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Born in 1948 in Winchester, Hampshire, Christopher Berry-Dee is descended from Dr John Dee, Court Astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, and is the founder and former Director of the Criminology Research Institute (CRI), and former publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Criminologist, a highly respected journal on matters concerning all aspects of criminology from law enforcement to forensic psychology.
Christopher has interviewed and interrogated over thirty of the world’s most notorious killers – serial, mass and one-off – including Peter Sutcliffe, Ted Bundy, Aileen Wuornos, Dennis Nilsen and Joanne Dennehy. He was co-producer/ interviewer for the acclaimed twelve-part TV documentary series The Serial Killers, and has appeared on television as a consultant on serial homicide, and, in the series Born to Kill?, on the cases of Fred and Rose West, the ‘Moors Murderers’ and Dr Harold Shipman. He has also assisted in criminal investigations as far afield as Russia and the United States.
Notable book successes include: Monster (the basis for the movie of the same title, about Aileen Wuornos); Dad Help Me Please, about the tragic Derek Bentley, hanged for a murder he did not commit (subsequently subject of the film Let Him Have It) – and Talking with Serial Killers, Christopher’s international bestseller, now, with its sequel, Talking with Serial Killers: World’s Most Evil, required reading at the FBI Behavioral Science Unit Academy at Quantico, Virginia. His Talking with Psychopaths and Savages: A Journey Into the Evil Mind, was the UK’s bestselling true-crime title of 2017; its successor volume, Talking with Psychopaths and Savages: Beyond Evil, was published in the autumn of 2019.
Published by John Blake Publishing,
80–1 Wimpole Street
Marylebone
London W1G 9RE
www.facebook.com/johnblakebooks
First published, as Dead Men Talking: The world’s worst killers in their own words, in hardback in 2009
Paperback edition first published in 2011
This retitled paperback edition first published in 2019
Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-78946-288-3
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-78946-220-3
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-84358-643-2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Text copyright © Christopher Berry-Dee 2009, 2019
The right of Christopher Berry-Dee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright-holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them.
John Blake Publishing is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK
This book is dedicated my late mother, Mary Dee
CONTENTS
2 MELANIE LYN MCGUIRE
The Ice Queen
3 PHILLIP CARL JABLONSKI
‘I Have No Remorse’
4 KEITH HUNTER JESPERSON
The Happy Face Killer
5 VIVA LEROY NASH
The Oldest Man on Death Row
6 MICHAEL BRUCE ROSS
The Roadside Strangler
SUMMARY
Writing non-fiction is not possible without a collective effort by many people and the study of violent crime on a first-hand basis can be at once rewarding, exciting and distressing; conversely, it also has its lighter moments. But at the end of the road, the time comes to reflect on that journey and to remember all those individuals and organisations who, in their various capacities, helped to make the realisation of a book possible and, hopefully, worthwhile. Now is this time.
First and foremost, I am indebted to my countless readers from around the world. I receive dozens of letters and emails every month from you guys thanking me for my books and how you appreciate the work that I do. Often you are students, studying criminal justice; sometimes police officers, who take on board my no-nonsense approach, at the same time appreciating my black humour when the mood takes me. From whatever walk of life you hail from, you should not thank me, for I thank you all. Without you the support would be gone and I would not have the reason, nor the means, to pen another word. An author’s public is an author’s lifeblood and as we enter the most difficult of financial times, I sincerely appreciate your contribution towards understanding the most evil and twisted minds living within our societies: the serial killers.
Secondly, to my very close friend and publisher, John Blake. John has been supporting me since 2001 and a more generous and fine fellow one could not wish to meet. Also to John’s entire team at John Blake Publishing Limited, who have worked tirelessly on all of my publishing projects, to include my commissioning editor, Lucian Randall, John Wordsworth (who wishes to remain nameless), Rosie Ries, Michelle Signore and Joanna Kennedy.
On the bookstore front, thanks to the countless bookstores – whether they be in the UK, USA or otherwise – for promoting and selling my books, especially to Alison Darby at Waterstones. Also a big thank you to the media, from both sides of the pond, for promoting my work where possible.
Although this may seem inappropriate to many readers, I am obliged to thank the principal contributors to this book: LeRoy Nash (the old rascal that he is), Keith Hunter Jesperson, and the other killers featured throughout these pages. They all contributed to the book for