After a heinous crime was committed in the 1970s, a popular decade for serial killers, detectives, analysts, researchers and the like had to piece through obscure ramblings on notepaper, scrawls on walls, song lyrics and the occasional hand written journal to figure out what was going in the perpetrator’s mind leading up to their crime. After that, a biography or compliation of information would be produced in book form, and given to the public. It was rare that the entire “works” of a murderer could be public for everyone to look at. Aside from the morbid curiosity, there is a lot to be learned from what they don’t realize they’re telling us.

Thirty-some years later, that is all changing. Murderers are blogging. They are blogging before and after their crimes. They are meticulously detailing their feelings of lonliness, despair and rage. They dissect their horoscopes, post poems, and talk about random articles of interest in much the same way a lot of bloggers do. You may not immediately recognize you are reading the words of a disturbed mind.

However, if you read closely enough, you can see the potential for violence. The apathy is apparent, and it’s chilling. Unfortunately, with the internet’s thriving population of “emo” kids, and the “starving artist who writes dark poems about depression” types, it’s difficult to determine who genuinely needs help.

After The Crime-

When the killer is locked away, their blog, myspace, livejournal, and all posts on forums remain as a shrine to their special brand of madness. Anyone who dares can read these pages and try to see where they were telling us what was happening. Were they calling out for help? Were they warning us? Did they hope a book deal would be inevitable after gaining notoriety?

Reading through the mundane details of their life - from BBC News articles they find interesting to girl troubles - is sometimes not easy. It forces you to realize that these are human beings, and before their crime, they were probably fairly normal… On the outside, anyway. The wide spread naive idea of private thoughts on internet blogs allows these people a freedom that they may not normally express to their family and friends.

Harder yet is reading the entries that date closer to their crime. In some cases, you can tell they are losing touch with reality. In others, it’s business as usual.

Responsiblities -

Should the blogs, profile pages and forum posts be pulled from the internet, as if they didn’t ever exist, to sheild the curious yet gentle, or should they remain, so we may study and educate ourselves to maybe better recognize those that need help? Or, as demostrated in the below quote from a commenter on Kevin Underwood’s last blog entry on MySpace, would that use simply encourage careless vigilantes to accuse the innocent?

One more thing I’d like to say to other bloggers online here. If you see anyone’s blog or profile and you have that certain “gut” feeling about the person, don’t let it slide. Trust your instincts and alert the authorities. The life you save may be your own or a member of your family. It’s time we all become vigilantes for these naive and innocent children who are being conned and led astray by evil and sick individuals who have no remorse for the horrid things they’ve done or plan to do. While it’s true we all would like to see this perperator executed, lets work on snagging the other sick individuals and we could probably save someone’s life if we really try.

Is it just morbid entertainment, or can we find real value to their digitized thoughts?

A comphrensive compliation of everything Kevin Ray Underwood did, said or posted on the internet. A lot time and patience when into this.