Murderous Partners and Murderers’ Romantic Partners

Killer Partners

Most compulsive murderers who plan their crimes function by themselves; however, a small minority operates with a partner. In most of these cases, a dominant partner, perhaps the only one with an underlying compulsion to kill, typically recruits or teams up with a more submissive, passive individual (Furio, 2001). The partner may have sadistic proclivities that erupt only when that person is under the influence of the more dominant offender. Revitch and Schlesinger (1989) argued that the prestige of the stronger figure, as well as mental contagion, often plays a primary role in group assaults and homicides. Crimes such as group rape are greatly influenced by the sense of security that having another dominant person brings (Brownmiller, 1976), as well as diffusion of responsibility. Freud (1921) agreed with the French sociologist Gustave LeBon (1910) who contended that the individual loses his or her uniqueness in a group and unconscious forces frequently take over. In fact, there is some experimental research (Kogan and Wallach, 1967) that found groups of individuals are more likely to act in risky ways when the group supports such behavior.

Revitch and Schlesinger (1989) reported the case of a 23-year-old who, along with a friend, broke into a house and viciously killed a 76-year-old woman, thrusting a broomstick into her vagina prior to her death. The weaker partner described the stronger one as “a big wheel and a leader of the neighborhood. He was a good fighter, not afraid to beat up the kids.” He admired his companion and was proud to be associated with him. The follower had aggressive fantasies that were hidden behind a weak, frightened, and submissive exterior.

In some cases, a dominant male works with a submissive girlfriend who helps in the commission of the crimes. Men who kill with their wives or girlfriends are a somewhat rare, but not a new, phenomenon. The Marquis de Sade’s wife participated and assisted her husband in many of his sexually sadistic exploits (Du Plessix-Gray, 1998). Sinnamon and Petherick (2017) argue that although rare, there are cases of women who commit planned compulsive murders on their own. The Moors murders (Williams, 1967), committed by Ian Brady and his girlfriend, Myra Hindley, illustrate the effect of a dominant male on a female follower. For several years in the mid-1960s the couple abducted and killed at least four children. Hindley would lure the victims into the car, but Brady took the active role in the killing. One murder was tape-recorded, and on the tape one could hear a 10-year- old child’s pleas, screams, and cries prior to and during her death. The couple was finally arrested after Brady tried to enlist another young man as an assistant. The would-be recruit became horrified after observing Brady kill a person and called the police. Brady and Hindley were tried and sentenced to life in prison.

Brady was raised in a foster home and had a long criminal record of arrests and imprisonments. He tortured cats, admired the Marquis de Sade and Adolf Hitler, and showed clear sadistic tendencies throughout his life. His girlfriend said after her arrest, “I loved him and I still love him.” Those who evaluated the pair felt that Hindley would do anything that Brady wanted her to do. Before she met Brady, Hindley had been a friendly individual and a reliable babysitter who showed no inclination toward sadism or homicide. Johnson (1967) concluded that Hindley would not have committed the atrocities if she had not met Brady.

In some more recent cases, the same pattern of a dominant male and a more submissive female is also found. Paul Bernardo and his wife, Karla Homolka, together killed at least three women (Vronsky, 2015). Bernardo was a sadist and serial rapist who enjoyed humiliating and beating women. Karla seemed to encourage his sadistic acts and, in many ways, was more than just a willing accomplice. She even drugged her younger sister so that Bernardo could assault and kill her. The couple created their own pornography by videotaping some of the offenses. Following their arrest, Karla testified against Bernardo, claiming that he severely beat her.

Douglas Clark and his girlfriend, Carol M. Bundy, were another killer couple (Becker and Veysey, 2018). Clark was a psychopathic and narcissistic individual, smooth and manipulative, while Bundy was an unattractive woman who was abused her whole life and would have done anything for male attention. In a sense, Clark essentially groomed Bundy to help him obtain victims. Two of the victims were prostitutes, and the crime involved necrophilia on the part of Clark. In one case, Bundy put makeup on a dead woman’s head, which was kept in their refrigerator. She also killed a former boyfriend and brought his decapitated head to Clark, believing it would please him. At trial, Clark represented himself and put on a show, displaying his arrogance, narcissism, and sadism.

Another interesting case of a killer couple is that of Gerald and Charlene Gallego (Flowers, 1996). Charlene was instrumental in helping to get her husband female victims, whom he kept as sex slaves. Most of the victims, young women or teenagers, were abducted from shopping malls. As in the cases of Bernardo-Homolka and Clark-Bundy, Charlene testified against her husband. And like Douglas Clark, Gerald Gallego acted as his own lawyer, putting on a show in court and gaining sadistic gratification by personally cross- examining victims’ family members.

Less common cases involve two male partners, both of whom have underlying compulsions to kill. The cases of Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole (Norris, 1991) and of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng (Douglas and Olshaker, 1995) are examples. Lucas had a terribly brutal background which involved sex with animals, animal torture, murder, rape, strangulation, and numerous prison and psychiatric incarcerations. He claimed to have killed over 100 people while traveling around the U.S. In 1975 he met Toole, also a compulsive killer. The two roamed the country, murdering untold victims. Similarly, after Lake and Ng, both of whom were compelled to kill, joined forces, they abducted three women and kept them captive in an underground bunker on Lake’s farm. They videotaped the victims being sexually tortured and finally murdered. The interpersonal dynamics between such partners, as well as the distinguishing characteristics of the dominant and subservient offenders, remain unresearched and unknown.

The case of Angelo Buono and his cousin Kenneth Bianchi (Crisp, 2002) involved a more dominant male figure (Buono) and Bianchi, who was essentially his assistant. They targeted prostitutes, used ligatures to torture the victims sadistically, and were eventually apprehended after killing ten individuals. At trial, Bianchi turned on Buono, and both were convicted. David Gore and Fred Waterfield (Ward, 1994) were also cousins who killed together. Gore, an auxiliary police officer, stalked his victims and then abducted them in a fairly sophisticated way. Even when under police suspicion and surveillance, Gore could not control his compulsion to kill and continued to act, demonstrating the enormous sexual gratification he gained from his murders. As in the other cases of killer couples, Gore turned on Waterfield. He said that Waterfield was the mastermind, while Waterfield insisted on his innocence. Both men were convicted.