Several days ago, I received a letter from a young man by the name of Jake*....
He was boasting to me about his big collection of serial killer cards and his fascination with such individuals. Jake said that he reads a lot of books and loves to watch movies about serial killers, and that he has amassed many facts about them from the Internet. My heart was heavy as I read his letter. He's obviously deluded by the media's portrayals of those who commit these kinds of crimes.
I seldom get letters like Jake's. But on occasion people like him will write to ask questions or to express their fascination with this subject. Usually I never reply. With this man, though, I did.
I tried to explain to Jake that hurting another person is a horrible thing. It's not exciting or fun. Rather, it is sick and evil. It's a nightmare with lots of grief and pain, I said to him, not only for the families of the victims, but for the ones doing the harm.
Jake needed to know, too, that I have a tremendous amount of sorrow for what I did at a time when my own life was out of control. That I had no right to take people's lives, and how I would do anything if I could undo it.
To me, this man appears to be living in a Hollywood-type fantasy world in which killing someone is portrayed as being of no big deal, and that it's cool. I believe that when someone watches certain crime shows on television or in the movies, it is easy to get a false impression. So I tried to bust through Jake's immature and absurd ideas by telling him that inmates basically lead broken and defeated lives. We struggle to survive, and we must endure the day-to-day monotony of prison life.
I explained to Jake that being locked up is hard. That I myself have nearly twenty-eight years of confinement, and I have to live in a cage like an animal. He needed to be told to look beyond his fascination with mass murderers and face reality.
I was firm with Jake, but I was kind. I hope I was able to help him to see that his present views are foolish.
D.B.
*Jake is not his real name.
I seldom get letters like Jake's. But on occasion people like him will write to ask questions or to express their fascination with this subject. Usually I never reply. With this man, though, I did.
I tried to explain to Jake that hurting another person is a horrible thing. It's not exciting or fun. Rather, it is sick and evil. It's a nightmare with lots of grief and pain, I said to him, not only for the families of the victims, but for the ones doing the harm.
Jake needed to know, too, that I have a tremendous amount of sorrow for what I did at a time when my own life was out of control. That I had no right to take people's lives, and how I would do anything if I could undo it.
To me, this man appears to be living in a Hollywood-type fantasy world in which killing someone is portrayed as being of no big deal, and that it's cool. I believe that when someone watches certain crime shows on television or in the movies, it is easy to get a false impression. So I tried to bust through Jake's immature and absurd ideas by telling him that inmates basically lead broken and defeated lives. We struggle to survive, and we must endure the day-to-day monotony of prison life.
I explained to Jake that being locked up is hard. That I myself have nearly twenty-eight years of confinement, and I have to live in a cage like an animal. He needed to be told to look beyond his fascination with mass murderers and face reality.
I was firm with Jake, but I was kind. I hope I was able to help him to see that his present views are foolish.
D.B.
*Jake is not his real name.
