“As with everything else in my life, I decided that if we were all going to get through this in one piece, I’d better have a sense of humor.” — John E. Douglas Copy Share Image
“Serial murder may, in fact, be a much older phenomenon than we realize. The stories and legends that have filtered down about witches and… — John E. Douglas Copy Share Image
“Manipulation. Domination. Control. These are the three watchwords of violent serial offenders.” — John E. Douglas Copy Share Image
“One of the first things every trainee is taught is that an FBI agent only shoots to kill. The thinking that went into this policy is both rigorous and logical: if you draw your weapon, you have already made the decision to shoot. And if you have made the decision that the situation is serious enough to warrant shooting, you… — John E. Douglas Copy Share
“Traditionally, most murders and violent crimes were relatively easy for law enforcement officials to comprehend. They resulted from critically exaggerated manifestations of feelings we all experience: anger, greed, jealousy, profit, revenge. Once this emotional problem was taken care of, the crime or crime spree would end. Someone would be dead, but that was that and the police generally knew who… — John E. Douglas Copy Share
“It all comes down to this: Whenever theory supersedes evidence, and prejudice deposes rationalism, there can be no real justice.” — John E. Douglas Copy Share Image
“of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 classic “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” may have been history’s first behavioral profiler.” — John E. Douglas Copy Share Image
“from the Adairsville PD. What you’ve got to do is imply that you understand the subject, understand what was going through his mind and the stresses he was under. No matter how disgusting it feels to you, you’re going to have to project the blame onto the victim. Imply that she seduced him. Ask if she led him on, if… — John E. Douglas Copy Share
“I knew the way these guys operated; I'd seen it over and over again. They had a need to manipulate and dominate their prey. They wanted to be able to decide whether or not their victim should live or die, or how the victim should die. They'd keep me alive as long as my body would hold out, reviving me… — John E. Douglas Copy Share
“By studying as many crimes as we could, and through talking to the experts—the perpetrators themselves—we have learned to interpret those clues in much the same way a doctor evaluates various symptoms to diagnose a particular disease or condition. And just as a doctor can begin forming a diagnosis after recognizing several aspects of a disease presentation he or she… — John E. Douglas Copy Share
“So much of what a law enforcement officer does is difficult to share with anyone, even a spouse. When you spend your days looking at dead and mutilated bodies, particularly when they're children, it's not the kind of thing you want to bring home with you. You can't say over the dinner table, 'I had a fascinating lust murder today.… — John E. Douglas Copy Share
“Even though their crimes were completely different, the one thing the maladjusted genius Ted Kaczynski and the sadistic but banal underachiever Dennis Rader shared… — John E. Douglas Copy Share Image
“If a bank robber tapes over the lens of a surveillance camera, that’s MO. If he feels a need to tear his clothes off… — John E. Douglas Copy Share Image
