The Killer Across the Table

by John E. Douglas

But I always start from the same premise, one that I taught throughout my years with the FBI: Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

In no way am I disparaging the blessing of adoption, but it is significant to note that a number of the most notorious serial killers have been adopted. These include Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker; David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam; Kenneth Bianchi, the Hillside Strangler; Theodore Bundy, the Coed Killer; and Joel Rifkin, who murdered prostitutes in New York City and on Long Island. While the vast majority of adopted children thrive with their loving parents, I think if a young boy already has certain kinds of psychological issues or incipient antisocial personality disorder, the knowledge that he has been given up or “rejected” by his biological parents can fuel feelings of hostility, authority conflict, and negative behaviors.

A man named Charles Edmund Cullen followed directly in Donald Harvey’s footsteps.