I managed to pick up a copy of Robert Cullen's The Killer Department on Abebooks (still Amazon-owned, but hey) for around ~$5 if you're okay with shipping! I find the difficulties of navigating the USSR's internal policies really interesting in terms of the procedural aspects (as well as the civilian responses to Chikatilo's crimes) but I haven't engaged with the case much more than the LPOTL episode on it, because of reasons. Horrible child murder reasons. I'll let you know how the book is! The USSR could be a really interesting parallel study in serial crime patterns opposite the US, but it has some of the same reporting issues and some unique ones so it's hard to even wrap my brain around what would be necessary to make a really effective comparison. There's always some dingdong on Reddit like "but why were there more serial killers in the US during the 70s than in China or Russia?" and it's like, welllllllll.
Oh man, that sounds WILD. Once you've done heinous Gacy-type crimes I feel like you've got to call it a damn day on the judgmental letter-writing. (Also wow, not to be rude, but "Joe Kozenczak" is the most "Illinois police chief" name of all time.) I'll check it out.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2019-04-17 06:34 pm (UTC)Oh man, that sounds WILD. Once you've done heinous Gacy-type crimes I feel like you've got to call it a damn day on the judgmental letter-writing. (Also wow, not to be rude, but "Joe Kozenczak" is the most "Illinois police chief" name of all time.) I'll check it out.