Serial Killer Podcast

Welcome to Family Ties and Deadly Lies, Inside the Minds of Parent Made Killers. I'm your host, Jana, and I'm here with David Berkowitz, Eric Menendez, and Richard Kraus. In this episode, we will be diving deep into the reasons behind why Eric Menendez, David Berkowitz, and Richard Kraus were made to be serial killers. We have exclusively gotten these killers to come and talk on this podcast, but before we introduce them, we will give you listeners the backgrounds of these killers. Let's start with David Berkowitz. As a kid, David was really smart, but hyperactive and lost interest in school. He liked to hang around smaller kids he could bully because he was otherwise lonely. He was obsessed with petty theft and starting fires, red flag number one, am I right? Later on, he joined the army looking for a purpose. After he was discharged, he met his biological mother and learned the truth about his birth, that he was born out of wedlock, and that was a big thing that affected him because he was raised Jewish. And shortly after this, he started his killing spree. Oh my goodness, that's a messed up guy. Next, we will discuss the brother that was never perfect, Mr. Eric Menendez. Eric had the perfect life. He was raised in a wealthy family and got whatever he wanted and had a luxurious lifestyle. He was an average kid in school compared to his brother Lyle, who was always smarter than him. But Eric was a very excellent tennis player. He was ranked 44th in the country for players under the age of 18, but don't let this fool you. It wasn't exactly how they made it seem. Eric didn't actually have a perfect life. Him and his brother had immense pressure and outrageous expectations on them to succeed in sports and academics from their parents. Because of this, Eric and Lyle became rebellious children and started doing break-ins. Eric had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from the sexual abuse he went through from his father. I mean, come on, going the right line would sexually abuse your own kid. Wow, that's insanely wrong on so many levels. And finally, the wife killer, Richard Kraft. Richard Kraft was the only boy of three children. His mother's implied absence in his life influenced his romantic relations. His father, John Kraft, was notably present in Richard's life and supported him through private school. He did not do well, but still attempted college. Shortly after he dropped out, he joined the military and became entirely like his father. These skills opened many job opportunities for Kraft, but he still found time to socialize. He dated many women while in committed relationships. While trying to fill the void of his absent mother, Richard surrounded himself with women, failing to be loyal to any of them. Clearly, this guy has some terrible commitment issues. Now that we have given you some background on these serial killers, we will now bring them in. Wait, before we bring you guys in, let's just prefect this. You aren't gonna kill us, right? Right? No. Seriously? No. Okay, it has no need for the sash. Richard? No. Okay, good. Now we can proceed. Welcome, Eric. Thank you. Welcome, David. Pleasure to be here. And finally, welcome, Richard. Thank you for having me. Now that we all have the men here, we will start to break down how and why they did what they did. We will first start with this infamous Eric Menendez. Hello, Eric. Thank you for allowing me to come speak and getting me out of jail for a day. I'm so over being in that cell. A life sentence sucks. So, Eric, tell us about where you grew up. Well, I was born in New York City. But then my family and I moved to Gloucester, New Jersey, and that's where me and my brother, Lyle, went to the high-end private co-ed Princeton Day School. We then moved to California, and we then attended Calabasas High School. We always moved a lot because of my father's job. I know what you're thinking. I'm a spoiled kid because I attended these private schools, but it was all because of my father. Lyle and I never wanted to go. Can you describe your upbringing and family dynamics prior to the murder of your parents? My family was always harsh. My father was an authoritarian parent who was very strict on me and my brother. He had very high expectations for all of us in the family, but more for me and my brother. He expected us to be top of our classes and top athletes when we played tennis. This is what led me and Lyle to hate our father. Our mother always never did anything but side with our father, and this made me really resent her. Many people would say we had the perfect lifestyle, but we didn't. You keep saying you didn't have the perfect lifestyle when everyone believes you did. Can you elaborate on why you didn't have the perfect lifestyle? Yes, but it is a rough subject. When I was six years old, my father started sexually abusing me and Lyle. More so me than my brother. He would come into my room at night and do things to me that I don't want to mention. He would also take photographs of me and my brother in a ways a father shouldn't be taking pictures. Is this what made you want to kill your parents? Yes. My mom always turned her cheek to the fact that Lyle and I were being abused and never did anything about it, so it continued. This made me and Lyle hate our parents. Do you mind sharing about how you killed your parents? Sorry? Oh yes, sorry, sorry. If you don't want to share it, that's okay. No, it's okay, I don't mind. So on August 20th, 1989, me and my brother decided to go out and buy shotguns, and we came back and my parents were sitting in the family room. My mom was drinking, her usual. She's a sleazy drunk, go figure. And my father was sitting there and they were watching a movie. All of a sudden, me and my brother just walked in and started letting the shotguns rip. We proceeded to shoot our father six times, including one single shot point blank in the back of the head execution style. I did that. My mom was shot nine times, but she still remained alive and was lying in the hallway with a trail of blood, trying to get away when my brother went out to his car to reload his rifle, and I stayed in there. But then she died when he came back and shot her in the side of the face. We had an elaborate plan to shoot them in the knees to make it look like the mob killed them. Let's just say the stupid plan didn't work. Wow, Eric, that's deep. Thank you for speaking with us. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. Well, listeners, you heard it straight from Eric Menendez. Him and his brother were crazy. I couldn't imagine her killing my parents. Next, we will have David Berkowitz. Welcome, David. Tell us about growing up, David. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I was adopted a few days after I was born and raised by a Jewish couple. I was the only child, and my mom stayed at home and was kind of obsessed with being around me. I didn't mind it, though, because I was a mama's boy. Red flag number two. I didn't find out I was adopted until I was five. My parents told me, but my biological mother died after giving birth. I always carried the guilt of killing her and even became afraid of the dark because I thought my biological dad would come and take me for killing her. My adoptive mother died from breast cancer when I was 14, and that's when I really started to go down the wrong path because she was my stability. My dad remarried four years after her death and moved to Florida without me. Wow. Can you explain why this puts you to kill six people? Well, it wasn't just that. I joined the army in 1971 looking to fight in the Vietnam War, but they stationed me in South Korea. It was really boring, so I left with an honorable discharge in 1974. I felt like I had no purpose in life, so I went looking for my biological family. I found out that my biological mother was still alive. I was so angry at my adoptive parents for lying to me all those years. When I finally met her, she told me I was the result of an affair. This really messed with my head as I grew up Jewish, so being born out of wedlock was usually disapproved of. After this, I struggled mentally and struggled with my identity. I met some guys at a party who were involved with the occult, and I had always had an interest in Satanism. So I joined their group looking to be a part of something. It filled my head with crazy things, and I began to hear voices that told me to kill. They were too aggressive to ignore. I started killing in 1976 with the .44 caliber. I went out searching for women in pairs, whether it was two girls or one girl and one guy. They usually looked sort of like my adoptive mother. Oh man, are you still a Satanist? Actually, I am not. I converted to Christianity in prison. I got served with six life sentences, so I have a lot of time on my hands. Ten years into my sentence, another inmate told me Jesus Christ loved me and would forgive me. I didn't believe him because how could Jesus forgive me after what I did? He persisted and gave me a Gideon pocket testament, and asked me to read the book of Psalms, so I did every night. When reading Psalms 34, I came across the sixth verse, and it read, This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. It was 1987, and I began to pour my heart out to God. From that night on, my life was blessed. I even started an outreach ministry in the prison. Good for you, David. Thank you for speaking with us. And finally, we will speak to Richard Crafts. Welcome, Richard. Thank you, thank you. Can you tell us a little about your childhood? Although my mother was not active in my life, my father had a prominent role in my life. John Crafts enjoyed playing football in college, and he was a successful businessman in Manhattan. He also served as a pilot in World War I. I wanted to follow in my father's steps by pursuing the military and becoming a pilot, but we obviously know how that turned out. Yeah, you became a murderer. Wait a minute, back up. How did he become a murderer? Well, let him tell us that, Richard. During what you would call, I guess, my womanizer era, I became a pilot. After becoming a pilot, I met Haley. Gosh, she was crazy, and we would never stop arguing. And Haley knew I was engaged, but the woman still continued to see me. Another red flag. What is it with these men? Hey! Oh, please, Eric, don't even. Um, hello? David, you were the worst of them. You're practically a walking red flag, man. All right, all right, back to Richard. Tell us more about Haley. Somewhere in between us being or not, the homegirl got pregnant. Red flag number what now? I can't even keep up anymore. Tell us more, Richard. Haley and I got married shortly after that. Our relationship continued to be toxic and argumentative to the point where I became abusive. I was never content with our relationship and only married her because of the baby. That's why I continued to cheat on her. Somebody hand me a red flag so I can wave it in his face, because goodness, this man is a total red flag. It's her fault. She met me while I was engaged. I had a mistress, and we'd go on dates and have a good time. You see, life was great because I was never home. That's what the nanny was for. That was until she hired a detective that exposed my girlfriend. I knew then and there that I had to get rid of Haley. She wanted a divorce. You're crazy. Tell us about how you got rid of her. After work one night, I waited for her to get dropped off at our house, then plotted to ambush her. We were arguing about the divorce, but once she turned away, I struck her in the back of the head with a crossbar until she was unconscious. I then dragged her downstairs and dropped her in the freezer. I hauled her frozen corpse out in my truck, then to the Hasonic River to properly dispose of her body. I fed her through a wood chipper and spread the remains throughout the river like mulch. Um, alright. Thank you for your time, Richard. Well, there you have it, folks. You've heard the truth from the mommy killer, David Berkowitz, the wife killer, Richard Kratz, and the parent killer, Eric Menendez. Thank you for listening to Family Ties and Dead or Alive, Inside the Minds of Parent Made Killers. We'll see you next time.