5 Famous Serial Killers Interviewed by John Douglas 

Serial killers are often depicted as people of nightmares, but they are all too real. In fact, 
many serial killers who have been captured have been interviewed by a man named John 
Douglas, one of the first members of FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. Below is a list of some of the 
most notable killers that Douglas interviewed accompanied by a description of their crimes. 
1) Richard Speck 
Richard Speck was an American serial killer who 
murdered eight student nurses living together in Chicago, 
Illinois. Prior to the night of the murders, he had been 
arrested over 20 times for petty crimes — he was only 25 at 
the time. Before breaking into the nurses’ townhouse, 
Speck is said to have gone out and drank a lot. He then 
proceeded to enter the townhouse and tie up each woman, 
using a gun to threaten them into submission, forcing them 
into a bedroom. Three other women were in that bedroom, 
and Speck proceeded to tie up all six of them. When three 
other nurses came home, they were restrained as well. After telling the women that he was only 
going to rob them, he went through the house, stealing what he wanted. After, he proceeded to 
divide the women into separate rooms where he viciously murdered each of them, stabbing and 
strangling each victim. One woman managed to hide under a bed without Speck noticing and 
waited it out, leaving her hiding space at 6 am to scream for help. She was able to give a 
description that matched Speck, who was found at a cheap hotel, where attempted suicide. His 
attempt was unsuccessful, though, and he was arrested at the hospital the next morning. He 
was originally sentenced to death, but he was eventually re-sentenced to 400 years in prison, 
where ended up dying of a heart attack in 1991. When Speck was interviewed, the profilers 
allowed him to sit up on a table while they were sitting below him in chairs, giving him a sense 
of control and/or superiority. They also carried the interview more like a conversation between 
acquaintances than an interrogation. Soon enough, Speck opened up to his interviews and 
began talking about his life and crimes. 
2) David Berkowitz 
David Berkowitz, more commonly known as the Son of 
Sam, was a serial killer whose reign of terror that consisted of 
the murders of six people and the injuries of seven lasted a 
year, from 1976 to 1977. All of his crimes consisted of a .44 
caliber gun and seemed to be against young women with 
long, dark hair. Even though many victims survived, people 
struggled to identify what the killer may look like, giving many 
different descriptions. It was extremely difficult to determine 
which descriptions were of witnesses and which were of the 
actual killer. At one point, the NYPD even thought that they were looking at multiple gunmen. 
Berkowitz wrote multiple letters about his crimes, sending one to a newspaper and several 
others to the NYPD, taunting them because they couldn’t figure out his identity. One of his 
letters ended up being published, terrifying the people of New York City. Many women with the 
long, dark hair that seemed to be Berkowitz’s victim type even changed their hair to attempt to 
decrease their chances of becoming the next victim. Because of the varying descriptions, police 
began to suspect that the killer could be equipped with a number of disguises. So, they decided 
to go off of the one common piece of evidence that was seen at many of the crime scenes — a 
yellow car. This eventually led them to Berkowitz’s vehicle. Upon the search of his car, officers 
discovered a rifle, ammunition, and a letter from Son of Sam waiting to be sent. Officers soon 
surrounded Berkowitz’s apartment, and upon his apprehension, Berkowitz continued with his 
taunts. It is claimed that he said ​“Well, you got me. How come it took you such a long time?” 
After his arrest, Berkowitz claimed he was moved to murder by his neighbor’s dog that had been 
possessed by a demon, but he later admitted that he made that up. Berkowitz was sentenced to 
25 years in prison for each murder, which he is still serving today. 
3) Charles Manson 
Charles Manson is arguably one of the most infamous 
criminals in history. He is known for his group of deadly 
followers, known as the Manson Family cult. Manson is also 
known to have been fond of hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD 
and magic mushrooms. He preached to his followers a 
combination of, quite frankly, a bunch of nonsense, including 
an upcoming apocalyptic race war that would lead to the 
Manson Family becoming extremely powerful. He got this 
perceived prophecy of a race war from the Beatles’ song 
“Helter Skelter.” Manson and his followers committed 
countless murders, one of the most notable being that of the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and 
her friends. It is said that Manson orchestrated the murders being committed by four of his 
followers: ​Charles Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel. The four 
snuck onto the property, murdering someone in the process. Tate and all of her guests: Abigail 
Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Jay Sebring, were all shot and stabbed a horrific amount of 
times. Tragically, none of the victims managed to escape, and Tate’s unborn child didn’t survive 
either. This was just one of the multiple tragic murders committed by Charles Manson and the 
Manson family. Manson was eventually sentenced to death, but his sentence was reduced to 
life in prison after California stopped practicing the death penalty. 
4) John Wayne Gacy 
John Wayne Gacy was a serial killer who took the lives of 33 
people — who also happened to entertain young children as a clown. 
He was arrested for the first time in 1964 after violating two young 
boys. After an 18 month stay in jail, he packed up and moved to 
Chicago as an attempt to escape his past. He became successful in 
Chicago, starting a business, volunteering, going to church, and even 
remarrying. He built up his appearance until he was respected by his 
peers once again. All seemed like it was going well until one of 
Gacy’s employees, a teenage boy, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Even though 
the boy’s parents asked the police to investigate Gacy as a suspect, they didn’t. After his second 
divorce, Gacy started to rape and murder young men and continued to do so until a 15 year old 
boy who had gone to Gacy’s house to inquire about a position at his company went missing. 
The police finally decided to search Gacy’s home and ended up finding a lot of suspicious 
objects which eventually led to the discovery of the bodies of 29 of the people he murdered that 
were hidden under his house. Gacy was found guilty and was put to death by lethal injection in 
1994. 
5) Edmund Kemper 
Growing up with an abusive mother and an absent 
father, Ed Kemper was an intelligent but extremely troubled 
child. He tortured and killed animals from a young age and 
committed his first murders at the age of 15. It was at this 
age that he killed his grandparents. Kemper claims he killed 
his grandmother because she was abusive (just like his 
mother, who is said to have locked him in the basement on 
several occasions), and then proceeded to murder his 
grandfather so he wouldn’t be mad at him. After this, he was 
committed to a mental hospital where he received less than 
five years of treatment. When he was released, Kemper began to murder female hitchhikers, 
driving them to rural areas where he would decapitate them. Throughout this period of time, 
Kemper was known to have socialized with the very cops who were pursuing him. He often 
frequented a bar where they would drink, even earning the nickname “Big Eddie.” He murdered a 
total of six young women and then turned his attention to the main source of his hatred: his 
mother. He murdered her and her best friend on April 20, 1973 and then called the police to 
confess to his crimes. He is currently serving a life sentence at the California Medical Facility.