It’s been irking me for sometime how often letter writing pops up among lists of popular myths about serial killers. The general setup is that the public believes letter writing is common among serial killers, but that experts know better.
I tried to Google around for citations, but I couldn’t find any, and I never thought to make a note of them at the time. But I’m sure everyone here is aware of what I’m talking about.
I’m quite skeptical about it being uncommon. I have a suspicion that there isn’t really much data on the topic to begin with, a bit like the WHO stance on face masks.
With that in mind I thought I’d start a list of serial killers who wrote letters. I realise this isn’t exactly the most rigorous approach, but my goal is not so much to prove that it’s common, as to simply prove that it is not uncommon and also to generate discussion about similar cases.
I would love it if others could add names to the list. Also I don’t think it matters if the letters are confirmed or possible hoaxes. I want to examine the frequency of hoax letters as well.
Here is my list so far:
New Orleans Axeman
Jack the Ripper
Unabomber
BTK
David Berkowitz
Zodiac
I know that’s just a list of the obvious ones. I don’t take notes when I read try crime, so all of sudden I can only think of the famous examples, also it’s late and I’ve got work tomorrow. I’m hoping others can added to the list and I will add more as they come to me.
Been reading up on the Black Dahlia. The BD Avenger communicated with police/including at least one letter and seemingly several phone calls.
Suzanne Degnan/Lipstick Murders (Ill) – which might be the same person.
Golden State Killer.
I think the big thing is that it’s unusual for the run-of-the-mill murderer to communicate clandestinely with police. Steve Hodel (BD investigator and former LAPD detective) said he never had a case where the killer called or wrote to the police.
Possibly JJD/EARONS though it could have been hoax and misidentification in his case.
In Europe we also had the Monster of Florence (Italy) who was active between 1968 and 1985 and who sent a letter to a judge containing a bodypart of one of his victims.
"3X" (a.k.a. the "necker-killer" or "lovers’ lane killer") sent letters and ciphers to the police and newspapers after his killings.
Hodel’s comments are interesting; I’m not surprised that the police don’t receive many letters for homicides in general.
I think this is a good example of where statistics can get twiddly. The way you categorise the killer and the crimes can skew the results. My own sense that letter writing isn’t uncommon is also quite biased. I have gotten this sense mostly from watching true crime stories on Youtube and I became intrigued when I started to notice just how many of the stories involved some sort of wacky letter from the perpetrator. But the issue there is that obviously a story that has that kind of interesting detail is more likely to become famous and in turn have Youtube videos made about it.
I do wonder a bit about the way criteria effects our view of this kind of data. I couldn’t find any meta studies done on the prevalence of letter writing amongst killers. I can’t help but think that with the right selection criteria, you could identify a certain type of killer that actually is relatively likely to write taunting letters.
It’s not known whether Jack the Ripper wrote any letters. The most famous Ripper letters were almost certainly not written by the killer. One or two other letters are still an open question. From memory the Axeman letter(s) is also doubtful, but it’s a case I know far less about so maybe someone else can chime in on the matter.
I think it’s widely understood that many such letters are hoaxes. I am equally interested in hoax letters. I see know reason to begin this line of enquiry by excluding possible hoaxes. For two reasons, firstly hoax letters are interesting in and of themselves, because the give us insight into… well, hoax letters. Secondly I’ve never seen much evidence that the Ripper letters, or the Axeman letter were a hoax. In both cases the argument is made primarily on the basis that they cannot be proven to be authentic, not a strong argument. Although others will be quick to point out other reasons why the Ripper and Axeman letters are thought to be hoaxes, again I am yet to here a reason that is more than conjecture.
It seems as if two common attitudes emerge when it comes to crimes and things like letter writing, on the one hand you have those who seem gullible and too willing to believe and on the other hand you have those who seem to enjoy taking a contrarian stance and skeptical stance.
I am of the opinion that all else being equal any given murder letter has a slightly lower than 50% chance of being a hoax. If someone claims to have committed a crime, it is reasonable to be skeptical, but I believe the burden of proof is on us to refute the claim.
I find the idea that the Ripper letters are authentic to be quite plausible, I see no obvious reason to be unduly skeptical. The Axeman letter too, provides no real reason to doubt it’s authenticity. Am I confident they are authentic? No. I can’t be confident, there is an absence of corroboration. It’s more that I see the correct application of Occam’s razor to be that it is marginally more probable that they are authentic, than that they’re are not authentic, I believe it is more frugal than the skeptics stance.
Here is my list so far:
New Orleans Axeman
Jack the Ripper
Unabomber
BTK
David Berkowitz
Zodiac
You can add the New York Zodiac – Heriberto Seda
Wiki below..
The killer’s letters to police claimed that he was selecting his victims based on their signs of the zodiac, and implied he would act only at certain times when specific stars were visible in the night sky. Police consulted a professional astronomer, whose predictions about when the killer would strike proved somewhat accurate.[1] He used an improvised firearm, explaining in his messages that the lack of rifling marks on the shells would prevent his capture.
