Serial Killers, a Necessary Evil

The host, Brandon, discusses the controversial belief that serial killers are a necessary evil in society. He refers to an article by Dr. Scott Bond, which argues that serial killers serve a moral function by setting boundaries of morality. Brandon also shares personal experiences and examples to support his viewpoint. He believes that society has become lackadaisical and would benefit from the presence of serial killers to increase awareness and vigilance. He acknowledges that his opinion may be unsettling but emphasizes the importance of considering the bigger picture. The episode ends with a preview of the next topic, which will discuss the case of Nicholas Cruz and the Son of Sam law. Hello everybody and welcome to Serial Slayers. I'm your host Brandon. I want to thank you for tuning in on this Monday. Tonight's topic we're going to go over what I was supposed to go over on Monday but due to technical difficulties my guest speaker was unable to attend and I didn't there was too much back and forth like okay well I still said I was going to do this one so we're going to do this and it's a controversial statement I mean the title in and of itself is controversial but it is that you know serial killers I believe they are a necessary evil we in society need them and I know you're like bro seriously like what that makes no sense I want to start off by there's an article from someone I'm going to associate with on LinkedIn we would never sat down and had tea or anything but his name is Dr. Scott Bond and he wrote an article for Forensic Today and it's called the unlikely function of serial killers in society now right off the bat one of the first things he says I wholeheartedly agree with and that's the whole reason I did this podcast that I'm doing so I'm going to read this in different excerpts and then I will get into more of a talk about why I agree with but I want you to know off the basis like relevance based I'm not saying we need I'm not saying people need to die like I'm not supporting people dying okay it's not that aspect to which serial killers being around I think that we need let me get into this article if you're if you're viewing I'm looking over here I'm reading the article if you're listening hey I'm looking over to my left because I'm reading the article so now you know so one of the first things that he says is he contends that serial killers actually serve a moral function or purpose in society from a physiological perspective now I agree and the reason I agree is he goes on to speak about that that's that's coming from a functionalist tradition of sociology in which a functionalist perspective is that all types whether good or bad are to be inspected or expected and that includes serial murder you can't have good without bad because if you don't have bad then how do you know that good is good if that makes sense now he goes on let's see again from a functionalist perspective the social construct of the serial killer identity is symbolic on the basis that it sets moral boundaries in society now think about that because rape, torture, mutilation you know these are wrong but why do we know they're wrong because they've been deemed such by society well these evil people air quotes for those who can't see these evil people the actions of these serial killers set that boundary of morality and without them we may not have had those boundaries if that makes that I want you to think about what I'm trying to say is by accepting the framing of serial killers as evil again taken from his paper here the public is given moral clarity such clarity can be reassuring and comforting so because we label what is evil it gives you an explanation for the actions of the criminal and it has to be the reason to feel better about yourself an example right I may not be a saint but at least I don't kill or eat people you see where that moral boundary comes into play where it's like oh well I don't do this so I'm not that bad I mean you hear all the time somebody gets stopped by the cops well let's go get the real criminals no this is stupid you're pulling me over for XYZ well there's real criminals and murderers out here there's that moral boundary line right there so what you're doing isn't bad because this is bad and you're right here and for those who can't see I'm just comparing an upper and a lower quadrant if you will do do I mean like he says you know serial killers do horrible things such as what I've spoken about before but when the crimes of serial killers are reported by the news they're typically framed as an inhuman acts of vampires devils and heartless monsters killers that are almost always depicted as being pure evil to discuss or distinguish them from decent people but I recently watched a show on Netflix the inside man pretty good show and there's a quote that I take from there I was like god that's that's dead-on he said everyone's a murderer you just have to meet the right person everybody thinks that they're so pure and they're so well I'd never do that because of because of this you don't know that your will's never been tested that that to that breaking point some people adhere to the boundaries set by society better than others do and those others are the ones generally you know more or less criminals they don't abide by society's rules as wholeheartedly as you know a good person does but you want to talk about that if you're viewing this right now and you see this eight pack up here in the corner that's a proverbial who's who of a starting lineup for serial killers third one over right here you know that is he was for all intents and purposes a good guy pillar of the community you know they they are we and we are them I feel like I'm gonna start singing that weird song from across the universe but anyways speaking of associate of mine she she highlighted to interject more stories from when I was a PO now I didn't I never had a serial killer on my list of clients if you will but I've lived in two states while there was active serial killers going on I can speak to those the first one actually I was looking to write a book and special agent Michael Yoder of the FBI is the one that caught this serial killer and I had discussions back and forth with him but it never I sent him a survey but I never got anything back so a while back this was up in Alaska and this is when I was a cop up there actually we had this this serial killer nobody knew what was going on and it turned out to be this homeless person who I want to say it was either a Python 357 or 44 Magnum that he was using and how many people do you get for he was stopped because he tried to open fire on an officer and that did not end well for him turns out this kid used to be a pillar of the community up there he got out of Anchorage on a full-ride scholarship basketball I believe only to come back get wound up and drugs homelessness and you know there it is the other one when I was back in Nebraska Nico Jenkins there's an interesting case one could be said that the criminal justice system is directly responsible for the deaths of the people that occurred once he was released from the institution on the basis that he straight-up told them do not let me out the demons are telling me to kill etc etc so he told people don't let me out of here I'm going to do XYZ they didn't believe him he went and did it so that's in and of itself but he's either he's a interesting individual to say the least I mean serial killers murderers anybody can literally be your next-door neighbor and you have no idea because until you meet somebody that pushes you to that breaking point you don't know now why when I say that they're a necessary evil they help shape society back before the rise of serial killers in the 70s and 80s you know if depending on your age you might have remembered living in a time where you know stay out till the streetlights come on doors stay unlocked people did worry and then came the era of the serial killer and it should be known they're still here there's anywhere between 25 and 50 active serial killers in the United States currently according to the FBI but after the rise of the serial killer they they molded society because what other crime has occurred where it made women of all walks go out and change their hair color go out and chop off their long locks because they didn't want to be a target because said predator only went after certain types of women like but it's not just women there I mean there was men but it's a little bit harder to pin down what about a man a serial killer would like I mean yeah you got Dahmer that's all he preferred but that was his preference his sexual preference that's what it was you can't I mean but it wasn't he didn't he was interesting because he did cross racial boundaries and that generally doesn't happen I'm not saying it always doesn't happen I'm saying that generally doesn't happen but yeah after after the 80s so in the 90s because I grew up in early 90s let's put put it there and even then it was you know get out of the house go outside home when the streetlights come on we're in 2022 ain't no kids staying out playing in the streets so the streetlight comes on but then we've completely flipped society has completely flipped as well because back in that time frame what were we told as kids don't get in the car with strangers don't what you're meeting somebody off the internet are you insane and now what do we do we sit at home and swipe right on a dating profile because it's easier to do that than it is to go a bar and waste money and we order car service and willingly get into a stranger's car on the assumption that they're good people yeah that just blows my mind are you fucking kidding me like you're gonna go and okay whatever I mean I could I could put a lift sign on my car and drive around and just abduct people left and right I mean my car wouldn't work because my car is pretty notable but I'm just saying for anyone out there who had that idea there you go it is what it is but again yeah so I know it's difficult to not have back and forth and this is why I wanted an associate to chime in on his input on the morality of this because he views it from a different aspect of morally no we don't need them and again I'm not saying go out and support your local serial killer but I do think society has gotten lackadaisical I think that because they have diminished now I would need to do way more in-depth research on this and this is just a hypothesis this is not a factual statement I think that with the decline of serial killers there was an incline in crime in and of itself because without the boogeyman out there to make you stay inside what's preventing you and that's that's really what a serial killer is is an adult version of the boogeyman from when you were a kid think about it like but no like I said society's just become so lackadaisical and I will say one thing about previous serial killers if you will now criminals nowadays are lazy criminals nowadays do not comprehend how difficult it was to pull off not one not two but multiple murders and get away with it now yes the advancement in forensics has helped out tremendously because you know Lockhart's exchange principle every time you come you're going to take something with you and you're going to leave something from where you came so forensics has helped out tremendously but that's where you got to give it up to them and it's funny because people think that serial killers are either extremely smart or they're extremely dumb they're all over the spectrum but a vast majority of them have rather high IQs and it kind of goes to show why like they you just the the prep work that goes into it you have to stalk who you're looking for you have to do your research on them you have to know when's a good time to do XYZ I mean you want to talk okay here's somebody you want to talk about a charismatic serial killer and I forget who it was a comedian made this joke it wasn't me so giving credit to him if he's ever able to hear this which I doubt because I'm just a little mini podcast guy he said you want to talk about a charismatic serial killer Ted Bundy because he was able to get women he was able to abduct them with a fucking Volkswagen Beetle not even a decent vehicle a Volkswagen Beetle like seriously that's when the charm and charisma comes in but yeah they can't I don't know there was a there was an article I started to write that will really upset the alphabet suit people if you know what I'm talking about because they say that you know let's let's look at this like serial killers are you born that way or are you made that way I want to say within the last ten years I remember hearing something they were trying to isolate the chromosome that would determine if you were going to be a serial killer in life they're trying to isolate to identify that at birth they're unable to obviously but it just you know I think it can be it I think it is a combination of both factors I don't think that I don't think you're born with the inherent thought process of I'm just going to slay everybody because I can't have a conscience something has to set you off something makes you who you are and generally if it's an assailant of females they can tie it back to a mom or an ex-girlfriend the the resemblance if you will be a blonde brunette short fat five fingers three toes whatever it is blonde hair or blue eyes green eyes it is what it is so I kind of hope that this one kind of ran a little short it's only 20 minutes coming up now we'll keep going a little bit longer I just it feels without somebody to bounce the ideas off of it's a little the one side of conversation but I kind of I hope that what I was trying to convey came across as to why we as society need them because like I said without evil you have no good because then all the good that you think you're doing is just the norm there's nothing grandiose about it so if you're not I don't know I think if they I almost want to say that if they came back in a large wave maybe society would shape them up because more people would pay attention to their surroundings more people would pay attention to what's going on like like I said society's become lazy unintelligent and they just don't carry out they don't see things through to the to the fullest like like these guys did over here I know that sounds really messed up try and see the bigger picture here folks okay that's what I'm talking about but that's just one man's opinion who's been around for a while not even a while but no I never had the I don't want to call it a pleasure but I did have one person on my roster when I was PO who was a serial rapist and all I'll say is that she did not go into prison on a charge of rape but she came out with well over 30 forcible acts of sexual assault while in the facility which blew my mind and I'm like why you could have been out so much earlier you could have you could have caught it you went in for something minuscule you could have done six months to a year and gotten out and now there's only one reason you're getting out and it's not it's so you you know you've got a disease and that's about it but it just blew my mind she's like well I wasn't gonna let anybody make me their bitch inside and I'm like okay but look how much time you did because of it like I don't I don't I didn't comprehend the thought process there it's having worked inside I can tell you know working inside and being inside are two different things I'm not even going to pretend to equate the same thing but because you know I was only there certain amount of times a day they're there they're 24-7 so they it's a different lifestyle but anyways I want to thank you guys for tuning in I'm your host Brandon this is Serial Slayers and next actually on Wednesday we are going to talk about what was supposed to be talked about tonight which is Nicholas Cruz and the Parkland shooting the judge handed down an interesting sentence not so much the sentence but one of the stipulations of the sentence which is the son of Sam law which I never heard about until that came out but we're going to dive into what that actually entails and how it's unconstitutional so we'll see if that sticks somebody did point out when I made the message earlier that the judge said the Florida's equivalent of so okay might be different I'll have to look into what that is but either way it's an interesting law if you want to go look it up if not tune back in and two days time and we will talk about it then until then I'm your host take care