What separates a human being from a monster?
It's an age-old question about humanity. How is a species that is born out of love and blessed with the ability for critical thinking and making others happy capable of committing unspeakable acts of horror?
The scary thing is anyone is capable of the worst kind of crime–taking another's life.
Does it take one unfortunate moment in a fit of rage or cross paths with the wrong individual resulting in a person snapping and killing someone?
Or, are some of us born with the murder gene?
To answer these questions, Redditor akd432 dug deep into the dark side of humanity and asked:
"People who know murderers, were there any signs that something was off? If so, what were they?"
It could be anyone.
It Started With The Barking Dog
"One of my former co workers decided to shoot a house all because a dog was barking in the back yard of a different house, went on a shooting spree killing the entire family except for the infant that was on the second floor."
"Only thing that was off was his drinking problem."
– Car_loapher
The Friend's Brother
"I’ve met several after the fact, but this is about one I met weeks before the murder."
"My then-husband and I were hanging out and met up with a friend of his and the friend’s girlfriend. The friend gets a call from his brother and invites him join us. The brother arrives, and pretty soon afterwards, the whole vibe changed."
"My ex knew both men since all three were kids, so he was relaxed enough to start drinking around them. I was babysitting a wine cooler because I’m the next thing to a teetotaler and was the designated driver. I kept noticing the brother staring at me, but tried to ignore it, but it quickly became very uncomfortable. I’m nothing special to look at facially, I got the mom-bod on lock, and I was with my husband."
"The brother then asks me why I’m not drinking. I explained that I’m not a real drinker and added that I like to be aware of who and what’s around me. So he asked my husband why I wasn’t drinking. I don’t remember his response, but dude looks at me and says 'we need to get you drunk.'”
"I left to go sit in the car, because wtf was that. I didn’t feel safe or protected because my ex wasn’t even paying attention. About 20 minutes later, dude walks up to my car and asks if I can take him to the corner store. I reminded him that he had a car and he replied that he couldn’t drive because he’d been drinking. I told him I wouldn’t take him, which led to us staring at each other in silence for several moments. He broke the silence by saying 'I bet you’re real loyal. A loyal girl. A good girl. I know that motherf'ker get anything he want from you.' Then he laughed and walked away."
"When I told my ex the next day, he wasn’t bothered and was making excuses for the friend’s brother’s behavior. A few weeks later, there was a report on the news about the body of a woman being found in my exe’s old neighborhood. Find out later she’s been murdered. It didn’t take long to find and arrest her killer, aka the friend’s brother."
– miKezOGnoze
Some kids show signs of being unstable but are easily dismissed as nothing serious until it was too late.
Don't F'k With Squirrels
"I’ve posted about it before but a kid down the street talked about killing squirrels for fun. He was 7ish years old."
"He moved away and we forgot about him."
"20 years later we saw him in the news for brutally killing his parents."
– SchleppyJ4
Led By Vengeance
"I knew Christopher Bennett as a child. Honestly I thought he was a bit of a jerk, then again most little boys are mean to little girls. Especially little girls who are 3 years younger than them and seem to think they can do whatever the boys are doing. Last time I saw him, we had grown up a little, I was 11, he was about 14, he wasn't as mean as I had remembered him. Did I see it coming, no, most people didn't. I mean he was getting into trouble a lot but murder, never thought he had it in him. Then again he was right to kill the bastard he did and I think a lot of other people would become murders if they saw what he did."
– CylonsInAPolicebox
Trophy Collector
"I spent a lot of time at a friend's house when I was 6-9 years old. He had a brother who was like 3 years older than us, who I remember as being generally nice, but I have one weird memory of him absolutely losing his sh*t when he tried to teach me and his brother to roller blade and I couldn't get it--like throwing things and weeping uncontrollably. When I was in high school, found out that he had joined the military, and while he was deployed he got court martialed for killing civilians and keeping body parts (fingers, ears) as trophies."
– StarFanthirteen
Family members share their horrific experiences of being related to a murderer.
The Jealous Sister
"Knew a girl as a freshman in college who was mean, obviously mentally unstable, and not too bright. When her fraternal twin sister fell in love with a good friend of mine, she became enraged with jealousy and could not let it go. Her sister begged her to get help and there was a huge blowout in a hallway on campus where my friend had to intervene to prevent his girlfriend from getting stabbed by her sister. The police were called to campus and she spent a week in jail before her sister decided to not press charges. Her remaining friends dropped out of her life because of her actions and unwillingness to get help. She got kicked out of college shortly after threatening the guidance counselor who was giving her one last chance and moved back in with her parents. When her sister went home for Christmas with my friend to introduce him to her parents, I told him to watch his back. They hadn’t even made it all the way into the house before they were attacked and repeatedly stabbed. My friend died on the porch and she died at the hospital the next day. The murderous sister was beaten to death in a jail fight a few days later.
"I met their older brother, who I didn’t even know existed, at the funeral for the good sister. He said he had gone no contact with the family years before for his own protection because his parents refused to do anything about the mental health problems that his little sister always had, even as a small child."
– howarewestillhere
The Off Uncle
"One of my uncles murdered his wife. He was out of jail by the time I was a kid. Yes, there was always something off about him. My mother told me he was always violent and had a sadistic streak - he liked to make people afraid. He mellowed out as he got older but he was always a user and always looking to take advantage where he could. I’m pretty sure he was a sociopath. My mother had a lot of siblings and he was the only one like this."
– mrsshmenkmen
You think you know someone.
No Murder Vibes
"For 4 years I worked 4 desks away from someone who was arrested and convicted of a 32 year old cold case murder. Dude was an a**hole but didn't give off murder vibes. The general reaction was 'huh, I hope his replacement is less of a d*ick."
– Hobbs172
She Suddenly Snapped
"I knew someone who killed her mother."
"No, absolutely no warning at all. No hints to look back on and say we should have seen it coming."
"She was a perfectly average suburban wife and mother who woke up one day and snapped. And ended up being featured on Snapped."
"She’s currently serving out a 40 year term."
– 5footfilly ·
People joke about individuals going postal when pushed to their limits, but that's all it takes for someone to abandon all sense of logic and go on a killing spree.
But there are also those who have mental issues and are cast off from society and can be triggered to act on any suppressed violent impulses as a possible reaction to being neglected and unloved.
Either way, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what drives anyone to murder.
And the scary thing is, you never really know who a coworker really is when they're off the clock, a neighbor who never leaves their house, or even a family member who has a history of being the polite one.
People Who Survived A Murder Attempt Explain How They Lived Through It
Hearing people open up about their near-death experiences is fascinating and it can reignite a sense that life is precious and can be taken away from us at any given moment.
But while a renewed perspective on life after narrowly avoiding accidental death is affirming, nothing is more terrifying when considering those who've managed to avoid death when it was motivated.
Curious to hear from those who were lucky to survive violence at the hands of someone with an intent to kill, an anonymous Redditor asked:
"Murder attempt survivors, what happened?"
These Redditors experienced sharp pains after being sliced. They live to tell their story.
Ultimate Defender
"9 years ago, buddy got jumped at a house party. I jumped in to pull the guy off of him. Attacker ended up pulling out a knife and shanking me in the stomach before fleeing to a getaway vehicle."
"Police were called. Caught the guy. We were supposed to come into court to point at him and be like 'he did it' but the day before he pleaded guilty. No idea what happened to the guy after that or what his punishment was but he probably didn't learn anything from the situation."
"Me? I feel completely fine. Sometimes I forget that I even got stabbed. I feel a little uneasy whenever someone has a knife in their hand and its not dinner time, but that's about it as far as trauma goes."
– TheBadman9001
Disturbed Patient
"I was working as a support worker for people with mental and physical disabilities. My client had schizophrenia and BPD due to childhood and substance abuse."
"She stabbed me three times in the chest (once in the heart, penetrating my right ventricle and severing a major artery) after I advised her against a medication (nicotine gum). I almost died, doctors said that it was a miracle I survived, with a 3% survival rate due to the severity of my injuries."
"That only happened back in August this year, I’m still in recovery and I’m dealing with PTSD. She’s completely ruined my life, and I’m now struggling with my identity and what I want to do in life."
– fridaskahlo
Targeting The Paramedic
"A pregnant drunk lady called an ambulance. I was working with a junior colleague but a female one. The patient said she thought she was in labour and was sat on the floor legs open knees bent with a blanket over her lower part. There was a small table next to her, glass top wooden coffee table thing. My colleague asked to examine her and for some reason she got angry and insisted I examine her not my female colleague. After a bit of back and forth I knelt down and went to lift the blanket to have a look when there was a sudden crash. My colleague had put her foot through the glass table and was standing on the patients hand which had a huge knife in it. Turns out she wanted to stab a paramedic and when we turned up she chose me. My colleague saw it just in time and saved my life."
"Patient had already had several children who were in care and had foetal alcohol syndrome. I was asked for a statement when the next one was born and they were also taken in to care."
"She got away with the premeditated attempted murder on grounds of mental health."
– AsleepPipe371
Parents are supposed to raise you, not kill you.
Going For A Spin
"I was 17 at the time. I was wicked sick one weekend and my mother decided I needed to go to the hospital. She had been drinking all day, as she was a terrible alcoholic. It turned out that I had strep throat. So they're typing out my discharge paperwork and my mother approached the desk where the nurse was sitting. Clearly stinking of alcohol, the nurse told my mother that she wouldn't be allowed to drive me home because she was clearly intoxicated. This sent my mother into a drunken rage, swearing and threatening the nurse. Who told her if she left the police would be called. My mother grabbed me and hurries me into the car. I start yelling at her about how irresponsible she is and how she is ruining her life with alcohol. This pisses her off even more. We only live less than a mile away but my mother has taken a different route than normal, when I ask why she just says it's the long way and she doesn't want to get caught. As we're traveling down this dark, Maine back road she begins speeding like crazy. We were doing at least 90 mph when she looks over at me with a blank face and says I'm sorry. She then pulled the E brake and cut the wheel sending us flying off the road."
"The next thing I remember is sitting in the front seat of a pickup truck with an EMT shining a flashlight in my eyes along who the president was. I responded that Bill Clinton was the president (2000). Apparently she had crashed us into a huge rock at the end of someone's property, directly on my side of the car. Apparently I crawled over her and staggered to the door of the property to ask for help. They put us in different ambulance and we headed back to the hospital we just left. Upon arrival, the nurse my mother fought with said 'I knew you'd be back'. My mother in a drunken semi conscious state kept saying I'm sorry I tried to kill you, I love you, over and over. She suffered several broken ribs, a broken collar bone, broken nose and cracked vertebrae. I had a concussion and some cuts on my face from the door window basically exploding on impact with the rock. She was sentenced to some alcohol program through the courts and some community service. She suffered severe depression and six months after this she took her own life in another car accident. She actually asked me if I wanted to go for a ride with her that night and I told her no, I'll see you when you get home. That was the last thing I ever said to her."
– Sentient_DMT_Crystal
Violence At Home
"my mum was incredibly abusive. on one occasion, I was around 12 and she came into my room while I was sleeping and stabbed me in the chest with a kitchen knife, puncturing my lung (I didn't know this at the time). obviously this woke me up and I just rolled out of bed and ran around the house screaming. someone on our road noticed the noise and called the police. just before the police arrived, she started choking me and I lost consciousness. I later woke up in the hospital and (mostly) recovered. she's now in jail. this is not the only time that she tried, but it was the most dramatic and came the closest to actually killing me."
– 1BUK1-M10D4
Don't Do Drugs
"I was 15 and my dad plotted to murder me. My dad had only been back around for a few months after being homeless for a while due to his 20+ year meth addiction. He had never been violent towards me before, but I later found out he had tried to kill my mother just months prior and she brushed it off as him having a PTSD episode."
"I came home from school, he surprise attacked me by suffocating me with a pillow/strangling.
"I ended up being able to get up and run to the bathroom- the only room in our house with a lock. He grabbed the door but I found a sharp object in the bathroom and told him to back up or I’d kill him. I somehow was able to shove the door shut and lock it. He tried to get in the bathroom but couldn’t."
"He actually said 'I’m leaving!' and open/closed the front door to try and lure me out. It was quiet for a while but then I heard him breathing outside the door. He eventually left after a few hours, taking my money I had hidden in my bedroom, and called a relative telling them I’d been in a terrible accident and he needed a ride to the hospital. He ended up running when dropped off and was missing for a year. Most terrifying year of my life."
"His body was found by a fisherman at his favorite lake growing up. They found high levels of meth in his system."
"Later, when investigating the home I was attacked in, they found hammers/duct tape/knives under my mom’s mattress and looked like he very much so intended to kill me."
"Edit: Thank you everyone for the kind words. Certainly the craziest life experience I ever hope to have and therapy was a long journey. The craziest part of it all was that my dad from childhood was still there simultaneously with the horrid attacker. He cried outside the door for a while telling me he was so sorry and I wouldn’t ever see him again, but would switch to trying to lure me out and being aggressive. There were many moments I could hear the duality of who he was. The murderous cracked out crazy person and someone who was regretful and really sad inside. Idk- just thought that was an interesting thing to add for context. It’s not always just so cut and dry between a crazy/bad person and a good/normal person I’ve learned."
– livinlavidaanxious
Gun violence survivors share their harrowing stories.
Obsessed
"Not me but my friend's mom. A coworker of hers was stalking her, obsessed. Convinced he was in love with her and nobody else deserved her, that kind of thing. Eventually he came to their office with a revolver."
"She was bending down to put files away, or something similar. He quickly approached her from behind and shot her in the back before immediately shooting himself in the head. She survived obviously, though the wounds were significant. Incredibly fortunate she wasn't hit in the spine or major organs."
"I often wonder how different it would have played out if she had been standing, or facing him. More than likely she would be dead."
"This was before my friend was born, and his mom made a mostly full recovery. Still has chronic pain and PTSD, but she can walk and has a job. Not reclusive or unfriendly to strangers. Terrified of guns, of course, but that seems fair. Both my friend and her are extremely lucky."
– Cutter9792
Never Welcome Strangers
"At the beginning of October my husband was trying to buy a PS5 on letgo. He wanted to make sure it actually worked so he gave the guy our address. I told him a dozen times that he was going to get robbed. He still had the kid come over."
"As soon as he got there he pulled a gun, grabbed the cash and shot twice. One hit my husband in the abdomen. The second went through the stairs behind him and traveled 30-40 feet to the kitchen."
"I heard the commotion and ran downstairs and chased him away from the house. We got to the front gate and he pulled his gun again and shot at me. He missed my head by less than 2 inches."
"He was caught and is being charged as an adult (16) for 2 counts of attempted murder and a variety of other charges."
– jmrobins00
Fortunately, these examples are of people who were extremely lucky to share their stories after a near-death experience since not everyone is able to escape their fate.
But just because one managed to avoid having their life taken from them, it doesn't mean it gets easier in the aftermath.
The lingering PTSD can be unbearable to live with, and anything can be a trigger that brings survivors back to a scary incident.
We never truly know of the trauma or horrific history of anyone around us.
With that in mind, remember that kindness in general goes a long way.
Evil lurks among us and we must adhere to the signs. More often than not the signs are big and flashing in neon. When you feel that slight unease or "sense" in the pit of your stomach upon interacting with certain people, listen close, you already know that you're too close to trouble--your body is trying to tell you. I can't tell you how many stories on "Dateline NBC" start with.... "I had a feeling." Well if you have a scratch, itch it.
Redditor u/peasantchoker was wondering who else has been able to sense when they were surrounded by evil by asking....
People who knew Murderers, when did you know something was off?
The Boyfriend
I moved to a new town when I was 19 and was making new friends at my new job. I met this girl at work and she invited me over to hang out with her and her best friend. I went and the best friend's boyfriend was there and the vibes were waaay off. I was uncomfortable. He was cold, and just seemed angry for no reason.
They had mentioned to me before he got there that he was always controlling and had hit the girl before.
Turns out controlling was an understatement. She came home one day and he was digging a hole in the backyard and she asked what he was doing and he replied "digging your grave." He hit her, said if he can't have her, nobody could have her, all of that. So eventually she left him and had to get a restraining order and everything.
He somehow persuaded her to get in a car with him on her work break and they went missing for a few days. Turns out he stabbed her to death, threw her in a river.
I met the girl only a few times and him only the once but the face that I was in such close proximity to someone capable of that gives me chills. She was so young, it was really sad.
The Roommate
The murderer I know was more of an acquaintance or casual friend - he lived down the hall from me and we hung out sometimes but not like just the two of us. Still, we'd chill at each other's place regularly.
I passed him one day in the stairwell and I said hi. He said hi back but called me by the wrong name. He was really distracted and kind of awkward. He didn't make eye contact and kept moving.
I remember thinking maybe we we don't know each other as well as I thought. Later he was playing Nintendo (yep, my N64 - this was a while ago) with my roommate when I came home. He apologized and said his mind was elsewhere.
A couple days later there are cops all over the building, interviewing people and searching his place. They'd found the guy's roommate with a bullet in the back of his head in an abandoned lot across town. The next day he confessed.
The Gentle Giant
I didn't.
He was the sweetest, kindest, gentle giant kind of guy. Kind of a weirdo, but still a great guy overall. I remember once that he shed a tear just by talking about his kid, because he was so filled with emotion from having him in his life.
He turned out to kill his wife, kidnap his child, start the longest Amber Alert in the history of Canada, as he tried escaping to a different province he killed another man to steal his car.
I'm still unsure today if I should have seen anything at any point. It comes to haunt my nightmares from time to time.
That Kid
There was a kid i went to high school with who always gave me the creeps, we had a lot of mutual friends so we always ended up hanging out and it always made me feel really uncomfortable. Our senior year he got suspended for like a week because someone had found and turned in a hit list he had made, no one really took it too seriously. About three years after we graduated he was in the news for murdering a man in our town that he barely knew.
He told the police that he held the man's eyes open so he could watch his life leave his body.
Editing for spelling and adding to this because I remembered that I actually knew a second murderer. Im related to someone who attempted to murder his wife by stabbing her in the back several times with a butter knife when she found out he was gay and then many years later stabbed his partner to death after they broke up.
He Said So
When he said there was.
A teenager, his mother and his step father lived around the corner from me. My mother knew them better than myself, but we all thought they were lovely.
A couple of years ago the son went to the hospital several times asking for help. He claimed he had voices telling him to kill his stepfather, but each time he went he was released and told to come back (they would give an appointment).
A few weeks later during a small argument he stabbed his stepfather to death in the front garden.
He turned himself in the next day, and wasn't convicted as he sought help before it happened. Instead, he got the treatment he needed.
Edit: I see a lot of people wondering if it might've been a defense/planned murder. It wasn't. The way he was killed, and how the son acted after removed any doubt.
The Burns
Had an employee on my work crew, acted strange and wouldn't listen to direction. Had goofy huge sideburns. Ended up going to jail for a short time, when he got out he shot his GF and her parents.
The Uncle
My uncle murdered somebody and is currently serving life in prison. From my earliest memory I knew he had some screws loose.
Edit: I was at work when I originally commented so I didn't have time to provide details. He caught his wife at her lovers house so he shot the guy.
He was going to shoot her too but she convinced him she wouldn't tell anyone. He burned the guys house down in an attempt to cover his tracks. As soon as his wife could get free of him she immediately reported him.
As far as me saying I always got creep vibes from him, he always reminded me of a poor mans Charles Manson
The Customer
Obligatory didn't know him as a friend, but a regular customer in my shop. He would come in after his shift to buy beer and tobacco, on one occasion he caught and helped us to evict a shoplifter. He seemed friendly enough. Then a local girl went missing and was eventually pulled out of a river a few weeks later.
They announced they were looking for somebody in connection with her death and it was him. They had CCTV footage of him tailing her through a park and footage of him buying beer in a shop, still unconfirmed to this day being our shop as they blurred out the surroundings.
Anyway, as we had a TV in our shop switched to the news channel as it was a rolling story local to us, we started to discuss the guy, if we saw him on the day she went missing, that kind of thing.
We hadn't, but it was at that point when one of my staff, a young girl, who had previously said to management that she didn't want to work the closing shift anymore because there was "too many creepy men around", told us that he used to stare at her when he came in to the store in a way that made her uncomfortable enough to not want to be on the floor when he came in.
They never got to question him about the murder as he was found dead in a local park a few days later. \
The Bully
I went through primary and high school with a guy in the year below me who seemed a little... distant. We lived near each other and caught the bus from the same stop. He was a bit of a bully but it was something more. Like you could tell he wasn't a bully because he was hurting inside or because he felt threatened in some way, he was a bully because he did what he wanted to do and didn't realize that it hurt other people. Like the kind of kid who enjoyed pulling wings off flies.
Not long after I left my hometown I heard that he had been charged with the murder of a 2 year old. Apparently his girlfriend at the time left her daughter with him for an hour or so while she ran an errand. He couldn't deal with the toddler crying anymore so he beat her. He caused severe internal bleeding and she died in hospital not long after. He would have been around 22 when he did it. He was sentenced to 36 years with a non parole period of 27 years.
The Co-Worker
My ex-coworker was always a huge angry moron who nobody liked to work with. He'd always be on his phone and talking to someone, even when he had a customer waiting to order in the drive-thru. The moment I knew he had something wrong with him was when I caught him "looking for his dab pen" in one of the lockers in the backroom. He always used a top locker, but he was searching through one at the bottom, which happened to be my locker for the day.
I told him that, so he just stared me in the face for a second, and walked away.
Later that same year, I learned that he shot and killed someone at a gas station.
Edit: to clarify, he was (most likely) trying to steal from me, and the fact that he made up his lie on the fly set me off (not to mention the creepy stare at the end).
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People Who Went To School With Convicted Killers Describe What They Were Really Like
People that killed someone often exhibited concerning behavior far before they went on to commit the deed.
But there are also plenty of cases when the heinous act seemed to erupt out of thin air with no warning signs whatsoever.
A recent Reddit thread asked for a window in to the behavior of would-be killers in a very particular environment of early life: school.
And a whole internet's worth of people responded with their stories.
They discussed the kids at school that always seemed a little off. Maybe they had a clinically short fuse. Or perhaps there was a clear lack of empathy on display.
Plenty of Redditors described people that seemed totally normal, law abiding, and even docile. They couldn't believe when they heard the news later in life that the person took a life.
Whatever their original impression of the person was, it often only took on the appearance of a red flag or a haunting normalcy with 20/20 hindsight.
Unfortunately, the true weight of those signals only became clear after it was already too late.
xXDarkCubeXx asked, "People who have studied with convicted killers, how were they like in school?"
A Classic Sign
"One kid was a neighborhood friend of mine growing up. Super weird, terrible home life, not at all intelligent. Hung out with him because I thought everyone deserved a chance."
"Stopped hanging out when we collected crawdads (crayfish) from the creek; I was excited to make a little terrarium for them and watch them."
"I went home to eat dinner, and by the time I went back to his house he had pulled all their heads off and stuck them on to different bodies. Some were still twitching."
"20 years later, he was convicted of double homicide and arson. Could've seen that coming."
"Just realized this isn't quite what you were asking, but hey there's my story lol"
Being a Jerk Is One Thing...
"There was this guy who lived on my dorm floor during college who ended up murdering his wife when he found out she cheated on him."
"He was a douche."
"Plus he was super racist."
Out of Nowhere
"Went to an all girl catholic school. It was small so you got to know most other students. There was a sweet quiet girl in the trade below me. A bit shy but overall personable and nice. Had a good sense of humor and friends."
"I think 6 years after high school she and her boyfriend just decided they wanted to try murdering someone, so she called her police friend to meet her for a hike in the middle of nowhere and they killed her."
"Very odd."
-- Appledarling
Crime of Passion
"My older brother sat next to a dude in homeroom every day for 4 years of high school."
"Years later, when I was going through the same school, that dude my brother sat next to was involved in a big plot where he was having an affair with a married woman and they conspired to kill the husband."
"Did him with a shovel, buried him in the woods behind the high school just off a path a lot of kids used to walk to get to/from school. We got locked down one afternoon when the dogs found the shallow grave after a kid cutting class saw a shoe or something emerging from the dirt."
"Anyway, my brother has always maintained this guy was totally normal. None of the classic killer traits. Friendly enough, good for a joke, had a couple of tight friends, and never did anything obviously sketchy."
-- Shappomattox
As Simple As That
"Knew a guy who threw a chunk of sidewalk off an overpass and killed a truck driver."
"One day he's in school. The next day not."
"'Hey...where's Bobby?'"
"'He killed a guy with a chunk of cement.'"
"'Oh'"
Had No Idea How Bad It Was
"Ran cross country practice same time as the girls team, this girl one day wasn't picked up by her parents after practice and I usually ended late. When i finished i saw her alone i was concerned. She confided in me her mother was a drunk and very cruel and abusive."
"She cried and hugged me (first time we had ever spoken) . My mother arrived and we gave her a ride home and she talked to me more after that."
"I developed a crush on her, then suddenly she stopped coming to school."
"Years later we saw her on the news for luring her mother to a abandoned trailer and murdering her with a kitchen knife. I feel bad every day that i didn't see the warning signs and help her."
Skewed Priorities
"Sociopathic jerk who bullied everyone who was smaller than him. Went to jail for beating a man's face in, then ripping his eyeball out while he was alive."
"But it's okay, it was a small religious town, so everyone forgave him."
-- HTMyers
Again, a Surprise
"He was the last person I thought would be involved in moving drugs, let alone harming anyone."
"He had awesome SNES games. Like all of them, and came to my place regularly. Always laughing."
"Shot another kid dead on the sidewalk in a turf war."
"I didn't know him I guess."
-- mindfeces
A Love Too Intense?
"Quiet, personable, devoted to his girlfriend. Married her after high school and within a couple of years murdered her."
"It was sad because she was a sweetheart and there were no indications he was unstable."
Goofy, Yet Violent
"I went to elementary school for a year or so with the guy who killed Whitey Bulger in prison."
"We weren't close, but played at recess and stuff like that. He was kinda goofy and seemed like a good kid. He definitely was not a bully-type or someone who caused trouble."
-- woodenman22
Caught in the Cross Fire
"One of my teachers in my community college committed a double-murder-suicide. The victims were his teenage sons."
"All to get back at his wife as they went through a messy divorce. The school actually shut down for the rest of the week."
Local Infamy
"Not quite a convicted killer but I just saw him in a news story for attempting to kill a prison officer (he's there for attempted terrorism), he was honestly one of the nicest dudes ever when we were in school. Always super friendly, easy to talk to, funny."
"It was quite a shock to see his face on the news."
-- dustnbonesss
(Drugs)
"Editor of the yearbook and school paper. In lots of clubs. She was also a cheerleader for a year or two. I was friends with her so my freshman year I show up way too many times in the yearbook. Haha."
"She went to college and got into drugs. Dropped out, moved to Cali and became a sex worker, got deeper into drugs, and in her and some other people tried to kill 2 people. They only succeeded in killing one. All over credit card fraud."
"But it's weird to think that we would always partner up for sharing hotel rooms when we would travel for FBLA. Never would have guessed what the girl jumping on the bed next to me would grow up to be."
Family Business
"The sons (yes plural) of a local drug kingpin. They were the go to dealers in highschool for hard drugs. They ended up killing one of their customers thinking he was a snitch."
"Shot him with a crossbow, chopped him up, and failed to hide the body in an old mining town because they were too high."
"Ended up being caught on camera, dad and the oldest son are out of jail because of Covid, younger son got off because the other two confessed and took the fall."
"They are also suspects in no less than 6 unsolved drug related killings in the area."
-- Snakebiteloo
"Unremarkable"
"I was in one class with a dude who later carried out a terror attack. He was quiet and unremarkable."
(Drugs, again)
"A kid i went to grade school slit two peoples throats and lit their bodies on fire."
"He used to sh** and pi** his pants all the way through grade 6/7. Other than that he was fairly normal, maybe a bit on the wild side and not good at school but the shitting the pants was weird."
-- mancan
The Marks of Trauma
"I went to school with this girl who got arrested for handcuffing her children to their bed at night. There mattresses were heavily soiled. She was odd and acted up behind closed doors I guess."
"She also lived most her life in foster care with multiple other children it's really sad. Lack of parental figure left a void she didn't know how to fill I guess."
-- swamptalk
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People Who Knew A Killer Before Their Crime Describe What They Were Like
Delving into the darkest parts of human psyche is somewhat of a fascination for our generation.
True crime shows and podcasts are some of the most popular in the world and have been for ages. Entire TV series are based around analyzing killers and serial killers. So naturally we are fascinated by those that are one simple degree of separation from the killers.
u/StoneColdSleeper asked:
Has anyone known a killer before they killed? What were they like?
Here were some of the answers.
Yet Nobody Said Anything
My family bought a house from a man who flipped houses for a living back when I was growing up. He was a nice man, married with grown kids. He would often come over for dinner and help with minor repairs around the house.
We moved away a few years later and he wanted to buy the house back. Luckily, it was a cash deal because soon after it all went through, he was arrested for child porn. When the cops raided his house, there was no sign of his wife. Upon looking into it, no one had seen or heard from her in months.
Turns out, he had murdered her and buried her in their backyard.
I sat next to that man at the dinner table as a child. Still haunts me.
More Of Self Defense
The younger brother of a girl I was friends with in middle school and high school. They had some struggles growing up and I know their mother was an abusive relationship because we gave her some help getting away from her husband.
Are we connected many many years later and found out that the younger brother had murdered someone. Initially it sounded pretty gruesome but when I actually read Court reports I kind of felt bad for the kid.
he had some mental illness issues but as a teenager apparently he had been groomed by a much much older man into a relationship where the man provided money shelter and of course drugs. He was extremely controlling and abusive.
Eventually the kid tried to get away and was trying to start a new life with a girl he met but this guy tracked him down and blackmailed him.
Eventually kid snapped and murdered him. I think I felt worse for the kid because a lot of people can't get away from their abusers.
For those who asked, he was 16 year old runaway with a history of drug problems when he started seeing the more than 20-years older guy who used to film him. He struggled with drugs but was doing well and he met with the man to tell him he loved someone else and he want going to see him again.
His story is that the guy attacked him saying he'd rather he died than break up. He had injuries consistent with fending off a knife attack and said he killed the man in self-defense. What probably really screwed him over is that he didn't call the cops. He hid the body instead.
Despite all of the evidence pointing to him bring preyed on, he got a sentence that is longer than the average human lifespan. He committed the crime in a place where being gay or bisexual isn't really acceptable. a lot of the stories in the news refer to him as a hustler and say that he killed one of his patrons.
Snap
A few years ago I hired a father-son handyman team to help me get my house ready to put on the market. Among other things, my outside doorknobs were in bad shape so they installed new ones. The dad seemed pretty nice, even did a little bit for free. On their 3rd and last day at my house, he was pretty fired up about a big job they were starting the next day. Three days later he killed his new clients because they were unhappy with his work. A neighbor saw what happened and ran into her house and hid. He kicked her door in and shot her too. I was terrified until he was caught.
Doctor Death
I graduated high school with Dr. Death, Chris Duntsch.
He was a jerk. He was charming with teachers and people who could benefit him. He was awful to everybody else. I didn't see it, but one or more awkward and vulnerable classmates said he bullied them relentlessly, and I believe it.
He was easily irritated and if you got on his nerves he would really lose his cool. Remarkably mean. And people would just shrug their shoulders and say that's just how Chris is.
Beaten
My little sister dated a guy when she was in high school who ended up murdering a couple he owed money to for heroin. This dude beat them with a baseball bat and hammer. He almost got the death sentence, but ended up with life in prison with no possibility of parole.
He was a seemingly nice, polite teenager. I used to drive him and my sister around for various dates and things. He was quiet, but not oddly so. He just seemed like a normal teenage boy.
It All Comes Out
In my first semester of college, I had a computer science professor I really loved. Near the end of the semester, he told us he may be taking time off and finding a replacement for the semester. His severely autistic son had died in a 'tragic pool accident'. He noted that the media was trying to make him look bad. I created a GoFundMe for funeral expenses; he appreciated it and shared photos to use on the page.
Fast forward half a year. I get calls from news reporters asking what my thoughts are... He had been arrested on suspected unintentional manslaughter. It turns out, he had left his son outside in the cold by the pool, unsupervised, when he left for work. His son was never supposed to be unattended. His son was outside for who knows how long before the professor's daughter found the boy face down in the pool.
Further research into the case revealed the boy was living in an unfurnished basement, feces all over the walls, often left alone. The police were at the home frequently; CPS had made various safety requirements for them that they never followed.
He's being charged with unintentional manslaughter and various forms of child abuse. Him and his wife are being charged for filling the boy's Ritalin prescription for many, many months after the death.
I still believe it was intentional. Texts revealed the daughter discovered the boy when the professor texted her, asking her to check if 'Freak' was okay.
No Signage
[I knew this guy] (https://archive.naplesnews.com/news/crime/deputies-live-in-boyfriend-stabs-kills-girlfriends-59-year-old-mother-ep-397812443-343915212.html)
Before, like, literally the night before the crime, he was at my house talking about a new job he thought he'd gotten, how he was going to be able to take better care of his daughter, a new tattoo he was going to get, just random stuff.
Some backstory, he had a brain tumor when he was I think 9 or 10, not sure what kind or where but he was a 'make a wish' kid, I think he went to Disney or something, but they did manage to get it out with surgery. So he was a little, well, he wasn't stupid or disabled but I'd say 'slow', basically. He was a little jerk through his teen years, big pants, loud music, fast car, "Yo I'm gangstah!" kind of thing, but when he met his girlfriend and then especially when his daughter was born, he seemed to change a lot for the better.
He was the younger brother of a friend of mine. I went from "You can NOT bring Eddie to my house and I don't even want him to know where we live," to "Sure, Eddie and you can come for dinner," so yeah, lots of change.
The night it happened we played D&D that evening and he was as boringly normal as he ever was. Actually he'd never expressed any anger or anything toward the girlfriend's mother, at all. He'd said how happy he was that she was letting them live there and helping with the baby.
After, we only saw him once more, in court, when he was sentenced. We went with his mom, who we knew, and at the end, he turned his face and wouldn't even nod to us.
I just don't get it, I don't think I ever will.
How Do You See It Coming
My best friend's older brother killed her step mom. Strangled her and burned the house down. He was just like any other teenage older brother. A bit rebellious but nothing out of the ordinary. He was kinda goth and liked heavy metal and had dark humour. He played Goldeneye with us and always let me use the see-through purple controller. He teased his little sister just like any brother would. One time he took us for a car ride and did donuts in a church parking lot while blasting a Big Shiny Tunes album, and it was really fun. Nothing ever indicated what he would do later in life.
Hamlet In Life
I went to High School with a girl who poisoned her father. No one knew until she confessed a year later watching a Shakespeare play in College. She was a little weird in school, but I didn't think she was capable of that..
The Darkest Side Of Human Nature
Yes. Was hired at the same time as him. Worked right next to him for several years. He was one of those stoner guys always bragging about the parties he went to. He was a little obnoxious in a "bro" sort of way so I always skipped hanging out with him after work.
After I left that job a little while later he killed his ex girlfriend while her 5yo was in the apt watching tv, took the kid on a road trip to Texas, and smothered her on Christmas Morning and left her in a suitcase on the side of the road.