Chapter 14 Chapter Eleven Atlanta

In the winter of 1981, Atlanta had become a city of disasters. It started quietly, almost unnoticed, a year and a half ago.Before it was over — and it never was, in fact — the police organized the largest and perhaps most publicized manhunt in American history, one that polarized not only a city but a nation as well.Every step of the investigation has sparked heated debate. On July 28, 1979, a complaint was made of a foul smell coming from the woods near Niski Lake Road.Police conducted a search and found the body of 13-year-old Alfred Evans.He has been missing for three days.When police inspected the scene, they found another partially dismembered body about 50 feet away.The deceased was 14-year-old Edward Smith, who disappeared four days before Alfred.Both boys are black.The coroner determined that Alfred Evans was likely strangled and Edward Smith was shot with a .22 caliber pistol.

On November 8, the body of 9-year-old Yusef Bell was found in an abandoned school.He disappeared in late October, also strangled.Eight days later, the body of 14-year-old Milton Harvey was found near Redwine Road and Desert Avenue in the East Point area of ​​Atlanta.According to reports, he had been missing in early September, and like Alfred Evans, the cause of his death is difficult to determine.Both children were also black.However, there is not enough evidence to prove that the cases are connected.Unfortunately, in the huge city of Atlanta, incidents of missing children have always occurred, and some of them were found dead.

On the morning of May 5, 1980, a 12-year-old girl named Angel Lanier left home for school, but never arrived.Five days later, her body was found by the side of a road with her hands and feet bound and her mouth strangled by wires.She was fully clothed and her underwear was intact, but she had another pair of panties stuffed in her mouth.The cause of death was determined to be strangulation.Forensic examiners found no evidence of sexual assault. Jeffrey Mathis, 11, went missing on March 12.At this point in the situation, the Atlanta Police Department still has not drawn any conclusions from the six cases of missing or murdered black children.The cases were as different as they were similar, and it was not seriously considered by the police that some or all of them might be related.

However, some people thought of it. On April 15, Yusef Bell's mother, Camille, united with other parents of missing or murdered black children and announced the establishment of the "Stop the Murder of Children Committee."They asked the authorities for help and asked to face up to the tragedy that happened around them.This kind of thing should not happen in Atlanta, the cosmopolitan city of the New South.It is a city that never stops, a city that is said to be "too busy to hate," whose citizens are proud to have a black mayor, Maynard Jackson, and a black chief of public safety, Lee Brown .

The horrors didn't stop. On May 19, 14-year-old Eric Middlebrook was found dead about a quarter of a mile from his home.Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. On June 9, 12-year-old Christopher Richardson disappeared. On June 22, a second little girl, 8-year-old Latonia Wilson, was abducted in her bedroom in the early hours of Sunday.Two days later, the body of 10-year-old Aaron Wiech was found under a bridge in DeKalb County from asphyxiation and a broken neck. On July 6, the body of nine-year-old Anthony Tony Carter was found lying face down in the grass behind a warehouse on Wells Street with multiple stab wounds.Given the absence of blood at the scene, the body had apparently been moved from elsewhere.

This pattern of crime can no longer be ignored.As a result, Director of Public Safety Brown established the "Missing and Victims Task Force", whose members eventually reached 50 people.However, the case continues to develop.According to reports, 10-year-old Earl Terrell disappeared on July 31 near Redwine Road, not far from where Milton Harvey's body was found.When 12-year-old Clifford Jones was found strangled in an alley near Hollywood Road, the police finally accepted that the cases were linked and announced that investigations had since then been based on that assumption , that these murders of black children are interconnected.

Up to this point, although the case had developed to the point of appalling, but the case is still an endemic serial crime, so the FBI has no authority to intervene.After the disappearance of Earl Terrell, new circumstances emerged.His parents received calls several times demanding a ransom.The caller said Earle had been taken to Alabama.Now that the case had crossed state lines, federal kidnapping statutes came into play, and the FBI stepped in.However, it soon became clear that the ransom call was a hoax.Earl's chances of surviving were dimmed, and the FBI had to withdraw from the investigation.

Another boy, 11-year-old Daron Glass, was reported missing on September 16.Maynard Jackson asked the White House for assistance, specifically, for the FBI to launch a massive investigation into the murder and disappearance of children in Atlanta.Because of jurisdictional disputes, Attorney General Griffin Bell ordered the FBI to investigate whether federal kidnapping statutes applied to these missing children; the nature of the state.In addition, the Atlanta field station is tasked with ascertaining whether the cases are indeed connected.Although it didn't say it above, the FBI actually received the message: solve the case quickly and find the killer.

The news media is of course extremely concerned about this crazy crime.The growing number of black faces appearing regularly in newspapers has become a revelation of endemic serial crimes.Is this a conspiracy to exterminate the black race, targeting its most vulnerable members?Is this an action by the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party, or some other racist group to take a stand 15 years after the passage of a major civil rights bill?Is this just crazy individuals killing children for some reason?This last seems the least likely.One by one, the children were killed with unbelievable speed.By far the vast majority of serial killers are white, and they almost never commit murder across racial lines.Serial murder is a personal crime, not a political one.

However, this provided another possible reason for the bureau to legally intervene in the case.If the reason for the interstate kidnapping is not established, we can still consider the case to touch the forty-fourth category: federal civil rights law. By the time Roy Hazlewood and I left for Atlanta, there were 16 pending cases.So far, the case that the Investigation Bureau intervened has a code name: "The Yatong Case", also known as "Case No. 30", but the news of the Investigation Bureau's involvement has not been made public.The Atlanta Police didn't want anyone to steal their show, nor did the FBI's Atlanta Field Station want to create expectations they might struggle to meet.

As you can imagine, Roy Hazlewood was the right person to travel with me to Atlanta.Of all the instructors in the Behavioral Sciences department, Roy did the most profiling; he taught a course on interpersonal violence at the Bureau's National Academy and was responsible for solving many of the rape cases that Corey co-authored.Our main goal is to determine whether these cases are connected; if so, whether there is a possibility of collusion. We went through an extensive case file, including crime scene photos, descriptions of what each child was wearing when they were found, eyewitness statements from the area where the crime occurred, autopsy reports and more.We interviewed the families of the child victims to see if there were any commonalities among the victims.The police officers also drove us around the places where the children disappeared, and showed us every place where the corpses were dumped. Without exchanging our impressions with each other, Roy and I simultaneously underwent a psychological test conducted by a forensic psychologist.We assumed that we were the murderer and filled out the questionnaires separately.The test covers motivation, background, and family life, which are exactly the things we would include in the profile.The forensic psychologist was amazed to find that we filled out almost exactly the same.We are not trying to raise awareness by stating these opinions. First, we don't think these are Ku Klux Klan type vendettas.Second, we are almost certain that the murderer was black.Third, while many of these murders and disappearances are linked to each other, not all of them are. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation had received tips that the Ku Klux Klan was involved in these cases, but we were skeptical.If you study vendettas since the early days of the nation, they tend to be highly public, highly symbolic acts.The intent of a lynching is to make a public statement, to create public repercussions.Such crimes, or other racial murders, are the work of terrorist groups and must be highly publicized if they are to be effective.The Ku Klux Klan members don't wear white cloths to hide their identities.If a racist group were targeting black children throughout the Atlanta area, it wouldn't have spent months waiting for the police and the public themselves to find out that something was wrong.We expect dead bodies hanging in the streets of the United States of America, and the message will not be obscured.We have not seen any such behavior in these cases. The bodies were dumped in areas of the city that were mostly or entirely black.It is impossible for a single white person, let alone a group of white people, to roam these areas without being noticed.The police conducted an extensive investigation and received no reports of white people approaching the children or the site where the bodies were dumped.The streets of these districts were occupied day and night, so that, even under the cover of darkness, it was impossible for a white man to be around unnoticed.This also fits with our previous experience that sexual murderers often target people of their own race.Although there wasn't any solid evidence of sexual indecency, the offenses certainly fit the pattern of sexual desire crimes. Many of the victims have a lot in common.They are young, outgoing, like to roam the streets, but inexperienced, they are quite naive and ignorant of the world outside the area where they live.We feel that this is the type of child who is likely to be tempted or deceived.That person must have owned a car, because those children were all taken from the kidnapping site.At the same time we think that the person must have some sort of adult authority.Many of these children live in palpable poverty.In some children's homes we found that there was neither electricity nor running water. For this reason, and the relative ignorance of the children, I don't think it takes a lot of bait to get them hooked.To test this, we had an Atlanta plainclothes police officer go into these areas dressed as a laborer and pay a kid five dollars to do some work with him.Whether black or white police officers were sent to the experiment, the results made no difference.These kids are so desperate to make money that they will do almost anything for five dollars.One doesn't need to be very sophisticated to get them hooked.Another point revealed by this experiment is that whites are conspicuous in these areas. But as I said, while we do find a strong similarity, it doesn't seem to apply to all cases.After a careful assessment of the victims and the circumstances, I am of the opinion that the two girls were not killed by the main killer, or at least not by the same killer.The way Latonia Wilson was kidnapped in her bedroom was so special.As far as boys are concerned, I think most of the "soft killings" - strangulation - are connected, but those cases where the cause of death is unknown are not necessarily all connected.Evidence from other sources leads us to believe that we are not dealing with the same murderer.There is strong evidence that in several cases the perpetrators were family members of the victims.But when FBI Director William Webster announced this publicly, he was slammed by the press.Leaving aside the political sensibilities raised by such statements, as long as a child is off the list of missing and killed, that family is ineligible to receive any money from groups or individuals across the country. Even though we don't think these cases were done by one person, we felt we had to deal specifically with a man in a state of insanity who would keep killing until he was caught.In my profile with Roy, the killer was a black male, single, between the ages of 25 and 29.He's probably a cop fan, drives a cop-style car, and at some point in the police investigation he'll try to get involved.He probably had a police dog, either a German Shepherd or a German Pinscher.He will not have a girlfriend and may be sexually attracted to young boys, although we have not found any signs of rape or other overt sexual abuse.This, I think, speaks to his sexual inefficiency.He might have a knack for deceiving these kids.I daresay it has something to do with music or acting talent.He might have great lines and not be able to deliver them.At the beginning of every relationship, the child may reject him, or at least he will think so, and he will feel compelled to kill the child. The Atlanta Police Department checked all known pedophiles and ex-convicts, eventually narrowing the list of suspects down to about 1,500 people.Police and Bureau of Investigation agents visited the school, talking to the children and asking if anyone had been approached by an adult man without telling their parents or police.They boarded buses, handed out leaflets with pictures of the missing children, and asked if anyone had seen them, especially with grown men.They also sent plainclothes police officers in and out of bars where gays hang out, trying to listen in on other people's conversations to get some clues. Not everyone agrees with us, and not everyone is happy to have our hand in it.In an abandoned apartment complex (a crime scene), a black cop came up to me and said, "Are you Douglas?" "Yes, that's right." "I've seen your profile. It's bullshit." I'm not sure if he's judging my work or emphasizing the newspaper's frequent assertion that there are no black serial killers at all.This statement does not quite correspond to reality.We had cases of black serial killers who killed prostitutes as well as their own family members, but not with much of the method of murdering strangers, nor with any of the usual methods that we see now. "Look, I didn't have to be here," I said, "I didn't ask to be here." Anyway, we had a hard time.Everyone involved in the case wants the case to be solved, but everyone wants to solve it by themselves.Roy and I both knew that we'd run into a lot of resistance here, and get blamed for messing things up, which is often the case. In addition to the claims about the Ku Klux Klan conspiracy, there are also various speculations, each more bizarre than the other.Different child victims were found missing different items of clothing, but none were identical.Could the murderer be using the clothing to adorn his family mannequins, as Ed Gein had tried to collect skin from different parts of women?In the later murder case, the perpetrator abandoned the body in a more public place. Could something change in him?Or may the original perpetrator have committed suicide and another imitator may have taken his place? For me, the first real breakthrough came when I returned to Quantico.Someone called the police department in Conyers, a town about 20 miles from Atlanta.Police think they may finally have a lead.I listened to the tapes in Larry Monroe's office with Dr. Parker Dietz.Before becoming head of the Behavioral Sciences section, Monroe had been an excellent instructor at Quantico.Like Ann Burgess, Parker Dietz was introduced to Corey by Roy Hazlewood for counseling.He was working at Harvard at the time and was beginning to make his mark in law enforcement.Today, Parker is based in California and is perhaps the most eminent forensic psychiatrist in the country and regularly consults with our department. The caller in the recorded call claims he is the perpetrator of the Atlanta child murders and names the most recent known victim.This person is obviously a white man, and his accent is very similar to a typical "red neck man".He threatened to "kill more nigger kids".He also singled out a location on Sigmund Road in Rockdale County, where he said police could find another body. I can still remember a surge of excitement among the people in the room, and I'm afraid I've poured cold water on them. "It's not a murderer," I asserted, "but we've got to get him, because as long as he's at ease the phone calls will be tiresome and distracting." Despite the excitement of the police, I was convinced that I was right about the bumpkin.Not too long ago, I just ran into a similar situation.Bob Ressler and I were in England at the time, teaching a course at the British Police Academy (our equivalent of Quantico) in Brams Hill, an hour's drive from London.The British police were being overwhelmed by the Yorkshire mutilation case.The murderer was apparently copying the Whitechapel killer of the late Victorian era, using clubs and stabs to kill northern women, mostly prostitutes.Eight people had been killed by then.Three others managed to escape, but were unable to provide a description of their attackers.Its age range is estimated to be between thirteen and fourteen to nearly sixty.Like Atlanta, the whole of Britain was in a state of panic.It was the largest manhunt ever undertaken in the UK.The police eventually conducted interviews with nearly 250,000 people across the country. Both the police station and the newspaper received confessions from Jack the Ripper.Then a two-minute tape was sent to Commissioner George Oldfield, in which the man mocked the incompetence of the police and threatened further strikes.Like the Atlanta case, this appears to be a major breakthrough.The tapes were dubbed and played all over the country—on television, on the radio, on toll-free lines, on broadcasts of football games.Police hope someone can identify the voice. We were told that John Dormer was there when we were in Bramshill.He was a well-known policeman and lead investigator of the Yorkshire Mutilation Case.He had been told that two profilers from the FBI were here and that maybe we should get together.After class, Bob and I were sitting in the police academy tavern, and this guy came in and was recognized by someone at the bar.He walked over and started chatting with the man.We could tell by his movements and expressions that he was making fun of these two guys from America.I said to Ressler, "I bet that's him." Sure enough, we were pointed to him, and he and the others came to our table and introduced themselves.I said, "I noticed you didn't have any files with you." He began to make excuses about how complicated the case was, how difficult it was to get us through it in such a short time, and things like that. "Very well," I said, "we've got enough cases on our own. I'd rather sit here and have a good drink." This take-it-or-leave attitude aroused the interest of the British.What does it take for us to profile a case, one of them asks.I told him he could describe the crime scene first.He told me that the perpetrators appeared to place the women in a vulnerable position before attacking them suddenly with a knife or hammer.After they died, he dismembered the bodies.The man on the tape was quite eloquent and sophisticated, not a prostitute killer.So I said, "Based on what you've described of the crime scene and the tapes we've heard in America, this man is not a Ripper. You're wasting your time." I explained that the killer he was looking for would not contact the police.He was supposed to be a surreptitious loner, between twenty-eight and thirty-two, with a morbid hatred of women, a high school dropout, maybe a truck driver, because he seemed Travel frequently.His purpose in killing prostitutes was an attempt to punish all women. Despite all the time and money they spent on the tape, Domar admitted, "You know, I'm worried about that, too." He later changed the direction of the investigation.By chance, 35-year-old truck driver Peter Sutcliffe was captured on Jan. 2, 1981 -- just as panic was raging in Atlanta -- and turned out to be the Ripper.He wasn't the one who recorded and sent that tape at all.The imposter on the tape turned out to be a retired policeman who wanted to take revenge on Chief Oldfield for his rift with him. After listening to the tape, I spoke to Conyers and the Atlanta police about my opinion and proposed a course of action on the spot that I thought would lead to finding the imposter.Like the impostor in the dismemberment case, this guy's tone was haughty and sarcasm. "From the way he sounds and what he says, he thinks you're all fools," I said, "so we might as well take advantage of that." I suggest they simply play dumb.Go to Sigmund Road, but in the wrong direction and pretend to miss.He'll be watching, and with any luck you might catch him on the spot.If not so lucky, at least he will call and say how stupid you are for not looking in the right place.Parker Dietz liked this trick very much, and this practical solution enriched his academic knowledge. The police made the search for the body very public and misdirected, and sure enough, the guy called again and taunted them for how stupid they were.The police had already made preparations to track down the phone, and captured the older "red-necked man" who was making a phone call at home.But just in case, the police searched the correct section of Sigmund Road, and of course found no dead bodies. The Conyers incident was not the only episode to distract investigators.Such episodes often appear in the detection process of major cases, and the Atlanta case was no exception.Not far from the woods where the bodies of the children were first found, detectives found semen on several pages of a pornographic magazine next to the road.The FBI lab managed to obtain a cryptic fingerprint, which allowed the man to be identified.It was a white man who drove a van and killed vermin by profession.Of course, this is psychologically symbolic.For this sociopath, it's one step from killing vermin to killing black children.We've long known that many serial killers return to crime scenes and dump sites.The police therefore speculated that he would park his car on the side of the road, sit in the car and watch his conquered prey, while reliving the thrill of the hunt, while masturbating and masturbating. The progress of this case was reported all the way to the FBI director, the attorney general, and all the way to the White House.They're all eager to announce that we've got the Atlanta child killer.A related press release is being drafted.But there are a couple of things that bother me.First, he is white.Second, he was happily married.I reckon the guy must be there for another reason. The police arraigned him.He flatly denied everything.They showed him the magazine with the cum on it.They told him they had taken his fingerprints from it.Well, he admitted, I was driving and threw the magazine out of the car.This explanation is also untenable.He was driving with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on himself.Could he throw the thing out of the car at a time like this, and let it fall in the woods?He had to have arms like Johnny Unitas. Realizing that he was in serious trouble, he finally spoke the truth.His wife was pregnant and could give birth at any moment, and he hadn't had sex for months.He didn't want to do anything to offend the child who was about to be born and the woman he loved.So he went to the convenience store to buy this magazine, and used the lunch break to vent in this secluded woods. I really sympathize with this guy.His privacy violated!He originally thought of a place where he would not be disturbed by others, to solve his own problems, but now, even the President of the United States knew that he was masturbating in the woods! After the police caught the impostor in the Conyers case, I thought that was the end of the matter.At least we removed that racist guy's stumbling block, and the police can focus on their investigations again.However, one factor that I have not properly considered is the motivating role played by the news media.I did not make this kind of negligent mistake again in my subsequent case handling. I have long recognized that, at a certain stage, the murder of a child is widely reported in the media, which in itself is gratifying to the murderer.But I didn't expect that he would respond to the media reports in a targeted manner. As it happened, the press, desperate for a breakthrough in the case, gave intensive coverage of the police search of Sigmund Road, which turned out to be fruitless.But shortly thereafter, another body turned up on Sigmund Road in Rockdale County, within easy reach.The deceased was 15-year-old Terry Pugh. In my opinion, this is a very important new development, an opportunity to develop a strategy to catch the murderer.This incident shows that he is closely following the media reports and reacting according to the content of the reports.He knew very well that the police would not find the body in Sigmund Road because he had not abandoned it there.But now, he wants to show his superiority, to show that he can play the press and the police in the palm of his hand.He wants to show his arrogance and contempt.He could dump the corpses on the Sigmund Road if he wanted to!He broke the original modus operandi and drove twenty or thirty miles to play the game.We know he's watching what's going on, so let's use that to manipulate his behavior. If I had calculated this point beforehand or considered this possibility, I would have thought of sending people to monitor the entire Sigmund Road.But it was too late to do that now.We have to look ahead and think about possible responses. I figured out a few ways.Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. are coming to Atlanta to hold a benefit concert at the Omni Stadium to raise money for the families of the victims.The incident was widely reported, and I'm absolutely sure the killer was there too.The question is: how to find the murderer among more than 20,000 people? Roy Hazlewood and I had profiled the man as a cop fan.This may be the key to the problem. "We might as well give him a free pass," I suggested. As usual, the police and the Atlanta Field Station agents stared at me like I was crazy.So I explained.We can advertise that due to the expected high attendance at the concert, additional security personnel will be required.We'll be offering the minimum legal wage and require every applicant to bring their own vehicle (because we know the guy we're after has one).Applicants with some law enforcement background and experience will be given preference.We can place interviews at the Omni Stadium, under surveillance with hidden CCTV.We can exclude those types we are not interested in—women, old people, etc.—and focus on young black men.Everyone fills out an application form listing relevant past experiences such as driving an ambulance, applying for a job as a police officer or security guard, and any information that would help us identify a suspect.We might be able to narrow it down to 10 or 12 people and then compare it with other evidence. The idea went all the way up to the assistant attorney general.The problem is that whenever you try to use a large institution to do something unconventional, "analysis paralysis" can happen.By the time my strategy was finally approved, it was the day before the concert, and by this time it was too late to recruit "security guards". I make a living.I'm looking for someone to make some wooden crosses about a foot high.Some will be given to the families of the victims, while others will stand at the crime scene.A large cross could also be erected in a church in memory of all the children killed.Once this became public in the media, I knew that some of these locations, especially remote ones, might be patronized by the killer.It's possible he even managed to take a cross.There's a good chance we'll catch him if we send someone to watch key locations. But it took several weeks for the bureau to agree to the plan.A remit ensued over who should make the cross: whether it should be done by the FBI's exhibit division in Washington, or by Quantico's wood shop, or should it be contracted out by the Atlanta Field Workstation go out?The cross was finally made, but when it was ready to be used, there was a new development in the case.By February, Atlanta was nearly out of control.The wizards flocked to each other, each writing their own "profile".Their accounts were varied and contradictory.The press did not let go of any piece of news. Anyone with a slight connection with the case would be quoted as long as he opened his mouth.Following the discovery of Terry Pugh's body on Sigmund Road, another body has been found near Buford Road in DeKalb County, that of 12-year-old Patrick Baltadzer.Like Terry Pugh, he was strangled.At the time, someone at the medical examiner's office announced that the hairs and fibers found on Patrick Baltazar matched those found on five previous victims.These five individuals are among the victims I classify as victims of the same murderer.The release of the autopsy results was widely reported. At this moment a thought flashed through my mind: he was going to start throwing the bodies into the river.He now knows police are looking for hair and fibers.One body, that of Patrick Rogers, was found in December on the Cobb County side of the Chattahoochee River after blunt trauma to the head.Patrick is 15 years old, 5-foot-9, 145 pounds, a high school dropout with a criminal record.Police do not believe the case is linked to other cases.However, whether there is a connection or not, I think the murderer will appear by the river now, because the river can wash away the small evidence. I pointed out that we had to start monitoring the rivers, especially the Chattahoochee, the main waterway that forms the northwest boundary between the city of Atlanta and adjoining Cobb County.But it ran through several counties, involved several police precincts, and the FBI was helping with the case.No one department has the power to control the whole situation.By the time a surveillance operation involving members of the Bureau of Investigation and the Homicide Task Force was organized and approved, it was well into April. But in the meantime, as I expected, the next dead body appeared in the South River. The deceased was 13-year-old Curtis Walker.Then within a day, two bodies were found in the Chattahoochee River: Timmy Hill, 13, and Eddie Duncan, 21, the oldest victim to date.Unlike previous victims, most of whom were found fully clothed, the three bodies had been stripped down to their underwear - another method of removing hair and fibers. Surveillance teams were in place, closely monitoring bridges and possible dump sites along both sides of the river.Weeks passed and nothing happened.It is clear that the authorities are losing confidence and seem to think it is futile to do so.Since the surveillance operation found nothing, the operation was scheduled to end at 6:00 am on May 22. At about two-thirty that morning, a freshman named Bob Campbell was on his last watch along the Chattahoochee River under the Jackson Road Bridge.He saw a car drive up the bridge and stop for a moment in the middle of the bridge. "I just heard a loud plop!" he reported nervously over the walkie-talkie.He shone his flashlight on the water and saw circles of ripples.那辆车调了个头，又驶过大桥，这时一辆监视车尾随上去，然后迫使它停在路边。这是一辆1970年产雪佛兰牌旅行车，驾车人是一名黑人男子，名叫韦恩·伯特伦·威廉斯，23岁，身材矮小、头发鬈曲、肤色浅黑。他态度友好，也很合作。他自称是唱片推销商，说和父母住在一起。警察询问了他一些问题，查看了他的汽车，然后就放他走了。但是他们并没有放弃对他的跟踪。 两天后，27岁的纳撒尼尔·凯特的裸尸在下游浮出了水面，地点离21岁的吉米·雷·佩恩的尸体一个月前被发现的地点不远。由于证据不足，无法拘捕威廉斯并取得搜查令，但是他被置于严密监视之下。 他不久就觉察到警察在跟踪他，于是故意带着他们在城里到处乱转。他甚至还把车子开到安全局长李·布朗的家门口，猛按了一阵喇叭。他家里有个暗室，在取得搜查令之前，监视人员观察到他在后院烧过照片。他还仔细清洗过车子。 韦恩·威廉斯在每个关键方面都符合我们的侧写，包括他拥有一条德国牧羊犬。他是个警察迷，几年前曾因冒充执法人员而被逮捕过。那以后，他曾驾驶一辆转让的淘汰警车，并使用警用扫描设备到犯罪现场拍摄照片。据几位目击者回忆，当警方根据匿名电话搜寻实际不存在的尸体时，曾在西格蒙路上看见过他。他一直在那里拍照，并把照片提供给了警方。我们还发现，他确实出席了在奥姆尼体育场举行的慈善音乐会。 联邦调查局没有逮捕他，而是叫他到外勤站来一趟。他来到后显得很合作，也没有要求见律师。从我收到的报告来看，我认为那次审讯策划得不当或者组织得不当。审问方法过于笨拙，问题提得太直截了当。我认为，当时还是可以让他供认的。有人告诉我，面谈之后他在外勤站周围闲荡了一会，看样子仍然想谈论警察和调查局方面的话题。但是，当他那天离开后，我知道他们再也不可能让他低头认罪了。他同意接受测谎器测试，但测试结果没有说服力。后来，当警察和调查局特工拿到了搜查令，对他与身为退休教师的父母一起居住的房子进行搜查时，他们发现了一些教人如何对付测谎器的书籍。 搜查令是6月3日得到的。尽管威廉斯仔细清洗过车子，警方还是找到了一些毛发和纤维，把他与大约12起谋杀案联系在一起，而我侧写出的同一凶手的作案数量正是这么多。 警方找到了非常有利的证据。他们不仅找到了能够将尸体与威廉斯的卧室、住房和汽车联系在一起的纤维，佐治亚州犯罪化验室的拉里·彼得森还发现，有些纤维来自某些被害人在失踪前的一些场合穿过的衣服。换句话说，在有些谋杀案发生之前，被害人就已经与威廉斯有过来往。 6月21日，韦恩·威廉斯因被指控谋杀纳撒尼尔·凯特而被捕。对其他谋杀案的调查仍在进行之中。逮捕的消息发布时，我和鲍勃·雷斯勒正在离弗吉尼亚州纽波特纽斯市不远的汉普顿酒店，向正在出席南方诸州劳教协会会议的代表演讲。当时，我刚从英国协办约克郡碎尸案回来，演讲的话题是关于我在系列谋杀案方面的研究工作。早在3月份，《人物》杂志曾刊登了一篇关于我和雷斯勒的报道，其中提到我们正在追捕亚特兰大案的凶手。总部曾指示我们要配合此次采访，所以我提供了一个侧写，我特别指出凶手是黑人。这篇文章引起了全国上下的广泛注意。因此，当我面对五百多名听众接受提问时，有人问及我对威廉斯被捕有何看法。 我讲述了该案的一些背景情况以及我们在其中所做的工作，并且解释了我们是如何得出侧写的。我说他符合我们的侧写，又谨慎地补充说，如果他果真是凶手，我认为他“看起来很可能对这些谋杀案的相当一部分负有责任”。 我不知道提问者是一名记者，不过即使我知道，我也肯定会做出同样的回答。第二天，《纽波特纽斯一汉普顿每日新闻报》引用我的话说“他看起来很可能对这些谋杀案的相当一部分负有责任”，却省略了我讲这句话之前所做的至关重要的限定性说明。 这篇报道在新闻界引起了轰动。第二天，全国各地所有电台电视的新闻节目和各大报纸都引用了我的这句话，连《亚特兰大宪法报》也刊登了一篇报道，题为《联邦调查局人士说：威廉斯可能杀害多人》。 我开始接到各地打来的电话。旅馆大厅和我房间外面的走廊里都有电视摄像机。我和雷斯勒只好顺着防火梯爬下去才得以溜出旅馆。 这篇报道在总部更是引起了轩然大波。它给人的印象似乎是，一个密切参与办案工作的联邦调查局特工在未经审判的情况下就宣布韦恩·威廉斯有罪。在驱车返回匡蒂科的途中，我通过移动电话向我们科长拉里·门罗解释了事实的真相。他和吉姆·麦肯齐副局长都设法替我解围，并为此与调查局的专业责任处发生了冲突。 我还记得当时我正坐在匡蒂科的图书馆楼上，我以往经常到这里在宁静平和的氛围中从事侧写工作。这里还有一个好处，可以透过窗户看到外面的景色，不像我们的地下办公室。门罗和麦肯齐上来找我谈话。他俩一向都大力支持我。我是惟一的专职侧写人员，因四处奔波感到精疲力竭，而亚特兰大一案更是给了我巨大的心理压力。我付出了这一切，得到的回报竟然是因为媒体断章取义的一句话而可能受到处罚。 我们在此案中运用侧写和刑事调查分析法取得了重大胜利。我们对作案者及其下一步行动所做的评估是非常精确的。上至白宫下至国人，人人都在关注着我们。我承担了很大的风险，如果因预测错误把事情搞砸，我们的项目也就完蛋了。 我们总是被告知，这项工作是高风险高回报。我眼里噙着泪水告诉门罗和麦肯齐，我认为这项工作是“高风险，没有他妈的回报”。我说，这一切根本就不值得，并把我的文件夹猛摔到桌子上。吉姆·麦肯齐说，我的话也许有道理，不过他们是真心想帮我的。 当我去了总部，出现在专业责任处时，要做的第一件事就是在弃权声明书上签字。维护正义在局外和局内是两码事。他们做的第一件事就是把《人物》杂志往桌子上一扔。封面人物是杰基·奥纳西斯。 “没有人警告你不要这样接受采访吗？” 没有，我说，那次采访是经过批准的。在那次会议上，我演讲的是我们对系列杀人犯研究的概况，没想到有人会提出韦恩·威廉斯一案。我做出回答时，措辞非常谨慎。记者要那样去报道，我是无能为力的。 他们把我折腾了四个小时。我不得不写下一份声明，一项一项地列出报纸的报道和实际发生的情况。等我写完了，他们却什么也不告诉我，我对会受到什么处分更是一无所知。我的感觉是：我为局里奉献了那么多，却得不到应有的支持；我牺牲了那么多东西，与家人离多聚少，而如今面临的前景却是：受到处分，一段时间不拿薪水却要“上街办案”，甚至完全丢掉饭碗。在随后的几个星期里，我每天早晨简直不想起床。 就在这时，我父亲杰克给我写来一封信。他在信中谈到了他被“布鲁克林鹰队”解聘后的那一段日子。他也是感到很沮丧。他工作一直很努力，很出色，但是也感到无法控制自己的生活。他讲述了自己是如何学会面对生活中的挫折，重新振作精神去迎接另一天的挑战的。我把这封信放在公文包里，随身携带了很长一段时间，直到这次风波过去了很久。 五个月后，专业责任处做出了处分我的决定，认定我在《人物》杂志的文章刊出后已经接到了警告，不得对新闻界谈论悬而未决的案件调查工作。处分书是由韦伯斯特局长本人签发的。 尽管我无比恼火，却无暇为此耿耿于怀，除非准备辞职不千。不管当时我对这个机构有什么感想，这项工作本身对我来说实在太重要了。我的手头仍有不少美国各地作案者正在活动的案子要办理，而且韦恩·威廉斯一案的审理工作即将开始。是我继续战斗的时候了。 在花了六天时间挑选陪审团成员之后，韦恩·威廉斯一案于1982年1月开庭审理。最后选定的陪审团成员为九女三男，以黑人为主。虽然我们认为威廉斯很可能是至少十二起儿童谋杀案的凶手，他受到审判的只有其中两起谋杀案，即纳撒尼尔·凯特和吉米·雷·佩恩被害案。具有讽刺意味的是，这两个年轻男子都已年过二十。 出庭为威廉斯辩护的是来自密西西比州杰克逊市的一个很有威望的法律辩护小组——由吉姆·基钦斯和阿尔·宾德组成——以及一位来自亚特兰大的女律师玛丽·韦尔科姆。原告方的几位主要成员是富尔顿县的地方检察官助理戈登·米勒和杰克·马拉德。鉴于我在此案调查阶段所做的工作，地方检察官办公室请我前往，在审理过程中给他们提供建议。在庭审的大部分时间里，我都坐在原告席的正后方。 假如此案拿到今天来审理，我就能够提供惯用手法、识别标志和案件关联性等方面的证据，如我在许多其他案件中所做的那样。而且如果被判有罪，在服刑阶段我还可以就被告将来具有的危险性提供专业意见。但是在1982年，我们的工作尚未得到法庭的认可，所以我只能在策略方面提供建议。 原告方的理由陈述主要依靠的是约七百件毛发和纤维证据，这些证据业已经过了拉里·彼得森和特工哈尔·戴德曼的仔细分析，后者是来自华盛顿联邦调查局化验室的专家。尽管威廉斯仅被指控犯有两项谋杀罪，佐治亚州的刑事诉讼程序允许该州提出其他有关联的案件，这一点在密西西比州是不被允许的，也是被告方似乎没有准备的。原告方面临的难题是：威廉斯态度温和，有自制力，能言善辩，且待人友好。他戴着一副厚眼镜，眉清目秀，两手长得细皮嫩肉，看上去不像一个杀害儿童的系列犯，倒像皮尔斯伯里的油炸面团。他向新闻界大放厥辞，宣称自己是无罪的，他的被捕纯粹是种族主义分子的阴谋。就在开庭审理前不久，他在接受一次采访时说：“我看联邦调查局比基斯通笑剧中的警察强不到那里，亚特兰大的警察与《54号车，你在哪里？》中的角色也差不多。” 原告方没有人对威廉斯走上证人席作证抱有任何希望，但我倒认为他有这种可能。从他作案过程中的行为以及上述一类公开声明来看，我认为他傲慢自大，十分自信，自以为可以操纵审判，就像他曾经操纵过公众、新闻界和警察一样。 在克拉伦斯·库珀法官的办公室举行的一次非公开会议上，阿尔·宾德说，他们准备聘请一位来自凤凰城的名叫迈克尔·布拉德·贝利斯的著名司法心理学家出庭，证明威廉斯并不符合罪犯侧写，不可能作下那些谋杀案。贝利斯博士曾对威廉斯做过三次单独的访谈测试。 “好吧，”戈登·米勒答道，“你们请他来作证，我们就请一位联邦调查局特工作为反证人，本案迄今发生的一切统统被他预测到了。” “呸！我们倒想会会他。”宾德说。米勒告诉他，在庭审的大部分时问里，我都会坐在原告席后面。 我确实与双方见了面，地点是陪审团议事室。我向被告方说明了我的背景，告诉他们说，如果他们对我是一名联邦调查局特工而不是一名医生感觉有什么问题，我可以请一位与我们一起工作的精神病专家，比如帕克·迪茨，来分析这个案子，而我确信他会说出完全同样的的证词。 宾德及其同事对我所讲的内容似乎很感兴趣。他们显得很客气，表现出了尊重，宾德甚至对我说，他的儿子很想做一名联邦调查局特工。 结果，贝利斯根本没有出庭。审判结束了一个星期后，他告诉《亚特兰大日报》和《亚特兰大宪法报》的记者说，从情绪上看他相信威廉斯有犯谋杀罪的可能性，并且威廉斯具有“欠缺性个性”。以他之见，那些谋杀案的动机是“权力和强迫性控制欲”。他认为，威廉斯“想要我做的是两件事中的一件，即修改我的证词报告，隐瞒某些事情，或者不予作证。”他断言，被告方面临的一个关键问题是威廉斯执意要自己控制一切。 我发觉这一切极为有趣，在很大程度上是因为它与我和罗伊·黑兹尔伍德提出的侧写非常吻合。在本案的审理过程中，我还发现一件同样有趣的事情。 和大多数外地来的参与者一样，我住在市中心的马里奥特饭店，距离法院不远。一天晚上，我独自一人在餐厅用餐，突然一位看上去气度不凡的四十四五岁的黑人男子走到我的桌前，自我介绍说他就是布拉德·贝利斯博士。我告诉他，我知道他是谁以及为何而来。他问我是否可以坐下。 我告诉他，如果他准备明天替被告方作证，那么被人看见我们俩待在一起不大合适。贝利斯却说他并不在乎。他坐了下来，然后问我对他本人及背景了解多少，结果是我了解的着实不少。我就犯罪心理学为他简单地补了一下课，并且说如果他按照被告的要求进行作证，就会使自己处于尴尬的境地。他离开餐桌时，握着我的手说，他真想去匡蒂科听听我们的课。我眨了眨眼说，那要看你明天在证人席上的表现。 第二天到了法庭上，你瞧呀，我发现贝利斯博士没有来作证就返回亚利桑那了。在法官席上，宾德正向法官抱怨“原告方的阵容强大”，说什么他们把他的专家证人都吓跑了。如果事情果真是这样的话，这也不是我的本意。不过，既然好运掉到了我的头上，我当然也不会拒不接受。不过，我认为事情的真相是：贝利斯博士非常正直，不愿意睁着眼睛说瞎话，或者不愿意被任何一方为达到其目的而利用。 在原告方进行理由陈述的过程中，哈尔·戴德曼和拉里·彼得森很出色地利用了毛发和纤维这些证据，但是论述这些证据是极其复杂的事情，就其实质而言，也不那么富有戏剧性；统统是有关这根地毯纤维怎么会朝这边弯曲，那根地毯纤维怎么会朝那边弯曲这类的名堂。最终他们证明了，从所有12位受害者身上提取的纤维与威廉斯的紫绿色床罩的纤维一致，大多数受害者身上的纤维与威廉斯卧室的地毯的纤维一致，大约半数受害者身上的纤维与起居室的地毯的纤维一致，同样多受害者身上的纤维与他的1970年产雪佛兰车的纤维一致，而且除了一人之外，所有受害者身上都有被告的德国牧羊犬的毛发。 轮到被告方辩护时，他们让一位来自堪萨斯州的家伙出庭反驳戴德曼的证词。此人长得英俊迷人，颇像肯尼迪，对陪审团笑容可掬。休庭以后，原告方在总结当天的情况时，大家都嘲笑起那个堪萨斯州的英俊家伙，说他的反驳毫无说服力。 他们问我：“你怎么看，约翰？” 我当时一直在注视着陪审团。我说：“说句不中听的话，你们这些家伙会输掉这个案子。”他们都感到震惊，这可是他们最不愿听到的话。 “你们可以认为他的反驳没有说服力，”我解释道，“但陪审员们却相信他。”我知道哈尔·戴德曼证词的大意，但仍然觉得理解起来有困难。被告方证人的证词也许过于简单化，但是听起来却容易理解得多。 他们没有说我在胡说八道，这已算是够客气的了。不过，身为头脑敏锐的侧写师，我意识到我在这里已是多余的了。我有一大堆积压的案子要处理，正在为玛丽·弗朗西斯·斯托纳被害一案的开庭审理做准备。我一直在外奔波，我也为此付出了代价。由于陪家人的时间太少，我的婚姻出现了问题；我达不到我认为必须的运动量；我始终处于压力之下。于是，我打电话给匡蒂科的拉里·门罗，告诉他我打算回家。 我刚刚抵达国民机场，正要开车回家时，接到了一个消息，原告方经过三思，想法有所改变。他们开始认为我的话有道理。他们想让我回到亚特兰大，帮助他们对付被告方的证人。 因此，两天后我又飞了回去。这时，他们心胸开阔多了，主动征求我的意见。让他们所有人大吃一惊的是，不出我所料，韦恩·威廉斯决定走上证人席作证。对他进行讯问的是他的辩护律师阿尔·宾德，他嗓门洪亮浑厚。他提问时弓着背，看起来就像一条鲨鱼，这便是他大鲨鱼的诨名的由来。 他向陪审团反复强调这一点。“看看他吧！他像系列杀人犯吗？看看他吧！站起来，韦恩，”他说着，叫他伸出双手，“看看他的手是多么细嫩。你们认为这样一双手会有力气杀人吗，会把人掐死吗？” 宾德是在一天庭审时间过半时让威廉斯上的证人席，第二天又让他一整天站在那里。威廉斯的表演相当出色，他一定是对这个表演早有把握。他使人深信不疑，他是一个陷入窘境、具有种族偏见的制度的无辜牺牲品，而警方需要尽快找到一个嫌疑人，于是就找到了他。 如此一来，原告方面临的下一问题便是：我们该如何对他进行盘诘？地方检察官助理杰克·马拉德负责盘诘。他思维机敏，善于应对。他的声音低沉缓慢，带有甜美悦耳的南方口音。 我在法庭程序或讯问证人方面没有经过任何正规的训练，但对于应该如何去进行倒有一种直觉。实际上，一切都可依据“设身处地”的原则去行事。我问自己，什么会使我心烦意乱呢？我得出的答案是，讯问我的人确实知道我是有罪的，我怎样狡辩都没有作用。 我对马拉德说：“还记得以前放过的那个电视节目《这就是你的生活》吗？”你得如法炮制。你得尽可能长时间地让他站在证人席上，你得拖垮他。因为他具有过分克制的、刻板的个性，是个强迫性神经官能症患者。要想制服他的刻板个性，你非得不断给他施压，使他始终神经紧张不可。其方法就是谈论他生活的每一个方面，甚至似乎毫无意义的事情也不放过，像他在什么地方上过学之类。就这样一直讲下去。然后，当你弄得他疲惫不堪时，你必须像阿尔·宾德那样去触碰他的身体。对被告方有利的事情对原告方同样会有利。逼近他，侵人他的空间，使他猝不及防。趁被告方还来不及提出反对，你低声问他：“韦恩，你杀害那些孩子时，感到过恐惧吗？” 当盘诘时间来临时，马拉德正是这样做的。在开头几个小时里，他无法使威廉斯失去自制。他抓住了一些明显的前后矛盾之处，可威廉斯依然镇定自若，只是说：“怎么可能会是我威廉斯呢？” 身穿灰色西装、头发灰白的马拉德条理分明地谈论起他的人生经历，然后在恰当的时候，走近威廉斯，把一只手搭在他的胳膊上，用清晰低沉的佐治亚州南部人的拉长的调子慢吞吞地问道：“那是一种什么感觉，韦恩？你用手掐住受害者的脖子时是什么样的感觉？你感到恐惧吗？你感到恐惧吗？” 威廉斯声音微弱地答道：“没有。” 他随即意识到了自己的失误，于是大发雷霆。他用手指着我大叫起来：“你想方设法要使我符合联邦调查局的那个侧写，我是不会让你们得逞的！” 被告方方寸大乱。威廉斯更是发疯似地痛骂什么“联邦调查局的傻瓜”，原告方是一帮“蠢货”。然而，这正是审判的转折点。这是陪审团成员后来亲口说的。他们当时目瞪口呆。他们头一次看到了韦恩·威廉斯的另一面。他们亲眼看到了他身上的那种质变。他们能够想象出他所能做出的暴力行为。马拉德朝我眨了眨眼，然后继续对证人席上的威廉斯发起攻击。 他在法庭上如此勃然大怒之后，我知道他心里已经明白，他的惟一机会就是重新赢得同情。我拍了拍马拉德的肩膀，说：“你瞧着好了，杰克。韦恩准会在一个星期后得病。”我不知道为什么选中了一个星期，然而正好过了一个星期，庭审被中途打断，威廉斯因胃痛被急忙送往医院。医生没有发现他有什么毛病，就让他出院了。 在向陪审团进行陈述时，威廉斯的辩护律师玛丽·韦尔科姆拿起一枚顶针问他们：“你们打算仅凭顶针般的丁点儿证据就定这个人有罪吗？”她又拿起一块取自她办公室的绿地毯，说它是多么的普通。你们怎么能因为一个人有绿地毯就判他有罪呢？ 于是有一天，我就和其他几位特工去了她的律师事务所。我们到达以后，趁她不在时走进她的办公室，拽下一些地毯纤维。我们把这些纤维带回去，请专家放在显微镜底下进行了分析，然后把这些证据交给了原告方。这些证据证明了她的地毯纤维与威廉斯家的地毯纤维是完全不同的。 1982年2月27日，经过11个小时的审议，陪审团做出了两起谋杀案都有罪的裁定。韦恩·威廉斯被判处连服两次无期徒刑。他目前正在佐治亚州南部的瓦尔多斯塔劳改所服刑。他仍然坚持自己无罪，而围绕他的争论从来就没有势头减弱或平息过。如果有一天他设法赢得了一次重审，我确信审判的结果将会是同样的。 不管他的支持者们坚持什么观点，我相信法医学上和行为学上的证据都确凿地证明，韦恩·威廉斯就是杀害亚特兰大市11位男童的凶手。不管他的诋毁者和指控者们坚持什么观点，我相信没有任何确凿的证据能够把他和那座城市1979年至1981年间被谋杀的和失踪的所有或者甚至大部分儿童联系在一起。不管人们怎么认为，亚特兰大和其他城市依然有黑人和白人儿童在神秘地死去。我们对其中某些案子的凶手已略知一二。这些案子不是一个人所为，而事实真相也不怎么令人愉快。然而迄今为止，要想提起公诉既没有足够的证据，也缺乏民意的支持。 由于在韦恩·威廉斯一案中所做出的工作，我收到了不少表扬感谢信，其中包括富尔顿县地方检察官办公室的来函，感谢我提出了卓有成效的盘诘策略；还有亚特兰大外勤站主管特工约翰·格洛弗的来信，对整个亚童案的调查工作做出了归纳总结。最让我感动的一封信件来自首席被告辩护律师阿尔·宾德。他在信中说，我们在这件案子中所做的工作给他留下了深刻的印象。 这些信件和那份处分书差不多是同时收到的。吉姆·麦肯齐深感不安，已经为我申报了立功受奖，表彰我在威廉斯一案和其他五件案子中所做出的贡献。 嘉奖令于5月份批了下来。这样一来，我为了同一起案子既收到了局长签署的一张处分令，也收到了他签署的一纸嘉奖令。嘉奖令上写着：“由于你的才华、尽职精神和专业修养，你的确提高了本局在全国上下的声誉，你可以相信你的宝贵贡献受到了本局的真诚感激。”随嘉奖令一起收到的还有一笔250美元的“可观”奖金。我算了一下，我的工作大约相当于每小时5美分。我马上将这笔钱捐给了海军救济基金，以帮助那些为国捐躯的男女将士的家属。 假如我们今天再碰到亚特兰大儿童谋杀案这样的案子，我认为我们会在短得多的时间内将凶手缉拿归案，不会让死亡与痛苦的历程拖得这么久。我们会更有效地协调我们的行动。我们现在的前摄技巧更为成熟，且根据的是更为贴近现实世界的经历。我们会知道如何布置讯问场面以收取最大效果。我们会为取得搜查令制订更周密的计划，及早拿到关键罪证，以免被作案者销毁。 然而，不管我们犯过什么错误，亚童案无疑是我们科的一个决定性转折点。我们声名鹊起，我们证明了自己工作的价值，还取得了全世界执法界的信任，继续协助执法界人士将又一个凶手绳之以法。 真可谓高风险，高回报。

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