Suruthi Bala - RedHanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick

HELLO, READER. WERE GOING TO GUESS THAT YOUVE PICKED up this book either because youre a Spooky Bitch and avid listener of RedHanded, the podcast or because youre just a bit morbidly curious.

Either way, clearly you have great taste.

And if weve read you right, youll probably be very much on board with whats to come, since this book is a deep dive into the extremes of human behavior, as shown by everyones favorite mass murderers, serial killers, and general bad-news Berthas.

Chapter by chapter, were going to delve into some of the most brutal murders from across the world and ask the obvious question at the heart of them all: What makes a killer tick? But before we get to that, lets get better acquainted.

In 2017, two twentysomethings happened to meet at a party. Suruthi Bala had just gotten back to the UK after a year of traveling, during which time she had discovered the magic of true crime podcasts. These podcasts had accompanied her on all those 27-hour-long bus journeys across Asia and solo hikes around South America, and served as a welcome distraction from all the dodgy tummies, mosquito bites, and motorbike crashes. After this trip, Suruthi was set to return to the exciting world of corporate conference production, in all its high-stress, highjet lag glorybut first, to get herself back into the swing of life at home, she was saying yes to anything and everything. It was one such yes that led her to a party in deepest East London that November night.

At this party was Hannah Maguire; she was whipping up a vegan Thanksgiving dream feast for her American housemate and his entire extended family (all of whom were crammed into her tiny flat for the holidays). Story-loving, supremely dyslexic Hannah had fallen in love with podcasts while living in Korea (South, dont panic) and avoiding the snotty children she was supposed to be teaching English. By the time of the fateful Veegs-giving, Hannah was back in London, living the dream working in commercial musical theater, washing other peoples crusty mugs and frequently napping at the back of the dress circle. She made almost no money doing this, which is how Hannah ended up in a house share overrun with Americans on air beds.

Over aquafaba meringues, the two ladies struck up the usual polite chitchat one makes with a random they dont know at a party. But as they sipped their wine, they discovered a surprising shared obsession with the case of JonBent Ramsey. As they drank more wine, they did the very drunk-ladies-in-the-bathroom thing of promising to become best friends and open up a dogs-only ice cream shopor start a true crime podcast together.

Sadly, Cones and Bones never came to be, but Hannah and Suruthi did meet up againthis time at the Blind Beggar pub on Whitechapel Road, the infamous hangout of the notorious Kray twins. Hannah and Suruthi hit it off again, and, realizing that they were both desperate for a creative outlet, decided to start that true crime podcast. And with that, RedHanded was born.

At first it was just meant to be a bit of a hobby; neither woman had any experience whatsoever in the world of true crime, podcasting, broadcasting, sound editing, audio production, research, or script writing. But why let small details like that stop you when you can buy a mic for 10 and talk about murder in the cupboard under your stairs with a total stranger?

Fast-forward to today, and RedHanded is an internationally renowned, award-winning, hit podcast with thousands of self-proclaimed Spooky Bitches tuning in for their weekly dose of murder, wit, and WTFs. But despite how far it has come, RedHanded continues to transport listeners back to that first-ever party at which Suruthi and Hannah sat together engrossed, discussing a case that fascinated them.

Week in and week out, we at RedHanded explore a veritable smorgasbord of murder cases with the aim of dissecting not only the story, but also the social, cultural, political, and psychological aspects that feed into every crime. During our years of research and exploration into the world of violent offenders, we have seen it all, but we keep coming back to one question: What drives a killer to kill?

And while the nature versus nurture debate has started to feel a little outdatedbecause the answer is of course bothwere fascinated by the mind-bending interplay between genetics, environment, and experiences, and how they impact who we are.

So after getting a few hundred podcast episodes under our belt, we decided it was time to pull together everything wed learned and write this book about what sets a killer apart from the rest of us.

The answer to this question is of course incredibly complex, and the path that leads someone to kill another human being is a complicated and twisty-turny one. If you listen to RedHanded (once again, top marks), youll know that no matter how bad some of these cases are, we never once refer to the killers as monsters. To do so implies something otherworldly about them and conveniently removes such people from being our societal responsibility. It dehumanizes them. And that just doesnt make much sense to us, because what leads a person to deviance and depravity is usually something very human indeed.

So lets get started

Bad Genes, Brunners Boys, and Bundys PCL-R

IN 2019, 26 MILLION PEOPLE TOOK AN AT-HOME DNA TEST. Compared to just four years earlier, thats a 1,633 percent rise in people spitting in vials and swabbing their mouths to see if they can still eat bread or to find out just how Irish they are. We cant think of anything else that has grown in popularity that much recently. (Except maybe true crime podcasts and craft avocado beer.)

This astronomical rise in DNA testing shows us two things: our endless fascination with who we are