Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
- Hey, it's Peyton Moreland. If you're enjoying my podcast, "Into the Dark," then you'll love the new true crime podcast, "Mind of a Serial Killer." What drives someone to commit the unthinkable? How does an ordinary person transform into a serial killer? If you've ever been curious about the twisted psychology behind the world's most infamous criminals, "Mind of a Serial Killer" is the podcast for you.
From Jeffrey Dahmer to Ted Bundy to the Night Stalker, Mind of a Serial Killer takes you deep into the chilling minds of history's most terrifying murderers. Featuring expert analysis from licensed psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels, discover what drove the world's most notorious serial killers to commit such horrific acts. Check out this special preview.
You know the names: Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, the Night Stalker. You may even know their stories. But on this show, you're also going to get inside their minds.
This is Mind of a Serial Killer, a Crime House original. I'm Vanessa Richardson. I've been telling stories about serial killers for years, and I've always wondered, how could someone be capable of such violence? But doing my own research isn't enough to get the full picture I needed an expert.
My name is Dr. Tristan Ingalls. As a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist, I've dedicated my career to helping violent offenders lower their risk of reoffending. As Vanessa takes you through the stories of history's most famous serial killers, I'll be analyzing their minds, their motives, and their murders. That's what makes this podcast different.
Mind of a Serial Killer is a Crime House original. Every Monday, join us as we explore the psyches of the world's most frightening offenders. Follow now on your favorite podcast platform. Check out this clip.
In our last episode, we focused on Jeffrey Dahmer's shifting feelings after his first murder when he killed Stephen Hicks in 1978. Elation, arousal, and eventually guilt and fear. We talked about his attempts to push down those emotions, mainly through the abuse of alcohol.
Although he was able to fight off his violent urges for a while, by the late 80s, he wasn't able to hold them back anymore. And on the night of November 21st, 1987, 27-year-old Jeffrey Dahmer killed his second victim, a young man named Stephen Twomey. According to him, he had no memory of actually doing it. There's a lot of different reasons why that can occur.
For some, it's due to a heightened state of psychosis or mania. A lot of times there's a loss of memory during those states just because you're disoriented, you're not in touch with reality.
There's also reasons that can happen from substance use or misuse or dependence that can also create impairment in memory. And in some cases for people with long-term dependency on alcohol, there's a thing called Korsakoff syndrome, which can actually create an amnestic sort of process. I don't think that's what's happening here with Jeffrey. There is another aspect here of like a dissociative rage, right?
And I think that is what explains Jeffrey's behavior in this case, if he truly does not remember it. Is there a possibility that he could have just lied about not remembering? Yes. That's another thing. Like I said, if he truly doesn't remember it, it could likely have been a dissociative rage. But also, he's intentionally not wanting to remember it, consciously or subconsciously repressing the memory because it's discomforting to him.
Whether Jeffrey actually remembered killing Stephen Twomey or not, he still had a big problem on his hands: what to do with the body. Somehow he had to get it out of the hotel undetected, then figure out what to do with it from there. So he hung the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, then headed for the nearest department store and picked up the biggest wheeled suitcase he could find.
When he got back to the hotel, he managed to cram the body inside, then waited until the middle of the night and called a cab. Jeffrey didn't have a car of his own at this point, so he couldn't drive to the middle of nowhere and dump the remains. He had to take it home. And remember, he was still living with his 83-year-old grandmother, Catherine, at the time.
Follow Mind of a Serial Killer, a Crime House Studios original. New episodes drop every Monday. Again, that's Mind of a Serial Killer. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.