Christopher Berry-Dee - Shared Madness - True Stories of Couple Who Kill

A part from a score of psychiatrists and FBI investigators, including John Douglas and Robert Ressler, I have interviewed and corresponded with more serial murderers and mass killers than is healthy for ones mind. At the last count it was around 30, not taking into account the one-off killers and rapists; add these together and the total is probably 70 or more offenders.

To answer a frequently asked question, I would like to confirm that at no time have any of these murderous individuals threatened or intimidated me, with the sole exception of the utterly repulsive Kenneth Bianchi, who went berserk after I surprised him with an unannounced visit to his tiny cell in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at the Washington State Penitentiary. Ken flipped and was furious. He had always told me that he was a special inmate with a large cell and afforded all the mod cons; but he lived in a small house, as the inmates call their cells, and was treated just the same as the other prisoners on the tier. Indeed, the regime at the SHU can be likened to the Rule 43 system in the UK. Inmates are incarcerated in these protective units because they fear for their lives. The very nature of their sex crimes makes them targets for the general prison population. Needless to say, I have always treated these people with much respect and, for the most part, they have treated me likewise.

Of course, these killers do lose their temper from time to time, and I have witnessed the flick of the switch personality change from lamb to beast, which can be unnerving; even so, their anger has rarely focused on me. Those of you who have read Talking with Serial Killers will know that their anger is directed towards the prison system and society at large, which they perceive, in their warped way, has conspired to put them in their present predicament.

There was one other notable exception. During one of my interviews with Arthur Shawcross, a female film director who should have known better kept breaking into our discussion, which was very unprofessional conduct indeed. Arthur leaped out of his chair and would have assaulted her had the guards and I not intervened. If she had been alone with him, he would have broken her neck in a flash. I took this unwanted intrusion very seriously, especially as this killer was about to admit to two unsolved homicides and it had taken me two years of correspondence to obtain an interview with him. Nevertheless, when he calmed down he finally confessed a result that pleased the police and the next of kin of the deceased.

Douglas Clark, the Sunset Slayer, had been chained to a wall before my interview with him. I cant blame the authorities for this precaution as he had promised to rip the heart out of anyone who upset him and, believe me, he would. But, after 30 minutes of ranting and raving, Doug settled down and was as good as gold.

So I have met my fair share of killers, and this cast of knuckle-grazing voyeurs, perverts, stalkers, serial rapists and homicidal sociopaths contains several familiar names, but is salted with a few that are not. In the USA, the list includes: Kenneth Alessio Bianchi (Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla), James Paul (Trenton State Prison, New Jersey), Richard Ramirez (Death Row, San Quentin State Prison, California), Harvey Louis Carignan (Minnesota Correctional Facility, Stillwater), Douglas Daniel Clark (Death Row, San Quentin State Prison, California), Arthur John Shawcross (Sullivan Correctional Facility, Fallsburg, New York), Carol Bundy (Central California Womens Facility, Chowchilla) Cathy May Wood (Central California Womens Facility, Chowchilla), Gwendoline Graham (details of whereabouts restricted), Ronald DeFeo Jr (Greenhaven Correctional Facility, Stormville, New York), Michael Bruce Ross (Death Row, Osborne Correctional Institute, Connecticut), William Heirens (Dixon Correctional Center, Illinois), Joel Rifkin (Riverhead County Jail, Long Island, New York), Patricia Gordy Wright (Central California Womens Facility, Chowchilla).

John Wayne Gacy (executed 10 May 1994, Death Row, Illinois Correctional Center, Menard), Aileen Wuornos (executed 9 October 2002, Florida State Prison, Starke; formerly on Death Row, Broward Correctional Institute, Pembroke Pines, Texas), Theodore (Ted) Robert Bundy (executed 24 January 1989, Death Row, Florida State Prison, Starke), Kenneth Allen McDuff (executed 17 November 1998, Death Row, Ellis Unit, Huntsville, Texas).

I also spoke to these prisoners who were murdered by fellow inmates: John Gerard Schaefer (hacked to death, 2001, Florida State Prison, Starke) and Jeffrey Dahmer (bludgeoned to death, 28 November 1994, Columbia Correctional Facility, Wisconsin).

Other interviewees were to die of natural causes. Henry Lee Lucas (heart failure, 12 March 2001, Death Row, Ellis Unit, Huntsville, Texas), Ottis Toole (hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, 21 September 1996, Florida State Prison, Starke), Angelo Buono (heart failure, 21 September 2002, Calipatria State Prison, California), mobster John Gotti (cancer, 10 June 2002, US Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, Springfield, Illinois; formerly at Marion Federal Penitentiary, Illinois).

The UK killers include serial murderers John Martin Scripps (executed 19 April 1996, Changi Prison, Singapore) and Peter Sutcliffe; gangster Ronnie Kray (died of a heart attack in 1995) and killer Paul Beecham (whose crimes included the murder of his wife and who committed suicide in 2002 after his release on licence); the last three of these I met at Broadmoor Hospital, Crowthorne, Berkshire; murderers Michael Sams and John Cannan, respectively at HMP Full Sutton, North Yorkshire, and the Central Criminal Courts, London. I have corresponded with many more, including the serial killer Dennis Nilsen, who at the time was at HMP Albany, Isle of Wight.

I have met Indian serial killers Renuka Kiran Shinde and Seema Mohan Gavit, at Death Row, Central Prison, Mumbai, plus more killers than I can recall in other establishments, including Sablino Prison for Women, St Petersburg, Russia, and the Crosses Prison in the same city, where I talked with many male inmates.

For years I have been interviewing these evil men and women in my attempts to open up their minds and understand why they did what they did. However, more recently I have taken an interest in couples who kill and this book is the culmination of my research.