A former nurse turned FBI profiler interviewed dozens of killers. She explains what the most dangerous ones have in common.
Former FBI profiler Candice DeLong spent two decades investigating crime. She explains why some killers stop after one murder while others keep going.
Candice DeLong, a former nurse turned FBI profiler, interviewed dozens of killers throughout her 20-year career. DeLong, who shifted from psychiatric nursing to FBI profiling, found that the most dangerous serial killers had one common trait: a lack of guilt. She explained that successful killers after a first murder often continued their killing spree, driven by the success they experienced.
DeLong, who didn't initially plan to spend her career interviewing killers, initially worked as a psychiatric nurse. Her background helped her understand severe mental illness before taking on her FBI role. During her career, she interviewed convicted murderers for television, gaining firsthand experience with hundreds of offenders.
Through these interviews, DeLong discovered that psychopathy wasn't the only defining factor in a killer's behavior. Psychopathy refers to a lack of empathy and remorse, while psychosis involves losing touch with reality through hallucinations or delusions. DeLong emphasized that psychopathy is distinct from these conditions and allows killers to continue their crimes without remorse.
The biggest distinction between dangerous killers and others, according to DeLong, lay in their behavior after the first murder. Some killers had traumatic childhoods marked by neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or severe mental illness. However, these experiences alone didn't dictate their future actions. Instead, it was their response to the first murder that determined their path forward.
DeLong noted that some killers were initially driven by success or financial gain from their crimes, which reinforced their behavior. As they gained confidence in their ability to evade capture, they became more daring, and the belief that they'd escape again further solidified their dangerous nature.
In conclusion, DeLong's career insights revealed that the most dangerous serial killers were defined by their lack of guilt and the reinforcement they received from successful crimes. While childhood trauma played a role in some cases, the pivotal moment was the killer's reaction to their first murder.
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