Get the scoop on Saint Leo University's criminal justice course on serial killers. Find out what one class period on Ted Bundy was like, and hear from some of the students who had to pose as Bundy.
Imagine putting yourself in the shoes of a serial killer, having to think in their mindset and try to rationalize their irrational and sickening thoughts and actions.
This isn't just your imagination. This is an actual class offered at Saint Leo University appropriately called "Serial Killers and Mass Murderers."
Taught by Dr. Joseph Cillo who we highlighted in this article, the course is offered within the Department of Criminal Justice at the school's University Campus. The undergraduate class has 29 students, the majority of whom are females. Most are also criminal justice majors.
On this particular day we visited the class, students were focused on Ted Bundy. Three students – Garrett Lischke, Justin Moore and Grace Horvath – had to stand up in front of the class for the entire period, posing as if they were Bundy. Each student then had to ask the three a pair of questions about Bundy's behaviors, mindset, decisions and a variety of other issues related to his life of killings. Here are some of the exchanges between the students and these three "serial killers":
Noah Dembroski: "You were convicted of over 30 murders and sentenced to death by electrocution. For all that you have done, did you deserve to die?"
Garrett Lischke (Bundy): "Everybody dies. I just spent my life actually enjoying what I do, unlike a lot of people I know. I wouldn't say I deserved to die, but I'm fine with it."
Kathleen Greenleaf: "What tempted you to keep the heads as trophies for some of your victims but not others?"
Garrett Lischke (Bundy): "Some of my victims were just better than others, and some of them put up a bigger fight. So, when I get to look at them again, I just get that rush. It's great."
Kathleen Greenleaf: What was the significance of the nylon stockings that you brought to your murders?"
Justin Moore (Bundy): "The cops would be confused and wouldn't know what to make of things. There were so many girls in those sorority houses that they'd think one of the girls killed another one."
Julio Munoz: "What part did you enjoy more – killing the girls or what you did to them afterward?"
Justin Moore (Bundy): "Killing them. You've got to look into their eyes as they take their last breath."
Stormy Powers: "If you were given a choice, would you have chosen another method besides electrocution for death?"
Grace Horvath (Bundy): "No, I don't think so. It was quite a jolt."
Christopher Daniello: "Are you mad that Gary Ridgeway killed more people than you did?"
Garrett Lischke (Bundy): "No, I'd say I like quality over quantity. Mine are better."
Donald Eubanks: "Thinking about the one victim who got away, do you still have the same satisfaction and pleasure that you got from the others even though she got away?"
Garrett Lischke (Bundy): "Of course not. It's a smudge on my name, but she's not going to do anything."
Grace Horvath (Bundy): "She may have gotten away, but she still has to relive what happened. So, I'm still winning anyway."
VIDEO #1: Noah Dembroski talks about why this class is so unique.
VIDEO #2: Stormy Powers talks about what Cillo is really like as a professor.