Mindhunter's real-life inspiration: Killers and cops
Warning: the following article contains discussion of sexual violence that some readers may find upsetting.
If you've binged Netflix's Mindhunter season 2 already, then you'll probably have spent at least one of your subsequent sleepless nights wondering about the people portrayed on-screen. (Have you locked your windows? Have you?)
Related: Mindhunter's Ed Kemper – his true story, according to the FBI agent who interviewed him
The show is based on FBI agent John Douglas's memoir, and recounts his meetings with numerous real-life criminal psychopaths.
The following are just a few of the people represented, from both sides of the law.
The good guys
1. John Douglas
Played by: Jonathan Groff
He's called Holden Ford in the show, to draw a line more clearly between the fictional and factual men. The real-life Douglas was also the inspiration for Thomas Harris's Jack Crawford character, as played by Dennis Farina, Scott Glenn, Harvey Keitel and Laurence Fishburne in the various adaptations of his Hannibal Lecter novels.
Douglas is one of the most prominent experts in the study of serial killers in the US, having founded the Criminal Profiling Program at the FBI's Behavioural Sciences Unit.
2. Robert K Ressler
Played by: Holt McCallany
Bill Tench is an ex-Army FBI veteran, the experienced guiding hand to Holden Ford's wunderkind. In real life Robert K Ressler was a Military Police provost marshal who joined the FBI in 1970 and became prominent in the Behavioural Sciences Unit. He was only eight years senior to John Douglas, though, while actors McAllany and Groff have 22 years between them.
You can read all about him in his autobiography Whoever Fights Monsters.
3. Dr Ann Wolbert Burgess
Played by: Anna Torv
In the show she's called Dr Wendy Carr, but the real Dr Burgess is literally a living legend in the world of nursing, a leading light in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse. Among her many academic publications is Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives, which she co-authored with Ressler and Douglas.
Bad guys in Mindhunter season two
Ed Kemper
Played by: Cameron Britton
The 6'9" Ed Kemper was first incarcerated for the murder of his grandparents in his teens. Having convinced the authorities that he was fit to be released, he was allowed out after six years, and went on to murder and violate at least eight young women. He also killed his mother and one of her friends before handing himself in to the authorities.
As in the show, his high IQ and interest in policing led to him assisting Douglas and Ressler by offering insights into his own psychology.
Dennis Rader
Played by: Sonny Valicenti
Also known as the "BTK" killer, Rader commited a number of sexually-motivated murders over three decades, taunting the police with notes signed by "BTK", which stood for Bind, Torture, Kill. Like the unnamed Kansas man in the show, Rader worked for ADT Security Services, and later the federal census office.
He was president of his church council and a cub-scout leader.
Charles Manson
Played by: Damon Herriman
Notorious cult leader Charles Manson had a group of followers, dubbed the Manson Family, who became notorious after the '69 murders of Gary Hinman. actress Sharon Tate and others in her home.
The murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, as well as the Tate-LaBianca murders, were also attributed to the group.
David Berkowitz, AKA Son of Sam
Played by: Oliver Cooper
Originally dubbed the '44 Caliber Killer', Berkowitz's 'Son of Sam' mythology came from the killer himself in letters to the police and press. While he initially claimed to have been following the orders of a demon, after his incarceration he later admitted that he had made up the story.
His shooting attacks terrorised New York City up until his arrest in 1977.
Wayne Williams
Played by: Christopher Livingston
Although it is believed by many in law enforcement that Wayne Williams was responsible for at least a number of the 30 black children killed in Atlanta between 1979–1981 (known as the Atlanta Child Murders), he has only been convicted of two murders.
Williams is currently serving two life sentences for the killings of Nathaniel Cater (aged 27) and Jimmy Ray Payne (aged 21). He has always maintained his innocence.
Bad guys in Mindhunter season one
Monte Rissell
Played by: Sam Strike (Yes, him off EastEnders.)
Rissell raped and murdered five women in Virginia between 1976 and 1977, all before he even turned 19.
Jerome Brudos
Played by: Happy Anderson
Brudos was a shoe fetishist and necrophile who killed at least four women in Oregon in the late 1960s. Despite being a married father of two, he managed to conceal the fact that he was abducting and strangling young women for sexual gratification. Along with Ed Gein, he was one of the chief inspirations for Thomas Harris's character Buffalo Bill.
Richard Speck
Played by: Jack Erdie
Unlike most of Douglas and Ressler's interview subjects, Speck was not a serial killer – though only, one suspects, because of a lack of opportunity. He was convicted of the torture, rape and murder of eight student nurses in a single night in 1966. A ninth woman only survived his spree by hiding in the room out of sight for the entire night.
Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of sexual violence and sexual misconduct. If you've been affected by the issues raised in this article, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland's helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.
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