When fear becomes artistic we call it superstition. It is a world not just of anxiety but of antidotes that will treat the fears. Salt is spilled. A pinch cast over the shoulder alleviates the anxiety. Vampires are in the foggy woods. Garlic on the door or a crucifix will ward them off. Uttering “bread and butter” will disenchant whatever evil may come of walking under a ladder. 

     These are obvious examples of superstition. Their cures are the witch doctor’s version of medicine. They comfort the patient and they have dispelled the spell. Everybody understands these are superstitions, and even those so afflicted with them admit they are silly.

     Sadly, though, we live in an era of new superstitions, and many people do not recognize them as such. No one is immune. Even such an erudite world as psychology. When Dr. Richard McNally of Harvard testified before the Supreme Court about the latest psychological views (in order to keep the courts updated as it may bear on pending cases) he declared of “Repressed Memory” that it doesn’t exist. “It is the biggest bit of folklore to ever infect psychology and psychiatry.” Grant Devilly, of Duke University, also said that victims of traumatic events wish they could forget, but they can’t.

     Common Sense (Natural Logic) should have always told us that. But it was a Freudian theory that people block out nasty events, and he seemed authoritative. For decades  psychologists and psychiatrists were sure it was real. Each in turn always assumed something else: since none of them ever had a case, they always assumed other psychiatrists had. When a collation of data was done, it was discovered that no psychologist ever had a case. It didn’t exist.

     There is also another bit of folklore out there. It haunts society. It has led to the quashing of valuable data that communities had a right to know for their own safety. It has been reenforced by popular press. It is a world of fear that has led to a finger to the lip. Just keep silent about it. It will make it go away. Shshsh . . .

     This is the fear of copycat crime sprees. Yet such things do not exist, nor ever have.

       It is inherent in the word “copycat” that such a person has no originality or inner inspiration. It is therefore impossible for someone like that to go out and commit a crime spree merely because they hear someone else is doing it.

       Actual “copycat” crimes are individual crimes whereby the perpetrator is trying to give himself an alibi by making it look as though his victim was attacked or killed by someone else. In the case of the Atlanta Child Murders, a couple just didn’t fit the signature used in the other victims. Probably someone had already wanted to murder them or did so in a fit of manslaughter and tried to disguise it. The same can be said of the Boston Strangler. A couple of victims never fit the mold, and the victims may have been killed for other motives and the perp disguised his actual motive to cover his tracks.

     Police can see through “copycat” crimes %100. They’ve never been fooled. Even if they don’t catch the perp, they know it was a copycat.

     If you are not already the object of a murderer’s desires (some acquaintance or relative) then it is unlikely you will be subject to a copycat crime. What for? The whole reason is to cover the killer’s actual motive.

     The only genuine individual “copycat” crimes, where a successful crime inspired a crime wave, are the kind like those skyjackings that followed D.B. Cooper’s success in 1971. A few other guys tried to get away with robbing airliners. Each was caught. None tried to make themselves appear to be D.B. Cooper. They were merely inspired by his success.

     The world of greed, however, is a different world than the world of demented thrill seeking. Serial killers and rapists have other, inner motives for what they do. Copycats simply do not and cannot have that inner motivation. It’s beyond a copycat’s lack of originality and inner ambition.

     The rash of skyjacking attempts inspired the appropriate response: the Cooper Vane. It was affixed to 727’s, the objects of the skyjackers since its rear door could be opened and the back stairs could be lowered in flight to allow bailing out. With the door sealed by the Vane, there was no more point in skyjacking. The crimes stopped.

     When serial villains commence their own twisted game of thrill killing and raping, the response cannot be “stay blind and get better locks for your house.” This is the strange antidote to uninformed fears. The communities must be told how these perpetrators act. There’s no point in having a Neighborhood Watch if the community is not told what to look for. In the case of the EAR, Sacramento started staking out the canals, one of his favorite stalking areas. EAR stopped using canals. With each compromise a serial villain makes in his trusted MO, the more he is thwarted, the more he is risking making a mistake with a new MO. That’s good! That’s how they can be caught or driven off!

     Information that should be kept back from a community is the kind that can alert the villain he has been second-guessed and therewith anticipated. Also, the details of what the perp does in private with the victim. But what he does in public places should be told. This is where the community is involved in watching and anticipating him.

     But a community cannot be allowed to remain in the dark or tolerate the actions of a villain being whitewashed because of superstition. Knowledge that one is on the loose and how he operates will not inspire others. That is purely superstition. That has never happened, and can never happen. Outside of greed as a motive, “copycat” crimes have only been individual affairs used to cover motive. No one launches their own imitation crime spree because they hear of another. No imitator has the drive.

     Unapprehended serial killers and rapists, sadly, carefully plan their game. They need no inspiration from others. Their inner drive may be evil, but they have their own. The best tool to thwart them is a very well-informed public.

     In 1988 there was an attempt to stop discussion on what had happened to The EAR. A nice piece had been written in the Sacramento Bee by Bob Sylva, featuring on Sgt. Jim Bevins, the first and last sheriff still hunting the East Area Rapist. Art Naumen wrote a follow-up on March 27, 1988, when some people called in to the Bee to complain that the case was even talked about again. Uninformed people feared that talking about it would inspire a copycat. Well, no need to fear that. It is like fearing Dracula will pay people a visit at Halloween. Pure folklore. Some of EAR’s victims were upset that there was such anger by a few who had nothing to do with the case. Sgt. Bevins agreed: “Would-be rapists don’t need The Bee to get them going. They get their motivation somewhere else, or they’re born with it.”

     The Bee backed him up, so did a number of the victims.

     If you don’t like to read or discuss such cases, then don’t. But do not  try and stop others. The fearful and superstitious will not help rid our communities of these crimes. Only those who take them on will.