“I Survived a Serial Killer” documents the harrowing, heroic stories of one or more survivors of the same serial killers. Told from the survivors’ point of view, the series highlights the strength and perseverance of regular people encountering and overcoming pure evil. Interviews with those closest to the cases will round out the stories of these unimaginable crimes.
The A&E series “Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America” puts on display new information and insight into the inner workings of fully defective human beings. The true story is told through the eyes of the families of the victims, a few of the survivors, friends, expert criminologists, authors, FBI profilers, district attorneys, police investigators, and reporters.Among the five worst serial killers in the history of the U.S., all operated within the same window during the 1960s and 1970s. The infamous list includes Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, The Green River Killer (Gary Ridgway), and BTK (Dennis Rader). Over the course of two decades, they murdered hundreds of victims.
Looking back with fresh eyes, it’s interesting to note that the concept of a serial killer did not really exist in the 1970s. In fact, that period was associated with a sort of naïve innocence, where strangers – particularly on college campuses – freely associated and mingled with one another. Such an atmosphere was ripe for the types of predators profiled in this documentary series.
Technology was very different back then as well. Cutting phone lines to a house, for example, was a big deal in the 1970s because it completely isolated victims from the external world devoid of cell phones.
In addition, in the aftermath of the crimes, small-town police forces did not have any significant investigation capabilities comparable to modern-day crime-solving approaches. There was no DNA tracing, no surveillance cameras, no computers, no 911 services, no Amber alerts, no CSIs with a chain of evidence rules, and no sex offender registry. Although hair and fibers were collected, the process was sloppy and prone to error. In one recap of a murder scene, officials readily admit that the media were allowed to wander freely around the front yard and through the victim’s house, thus contaminating potential evidence.
Perhaps most interesting is the nature of the attackers and what led them to their misdeeds. In most of the situations, a trigger event would spur them into action only after years of fantasizing. Once launched on their career, the initial captivity and torture, as well as the taunting of the police, became more brazen. Going years without getting caught, these predators eventually exhibited utter contempt for law enforcement officials.
Across the board, either because the serial killers were white or because they seemed to blend into the community – or both – the five men never aroused suspicion. Some had wives, they laughed in public, and most held regular jobs – essentially flying under the radar of law enforcement for years simply by looking normal, appearing to fit in, and smiling a lot. The public and law enforcement, on the other hand, apparently expected to find a wild-eyed Charles Manson-like figure behind the horrific crimes that stretched from one end of the country to the other. Often difficult to watch, aficionados of the inexplicable nature of deformed human psyches will, nonetheless, find much to contemplate.
New Series Premieres on A&E Sunday, August 15th at 9 pm ET/PT
