What do honeymoon killers Bonnie and Clyde and famous criminals like Ted Bundy have in common?
No, it’s not a literal geographical trail but a metaphorical one of rookie mistakes.
Let’s explore the incredible tales of the most heinous criminals who were fortunately arrested.
However, this doesn’t end our curiosity about the evidence that led to their demise. The possibilities are endless – they can range from the very dangerous, like a heist chase, to suspects of brutal murders.
The criminals are also never the same. They range from sociopaths with zero empathy meter to sadistic psychopaths who knew what they were doing and just craved more blood.
We are also a bunch of true crime fanatics, much prepared to explore the evidence and take a deep dive into the mistakes that criminals can make.
Let’s go down the rabbit hole of ego-driven decisions and overconfidence muddled with ignorance.
Criminal Profiling Leading to Arrests of These Famous Criminals
The practice of profiling criminals has been a thrill and a wonder for several years for movie fans, books, and TV.
Well, professionally, it is the guys at the FBI who should be doing this. But we cannot deny that watching Mindhunter has made us all detectives (or at least we try to be).
The profiling method uses the crime scene, victim, and the crime itself to generate a behavioral profile of a perpetrator.
Such a profile can led to the identification and arrest of a suspect. Here, we will examine criminal profiling and uncover examples of the most famous criminals in the world’s history.
Criminal profiling is far from recent as a method of criminal investigation. Although we would want to believe that modern technology is making criminal profiling easier, the method is rooted deeper in human psychology than any technology.
In 1897, Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso claimed that some detectable biological characteristics, such as unconventional looks, could be used by specialists to identify people as ‘born criminals.’
However, this technique only became more popular in the 1940s due to the work of FBI agents. They started deducing criminal profiles by looking for patterns in crime scenes and interviewing previous criminals.
These criminal profiles helped us understand some of the behaviors that led to suspect picking. One of these suspects was a famous criminal in the infamous history books.
1. Bonnie and Clyde’s
Bonnie Point was born in rural Texas, Rowena, in 1910. At the beginning of 1930, she crossed paths with Clyde Barrow, and she married her first husband.
Though they were lawfully married to each other, the feelings running between Bonnie and Clyde were not just something simple. At least, Bonnie always described it as deep love in her poetry.
In January 1932, Clyde was released from jail due to auto theft. His prison experience didn’t give him redemption but rather a regression. He quickly started a criminal career that mainly
involved robbing stores and gas stations. His main accomplice was Bonnie, while other partners included his older brother Buck and their friend W.D.
They were never the kind to hide. Their dangerous escapades made headlines across the country because they were so successful. Nevertheless, the bloodthirsty pair had no hesitation about applying brutal force where it was needed.
I am discussing cutting down or eliminating everyone who stood in their way.
What caused their capture was their eventual arrogance.
What led to Their Arrest
Among the most crucial pieces of evidence was their habit of leaving signs of their crimes at the scene. It was a sick, twisted way to let people know they were there.
Other than fingerprints, it also included stolen license plates.
Furthermore, talking to family and friends while on the run has been another way for police to gain intelligence about their whereabouts. Yes, during their trail, they stayed with relatives and acquaintances for favors.
Police used higher intelligence skills like stalking and surveillance to discover or identify their primary stops. The final strike was when Henry Methvin—a former accomplice turned informant—provided the cops with the information for the ambush and the capture of Bonnie and Clyde.
Although Bonnie and Clyde as a team were strong, their overconfidence, indecision, and a set of mistakes finally sealed their death.
2. Ted Bundy – Traffic Stops
The notorious serial killer who terrorized West America in the 80s is one of the most famous criminals of all time.
Not only among the states of the USA, but his crimes caused a ripple of fear among every crime enthusiast in the world.
He almost killed 100 women during his reign of crime (an estimated number) and confessed to 36 murders.
He was sentenced to death by the Florida county jail through an electric chair in 1989.
Way after his death, there were many who were asked about Ted Bundy or Teddy, whom they knew personally. Starting from the people he worked with to the women he dated, all had one common statement.
Ted was a charming young man who seemed normal. The fact that he could have a double life and committed all these heinous crimes was unfathomable for them.
So, it is understandable Bundy was an expert at hiding his criminal side. So, what led to his arrest, and all his dark shenanigans brought to light?
The Traffic Stops
One should never underestimate cops loitering at certain checkpoints at night, especially when one encounters a notorious serial killer during these duties.
A police officer stopped him one night for a minor traffic offense. He did not have his headlights on and tried to flee when the cop tried to stop him.
However, when searching, the officer found ice picks, ski masks, handcuffs, and torn sheets. Although Bundy tried to give plausible excuses for the same, we must remember the police were already investigating the murders at that time.
Therefore, these were highly suspicious objects which required investigation. This finally led to Bundy being charged with the murders.
3. Dennis Rader – His Massive Ego
Dennis Rader, or the BTK killer, who apparently gave that name to himself, continued his killing spree from 1974-1991. He was probably the longest-running serial killer who was never caught by law.
Among one of the top famous criminals, this sadistic murderer used to strike at random intervals and never had a victim profile. Safe to say, even his victims were random. He
created such an air of terror in the county of Whittaker, Kansas, that everyone started upgrading their house security.
Rader was used to looking at a woman walking by and decided that she would be his next victim on the spot.
Plus, he used to work for a CCTV company, and throughout his murderous spree, there were many who called his company to upgrade their security. Unfortunately, he went to these houses to install these cameras, and this led him to choose his next victim.
His Ego
Prompt: Police officer looking at the computer seriously Later, Dennis Rader was diagnosed with NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder). Something which led to his doom a decade later, he stopped striking.
When he was killed, he mocked the police by sending voice notes and handwritten notes describing his crimes. Yet, he was not caught.
It was his NPD that made him crave the attention. He even gave himself the moniker of BTK (Bind, Torture, & Kill).
However, in true NPD fashion, he started missing that attention a decade after he stopped. So, he decided to send a floppy disk with images and videos of his crime. In fact, he even anonymously asked the police whether he could, and the police agreed.
Fortunately, forensic science was already advancing at the beginning of the 21st century. Police found hidden documents within the file. This includes an old Microsoft file with the name Denise in it, and the church name he belonged to.
Hence, the sheriff at Whitaker County finally solved a decade-long serial killer mystery.
4. Dennis Nielson – Blocked Pipes
The lengths a serial killer can go to dispose of their crimes will always be morbidly fascinating for me.
Dennis Nielson was a Spanish killer from the year 1978 to 1989 in Scotland. During his killing reign, he was responsible for the murder of twelve young men and boys. In fact, he also used to lure them to his North London flat, where he would either strangle or drown.
Blocked Drains
He started disposing of the bodies by torching them or hiding them under his apartment’s floorboard. However, as he shifted to an attic apartment, it became even more difficult to dispose of them.
So, he started chopping them into fine pieces and flushing them down the toilet. Soon, it started blocking the drains, causing problems for the entire plumbing system.
The most ridiculous part is, that he even complained alongside others. This led to the authorities calling for a plumbing service.
The plumbers at work started discovering pieces of bones within the pipe, and it eventually led to Nielson’s arrest.
5. Dr. Harold “Fred” Shipman – A Fishy Will?
Prompt: Dr. Fred Shipman talking to an old woman Dr. Shipman, or Fred, was a family physician (and one of the famous criminals), who killed hundreds through morphine overdose. His motives were mostly monetary gains. He killed elderly people and then changed their will to get some of their property shares.
A Fishy Will
After the death of a patient named Grundy, who was 81 years old, her will was inspected by her family members and Shipman’s daughter.
Grundy had just visited the doctor once and met her demise. Her family knew there was something suspicious in the will when their mother left more than half of the estate to the doctor.
Hence, they lodged a complaint, and Grundy’s body was sent to an autopsy. A morphine overdose was discovered as a cause of death, and it led to the arrest of the “good” doctor.
Ego, Ignorance, & Overconfidence
It indeed takes an intelligent and cunning individual to orchestrate murders for years. However, that same person can break his own glass house with one stone of overconfidence.
Upon seeing all the rookie mistakes that finally led to the demise of these famous criminals, there is one thing we can conclude!
Every psychopathic mastermind is likely to make a mistake. Hairline evidence which can finally lead to their arrest.
But it also poses another important question: what about the ones who were never caught?
Were they really that cunning, or didn’t they continue their killing spree long enough to get caught?
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do let us know in the comment section below!
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