A leading forensic psychologist, who has interviewed 10 of the most notorious mass murderers in history, has shared the chilling question one killer posed to him mere hours after his horrific spree.
The murderer was Martin Bryant, the man behind Australia’s deadliest mass shooting.
Aged 28 at the time, Bryant was a socially awkward loner who shared his bed with his pet pig. In 1996, Bryant committed an unthinkable massacre at Port Arthur, Tasmania, taking the lives of 35 people, including children.
Professor Paul E.Mullen spoke with Bryant just two days later, while the killer was restrained to a hospital bed, having suffered severe burns from setting fire to a guesthouse in a botched suicide attempt.
When asked about the most unsettling comment a mass murderer had ever made to him, Paul told the Mirror: “Surprise certainly, possibly shock. The Port Arthur killer, who ended the lives of 35 children, women and men.
“Early on in our first interview, he asked with a sly smile if I knew that he now held the record. I did not have to ask him what record.”
At that time, the horrifying “record” was that Bryant had slaughtered more individuals than any other lone gunman in history.
Bryant was aware of this because he had researched others who had committed similar heinous acts. Since then, this grim record has been broken several times, including the 2017 Las Vegas shooting where 60 people were shot dead.
Paul, who hails from Bristol but has lived for several years in New Zealand and Australia, previously revealed to us that every lone killer he had interviewed possessed the same characteristic.
He also discussed whether he felt frightened when alone with them.
He explained: “When you are sitting alone in a room with someone who has committed terrible acts of violence they no longer have a gun in their hand, or a knife, or a bludgeon, nor are they reaching for your throat.
“You are facing a frightened individual, who may try to hide their fear by bluster, but for whom you may be a help but are unlikely to be harmful.”
Earlier this month, he published a book entitled Running Amok which examined the psyches of mass murderers.
He investigated the factors that connect them while offering advice on identifying warning signs and improving threat assessments.
When asked what warning signs society overlooks, he stated: “Lone mass killers often communicate their intentions on for example the internet, in social interactions, and in essays at school and university.
“Far more communicate such intentions than ever act on their expressed plans.”
He then described how collaborative policy and mental health teams were being established to react to reports of anyone voicing massacre ambitions.
The initial steps would involve establishing whether the individual has access to firearms, their criminal and mental health histories, and their email and internet activity. Based on these findings, a face-to-face interview may then be arranged before potential interventions are decided.
Regarding our own nation, he added: “The UK is particularly fortunate in having one of the better organised and developed response services of this type in contrast to America and most other countries.”
Running Amok is available to buy now on Amazon.