The Case of the Drowning Men (32 page)

Thus this
, the most
popular theory
of them all,
is
on its face
the least
statistically
probable of any
being offered to date
, except
,
perhaps
,
for “
alien abductions
”
and
(my favorite)
“alien medical experiments”
gone awry
.

But ca
n
the
authorities
really
be wrong
about this
if so many are in agreement? Yes, it
has
happen
ed
all
throughout history
. Remember that once upon a time the authorities insisted the world was flat, and anybody who disagreed with them was sent to prison.
Or executed.

SERIAL MURDER
S
:

This section will
address the main idea of a serial killer, but will
also
have to be broken down into subsets
thereof
because, while the Smiley Face theory is the most publicized
explanation at the moment
, it is not the only
serial murder
theory out there
. It may as well
be a misnomer for
investigator
Gannon’s original precept, as he never
once
said that a smiley face signature was the absolute linkage in th
e
drowning mystery.

A Serial Murderer
: The statistics do readily support the
basic
concept of a serial murderer roaming the northern corridor. A serial murderer utilizing highways to reach a specific type of prey is not completely unheard
of
, particularly if his profession requires hi
m to travel on a regular basis.

Having said that, the territory is
much
too large for one alone to negotiate,
not only in its breadth, but because
as many as three
abductions
are
simultaneously
occurring
within only
a matter of
hours
or
days,
and these
are happening
in locations at least a hundred miles or more from each other
.
No one, not even
the omnipotent
D
r. Hannibal Lecter, can be in two places at one time, never mind three.

Moreover, while a solitary serial killer is, statistically
speaking
, the most typical
type of such
predator
s
, the experts are correct in asserting that
these
are psychotically
compelled
individuals
and
usually have a very clear motif and
predictable
behavior
pattern
as a result of that psychosis,
from which none
so far
have ever
truly
varied.

Stalking
, a
bducti
ng
,
torturing, sexually assaulting, mutilating
and, finally, murdering
a victim
,
is the name of their
sick
game
, without exception
.
I have studied well over 100 of these drowning cases in
some
detail and there
is
just
no
t strong enough evidence
on
the recovered corpses of
torture, mutilation, and sexual assault pres
enting in the majority of them.
No major wounds and missing limbs or appendages, a
vital theme
of serial murdering,
is therefore noticeably
absent
.

Granted, dead men tell no tales and those found floating in water
tend to be
the least talkative, but your classic serial killer is not typically satisfied with a fast kil
l, either
—drowning someone
only takes minutes, so that manner of death, for a serial murderer,
isn’t going to be quite as
titillating
as
has been
suggested by some theorists.

Nor do
such killers
get pleasure from a kill that leaves very few if any marks on
a
victim. When most of the drown victims display no signs
whatsoever
of physical trauma,
either
antemortem or postmortem, then that is the
clear
motif
itself
which
has to be properly paired
to
a
prospective
murderer, which in this case
just isn’t going to come under
the average serial
murderer
profile
, or none
known to date
.

I feel t
his
point
is also underscored by the fact that the alleged serial
killer’s
signature/s, when
(
and if
)
drawn at a body-dumping scene, is never identical with any other one
alleged to have been
previously left by him. Sometimes, in fact
, no
graffiti is
left behind at all.

A signature is a signature and, discounting the issue of forgeries
which isn’t relevant
here
, will
always
reveal its true author
,
time and time again
, despite not knowing
what
his actual name
may be
, or the arrival of a copycat
. Also, though not all serial killers
do
leave the police or the press messages at their murder scenes, when one
chooses to,
he doesn’t stop doing it or leave them intermittently. Instead, it becomes an inextricable part of his crime
pattern
, this public form of bragging.

Based on that analy
s
is,
I don’t
believe
a serial murderer
, even the most “organized” type,
has the kind of self-control and mobility to commit these kind of killings
.
T
he
logistics and
statistics
do
n’t support it
.

A Serial Murdering Gang
:
The
idea
of a group of people executing murders in a large region isn’t implausible, depending on who this alleged group is supposed to be and what their motives are. A gang, in its traditional sense, however, is most unlikely. Gang crime is territorial in nature, doesn’t
often
extend beyond certain limited boundaries, and
gang
murder is re
sorted to as
an
extreme method of enforcement and/or revenge, not
just
for sport or pleasure.
It’s feasible a hit may be ordered
against someone
in another location
beyond a gang’s known borders
(
former members and/or snitches usually the targets
)
but these
murders
would be few and far between
,
and the victim known
by and familiar with
his assailants
.

As well
,
gangs
of this
origin
almost exclusively
arise out of economic deprivation
and
these
condition
s
of impoverishment
remain largely un
improved
for
most gang
members
regardless of
their
lifelong
membership
. To
drive
several hundreds of miles on
the interstate
regularly would
require
a
reliable
and inconspicuous mode of
transportation
,
and poverty
typically
precludes
the luxury of
automobile ownership
.
Of course,
as with any organization
,
criminal or legit
, there is a
hierarchy
in place
in a gang too
, but t
he wealth
and
status of those
few
on the upper tier is fairly transient due to
the frequency of
arrest
s
and incarceration
s
or assassination
s
from rivals
.
S
o the idea of
gang
s
,
as we know them
now
,
to
equip
themselves
expressly
so they can
travel
weekly or monthly
well
outside the
central
hub of their
turf and
activit
ies
,
for any reason
,
is further rendered
specious
.

And it
also
bears repeating,
no ordinary
serial murderer
s
do their “
work
”
in teams.

Internet Killers
:
With
in
th
e
same theory
of gang-organized slayings
, an internet gang of gamer
type
s
who network online to
kill for sport has also been
recently
introduced.
There are different schemes offered as to
the mechanics of
such a group
s’ leadership
and their possible motivations
, some not
too
credible
,
but
overall
I think this is an excellent example of the sort of critical thinking that experts have been recommending be put to use
.

We’ve
all
seen how the
i
nternet has bred a
certain
criminality of its own and the ability for anonymous individuals and groups to commit
large scale
crimes against a huge number of people, in most cases without their ever knowing it.

But that’s just the point. Th
os
e crimes are taking place
solely
via the Internet, facilitated
and executed entirely through
cyberspace
, and
the perps
are mainly motivated by greed
,
or, in the case of hackers, political
beliefs
and agendas
.
More often than not, t
he co-
conspira
tors
of cybercrime
have never even met
before in the physical world,
and don’t even kno
w each others’ real legal names.
J
ust handles and aliases and e-mail addresses.

There
have been
isolated
instances where some with
serious
criminal intent have
sought to
prearrange fatal face-to-face meetings with their victims in online chatrooms or
on
social media sites
,
and then sealed the deal through direct messaging once they won
that person’
s trust.
These
travesties
, however, aren’t as common as you read about. They
only get
top
billing
in the news because
it’s a subject that hits home for many of us. We
all
to some extent
use the internet now to communicate with
the world and
to socialize
with people
we have only
ever
virtually “met”
.
It’s scary too because
many of us interact in this way on
the
very
web
sites where someone else less lucky
“
hooked up
”
with the wrong
site member
.