Mass Killers: Inside the Minds of Men Who Murder

by David J. Krajicek, Bruce Porter (Foreword)

This important, riveting book explores the troubled minds of mass killers through their own words. Author David J. Krajicek examines the leavings of some 50 killers from the United States and Europe, both contemporary and historical. Some are humble, some grandiose--from brief, introspective suicide notes to long whines by sex-deprived men. A few are poignant and thoughtful, and others reek of narcissism, like the ultimate selfie. They range in length from an eerie, five-word message left by a Michigan school bomber nearly a century ago--"Criminals are made, not born"--to the Mein Kampf -sized manifesto of Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, whose dissertation goose-steps along for nearly a million words.
And that may be close to the truth. "The phenomenon is feeding on itself," warns an American psychologist who studies school shootings.
 

Genres: True Crime

304 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2019

About the author

First things first: The name is pronounced CRY-check.

I'm a writer, mostly about crime and murder, although most recently I have published two family-related historical memoirs, "Dear Mama" and "Coming Home to South Omaha." Before retiring recently from the music business, I spent 30 years singing and playing trombone in a band based in the mountains of upstate New York--old-school R&B, like Motown and Stax. Nowadays, most of my spare time is consumed by tennis.

I come from South Omaha, Nebraska, although I now split time between New York and the Gulf Coast.

I studied at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Columbia University. I spent much of my early professional life as a newspaper crime reporter in the Midwest and New York City. I taught journalism at Columbia during most of the 1990s before being compelled to return full-time to my primary muse: writing. I'm back to writing about crime, though in longer form.

For 20 years, from 1999 until 2019, I wrote The Justice Story for the Sunday New York Daily News. It's the longest-running true crime feature in American journalism, published in the News since 1923. Before retiring, each of my 500 columns looked back at an interesting historical crime case--the sorts of stories you will know hear recounted on the countless true crime podcasts.

I have written stories about crime and criminal justice for many media venues, including The Crime Report, Alternet, The New York Times, Columbia and Boston magazines, Slate, The Village Voice, The Manchester (U.K.) Guardian and Mother Jones.

I've had a long side career as a crime expert on TV, appearing more than 25 times on episodes of true crime shows. I've also talked about crime cases on "The Today Show" and was proud to be a part of "The Poisoner's Handbook" on PBS's American Experience.

My books include the family memoirs "Dear Mama" and "Coming Home to South Omaha," both published by News Ink Books; "Charles Manson" and "Mass Killers," by Arcturus/Sirius Books of London, England; "Massachusetts Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival (Second Edition)"; "Death by Rock 'n' Roll," a Kindle ebook from Crimescape/​Rosetta Books; "True Crime: Missouri," a longtime regional bestseller published by Stackpole Books; "Murder, American Style" by News Ink Books, and "Scooped!", published by Columbia University Press.

I've dabbled in fiction, as well. My first published fiction, a short story called "Sutphin Blvd.," was included in an anthology by Midnight Mind Press in New York. Another of my short stories, "Bluefish," was performed at Literally Speaking, an Albany, N.Y., program similar to NPR's "Selected Shorts."

Thanks for your interest in my work. Without readers, there would be no writers.

Reviews

[Carrie Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this for the information on Eric Harris, but I already knew 98% of the information. Felt kind of scattered and disjointed but had some good information.

[Hayley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very sad but it was written in a more factual almost essay kind of way instead of as a fictional novel. This one is all about mass killers (like the title states) and it talked all about
the facts behind them. Statistics that most of these killers follow what happened to some of them before and after their infamous killings. What I did like about this book was the way that is was presented. There were no chapters like most novels have instead this book was written and had subcategories each with small entries to give the reader lots of information but not enough to overpower the facts. It was a very different read than the kind that I am used to however I really enjoyed learning more about the facts on why some people do these terrible things as well as some of the characteristics that these people tend to share. I found it interesting to get back stories behind some of the most famous mass killers and why they did what they did as well as what the ripple effect of their actions was and what they caused or who else also followed in their terrifying footsteps. Very sad read however I feel that it was very well done and it should be read by lost of people, maybe we can one day find a way to stop these tragedy's from occurring in the first place.

[Kimijo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in Their Own Words offers a chilling glimpse into the minds of mass killers, using their own letters and notes to reveal the twisted, disturbing, and sometimes hauntingly reflective thoughts behind their crimes.