# Thinking of the Russell Williams case: What percentage of serial killers are parents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963 "2010-10-22T01:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/1 "2010-10-22T01:28:51Z")
Strange thought perhaps. Have many serial killers been parents? I’m drawing a blank, and noticing a trend. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/2 "2010-10-22T01:32:11Z")
[quote=“Leaffan, post:1, topic:557963”] Strange thought perhaps. Have many serial killers been parents? I’m drawing a blank, and noticing a trend.[/QUOTED Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, has two kids. AFAIK he was not an abusive parent. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/3 "2010-10-22T01:44:06Z")
John Wayne Gacy married, and had a son and a daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/4 "2010-10-22T01:59:02Z")
A lot of the female ones had kids. Nannie Doss, Martha Beck, Belle Gunness just jump out. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/5 "2010-10-22T02:05:03Z")
Well, just looking at Australia, where I live: Catherine Birnie, who with her partner David Birnie murdered four women in the 1980s, had seven children. (David Birnie was not the father; he had no children.) Elizabeth Harvey, one of the Snowtown murderers, was the mother of James Vlassikis, another of the murderers. Eric Cook, who murdered eight people in Perth in the 1950s and 1960s, was the father of seven children. Kathleen Folbigg’s four victims were her own children. John Wayne Glover, who killed six women in 1989/90, was married with children. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/6 "2010-10-22T02:32:07Z")
I don’t know if precise figures on parenthood exist, but serial killers often do defy the “unbalanced loner” stereotype and lead normal lives in their communities, complete with families and jobs. Rader and Gacy are obvious examples, as is Gary Ridgeway, the Green River killer. Ridgeway was employed as a truck painter for thirty-two years, was married to his third wife at the time of his arrest, and like Rader was active in his local church. Russell Williams is unusual in that he climbed so high in rank and position, but successful military men with families have turned out to be serial killers before him. [Robert Lee Yates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lee_Yates), who killed seventeen prostitutes in and around Spokane, had a 19 year career as a decorated U.S. Army helicopter pilot and lived in a nice middle class neighborhood with his wife and five children. Not exactly the same situation, but Ted Bundy is also rumored to have fathered a daughter while in prison in 1982, with his wife Carole Anne Boone. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/7 "2010-10-22T02:57:04Z")
More information about Yates: > [@](#): > > The father of four daughters and a son, Robert Yates Jr. led a relatively ordinary and unremarkable life that was characterized by exemplary military service…[H]e married a young woman named Linda, and later enlisted in the Army where he served his country for 19 years as a helicopter pilot, opting to leave less than a year before becoming eligible for retirement benefits. He flew an OH-58D Kiowa, the type of helicopter that the Army uses for reconnaissance missions. Yates served in Germany, participated in Desert Storm, served in relief efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Andrew, and flew in a UN peacekeeping mission to Somalia. In addition to holding a military pilot’s license, Yates was also rated commercially to fly transport planes and helicopters. During his military service, Yates received a number of distinguished awards and medals including three meritorious service medals, three Army commendation medals, three Army achievement medals, and two Armed Forces expeditionary medals. After receiving an honorable discharge, Yates went to work for an aluminum smelter. He also joined the Washington National Guard. > > While serving in the National Guard, Yates attained the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4 and was the only commander the Guard had east of the Cascade Mountains for the OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter, making him a valuable commodity, so-to-speak. He was characterized by his fellow guardsmen and guardswomen as a true professional who was very proficient in his job. He was also characterized as brave, and it became well known that he scouted hostile territory, often drawing enemy fire, while serving in Somalia. [Chap. 12: Aviator, Husband, Father, Ordinary Guy](http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/yates/guy_8.html) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/8 "2010-10-22T14:48:49Z")
Fred West married 2 daughters - one of which his wife murdered, this was a husband and wife team of serial killers, utterly horrible individuals. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/9 "2010-10-22T14:59:33Z")
Every serial killer **had** parents. You’d hope to be dead before your kid was revealed to be a serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-the-russell-williams-case-what-percentage-of-serial-killers-are-parents/557963/10 "2010-10-22T15:18:25Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Every serial killer **had** parents. > > You’d hope to be dead before your kid was revealed to be a serial killer. Worst case – you die in the process of discovering your kid is a serial killer.