Listen free for 30 days
-
A Killer by Design
- Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $28.27
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
A vivid behind-the-scenes look into the creation of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit and the evolution of criminal profiling, written by the pioneering forensic nurse who transformed the way the FBI studies, profiles, and catches serial killers.
Lurking beneath the progressive activism and sex positivity in the 1970 to '80s, a dark undercurrent of violence rippled across the American landscape. With reported cases of sexual assault and homicide on the rise, the FBI created a specialized team - the “Mindhunters”, better known as the Behavioral Science Unit - to track down the country's most dangerous criminals. And yet narrowing down a seemingly infinite list of potential suspects seemed daunting at best and impossible at worst - until Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess stepped on the scene.
In A Killer by Design, Burgess reveals how her pioneering research on sexual assault and trauma caught the attention of the FBI, and steered her right into the middle of a chilling serial murder investigation in Nebraska. Over the course of the next two decades, she helped the budding unit identify, interview, and track down dozens of notoriously violent offenders, including Ed Kemper ("The Co-Ed Killer"), Dennis Rader ("BTK"), Henry Wallace ("The Taco Bell Strangler"), Jon Barry Simonis ("The Ski-Mask Rapist"), and many others. As one of the first women trailblazers within the FBI’s hallowed halls, Burgess knew many were expecting her to crack under pressure and recoil in horror - but she was determined to protect future victims at any cost. This book pulls us directly into the investigations as she experienced them, interweaving never-before-seen interview transcripts and crime scene drawings alongside her own vivid recollections to provide unprecedented insight into the minds of deranged criminals and the victims they left behind. Along the way, Burgess also paints a revealing portrait of a formidable institution on the brink of a seismic scientific and cultural reckoning - and the men forced to reconsider everything they thought they knew about crime.
Haunting, heartfelt, and deeply human, A Killer by Design forces us to confront the age-old question that has long plagued our criminal justice system: “What drives someone to kill, and how can we stop them?”
You may also enjoy...
-
The Evil That Men Do
- FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators
- Written by: Stephen G. Michaud, Roy Hazelwood
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-two years in the FBI, 16 of them as a member of the Bureau's Behavioral Science Unit. Roy Hazelwood, like many investigators, has seen it all. But unlike most, he's gone further into the dark and twisted psyches of serial killers and sadistic sexual offenders and has emerged as one of the world's foremost experts on the sexual criminal. Acclaimed true-crime writer Stephen G. Michaud takes you into the heart of Hazelwood's work through dozens of startling cases, including those of the Lonely Heart Killer, the "Ken and Barbie" killings, and the Atlanta Child Murders.
-
-
Graphic but a good listen
- By Raina Mermaid on 2019-12-03
Written by: Stephen G. Michaud, and others
-
Whoever Fights Monsters
- My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI
- Written by: Robert K. Ressler, Tom Shachtman
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Face-to-face with some of America's most terrifying killers, FBI veteran and ex-Army CID colonel Robert Ressler learned from them how to identify the unknown monsters who walk among us - and put them behind bars. Now the man who coined the phrase "serial killer" and advised Thomas Harris on The Silence of the Lambs shows how he has tracked down some of the nation's most brutal murderers. Join Ressler as he takes you on the hunt for America's most dangerous psychopaths. It is a terrifying journey you will not forget.
-
-
I was brought to this by MFM #ssdgm
- By Hunter Belfer on 2018-06-07
Written by: Robert K. Ressler, and others
-
The Killer's Shadow
- The FBI's Hunt for a White Supremacist Serial Killer
- Written by: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Holt McCallany
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Worshippers stream out of an Midwestern synagogue after sabbath services, unaware that only a hundred yards away, an expert marksman and avowed racist, antisemite and member of the Ku Klux Klan, patiently awaits, his hunting rifle at the ready. A riveting, cautionary tale rooted in history that continues to echo today, The Killer's Shadow is a terrifying and essential exploration of the criminal personality in the vile grip of extremism and what happens when rage-filled speech evolves into deadly action and hatred of the “other" is allowed full reign.
-
-
Intriguing, informative, Well written!!
- By bill on 2020-12-19
Written by: John E. Douglas, and others
-
The Stranger Beside Me
- The Shocking True Story of Serial Killer Ted Bundy
- Written by: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ann Rule was working on the biggest story of her career, tracking the trail of victims left by a brutal serial killer. Little did this future best-selling author know that the savage slayer she was hunting was the young man she counted among her closest friends. Everyone's picture of a natural winner, Ted Bundy was a bright, charming, and handsome man with a promising future as an attorney. But on January 24, 1989 Bundy was executed for the murders of three young women - and had confessed to taking the lives of at least thirty-five more women from coast to coast.
-
-
There is an Audio problem in Chapter 54
- By Bailey on 2020-01-28
Written by: Ann Rule
-
Surviving the Survivor
- A Brutally Honest Conversation About Life (& Death) with My Mom: A Holocaust Survivor, Therapist & My Podcast Co-Host
- Written by: Joel Z. Waldman
- Narrated by: Joel Z. Waldman, Karmela Waldman
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Holocaust survivor and licensed therapist Karmela Waldman shares brutally honest advice about life and death—often deploying brutally sharp wit—with her son and podcast co-host, Joel Waldman.
-
-
Thank you Miss Karm!
- By Jacqueline Ranger on 2024-09-27
Written by: Joel Z. Waldman
-
The Anatomy of Motive
- The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals
- Written by: John Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Anatomy of Motive offers a dramatic, insightful look at the development and evolution of the criminal mind. The famed former chief of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, John Douglas was the pioneer of modern behavioral profiling of serial criminals. Working again with acclaimed novelist, journalist, and filmmaker Mark Olshaker, and using cases from his own fabled career as examples, Douglas takes us further than ever before into the dark corners of the minds of arsonists, hijackers, bombers, poisoners, serial killers, and mass murderers.
-
-
Fairly standard stuff from Douglas
- By Raina Mermaid on 2019-09-09
Written by: John Douglas, and others
-
The Evil That Men Do
- FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators
- Written by: Stephen G. Michaud, Roy Hazelwood
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-two years in the FBI, 16 of them as a member of the Bureau's Behavioral Science Unit. Roy Hazelwood, like many investigators, has seen it all. But unlike most, he's gone further into the dark and twisted psyches of serial killers and sadistic sexual offenders and has emerged as one of the world's foremost experts on the sexual criminal. Acclaimed true-crime writer Stephen G. Michaud takes you into the heart of Hazelwood's work through dozens of startling cases, including those of the Lonely Heart Killer, the "Ken and Barbie" killings, and the Atlanta Child Murders.
-
-
Graphic but a good listen
- By Raina Mermaid on 2019-12-03
Written by: Stephen G. Michaud, and others
-
Whoever Fights Monsters
- My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI
- Written by: Robert K. Ressler, Tom Shachtman
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Face-to-face with some of America's most terrifying killers, FBI veteran and ex-Army CID colonel Robert Ressler learned from them how to identify the unknown monsters who walk among us - and put them behind bars. Now the man who coined the phrase "serial killer" and advised Thomas Harris on The Silence of the Lambs shows how he has tracked down some of the nation's most brutal murderers. Join Ressler as he takes you on the hunt for America's most dangerous psychopaths. It is a terrifying journey you will not forget.
-
-
I was brought to this by MFM #ssdgm
- By Hunter Belfer on 2018-06-07
Written by: Robert K. Ressler, and others
-
The Killer's Shadow
- The FBI's Hunt for a White Supremacist Serial Killer
- Written by: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Holt McCallany
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Worshippers stream out of an Midwestern synagogue after sabbath services, unaware that only a hundred yards away, an expert marksman and avowed racist, antisemite and member of the Ku Klux Klan, patiently awaits, his hunting rifle at the ready. A riveting, cautionary tale rooted in history that continues to echo today, The Killer's Shadow is a terrifying and essential exploration of the criminal personality in the vile grip of extremism and what happens when rage-filled speech evolves into deadly action and hatred of the “other" is allowed full reign.
-
-
Intriguing, informative, Well written!!
- By bill on 2020-12-19
Written by: John E. Douglas, and others
-
The Stranger Beside Me
- The Shocking True Story of Serial Killer Ted Bundy
- Written by: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ann Rule was working on the biggest story of her career, tracking the trail of victims left by a brutal serial killer. Little did this future best-selling author know that the savage slayer she was hunting was the young man she counted among her closest friends. Everyone's picture of a natural winner, Ted Bundy was a bright, charming, and handsome man with a promising future as an attorney. But on January 24, 1989 Bundy was executed for the murders of three young women - and had confessed to taking the lives of at least thirty-five more women from coast to coast.
-
-
There is an Audio problem in Chapter 54
- By Bailey on 2020-01-28
Written by: Ann Rule
-
Surviving the Survivor
- A Brutally Honest Conversation About Life (& Death) with My Mom: A Holocaust Survivor, Therapist & My Podcast Co-Host
- Written by: Joel Z. Waldman
- Narrated by: Joel Z. Waldman, Karmela Waldman
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Holocaust survivor and licensed therapist Karmela Waldman shares brutally honest advice about life and death—often deploying brutally sharp wit—with her son and podcast co-host, Joel Waldman.
-
-
Thank you Miss Karm!
- By Jacqueline Ranger on 2024-09-27
Written by: Joel Z. Waldman
-
The Anatomy of Motive
- The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals
- Written by: John Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Anatomy of Motive offers a dramatic, insightful look at the development and evolution of the criminal mind. The famed former chief of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, John Douglas was the pioneer of modern behavioral profiling of serial criminals. Working again with acclaimed novelist, journalist, and filmmaker Mark Olshaker, and using cases from his own fabled career as examples, Douglas takes us further than ever before into the dark corners of the minds of arsonists, hijackers, bombers, poisoners, serial killers, and mass murderers.
-
-
Fairly standard stuff from Douglas
- By Raina Mermaid on 2019-09-09
Written by: John Douglas, and others
-
Journey into Darkness
- Written by: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the number-one New York Times best seller Mindhunter, John Douglas, who headed the FBI's elite Investigative Support Unit, told the story of his brilliant and terrifying career tracking down some of the most heinous criminals in history. Now, in Journey into Darkness, Douglas profiles vicious serial killers, rapists, and child molesters. He is straightforward, blunt, often irreverent, and outspoken, but takes pains not to glorify any of these murderers.
-
-
Great book hate the narrator
- By Robert K Laws on 2019-08-18
Written by: John E. Douglas, and others
-
When the Night Comes Falling
- A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders
- Written by: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Zac Aleman
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Timed for a trial that will capture national attention, When the Night Comes Falling examines the mysterious murders of the four University of Idaho students. Having covered this case from its start, Edgar award winning investigative reporter Howard Blum takes listeners behind the scenes of the police manhunt that eventually led to suspected killer, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, and uncovered larger, lurid questions within this unthinkable tragedy.
-
-
Recalling the death of four murdered Idaho students
- By Amazon Customer on 2024-10-25
Written by: Howard Blum
-
Obsession
- The FBI's Legendary Profiler Probes the Psyches of Killers, Rapists, and Stalkers
- Written by: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Douglas once again takes us fascinatingly behind the scenes, focusing his expertise on predatory crimes, primarily against women. With a deep sense of compassion for the victims and an uncanny understanding of the perpetrators, Douglas looks at the obsessions that lead to rape, stalking, and sexual murder through such cases as Ronnie Shelton, the serial rapist who terrorized Cleveland; and New York's notorious "Preppie Murder". But Douglas also looks at obsession on the other side of the moral spectrum: his own career-long obsession with hunting these predators.
-
-
Not obsessed with OBSESSION
- By Glen on 2020-01-09
Written by: John E. Douglas, and others
-
Green River, Running Red
- Written by: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the most extraordinary journey Ann Rule has ever undertaken, America's master of true crime has spent more than two decades researching the story of the Green River Killer, who murdered more than 49 young women. Green River, Running Red is a harrowing account of a modern monster, a killer who walked among us undetected. It is also the story of his quarry -- of who these young women were and who they might have become.
-
-
Boring, confusing, repetitive
- By Anastasia Beaverhausen on 2020-12-08
Written by: Ann Rule
-
Dark Dreams
- A Legendary FBI Profiler Examines Homicide and the Criminal Mind
- Written by: Roy Hazelwood, Stephen G Michaud
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Profiler Roy Hazelwood is one of the world's leading experts on the strangest and most dangerous of all aberrant offenders - the sexual criminal. In Dark Dreams he reveals the twisted motive and thinking that go into the most reprehensible crimes. He also catalogs the innovative and remarkably effective techniques that allow law enforcement agents to construct psychological profiles of the offenders who commit these crimes.
-
-
good narrator but bad audio
- By Raina Mermaid on 2019-12-13
Written by: Roy Hazelwood, and others
-
Down the Hill
- My Descent into the Double Murder in Delphi
- Written by: Susan Hendricks
- Narrated by: Susan Hendricks, Kelsi German Siebert
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Former CNN/HLN anchor and veteran broadcast journalist Susan Hendricks takes an investigative deep-dive into the still-unsolved double homicide of two teens in Delphi, Indiana—and its lasting impact on the community. In Down the Hill, Hendricks digs deeper in into the mystery that has captivated our nation for years, exploring the family's enduring resilience and advocacy, as well as the rippling impact the case has had on not just Delphi, but the very heart of the American heartland.
-
-
Sensitive journalism at its best
- By JD Last on 2023-09-23
Written by: Susan Hendricks
-
Lay Them to Rest
- On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless
- Written by: Laurah Norton
- Narrated by: Laurah Norton
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to “getting the bad guy” behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence—and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases.
-
-
Amazing book, I couldn’t stop!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-11-29
Written by: Laurah Norton
-
Mindhunter
- Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit
- Written by: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bonus material! Includes an excerpt from John Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s Obsession! Discover the classic behind-the-scenes chronicle of John E. Douglas’ 25-year career in the FBI Investigative Support Unit, where he used psychological profiling to delve into the minds of the country’s most notorious serial killers and criminals - the basis for the upcoming Netflix original series.
-
-
Fantastic look into abnormal minds
- By John on 2018-09-19
Written by: John E. Douglas, and others
-
On the Farm
- Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women
- Written by: Stevie Cameron
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Verteran investigative journalist Stevie Cameron first began following the story of missing women in 1998, when the odd newspaper piece appeared chronicling the disappearances of drug-addicted sex trade workers from Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. It was not until February 2002 that pig farmer Robert William Pickton would be arrested, and 2008 before he was found guilty, on six counts of second-degree murder. These counts were appealed and in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its conclusion.
-
-
Narration is bad. “You know, Like really bad ‘eh”
- By k on 2022-08-24
Written by: Stevie Cameron
-
Unmasked
- My Life Solving America's Cold Cases
- Written by: Paul Holes, Robin Gaby Fisher
- Narrated by: Paul Holes
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I order another bourbon, neat. This is the drink that will flip the switch. I don’t even know how I got here, to this place, to this point. Something is happening to me lately. I’m drinking too much. My sheets are soaking wet when I wake up from nightmares of decaying corpses. I order another drink and swig it, trying to forget about the latest case I can’t shake. Crime solving for me is more complex than the challenge of the hunt, or the process of piecing together a scientific puzzle. The thought of good people suffering drives me to the point of obsession.
-
-
Incredible, as expected!
- By Chelsea Suik-Thomas on 2022-04-28
Written by: Paul Holes, and others
-
The New Evil
- Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime
- Written by: Michael H. Stone MD, Gary Brucato PhD
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revisiting Dr. Michael Stone's groundbreaking 22-level Gradations of Evil Scale, a hierarchy of evil behavior first introduced in the book The Anatomy of Evil, Stone and Dr. Gary Brucato, a fellow violence and serious psychopathology expert, here provide even more detail, using dozens of cases to exemplify the categories along the continuum. The New Evil also presents compelling evidence that, since a cultural tipping-point in the 1960s, certain types of violent crime have emerged that in earlier decades never or very rarely occurred.
-
-
The perfect followup to the Anatomy of Evil.
- By Anonymous User on 2024-05-22
Written by: Michael H. Stone MD, and others
-
All That Is Wicked
- A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind
- Written by: Kate Winkler Dawson
- Narrated by: Kate Winkler Dawson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer—some have called him a “Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter”—whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity.
-
-
Excellent
- By Heidi Gerrits on 2023-12-04
Written by: Kate Winkler Dawson
What the critics say
“Of all the colleagues I’ve worked with, Ann is one of the sharpest - and one of the toughest. Ann’s behind-the-scenes work had a profound impact on the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, since she taught us how to harness the chaos of serial killers’ minds and helped us decipher the undecipherable. I’d recommend that everyone read A Killer by Design, not only is it a great page-turner, but it’s about time Ann’s story was heard.” (John E. Douglas, former FBI criminal profiler and best-selling author of Mindhunter)
“My career was shaped after reading the seminal text on sexual homicide co-authored by Dr. Ann Burgess - one of the original Mindhunters. Now, in A Killer by Design, Burgess shows how she helped refine the criminal profiling process, with an acute eye for detail and heartwarming compassion for the victims. This book has quickly become a permanent fixture on my bookshelf and is a must-read for anybody who wants to understand the history of exploring the predator's mind. Burgess is truly a hero in the fight against evil.” (Paul Holes, FBI Task Force officer, retired cold case investigator, and cohost of Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad podcast)
“Countless investigators and detectives around the world do work every single day that is based on the research and discoveries of Dr. Ann Burgess - myself included. But here, for the first time, we are able to experience the fascinating - and often heart-wrenching - stories behind these facts, figures, and procedures alongside Ann as she worked the cases that would serve as the foundation of criminal profiling. This is a riveting book and will become a staple on the shelves of both experts, and armchair detectives.” (Sarah Cailean, criminal behaviorist)
What listeners say about A Killer by Design
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2024-11-14
More lecturing than insightful, fleshing out previous works rather than standing on its own
Definitely read the works of Ressler and Douglas before this one. It mostly assumes you have, even as it reiterates a lot of what they’ve said.
While this does add the much needed voice of the third pillar of the BSU, it ultimately fails to be as insightful air scientific as one would hope. Instead it mostly oscillates between summarizing crimes, giving a shallow dive into the psychology, and then recriminations the audience for even reading/listening to that.
It’s frustrating that Ann herself has such a passion for this subject, but is angry about others who share it. She almost seems loathe to be writing this book. While she dedicates it to the victims, in truth she spends next to no time talking about them; Douglas actually did a better job speaking about the importance of victims and how profiling them matters, too.
I just don’t think Ann wanted to write this. I think she felt she had to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lexi
- 2023-10-16
Very interesting
Loved learning about Dr. Burgess' professional background. She is one heck of an accomplished woman.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Patty M.
- 2024-02-23
History of Formation of serial kiĺler dic within FBI
Dr. Ann Burgess has been a pioneer in identifying behavior patterns in serial killers since the inception of this unit. she has personally interviewed Bundy, Kemper, Ramirez, Gacy, Raider to name a few. Extremely interesting and particularly challenging for a woman in the early 70s working within FBI
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!