Mark Twain once said, "All creatures kill--there seems to be no exception. But of the whole list man is the only one who kills for fun."
In 1980, Thomas Harris went to the FBI offices in Quantico, Virginia to research serial killers. He was writing a new book, "Silence Of The Lambs," and wanted to make his main character, Hannibal Lecter, as true to life and horrific as possible.
Criminal Profiling
Harris went to the Behavioral Science Unit, which is now called the Investigative Support Unit. Here the FBI agents were working on a new procedure to catch serial killers and get their confessions. This new science, criminal profiling was an unproven idea at the time. The agents were trying to go a step beyond the forensics evidence of a crime to discover the psychological make up of a new kind of murderer--the serial killer.
In FBI "speak" the killer is the UNSUB, an unknown subject. As the agents work up a profile or a mental and physical characterization on their UNSUB, they must also consider his state of mind and his motive for the kill.
As they examine the victimology of the case, they are seeking to discover what the UNSUB and the vic (victim) have in common. The agents look past the UNSUB's mental condition such as whether or not the UNSUB has a mental condition. He might be a psychopath or a paranoid schizophrenic. They ignore this and only work on the crime scene evidence.
An organized killer has a plan and carries it out. Lecter is a good example of this. He spent time with the vic, savored the experience as he played out his fantasy. The motive for all serial killers is their fantasy.
The killer's MO (modus operandi) is the procedure he follows in the killing process. He selects a victim who embodies his fantasy. For example, the victims may all be the same size and body type or have a certain color of hair and/or eyes.
The murder's signature is a ritual behavior that satisfies his fantasy. Lecter's signature was cannibalism. He liked to prepare the meat for this ritual meal in a certain way. Then he feasted on the vic. The killer may further indulge himself by personification. That is the mutilation of the body by carving words or designs into the vic's flesh. He might pose the body in a certain way, such as sitting it against a pillow and placing a rose in her teeth. All this is tied in with the serial killer's fantasy.
Serial Killer Characteristics
The FBI's discoveries also show that serial killers usually have no prior connections to their victims. Their study accomplished two things:
- It changed the public's perception of serial killers and
- Devised new strategies to hunt down the UNSUB and get a confession.
Keeping these profiling characteristics in mind, Thomas Harris modeled Hannibal Lecter on two serial killers: Ted Bundy and Ed Gein.
Ed Gein
This killer also served as the model for Norman Bates in the movie, "Psycho." Gein was a quiet introvert who had suffered abuse from his overbearing mother. At one point, he considered getting a sex-change operation. Maybe his mother would be kinder if he was a girl. However he decided against it. But Gein did the next best thing. He killed women, skinned them, tanned their hides and wore them.
Ted Bundy
This man was especially dangerous because he was so normal, well-spoken, educated and nice looking. With a little boy's looks, most women thought he could never entertain the thought of killing women. That is, until he got them near his Volkswagen, which had no passenger seat. He then clubbed his victim with a crowbar, which he kept within easy reach on the car's floor, and dumped the unconscious vic into the car. With his prize unconscious on the floorboard, Bundy drove out on little traveled roads into the country and finished his work there. At times he varied his technique by wearing a false cast on his arm and asked women to help him load a bike, a boat or furniture into the car. Once they fell into his lure, he followed his usual modus operandi (MO).
Bundy was in law school and sometimes campaigned for Republican Party candidates. He made many friends in the GOP, who could not believe that the guy was a killer. They even collected funds for his legal defense.
The Movie
"Silence of the Lambs" came out in 1991, starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Foster played the rookie special agent, Clarice Starling, who managed to dig out information from Lecter by questioning him and simply listening. The FBI discovered that female agents could extract confessions from serial killers because they liked to talk to women. Many killers were never able to get and keep girlfriends. But since the female agent listened and politely asked questions, the killers could not resist talking to them.
Thomas Harris had first written "Red Dragon" which reviewed Lector's early days. Following with "Silence of the Lambs" he carried Hannibal Lector to a new level as Harris explored the new science of the criminal profiling of serial killers. The last book of the series is "Hannibal Rising" which explores more of Lecter's misdeeds.
Source:
Mind Hunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker; Pocket Star Books, 1995
Diane Evans - I am a retired civil engineer as well as a member of Sisters in Crime and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
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