Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide And The Criminal Mind

by Hazelwood, Roy

  For some killers involving themselves helps to sustain the excitement generated by the crime. This is most often true of narcissistic offenders. It’s thrilling for them to be close to the action. They can see that their crime has provoked attention. They also may glean useful information unavailable to them in any other way. Famous killers who have involved themselves in the investigations of their crimes include Bundy, as well as Wayne Williams, the Atlanta child killer, and Edmund Emil Kemper III, the California giant who murdered his grandparents and his mother, along with seven hitchhikers.

  More rare are sexual killers who provide police with third-person accounts of their crimes or “speculations” as DiStefano did. These offenders are motivated by a hunger for the attention such “cooperation” nets them. They can relive their crimes more or less openly. And it is a means for such killers to tease investigators with guilty knowledge without actually confessing to anything. In this regard, the third-person account can be seen as a form of bragging—more narcissism.

  “The piece of literature that’s most famous in this case is The Only Living Witness,” I told the court, “by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth. They induced Ted Bundy to discuss himself—or his ‘entity,’ as Bundy called it—over hundreds of hours of conversation on death row.”

  Besides Bundy, criminals who have given third-person accounts of their crimes include Gerard John Schaefer, the rogue sheriff’s deputy in Florida, and Arthur Goode, a homicidal pedophile from Maryland. Interestingly, all three ended up at the Florida State Prison in Starke, where they met each other and all three eventually died in prison.

  Bundy and Goode were executed in the electric chair. Schaefer was murdered by other inmates.

  Next I considered the collection of photographs of victims and the taking of “trophies.” These behaviors are fairly common among sexual criminals. Items they may keep range from clothing (especially lingerie) to jewelry, driver’s licenses, and even body parts. Any of the victim’s possessions serves the killer as evidence of a successfully completed crime.

  The photographs or other items might also be used to help the killer relive his crime. If displayed publicly, photos of the victim can bring such offenders the attention they desire or reinforce their assumed identity of a sensitive and caring individual.

  Mike DeBardeleben, the sexual sadist discussed in earlier chapters, kept extensive photographic records of his victims. Other photo and trophy keepers include John Wayne Gacy, Robert Leroy Anderson in South Dakota, and Harvey Glatman, Los Angeles’s Lonely Hearts Killer of the 1950s.

  Scrapbooks and collections of news accounts of their crimes may also serve as trophies, and press attention serves to validate the sexual criminal’s narcissistic belief that he is shaping events around him. It is another way of secretly basking in attention. The news accounts can also serve as erotica, helping the killer relive the crimes.

  Finally, I discussed the fact that, though uncommon, killers may contact the victim’s family, as DiStefano did with the Negveskys. This gesture combines some of the motives for injecting themselves into the investigation (thrills and information gathering) with the attention seeking common to most of these postoffense behaviors.

  Arthur Goode wrote letters to two of his victims’ parents. Mike DeBardeleben made harassing phone calls to at least one intended victim. Thomas Dillon, a serial killer in Ohio, communicated by letter with one victim’s mother, and his continued letters were the evidence that ultimately led to his capture.

  Christopher DiStefano reportedly intended to testify at his trial but ultimately did not. After his confession in April 1996, he has offered no further public explanation for his actions.

  A jail informant did come forward and said that DiStefano had confessed to him. But a more reliable source was Cathy Biasotto. In September 1997, she visited DiStefano at the Lackawanna County Jail. She later discussed her visit with PSP investigators and Asst. DA Eugene Talerico, who would help prosecute the case. Biasotto told the group that she had visited DiStefano in search of the truth.

  “Christopher and I were really good friends,” she explained, “and I couldn’t comprehend that he was the murderer. In my heart he seemed like an extremely generous person… I also went to see what he was like—was he crazy?”

  “Did you ask him if he killed Christine Burgerhof?” she was asked.

  “Yes. I asked him why he did it,” Cathy replied.

  “Do you remember the exact words that you used?”

  “Yes.”

  “What were they?”

  “Why did you kill her?”

  “What was his response?”

  “He said I should know why. He asked me, ‘Do you know what she did?’ I said, ‘Yes. I just found out she was a prostitute.’ Then he said, ‘I had to do it… She was not a very nice girl.’”

  “What was his demeanor?”

  “A smirk on his face. Like he was justified… Christine deserved to be killed for doing what she was doing.”

  “Did he talk about the case at all?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did he say?”

  “The evidence was really weak. And [that] he was going to get out soon… Through his mannerisms, he also gave me the impression he was very proud of his accomplishment.”

  “What accomplishment was that?”

  “That he murdered Christine and he destroyed the evidence, which showed that he got one up over the police.”

  “What mannerisms?”

  “Cold and calculating stare. The smirk on his face. Not once did he ever flinch. Even when I started crying, he still had this cold and calculating stare.”

  Christopher DiStefano went to trial in February 2000. Judge O’Malley found him guilty of third-degree murder and sentenced him to fifteen to forty years in state prison. O’Malley’s verdict is on appeal.

  Epilogue

  The cases in this book are drawn from the extreme end of the crime spectrum. They are as strange as they are violent, but unfortunately they are not rare. Will the type of criminal behavior characterized in the preceding chapters become more common as even more brutal and bizarre crimes are committed in the future?

  The short answer is yes. In my opinion aberrant crime is accelerating today, both in frequency and depravity. This has been the case for decades, and it will continue to be the case.

  My pessimism is based on more than twenty-five years of experience with sexual offenders such as those discussed in this book, the first of which was Harvey Glatman, the “Lonely Hearts Killer.” I became aware of Glatman’s case while in training as a military police officer. At that time, Glatman was a unique offender. His case involved sexual sadism, fetishism, sexual bondage, dangerous autoeroticism, trophy taking, masochism, and finally serial murder—a term that had not even been coined yet.

  I was confounded by Glatman’s behavior. For example, he was one of the first offenders known to photograph his victims, but no one seemed to know why he did so. I couldn’t make any sense of it, nor could I find much of anything that had been written for law enforcement about his deviant impulses or practices.

  Since that time I have seen hundreds of cases that rival or exceed Glatman’s for deviance and violence. Why are there more such criminals today than a decade ago?

  In my view a major reason for the increase has been a gradual relaxation of what was once a fairly strict behavioral code in this country. Experience has taught me that criminal behavior tends to reflect what society at large considers normal or acceptable. Ease the restrictions for society at large, and you will see those on the fringe immediately pushing at the new boundaries.

  For example, four decades ago a complaint of rape implied that the victim had been vaginally assaulted. Rarely was the victim forced to perform oral sex on her attacker. Today a rape frequently involves anal sex, fellatio, and foreign object penetration. It is not a coincidence that such behaviors are also now more common in the movies and in popular music where it is treated in a favorable
light or at least not condemned.

  Body piercing is another example of the easing of societal restrictions. Today it’s a fashion (or culture) statement. Not long ago, body piercing was considered to be sexually deviant, masochistic—perverse. Likewise, to physically injure another person for sexual excitement was once a crime. Today attorneys in court refer to it as “rough sex.” In the past tying another person up for sexual arousal was considered aberrant. Today bondage is called “sex play.”

  Objects and instruments put to sexual use have been elevated from “foreign objects” to “toys.” Violent pornography in almost any format is easily accessible to consumers of all ages and is frequently called “art.”

  Our society has grown used to behavior that was once frowned upon and discouraged, and those with criminal intent have taken notice.

  A second reason for the increase in bizarre and violent sexual crime is technological. We can now capture in color and sound those acts that could once only be imagined. How does this change behavior? The knowledge that one is “performing” for a microphone or camera tends to intensify the action. Sexual offenders are no different in that respect. In my experience the most heinous and outrageous sexual crimes tend to be committed in the presence of recording devices.

  I remember telling my classes many years ago that the “new” microcassette tape recorders and Polaroid cameras would find a ready market among deviant criminals and that, sooner or later, police would begin to find such recorded evidence of offender’s sexual fantasies and crimes. I was right. The advent of computers, video cameras, and the Internet have only intensified this trend.

  Physical mobility is a third reason for the rise and spread of aberrant crime, particularly serial rape and murder. The ability to quickly travel long distances provides the criminal with a distinct advantage in avoiding detection, and the fact that we are now thoroughly accustomed to dealing with strangers in our lives gives these offenders an added cloak of anonymity. As we discussed in earlier chapters, the physically violent and ritualistic sexual offender invariably loves to drive.

  Finally, there appears to be much more anger directed toward women today than in the past. This anger is expressed in books, movies, television shows, and rap music. I don’t pretend to know why such anger exists; perhaps it’s a backlash to the long overdue arrival of women as equals in the workplace and elsewhere. Whatever the reason, our society has found it necessary to pass legislation to address these issues, making it easier for women to bring criminal complaints or sue in civil court for sexual offenses. Inevitably, there will be some men who resent this new level of empowerment and feel they can only assert their masculinity via sexual assault.

  Unquestionably other forces are at work as well. Whatever the reasons may be, the examples presented in this book make a strong case that we are confronted with a more sophisticated, violent, and aberrant sexual offender than at any time in the past.

  Also by Roy Hazelwood and Stephen G. Michaud

  The Evil That Men Do:

  FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood’s Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators

  by Roy Hazelwood with Park E. Dietz and Ann Burgess

  Autoerotic Fatalities

  by Roy Hazelwood with Ann Burgess

  Practical Aspects of Rape Investigation: A Multidisciplinary Approach

  by Stephen G. Michaud

  Lethal Shadow:

  The Chilling True-Crime Story of a Sadistic Sex Slayer

  by Stephen G. Michaud with Beck Weathers

  Left for Dead:

  My Journey Home from Everest

  by Stephen G. Michaud with Hugh Ayensworth

  “If You Love Me You Will Do My Will”

  The Only Living Witness: The True Story of Serial Sex Killer Ted Bundy

  Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer

  The Vengeful Heart and Other Stories

  Acknowledgments

  This book would not have been possible without the case contributions from members of city, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.

  I also want to thank my friends and colleagues in the Academy Group (AGI) in Manassas, Virginia, for their encouragement and many years of friendship. They include Ken Baker, Dick Ault, Pete Smerick, Roger Depue, Steve Mardigian, Mike Napier, Larry McCann, Connie Hassel, Tom Strentz, Marty Rehberg, and Elaine Fox.

  There are two officers with whom I served in the military, Tom McGreevy and Charlie Stahl, who became my mentors. A belated public thanks to both of them for helping to shape my thinking.

  Many of my former colleagues in the Behavioral Science Unit contributed to my education and experience. My gratitude to my partner of thirteen years, Ken Lanning, and to Art Westveer, Larry Ankrom, John Douglas, Bob Ressler, Steve Etter, Joe Harpold, Bill Hagmaier, Win Norman, Bob Boyd, and Jim Wright, among others.

  I am also deeply indebted to the national and international members of the FBI NCAVC Police Fellowship for their guidance and friendship since 1984 and to the mental health professionals whose works have served as guideposts throughout my career. Most have become my good friends.

  They include Park Dietz, Janet Warren, Robert Prentky, Ann Burgess, Bob Hare, John Hunter, Gene Abel, Reid Meloy, Chris Hatcher, Robert Freeman-Longo, Ray Knight, Fred Berlin, Peter Collins, Steve Hucker, Judith Becker, Nick Groth, and Kris Mohandie.

  Thanks to Jennifer Gerrietts of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as Ray Flanagan of the Scranton, Pennsylvania, Times Tribune and Patti Froning from the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office for helping us keep our facts straight. Likewise to prosecutor Mike Pent of the San Diego County (California) District Attorney’s Office for his critical review of the Billy Lee Chadd material. Carlton Stowers of Cedar Hill, Texas, cast his expert eye over our pages on Faryion Wardrip.

  Michaela Hamilton deserves special thanks for skillfully hammering a sprung manuscript back into shape at the eleventh hour.

  Thanks to Charlie Spicer, our editor at St. Martin’s Press, for his patience and support in helping to make this book a reality, and to Elizabeth Kaplan, our tireless protectress and advocate.

  Finally, I want to acknowledge the unwavering and loving support of my wife, Peggy Driver-Hazelwood. We couldn’t have completed the project without her.

  Index

  The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

  Abel, Gene

  abuse and sexual offenders

  Albert Victor, Prince

  American Psychiatric Association

  anal rape

  Anderson, Amy

  Anderson, Robert Leroy

  penetration by foreign objects

  sadism of

  Ankrom, Larry

  Ann* (sexual slavery)

  antisocial personality disorder (APD)

  apartheid

  audiotapes of crime

  Augustine, Saint

  Autoerotic Fatalities

  autoeroticism

  Christopher DiStefano

  Patrick Mahan* case

  Maggie Thomas* case

  Aynesworth, Hugh

  Baker, Ken

  Ball, Janie

  Barnett, Mark

  Barstow*, Remi

  battered spouses and sexual slavery

  Beatlestone, Fiona

  Becky (DeBardeleben victim)

  behavioral code, realization of and crime

  behavioral continuum, sexual sadists as

  behavioral science and criminal psychology

  acting as own lawyer

  bulletproof syndrome

  counterfeiter and killer

  crime scene mementos and photographs

  journalistic records

  narcissist

  normal appearance

  personality disorders
/>
  psychopaths

  self-portrait

  testifying, insistence of

  Berkowitz, David

  Bernardo, Paul

  bestiality

  Bianchi, Ken

  Biasotto, Catherine

  Binder, Al

  bisexuality, sexual sadists and

  Blau, Ellen

  blood sugar imbalance and criminal behavior

  body piercing

  Boeder, Brian

  Bogard, Kenneth

  bondage

  Boone, Leza

  borderline personality disorder

  Bright, Delmar

  Briscolina, Mary Alice

  Brooks, Pierce

  Brunner, Jeremy

  BSU (Behavioral Science Unit)

  Buckley, William F.

  bulletproof syndrome

  Bundy, Carol

  Bundy, Ted

  acting as own lawyer

  carelessness of

  and detective magazines

  Buono, Angelo

  Burgerhof, Bob

  Burgerhof, Christie Negvesky

  Burgess, Ann Wolbert

  Burget*, Frankie

  Burget*, Mark

  Busby, Leslie

  Byers, Brett

  Byers, Sloan

  Calson, Walter “Pete,”

  Camarena, Enrique (Kiki)

  Campbell, John

  Carachilo, Michael

  “cartoon case,”

  Chadd, Billy Lee

  sadism of

  self-documentation

  Chapman, “Dark Annie,”

  Charmers: The True Story of a Ladies’ Man and His Victims (Olsen)

  childhood abuse and sexual offenders

  Clarke, Thomas

  Clevenger, James