There's More to Serial Killers Than We Know
And We Need to Learn
Wouldn't some training on serial killers and how they operate have made the task force do a better and faster job? Undoubtedly. Then why aren't these people being trained?
The day Lee was captured in Atlanta it was all over CNN. Pat Brown, co-author of the book Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, was interviewed. I found what she had to say very interesting.
Ms. Brown stated that the belief that most serial killers are white is a myth. The myth is borne from the fact that most high-profile serial killer cases involved white men. She said often times this myth causes real suspects to be overlooked (as we've ascertained happened in the case of Derrick Lee), and can delay the time it takes to catch the killer.
Another myth that makes serial killer investigations go on longer than they should is that all serial killers have a modus operandi. Brown says that most killers will kill with whatever is available at the time. The fact that most people believe serial killers have an m.o. causes cases where two people were killed in a different fashion to not be looked at as possibly being connected – even though they might very well be. Because of this, it may take awhile for law enforcement to realize they are dealing with a serial murderer.
If all of this is true (and I was able to verify all of this information), why isn't more being done to educate law enforcement on the true nature of serial killers? If methods could be learned that would make it known sooner that a serial killer was on the loose, and help him be caught more quickly – why aren't more people being taught these things? Why aren't seminars given to law enforcement about what to really look for in regards to serial killers?
Had someone taught the Multi-Agency Task Force in Baton Rouge these things perhaps Derrick Todd Lee wouldn't have been overlooked so many times because he was black and the FBI profile said he "might" be white. If someone had educated this task force, many women would be alive today. There's no excuse for this sort of ignorance on a subject so important.
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