March 27th, 2008
Serial killers vs “evil”
Forget all about Michael Stone. People who think a serial killer is somebody who should look and act “evil” are stupid. Evil. Whatever that quaint little notion is about, Merriam-Webster defines it as Middle English and as the meaning is highly subjective, please, let’s not have anything to do with it when discussing serial killers as it just derails anything of worth.
As I am now reading one of the most brilliant books on serial killers that I’ve ever laid hands on, i.e. “The Only Living Witness” by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, there’s a very interesting little bit on page 161, where people who knew Ted Bundy describe their reactions to when they learned that he had been arrested for kidnap and attempted murder:
Stephen Elway, an old friend of Ted’s from the 1968 lieutenant governor’s race, heard of the arrest on his car radio that first afternoon. “I almost went into a ditch,” he told me. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Gwen Grim and Susan Reade, friends from the 1972 campaign, talked until midnight about the news. “It just freaked us out,” Gwen recalled. “We thought, Well, how well did we really know him?”
Ralph Munro, the former aide to Governor Evans, learned of the arrest on television, and thought of the bright young man with good ideas. “I just couldn’t believe it was Ted,” said Munro. “My response was shock.”
Larry Diamond, who so admired and envied Ted when they worked together the summer of ‘74 at the Department of Emergency Services, was told of the arrest by inquiring reporters. “My first impression,” Munro told me, “was ‘No, it couldn’t be.’ It would be like one of us.”
No shit. So let’s keep “evil” out of it, shall we?
March 30th, 2008 at 11:36
The UK tabloid papers love to use the word ‘evil’ as much as they can – mostly to describe serial killers and rapists, but sometimes to talk about scientists toying with God’s will. Because the papers know exactly what God’s will is.
April 1st, 2008 at 16:29
It’s interesting to see how people use the word, or any other word that’s loaded with feelings, is extremely subjective and shouldn’t be used in scientific contexts, e.g. “great”, “ugly” or “horrible”. Adjectives are of course needed, but come on, “evil”? Blah, blah, blah.