Serial killers who found love

As serial killer Charles Manson prepares for his forthcoming nuptials to Afton Elaine Burton, we look at other women who fell in love with men who were looking at a lifetime in prison, if not death row.When Charles Manson, 80, announced his engagement to Afton Elaine Burton, 26, everyone was shocked. Not because of the age difference, but because Manson has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering seven people, including director Roman Polanksi’s wife Sharon Tate in 1969. But this isn’t an isolated example, as the phenomenon of hybristophilia – being attracted to a murderer, rapist or anyone engaged in an illegal and harmful activity – is relatively common in the US (frightening as that is). So what causes this attraction? Criminologist from the University of Baltimore, Jeffrey Ian Ross says, “The individual who is the admirer believes that they have the power to cure the perpetrator of these gruesome crimes to commit further acts”. Joy Krause, who is working on a documentary that focuses on wives of serial killers, adds, “There are so many reasons. There’s this thing about being with an alpha male. (…) There’s also a fan-thing going on, where people are attracted to a famous person and in our society, serial killers become famous. They’re featured on the cover of magazines, books are written about their lives, movies are made. They’re like a rock star.” We explore this bizarre phenomenon further as we take a look at some examples of women who fell for men on the death row.Charles MansonManson was arrested in 1969 for directing the killings of seven people and has stayed behind bars ever since. His motives for the high-profile murders included gaining attention and a firm belief that he was the messiah who would see the human race through an impending Armageddon. What’s scarier is that he convinced around a hundred others of the same and conducted the infamous murders through his followers, known as the ‘Manson Family’, which largely consisted of young girls. Almost four decades later, Manson is set to tie the knot with Burton next year. Burton says that it was Manson’s concern for the environment that drew her to him, and adds that “Charlie is all about air, trees, water, animals” – she leaves ‘mass murderer’ out of this list because she believes that Manson is innocent of the crimes, and explains that by marrying him, she will be better able to fight his case. However, it’s not the first time Manson has had smitten teens fawn over him. Apart from his Manson Family members, at the time of his conviction, many young women would gather outside the courthouse pleading for his release, some even carving an ‘x’ on their forehead, imitating Manson’s own carving. In fact, a movie revolving around Manson and his ‘family’, entitled Manson Girls, will begin filming next February, a testimony to Manson’s murderer-celebrity status.Ted Bundy You may not always approve of the man your daughter brings home, whether it’s because of his salary, family or line of work. Of course, all that pales in comparison when you hear about Carole Anne Boone, wife of serial killer Ted Bundy. While a break up is tough on anyone, Bundy took the rejection of his first girlfriend Stephanie Brooks a bit too much to heart and began to stalk, torture and kill women who resembled her. As the death toll rose to 30, Bundy was arrested in 1975, although the police suspect that he could have been responsible for as many as 100 murders. Revolting to the majority, the criminal record served as an aphrodisiac for many women, including Boone, who moved to Florida to be closer to and eventually, marry Bundy. The couple was not permitted to have conjugal visits, but since Bundy seemed to care little for rules, they managed to have a daughter. By the time of Bundy’s execution in 1989, Boone had divorced Bundy and left Florida with her daughter.Lyle Menendez So what kind of a girl seeks matrimonial, if prison-bound, bliss with a murderer? The recluse who could never get a date? Or the girl who was never asked to dance at the party? Apparently, sometimes, it can end up being a Playboy model. In 1997, Anna Eriksson, a former model who had posed for Playboy, married Lyle Menendez, who had murdered his parents in 1989 with the help of his brother Erik. The pair wrote each other letters and eventually got married through a telephonic ceremony in 1996. While Anna’s scope for forgiveness of murder was great, her tolerance for adultery was much less as she divorced Menendez after she discovered that he had another female pen-pal on the side (which leads us to believe her prioritizing of the Ten Commandments was exceedingly messed up). Yet, if there’s one thing we’ve learnt, it’s that there are always prospective brides lined up for the high-profile murderer, and this was true for Menendez, who re-married Rebecca Sneed, a magazine editor, in 2003.Richard RamirezA man who earns the nickname The Night Stalker, creeps into people’s homes and kills them in their sleep, may not sound like Mr Right to most women. But it certainly did for Doreen Lioy, when she married Richard Ramirez, who had committed 13 murders and 11 sexual assaults in 1984-85 in Los Angeles. Similar to Manson, Ramirez was flooded with romantic overtures from hundreds of murder groupies at the time of his trial, but it was Lioy who beat them to the punch. And what exactly wins the heart of a serial killer? Apparently, 75 love letters over a span of 11 years and being a virgin, as these were the things that Ramirez said attracted him to Lioy. The pair wed in 1996 and remained together – at least during visiting hours – till his death in 2013.James Earl RayThe reasons behind marrying a murderer are complicated, and Anna Sailing Sandhu’s reason was her father abandoning her after her first marriage with an Indian student. She says, “The challenge seemed to turn me on. I felt I had enough strength to do anything I wanted. And I had something to prove.” And prove it, she did, by marrying James Earl Ray, who assassinated the American Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr and threw the US into a state of turmoil (That’ll teach dad!). The pair walked down the aisle in 1978, curiously on Friday the 13th, but eventually got divorced in 1993.Charles Sobhraj Popularly known as “The Serpent”, the half-Vietnamese, half-Indian Charles Sobhraj was responsible for killing (or ‘cleaning’ as he called it) anywhere from 12 to 24 tourists during 1972-76. Sobhraj, whose life is the subject of the upcoming Randeep Hooda film Main Aur Charles, received his nickname for his ability to keep escaping from prison, and he usually did so with the help of smitten female accomplices. For example, during his imprisonment in New Delhi in 1986, Sobhraj’s escape was aided by his lawyer Sneh Sengar, who had fallen in love with him. In 2008, Sobhraj, 64, married Bigg Boss contestant Nihita Biswas, 20, in Kathmandu’s Central Jail. It was not Sobhraj’s first marriage, however, as his fatal charm had also fetched him two wives and a host of girlfriends earlier before he decided to get hitched.