'Murderland' author links Tacoma plumes to serial killers

What warped the minds of America's serial killers? New book argues it's not what you think

When Ted Bundy was a child in the 1950s, he hunted for frogs in the nearby swamps in Tacoma, Washington. The young Gary Ridgway, the future Green River Killer, grew up just a short drive north. Both men went on to become prolific serial killers, raping and mutilating dozens of women, starting in the 1970s and ’80s. These types of sociopaths are exceedingly rare, representing less than a tenth of 1 percent of all murderers by some accounts. Yet i…

What warped the minds of serial killers? Lead pollution, a new book argues.

When Ted Bundy was a child in the 1950s, he hunted for frogs in the nearby swamps in Tacoma, Washington. The young Gary Ridgway, the future Green River Killer, grew up just a short drive north. Both men went on to become prolific serial killers, raping and mutilating dozens of women, starting in the 1970s and ’80s. These types of sociopaths are exceedingly rare, representing less than a tenth of 1 percent of all murderers by some accounts. Yet i…

'Murderland' author links Tacoma plumes to serial killers

What creates a serial killer? Caroline Fraser, author of “Murderland,” has linked toxic fumes to the brain development of some of the most notorious criminals. Fraser told “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio Thursday that the Asarco Company’s Tacoma copper smelter—which released arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals into the air, according to the Washington Department of Ecology—may have been a culprit. The smelter, once the tallest smokest…