Diana Montane - Invisible Killer: The Monster Behind the Mask

INVISIBLE KILLER

The Monster Behind the Mask

The Monster Behind the Mask

DIANA MONTANE AND SEAN ROBBINS

Copyright 2013 by Diana Montane and Sean Robbins
FIRST EDITION

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Available upon request

For information, or to order additional copies, please contact:
TitleTown Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 12093 Green Bay, WI 54307-12093
920.737.8051 | titletownpublishing.com

Distributed by Midpoint Trade Books
www.midpointtrade.com

Interior design by Jane Perini
Cover design by Chris Hineline of TriggerGraphix
Photo sequencing preparation: Chris Hineline of TriggerGraphix
Printed in the United States of America

Between the desire

And the spasm

Between the potency

And the existence

Between the essence

And the descent

Falls the Shadow

T.S. ELIOT, THE HOLLOW MEN

This book is dedicated to:
Bill, Mary Lou and Sean Jones.

and to Marilyn Angel.

We have to first acknowledge those friends who brought us, like offerings, parts of the puzzle that was this invisible killer, Charlie Brandt.

Michelle Jones loyal bffs: Lisa Emmons, Debbie Knight, and Peggy Moore, as well as Suzy Hamilton and Christine Dumouchel. Especially to Diana Raquel Sainz for her incessant and valuable promotion out of loyalty to Michelle and Miss Gizzie. To Tracy Helfrichs steadfast girlfriends: Nancy Carney, Melanie Fecher, and Colleen Maloney Michie. Charlies fishing buddies, who were as shocked and appalled by his crimes as everyone else: above all, Jim Graves, who generously brought this story to our attention; and Donald Withers, Mike Savedow and Kevin Shore; also, former roommate Lonie Weiner, who should have been a lady detective. Nick Gelyon and Christopher Duett for their insight and efforts. Niki Mousikos for her patience and Robbins Radiator and Service Center as well as The Shark lounge and Tir na Nog Irish Pub in Daytona Beach Florida. Frank Gunshanan and Maggie Karda for their endless time,encouragement and belief in this process. It didnt go unnoticed.

Then there is the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, headed by FBI profiler Mark Safarik; Rick Roth, former Monroe County Sheriff; Agent Dennis Haley; whose wit only matches his experience; Fish Michie, who is as observant as those in law-enforcement; Linda Mixon, Detective Sargeant of Major Crimes; in fact, the entire Monroe County Sheriffs department for their sensitivity about victims. Our good friend, ret. Daytona Beach Chief of Police Paul Crow, thanks for the other suspect. Good friend Kathy Kelly, thanks for the old articles from the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which were very helpful. And Lyda Longa, also from the News-Journal, for introducing us to one another. To ret. Miami Homicide Detective, Private Investigator Pat Diaz, thanks for your contribution; and to Dr. Michael Brannon, for your insights into the psyche of the monster; to Gina Buell, thanks for your account of a serial killer on the loose.

To Marta Sosa and Scott Wevley, our deep felt gratitude for all the constant work, and your deep understanding; and a special thanks to Chris Hineline and Triggergraphix for his extraordinary graphic design.

To Mary Lou Jones, a big thank you for your prodigious memory, your gracious and constant availability on behalf of your daughter Michelle, and your large contribution to this story.

Linda Langton, of Langton International, thanks for your grace and patience. And our publisher, Tracy Ertl, of Titletown, for your unwavering faith in this project.

We need to single out, for a special commendation, Special Agent and profiler Leslie DAmbrosia, who was with us every step of the way, and is one of Floridas state treasures. And to you, the reader, for taking the time to step into our world and explore.

Would You Be Able to Recognize a Serial Killer?

by Mark Safarik

Could your neighbor or relative be a serial killer? The problem is, even if he was, you likely would not know. There is often a disconnect between the publics perception of a serial killer as an easily recognizable monster and the grim reality of an average-looking individual who commits unspeakable acts of brutality against another human being. Serial killers look and act like our co-workers, neighbors, and sometimes our friendsa fact that is not only uncomfortable, but incomprehensible for most of us. We want them to be recognizably different in external appearance, manner, and affect. Unfortunately, the sad fact is that what makes serial killers so successful at their craft is, in fact, their ordinariness, their uncanny ability to appear normal, to blend in, to be as unassuming as you and I, to avoid drawing attention to themselves, and ultimately to make you believe that they are like everyone else you know.

Jim Graves, a friend and confidant of Charlie Brandt, and former brother-in-law by marriage to Brandts sister Angela, trusted his instincts about his ability to read people. He thought he knew Brandt. In reflection, what does it say about a person when he has so terribly misjudged the character of someone he called a friend? Jim thought he should have seen, sensed, and realized something that would have opened his eyes. He chose to explain away the sometimes odd behavior of his friend, instead of letting it stand on its own. In the end, he wished he had recognized the clues for what they were.

I saw this scenario many times during my 23 years as an FBI Special Agent, particularly while working as a senior profiler in the FBIs elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, known to most as the Profiling Unit. After spending another dozen years studying, researching, writing about, and interviewing rapists and murderers of all types, I am intimately familiar with the ability of serial killers to deceive almost anyone.

Brandt was a master manipulator, always in control. The psychopathology of his twisted desires lay beneath his superficial personality, well disguised from everyone. Each of us has a public life, the face we show to the world. We also have a private life, which is revealed only to those very close to us. But then there is our secret life, known only to us. To truly plumb the depths of that secret life in a serial killer, you must have the key that unlocks access to that crucial piece of the puzzle. It is extraordinarily difficult to peel back that faade, layer by layer, slowly revealing the depravity that shocks a normal persons conscience.

Jim Graves confided in his friend, Sean Robbins, the story of his friend and brother-in-law, the serial killer. Robbins sought out Diana Montane and together they collaborated on this book.

Diana Montane is an expert not only at finding the key, but at putting the puzzle together. Uncovering the ugly, naked truth about Brandt was a complex task that involved interviewing those who knew Brandt and the victims and investigators who worked the murder cases. Diana in turn reached out to one of my colleagues, Florida Department of Law Enforcement profiler Leslie DAmbrosia, to help provide meaning, context, and behavioral linkage to some of those missing pieces. Extracting Brandts puzzle pieces from the investigative reports, crime scene photographs, mountains of collected evidence, and each victims personal story involved an extraordinary effort. Diana and Sean were tireless in their pursuit to understand a man that almost no one did.