In The Minds Of Killers

Doing time like I did in my past. It brought me close to some of the most sick killers and criminals out there. I played chess and dominoes with these guys, ate with them, and learned some things about them. 

What I know doesnt come form a book or any kind of mystery novel. It comes from living it. 

As morbid as this sounds, death fascinates me and the minds of killers do as well. Talking with them, writing them, I can connect with them because I was there where they are at.  I know how to talk the talk and walk the walk. They dont scare me. Why? Because I am not on the menu. I am a "neutral " zone for them. I dont judge them and they know that. Communicating with them is tricky because they are very moody. But deep down they have a conscience that wants to do the right thing. That evil part however is their boss though. That evil part is where they are in denial. They wont talk to the cops generally. But, catch them at their "human" moment and they will tell you about themselves or the story behind the crime for which they have committed. 

The first killer I ever associated with was Henry Lee Lucas. I was doing time in TDC and at the Walls unit in Huntsville and ran into him in the library. I was like 18 or 19 years old and he looked at me like I was on the lunch menu. I had a brief talk with him about why he was in there. He actually believed what he did was not wrong but it seemed like he was more sorry about being caught. He wanted to continue his hunting boys but he knew he couldn't anymore. Standing at the counter he was standing next to me. When I was about to leave he slapped me on the ass and I turned and hit him in the head with a hardcover book. He kinda got the hint that I was not on the menu. 

I met Jimmy Lee Smith when I had to do six months in Los Angeles County Jail. He was one of the Onion Field Killers accused of killing a cop. He was in there on a parole violation. He told me the cops came to his place and found cocaine in his medicine cabinet. He insisted it was a setup. But when I asked him about the cop killing he was still in denial and basically said he had to do what had to be done.  But he labeled his partner as the trigger man.

Johnny Holmes the porn star. I met him first in the visiting room at the LA County jail. he was a cool guy. We talked briefly a few times about Texas and all that and the fact he was legally married to several women and not to say anything. We could only talk briefly because he was housed in the "High Power" unit of the jail. (High Profile Cases) But I worked in the visiting room and would talk to the girls that came to visit him.  He told me the cops had him in there because he wouldnt talk about the Wonderland Murders. He told me he was there but he was too stoned to remember exactly what happened.  He did say that there was a lot of blood and it freaked him out. He was a very cordial and respectful guy and liked to talk. He was in a cell by himself so he appreciated conversation. He took his secret to the grave after he died from AIDS. But from what little he was able to tell me, I knew he was involved in those murders but still in denial, He knew they would never convict him for it.

Peggy Jean Keener: PJ was a pretty socialite that I dated a few times that lived in Friendswood Texas. Very intelligent and very lonely. Her and I met online on an adult BBS called Playline Magazine. She went by the nickname "The Black Widow" so that sparked my interest believe it or not.

One day, one of her friends called me. I think she was jealous. But she told me to talk to PJ and ask her exactly how she broke up with her last boyfriend. So I called PJ and asked her, she began to cry and asked me to come over. Over coffee she told me how her ex would beat her up and force sex on her. That he was cheating on her with a stripper. So she said she told her neighbor that she wanted to borrow their gun for a Possum or Raccoon she wanted to kill that was in the house. She then told me she waited fro him to come over. He said that he began the same routine so she shot him in the head, chest and nuts. Then she drug his body into the back yard and buried him under a compost pile. After she told me that I told her, "PJ maybe its best we just be friends".  She told me she was out on bond.  One of her so called friends told the DA that she had been dating me. They sent an investigator to my place who took me to the DA. When questioned I absolutely refused to testify against her. When she told me the judge would hold me in contempt, I told them I needed a vacation anyway, go for it. It was then when the DA said "I wish I had Friends like you". I never was called to testify and PJ got 25 years for that.

Ana Trujillo (Ana Fox)  Known as the Stiletto killer her and I were very close. When I knew her about two years before she killed her boyfriend with a shoe, she was a beauty. But drinking and doing "cush" made her old real fast. Her and I were intimate, deep conversations about voodoo and the occult, about spirits and ghosts. Her and I spent a lot of time together. I was a neutral zone for her as well. She knew she was safe with me and I wasn't scared of her.  She was smart, very smart, but when she drank she was mean. She would come downstairs in one of her moods and I would chill her out, get her smiling again. She knew she could relax around me. Her and I gave massages to each other. I would draw her a hot bath, light candles and well things got interesting. But the point I am trying to make is that she and PJ had never shown any aggression towards me because they knew that I cared. That I did not judge them. They were in their "safe zone" with me.

Writing and talking to killers have led me to this. Inside every single one of us is a potential killer. It is true. Anyone can be driven to kill. Whether out of anger, hate or even love. Of course psychological issues play a big part. But I have discovered over the years of knowing the ones I know that there is a conscience there. Deep down they know what they did was wrong but the evil part sometimes over rules the human part. Then they are drawn to killing. Any one of us has the potential or the abilities to be a murderer or serial killer. Serial killers want to be caught. That is the tiny bit of "human" wanting that which is inside them. When they are caught they need to be locked up, they need to be out of society because more in likely they will do it again and again. 

In closing I just want to say I learned alot from these people I've had in my life. That is why I am good at what I do.  I can communicate with them, get them to let their guard down and tell me their story. Serial killers HATE women. The only time they want a female pen pal is to get them to send money. It s a little game they have. 

Thanks for your time

Jim