Can You SPOT The Murderer?

[iLander]

So, I was thinking about all the horrible murders and kidnappings in the news lately, especially the kidnappings of the 3 girls in Ohio. A note found in the home of Ariel Castro explained that the girls had all made one mistake; they had gotten into the car of a stranger. I thought this was especially chilling.

Why did they get into the car? Because he looked harmless. Not like a "bad guy". Because most of us believe we "can tell" if someone is "bad". They have "a certain look" about them.

But can we really tell? Do we actually know just by looking at someone? Can you bet your life on that?

I've assembled a random assortment of 10 photos. Some are murderers. Some are not. I'm not going to say how many are or are not murderers, because in real life we don't have those kind of clues. Can you tell which is which?

Take a guess and tell us why you think what you do. If you have teens you might want to have them play this game too. So they can test the notion that they "Can tell".

I will return after a while to reveal who's who.

 

[iLander]

Some more pics

 

[iLander]

Last 2, for a total of 10 "suspects"

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

This is hard iLander... But a very educational thread. I'm glad you made it with all the craziness going on right now...

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I am just going to jump in. I say all of them. Some appear to be in custody. #1 looks evil.


Maybe I'm just a paranoid person.

Annette

 

[iLander]

Hi,

I am just going to jump in. I say all of them. Some appear to be in custody. #1 looks evil.


Maybe I'm just a paranoid person.

Annette

Nope, not all of them are murderers. They may be in custody, but not for murder.

 

[aviastar]

I understand the exercise, and I think it's a good one, but I am not going to guess. There is too much information lacking- body language, situation, word choice, location. Static photos don't provide any context. It's still not 100% and never can be, but I feel better about using my gut to asses a person/situation if there is more context.

All that said, I agree- I don't think we can 'know' about people through brief chance encounters. And I absolutely cannot fathom getting into the car with a stranger. Ever. How many times do we hear 'That person is my neighbor, we never saw this coming' ?

I own a retail establishment and my dog comes to work with me. One time and one time only she refused to let someone come in the door; I agreed with her assessment and asked him to leave. I trust her gut more than my own

 

[GemFever]

Even though all of these people seem to have been arrested and photographed in the setting of the criminal/justice system... it feels weird to use their photos for something like this. If god forbid I ever had a shot of me taken like that (knock knock knock on wood) I wouldn't want my pic used, you know?

 

[Circe]

So, I was thinking about all the horrible murders and kidnappings in the news lately, especially the kidnappings of the 3 girls in Ohio. A note found in the home of Ariel Castro explained that the girls had all made one mistake; they had gotten into the car of a stranger. I thought this was especially chilling.

Why did they get into the car? Because he looked harmless. Not like a "bad guy". Because most of us believe we "can tell" if someone is "bad". They have "a certain look" about them.

But can we really tell? Do we actually know just by looking at someone? Can you bet your life on that?

I've assembled a random assortment of 10 photos. Some are murderers. Some are not. I'm not going to say how many are or are not murderers, because in real life we don't have those kind of clues. Can you tell which is which?

Take a guess and tell us why you think what you do. If you have teens you might want to have them play this game too. So they can test the notion that they "Can tell".

I will return after a while to reveal who's who.

Except ... he wasn't a stranger. His daughter was best friends with one of the girls, and it appears he was at least acquainted with the others.

I agree that you generally can't tell who's dangerous and need to be cautious at all times, but it's not limited to strangers, and it's not limited to cars. It's not limited, period.

We can't look at victims and say they should have acted differently, because hindsight is 20/20. All we can do is try to stay alert, and give everybody we know pepper spray as a stocking-stuffer.

 

[Clairitek]

I have not read any responses but the only ones that didn't give me a second thought were 4 and 7. Perhaps 5, too.

Edited to add: The ones listed above are the ones that I didn't look at and think, "Ehhh don't trust that person." They seemed less sketchy.

I believe I know who is in the last photo and based on what we know about him I wouldn't trust him but if I didn't know him already I would have added him to the list.

 

[iLander]

Except ... he wasn't a stranger. His daughter was best friends with one of the girls, and it appears he was at least acquainted with the others.

I agree that you generally can't tell who's dangerous and need to be cautious at all times, but it's not limited to strangers, and it's not limited to cars. It's not limited, period.

We can't look at victims and say they should have acted differently, because hindsight is 20/20. All we can do is try to stay alert, and give everybody we know pepper spray as a stocking-stuffer.

All true! In one case, he wasn't a stranger. And no, it's not limited. And no, the victim is never to blame.

But let's not let the point of this thread go astray.

 

[amc80]

2 and 7. Something in the eyes.

 

[JewelFreak]

Criminalists always tell us that you can't tell who is dangerous by appearance. Serial killers, for instance, get away long enough to be "serial" because they don't look any different than your or my next-door neighbor. Think Ted Bundy.

It's always risky -- if not plain dumb -- to get into a car with a stranger, to invite an unknown person into your house, etc. Wise parents forbid hitchhiking for that reason. Yes, in the Cleveland case one of the women was acquainted with the guy. The others weren't. So you don't know even if you know. But you can't hide under the bed all your life.

Stranger abductions are a miniscule percentage of all kidnappings, however. The vast majority are committed by non-custodial parents. As a % of the total population, stranger kidnappings are teeny tiny. They seem prevalent because we hear about most of them & the media plays them up with big drama.

Children & teenagers need to be taught not to go with people just because they look harmless & nice (or if they don't, lol), and to use caution & common sense. It's not an easy line for a concerned parent to walk between giving them the freedom to learn independence & self-reliance, and making them aware of potential dangers. They need both. In general, we don't have as much to fear as reporters tell us we do.

--- Laurie

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Suspect #9

 

[partgypsy]

I have not read any responses but the only ones that didn't give me a second thought were 4 and 7. Perhaps 5, too.

Edited to add: The ones listed above are the ones that I didn't look at and think, "Ehhh don't trust that person." They seemed less sketchy.

I believe I know who is in the last photo and based on what we know about him I wouldn't trust him but if I didn't know him already I would have added him to the list.

I do have to say, you should put a picture of bundy up there. There are a lot of psychopaths that apparently are very personable.
ditto. Though you have to say whether they were convicted or simply arrested for murder.

 

[lovebug1031]

eh why not ---- i'm gonna say 2,4,6,7 and 9 are the rest are not?

 

[iLander]

Criminalists always tell us that you can't tell who is dangerous by appearance. Serial killers, for instance, get away long enough to be "serial" because they don't look any different than your or my next-door neighbor. Think Ted Bundy.

It's always risky -- if not plain dumb -- to get into a car with a stranger, to invite an unknown person into your house, etc. Wise parents forbid hitchhiking for that reason. Yes, in the Cleveland case one of the women was acquainted with the guy. The others weren't. So you don't know even if you know. But you can't hide under the bed all your life.

Stranger abductions are a miniscule percentage of all kidnappings, however. The vast majority are committed by non-custodial parents. As a % of the total population, stranger kidnappings are teeny tiny. They seem prevalent because we hear about most of them & the media plays them up with big drama.

Children & teenagers need to be taught not to go with people just because they look harmless & nice (or if they don't, lol), and to use caution & common sense. It's not an easy line for a concerned parent to walk between giving them the freedom to learn independence & self-reliance, and making them aware of potential dangers. They need both. In general, we don't have as much to fear as reporters tell us we do.

--- Laurie

All excellent points, Laurie. It is a fine line,

Care to take a guess (or a few guesses)?

 

[iLander]

HINT: Interestingly (so far) no one guessed number 8. Why is that?

 

[iLander]

This is hard iLander... But a very educational thread. I'm glad you made it with all the craziness going on right now...

That's exactly why I'm doing this, YT, thanks for realizing that.

 

[kenny]

You can't know anything based on how a person looks, let alone whether they are a murderer.

People think they can?

 

[Smith1942]

I guess 1,2,4 and 5 are murderers.

 

[monarch64]

You can't know anything based on how a person looks, let alone whether they are a murderer.

People think they can?

I agree.

All of these photos appear to be either mug shots, or taken within the confines of a court building. Of course they all look like potential murderers. iLander, I respect you as a community member, and I respect what you're trying to achieve here, but I'm not sure you've chosen the best way to go about it. I'm thrilled you care enough to begin a conversation, but I don't think I can get behind this, sorry.

 

[packrat]

You can't know anything based on how a person looks, let alone whether they are a murderer.

People think they can?

No, I think that's the point she's trying to make. You *can't* tell. There are some normal/nice/regular looking people who harbor insidious thoughts in their heads that could be capable of doing something terrible given the right circumstances. And there are people that just look...off, people who you would stereotype and tell your kids to stay away from just based on looks alone, who are perfectly nice and wouldn't hurt a fly.

If you took two people, a good looking guy and a guy who looked like a whackadoo nut job like Charles Manson, and they both had their arms in a sling and needed help loading stuff in their van, who would you help? Charles Manson never actually killed anyone but he's about as crazy as a shithouse rat. (not that I'm saying he's like the above, perfectly nice and wouldn't hurt a fly, he's just an example that popped in my head) Ted Bundy was an attractive non threatening looking man who killed women of a certain type who tried to help him load things in his vehicle.

The point is, evil is pretty normal looking and that's why it's so scary. You *don't* know. I could go thru all my serial killer books and find more normal/average/non threatening people than the ones that look....off. And there are plenty of Gramma/Mommy looking women who were serial killers w/their kids/husbands, or nurses who killed their patients. That's a pleasant thought when the smiling nurse comes in and says all chipper "Time to take your medicine!"

 

[iLander]

Packrat- That's exactly the point.

FIRST REVEAL[

Only 3 of the "suspects" are not murderers. All the rest are convicted killers.

Which 3 look innocent to you?

 

[Ally T]

I am going to throw caution to the wind & say 4, 6 & 7 are NOT convicted murders.

 

[Laila619]

I'll say 4, 7, and 9 are NOT the murderers.

 

[TooPatient]

I'd guess 3 & 8 are not murderers. Something in the eyes. The others look just creepy. Sometimes too "normal".

Tough balance. You've got to live life but be aware. I've had a friend murdered before. The murderer looked "normal" and was het friend.

We do not change plans last minute. "A" knows that we will NEVER just send someone to pick her up. She will hear directly from me or her dad and is not to go anywhere with anyone without talking to us first. She knows to call my cell phone to get confirmation.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I'd guess 3 & 8 are not murderers. Something in the eyes. The others look just creepy. Sometimes too "normal".

Tough balance. You've got to live life but be aware. I've had a friend murdered before. The murderer looked "normal" and was het friend.

We do not change plans last minute. "A" knows that we will NEVER just send someone to pick her up. She will hear directly from me or her dad and is not to go anywhere with anyone without talking to us first. She knows to call my cell phone to get confirmation.

TooPatient, sorry about your friend

I'll have to talk to my kids again...I hope they know not to get into someone's car! They were told which house to go to if there is an emergency but now I am not sure if I picked the right family. The husband said something bizarre to me and they are just too friendly! Maybe we should have them go to the slighly unfriendly family next door with the four kids? They don't try to be our friends and don't watch what we buy at the grocery store. Ugh.

 

[partgypsy]

Packrat- That's exactly the point.

FIRST REVEAL[

Only 3 of the "suspects" are not murderers. All the rest are convicted killers.

Which 3 look innocent to you?

again, think 4and 7. also 8 look the most normal to me. I would also say 10 but someone previously said they recognized them...

The rest look suspicious. (but doesn't nec mean they are murderers). And when you say murderers you mean people convicted of murder, correct?

I would probably look freaked out if I was arrested for jaywalking, and probably look suspicious in my mug shot

 

[packrat]

I watched a thing on Oprah years ago, before I even had kids, about teaching kids about strangers. They had a controlled situation at a park where the mom was w/the child and then would walk a little ways away and sit, letting the child play alone. The child was approached by a man and the man would strike up a conversation w/the child and eventually ask the child to come w/him and almost every time the child did. Not FIVE minutes after the mom talked to the child about strangers. Sometimes the child would look around for mom, sometimes not. Sometimes the mom would even have walked completely way to where the camera van was and was sitting inside watching everything unfold. My heart was up in my throat watching that. Now that I have kids it borders on hysteria, the thought of someone getting my kids. We talk about it, and they know not to but...they're kids, you know? We can't expect a 6 year old to be responsible like that when I can't get him to remember to flush the toilet.