20 Disturbing Interviews with Serial Killers Before Execution
These serial killer interviews are guaranteed to creep you out! For this list, we’ll be analyzing the most bizarre and harrowing discussions with famous killers before they died or were supposed to be put to death.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 A person said one time, he said, "That's a horrible way of dying."
00:04 I said, "What is a good way?
00:08 Could you tell me what a good way is to die?"
00:10 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 20 disturbing interviews
00:14 with serial killers before being executed.
00:17 Do you think you're a hero to those hate groups?
00:19 Well, that's what they tell me, you know.
00:23 For this list, we're analyzing the most bizarre and harrowing discussions
00:27 with famous killers before they died or were supposed to be put to death.
00:31 If they weren't actually executed, they could still be eligible
00:35 as long as they were sentenced to be.
00:37 Which of these unnerved you the most?
00:39 Let us know in the comments below.
00:40 Over the course of three years in the early 1980s,
00:46 Michael Bruce Ross claimed the lives of eight girls and women
00:49 in Connecticut and New York.
00:51 Ross had endured a troubled childhood and began his vicious crime spree
00:55 in his senior year of college.
00:57 I just felt like I was right on the edge and like I could,
00:59 it was just going to be, wouldn't take much to push me over.
01:03 I just, and it was very frightening back then.
01:05 I'm not like that now.
01:07 I'm just such a lovable guy now.
01:09 After he was captured in 1984, Ross confessed to all eight murders
01:14 and was sentenced to death in Connecticut.
01:16 In an interview given while awaiting execution,
01:18 the roadside strangler as he came to be known
01:21 casually recounted his heinous crimes.
01:23 It was 3.30 in the afternoon on a fairly well driven road.
01:27 She was walking alongside the road and I just stopped the car,
01:36 get out of the car.
01:37 At one point, he even bragged about the strength
01:39 with which he strangled his victims.
01:41 It was an insane strength or something.
01:44 Because I got a kick out of it because the prosecutor,
01:47 I knew, had no idea that was coming.
01:49 Ross was executed in 2005, the last person to face that penalty
01:53 in the state of Connecticut.
01:55 For some of us, death is not a punishment.
01:57 Edward Wayne Edwards.
01:59 Right from his childhood, Edward Wayne Edwards lived a life of crime,
02:02 even once appearing on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.
02:06 It was a female who identifies herself as April.
02:09 She said, "I think my dad could be responsible for Tim and Kelly.
02:13 I think he killed them."
02:15 And she said his name is Edward Wayne Edwards.
02:17 Edwards began killing after being granted parole in 1967
02:21 and was responsible for at least five deaths.
02:24 There were some cigarettes in the bottom of the duffel bag.
02:29 I said, "You go ahead and get them out."
02:32 Edwards lived as a free man for decades before being arrested in 2009
02:36 and sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes.
02:39 I felt bad, but apparently not bad enough that I kept from doing it.
02:45 Seeking a quick punishment, Edwards sat for an interview with the Associated Press,
02:49 during which he confessed to killing his foster son,
02:52 Danny Boy Edwards, for a life insurance payout.
02:54 He was stealing from my children, and I'm very close to my family in that respect.
03:00 And so I just let my mind—I'm not new to crime.
03:06 In 2011, Edwards was handed the death penalty for Danny's murder.
03:10 However, he died of natural causes just one month later.
03:14 Bobby Joe Long
03:16 For more than three decades, Bobby Joe Long sat on death row in Florida
03:20 before he was executed in 2019.
03:22 Long was not only a serial killer, with at least 10 victims to his name,
03:27 he was also a serial predator, having assaulted more than 50 women in around three years.
03:32 As soon as I opened my eyes from being asleep, that's what I was thinking about.
03:37 That didn't let up until I did it.
03:41 He was arrested in November 1984, after one of his victims,
03:45 Lisa McVeigh, led the authorities to him.
03:48 Long claims, in this interview with Miami's WPLG,
03:51 that his compulsions were triggered by a motorcycle accident
03:54 that left him with head injuries.
03:56 The first time I did it, I couldn't really believe I did it.
03:59 With a piercing stare and a creepy half-smile,
04:02 he talks about being an average Joe who just happened to go off the edge
04:06 every once in a while.
04:07 Probably 99.9% of the time I'm as normal as he is or he is or anybody else is.
04:12 But there's that 1% of the time.
04:19 Andre Ciccatillo
04:20 He was in a large iron cage in the courtroom.
04:24 The cage was to protect him from the rage of the parents of the victims.
04:28 One of the most infamous killers in Soviet history,
04:31 Andre Ciccatillo terrorized the Rostov Oblast in Soviet Russia between 1978 and 1990.
04:38 Ciccatillo claimed to have taken the lives of 56 people
04:41 and was convicted of 52 murders.
04:43 Referred to as the "Butcher of Rostov,"
04:46 Ciccatillo was known for his erratic behavior in court,
04:49 but appeared a lot more restrained in this interview he granted before his execution.
04:53 He rambles on about his troubled childhood
04:55 and growing up during the Great Famine of the early 1930s in Soviet Ukraine.
05:00 [speaking in Russian]
05:12 When asked about the afterlife, Ciccatillo brushes it off
05:15 and expresses his readiness for whatever comes next.
05:18 [speaking in Russian]
05:28 Perhaps most disturbing was his past desire to become a dictator
05:31 from as early as the ninth grade.
05:33 [speaking in Russian]
05:47 Danny Rowling
05:48 Like some of the other individuals on this list,
05:51 Danny Rowling was the product of a sadistic upbringing.
05:54 In his adulthood, Rowling became a serial killer,
05:57 murdering three people in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana,
06:00 and five others in the student community of Gainesville, Florida.
06:04 In 2004, Rowling appeared in this episode of the Canadian true crime TV show
06:08 Forensic Factor.
06:09 "I let the evil in, and the evil just took over.
06:11 And it was like when the sun would go down, I couldn't resist it."
06:16 Rowling seems to express some remorse for his crimes
06:19 and concedes that he deserves to die.
06:22 But his demeanor throughout the interview
06:24 appears to be that of someone needing to be the center of attention.
06:27 "When the morning would come up, it was just like I would hate myself.
06:29 And it was like I was like, 'My God, what have I become?'"
06:34 That comes as no surprise, as he previously admitted his desire
06:39 to be a well-known criminal, like fellow serial killer Ted Bundy.
06:43 "I don't even know how much longer I'm gonna be on this earth.
06:45 But when I die, I hope I'm ready.
06:48 I hope I die half as bravely as the people who perished at my hand."
06:57 Peter Kilton
06:58 In the early 20th century, Peter Kilton reigned terror on the German city of Dusseldorf,
07:03 assaulting and killing at least nine people.
07:05 He was known as the "Vampire of Dusseldorf" due to his disturbing fascination with blood.
07:10 After his arrest in May of 1930, Kilton was analyzed by psychiatrist Dr. Carl Berg
07:16 over a series of interviews.
07:17 The infamous killer claimed that although there was a sexual nature to his crimes,
07:22 he was primarily motivated by the sight of blood.
07:25 He also stated that the very act of attacking his victims brought him intense relief.
07:29 Just before his execution by guillotine, Kilton asked his psychiatrist if he would
07:34 be able to hear the sound of his own blood gushing out after his decapitation.
07:37 Tommy Lynn Sells
07:40 California-born Tommy Lynn Sells claims to have committed over 70 murders.
07:44 If true, that would make him one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history.
07:49 Every time I did it, it was that rush again, and I started chasing that high.
07:57 Despite his claims, Sells was convicted of only one murder and sentenced to die in September of 2000.
08:03 In a jailhouse interview with Martin Bashir for ABC's Nightline,
08:06 Sells described himself as an emotionless person.
08:10 And that comes across quite clearly in the recorded clip.
08:13 When you look at me, you know what hate is. I don't know what love is.
08:17 With no remorse whatsoever, he recounted his killings,
08:20 detailing the rush he got from taking innocent lives.
08:23 It's a rare glimpse into the mind of a heartless killer,
08:26 and one capable of sending chills down any spine.
08:29 Why would that happen?
08:30 I didn't want him to live through the pain I lived through.
08:34 Ángel Maturino Reséndiz
08:36 Dubbed the "Railroad Killer," Ángel Maturino Reséndiz was known to illegally hop trains as
08:42 he traveled across the U.S. He would then invade homes close to the railroads,
08:46 rob them, and murder the occupants.
08:48 This offender, unlike a lot of others, spent an incredible amount of time in that house
08:54 going through everything.
08:56 In total, authorities believe Reséndiz killed at least 15 people in this manner.
09:00 His calm and reserved behavior throughout this interview with renowned journalist Jacqueline
09:05 Cacho heavily contrasts the vicious nature of his crimes.
09:09 Given entirely in Spanish, Reséndiz doesn't necessarily go into explicit detail about
09:13 the murders in this interview. Instead, he seemingly alludes to the motivation behind them.
09:19 Although he described himself as an "eternal being who was incapable of dying,"
09:23 Reséndiz was executed by lethal injection on June 27, 2006.
09:28 Earl Forrest
09:30 Back in December 2002, a drug dispute between longtime friends Earl Forrest and Harriet Smith
09:36 resulted in the former murdering the latter in her home.
09:39 Forrest also killed another friend of theirs, Michael Wells, who was visiting Smith at the
09:56 time, as well as a deputy sheriff during a police shootout afterwards.
10:01 For his crimes, he was put to death by lethal injection on May 11, 2016.
10:14 The first season of the A&E docuseries The Killer Speaks features an interview with Forrest,
10:19 who is completely devoid of any remorse.
10:22 Instead, he puts the responsibility of his actions on Smith for not fulfilling
10:30 a promise she made him. Watching the clip, you'd think he was the victim of the crime.
10:34 Joseph Paul Franklin
10:45 Joseph Paul Franklin was a notorious serial killer and white supremacist who is believed
10:48 to have been responsible for at least 20 murders.
10:51 Franklin mostly targeted interracial couples, African Americans, and Jewish people in his
11:04 attacks. He also famously shot adult magazine publisher Larry Flint in March 1978.
11:10 Although this interview Franklin granted to CNN before his 2013 execution provides little
11:15 information about his depraved crimes, it gives some insight into his state of mind.
11:20 And what was your mission?
11:22 At the time of the murders, he genuinely believed that he was doing the will of God.
11:28 While his mindset about that may have changed, Franklin still seems to relish in the fact that
11:42 he is viewed as a hero by certain extremist groups.
11:45 Do you think you're a hero to those hate groups?
11:47 Well, that's what they tell me, you know.
11:50 Gary Ray Bowles
11:53 Also featured on the A&E docuseries "The Killer Speaks" was Gary Ray Bowles.
11:58 Bowles' victims were largely gay men who lived along the Interstate 95 highway,
12:02 earning him the nickname "I-95 Killer."
12:11 In this taped interview for the TV show, Bowles seems to revel in the memories of his crimes as
12:16 he recounts them. Not only is he amused when he recalls stealing a man's identity to evade capture,
12:21 he also refers to one of his victims as, quote, "crazy and creepy."
12:25 Throughout the interview, Bowles tries to justify the murders,
12:33 claiming that his victims had done specific things that seemingly triggered him to kill.
12:38 I put one of the videos in.
12:39 What came on the screen, it just, it shocked me.
12:45 The apparent lack of accountability he shows only makes this much more uncomfortable to watch.
12:51 I took the birth certificate and social security card.
12:53 I took it down to the DMV and I told them I lost my driver's license
12:58 and I basically became Timothy Ronald Whitfield.
13:07 Billy Wayne Coble
13:08 Who is not going to leave this world, aren't we all?
13:12 Described by one prosecutor as having, quote, "a heart full of scorpions,"
13:16 Billy Wayne Coble killed his estranged wife's parents and brother.
13:20 Coble remained on death row in Texas for nearly 30 years before he was executed by
13:24 lethal injection in February of 2019. In the days leading up to his capital punishment,
13:30 Coble sat down with Susanna Reid for his final interview.
13:33 To you, it matters. To some people, it matters. To me, it really no longer matters.
13:40 Without going into much detail about his crimes, Reid asks Coble if he regrets committing them.
13:47 Coble cunningly evades the question and would only admit that he was behind the murders.
13:52 I've already said that I regret what happened. Now, I truly regret what happened,
13:57 but I also truly regret what happened to a lot of things in life.
14:02 He repeats this trend, even when he's asked if he loved his former wife.
14:06 This evasive behavior is just one more unsettling thing about this seemingly disturbed individual.
14:12 Did you love her, though?
14:13 I met my Karen when she was about 16, 17 years old.
14:21 Oscar Ray Bolin
14:22 In the mid-1980s, Oscar Ray Bolin killed three women throughout the Tampa area.
14:27 Following his arrest, Bolin's cousin testified against him
14:31 and implicated him in a fourth homicide. He received three death sentences
14:35 and was executed on January 7, 2016, at the age of 53.
14:41 One day before his death, Bolin was interviewed by Tampa's Fox 13.
14:45 How are you feeling this morning?
14:46 A little numb. I mean, I don't know how you would expect someone to feel.
14:59 I mean, they told you tomorrow you'd die and how would you feel?
15:02 Bolin appears calm and courteous throughout the interview,
15:04 even expressing fear and worry about his upcoming execution.
15:08 He also professes his innocence,
15:10 something he continuously maintained throughout his imprisonment.
15:14 So you're saying you didn't murder these women?
15:16 No.
15:16 You didn't murder Natalie Hawley?
15:18 No.
15:19 Stephanie Collins?
15:20 No.
15:21 Terry Lynn Matthews?
15:23 No. I didn't know them. I've never seen them. Never met them.
15:26 Bolin looks and sounds like a nice enough guy,
15:29 which only makes the darkness underneath seem that much more sinister.
15:33 After 28 years of this, being in this box for 28 years, it's a release.
15:39 My punishment's over. They can't hurt me no more.
15:41 Richard Ramirez
15:43 As far as Satan is concerned, I believe in a malevolent being.
15:48 His description eludes me, but I have felt powers that are evil.
15:54 A notorious serial killer known as the Night Stalker,
15:57 Ramirez terrorized California with his violent burglaries, assaults, and killings.
16:02 Ramirez took the lives of at least 15 people and was convicted of 13 homicides,
16:08 leading to 19 separate death sentences.
16:11 In 1993, Inside Edition aired an interview with Ramirez,
16:15 who was then awaiting execution on death row.
16:18 They are desires, whereas if I didn't give in to them, I would be crushed by them.
16:25 Among other discussion points, he explained his theories on the
16:28 psychological development of serial killers like himself.
16:32 Even more chilling, when asked why he killed his victims,
16:35 Ramirez hides a smile and simply says,
16:38 No comments. No comments.
16:40 I cannot answer that at this time.
16:43 Ramirez was still awaiting execution in 2013 when he died of cancer.
16:48 Carol Cole
16:50 A very prolific serial killer,
16:52 Carol Cole claimed at least 16 victims throughout his life,
16:56 although he confessed to killing 35.
16:58 He was originally sentenced to life in prison in Texas,
17:01 but was given the death penalty following his extradition to Nevada.
17:05 Three days before his execution,
17:07 Cole granted an interview to Las Vegas' KLAS-TV.
17:11 While smoking a cigarette, Cole shows complete indifference for his own life,
17:15 but expresses remorse for his crimes.
17:18 Why not fight for your life?
17:19 I just don't care.
17:22 Are you sorry?
17:25 For the victim?
17:27 Yes.
17:28 Yes.
17:28 In the end, he even claims that he deserves to die for what he did.
17:32 No, it's the ultimate question. It is the question.
17:36 For what I did, yes, I think I deserve to die.
17:39 Cole is very quiet and reserved,
17:41 and aside from some brief flashes, doesn't show much emotion.
17:45 It makes the interview all the more disturbing.
17:47 And condemn myself for it for many years,
17:49 because I can just imagine what that dear-- what her life might have been like.
17:54 Wesley Allen Dodd
17:55 On January 5th, 1993, Wesley Allen Dodd was executed by hanging,
18:01 making him the first American criminal to be legally hanged in nearly 30 years.
18:06 Between September and November of 1989, Dodd assaulted and killed three,
18:11 leading to his moniker the Vancouver Child Killer.
18:14 Dodd's final interview is absolutely bone-chilling.
18:17 With complete confidence, Dodd states that he would kill again if set free,
18:21 and that he quote "liked" what he did.
18:24 I've done it before, and at the time I liked it.
18:26 He also claims that his execution would make a great example for future criminals.
18:31 Throughout his interview, Dodd proves that he was fully self-aware,
18:35 and a self-aware killer is a very scary thing.
18:38 Do you look forward to dying?
18:40 In a way, yeah. It could be a relief.
18:46 I don't have to think about all these things anymore.
18:48 Uh...
18:50 I don't know, that's the only way I can guarantee I'm not gonna hurt anybody else.
18:56 Velma Barfield
18:58 The first woman to be lethally injected,
19:00 Velma Barfield killed six people between 1969 and 1978.
19:05 She was convicted for just one homicide, that of her boyfriend, Roland Stewart Taylor.
19:10 However, it was enough to ensure a death sentence,
19:13 and Barfield was executed on November 2nd, 1984.
19:17 Her interview with Raleigh's WBTV shows a woman in pain rather than one who causes it.
19:22 She seemingly attempts to garner sympathy by speaking about her isolation in prison
19:27 and her years-long battle with drugs.
19:29 The last 10 years was just like that. Years of a drug nightmare.
19:37 She also credits God for getting her through the trials and tribulations of prison life.
19:42 Living in prison every day is a struggle, even at its best.
19:46 And I know that without him and his strength that has sustained me,
19:55 I couldn't have made it even this far.
19:57 While Barfield apologizes for her crimes,
20:00 most of the interview is about her, and it may rub many viewers the wrong way.
20:05 Today, if it were possible, I wish that I could take every bit of hurt on myself.
20:13 John Wayne Gacy
20:15 Known widely as the killer clown, John Wayne Gacy claimed at least 33 lives inside his
20:20 suburban Chicago home. At the time, Gacy set an American record for the most homicide convictions.
20:26 In 1992, he spoke with Walter Jacobson of CBS2 Chicago as part of a television event.
20:32 In a rather shocking and unnerving turn of events, Gacy played innocent.
20:37 If they want to be convinced, they're brainwashed into what they believe,
20:40 then fine, then go ahead and kill me. But vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord,
20:45 because you will have executed somebody that didn't commit the crime.
20:48 He even claimed that he took a, quote, "truth serum," and that that proved his innocence.
20:53 I've taken five and a half hours, three and a half hours of truth serum,
20:57 and under sodium amylal, the maximum amount that I could have,
21:02 it shows that I have no knowledge of the crime whatsoever.
21:05 Like Barfield, Gacy also plays the sympathy card,
21:08 portraying himself as a loving family man.
21:11 I've always looked after my children, even now.
21:14 Yet sometimes, the veneer slips, and Jacobson is quick to notice the scheming man underneath.
21:20 It's all quite eerie, and probably not at all what viewers were expecting.
21:24 Ted Bundy
21:27 On January 23rd, 1989, Ted Bundy, perhaps the most notorious serial killer in American history,
21:33 was visited by a psychologist named James Dobson,
21:37 and it showcases his well-publicized powers of manipulation.
21:41 Bundy appears clean and well-dressed, offering a friendly next-door-neighbor vibe.
21:46 What's going through my mind right now is to use the minutes and hours that I have left
21:51 as fruitfully as possible and see what happens.
21:56 He's charismatic, charming, and well-spoken,
21:59 not at all what one would expect from a serial killer.
22:02 Finally, he latches onto Dobson's evangelical beliefs,
22:06 blaming both the adult film industry and violence in the media for his crimes.
22:10 This kind of literature contributed and helped mold and shape
22:15 the kinds of violent behavior.
22:16 It fueled your fantasy stuff.
22:18 Well, in the beginning it fuels this kind of thought process.
22:24 Biographers and historians argue that this is a prime example of classic Bundy's scepterfuge.
22:30 Knowing that, the footage comes across as deeply ominous and foreboding.
22:34 The term "psychopath" is often bandied around too often,
22:38 but in this case, many agree that the term fits.
22:41 I couldn't control it anymore, that these barriers that I had learned as a child
22:47 and had been instilled in me were not enough to hold me back with respect to
22:52 seeking out and harming somebody.
22:55 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get
22:59 notified about our latest videos.
23:01 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
23:05 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
23:09 Aileen Wuornos
23:13 The final interview with Aileen Wuornos is the complete antithesis of Ted Bundy's.
23:18 Wuornos shot and killed seven men in a span of one year,
23:21 and while she claimed self-defense,
23:23 she was found guilty of six homicides and sentenced to death.
23:27 Wuornos' final interview is deeply troubling.
23:29 "But you're okay now."
23:30 "I'm okay, I'm okay.
23:33 God is going to be there, Jesus Christ is going to be there, all the angels and everything."
23:38 She often widens her eyes and yells in a confrontational tone,
23:42 and even verbally attacks the interviewer Nick Broomfield.
23:45 She makes bizarre claims like getting tortured by, quote, "sonic pressure."
23:50 "And they were using sonic pressure on my head since 1997."
23:54 "Sonic pressure?"
23:56 "And every time I was trying to write something,
23:58 and I think they had some kind of eye in the cell, I'm not sure, but
24:03 every time I started writing something, it went up higher.
24:06 So I'm thinking that probably had the TV rigged."
24:09 She states that dying will be like Star Trek,
24:11 and that she'll go on to colonize another planet.
24:14 "I think it's going to be more like Star Trek beaming me up into a space vehicle, man.
24:18 Then I move on, recolonize to another planet or whatever.
24:21 But it's whatever's beyond, I know it's going to be good,
24:24 because I didn't do anything as wrong as they said."
24:27 Wuornos' violent past, her abrasive behavior,
24:30 and her mental state all combine to create some truly uncomfortable viewing.
24:36 [MUSIC]