11 Comments

Chris Watts lived in the next town from me, this was a shocking story where he claimed innocence through a waterfall of tears into news cameras. If he gets newspaper privileges along with his love letters he will soon find that his home which had sat vacant since the killings (due to obvious reasons) just sold for 750K. Hopefully not purchased by a “fan”?

Expand full comment

It's all still so vivid to me, his plea for them to get home, and then every inch of his house from her Facebook lives and then the body cams. I could never live there, yuck. I can't believe it's that much!

Expand full comment

This was a fascinating read — and a timely one for me personally. I recently came across a video showing the reporting of Columbine in real-time, which was an interesting look at 1999 broadcast journalism, but it also led me down a rabbit hole to learn more, since I wasn't even yet a teenager when it happened. Along the way, I discovered that a large subset of people still hold the killers in high esteem, almost positioning them as heroes. It's such a different mindset than I would think.

Expand full comment

Thank you, that sounds so interesting to watch--and terrifying. There's definitely a culture (I guess since Columbine?) of some fringe characters idolizing mass shooters. Any kind of fame is good fame...

Expand full comment

Ever see the season of AHS (American Horror Story) that focused on the serial killers? There was definitely some of the "rock star" thing going on there.

Also noteworthy: Aileen Wuornos, who sort of broke the mold. Charlize Theron did a great job (at least I thought so back then) playing the lead role.

Expand full comment

I think I burnt out on AHS before the serial killers... Maybe it's time to get back in! Yes, familiar with Aileen and Charlize playing her, though I haven't actually seen. So rare, the lady killer!

Expand full comment

I think Monster is worth a watch, but then again, I saw it in the theater... so I was like a child back then. Take it with a grain of popcorn.

AHS is so very hit or miss, but I did enjoy the season that had some serial killers in it. I think it was season 5, "Hotel" - I think that also had Lady Gaga in it, and she was good!

Expand full comment

The "feminine" attributes of the most vile members of our society are amongst the features that make these murders "attractive" to those women. I wouldn't have guessed that.

Expand full comment

Yeah, right? It's men who generally kill to begin with, so you'd think it's the maleness that gets them. Interesting to read that.

Expand full comment

Well, that's fascinating. Seems like an area that can't be understood via the rational, as much as we try. I would bet a high majority of the show "Forensic Files" are women. I did not know that Bundy and Boone got married, and that way. Again, fascinating.

Expand full comment

Yes, stats I've seen definitely show that women are the vast majority (something like 80%!) of the true crime audience. So that's a whole different rabbit hole I can go down sometime to find out why. Though, as we know, there isn't much rationality to these things...

Expand full comment