Dr. Avi Zelva
Criminologist
Deputy Retired Police Officer and Specialist in Serial Murderers. Author of the book "In the Minds of Serial Murderers" (Niv Books Publishing)
Dr. Avi Zelva, as a serial killer researcher you have visited many prisons and discovered, in the sweat of your brow, that fear has a smell. Interesting.
"Indeed, fear has a unique smell. I also noticed this as an officer in the IDF and the police - in death and life-threatening incidents, sweat has a different smell than usual.
In prisons in the US and Europe the smell is pungent and unique, especially in the 'death row' wing where prisoners are awaiting death sentences. Them, and even constitute an attraction for them. "
You have chosen an atypical occupation - serial killers.
"I am interested in understanding where the limit of human evil is, and unfortunately there is no limit. Evil always has another addition."
What characterizes them? They have a lot of stereotypes: high IQ, childhood abuse. what's right?
"The characteristic is that they have no characteristics, and this is also one of the most difficult problems to deal with. In terms of IQ - it turns out that their IQ is lower than the average in the population. "They are more successful than other people. Beyond that, almost 90 percent of them will be men, and the average age at which they start murdering is estimated at 28. In recent years, the proportion of African-Americans among serial killers has increased, due to social inequality.
Evil has no limit.
Florida State Jail, Photo: Cherie Diez
It turns out that they are able to hide successfully over time and function "normally" for a long time. They even have families and homes, and they look completely normative. Maybe people should ask themselves whether in the workplace, or at the door next to their home, there is potential for a serial killer?
"The potential is quite low, because in all of history about 10,000 serial killers have been documented in total. However, the potential to kill exists in every person, otherwise we could not have survived as a race."
In Ted Bendy's mind
This potential is related to a letter from the killer Dennis Nielsen, "The Favorite Killer," that you bring up in the book. He wrote that people have collective ignorance about themselves and who they are. He claims that everyone has dark and deep thoughts. How much do we not know ourselves?
"I can quote Mark Twain, who wrote that 'everyone is a moon, everyone has a dark side that they do not show anyone.' I think we all have a lot of sides and thoughts, some wonderful and some dark, that we are very afraid of. "Someone, and it's okay to think about things, as long as you don't implement them."
In the book you indicate what motivates serial killers. Most often they act out of a perverted or sadistic sexual urge. Explain a little.
"The prevailing definition of a serial killer is 'a person who has committed two murders of different or more victims, over time, that were usually unfamiliar to him.' Definitions, but in my eyes the definition is broader.They want to get distorted sexual satisfaction or reach levels of satisfaction that they can not reach in other ways.Some will take drugs, some risks, and some will kill.For them, murder is like eating meat on the part of the normative person.
"In the book I bring a quote that might express the whole story. It's a quote from serial killer David Allen Gore, who was convicted of murdering six women and executed in 2012. He wrote: 'I suddenly realized I was just doing something that separated me from the human race and it was something that could not be ruled out. I realized that from that point on I would never be able to be like normal people. I must have stood there in that state for 20 minutes. I never felt an emptiness of thoughts like what happened to me at that moment, and I will never forget that feeling. It was like I crossed into a kingdom I could never return. "
Every touch leaves a mark.
Dexter, Photo: PR
To what extent is their childhood a factor, and can they also come from fairly normative families?
"I do not know a person who said he grew up in a wonderful and wonderful family, and never blamed his parents for certain things. Lots of serial killers hang on to their children to understand their actions. This is of course just part of the story. "
Who lives in your building?
Did the culture create the serial killers, or vice versa?
"There have always been murderers. We started with the basic murder with Cain and Abel, and later moved on to Greek mythology, where we encountered procrastinators who were known for attacking people and stretching or amputating their legs to fit the size of a metal bed. That no one knew who he was, and there were those who thought it was a woman at all - Jill the Ripper.
"The interest around him was created in Britain, which was known in its yellow press, and also thanks to the London Metropolitan Police, which was considered the most efficient and best in the world. Since it was never caught, you can only imagine the cultural impact created around it. "The relative of the crime and dark series we see on Netflix is good evidence of that. It interests us because it creates a good sense of 'them and us'."
These series allow us to connect to our dark side, but not in a harmful way.
"True. We all have dark thoughts, as mentioned, and the culture is not indifferent to it. There are items of serial killers that sell for tens of thousands of dollars - such as paintings by John Wayne Gacy, the clown who was executed after murdering 36 boys. People tattoo serial killer figures, "You buy matching shirts and keychains. Amazon has a calendar that contains 12 pictures of serial killers. Some people buy these things."
Mostly in the US. Maybe because 73 percent of the serial killers were active there.
"The United States is a land of unlimited possibilities, for better or worse.
It is composed of many types of people, and encourages individuality.
Add to that large amounts of weapons, severe racial problems with the police, which has almost become a common enemy - and you get the answer.
It is followed by countries such as Australia, Canada and England.
But relatively speaking, in terms of homicides relative to the population, "the U.S. is not in the first place, but the countries of South and Central America.
Created a trend.
Jack the Ripper,
Meanwhile, despite the cultural attitude and the various problems you have described, we are seeing a decline in homicides compared to the 1970s to 1990s for example.
"True, the period you describe was the 'golden age' of serial killers. There are a lot of articles about serial killers, but no one can explain why this is the case, just as no one can explain why the rate of serial killers acting alone at the beginning of the last century was 40. Percent, and now it stands at about 12-10 percent.
"From the beginning of the reported history until today, about 10,000 serial killers are known. Not a large number. The problem is that the environmental and social damage they create is immense. The fear of a mysterious serial killer walking around the street makes its impact very large. "In the United States, at any given moment in the United States, there are about 2,000 serial killers. That's a large number. Do you know all the people in your building? It's a little worrying to me."
At the same time, you cautiously identify a reverse trend - a moderate increase in serial killings.
"I see it in the United States, in the countries of South America, even in Europe.
"I expect that the trend will continue to grow, probably in the wake of the corona crisis, housing, the climate - which are creating more and more people on the margins of society: homeless people, people who engage in prostitution, drugged of various kinds."
Another tier in this equation is worrying: in the book you note that in the 1960s and 1970s, the murder rate in the United States was about 85 percent. Today it has dropped to 52 percent. Amazing and counter-intuition. Advanced technologies in the police service Such a situation.
"This is a great point. But just as the police are advancing, so are the serial killers. They are reading books, watching movies, understanding what other killers have been caught on to, and just becoming more sophisticated. Israel Keys, who murdered all over the U.S. about a decade ago, has created Total contact between the victims, and claimed to have learned from Ted Bendy's mistakes.
He created 12 hideouts of weapons in the US to avoid a situation where he would have to travel with a weapon. Sometimes he flew from Alaska a distance of 7,000 km to kill a person, and then flew 3,000 km to kill another person. Go catch such a person. He was caught quite by accident. "
What happened to Tair Rada?
Since you mentioned Ted Bendy, a not very typical detail about him is volunteering on a hotline to prevent suicides in Seattle. It is said that he even saved many people from death.
"It's very atypical for serial killers, and he even excelled at it. One of the typical things about psychopaths is that they have no emotional system, but they can pick up the person in front of them and put up a mirror image. That is, if they see a sad person they can pat or try to encourage him. .
Charismatic and handsome.
Bandy, Photo: Wikipedia
Their way of thinking is not standard.
"I'll give you an example. Serial killers may feel like the rulers of the universe. Ted Bendy said the moment he looked into a woman's eyes, when she realized he was deciding her fate - it's the moment he felt like God."
shocking. But his appearance did not indicate his cruelty. Thus, for example, he kept body parts as souvenirs in his home.
"He was charismatic and handsome, and used that to gain the trust of his victims. In my lectures I present a gallery of some pictures - three murderers, and three other random people, and ask the audience with whom they would like to have dinner. Everyone chooses Bendy."
The zodiac, on the other hand, was not caught. He murdered at least five people, but made a lot of noise around him. How rare is it that a killer leaves almost no trace of DNA?
"The zodiac used communication, and knew how to market itself. As for DNA, according to Lucar's replacement principle, any contact between objects leaves a mark.
But the shorter the contact, the lower the chance of detecting DNA. In Dexter, for example, who was a forensic expert, a perfect murder could have been committed. If you wrap yourself in plastic and leave no mark - there will be no findings. The murder took place in a public place where many people have access, it is difficult to isolate the biological and other findings, as happened in the murder of the late Tair Rada.
In Tair's case, could we have missed a serial killer we do not know about?
"It's possible. In this case, according to the investigation, the type of murder is interesting - 'Colombian murder', slitting a throat with a knife. It's a very professional murder, and if it is not done right - the victim survives. To do that, you have to be a strong person. That's why I do not think children committed the murder. "
Speaking of serial killers in Israel, there was probably a murderer of 16 young women here for two decades, from the second half of the 1960s to the mid-1980s. Could it be that the same person murdered them all?
"I do not think it makes sense, because naturally he is asked to make a mistake. There may be several people. Another mystery in Israel is who murdered more than 50 women who engaged in prostitution since the establishment of the state and were not caught? And another question - is there currently a serial killer in Israel? "I think so, it could be that he will kill in a year and maybe in 10. Today there are about 120 or 140 murders a year in Israel, and many of them have not been caught. Can they kill again? Yes."
For suggestions and comments: Ranp@israelhayom.co.il
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