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Growing up in Rhode Island
Killer Time
is a period piece, being set in Rhode Island in 1987. Rhode Island, like the world in general, has changed in many ways since then. Without being specific about my own life, it is fair to say that 1987 was closer to when I grew up than to today. In writing the story, I was drawn to many memories of growing up, and to reflections on how things have changed.
The Rhode Island of my youth felt like a good place to be a kid. The area where my family lived was considered safe, and the beaches which line the southern parts of Narragansett Bay were close enough to form an important part of summer memories. (My favourite beach was, and still is, Sachuest Beach in Middletown, known to locals as "Second Beach".) The water was fairly warm, and the waves were big enough to body surf (real surfing was still in its nascent days). Life was relatively uncomplicated--or at least seemed that way through the eyes of a growing boy.
Still, in those days Rhode Island was economically depressed, and had been since before World War II, when the textile mills left New England for the southern states. The impact of this exodus was visible in my youth, with almost every New England town having a large vacant mill building, their architecture so recognizable as to be iconic. (In school, we learned about the history of the textile mills, because the first textile mill in America was built in Pawtucket, RI by Samuel Slater. It was said that Slater brought the plans from England in his memory at a time when textile production technology was protected the way semiconductor technology is today.) Now, those mill buildings have been converted to everything from new factory production to shopping malls to condos (though in some cases, they were simply torn down after sitting vacant and neglected for too long.) In Killer Time, there is a description of this type of repurposing, if you are alert to spotting it!
Another element of life in my childhood was the existence of the Mafia (some refer to the Casa Nostra, but as a kid, everybody called it the Mafia). In those days in Rhode Island, the Mafia was involved in all kinds of activities, and was able to wield influence in many ways, from persuasion to bribes to worse. One clear memory is of a discount clothing store which featured great prices, because the merchandise was a mix of legitimate and stolen goods. Everyone knew, and many patronized the store, from doctors to judges to ordinary folks; if you knew the owner, and paid cash, you got a really good deal! One city, which will go unnamed, was generally recognized as the residence for many Mafia leaders, and consequently was regarded as a particularly safe place to live. (Few thieves wished to risk breaking into a home belonging to a Mafia member.) Of course, these reminiscences are memories from childhood, not an objective analysis of crime in America. Still, it is fair to say that such childhood memories were a metaphorical source for the story thread in Killer Time which involves the Mafia.
There are many other things which remain vivid memories about growing up in Rhode Island, including local foods. One of the sad things about modern life is that many local foods and food names seem to have disappeared. Among those terms unique to Rhode Island were clam cakes, Johnny cakes, and cabinets. If you're curious, a clam cake, while seafood-based, was nothing like a crab cake (which is a patty of crab meat); a Rhode Island clam cake was best described as a deep-fried fritter containing clams. (I particularly remember those sold on the midway at Crescent Park amusement park, which--like many things--is long-gone.) A Johnny cake was a type of corn-meal pancake, closer to a Jewish latke than to an ordinary pancake. Even in my youth, only a handful of places still served them, but they were delicious! A "cabinet" was the local name for a type of milk shake, though I can't be precise about the formula: as a teen, my sister worked in a dairy restaurant which served cabinets, frappes, and milk shakes, and today even she can't clarify the differences! While these food memories loom large for me, I will admit that none of them made it into Killer Time, though other food descriptions, more universal, did. (My suggestion would be to not read those passages when you're hungry!)
These memories, and others, contributed to my creation of the context for the events in Killer Time. Like any work of fiction, it is more a metaphorical creation than an attempt to deliberately portray a real place, but I hope that if will prove satisfying for readers. The real Rhode Island of my youth retains a hold on my affections, and I hope that the metaphorical Rhode Island will feel like a place you might want to live, or at least explore.
Creating a Period Piece in a Changing World
As is clear from the very beginning, Killer Time is set in the late 1980's, making it a "period piece". The choice of time was deliberate, as the 1980's represent a time when the modern world was about to be transformed by technology, but the transition had barely begun. Among the things taken for granted today, both in everyday life and in crime fiction: DNA forensics, computer databases, the internet, and even cell phones! So the reality was that there were far fewer tools to solve crimes, and when the same person committed multiple crimes (as with serial killers), even making the connections between crimes was much more difficult than simply doing a DNA match or searching a database for patterns. In Killer Time, this is made more challenging when the killings initially seem to be unrelated because of differences in the nature of each death. Of course, crimes did get solved, at least sometimes--but as mentioned in both the book and my adjoining essay about serial killers, even today many cases from the era remain unsolved. So, one of the major reasons I set Killer Time in 1987 was to look again at the world that was.
As a writer, I was determined to avoid anachronisms, which includes any mention of what didn't yet exist. In doing so, I am trusting that readers do in fact understand; for older readers, there is likely no issue, but for those born in roughly the last twenty-five years, all the technologies mentioned above have always simply been part of life. So, in writing, I was often led to think about the changes that have occurred (and which I'm old enough to have experienced first-hand!).
For example, IBM began selling personal computers (soon known as "PC's") in 1981. The PC, as a computer that could sit on a desk, represented a remarkable step forward in terms of making computers accessible (compared to room-sized mainframes and phonebooth-sized mini-computers). In practice, however, these machines were both limited and expensive, and the software they used was extremely restrictive. As one example, the software to create and edit documents (WordStar, and soon after, WordPerfect) could not display fonts, and so the documents were not truly WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get"). As a result, computers did not really enter newsrooms or police departments on a significant scale until the 1990's (and in some cases, even later). Hence, both the police department and the newspaper offices in Killer Time reflect the reality that work was still done largely by writing or typing.
One element of crime-solving today that has been made possible by computers is the use of databases. In broad terms, a database is a set of information that has been categorized in various ways, making it possible to search for all entries that include a particular category label or set of labels. Of course, today, we take database searches for granted whenever we "Google" something, or look for a consumer item on Amazon. In terms of crime databases as a tool for finding patterns, one of the earliest actually predates the personal computer era: the National Crime Information Center was initiated by the FBI in 1961. However, in the early days it primarily collected crime statistics, and being based on mainframes at the FBI, was essentially inaccessible to local law enforcement officials. In addition, it was not a truly searchable database, given the limitations of computer systems at the time. One of the first initiatives to utilize a database for analysis of local crime data was developed by the RCMP in Canada. VICLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System) originated with the efforts of an RCMP officer in Vancouver, who created a database mapping crime incidents for different areas of the city, which then could be used for identifying patterns and deciding which neighborhoods showed unusual incidence rates for particular crimes, like sexual assault. VICLAS began development in the late 1980's (and is mentioned in Killer Time), and became a national system in 1991. Today, criminal databases are seen as an essential part of policing, especially when seeking patterns. Similarly, the digitizing of fingerprint data has made large-scale searches for matches from crime scenes a largely automated process. (In Killer Time, fingerprint identification is used for one crime scene, but linking the prints to a known individual by manual search is portrayed as equivalent to getting a lucky break.)
One development which has had a profound impact on criminal investigations, but did not exist when the events in Killer Time take place, is the analysis of DNA from crime scenes. While television shows like CSI have made the use of DNA a basic element of criminal investigation, at least in the public mind, the reality often differs from the public image. Testing a crime sample to extract DNA, and then seeking a match to known DNA data, is still technical and resource-heavy, and is not routinely used to solve all crimes. However, for crimes in recent decades, often evidence which contains DNA has been preserved in evidence lockers, and when the DNA is not too degraded, it can be re-examined, and may lead to identifying a suspect. One such case was only recently solved, relating to a serial killer who was active in California from about 1974-1986, called "the Golden State killer". No arrest was made at the time, but DNA evidence was analyzed when the technology became available decades later. An initial analysis in 2001 found no match to known individuals, but in 2016 the FBI reopened the case after publicity triggered by crime writer Michelle McNamara. Subsequently, a match was found by tracing samples on a genealogy database, which pointed to likely relatives of the killer, and the eventual arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo in 2018--more than three decades after the last known attack in California! (Of course, DNA evidence can exonerate the innocent as well as potentially identify the guilty: the Innocence Project at the Cardozo Law School of Yeshiva University in New York began in 1992 with a focus on incorrect eyewitness identifications, but began using DNA evidence when the technology became available in the last twenty years. As of 2020, more than 300 wrongfully-convicted individuals in the US have been exonerated by DNA evidence.) As powerful as the use of DNA evidence can be for both the pursuit of the guilty and the clearing of the innocent, it is worth remembering what nearly all popular accounts omit: not all DNA information is equal, and depending on the evidence and the analysis, errors can still occur, even if rare.
Communication tools have changed profoundly since the late 1980's. Technically, the first cellphones were developed by Motorola in 1973, but even in the late 1980's cellphones were large, expensive, and limited. (I remember getting a Nokia cellphone that weighed about 1.5 lbs in 1991, and airtime was so expensive that I used it only for near-emergencies.) Color graphic displays on cellphones only came in the early 2000's, and the first iPhone, with its then-revolutionary touch screen operating system, appeared in 2007. Of course, progress has accelerated since then; it is worth noting that even a cheap phone today has far more computer power than a mid-1990's PC running Windows 3.1! But in the world of Killer Time, communication was not pervasive, and "networking" (interacting with other people) required going to the office--hence, many scenes are set at Barton Jewelry, or the Providence PD, or the Journal-Bulletin newsroom.
In the end, the world of Killer Time is far different than our world today. Arguably, though, the minds and hearts of individuals are much the same, and it is my hope that readers will connect to those human elements, and that the characters' thoughts and emotions will feel familiar even when the environment does not.
The Psychology of Serial Killers and Psycopaths
It is obvious from the prologue of Killer Time that the attacker is not only capable of killing in cold blood, but does so without any sense of remorse. Even so, it is only as the story unfolds that it becomes clear that the attack in the opening was not an isolated incident. So, does that mean the antagonist is a serial killer, a psychopath, both, or neither?
In my career as a psychologist, I studied psychopathology (though I was an academic, not a clinician). But even before I entered university, the possibility that someone could kill others and not experience remorse was an unwelcome reality in my experience, because of an event in high school: a student who was an all-A student and co-captain of the football team—seemingly an "all-American boy"—was arrested and subsequently convicted of the rape and brutal murder of two women. In the local community, and even nationally, the story made headlines, and as a teenager, I found it almost impossible to comprehend. Ultimately he was convicted and sent to prison, where he died just after the state supreme court announced he should receive a new trial. (I will not provide identifying details of this case, and I also wish to be clear that while the case lingered in my mind when I decided to write Killer Time, the story is in no way a retelling of the actual events, and the references to a similar-seeming case in the book should be taken as creative fictions.) What was never clear to me was the motivation for this person's actions--and this leads me to consider serial killers and psychopaths.
Serial killers seem to occupy a large space in popular imagination, from Jack the Ripper to the Dexter stories. The reality is that serial killers may have existed in all time periods and locales, but only drew wide-spread attention starting in the 1960's in the US. Several of the most well-known cases are discussed in Killer Time, and I won't repeat those details here. One point that I will note is that while several notorious serial killers, including David Berkowitz and Jeffery Dahmer, were caught and convicted, a number of cases were never solved--perhaps the best-known being the Zodiac Killer in California in the late 1960's, who taunted the police and newspapers with notes written in code.
From a psychological viewpoint, not all serial killers are alike. Some, like David Berkowitz, seem to suffer from a form of psychosis. (Known as the "son of Sam" killer for the way he signed notes left at crime scenes, Berkowitz claimed he was driven to commit the attacks by mental messages from his neighbor's dog, named Sam.) By contrast, Jeffrey Dahmer was deemed by the courts to be legally sane, even if his cannibalism of his victims struck most people as abhorrent and abnormal. While it is difficult to come up with precise figures (especially since there have been serial killers that have never been identified, let alone psychologically assessed), most professionals would say that very few serial killers fit the David Berkowitz pattern of suffering from a delusional psychosis. (Sadly, people sometimes think that all individuals suffering from paranoid schizophrenia represent a threat to others, but the data suggest real violence is rare--and when it does occur, is more likely to be expressed as self-harm than harm to others.) Instead, to the extent that evidence exists, it suggests most serial killers are driven by motives unrelated to serious mental disorders (as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association). Instead, they seem to exhibit an absence of empathy and guilt that is commonly referred to as psychopathy.
The term "psychopath" traces back to German psychiatrist J.L.A. Koch in the 1880's. It has had a complex history since, and in several ways is overlapping with the more recent terms "sociopath" and "anti-social personality". Without going into an extensive discussion of the nuances, it is not unreasonable to say that all three terms can indicate someone who shows very little empathy for others, is manipulative and self-seeking, and feels little or no guilt for social transgressions. Interestingly, such individuals typically appear to be above-average in intelligence--not "geniuses", but not below average in mental capacity, either. While there is no clear specific origin (and no known genetic factor), a history of being abused as a child is fairly common. In broad outline, one could imagine an intelligent child faced with an abusive environment who adopts manipulation and self-interest as coping strategies to survive.
Given this profile, it is easy to envision many serial killers as psychopaths who have taken their self-focus, resentment and absence of guilt to an extreme. Indeed, that seems consistent with what we know about some of the high-profile cases, like Jeffrey Dahmer. Having said this, it is important to note that not all individuals labelled "psychopathic" are therefore killers. Manipulation and self-seeking can be expressed in many ways that have nothing to do with killing, or even necessarily crime. (A few years ago a social researcher claimed that profiling the available information on American corporate CEO's suggested a statistically significant proportion showed psychopathic tendencies! I am deeply skeptical of such psychologizing-from-afar, but the notion that an intelligent individual could rise through the corporate ranks by self-seeking and manipulating others does not seem entirely implausible.)
To illustrate that not all psychopaths are killers, I can refer to an episode that happened when I was teaching. On this particular occasion, I became aware that one weekend an attempted bank robbery in my neighborhood resulted in the armed robbers taking hostages in a nearby drugstore; thankfully, they surrendered without anyone being hurt. What made this incident significant was that one of the robbers was a current student of mine! When he returned to school several days later, he came to my office--presumably to discuss the work he'd missed. Instead, he asked me to explain the term "psychopath"--and when I asked why, he said that the court-appointed psychiatrist had told him he was a psychopath. Given this information, and the knowledge of the robbery incident, I soft-pedalled concerns about his missed work.… Without clinical background, I was prepared to consider this assessment possible, but not certain. Interestingly, the night before the date for his court appearance, he told his wife he was going for a walk by the lake--and never returned. When his clothes were found floating in the lake, it was concluded that he had committed suicide by drowning. In reality, he was arrested a year later while attempting another robbery on the other side of the country! The realization that he felt no guilt about faking his death (his wife never knew his intent) seemed to support the court psychiatrist's assessment. Note that he never engaged in physical violence, even when holding hostages at gunpoint. This underlines the view that while many serial killers may be psychopathic, not everyone who is psychopathic is a killer. (Indeed, a recent initiative to intervene with teens who show psychopathic tendencies, often with criminal records, has shown some encouraging results in terms of teaching empathy and curbing self-centeredness. It may well be that such individuals have been badly damaged by an abusive childhood, but may not be beyond redemption--for themselves, or society.)
This narrative should not be taken as a definitive discussion, as the issues are complex, and as the old saying goes, "the devil is in the details". Instead, it is meant to provide some food for thought--and a teaser for some of the content of Killer Time!
