young boys and men, burying most of them under his house.
Julie argued that we assume ugly people are capable of terrible things and attractive people are not.
But why, once someone is established as a serial killer, do so many “fans” still fall for them?
Richard Ramirez – nicknamed the Nightstalker - broke into houses, raped, tortured and murdered his victims. He drew satanic pentagrams on their bodies and used their blood to write on the wall.
In Los Angeles in 1984, he was behind a sudden surge in the purchase of guns because people were so afraid.
Nevertheless he gathered a large group of admirers, received hundreds of letters from fans in prison and even got married on death row.
Was it the celebrity element that attracted the fans?
We heard a clip from one “Misty” who fell deeply in love. But when she finally met him, he scared her and she broke it off.
This is the kind of podcast that hooks you in. But it’s like stirring a murky puddle with a stick. Fun, til the corpse pops up. I’ll stick with the made-up stuff.
