Tracker: Hunting Down Serial Killers

by G. Maurice Godwin, Fred Rosen

Tracker presents former police officer Maurice Godwin’s method of psychological and geographic profiling which is revolutionizing the way police track and capture serial killers. Forget Silence of the Lambs; Hannibal Lecters and Clarice Starlings do not exist. The public believes that the FBI is protecting us from this most deadly of human predators, but the Bureau has never caught a serial killer. The profiles they turn out are based on interviews with thirty-six convicted killers, out of which only twenty-five were serial killers. Conducted in 1978, the study has since been condemned as statistically and demographically invalid. Recently courts have begun throwing out some profilers’ testimony, with judges ruling that the profiles amount to little more than voodoo. In contrast, Maurice Godwin integrates demographics, environmental psychology, landscape analysis, crime site information, and other factors to create the most accurate targeting map available. In Tracker, we learn that “[Godwin's] work is based on the collection and critical analysis of over 100,000 data points and 2,000 different crime scene actions that could be used to profile the killer.” Godwin explains, “Instead of relying on interviews with murderers, I studied specific pieces of behavioral information available from the crime scene or case file.”

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2004

About the author

Grover Maurice Godwin
G. Maurice Godwin
Maurice Godwin

Dr. Grover Maurice Godwin's perspective is unique. He was a beat cop in a small rural town in North Carolina. After a stop at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN and Indiana State University to obtain his bachelor and master degrees respectively, he traveled to England, where he studied in a one of a kind criminal psychology program at the University of Liverpool. Dr. Godwin is first American to hold a Ph.D. in Investigative Psychology. His expertise and scientific research in areas of psychology, serial killers, criminal behavior, and linking unsolved crimes distinctly sets him apart from the vast number of criminal profilers who rely on intuitive based opinions.

Reviews

[Don Gerstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dr. Maurice Godwin’s book is based upon the premise that the method of tracking serial killers used by the FBI and others is wrong and to his knowledge, has never successfully been used to track down and capture a serial killer. “Tracker: Hunting Down Serial Killers” examines the FBI’s procedures, using disparaging terms to refer to their techniques, such as “voodoo profiling.” Is Dr. Godwin correct in his assertions?

“Tracker” works to convince readers that the methods currently employed are wrong and that Dr. Godwin’s methods produce results. He states that he uses “…abduction, deduction, and induction together…” to reach his conclusions. In explanation, “…abduction creates, deduction explicates, and induction verifies.” The author believes that those relying on merely abduction or deduction avoid a crucial aspect of criminal profiling, which is “…providing a scientific basis…rather than relying on mere hunches, brainstorming, work experience, and gut feelings.”

In judging the validity of Dr. Godwin’s Predator program (a personal program he uses to profile serial killers) it became more difficult to accord the author the respect he wishes to earn. The book progresses from a demonization of FBI methods to the author presenting a number of cases (some that he worked on). These are presented in an “I am right, they are wrong” mode, and due to his pushy presentation, becomes trying after a few hundred pages. His lengthy profile of the double murder at Pliskin River ends with “It is up to the police…to make the case.” While readers can feel the frustration of Dr. Godwin as he battles to gain acceptance of his methods, the constant criticism of the people who would need to embrace his ideas surely can’t be helping his case.

I accepted his ideas when I began the book, but after reading of his self-proclaimed successes and listening to complaints of being ignored, I began to feel that perhaps there are other reasons his methods are rejected. In a book that discusses a serious subject, the name-calling seemed out of place and the my-way-is-the-only-right-way assertions should have been tamped down. Dr. Godwin may be right, but his presentation is not. Two-and-half stars.

[JenRaye]

Could this guy get any more full of himself?

[Rauan · Rating 2 out of 5]

weak on content. style. but, relying, all the way (and he sure keeps reminding the reader of this), on Cold, Hard, Science, yaddah, yaddah,... on the positive(ha!), he seems, as all Saints, to have a good heart,...

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost: Yes, as other reviewers have mentioned, this author is 100% full of himself and loves to remind the reader that he is a scientific and forensic genius that has created an algorithm that can help pinpoint the possible location of a serial killer. He is very in-your-face about his abilities. It does indeed get a little annoying.

However... the science is quite interesting, and if this helps save lives and find serial killers, I guess we have to let this guy be full of himself until more serial killers are off the streets. The science, again, is interesting and if it works, it works.

And interesting read for those interested in true crime.