As a society, we find serial killers fascinating, in a “Can’t look away from a train wreck” sort of way. (I would know; I’ve written this column about old serial killers every month for two years.) 

We talk a lot about the psychology of a killer, but rarely do we bring up a similarly pressing issue: The Fans.

Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer: Scum of the earth, but with large “Followings”, so to speak. If they had socials, they’d be popping. Actually, they do. There are at least seven fan accounts impersonating Ted Bundy that I could find on Instagram, likely more. 

Many prolific serial killers have received exorbitant amounts of “fan mail”, usually amorous in nature, while in prison. Ted Bundy reportedly received hundreds of these “fan letters” while in prison. Bundy also proposed to Carole Ann Boone in the middle of his trial while she was on the witness stand, to which she said yes. But why? Why is this is a thing?

I don’t like writing about recent murders. It just feels insensitive. My go-to rule of thumb for choosing a serial killer to discuss in an issue of Hidden Homicides is to answer three questions: 1) Did these crimes happen at least a century ago?, 2) Are they a killer most people don’t know?, and 3) Did they commit any crimes that I can’t write about in the school newspaper without being censored?

But this case is contemporary. I want to focus less on the victims, because this is such a recent case, and instead discuss the killer’s fanbase.

Thirty year old Wade Wilson, referred to by the media as “The Deadpool Killer”, thanks to his name being the same as the comic book mercenary’s, was sentenced to two death penalties on June 25th, 2024. A man with a          litany of face tattoos—all of which look like the temporary tattoos we sell at my workplace, Spirit Halloween—charged for the murders of two women on the same day. Once again, scum of the earth. But while researching this case, I stumbled upon something odd. People (predominantly middle-aged white women) seem to find him attractive.

As a true crime fan myself, I don’t want to be lumped in with those kinds of people. I find the brutal creativity of killers to be fascinating, but I have never found myself falling for a serial killer. Especially not one with two swastikas tattooed on his face.

There is a technically a word for this: hybristophilia: Sexual or romantic attraction to people who commit crimes. But there’s a deeper psychological aspect to this. While there are several theories as to why mainly women find criminals attractive, the most popular theory comes from an evolutionary standpoint. Very basically, as a result of evolution, people born female are more likely to be attracted to a partner who could protect them and their offspring.

There’s also the theory that women’s obsession with serial killers and criminals may be an extreme form of fanaticism by insecure people who cannot secure love in a normal or healthy way. Most of them are also able to consciously recognize that a murderer would be a bad romantic partner.

There’s a third theory that women may be hybristophilic due to the delusion that they could “change” or “fix” a dangerous criminal. They may also believe that they can “see” the little boy the murderer once was, and feel a desire to care for and nurture him. 

While I think it may be a combination of all three theories, I also believe that we should just bring back the diagnosis “crazy”. Fans of Wade Wilson created a GoFundMe that raised well over its goal of $100,000 before being removed by the company for violating its terms of agreement. The fundraiser was then transferred over to a similar website called Fundly, where it raised even more. Just recently, it came out that Wade Wilson and one of his supporters, Jesse Tehonica, were scamming people through fundraisers by leading people to believe that Wilson would be exonerated if the goal was reached. Both are likely to be federally prosecuted.

Regardless of which of the three theory may the most accurate, psychologists agree that this is a matter of concern that should be discussed with a therapist or other licensed professional.