DUBOIS – The DuBois Branch of the Pennsylvania State University hosted a talk on serial killers Tuesday night. The Hiller Auditorium was filled as Jack Levin, Ph.D. talked about his work for the last few decades. Levin is the Brudnick Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Northeastern University in Boston and author of thirty books. He has written hundreds of articles and appeared on such television programs at 48 hours, 20/20, The O’Reilly Factor, Larry King Live and Oprah.
“Thank you for mentioning Oprah. One appearance on Oprah is worth a hundred articles,” joked Levin after his TV show appearances had been recited to the audience.
“Have you ever talked to homicide detectives? Ever talked to morticians? You can’t stay in business unless you have a sense of humor,” said Levin later explaining in part his occasional joking while talking about this topic.
Levin broke down his talk around several myths and misconceptions revolving around serial killers.
Myth 1 was that murder is not always committed for a clear motive such as revenge, profit, etc. In contrast many serial killers Levin talked about were more out for being well known or for a sense of power.
“The most famous person in the history of human kind,” is what Levin said was Charles Manson’s self-description.
Levin stated that almost all of his student still know the name of Manson even if they aren’t sure what he was famous for. Cho Seung-Hui the Virginia Tech shooter took a break in his killings to mail some publicity photos to NBC. Levin showed an image of a serial killer trading card which included kill stats on the back. Trench Coat Mafia memorabilia and merchandise could be found online after the Columbine shootings.
“The message has not been lost to our young people. The message is simple. You are jealous; you want to be a big shot? Kill somebody! While you are at it kill a lot of people,” said Levin.
Myth 2 was that serial killers aren’t monsters. They look like every day people.
“The truth is that serial killers are extraordinarily ordinary,” said Levin.
Levin used as a demonstration Orville Lynn Majors who got onto an episode of Montell, “Innocent people accused of heinous crimes”.
According to Levin, Ted Bundy caught some of his victims by pretending to use crutches and asking help to his nearby car. He pointed out that Bundy was normal enough that people call him by his nick name Ted instead of Theodore Bundy.
John Wayne Gacy, jr., was involved with local politics, known to his neighbors as a good man and dressed as a clown for children’s birthday parties. He paints self portraits of himself as a clown while in jail.
Additional myths include that childhood suffering is a major factor in their development. Another is that they travel from location to location. According to Levin most kill locally, but can dispose of bodies a decent distance away. Another myth is that profiling can be used to find a serial killer.
For profiling Levin used an example for and against. For profiling was the Mad Bomber of New York from the 1940s. A profiler described him accurately down to how he would button his suit. Against was the Unabomber. Profilers were expecting a blue collar suburbanite male who may or may not have gone to college. They found instead Ted Kaczynski, a PHD holding hermit living in the backwoods.
The final myth was that there is an epidemic of serial killers. Instead it has been on the decline since the 90s, according to Levin.
“You are more likely to contact malaria than you are to be killed by a serial killer. You are more likely, especially here, to be killed by a deer while driving your car than you are by a serial killer,” said Levin.
Levin answered some audience questions at the end. He explained he is against the death penalty as there have been at least 100 innocent people killed. While he doesn’t see anything wrong with it being used against the guilty he would rather see them get life than to have an innocent person killed.
Levin repeatedly touched upon that the media glorification of the killers helps inflate the numbers of those who try to emulate them. A collapse of community could play a role as we live in an era where you may need to travel thousands of miles for a job.