by Scott Bonn
The thought of contacting a high profile television journalist like Anderson Cooper appeals to the guardian’s grandiosity. He smiles. He experiences a feeling of smug satisfaction. The letdown he experienced following Eve’s murder has gone away. He is enjoying himself once again. He feels good. A rush of adrenaline surges through him. It makes him feel high and invulnerable.
The guardian’s decision to contact Anderson Cooper is consistent with his narcissistic personality. He craves notoriety. It thrills him to participate in the shaping and promotion of his own public identity. That is why he gave himself the pseudonym “guardian” in the first place. It delights him to hear his self-given name mentioned in the news media.
Of course, the guardian is not alone among serial killers in his desire for notoriety. Infamous serial killers of the past have also sought out publicity for themselves. Among this ilk, the Son of Sam, BTK, the Zodiac Killer, and the Night Stalker come immediately to mind.
The guardian stands up from the kitchen table and walks over to the desk that is located next to the bed. He sits down at the desk in front of a computer. He turns the computer on and begins to compose a letter. The guardian types the following:
Captain James Pritchard, NYPD
In c/o Anderson Cooper, CNN
Dear Captain Pritchard:
I decided to take a moment from my busy schedule to write to you again. I saw you talking about me on TV. I am deeply amused with your clumsy attempts to incite my anger.
What a fool you are. Can you not see that I am immune to the silly taunts you send my way? Clearly, you have no idea who you are dealing with. I do not make mistakes. Every single move, and every decision, I make is guided by a power much greater than you can imagine. Have you not realized by now that my work is divinely inspired?
There is no way that you or your hapless colleagues can keep me from fulfilling my mission. I will continue to rescue the girls of New York from the evils of the world and you cannot stop me.
You dare to call me a coward, but I am the one who is saving the souls of the innocent and vulnerable girls in this city. Not you. You are too simple minded to appreciate the importance—that is, the greatness—of my work.
I thought the bible verse, Psalm 34:7, that I left on Melissa Stein would have enabled your feeble mind to comprehend that you are dealing with a power far beyond your control.
The world will come to know that Psalm 34:7 is the message of the guardian. It says, ‘The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.’
You do not understand what is happening, do you? My power is limitless. You will not keep me from completing my glorious mission.
Rest assured, captain, you will hear from the guardian again soon. There are so many souls for me to be save in this wicked city. In fact, a surprise is waiting for you right now, if you can find it. Good luck.
Sincerely,
The Guardian
The guardian proofreads the letter he has just composed and smiles with great satisfaction when he is finished.
“The tone and message are perfect. Just wait until Pritchard sees it. I would love to be there when he does,” the guardian says with a laugh.
He opens the top drawer of his desk and withdraws a pair of latex gloves. After putting the gloves on his hands, he proceeds to print out a copy of his letter on a sheet of heavy, white bond paper. The paper is the same as he used to print his first letter to Pritchard. He is very careful not to leave any fingerprints or his DNA on the letter for the police to discover. He seals it inside a white business envelope using plain water rather than saliva. He addresses the mailing envelope to Anderson Cooper at CNN using the laser jet printer. He puts neither a return address nor a stamp on the envelope. He intends to deliver it personally.
The guardian sinks back into his chair and thinks to himself that James Pritchard is a very foolish man for trying to bait him.
He says aloud, “You are no match for me, Pritchard. Your psychological ploys are quite silly and amateurish. I can see you coming from a mile away, captain.”
Laughing and rubbing his hands together, he continues, “This is going to end badly for you, Pritchard. I will destroy your career and make a mockery of you for everyone to see. You need to face the facts. You are completely out of your league. You will never catch me.”
He continues to smile at the thought of Pritchard’s ineptness, and closes his eyes to reflect upon the events of the day. He begins to relax in the leather desk chair. He take long, deep breaths and slowly exhales. He soon reaches a semi-hypnotic state. He is at peace.
A short time later, he opens his eyes, but the guardian is no longer present in the room. Charles Lundquist, his alter ego, has silently replaced the guardian. Fatigued both mentally and physically, Lundquist leans forward in the chair and rubs his weary head and bleary eyes. He is completely exhausted. He slowly rises from his chair and walks with considerable effort toward the bed.
Lundquist says to himself, “It has been a very long and eventful day. I need to rest and regain my strength. Tomorrow will bring many new challenges.”
Chapter Twenty Nine
It is 9:15am on Friday, October 22nd and Eve Curry has been dead for just over thirty-six hours. Her corpse still lies undiscovered at the bottom of the Hudson River.
Supervisory Special Agent Julia Cassidy is sitting with her FBI colleagues at a large table on the second floor of One Police Plaza in a conference room dubbed the guardian war room. It has been given this name by NYPD officers because every inch of the forty-by-twenty-foot conference room, including the large table, is covered with information about the guardian and his three victims. Captain Pritchard commandeered the room after Bill Bratton selected him to lead the manhunt for the serial killer.
Ever since their arrival in New York four days ago, Cassidy and her five colleagues from Quantico have been sorting through all of the forensic evidence and information available on the investigation. They have been meeting with the NYPD detectives assigned to the case in order to familiarize themselves with every detail of the manhunt for the unknown killer. They have also been partnering with NYPD detectives in the field to help them interview informants and follow up on tips provided by the public.
Today, Cassidy and her team are discussing the various religious symbols and biblical references used by the guardian in an attempt to connect them to his motive or motives for killing. This discussion actually began on the night the team arrived from Quantico, Virginia, over dinner with Captain Pritchard and Commissioner Bratton
Cassidy asks the group, “What do you make of the Christian cross that the killer places on every victim before he dumps the body into the river?”
Highly experienced FBI Special Agent Jason Baldwin is the first to respond to Cassidy.
He says, “Well, Jules, as we have already discussed, the cross is part of the guardian’s signature, so it gratifies him emotionally in some very significant way. As a powerful symbol of Christianity, it suggests that the guardian believes, or at least wants us to think he believes, God is mandating these murders. It is clear to me that religion, or more specifically, Christianity, is important to this killer. We need to figure out how and why Christianity motivates him in order to understand him and his motives.”
Baldwin hesitates for a moment and then adds, “Something else occurs to me about his use of the cross. We need to remember that the cross he ties to every one of his victims is made of cast iron and weighs exactly five pounds. They are all identical. I believe that it serves a practical purpose for the guardian in addition to its religious significance. It adds ballast to his victims' bodies and helps to drag them to the bottom of the river. In this regard, the cross can be considered to be part of the guardian’s M.O. because it helps him to dispose of the corpses.”
Cassidy says, “Good observation, Jason. I agree with your conclusion. Now, let us go back to our discussion of religiosity.”
She continues, “There is no doubt tha
t Christianity plays an important role in his murders. The specific questions we need to answer are ‘how and why’ Christianity matters to him. This killer has not made any mistakes, that we know of, thus far, so we cannot count on him to make them in the future. If we are going to stop him, and I assure you that we are going to, then we must figure out how religion plays into his motivations and fantasies. This will help us to predict his future behavior, and in turn, it will enable us to set a trap for him.”
After a brief hesitation, Cassidy asks, “Does anyone have a theory about his motivations or fantasies?”
Criminalist Dr. Janet Chin, who holds a PhD in forensic science and has been with the FBI for fifteen years, responds to Cassidy’s question.
Chin says, “It seems to me that the killer considers himself to be an angel of God. As Jason just said, our perpetrator thinks that these killings are divinely inspired. In my opinion, he believes that God has sent him to kill these girls in order to save their souls. He thinks that God wants him to rescue their souls and escort them to heaven. That is why he calls himself the guardian. Although the concept of killing these girls in order to save them is ironic, twisted and tragic, I do not believe that the guardian is trying to trick us about his rationale for committing murder. In his pathological mind, he sincerely believes that he is protecting his young victims by killing them. I know that it sounds insane, but the guardian truly believes in the divine nature of his so-called mission. Additionally, I believe that he is obsessive and compulsive but not mentally ill in either a clinical or a legal sense. That is my take on his motives.”
Cassidy says, “Well done, Janet. I think you have tapped into his psyche.”
After a brief pause, she adds, “In his letter to Captain Pritchard, the killer specifically says that we should refer to him as the guardian. The moniker or pseudonym he has selected tells us that he views himself as a protector of the girls. He also states that he is acting on God’s will. In his letter he says, ‘I bless these girls with the sign of the cross.’ This statement further attests to his religious convictions. In fact, it suggests to me that he has probably received special, formal religious training. Perhaps he is a priest or a minister. We must investigate that possibility immediately.”
Special Agent Chin asks, “Do you believe as I do, Julia, that the guardian is being honest with us about his religious convictions and truthful about his belief that he is serving God by killing these girls?”
Cassidy replies, “Based on his letter and the forensic evidence available thus far, yes, Janet, I do. You and I both agree that the guardian is being truthful with us about his religious beliefs, including his justification and rationale for killing. In my opinion, he really does believe in the divine nature of his so-called mission. What he is doing is twisted and horrible, as you said, but he truly believes that he is acting on God’s will for him.”
Cassidy continues, “Therefore, it is clear to me that we are dealing with a visionary type serial killer like David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam. Similar to Berkowitz, who believed that he was killing for Satan, the guardian believes that God has told him kill adolescent girls. I am certain that he intends to allow nothing or no one to deter him from completing what he sees as his glorious work. In his letter to Captain Pritchard, he states that his mission has just begun.”
Cassidy tells the others that visionary serial killers like the guardian are act-focused—that is, they are obsessed with the act of killing. Murder has symbolic meaning for them. They commit murder at the command of imagined internal or external voices that they experience and perceive to be very real. Some visionary killers experience a psychotic break from reality that leads them to murder. Other visionary killers, such as David Berkowitz and the guardian, feel compelled to murder at the behest of a higher power such as the Devil or God.
Cassidy says, “Both ‘demon mandated’ and ‘God mandated’ serial killers are very well documented in the history of crime.”
Responding to Cassidy, Agent Chin says, “Yes, that makes sense. I think the guardian is indeed a visionary killer like the Son of Sam, but his criminal pathology is more complex than that of Berkowitz. The Son of Sam shot his victims from a distance and had no physical contact with them. The guardian, on the other hand, is a strangler who is compelled to engage in necrophilia with his female victims. In that regard, he exhibits the characteristics of a ‘hedonist lust’ serial killer such as Ed Kemper who also killed young women.”
She continues, “Hedonist lust killers enjoy the ritual of killing, and sex is a primary motivation for them regardless of whether the victims are alive or dead. Kemper, for example, returned to have sex with the abandoned and decomposing corpses of his young female victims long after killing them. For many hedonist lust killers, sexual gratification often requires mutilation of their victims or even cannibalism. We know that the guardian likes to carve messages into his victims with a knife.”
Cassidy says, “Yes, Janet. I see your point. The guardian does manifest the hallmark characteristics of hedonist lust killers who requires intimate skin-to-skin contact in their killings in order to be satisfied. As you said, hedonist lust killers are often stranglers, as is the guardian.”
Chin says, “In addition, hedonist lust killers are highly organized in their crimes, and they fantasize extensively about murder and rape prior to committing the acts. They may rehearse it in their minds for years before actually killing their first victim. Over time, lust killers become addicted to rape and murder much like an addict becomes addicted to drugs. Generally, as they progress, either the time between their killings decreases or the amount of sexual stimulation they require increases. Sometimes, both occur. We need to keep this in mind as we hunt for the guardian because his fantasy needs are likely to escalate over time.”
Cassidy says, “Yes, Janet. Everything we know about the guardian’s sexual appetite, rituals, meticulous personality, M.O. and signature are consistent with the characteristics of hedonist lust killers. So, I think what we have in the case of the guardian is a hybrid serial killer—that is, a unique blend of visionary killer and hedonist lust killer.”
Chin says, “I support that conclusion, Julia. Now, if I may, I would like to return to the visionary aspect of the guardian’s motivations for a moment. We have already agreed that the guardian is similar to Son of Sam in that both have an obsessive devotion to a higher power that orders them to kill. I believe that these two killers also share another important characteristic. Similar to Son of Sam, the guardian is an egotistical attention seeker who likes to send taunting letters to the police about his murders.”
Cassidy asks, “So, what does that tell us about the guardian, Janet?”
Chin replies, “It tells us a lot about his psychological profile. For example, I am certain the guardian has delusions of grandeur and believes that he is brilliant, powerful and unstoppable. He is also narcissistic and craves notoriety for his work. Undoubtedly, he is following the news media accounts of his crimes with great interest and most certainly is enjoying his newfound infamy. I suspect that the guardian is ecstatic and gloating over his success so far, and that gives me an idea about how to stop him. Namely, his egomania and grandiosity present us with an opportunity to trap him.”
“How so, Janet?” asks Special Agent Baldwin who is listening carefully along with the others.
Chin says, “Well, Jason, I detect some recklessness and impulsivity in the guardian’s personality that I think we can exploit. If you recall, the guardian stated in his letter to Captain Pritchard that ‘wearing the cross will lighten their burden’ in reference to his victims who were found at the bottom of the river with a heavy metal cross around their necks. Clearly, that was an intentional play on words or pun on his part. To me, his use of such juvenile humor is a sign of his cockiness and overconfidence. He feels intellectually superior, so he is taunting and mocking us. My point is that we can exploit his overconfidence and catch him if we set a trap and are able to bait him into making
a reckless error.”
Special Agent Steve Redding, a veteran criminalist with eleven years at the FBI, speaks up for the first time.
He says, “Yes, Janet, I think you are on to something. I agree that we can use his grandiosity and overconfidence against him. It seems to me that the guardian’s taunting tactics are very similar to those of Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, who also sent letters to the police. Just like BTK, our guy likes to tell us how smart he is and that we will never catch him.”
Redding adds, “Although the BTK manhunt lasted for many years, you will recall that a reckless error caused by the killer’s egomania ultimately led to his capture. I agree that we can catch the guardian the same way they caught BTK—that is, by exploiting his grandiosity and baiting him into making a mistake.”
Redding is referring to the fact that BTK was finally caught when he foolishly left identifying digital information, that he thought was deleted, on a floppy disk he was using to send taunting letters to the police.
Recognizing that the guardian’s egomania and narcissism could make him susceptible to a ploy similar to the one that brought down BTK, Supervisory Special Agent Cassidy says, “I agree with your logic, Steve, and it is consistent with Janet’s theory about our killer. It is clear that the guardian’s massive ego is a liability and a potential Achilles heel for him.”
Cassidy concludes, “All right. I want to employ this strategy against the guardian immediately. We are going to exploit his egomania and overconfidence by setting an appealing trap that he simply cannot resist. That is how we are going to catch him. Now, our work begins.”
Chapter Thirty
Supervisory Special Agent Julia Cassidy’s statement to her team is barely out of her mouth when James Pritchard bursts into the guardian war room. He is tired and a bit disheveled from working nearly around the clock for many days, but he is animated and alert as he enters the room. Pritchard has not had a drink in four days—that is, not since the night the FBI team arrived from Quantico.