The Making of Serial Killer Celebrities and US Media Circus Trials

Author and communication professor Dirk Gibson outlines his extensive research into serial killers – specifically a focus on the way the murderers use the media to further their goals - as well as the way that press coverage can create serial killer celebrities and affect the truthfulness of witness testimony in high-profile cases.

Gibson said he initially got interested in the media coverage aspect of serial killers during the DC sniper murders and that the intense press saturation of every aspect of the case made him realize that there was actually a “serial communication” aspect as well.

He did a study of 1,000 serial killers and discovered that two-thirds of these murderers not only kill serially, they also communicate serially. From these, he identified 27 different ways this serial communication was carried out, including letters, phone calls, texting, tweeting, telegrams, etc.

One of the murderers discussed is French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru, who was convicted of killing at least 10 women, a teenage boy and two dogs, through the use of advertisements.

“When people are questioned by the media, it changes them, and they get a little bit of ego. They get interested and they enjoy the feeling of being interviewed,” he said. “So what’s happened in a number of cases is that witnesses have changed their story to make it more appealing.”

He said he found many cases in his research of witnesses who were interviewed by the media or police who embellished and/or changed their stories.

“The classic example of this is from the Jeffrey Dahmer case, where a young man who got away, told Oprah Winfrey, or another afternoon talk show, that it was difficult to get away as he worked all six locks on the back of the door to escape from Dahmer. Photographs of the crime scene showed one lock.”

Gibson said this is an example of how a witness can impeach themselves because the media glare and ego-feeding attention can distort the true version of events.

Addressing the ways that serial killers use and manipulate the media, he said this is often accomplished in a variety of ways. “They use the media to defend themselves and to deny things, and they use the media to gratify themselves – because almost all of them relish reading about their crimes.”

He adds: “And my theory is that not in all cases – but in about two-thirds of the cases – serial murder is serial communication, both before, during and after fact,” Gibson said. “And that is an intrinsically important motivating factor.”

Watch the full interview to also hear Gibson discuss the ways Charles Manson attempted to use the media to manipulate the public, and to get his thoughts on the role money plays in journalists getting access to interview subjects.