Peter Vronsky is an investigative
journalist and documentary producer who admits he has never actually studied serial killers
professionally and is in no way an expert on the subject. In spite of this, he was able to catch my attention by the end of the first paragraph when he reveals that he has unknowingly encountered not one, but two serial killers and realizes that these people are not obvious monsters but ordinary looking people that live quietly amongst us; a finding which prompted him to study them as a
journalist and investigate their history and evolution. His first meeting was with Richard Cottingham, "The Times Square Torso Ripper", who he bumped into coming out of an elevator in a hotel in 1979. He was an unforgettable man who years later would be imprisoned for multiple homicides. The second was Andre Chikatilo, "The Red Ripper" in 1990 in Moscow. Vronsky even interviewed him while covering a protest but found him off topic and boring and quickly moved away to forget him until he was tried for a horrific trail of killings. Vronsky was struck by their invisibility, the idea that serial killers are disguised as normal people, keeping us from being able to distinguish evil among us.
An excellent example of this is Ted Bundy, notoriously good looking and charming. Bundy shocked the world because he seemed so much like us and as we became more aware during the 1970's attempts to understand this phenomena really began. Another case is Gary Ridgeway who Vronsky says is the prototype of serial killers, a man who grew up with a domineering mother but as an adult seemed perfectly normal with a good job, many friends, and who regularly attended church. Religion is a common theme amoung these murderers with many of them being deeply religious and many are married with
children. Most are in their twenties or thirties and the majority are caucasian males who stalk strangers who fit the mold of their particular obsession. Killing itself is the motive and all killings are completely premeditated, the assailant then slipping back into normal life.
Vronsky explains that serial killers are increasing in number and incurable, therefore it is important to study them as children to be able to see the early signs of madness. He also gives tips on recognizing and surviving a serial killer in the hope that lives can be spared if people are alert to their existence and have the knowledge that they do not look like the monsters they are.