Serial killers like Seattle's Ted Bundy, Maryland's Beltway Sniper, Atlanta's Wayne Williams, or England's Peter Sutcliffe usually outsmart the task forces on their trail for long periods of time. Keppel and Birnes take readers inside the operations of serial killer task forces to learn why. What is the underlying psychology of a serial killer and why this defeats task force investigations?
This is the first book of its kind that combines state-of-the-art psychological assessment experience with the expertise of a homicide investigator who has tracked some of this country's most notorious serial killers. The author also brings to the book hands-on best practices gleaned from the experience of other task forces.
Readers, both professionals and students, will benefit from the comprehensive and critical case reviews, the analysis of what went wrong, what went right, and the after-action recommendations of evaluators in the US, UK, and Canada.
The book covers:
* The nature of the psychology of a serial killer
* How crime assessment profiling reveals that psychology
* Why psychological profiles fail
* How serial killer task forces defeat themselves
* How the media can, and usually does, undermine the task force operation
* The big secret of all serial killer investigations: police already have the killer's name
* The best practices for catching a serial killer
* Comprehensive case reviews of some of the US's and UK's most baffling serial killer cases
* A list of best practices for serial killer task force investigators
* Recommendations for how to manage comprehensive files and computer records
* Practical advice on how to manage the media: what to say and not to say
* Insight into what a serial killer might be thinking and doing to stay away from police
* Recommendations for setting up and administering long-term investigations
* Practical tips on how to maintain a task force's psychological edge and avoid defeatism

Since the shutdown of our public psychiatry system, the seriously mentally ill are now mostly managed by public safety officers, school officials, emergency first responders and social workers with little experience in recognizing symptoms, triggers and issues. This book addresses the need to recognize the psychiatric component of criminological issues and the methodology of dealing with it on a practical as well as academic basis. It provides a roadmap for training in rapid assessment built on evidence-based emergency psychiatry protocols.

Linking the murders of an alleged serial killer to successfully present a case in court involves a specific methodology that has been scrutinized by the judicial system but is largely absent in the current literature. Serial Violence: Analysis of Modus Operandi and Signature Characteristics of Killers fully explains the process of finding the nexus between one violent crime and another for the purpose of pursuing the same offender at trial. Examines real cases of some of the world's most notorious serial killers Written by renowned experts, this book focuses on analyzing crimes of violence to unveil common characteristics that might prove useful in the identification, apprehension, and conviction of murderers. It begins by detailing the historical origins of modus operandi as an investigative tool. It examines murderous ritualistic behavior in a variety of cases, including William Heirens, Harvey Glatman, Morris Frampton, and Jack the Ripper. Later chapters discuss serial murders accompanied by burglary, torture, picquerism, sexual violence, sexual degradation, and a host of other behaviors. Includes color photographs of actual crime scenes Containing numerous color photos, this volume includes useful information for expert witnesses and portions of transcripts of original testimony. The scintillating detail and rigorous analysis presented in this volume enables those charged with solving these violent crimes to discern the types of modus operandi and ritualistic behaviors that can be linked to the same offender, helping law enforcement bring these dangerous offenders to justice. About the Authors Bob Keppel served on the King County homicide task force that investigated the infamous Ted Bundy and has been an expert witness on scores of serial killer signature profile cases across the United States. Along with coauthor William Birnes, Dr. Keppel worked on a United States Department of Justice grant to evaluate how local police homicide units use computer database technology to track serial killer and sexual offender cases by cross-referencing offender psychological signatures.

In this sequel to "The Haunting of America," national bestselling authors Joel Martin and William J. Birnes bring up to the present the story of how paranormal events influenced and sometimes even drove political events. In unearthing the roots of America's fascination with the ghosts, goblins, and demons that possess our imaginations and nightmares, Martin and Birnes show how the paranormal has driven America's political, public, and militarypolicies. The authors examine the social history of the United States through the lens of the paranormal and investigate the spiritual events that inspired momentous national decisions: UFOs that frightened the nation's military into launching nuclear bomber squadrons toward the Soviet Union, out-of-body experiences used to gather sensitive intelligence on other countries, and even spirits summoned to communicate with living politicians.

"The Haunting of Twentieth-Century America "is a thrilling evidencebased exploration of the often unexpected influences of the paranormal on science, medicine, law, the government, the military, psychology, theology, death and dying, spirituality, and pop culture.

William B. Scott is a retired Rocky Mountain bureau chief for "Aviation Week & Space Technology" magazine and a former U.S. Air Force flight-test engineer. He served with the National Security Agency and as aircrew on nuclear sampling missions. Michael J. Coumatos is a former U.S. Navy test pilot, the former U.S. Space Command director of wargaming, and a former National Security Agency counterterrorism adviser. With the help of bestselling author William J. Birnes, these renowned experts have joined forces to grippingly depict how the first hours of World War III might play out in the year 2010.

Coumatos and Scott take the reader inside U.S. Strategic Command, where top military commanders, space-company executives, and U.S. intelligence experts are conducting a DEADSATS II wargame, exploring how the loss of critical satellites could lead to nuclear war. The gamers don't know that the war they are playing has already begun, miles above them, in the lifeless, silent cold of space. Jam-packed with the actual systems and secret technologies the United States has or will soon field to protect its assets, "Space Wars "describes a near-future nuclear nightmare that terrorists will relish but politicians prefer to ignore. In a quieter, more peaceful time, "Space Wars" would be an exciting work of fiction. But with the United States now at war, "Space Wars" is all too real.

In a real-life scenario straight out of "The Silence of the Lambs," Robert Keppel went one-on-one with the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, who advised Keppel on the detective's highly publicized search for the elusive Green River Killer. Bundy's chilling revelations were chronicled in "The Riverman," "a page-turner" (Ted Montgomery, "Detroit News" ) praised by Ann Rule as "the definitive book on serials." But Ted Bundy wasn't the first killer of his kind - or the last.

"Signature Killers"

They leave telltale identifiers, their gruesome "calling cards, " at the scenes of their crime. They are driven by a primitive motivation to act out the same brutality over and over. With brilliant detection, high-tech analysis - and a little luck - they can be caught. But what does the signature killer seek from victim to victim? The answers are hidden among the grisly evidence, the common threads that link each devastating act.

Sparked by a growing concern over the steady rise of signature murders, Robert Keppel explores in unflinching detail the monstrous patterns, sadistic compulsions, and depraved motives of this breed of killer. From the Lonely Hearts Killer who hunted the most desperate of women in 1950s America, to the savage Midtown Torso Murders that stunned the NYPD, to such infamous symbols of evil as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Gacy, these are the cases - horrifying, graphic and unforgettable - that Keppel ingeniously taps to shed light on the darkest corners of the pathological mind.

This is the most up-to-date, comprehensive guide to the study of UFOs and extraterrestrial contact in print today. With more than 5,000 entries, revealing photographs, diagrams, and commentary of experts in the field, The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia draws from a database of seventeen years' worth of articles, opinion, and research on such diverse subjects as: . Alien encounters, abductions, and eyewitness accounts . Theories of time and space travel . Psychokinesis, astral projection, and teleportation . Evidence of extraterrestrial presence on Earth, past and present . The possibilities of antigravity propulsion and interstellar travel . The new science of cloning, and the now-infamous Raelian cult And much more Whether you consider yourself a hard-line skeptic or a true believer, or are simply fascinated by the existence of otherworldly visitors, this authoritative volume will prove to be an essential reference work for anyone wanting to learn about the still-controversial world of UFO and extraterrestrial investigations.

Since the shutdown of our public psychiatry system, the seriously mentally ill are now mostly managed by public safety officers, school officials, emergency first responders and social workers with little experience in recognizing symptoms, triggers and issues. This book addresses the need to recognize the psychiatric component of criminological issues and the methodology of dealing with it on a practical as well as academic basis. It provides a roadmap for training in rapid assessment built on evidence-based emergency psychiatry protocols.