Richard Tithecott

The public's conception of serial killers is mythological rather than factual, according to Richard Tithecott, an administrator at the University of Southern California, where he wrote his English dissertation on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. In the following excerpt, Tithecott examines the facts and mythology behind the concept of the "brilliant" or "genius" serial killer, popularized in recent years by novelist Thomas Harris's intelligent cannibalistic serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Discussing Lecter and other killers from both fiction and the real world, Tithecott argues that the public accepts the mythology of the brilliant serial killer in part to estrange the killer-to make him or her different from "normal people." Tithecott asserts that the estrangement allows the public to feel safe.