When Interviewers Asked Serial Killers The Wrong Question...

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Our content isn't always ad-friendly. To support and also get exclusive access to extra content, please take a look at our Patreon: ► https://www.patreon.com/Top5sOffical  Or grab some official paranormal & alien themed merch: https://officialtop5s.myshopify.com  When we think of serial killers, it’s difficult to see them as human beings, especially when they have not only killed but also mutilated and tortured their victims, both before and after death. Yet when these killers give interviews, they often appear perfectly normal, making it hard to connect them to their heinous crimes.   However sometimes, their true nature surfaces, revealing a chilling absence of remorse and in this list we look at killers who have given interviews and displayed a disturbing lack of empathy, along with disconcerting anger towards their interviewers.  0:00 Introduction 0:47 Joseph Kallinger - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7xhPAVRDGo 4:24 Aileen Wuornos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eGbaaC6f4s 6:45 Arthur Shawcross - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQNwjEkszvg 10:11 Richard Ramirez - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzMZyZj5uMU 14:16 Tommy Lynn Sells - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V7EL-Yg8Gg  🎧 Check out the "Hit The Lights" Podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Google and everywhere else you get your podcasts!   🎧 Podcast Links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6anlNMUERfwC7S0665z3wy Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-hit-the-lights-podcast/id1503579405 Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS84MTIwMzkucnNz  Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/b9116ded-48d9-4f42-ab95-1a74d32c0c89/the-hit-the-lights-podcast   To submit any creepy personal stories or send in videos/photographs you may have caught over the years and can't explain, please email 👉 mystory@top5s.co.uk  Our other channels 👇  🦖 DinosaurDiscovery: DINOSAURS   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzNwK_O14PRYEm5LBiiOAgw   AccessAstronomy: SPACE & ASTRONOMY https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpbMdDya7ubh013QGe0JqHA/featured  🔎 ColdCaseDetective: TRUE CRIME https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdjslyNQupPSFxK_mSPcG-g?   WarsofTheWorld: MILITARY HISTORY https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB29sxIJ9PQIo0hCnIaOMbg  👽 DestinationDeclassified: ALIENS & UFOs https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfxuwHJ4cQHgf1ez7662_fQ  ⚔️ MedievalMadness: MEDIEVAL HISTORY https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWoMpx18YeSVuI7ObqEk8eg   Thanks for watching.   DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are, or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, PLEASE email us before putting in a claim and we can resolve the issue immediately. We can be reach on this email: info@top5s.co.uk  Copyright © 2026 Top5s All rights reserved.

Transcript

00:06When we think of serial killers, it's difficult to see them as human beings, especially when they

00:11have not only killed, but also mutilated and tortured their victims, both before and after

00:16death. Yet when these killers give interviews, they often appear perfectly normal, making it

00:21hard to connect them to their heinous crimes. However, sometimes their true nature surfaces,

00:27revealing a chilling absence of remorse. And in this video, we'll be looking at killers

00:33who have given interviews and displayed a disturbing lack of empathy, along with disconcerting

00:38anger towards their interviewers. Let's begin.

00:47There are few serial killers as evil and sadistic as cobbler-turned-murderer Joseph Kalinger.

00:52He was born Joseph Lee Brenner in 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of four, he was adopted

01:00by Austrian immigrants Stephen and Anna Kalinger, and given a new surname. His adoptive parents

01:06were abusive, and as an adult, he perpetuated that cycle of abuse with his own family. This

01:11ultimately led to his arrest for child abuse, after his children reported him to the police.

01:17He was initially jailed, but was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and subsequently

01:21released under the supervision of his family. By 1974, Kalinger complained of hearing voices from

01:27a floating head that he claimed followed him around. He also believed God was telling him to kill young

01:32boys and sever their genitals. Acting on these voices, Kalinger enlisted his 13-year-old son Michael

01:39to help him torture and murder his first victim, a 9-year-old Puerto Rican boy. His next victim was

01:45his son, Joe Junior, who suffered for reporting his father to the police for abuse. Tragically,

01:51Junior was later found drowned in an abandoned building. Then on January 8, 1975, Kalinger and

01:58Michael gained entrance to a house in Leona, New Jersey, by posing as salesman. Once inside,

02:04they beat Rob and terrorised the 8 people inside. Kalinger went on to kill 21-year-old nurse Maria

02:10Fasching by stabbing her in the neck and back. The pair were soon apprehended after a bloodstained

02:16shirt left at the scene was traced back to the Kalinger household by a laundry mark.

02:21After his capture, Kalinger was diagnosed with paranoia and schizophrenia by psychiatrists.

02:27Despite this, the jury determined that he understood the difference between right and wrong,

02:32leading to his conviction for murder. He received a 40-year sentence in Pennsylvania for a series of

02:38robberies, followed by a life sentence in New Jersey for the murder of Maria Fasching.

02:43In jail, Kalinger's erratic behaviour continued, and he repeatedly expressed his desire to kill

02:48every person on earth. He also slashed a fellow inmate's throat and poured lighter fluid on himself,

02:54setting himself alight, and tried to fry an egg on his head. This guy was completely insane.

03:00Eventually, he was moved to the Fairview State Hospital for the criminally insane. It was there

03:05that he gave this chilling interview to American journalist, Giraldo Rivera.

03:09I don't think anyone has the right to take a life.

03:12Except you?

03:14When I'm under hallucination, I do.

03:16These voices from God, these hallucinations, do you still experience them?

03:20Yes, I do.

03:22Often?

03:23Often.

03:25Do you ever feel violent?

03:27Yes, I do.

03:28What do you feel like doing?

03:29Killing people.

03:30Do you still feel like killing people?

03:32Yes.

03:32Describe the feeling that you get when you feel like killing people.

03:34Well, last March 11th, I was hallucinating, and I took a razor blade and I cut a man's throat.

03:43Here in the hospital?

03:44Here in the hospital.

03:45Do you think you'd murder me, Joe?

03:47Yes.

03:48That's gruesome, Joe.

03:50That's horrible.

03:52Yes, it is.

03:53And you don't blame me if I say I hope you never get out of this place.

03:56I hope I never do either.

03:57In the years following the interview, Kalinger expressed remorse and often refused to eat and

04:02attempted suicide.

04:03On March 26th, 1996, he died of a seizure at age 59.

04:08As for his son, Michael, he was convicted as a juvenile and was placed on probation until

04:13his 25th birthday.

04:15He is now a free man and is believed to have changed his name.

04:24Aline Wuornos

04:25Aline Wuornos was a female American serial killer who, whilst working as a prostitute on

04:30Florida's highways, shot dead and robbed seven men.

04:33Her killing spree started around late November 1989 and earned her the nickname Damsel of Death.

04:39She would kill her victims and then steal their possessions, even their cars, and pawn the items

04:43using fake names.

04:45Aline always claimed she killed the men in self-defense after they attacked her.

04:49However, she later retracted that statement and police believed she had killed men

04:53who had either picked her up or had stopped to help her on the highway.

04:56On January 27th, 1992, a jury found 35-year-old Aline guilty of first-degree murder and robbery,

05:03and she was sentenced to death, even though her sanity was questioned.

05:08Aline was charged with six murders.

05:10She was not charged with the seventh, Peter Sams, whose body has never been found, but he was almost

05:16certainly one of her victims.

05:17In 1992, Nick Broomfield released a documentary titled Aline Wuornos, The Salling of a Serial,

05:24in which she chronicles his attempts to interview her.

05:27The film highlights the exploitation she faced from those around her and questions the fairness of her trial,

05:33considering the vested interests of the police.

05:36After her conviction and death sentence, Broomfield made a second film that documented her life on

05:41death row and the weeks leading up to her execution.

05:45The day before her execution, he conducted a final interview that clearly demonstrates Aline is far

05:51from sane and increasingly agitated and bitter towards the police.

05:55Eventually, she vents her anger towards Broomfield.

05:58Take a look.

06:00My mother Diane, let me tell you something, she plopped me out of her belly, she had me,

06:06and left to Texas, trying to be spitting on her, care less, I don't give a damn about that whore.

06:13She declined her last meal and opted for a cup of coffee instead.

06:17Her last words were, yes, I would just like to say, I am sailing with the rock, and I'll be

06:22back,

06:22like Independence Day, with Jesus. June 6th, like the movie, big mothership and all, too, I'll be back.

06:30She died at 9.47am local time and became only the second woman in Florida to be executed

06:35since capital punishment was restored in 1976.

06:46Arthur Shawcross

06:48Serial killer Arthur Shawcross murdered 11 women from 1988 to 1990 in upstate New York,

06:54earning him the nickname Genesee River Killer.

06:57Shawcross was born in Kittery, Maine, but moved with his family to Watertown, New York, when he was young.

07:03He claimed that throughout his childhood, he was abused by his family, something they have always strenuously denied.

07:08As a young adult, he married and had a son, but the marriage had already broken down

07:12by the time he was drafted into the United States Army.

07:16Shawcross would go on and marry twice more, although all his marriages ended in divorce.

07:21After being discharged from the army, he began committing crimes and was eventually sentenced to

07:26five years in prison for arson and burglary. He was granted early release in October 1971

07:32and returned to his hometown of Watertown, New York.

07:35On May 7th, 1972, he assaulted and killed his first known victim, 10-year-old Jack Owen Blake.

07:42This was followed a few months later by the murder of eight-year-old Karen Anhill.

07:46Shawcross was quickly arrested, but remarkably, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge

07:51of first-degree manslaughter for both deaths. He was sentenced to an indeterminate term with a

07:56maximum of 25 years at Attica Correctional Facility. However, inexplicably, Shawcross only served 14 years

08:03in prison before being released in April 1987. It didn't take long for him to return to his

08:09murderous ways, and he went on to kill 12 more women. Most, but not all, were prostitutes. He

08:14viciously attacked all of them before strangling them and mutilating their bodies. Many of his

08:19victims were dumped in the Genesee River. Shawcross later admitted to cannibalism.

08:24On January 2nd, 1990, a helicopter observed what seemed to be a female body lying on the ice surface of

08:31a river near a bridge in the forest. Two days later, police arrested Shawcross, who had been

08:37seen standing by his car close to where the woman's body was discovered. The body was that of missing

08:42June Cicero. Initially, he was uncooperative, but later admitted to most of the murders,

08:47giving detailed excuses about why he had been forced to kill each one. He even admitted to the

08:52killing of two undiscovered victims, leading investigators to their bodies.

08:56His formal confession was nearly 80 pages long. After a jury found Shawcross to be sane,

09:02he was sentenced to 250 years in prison, with an additional life sentence for a murder in Wayne

09:07County. He was convicted of 11 murders, while the 12th case was inconclusive, but it was almost

09:13certainly attributed to him. He was held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in New York State.

09:19From there, he gave this disturbing interview, sharing candid details of his heinous crimes,

09:24while seemingly reveling in his notoriety.

09:27I get a lot of college students, college professors, doctors, lawyers, psychiatrists,

09:33psychologists, all kinds of people from all walks of life.

09:39Do you see yourself as something of a celebrity here?

09:59Surecross spent the rest of his life in prison, and died on November 10, 2008, of a heart attack.

10:11Richard Ramirez

10:13Richard Ramirez was born February 29, 1960, in El Paso, Texas. His horrific crimes stemmed directly

10:21from his troubled childhood. He endured severe physical abuse from his father, which left him

10:25with brain damage. Additionally, he began using drugs at the age of 10, and was exposed to murder

10:31early in life, when he witnessed his cousin kill his wife. After dropping out of school, Ramirez moved

10:36to Los Angeles. He was already hooked on cocaine and committing burglaries to support his habit.

10:41Then on April 10, 1984, he claimed his first victim, a nine-year-old girl called Mei Lung.

10:48Although the killing was not linked to him until 2009, when his DNA was matched to a sample obtained at

10:53the crime scene. On March 17, 1985, he stabbed and assaulted a 79-year-old widow after breaking into her

11:00home.

11:02Then, after waiting nine months, he attacked Maria Hernandez, who managed to escape.

11:07However, when he killed her roommate, 34-year-old Dale Okazaki, on the same day he also shot and killed

11:13Sai Lian Liu. The double murder prompted a media frenzy, leading to Ramirez being dubbed the Valley

11:19Intruder by the press. Just 10 days later, Ramirez murdered 64-year-old Vincent Zara and his 44-year-old

11:27wife, Maxine, using an attack style that would later become a pattern for the killer. Vincent was shot

11:33first, then his wife was assaulted and stabbed. In May 1985, Ramirez repeated his attack pattern on

11:39William and Lillian Doy. Over the next few months, he claimed another dozen victims in a frenzy of

11:45burglary, assault and brutal violence, complete with satanic rituals. Some of his surviving victims

11:52aided with descriptions of Ramirez, and with the police on his tail, Richard left LA and traveled

11:57to San Francisco, where he took two more victims, Peter and Barbara Pan. His unmistakable MO, complete

12:04with satanic symbols, earned him a new name, the Night Stalker. Ramirez killed once more before being

12:11apprehended on August 31st, 1985, after residents attacked him after he tried to steal two cars.

12:17On August 24th, 1985, in the Los Angeles area, Ramirez was spotted outside a Mission Yevo home,

12:24where he unwittingly left a footprint before the witness took note of his car and license plate.

12:30Later, after Ramirez assaulted another woman at her home and shot her fiancé, the victim provided a

12:37detailed description of her assailant, who had forced her to swear her love for Satan.

12:41On September 20th, 1989, the jury finally turned an anonymous guilty verdict on 43 charges,

12:49including 13 counts of murder, 5 counts of attempted murder, 11 sexual assault charges,

12:54and 14 burglary charges. Ramirez was sentenced to death by gas chamber, and as he left the courtroom,

13:00he said, hey big deal, death always comes with the territory, I'll see you in Disneyland. In a rare

13:06interview with Mike Watkiss in 1993, Ramirez comes across as chilling and unremorseful for the crimes he's

13:12committed. Take a look. People, people in this day and age are brainwashed and programmed like a computer

13:20at being nothing more than puppets. This nation, this country is founded in violence. Violent delights

13:26tend to have violent ends. Madness is something rare in individuals, but in groups, people and ages,

13:33it is a rule. Killing is killing, whether done for duty, profit or fun. Men murdered themselves into this

13:41democracy. Yes, I am evil. Not a hundred percent, but I am evil. Evil has always existed. Perfect world

13:51most people seek. She'll never come to pass, and it's going to get worse. After nearly 24 years on

13:59death row at San Quentin Prison in California, Ramirez died on June 7th 2013, not in the gas chamber,

14:06but from complications related to B-cell lymphoma. He was 53 years old.

14:16Tommy Lynn Sells

14:18Tommy Lynn Sells was an American serial killer, known as the Coast to Coast Killer,

14:22because he claimed to have committed murders throughout the United States. Unlike others on

14:27this list, he was convicted of only one murder. However, he admitted two and likely killed many

14:32more. Sells was born in Oakland, California on June 28th 1964. He was an unwanted and unloved child,

14:40passed around the family to look after, and claims he was assaulted as a child.

14:44At the age of 10, Sells started using narcotics, and by the age of 13, he had been completely

14:50abandoned by his family due to his inappropriate behaviours towards his mother and his grandmother.

14:55From that point on, he led a nomadic life, travelling across the United States by train hopping and

15:00hitchhiking. Along the way, he committed various crimes and took short-term jobs. He drank heavily and

15:06abused drugs, and while imprisoned for a series of petty crimes, he was diagnosed with a personality

15:11disorder and psychosis. Despite this diagnosis, he was released without any follow-up treatment,

15:17and his lack of care ultimately led to him killing at least 22 men,

15:21women and children, between 1979 and 1999. In a particularly gruesome attack on November 17th 1987,

15:30Sells murdered four members of the Dardeen family, after being picked up by Keith Dardeen whilst hitchhiking.

15:37Keith invited Sells back to his house. When they arrived, Sells shot Keith twice in the head.

15:42He then bludgeoned to death Keith's three-year-old son, and attacked his wife Elaine, who was heavily

15:47pregnant. The trauma of the beating caused her to go into labour, and she gave birth to her daughter,

15:53but Sells, in a cold-blooded and callous move, also killed the newborn. He was apprehended after he

16:00killed 13-year-old Kayleen Harris, before slitting the throat of 10-year-old Crystal Sills, who thankfully

16:07survived. A sketch of the attacker was made from her description, and he was quickly identified.

16:14Sells was convicted of the murder of Kayleen Harris, and sentenced to death.

16:18However, he described in detail how many other people he had killed, confessing to over 70 murders,

16:24although it's believed this is exaggerated, and the true total is around 22.

16:28Sells was housed on death row in Texas, and in 2010, Martin Bashir went to interview him for an

16:35ABC News mini-documentary titled Tommy Lynn Sells, The Mind of a Psychopath. The interview is chilling.

16:41Take a look.

16:43I like to watch the eyes fade, the pupil fade. What do you like about that?

16:50It's just like setting their soul free.

16:54So what if I called you something that you didn't like, and you'd think about killing me?

17:00Well, if we was in a fight and, you know, get your head down in the concrete, then, you know,

17:09so be it.

17:10But what happens when my head goes down to the concrete?

17:13Well, what do you think happened? It cracks like a coconut.

17:19And then what happens?

17:21You die.

17:23On April 3rd, 2014, Sells' death sentence was carried out at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville.

17:30When asked if he would like to make a final statement, he replied, no.

17:33As a lethal dose of pentobarbital was administered, he took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes, and began to

17:39snore.

17:40Less than a minute later, he stopped moving.

17:43Thirteen minutes later, at 6.27pm, he was pronounced dead.

17:48So that's it for this video, quite a heavy one.

17:51Stay safe, everyone, and I'll see you next time.

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