WITH work of Rose West and Myra Hindley proudly hanging from her partitions, assassin Shaye Groves made no secret of her obsession with deranged monsters.
The killer, 27, from Havant, Hampshire, was jailed for at least 23 years this week for slitting boyfriend Frankie Fitzgerald's throat after which stabbing him 17 occasions.
Criminologist Professor David Wilson has been investigating the "harmful obsession" of serial killer followers for years.
He believes that for many who go on to homicide themselves, it not solely fuels their sick fantasies, but in addition serves as a foil for his or her wicked needs.
He instructed The Solar: “The massive query is what comes first - the curiosity in serial killers or the fantasy about committing a homicide? I consider it’s the fantasy, which is dressed up in an obsessive curiosity in serial killers.”
Right here, David delves contained in the minds of the cult of serial killer obsessives - and examines what actually makes them tick.
College students of crime
A shudder ran down David's backbone when he analysed crime scene pictures from the killing of Julia Rawson.
Nathan Maynard-Ellis, 30, and boyfriend David Leesley, 25, ran into the market dealer, 42, in a pub in Dudley in Might 2019.
They lured her again to their residence in Tipton, West Mids, the place she was battered with a rolling pin and her physique reduce into 12 elements.
They used saws to hack up Julia, a gifted artist and musician, and in court docket it was prompt they saved her proper kidney as a macabre trophy.
"I consider this might have been a nod to Jack the Ripper who was recognized to take away the identical organ in his victims," says David.
It was this that piqued his curiosity within the case of Maynard Ellis, who was jailed for no less than 30 years and his lover 19 years.
He examined footage that confirmed their flat was affected by creepy dolls, gory home made face masks of horror movie characters and reptiles in tanks.
One other snap confirmed a workbench coated with dolls' heads and severed fingers, together with instruments together with pliers, drills and an axe.
However wanting on the footage, David says there was one snap that "made me cease in my tracks".
For among the many masks, reptiles, weapons and terrifying Chucky-type dolls in Maynard-Ellis’ flat of horrors was a e-book David himself had written about serial killers.
The cabinets had been filled with true crime books, together with David’s A Historical past of British Serial Killing: The Stunning Account of Jack the Ripper, Harold Shipman and Past.
Maynard-Ellis had additionally signed up for a criminology course - which David says is much from uncommon.
In Idaho, criminology pupil Bryan Kohberger, 28, who as soon as had an interview for a police job, is accused of slaying 4 college students as they slept of their beds in a shared college home.
TV present data
Simply final week closely pierced Brit Shaye was jailed for slitting her boyfriend’s throat and stabbing him 17 occasions after changing into fascinated with crime.
She saved framed footage of the West, Hindley, Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, amongst others, on the partitions of her residence.
A court docket heard how Groves, 27, of Havant, Hampshire, used suggestions from true crime documentaries to plan her alibi after slaughtering dad-of-two Frankie Fitzgerald, 25, in July final yr.
Prosecutor Steven Perian instructed the jury that Groves, who indulged in bondage, used her data from TV crime exhibits to painting herself as a sufferer of abuse by Frankie.
With so many true crime documentaries on TV, ought to we fear in regards to the quantity of violence and grisly particulars revealed about serial killers?
Whereas David admits he has toned down his personal lectures on a number of murders, chopping out gratuitous particulars and leaving out minute details about modus operandi, he believes it’s too late to place the cult of crime “again within the field”
He stated: “Shaye Groves and Maynard-Ellis should not the primary individuals who have killed following an obsession with serial killers they usually received’t be the final.
“These individuals have already got fantasies and gown them up with an curiosity in killers like Jack the Ripper or Bundy or whoever.
"They'll additionally develop pursuits in criminology, legislation enforcement or, within the case of Groves, sadomasochism.
“It feeds their fantasies however I believe little or no of their ‘analysis’ would have impacted the eventual consequence. They'll have already had an curiosity in killing and loss of life.”
Darkish facet of net
In America, homicide accused Bryan Kohberger studied BTK serial killer Dennis Rader as a part of his masters diploma - and the assassin has since despatched a message of sympathy to him.
Rader - who gave himself the title of BTK as a result of he certain, tortured and killed his victims - stated he knew how “lonely” it was for Kohberger whereas in solitary confinement awaiting a court docket listening to.
David says potential killers with twisted pursuits can simply discover one another on-line.
The skilled, who has hosted crime exhibits, stated: “The fact is individuals with shared pursuits can discover others with fascinations in the identical topic and discover one another on-line. You possibly can’t put the web again in a field - it exists.
“There are those that will watch crime exhibits and documentaries who've unhealthy intentions however they're a small minority.
“Violence has sadly grow to be a commodity, serial homicide has grow to be a commodity and that is why individuals purchase homicide memorabilia, why they're focused on shopping for Dennis Nilsen’s hair brush, eyeglasses or typewriter.
“On the different finish of the dimensions, true crime podcasters and TV exhibits have uncovered miscarriages of justice, and labored to make chilly circumstances go ‘sizzling’ once more.
“For me, true crime just isn't about retelling the story of a homicide with ever extra grisly particulars. It’s about uncovering new strains or revealing one thing new.”
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