Have you ever admired any real life killers, criminals or thieves?

30-01-2013 03:31AM

shanec1928 wrote: »

i take it you never seen prison break then..

Yes I've seen that fictional television drama, it was pretty cool the way they incorporated the legend of D.B. into the show, must actually get around to watching the last season of it.

ShooterSF · 30-01-2013 04:25AM

Slightly different but I was a huuuuggggeee fan of Chris Benoit the rassler. I had tshirts, posters, dvds and even shed a tear when the company finally put the title belt on him at wrestlemania 20 and I still have the special edition DVD of it. Nothing like your idol turnng into a murderer to **** up your shoite.

Scruffles · 30-01-2013 04:29AM

castletownman wrote: »

I wouldn't go as far to say that I've had genuine admiration for real life killers, criminals or thieves, but I find it thoroughly fascinating reading up their wikipedia pages. Makes for some interesting, if not creepy, reading finding out what goes through someone's mind.

same here.

woud never admire someone for their pyschopathy traits,such as how well they manipulated and took advantage of someone; personaly find their targeting of vulnerable/weak people or children; sickening to the core,the only way to actualy admire any traits of theirs woud be to drop all morals and sense of decency which woud never be able to do in the same way pyschopaths cannot turn on morals and a sense of decency.

they are very interesting to read about what they were like growing up and how it coud have affected them,why they do things,their reasoning behind things.
these are ones that always find interesting-
albert fish- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Fish
john straffen- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Straffen
richard chase- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chase

had been the long term target of a pyschopath online and left with two severe permenent mental illnesses as a result,its a good job for that rotten piss streak it was over the computer.
maybe people who admire pyschopaths shoud write to ones on death row through the prison pen pal services,but just remember the group woud be dealing with,they will say anything if it benefits them.

DazMarz · 30-01-2013 08:55AM

Henry Hill. (1943-2012)

The original "Goodfella". He might not have been the most admirable of blokes, but he had one helluva story. His two books (Wiseguy and Gangsters and Goodfellas) are enthralling reads. And of course, the former spawned one of the greatest gangster films of all time, Goodfellas.

One aspect of him and his criminal entrepreneurship that was not in the film was that he served in the United States Army. One of his big things there that made him a small fortune was when he saw how much wastage there was in the kitchens of the army base; they always over-ordered and perfectly good joints of meat or bags of vegetables would not be used and would be thrown out once they had gone off. Hill started 'liberating' said foodstuffs (in addition to packets of ketchup and sauces and other more non-perishable foods) and selling them back home when he was on weekend leave. This may have helped result in his expulsion from the Army.

As he was not pure-blooded Italian (his father was Irish-American), he could never be a "made-man" in La Cosa Nostra, but he was unique in that he moved with the upper echelons of said organisation, despite not being an official "member".

His well-documented downfall was of course his desire to make more money and his ventures into the narcotics trade, more specifically cocaine. He also broke the cardinal rule of "Never get high off your own supply" and was soon a coke-fiend. He was busted by the FBI in 1980 and given a choice between 30-to-life in Federal Prison or turn state's witness against his mafia cronies, he chose the latter.

He testified and entered Witness Protection, and as the film said, "lived the rest of my life like a schnook".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO_XnBm4PfE

Real Life · 30-01-2013 09:33AM

I wouldnt really say admired but i find the stories of many serial killers fascinating, in particular Ted Bundy and Richard Kuklinski.

brimal · 30-01-2013 10:06AM

Colton Harris-Moore aka The Barefoot Bandit

Cienciano · 30-01-2013 10:08AM

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

im sure the ex staff of o connors jewellers in harolds cross think Martin Cahill is a hero:rolleyes:. he was low life scum

I agree, he was a complete scumbag and a prick. Ordinary Decent Criminal me hole.

Matt_Trakker · 30-01-2013 10:59AM

Che
Michael Collins
Jules Bonnot
Wolftone
Napoleon Bonapart
Al Capone
Wild Bill Bickok
Jesse James
and even though he's not real....
Tyler Durden

Mr Benevolent · 30-01-2013 12:14PM

I've never understood why so many people are interested in murderers and psychopaths.

Rasheed · 30-01-2013 12:16PM

Confab wrote: »

I've never understood why so many people are interested in murderers and psychopaths.

Really? I find them fascinating. A morbid curiosity, I suppose. I could read about them all day. Finding out what made them tick, what reason had they, if any.

FunGoose · 30-01-2013 02:06PM

Rasheed wrote: »

Really? I find them fascinating. A morbid curiosity, I suppose. I could read about them all day. Finding out what made them tick, what reason had they, if any.

I'm the same. Curious and slightly fascinated but I don't admire or respect the murderers, serial killers etc. that I'm always reading books about.

If you haven't read this book yet, you should. 'The Night Stalker - Richard Ramirez' (by Philip Carlo). It's brilliant the way it looks into his very early years, his crimes and his killing spree, right up to his trial and a little after.

The evil, crazy things he has done are unreal. What is really hard to understand is the amount of women that are mad for him since he's been caught. Many of them fantasize about being one of his victims, writing to him and even visiting him -he even got a wife out of it! (Some of these emails from 'fans' are in the back of the later edition of the book). He even said himself that women weren't interested in him at all until he became 'The LA Night Stalker'.

Don't even read the wiki page or whatever, just go straight for the book, brilliantly written.

Real Life · 30-01-2013 02:33PM

Rasheed wrote: »

Really? I find them fascinating. A morbid curiosity, I suppose. I could read about them all day. Finding out what made them tick, what reason had they, if any.

i feel the same way, i read about them all the time, i find it fascinating to think about how their minds worked. What i find most fascinating is when i come across the ones that nobody ever expected because they seemed so nice but really were living a double life.
As ive mentioned already Ted Bundy and Richard Kuklinski are good examples

AnarchistKen · 30-01-2013 02:52PM

John Haas - Liverpudlian heroin baron back in the day.

Got locked up for 18 years, read law books and found out about a thing called a Royal Pardon.

11 months in he planted a gun on another fellow inmate, told officials it was there. Bing bang boom got released for "saving" a prison officers life.

Total scumbag though but clever all the same.

ejmaztec · 30-01-2013 03:08PM

The Healy-Rae Hole in the head gang have their admirers.

checkyabadself · 30-01-2013 04:53PM

Interested, concerned, intrigued yes. Admired no, although i suppose anyone who reads the Sunday world or similar newspaper might . I can never understand how they sell newspapers featuring front page stories that are irrelevant to 99% of the population in place of national/global interest stories.

orestes · 30-01-2013 05:06PM

Confab wrote: »

I've never understood why so many people are interested in murderers and psychopaths.

Morbid fascination with "evil" people is pretty much a part of human nature I think, just look at the size of true crime, history or biography sections of any bookshop. I read somewhere a while ago that having a picture of Hitler on the cover increases the sales of a book by two or three times over. And that's before the academic interest of learning about the psychology/sociological issues involved. There's a lot to be learned from them if they're studied, and a lot of regular people just like staring into the abyss.

Rasheed · 30-01-2013 05:21PM

FunGoose wrote: »

I'm the same. Curious and slightly fascinated but I don't admire or respect the murderers, serial killers etc. that I'm always reading books about.

If you haven't read this book yet, you should. 'The Night Stalker - Richard Ramirez' (by Philip Carlo). It's brilliant the way it looks into his very early years, his crimes and his killing spree, right up to his trial and a little after.

The evil, crazy things he has done are unreal. What is really hard to understand is the amount of women that are mad for him since he's been caught. Many of them fantasize about being one of his victims, writing to him and even visiting him -he even got a wife out of it! (Some of these emails from 'fans' are in the back of the later edition of the book). He even said himself that women weren't interested in him at all until he became 'The LA Night Stalker'.

Don't even read the wiki page or whatever, just go straight for the book, brilliantly written.

Oh I must get that book, thank you! I only ever saw a documentary on him. Very interesting.

I've often wondered what drives those women to become attracted to such criminals. Even on Death Row, the more infamous you are, the more female attention you'll get. It's quite fascinating too really.

Rasheed · 30-01-2013 05:28PM

Real Life wrote: »

i feel the same way, i read about them all the time, i find it fascinating to think about how their minds worked. What i find most fascinating is when i come across the ones that nobody ever expected because they seemed so nice but really were living a double life.
As ive mentioned already Ted Bundy and Richard Kuklinski are good examples

I've only recently heard about Richard Kuklinski.

I also find (don't laugh!) Criminal Minds very interesting. I know it's only a programme, but it got me interested in profiling and that science. Maybe I'm the weird one for reading about such evil people, but it's addictive.

RATM · 30-01-2013 05:38PM

tommyombomb wrote: »

Pablo Escobar, just because if your going to do something, be the biggest and best

This.

The scale of what Pablo Escobar did was truly staggering. But he was clever with his profits from crime too- he donated a lot to local schools and hospitals.This meant that he got the locals on his side and they would never rat him out.

Up until his death he had over 3,000 men dedicated to hunting him down.He evaded them for several years, that feat alone is deserving of attention.

premierstone · 30-01-2013 05:47PM

Bobby Sands.

Holsten · 30-01-2013 05:49PM

DB Cooper for me, the whole story around him is brilliant.

dienbienphu · 30-01-2013 05:51PM

Fugitive soliticitor Michael Lynn

Mirror Image · 30-01-2013 09:24PM

I have admired mostly Con Artists like Frank Abingale et al. I suppose it is the brains and confidence that they could exude. However I admit to Wiki-ing some real bad criminals because I find their stories interesting.

EDIT: Just want to make it clear that I admire the con men who are creative genius', not the scam you on the street type.

Red About Town · 30-01-2013 09:27PM

McChubbin wrote: »

Martin Cahill.

Why?

Red About Town · 30-01-2013 09:28PM

premierstone wrote: »

Bobby Sands.

Do you consider him a killer, criminal and/or thief?

weldoninhio · 30-01-2013 10:44PM

FunGoose wrote: »

I'm the same. Curious and slightly fascinated but I don't admire or respect the murderers, serial killers etc. that I'm always reading books about.

If you haven't read this book yet, you should. 'The Night Stalker - Richard Ramirez' (by Philip Carlo). It's brilliant the way it looks into his very early years, his crimes and his killing spree, right up to his trial and a little after.

The evil, crazy things he has done are unreal. What is really hard to understand is the amount of women that are mad for him since he's been caught. Many of them fantasize about being one of his victims, writing to him and even visiting him -he even got a wife out of it! (Some of these emails from 'fans' are in the back of the later edition of the book). He even said himself that women weren't interested in him at all until he became 'The LA Night Stalker'.

Don't even read the wiki page or whatever, just go straight for the book, brilliantly written.

I must look up The Night Stalker, but Carlo also wrote The Ice Man and Gaspipe, which are both brilliant books. I like his style of writing.

30-01-2013 10:50PM

Lindsey Lohan

HTML5! · 30-01-2013 10:56PM

Geronimo.

A great man, great leader.

AnonoBoy · 30-01-2013 11:01PM

That lad with the one arm who killed Harrison Ford's wife.

I hate Ally McBeal. :mad:

Bad Santa · 31-01-2013 06:02AM

Bad Santa wrote: »

of course our own Martin Cahill also seemed to be one Irish criminal that for whatever reason, had his admirers despite him being yet another ruthless psychopath. Masterminds (a Canadian TV show) even devoted one show to him centering on the art heist.

Here is that episode of Masterminds that I was referring to for anyone that hasn't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQi_bWivHvk

Have you ever admired any real life killers, criminals or thieves?

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