"[Music playing]" "[Rock music playing]" "Sexual psychopaths, serial killers" "Often torture the victims first, revel in the power" "They have over them." "Quite often they ejaculate spontaneously without ever" "Achieving penetration." "They are that hopped up by their own evil." "They are that hopped up by hands-on evil," "Just touching their victims." "Sex is sex." "Everybody wants sex." "The old joke from the 1950s was, I" "Want to find the guy who invented sex" "And ask him what he's working on now." "It's the big deal in life." "It is the cause of divorce, the cause of murder." "It is the cause of serial murder." "Homosexual men kill homosexual men and heterosexual" "Men kill women." "It goes like that." "That's it." "You kill within your racial profile." "You kill within your sexual orientation profile." "[Honking]" "Hey, pick him up." "Let's fuck with this dude." "[Honking]" "Yo, hey." "Make him run." "Make him run, make him run." "[Interposing voices]" "Why are you taking my picture?" "Why is he taking my picture?" "Hey, by the way, you need to put your foot" "Out and hold this still." "Drag your feet." "You guys aren't cops, are you?" "No." "No, we're the Demon Dogs, man." "You never know." "Demon dogs?" "[Interposing voices]" "What are you doing?" "Where are you guys headed?" "We're going to shoot this fucking video for this movie." "Independent film, which means no money, basically." "Sorry, man." "Sorry." "[Interposing voices]" "Good luck." "Keep your pants on." "Serial killers are sexual psychopathics" "Who kill for sexual gratification and power" "Over their victims." "They are cowardly, they are weak." "They are quite often heedless and tremendously" "Arrogant to think that they have the right" "To take another human life." "Serial killers are sacks of shit who deserve the very sternest" "Measures that our American punitive system of justice" "Has to offer." "Hi, hepcats." "I'm James Ellroy." "I'm a novelist, I'm a journalist," "I'm short story writer, I'm a screenwriter," "And I'm here to introduce Ben Meade's Bonnaroo" "Film about sex, psychopathic, and serial killer Bob" "Berdella, who terrorized Kansas City," "Missouri in the late 1980s." "[Suspenseful music playing]" "[Whispering]" "[Yelling]" "It was from this second floor room" "That Chris Bryson escaped on the Saturday before Easter, 1988." "He was wearing nothing but a dog collar." "He told police of his unbelievable torture," "And the worn marks on a steel bed." "You jumped from there?" "Yeah, I think my leg's broken or something." "And you were there the whole time?" "Yeah." "Tell me how you got there." "CHRIS BRYSON (PORTAYAL):" "I was just" "Hanging out at Joseph's down at 10th and McGee," "You know, having a beer." "This guy pulls up in a car." "I started talking to him, you know." "He wants to party." "I meet guys like that all the time down there." "INVESTIGATOR (PORTRAYAL):" "Yeah?" "CHRIS BRYSON (PORTAYAL):" "So I figure I'll" "Go to the party with the guy." "What the hell?" "He seemed harmless enough." "Catch a good buzz." "Maybe get some cash out of him." "INVESTIGATOR (PORTRAYAL):" "OK, so you've" "Ever seen this guy before?" "CHRIS BRYSON (PORTAYAL):" "I don't think so." "These kind of guys, they come down there all the time." "We get to the house, everything seems cool." "Inside was a fucking mess, man, shit everywhere." "He has these two big fucking dogs inside there, too." "He asked me if I wanted a beer and I said cool." "He said we'd have to go upstairs to keep" "The dogs from going crazy." "I'm not sure what happened next, but I know" "My fucking head hurt like hell." "Next thing I know, I'm tied to this fucking bed" "Totally naked, goddamn dog collar" "And leash around my neck." "The son of a bitch is taking pictures of me." "I remember he took a lot of fucking pictures of me." "Shit, man." "INVESTIGATOR (PORTRAYAL):" "What?" "CHRIS BRYSON (PORTAYAL):" "He beat the shit out of me." "He put shit in my eyes." "Shocked the hell out of me." "He injected Drano into my voice box." "He screwed me all the fucking time." "INVESTIGATOR (PORTRAYAL):" "He raped you?" "CHRIS BRYSON (PORTAYAL):" "While I was drugged" "And tied up and shocked?" "Yeah, he raped me." "When did you meet this guy?" "Monday night, sometime after midnight." "Monday night?" "Yeah." "What day is it today?" "Saturday." "NARRATOR:" "Bryson got free by burning his bonds with matches" "And making a lucky leap from the second floor window," "Trailing a leash from the dog collar." "Had Bryson not escaped, his fate could have been in the bathroom" "Above the torture chamber." "UNKNOWN SPEAKER:" "Whenever he got tired of his "project," which" "In this case was dismembering this young man," "He'd just leave it, secure the door," "Go down and take care of normal activities" "And actually come back to it, like it was a job." "NARRATOR:" "Police found two skulls," "But no other body parts." "Sometimes the job took Berdella to the basement." "He had a drain, a floor drain down here, and a lot" "Also against the wall there, there's a shower." "There's some plumbing over there," "And there's a spigot up there." "He could take a shower, hose down everything with." "This big, sturdy table... well, he could" "Use it for lots of purposes." "[Music playing]" "(SINGING) Bobby came marching home today," "But Bobby was not the same." "Blood on life's battlefield, it messed up Bobby's brain." "Bobby didn't like women, Bobby had no friends." "Bobby prowled the streets all night," "Just waiting for it to end." "He's a fallen soldier, like a tombstone on the road." "Fallen soldier, his story's waiting to be told." "Fallen soldiers." "In the mirror he sees me sees me throwing people." "That's the only thing he sees." "Let's start talking because you can edit however." "You can just take whatever out you want." "I was 15, 16 years old." "I got my first girlfriend." "We've go to Bob's Bazaar on the weekends." "She bought me my first ring there, I believe." "I thought it was pretty cool." "We thought Bob was cool." "We were young and dumb, but he seemed exotic." "He seemed like some sort of world traveler, eclectic." "I'd see his masks and his jewelry and I'd think Bombay," "I'd think Africa, and I guess that's not the story, is it?" "[Suspenseful music playing]" "I had met Bob before." "I knew Al Riederer, who was the prosecuting attorney." "I contacted Al Riederer and said, Al, can I be of help?" "And this is something that I'm concerned about." "I was particularly concerned with the attitude" "The city took... a lot of laughing," "A lot of Berdella jokes, making fun of what he had done," "Which was one of the worst crimes" "I'd ever seen in this city or that anybody could possibly do." "And I felt that something had to be done to call attention" "To the seriousness of the crime and to try to deal with it," "To respond to it." "And so my role initially was to approach Al." "I said, if I can be of help, let me know, and he said OK." "Bob is sort of suicidal." "We want to keep him alive." "We want to understand what happened." "We'll have you visit him once or twice a week," "But you have to keep it quiet, and we'll put you" "In the back door of the jail." "We won't tell anybody you're visiting him because you'll" "Probably have some death threats if anybody" "Knows you're coming in." "It was pretty odd." "Number one, it was Easter weekend." "It was on the Saturday before Easter," "So not something you were particularly" "Looking for to happen." "It was in the middle of the NCAA Final Four, which" "Was in Kansas City that year." "And it was in the middle of my reelection." "It played into my reelection because the person" "Who ran against me that year kept bringing up the case" "And using it in the campaign against me." "I think it kind of backfired on her," "But it became part of the campaign nevertheless." "So the timing of it was truly unusual." "I would love to see him executed." "I think what he did is abominable." "There is no way to minimize the atrocity" "Of what he did, regardless of what his demeanor is" "In the interview." "You cannot minimize the inhumanity this" "Guy committed on other people." "My initial thought what was that it was" "A couple of homosexuals who had probably had a lovers' quarrel" "And that it would play itself out like many other cases" "Do that start out in a similar nature." "I was in charge of the fugitive apprehension that handled" "Missing persons, and at the time," "There were two missing persons reports filed." "In both those missing persons reports, the common denominator" "At that time was Bob Berdella." "I was the courts reporter, Jackson County courts," "For the Kansas City Times, and so I heard the announcement." "I knew it was going to be coming up on my beat." "Tom Jackman was cops, I was courts." "It was pretty much our ballgame." "Bob's base of operations during the day" "And where he came when he had guys tied" "To his bed in his house was right there at the Westport" "Flea Market Bar  Grill." "He had this booth called Bob's Bizarre Bazaar, where he sold" "Just a lot of weird stuff... shrunken heads," "Bone jewelry, paintings, antiques." "He considered himself this sort of man of the world that" "Was bringing in all these incredible valuables to you," "The lowly public, and people that shopped there" "Are always talked about what a condescending dickhead" "He could be." "I started collecting and dealing" "In ethnic folk art back in '71." "And then in '78, I came over here to basically temporarily" "Clean out my basement." "I had a basement sale to clean out my house," "And then I came over here to clean out my basement." "It just did very well." "I started bringing over some of the stuff" "That I was dealing in as far as the ethnic jewelry and folk" "Art." "The weekend that Berdella was caught," "The NCAA basketball Final Four was" "Being played in Kansas City." "Now, Bob couldn't give a damn about basketball," "But he did want to capitalize on all the hype and all" "The tourists, so he put four human skulls" "In the window there with a little sign beneath it" "Said "The Final Four."" "[Music playing]" "I made a mistake." "That's what I thought at the time." "I knew that this was for real when I was up in that bed." "I thought about my kids and I thought" "About that stupid-ass decision that I had made." "And it was a real hard one." "[Music playing]" "They were young white males who we suspect most of them" "Were involved in male prostitution." "We don't know that about all of them," "But clearly they were particularly" "The ones you picked up off of the street where some of those" "Were involved in male prostitution." "What's interesting to me is that with respect to all" "Of these people, he turned what he" "Saw as a slight against himself into a vendetta" "Against the individual, a vendetta so terrible" "That it was worth killing for." "And it was clear from the confession" "That he had sexual designs on all of these people." "OK, it's Berdella's confession now." "I don't want no fucking around." "Just go in there and tale care of him." "I don't want no fucking around." "First of all, his name isn't "Bordello," it's Berdella." "It's an Italian name, shithead." "Excuse me, I'm sorry." "Please raise your right hand." "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing" "But the truth, so help you God?" "Yes." "[Suspenseful music playing]" "I think that he had a longstanding love affair" "With the male anatomy and like a little kid" "Playing with an erector set or playing with one" "Of those models of the human body," "He wanted to find out what was inside." "In other words, it's the ultimate objectification" "Of another human being." "We got woken up yesterday at the crack of dawn" "With the sound of heavy machinery digging in the yard" "Next door and we thought, what the heck is going on?" "And then it came out in the news that day" "That they had found skeletal remains buried in the back yard" "Of our neighbor Bob Berdella." "I don't know." "You seemed like a good enough neighbor." "He was a quiet guy, but I can tell you" "From everyone I've talked to, he just always smelled really bad." "My first reaction that this was a biggie" "Was when we dug the head up out of the backyard on Easter" "Sunday." "That's what it really first hit me" "And I knew then that we had a major investigation" "On our hands and I probably was going" "To be in the middle of it." "[Suspenseful music playing]" "Well, the way I got involved with Bob Berdella" "Is I'd done a lot of investigative reporting" "For national magazines, including" "A book called Assassination in America, and I was local." "So they were looking for someone with a criminal background," "Knew how to ask questions, do that sort of thing." "And I was contacted and conducted a whole bunch" "Of audio interviews with Berdella for the Jackson County" "Jail as preparation for the video interview" "That we eventually did with him." "Mr. Berdella, you're sitting here" "As a man who's going to spend the rest of his life in prison." "You've confessed to the murder of six young men in this city" "And crimes that horrified the city and much of the country." "You've confessed to various degrees, felonious restraint," "Drugging people, sexually abusing" "Them, torturing them, killing them, dismembering them." "And until now, you've refused all interviews." "So in light of all those facts, I have" "To ask you why you're here." "What is it you have to say to us?" "What is it you want to say about yourself in this case?" "Well, I've had the media clamoring to get interviews" "With me and after I made my last pleas," "I wanted to get at least part of my side of it out." "I find it very hard to find any way to do that in Kansas City." "The media has so biased my case, portraying me" "As being non-human, and their motivation" "Is no separate from the way I treated my victims." "I treated them as something less than human," "Nothing more than a play toy or a play object." "This is what the media has done to me." "It's dehumanized me so that it can believe," "Along with the public, that things like human sacrifice," "Satanism, demonic practices are more believable than me being" "The neighbor next door reached a point in his life" "Where he could do monstrous acts." "That's not the same thing as being a monster." "That's preposterous and the most" "Convoluted logic and most specious" "Logic on God's green Earth." "He wanted to kill." "He wanted to continue to kill." "Had he not been apprehended, had the police been asleep" "At the wheel when his last victim escaped," "Which was what caused him to be arrested," "He'd still be out there killing people at 55, 56 years of age" "Now." "[Blues music playing]" "[Urinating]" "In the '80s, within about a two- or three-year period," "He had been in the emergency room at Truman" "On several occasions to have the head of his penis reattached." "It's easy to reattach." "You can just sew the skin and maybe some of the blood" "Vessels, but the nerve endings may not grow through again," "So they may not have the same kind of sensation, you know?" "So it's just dead at the tip, I would think," "At least after two or three tries of this." "And so I said it always made me very curious that perhaps" "The kinds of things that he had done to these young men" "Were not so much about lust or sexual sensation" "As they were simply about power because I don't think he had" "That kind of feeling left in his penis" "After two or three operations." "[Music playing]" "I was driving to my flower shop the morning" "He had been arrested, or at least that the story came out," "And I heard that he had been arrested" "For some really hideous crimes." "And I don't remember how much I heard at the time," "And I was really shocked." "My first thought was that the cops are just" "Out to get another gay man." "I had been gay bashed a few years previously," "And when I went to press charges," "The cops told me that if I press charges," "I would be arrested for having propositioned this man." "So I had to let the man go in order to myself" "Not be prosecuted for homosexual activity." "Just all I'd done is propositioned him." "And so when I heard about Bob Della," "My first thought was from knowing him" "And from talking with him and everything, this could not be." "This just simply could not be." "They're just out to frame another gay man" "And that that's all it was." "Bob would make these appointments for these boys" "That he had been made the court guardian for," "And they were supposedly runaway kids, hustler, problem kids," "And he was supposedly trying to get" "Them spiffed up so that they could go out and get a job." "And so he was supposed to be trying" "To lead him into doing that." "Well, so Bob would make appointments" "For the boys' haircuts to be done by my friend Larry, who" "Owned the shop, and then he would make an appointment" "With me for me to cut his hair." "So I would cut Bob's hair and Larry would cut these, we would" "Say, little future corpses." "I lived at Berdella's house off and on for about six months," "And I worked for him at his flea market." "He would give me Valiums." "And then sometimes then I would ask him for them," "But most the time I think he was trying to force them to me." "And at that time, I did drink and things like that." "He never really hurt me that I ever knew of," "And he always helped me." "There was a picture of me on TV along with a few other men" "At the time, and the victims." "It was a real dilemma for me because I was listening" "To these hideous stories about this man and what he had done," "And this was the man that I had chatted with in my shop," "That we had sat there and talked and talked" "About all kinds of things, and had," "Like I said earlier, real kindred spirit going." "And so he threw me into a real dilemma... the whole experience" "In terms of looking at this man and looking at these horribly" "Villainous acts, and at the same time inside myself knowing" "That this man was not all bad." "No matter what we told him, he'd want to argue with us." "He'd come down." "We told him his alternator was out once and he'd come down." "He had to check it out himself and he wanted to argue with us." "So after he did that five or six times, we ran him off." "We got tired of listening to his shit." "And I used to run into him." "I used to eat up at the flea market up in Westport fairly" "Routinely, and I'd run into his sick ass up there." "Found out later on what he was doing to them young kids." "And my little brother was in the police academy at the time," "So we'd get home, on the 6 o'clock news" "There's my brother digging for bones and body" "Parts in Berdella's backyard." "I'm glad the sick son of a bitch got what was coming to him." "[Somber music playing]" "We're now at 4315 Charlotte Street." "This is where Bob Berdella lived and where" "At least six people died." "[Suspenseful music playing]" "Your prosecutors, and I do want to quote this, when you came" "To plead, called your crimes "wantonly vile, horrible," "Or inhuman."" "When was this done?" "I believe in documents associated" "With the Sheldon charges." "To repeat that quote from the prosecution," ""These crimes were wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman."" "OK, I think if you'll check with just about any attorney," "You'll find that that is the standard clause that's" "Used when they want to build a case for capital one" "With the death penalty." "Without the legalism, would you agree that those crimes" "Are wantonly vile or inhuman?" "I won't disagree." "Well, I've been talking about the torture pretty much." "I was awake through most of that." "This one time when he hooked these cables up" "To my testicles, I was naked." "I'm not aware of what he's doing." "He stepped back and he touched his wires together," "And I flipped and flopped all over the bed," "That kind of woke me up." "He shocked me." "He was electrocuting me and at the same time," "He was taking Polaroid pictures." "And at that time, I just fake passed out after he" "Turned it off and he was done." "And then he came immediately and put a potato sack over my head" "And kind of closed it like that, so my hands were tied here" "And my feet were tied." "And I breathed through my mouth, and he" "Already had the rag stuffed in my mouth" "And tied with piano wire." "And I wasn't able to get no oxygen at all." "So I was more or less in this position," "And I was trying to rip the potato sack off," "And that's when he came in, and that's" "When he flew into... he just ripped that thing off" "And he came and just jumped on my chest." "He had an iron bar like that." "And he just... he was trying to strike me in the head" "And it seemed like it was for about five minutes." "And I was like this, and he was trying to hit my head." "And more or less, I was deflecting them" "All with my hands and stuff." "When he got done with that, he disappeared for a while." "He came back in and he started digging this..." "I thought it" "Was clothes pin or something." "He was digging in my ears, he was just stabbing in my ears." "That was one of the scariest things that he had done," "Jamming in my ears." "I didn't get no injuries from that." "I don't see how." "Then he disappeared again." "He came back and he injected a hypodermic needle in my throat" "All around the vocal cords with Drano." "He took some Q-tips." "He came back in and he stabbed them in my eye" "With some bleach." "He had the Q-tips with some bleach" "And he was stabbing them in my eyes." "After he did all that, I was pretty much messed up" "And I think he injected me with some more antibodies up there." "During the next couple days, I was sick." "I was getting..." "Pneumonia was setting in." "This is what he told me." "I just knew I was dying." "He said he wanted to put me in a cold bath" "So he could break the fever, all this crap." "He was injecting me with penicillin in my legs" "To make sure..." "I think he was trying" "To keep me alive for a while at that point." "I think his intention with the torture was to break your will" "And you would just not give him no problems." "The only time I ever got up, he would allow me to get up," "Was when I had to go to the bathroom and do a number two." "OK." "In the bed, is what he said." "And when I had to take a bath one time." "And he wanted me to shave one time." "My eyes had swollen up like golf balls." "I couldn't see out of my eyes and I couldn't talk," "And my arms were at least twice the size" "From being no movement in them, there was no blood flow in them" "Like that." "It's hardly to be a man and say shit happened to you like that," "So really what bought me a couple" "Times from his sexual shit was just passing" "Out, acting like I was so sick." "I'm not trying to say he had a heart," "But I guess he just didn't want me to die at the time." "Well, like Joseph Mengele and the people" "In the concentration camps during World War II," "He was an experimenter." "He experimented with caustic chemicals," "Shot the young male prostitutes up" "With Drano in the vocal cords to see if he could mute them," "And he took hundreds of photographs of them, Polaroids," "And these were... of course, he couldn't go to your local One" "Hour Speedy Print and get them developed without condemning" "Himself... but these were there for purposes of savoring" "And purposes of masturbation, and it gave" "Him a sense of accomplishment." "Also he knew damn well he couldn't go out and kill" "Every day, that the hammer would fall much quicker than it" "Finally did, so this was a way for him" "To relieve, to relive, the torture of his victims." "After Berdella got these guys in his house" "And in his bedroom, he basically had intercourse with them" "By whatever means possible." "And he would at times photograph himself" "In the act of having anal intercourse with somebody" "Or forcing them to give him a blow job." "He sodomized them with his fist, with a cucumber, with a carrot," "And he noted all these things." "That's how we know this, is because he made notes" "In his notes of what position he took when he was screwing them," "Whether it was BF for butt fuck or FF for front fuck" "Or SF for side fuck or CF for carrot fuck or cucumber fuck." "It was pretty amazing stuff." "Another report was that you kept have detailed" "Torture logs and diaries." "Did you?" "I kept sheets of paper that I had made some notations on." "This is between the mattress and springs on my bed." "This is one of those packages containing" "Innumerous photographs and what became" "To be known as meticulous methodical diaries." "Those pieces of paper in there are these meticulous diaries." "These are the pictures of more than 200 photographs, some" "Of them young men, sexual partners," "And these are in some ways... and these" "That we see here are the sheets of paper" "Upon which you made notes." "Right." "This is a copy of one of those pages." "But it looks like a loose-leaf paper." "It does contain information about amounts" "Of drugs and so on, so what is your complaint with the police" "Calling these detailed diaries?" "By your evaluation, does this look methodical?" "Doesn't look methodical." "Meticulous?" "It looks a little sloppy." "They are not bound in Corinthian leather, written" "On parchment diaries that the media apparently" "Tries to describe them ass." "They're sheets of paper." "They're notes." "[Music playing]" "Berdella's a homosexual and he practiced sodomy on his victims" "With his fist, with various vegetables," "And the pain must've been excruciating." "And although I don't believe in the death penalty per se," "I almost wish it could be stretched" "To fry guys like Berdella." "Of course, he's dead now." "Died of a heart attack back in prison." "So like, yeah." "I'm glad he's dead." "He was a piece of shit." "He was without redeeming social value." "It may be, even though closure's a fatuous concept that" "Never occurs for any victim or relative of a victim" "Or loved one of a victim, I'd like" "To think that he's suffering right now" "And that the Prince of Darkness has" "A poker straight up his ass." "[Suspenseful music playing]" "It's entirely true that Berdella" "Killed marginal people." "He killed people who were vulnerable," "Who were vulnerable to drugging, who" "Were vulnerable to being lured to a secret spot" "And then killed." "Had he been a child killer, there" "Would've been considerably more police attention" "On this very, very early." "And I think part of the reason that there was no outrage" "Was because the young men involved work for the most" "Part male prostitutes." "They were from broken homes." "They left home." "They didn't have a community around them to protest," "And so the media and the public in general" "Did not attach the same value to those lives" "That it would have if it had been" "Somebody out of old-line, Kansas City blue-blood family." "If that had been the case, different response altogether." "But because they were prostitutes for the most part," "Because they were runaways, because they didn't have" "Families with any political clout," "Not a lot of seriousness, I felt," "Was attached to the actual crimes." "That's not true." "That's not true." "The two individuals... they were individuals as far as I'm" "Concerned... they were missing." "The common denominator was Bob Berdella," "And we tried to go after Bob Berdella." "We didn't sit back because these people" "Had some kind of history." "We pursued it, and that is a falsehood there." "I have never known just because of their race, sex," "Their sexual origin, religion, or whatever" "To sit back and say, just throw that on the back burner." "That has never, ever been done to my knowledge." "It was never done while I was there." "I can't think of a thing we would've done any differently." "It would've maybe been easier if they had been people of more" "Prominence because we would have had privy to more relatives" "And close associates than what we did." "Maybe people who had more background information on them" "Because a couple of our victims, we really" "Had no one to turn to as far as trying to find out" "Information from their past." "None of them came from higher up on the socioeconomic scale," "I suppose, to say..." "All of them were" "Either from working families." "In this case, young homosexual prostitutes" "Should have been told after the first two victims disappeared," "Be very, very careful, or better yet, Jesus Christ," "Don't be a homosexual prostitute." "It's a losing proposition any way you slice it." "I was not a male prostitute." "I was addicted to drugs at the time." "His line was, you get high?" "His line was, you get high?" "I got some Valiums at the time he had cigarette money." "And so I'm thinking, well, what can it mean." "I can go work for this dude for something." "If you looked at Bob Berdella, he" "Didn't look... he didn't look gay," "So it wasn't even nothing like going on." "And at that time, I had the choice to go... to get dropped" "Off, maybe, or to go that way." "So unfortunately I took the wrong way." "Never met the man, thank God." "Never needed to, to write a song about him, at least." "That's what I did back then." "I was a radio guy." "I was a disc jockey." "I was irreverent." "I was unfeeling." "Whatever was funny went on the radio." "How did you feel when you learned" "That not long after your arrest, the local radio stations, two" "Of them at least, were running a Bob Berdella parody song" "And were asking people come to parties wearing dog collars?" "Well, I think the newspaper article" "Reported that even the families of the victims" "Were upset by the song." "I have never had a chance to hear the song." "I was sitting at Antoine's on the Boulevard, the old Tony's," "And having lunch and thinking that this" "Was such a huge story in Kansas City" "That I had to write something." "There was some song in the classic rock era that would fit" "It perfectly, and I'll be damned if I over a little $3.75" "Steak lunch figure out "They call me Bob Berdella."" "Instead of "Mellow Yellow," it became "Bob Berdella."" "Everything just fit in." "It had everything with the bones in the backyard" "And the fluoroscope in the basement and all the Polaroid" "Photographs that he had and the hitchhikers and the dog" "Collars and the electric shocks and the needles" "Sticking out of their necks." "You had so much to write from, you couldn't help" "But come up with something." "(SINGING) They call me Bob Berdella." "That's right." "They call me Bob Berdella." "Do it again." "They call me Bob Berdella." "Don't stick that hand." "I had also been told when I first came into jail" "That the Fox radio station had run a promo giving prizes" "To their listeners if they showed" "Up at the station in a dog collar and with a leash on." "The people here in the institution..." "The correctional officers, the caseworker," "Even the psychiatrist..." "Were, I think," "Surprised to find out that that upset me." "And it did upset you?" "Very much so." "[Music playing]" "I had been in Ethiopia the year before and I'd" "Gone through the camps and I'd seen the dying children." "I'd seen death." "I'd seen evil in a social sense, and I" "Had felt that somehow it had a positive impact on me" "As a person." "So I entered into this arrangement" "With Bob in which I met with him for an hour, hour and a half" "Twice a week, and I thought I could handle anything." "I didn't realize the impact." "I was not able to eat, not able to have sex, lost weight," "Became extremely withdrawn because I was dealing" "With stuff and then I was told this is stuff you can't tell" "Other people about because it's pretty... that's not" "The type of stuff you could go out" "And say, hey, let me tell you about what" "Bob and I talked about today." "You had to keep it under wraps, and that was the agreement." "So my wife and I did not talk about it." "I didn't realize the impact it was having" "Except over a period of time, six months, I had gotten down" "And maybe lost 20 pounds and was just sort" "Of like a castaway that had fallen on hard times" "And I was just skin and bones." "After Berdella went to prison, I got an interview with him." "They put me in this little tiny room with him." "I asked them to take the handcuffs off." "I'm not sure why, but I did." "He didn't seem very threatening at that point." "It's like all the air had been let out of him." "His condition was that I bring two tape" "Recorders, one to tape the interview for myself, one" "To give him a tape." "I had to ask him how he got by with some of this stuff" "Because there were plenty of indications" "That there were some nasty things" "Going on in Berdella's house." "He told me that there were some judges who would send people" "To him and that he often bonded people out," "And that for a while the parole board had considered" "Him someone where they could send troubled youth" "And young adults." "I was recording the conversation." "After I left, the tapes were confiscated" "And the warden called me and informed me that something was" "Wrong with my tape recorder because they" "Couldn't get the tape to play after they'd confiscated it." "I went to interview Marcia Walsh." "She'd just gotten back from a trip to the Arctic Circle" "Where she'd been saving baby seals." "She really couldn't tell me much about why" "She thought that Berdella was a drug counselor" "Or that sort of thing." "[Music playing]" "You recall I mentioned before that there were reports" "In the Westport Flea Market where you had your shop" "That people would say, oh, yes, I" "Do remember he had these strange-smelling dishes of" "Food, that he had bead bones." "And later on there were speculations, at least" "In the community and in some aspects of the media," "That the remains of your victim were somehow" "Being transported and prepared as meals" "And prepared as jewelry in your shop." "I was quickly able to identify to the police" "The other dealers in that section of the market where" "We rotated potluck, rather than eat the flea market food again." "And that you could question any of these people," "They'd be able to tell you that the food was good," "There was nothing suspect about the turkey or ham or beef" "That was in these dishes." "[Music playing]" "They were at the flea market by Bob's Old Bazaar Bizarre." "Bob was kind of a sick guy who got a little too" "Into his hobbies, head hunting, cannibalism, and cooking," "And I think cooking saved his life, actually." "[Music playing]" "It's one thing to have one guy dabbling in cannibalism" "In your small town." "It's another to have scores of people." "[Music playing]" "Bob had chili at his Bazaar Bizarre" "That he'd occasionally served." "I think it had people in them." "Odd guy." "It got him off of the lethal injection, though." "He was a sick boy." "[Music playing]" "He would cut the bodies up using his expertise as a chef" "And bring them out here to the curb on Monday" "Morning and monitor it from his window to make sure the trash" "Men took the trash away, and that" "Was his method of disposing of the bodies of the men" "That he killed." "Bob Berdella was a real landfill Louis." "To think that he put pieces of a human being out" "In the trash for trash men to collect on Mondays" "Is astounding." "All they had to do was catch the scent of decomposing flesh" "Or look inside and realize that there was a chopper inside." "[Circus music playing]" "I was very suspicious about the landfill," "Putting the bodies out with trash." "It just it didn't sound in character, not to mention" "The problems that would cause." "How secure is that, to put a body out on your curb" "In a plastic bag?" "You wrap stuff up and put it out on the curb," "You never know whether it's going to be torn apart by dogs" "Or hit by a car." "He seems like a more careful person to me than that." "I believe it was the police department who called" "And said that they needed us." "They needed us to appraise a piece of residential property" "That they can't tell us what it is," "But they'll have a car there in five minutes to pick us up." "We had no idea where we were going or what we were doing." "We end up at Bob Berdella's house." "Dining room had some weird stuff in there..." "Coffee table with some weird pictures on it" "And screaming faces, that sort of thing." "Vicious dogs in cages right outside the back door." "Huge dog kennels, chain-link fence kennels." "They weren't little dog runs for Spot to run through." "These were secured enclosures." "They were not couch potato dogs." "These were huge dogs." "Kitchen was really strange." "A couple big stainless steel commercial tables." "First you figure out the guy could've" "Been a chef at a restaurant." "I knew of Bob Berdella, but didn't" "Know... nobody knew this stuff." "So you thought, OK, he's got dinner parties, caters." "Who knows what?" "But then you look around and it just wasn't right." "It wasn't a normal kitchen." "It wasn't a kitchen you were going to entertain in." "One of the stainless steel tables" "Had built-in sinks and this huge garbage disposal." "It was a large... never seen a garbage disposal that large." "What the hell else is he going to do with it?" "He's not going to grind up lettuce in that thing." "Basically the food or waste enters from the top down" "Onto the grind plate, which was spinning at the time" "The food enters the machine." "The food is propelled by these teeth here along the side," "Or against the side rather, of the shredder unit, which" "Pulverizes the waste, forcing it through these cutting chambers" "Into the grind chamber where the waste exits the machine." "I don't know much about human bones" "And what they look like when they're out of the body," "But I would figure they'd be pretty large" "And as you can see, the grind chamber's not exactly huge." "So if you want a bone to come down here," "And let's say it was this big, it lodges in here." "Machine starts, it grabs that bone, jams it real quick" "Because in this area of the machine," "It's not going to grind that bone," "Take it on, and rip it up." "It's going to jam and stop." "The flesh would not be a problem at all." "It would rip it up and send it on down the drain" "Line pretty easily." "I do see hospitals use them, unfortunately, to grind things." "I have seen some labs use them to get" "Rid of tumors and whatnot." "[Suspenseful music playing]" "Men will go to any length to get head" "Is my only comment on this." "You said, "I want the police to explain why they allow"" "The loved ones of families to die in the convenient area" ""Of 10th and McGee."" "I don't think any family of my victims" "Or anybody else that has been killed, related to 10th" "And McGee are going to be happy to find out that their loved" "One is basically written off by the police" "As far as investigations go, et cetera, because they died" "In a convenient neighborhood." "The police knew what was going on, so it's no big deal." "And that accounts for your remark to me," "And I don't mean at all to make light of it" "That "I killed six, but they, the police"," "By allowing this to stay open, they killed more."" "Yes, this has been something that's" "Been going on for over 20 years to my knowledge." "It seems to me that you're suggesting that had the police" "Done their job, had they followed the leads, had they" "Really been on your case prior to April 2, 1988," "They would've caught you and some of the suffering" "Could have been prevented." "Maybe not caught me..." "Scared me off, maybe." "Prevented things from happening after Howell, definitely." "In a way, do you wish they had?" "Yes." "Well, it was the police's fault because they should've caught" "Me, or they should stop having all" "Those attractive little boys down there tempting me," "It was like nothing has anything to do with... he" "Had no responsibility at all." "It was just like, well, I was on a diet" "But you kept shoving food down my throat." "It's like, oh, OK." "Six victims for a serial killer over a four-year period is low." "Generally their urge to kill is much more frequently than that," "But I think that Berdella was a hoarder." "He spent a lot of time with his victims." "He needed his residence to house them." "He needed a safe house to perform" "His hideous experiments, so I don't see him" "As a roadside picker-up of young men, a guy" "Like, well, William Bonin, the Freeway Killer" "Here in Los Angeles." "I don't see him as that kind of guy." "I think six may be the total." "That question was always there and I" "Was always being asked that." "I have no specific information that there were other victims" "That could have been." "At times I had some thoughts that might've been," "But Bob certainly never indicated that he had" "Misled anyone in his testimony." "Personally I believe there were only six victims." "A lot of people disagree with that." "I think one of the things that convinces" "Me is the fact that Berdella had already cut a deal," "So his punishment was not going to be any" "Different if it were 6 or 60." "When you look at the research on serial killers," "They don't kill fewer people over time." "They go up, and he went down." "I also thought it was odd that they would find two skulls." "Like I say, he's a collector." "He collects everything." "If you look at those search warrants," "This man didn't throw anything away," "So why would you keep two skulls and then just load every bit" "Of every other body up and put it out on the curb" "For the trash to pick up?" "I don't think I can accept that." "[Jazz music playing]" "I can tell you what led up to the escape." "Like I said, the first couple days, I was unconscious" "And I couldn't really see nothing." "I didn't really know if my eyesight was coming" "Or what was going to happen." "I couldn't move my arms." "They were totally numb." "And I just didn't know what this dude had up his sleeve," "But I did know at this time that he was not going to let me go." "I don't go to church every Sunday, but I believe in God" "And I did call on him." "I don't really take no credit for anything." "I kind of more or less put things in his hands." "He had my hands tied to where if I tried to move around," "It would tighten." "And then when he got back, there was real restriction," "Marks on your hands, he'd know that you'd" "Been trying to get away." "Plus another thing, he turned the TV up so loud" "And he go out of the room, I didn't really" "Know if he had left the house or if he was watching me" "To see what I was trying to do." "I believed everything he said." "He told me he had killed before and he would again." "On the fourth day, being as my hands were numb" "And I was thinking I couldn't no nothing with them," "I asked him if he ever tied anybody's hands" "Any differently." "I said, if you can tie my hands and feel sure that I can't" "Get away, could you tie them?" "And he did, and he tied them from... took them down from here" "And tied them here." "I always waited two or three hours after he was gone," "What I thought was two or three hours, try to do anything." "I had tried playing with the knots, I was moving the knots" "And I got them off." "I knew that I'd get them off, but it wasn't the time." "I didn't know." "So I was going to do it, at that point... on the fourth day," "I had planned for the fifth day I was going to do it" "The next day, he went ahead with the regular schedule." "He did everything." "Asked me if I had to go to the bathroom, and I said no." "While I was talking to him, he had" "Some matches because he always used to give me a cigarette" "Right before he left." "He smoked a cigarette and he always took the matches away," "And he was standing there and he threw them down this time" "By the table." "I kept his attention talking to him," "Why he didn't run to pick the matches up again." "I don't know why, but that's what happened." "I already knew I was going to have to burn" "The ropes with the matches." "So after I got them loose, I couldn't" "Reach down to touch my feet, with it," "But there was the bedpost." "There was a metal bedpost and I was so freaked out in my head" "That I thought he had boobytrapped the metal." "You know what I'm saying?" "I actually thought I was going to get" "Shocked or electrocuted if I would try to test the metal." "That is why I burned the ropes." "And so I got that loose." "It was just like a fast panic." "I didn't know shit about the window" "Because the window was covered by a big picture." "I didn't know if it was going to open." "I didn't know if he was downstairs." "I didn't know how much time I had." "I really didn't even know how high I was up or anything," "Or I surely would have tried to look for my clothes" "Before I went out." "The fear... once I knew that I had" "Committed to untying the ropes, I just" "Knew it was all or nothing." "And so the adrenaline building, man." "I just got up, raised the window," "And I was happy that it came all the way up." "And I looked down." "All I remember seeing a dog dish right there below on the side" "And I was thinking, damn, I'm going to jump down there" "And get attacked by these dogs." "So I crawl out and I'm hanging." "I was going to try to jump over to the fence." "The next yard appeared to be about this far on the sidewalk." "It was all divided." "I was going to jump over to the next... where the grass was." "I was going to try to get a little sway going" "And jump over there, but the ledge" "Broke and I fell straight down." "I hurt my leg a little bit, but that wasn't nothing." "I dove over the fence." "I wasn't thinking about being naked or nothing." "I was out of there." "[Music playing]" "(SINGING) Bobby, why not?" "If I'd only turned left instead of right." "Why you, the unlucky ones." "Could you have put a better fight?" "I'm Lazarus." "I'm back, boys." "What'd I miss while I was gone?" "I'm in a mood." "I got my life back." "Hell, I even have my own song." "Yeah, I guess some of us are just lucky." "I'm the one that got away." "Even an old, gay, broken watch is right twice a day." "I'm Lazarus." "I'm the phoenix." "It's not my time to go." "So sit back, but don't relax." "Enjoy the rest of the show." "Are you saying you feel remorse or that you've" "Been misunderstood?" "I'm not going to sit here with my finger to my chin" "And say nobody understands me." "Yes, there has been a lot of remorse." "And he may well feel remorse, but he has the remorse" "Of a crook that got caught." "Aw, poor Bobby." "The world grieves for you." "The world reads that excerpt from WH Auden's poem," "And I forget the title." "Maybe it's his most famous poem, "September 1, 1939."" "It goes something like this..." ""I and the public know what all schoolchildren learn," "Those to whom evil is done Do evil and return."" "Well, maybe somebody gave you a few whacks in the head when you" "Were a kid, but I doubt if you were" "Systematically terrorized the way" "You terrorized your victims." "You deserve no sympathy." "[Bell chiming]" "There was a report in the Sunday Kansas City Star" "In December about the dangers you" "Might face after you leave the Jackson County" "Correctional Facility and are moved" "To another, larger prison." "How do you feel about reports like that?" "Do they make you anxious?" "They give me some reason for concern," "But one of the reasons I'm concerned" "Is that these were not just reports." "These were digging out quotes from unnamed prosecutors," "Implying that the inmates down there are waiting" "To get their hands on me." "I am at this point less concerned about the inmates" "Acting on their own as opposed to the inmates... inmate..." "Acting in response to maybe some directive or coercion" "From some police officers." "You think you're being set up, perhaps?" "Well, I think the Star and Times since they haven't been" "Able to get a court to put me to death" "Are now trying to get the inmates to do it for them." "In a sense, he was killed by the prison system." "I don't make those kind of judgments," "And it would be like a death sentence" "That the prison system probably took on" "Instead of the judicial system." "But I wouldn't say that was fitting." "According to his parents, his mom, they withheld medication" "And he died of a heart attack." "So the question was put to me by several people who Bob had told" "He was going to give the complete story to" "And were visiting him in prison, didn't give the complete story" "To, caught me and asked me if I would lead an effort" "To call for an investigation and to condemn" "The prison system for their lack of responsiveness" "To Ma's medication." "I did not do that." "It's not something at that time I was willing to do, take" "On the role of challenging the prison system," "Because I could understand in some ways" "How Bob got himself in that situation... very" "Demanding, very difficult in terms of trying" "To make others feel very small and himself" "Being very important." "And I'm just guessing that the guards in the prison system" "Just said, you're not going to control us." "And they withheld the medication and he died." "I think probably unfortunate because I don't think" "He had in return for his life given the testimony to Al" "Riederer and admitted what he'd done," "And so that guaranteed him life in prison," "And it's not up to us to make those decisions." "It should have been done." "What I said was at the time that I thought" "That even though he wasn't given the death penalty, number one," "He would go to prison for the rest of his life." "And number two, he'd die in prison a lot sooner than he" "Would if he were executed." "In Missouri, it takes us about 10 years to execute somebody." "I don't know how long he was in prison," "But probably about six years before he died." "And why?" "I believe that was simply that his behavior was" "So uncontrollable and was so bad towards anybody," "Towards everybody that he encountered." "I just assumed that he would do something in jail" "That would get him killed." "Now, he died of a heart attack." "Was he murdered?" "I don't know." "He got what he deserved." "I don't know how you put an end to all that," "But the truth of the matter is if you" "Go back and look at the facts, that's how he ended up." "He ended up getting what he deserved." "It's really too bad that he didn't live longer than he did" "Because I think he was getting... he was a control freak" "And people were losing interest in him." "And I think that had he lived, sooner or later he would've" "Given up more information." "I don't think he could've helped himself." "I think he wanted the attention." "And you know the whole story about how he died in jail." "Well, I don't know the whole story." "I just know he died of heart attack." "But the story everybody was telling was that, OK, he" "Probably was asking for more potato chips" "And he was cussing out some guard," "And then he's like, oh, guard." "They're like, oh, yeah, we'll be there." "We'll be there." "They just let him die." "It's like everybody was like, well," "And they had to pay extra." "Supposedly they had to pay extra to keep" "Him isolated because everybody would've" "Wanted to have a piece of him." "[Music playing]" "(SINGING) You've played me like an anvil." "You beat me into the dawn." "Just you and me, no witnesses, then it can't be wrong." "I shut your eyes." "Are you invisible?" "No one will hear you scream." "Dead man walking, no one's talking." "All that's left is your sting." "So pound out the demons." "The gatekeepers all turn away." "Sparks from the hammer, this will be your last day." "Stave off the sunset, maybe this darkness will cop a plea." "For whom does the anvil toll, Bobby?" "The anvil tolls for thee." "NEWS REPORTER:" "Just a bunch of Earth" "Is all that's left of 4315 Charlotte," "But some people will never forget the house," "Nor the man who lived here." "Bob Berdella, Kansas City's most infamous serial killer," "Is dead." "He died in prison after his victims" "Were killed in his home." "Berdella confessed to sexually and physically" "Torturing six men here, but some believe there were more victims" "And hope digging up the house might unearth some secrets." "That's why millionaire Del Dunmire, who owns the property," "Had workers carefully tear it down." "Private detective Ashley Hurn was here in 1988" "When the truth came out, and he's" "Been here for the past five weeks" "Making sure no other bodies turned up." "He says the stairs to the basement will be saved," "As well as this drain, reportedly used" "To carry away the blood of Berdella's victims." "Well, this appears to be the final chapter of the Berdella" "Story, and no one could be happier" "Than those who live on either side," "Who will split the property." "I did not see any attempt of clergy, any attempt" "Of politicians, attorneys, police, to ever try and wrap" "That up and say, here's what happened, here's what it means," "Here's what we've learned from it." "I guess I kind of got obsessed with it." "I think a lot of us did... me, the lawyers," "The other reporters, everybody." "And it was difficult to let go of the case," "And at a certain point, I just decided that's exactly" "What I needed to do." "So I gathered boxes, boxes of documents and notes" "And tape-recorded interviews, and one day I just took" "All that, loaded it up in the car," "And drove out to the city landfill and dumped it." "When there are pieces of the puzzle, put them together." "Facts don't diminish the myth because we need the stories" "And we even need the stories of the "bad people"" "As much as we need the stories of the good people." "We need our heroes and we need our villains," "And so the myth becomes the real story then, not the facts." "I don't know how he does it, but you get obsessed." "Here you are in Hawaii." "You flew all the way here to pursue" "This case for this movie, so I think you can see that it kind" "Of just sort of keeps going." "Bob Berdella deserves no sympathy." "Bob Berdella got off easy compared to his victims." "In the future, people, be quiet, be cautious," "Be circumspect around strangers, especially" "If you're women, especially if you're gay men and women." "They fit the victim profile." "Elderly people, children, be cautious." "There's demons out there." "The odds are profoundly against you ever running into someone" "Like Bob Berdella, but it pays to be cautious" "Because these guys do exist." "I'm James Ellroy, offering slag to throw" "On the grave, hopefully unmarked," "Hopefully remote, hopefully untended, of Bob Berdella." "Thanks joining us." "[Music playing]" "(SINGING) Gather 'round all you chillun', I" "Got a story I want to tell." "It's about the next-door neighbor," "A preacher's thorn in hell." "He's one sick bastard, no one to pity." "Mr. And Mrs. Berdella's boy, he's" "The butcher of Kansas City." "Bazaar Bizarre, it's getting kind of icky." "Bazaar Bizarre, sicky sicky, sicky sicky." "Bob the Bogeyman, you don't wake up from this dream." "He's Bob the Bogeyman, no one can hear you scream." "Bob the Bogeyman, he'll wipe your eyes clean." "He's big man Bob, Bob the Bogeyman." "Say what?" "Bob's chili was a mighty manly mixer." "Herbs and spices, but never any chicks." "Franks and beans, a chunkier knife." "Tattoos taste great was Dahmer's advice." "Chomp down, y'all." "Bazaar Bizarre." "Bazaar Bizarre." "Bob's Bizarre, real bizarre." "Woof, woof, hear the demon dog bark." "He's got a 12-inch wanger that glows in the dark." "(RAPPING) Ammonia in your eyes make it hard to see," "Some Drano in your throat make it hard to scream," "And it would seem from the collar around your neck" "That your non-virgin ass is about to get reamed." "Bludgeoned and pummeled and raped and abused," "Cooking in a chili pot is where they find you." "Ground up like goo and crushed crackers, too," "You better rise up better than a male prostitute." "[Rock music continues]" "(SINGING) He's big bad Bob." "He's Bob the Bogeyman." "[Sinister laugh]" "When he gives you a Drano cocktail," "It makes it hard to holler." "He'll put you on a short leash, make you wear Fido's collar." "Be careful of when you tread upon" "This slippery, sunny slope." "You'll wind up in Bob's Bazaar Bizarre," "The place there is no hope." "Bazaar Bizarre" "Bazaar Bizarre" "Bazaar Bizarre" "Bazaar Bizarre" "Bazaar Bizarre" "Bazaar Bizarre" "Bazaar Bizarre" "He's coming to get ya." "Who there?" "Why, it's Bob the Bogeyman." "[Sinister laugh]" "Hey now, Bob, wait a minute." "Oh, yeah, he's the Bogeyman." "He's going to get you." "He's going to get you." "Can I say get you one more time?" "Say it one more time, get you." "Get your ya-ya's here." "What?" "That's another song, that's right." "Bob the Bogeyman." "Bob the Bogeyman." "Who?" "Bob the Bogeyman." "He's Bob the Bogeyman." "He's Bob the Bogey, the Bogey, the Bogeyman."