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Sports Spotlight: Becca Langmead

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By Clay Gray
Photos by Mark Burnham

Sometimes, when you look at a person, it’s easy to tell what they do. If they wear a hard hat, they’re probably in construction. If it’s white face paint and gloves, probably a mime. If someone is at Starbucks on a Mac, they are definitely writing a screenplay.

In the case of Rebecca Langmead, it only takes one sighting of her in the standard gray SFU athletics hoodie, and you’re fairly certain she plays basketball. Langmead, who goes by “Becca,” is in the third year of her history major, and is just as likely to stay at home and watch a history documentary as she is to go out with her friends. “I could sit down and read a history book all day,” says Becca.

When this 6’5” Newfoundlander is not on the court or in the classroom, you can find her at the equipment desk, where she helps with the setups for varsity games and washes laundry for other athletes. After spending a little time with her, Becca’s down-to-earth personality came out clear as day. She shared one story about her first summer away from home. She had moved to Vancouver the summer before her first year, and she roomed with her grandfather’s now-92-year-old cousins, Dorris and Terry. Becca said, “It was really good that I got to spend three months with them, because when you move here you don’t have any friends [even as an athlete], because you just moved away from home. I spent all my time with these two 90-year-olds; that [experience] totally changed me.”

Like most students, Becca faces a lot of challenges when it comes to balancing the demands on her time. As some of you may already know, the solution chosen by the women’s basketball team is to get an early start on the day. Becca’s typical day starts at five in the morning, practice from 6–8, which is followed by an hour-long strength and conditioning session. She then heads to a 10:30 lecture, followed by a trip to a coffee shop for an hour-long break, then it is back to the lecture halls until 3:30. After all that, Becca descends back into the bowels of the Lorne Davies Complex to work for a few hours, or home to study. But Becca’s not one to complain about her demanding schedule, and with the season starting in just 12 days, she says, “I feel like I worked so hard all summer, and for however long its been [since basketball season ended] all these last seven to eight months . . . I’m ready to compete . . . I just want to go out there and be able to play and be able to show people that I’m better than I was.”

Becca marches to her own beat; whether that comes from growing up in Newfoundland or from living at an altitude with less oxygen, she clearly enjoys the little things in life.  “We have a costume box in one our team lock ups, from past years of Halloween . . . so, we keep it all, and then we use [the costumes] at every camp that we do during the summer; Friday is crazy day. And I honestly don’t think we even do it for the kids anymore.”

SFU loses close match to Wolves

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Clan can’t hold lead, lose by a field goal

 

By Bryan Scott
Photos by Adam Ovenell-Carter

The Simon Fraser University football team was at home on Terry Fox Field to battle the Western Oregon University Wolves. In their first meeting of the season, the Wolves pulled out a final quarter touchdown to win the game 20–16. The Clan did not want to have the same result on home field.

The Clan started with the ball. They produced nine plays and got down to the Wolves’ 43-yard line. On the 10th play, Clan quarterback Trey Wheeler was intercepted by a Wolves defender, who took it down to the Clan’s 13-yard line. This was not the start they were looking for. Their defense held strong, but the Wolves converted on 4th down and punched in the one-yard touchdown to take the lead 7–0 early on.

The Clan regrouped, starting at their own three-yard line, they marched down the field. Wheeler had key receptions to Lamar Durant (19 yards), Jamal Kett (29 yards) and Bobby Pospischil (17 yards). The Clan could not get any further than the Wolves’ five-yard line, and decided to take the field goal. The attempt soared wide right from 22 yards out; this proved costly later.

In the second quarter, Wolves quarterback Trey Shimabukuro fumbled the ball in his own zone. It was recovered by Clan defensive lineman Dylan Roper. Wheeler and the offense took over at the Wolves’ 36-yard line. They were backed up to the 50 after a personal foul, but this did not hinder the Clan. They managed to make it down to the red zone, finishing the drive with a 5-yard pass from Wheeler to Durant, tying the game at sevens. On the next possession, the stingy Clan defense forced another fumble, which was recovered by linebacker Eric Murphy, but the offense could not convert this time around. The Clan added a field goal from 26 yards out by Tiernan Docherty, giving the Clan a 10–7 lead. The Wolves attempted a 60-yard field goal to end the half, but it was out of the kicker’s range, keeping the Clan up at halftime.

The Clan got pinned deep in their own end in the third quarter, which lead to a great field position for the Wolves. They kicked a field goal on their next possession to tie the game at 10–10. The Clan responded, and yet again it was the defense who got it started. Casey Chin forced another fumble by Shimabukuro, this time Adam Berger picked up the ball, giving the Clan possession at the Wolves’ 35-yard line. It took them four plays to score. Durant got his second touchdown of the game on a 15-yard catch from Wheeler.

Not to be outdone, the Wolves used a dynamic offense to march down the field starting from their own 17-yard line. Wolves running back Kenneth Hayes rushed for 43 yards on the drive, and finished it off with a 25-yard touchdown jaunt. With the game tied, and time running down in the third quarter, the Wolves booted it back to the Clan. Unfortunately, Clan returner Alex Iezzi fumbled the ball at his own 28-yard line, leading to a recovery by the Wolves. The defense was able to prevent a touchdown, but the Wolves kicked a 35–yard field goal to start the fourth quarter, giving them their first lead since early in the game. Special teams were the downfall of the Clan in this game. Over the next few possession they had two punts blocked, but the defense came up clutch, keeping the game close, including an interception by Berger.

Midway through the fourth quarter the Clan, on their own 13, started the drive that would make or break the game. Backup quarterback Ryan Blum tossed a pass to Durant for 35 yards, then Wheeler passed another to Durant for 28. Pospischil got the Clan down to the one-yard line, and on fourth down, the pressure was on. The Clan decided to go for the tie by kicking a 18-yard field goal. It was not meant to be. The Wolves blocked the field goal and recovered the ball. The Clan lost a tough one, 20–17.

Wheeler finished the day 27 for 50 with two touchdown passes and 283 yards. He only had the one interception on the day. The Clan receiving core was led by Pospischil who had 11 receptions for 102 yards and Durant, who had six receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Bo palmer had a quiet day, rushing for 64 yards on 18 carries.

With the loss, the Clan fall to 2–5 in the conference and 3–5 overall. They took on the Dixie State Red Storm on Saturday; this game will be covered in the next edition of the Peak.

The legend of sleepy horror plotlines

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EIC
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Movie-goers deserve better than quick movement and lots of fake blood

By Ljudmila Petrovic
Graphic by Ben Buckley

I hate horror movies. I am not talking about Hitchcockian psychological thrillers, nor am I attacking all horror movies. The Evil Dead was hilarious, and there are definitely some classic horror films that have stood the test of time. All I’m saying is that some of the stuff being made nowadays seems to lack any real content or thought, and focuses only on shocking the audience into feeling fear. Piranha 3DD? Yes, sex sells, so a combination of sex and flesh-eating fish must sell double. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? Let’s just combine a bunch of popular concepts and hope through some fluke it meshes. Please, Hollywood. Get your head out of your ass.

It’s not because I’m a wimp who can’t handle a supernatural being or two, or because I have trouble understanding the concept that movies are not always based on reality. Hell, even The Blair Witch Project didn’t fool me; I saw right through the fake documentary approach.

No, it’s because I think most movies that fall under the “horror” genre are made specifically to evoke a certain emotion. That makes them the equivalent of chick flicks. Think about it: chick flicks use every trick in the book to make their single and emotionally vulnerable female audience sob and eat their weight in dairy products. Likewise, horror movies seem to use a similar mass-psychology approach to induce fear into their audience. Certainly, knowing that some sort of creature is lurking in a remote abandoned house in a forest, far from civilization gets the heart pounding. Knowing that there’s a handful of really attractive, sexually charged young people in that abandoned house that don’t seem to have any innovative or practical methods for survival makes the situation all the more frustrating for the helpless viewer.

But the fact that you’re feeling fear or anxiety does not mean that the movie did its job, or that it was of high quality. It simply means that it played on the established psychological factors that Hollywood has been exploring for decades. To me, the measure of a good film — or of any work of art, for that matter — is whether or not it can evoke emotion or thought in its viewer through its style, presentation, or content. Neither chick flicks nor this type of horror film does this. They use psychological low blows to hit a nerve with the audience, they try and shock emotion out of them, and they try way too hard to get a specific reaction.

The audience’s reaction should not be the goal; it should be a result of the high quality of the artistic process. Make me think, make me empathize with the characters, make me get into the plot more than just face palming about the characters’ ignorance. Sudden movements may make me scream, but they do not make the movie good. The horror movie industry treats their audience like a cheap date: there’s no real substance, and all efforts are oriented with one goal in mind.

Zombies need new dimensions

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EIC
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Enough with the boring brain eater already

By Binh Nghiem

KELOWNA (CUP) — If zombies retain some basic primal instincts, like the need to feed, don’t they also need to sleep? Have crazy zombie orgies? Maybe even murder each other for fun/territory? And what’s with eating only live flesh? Zombies are so ultra-gory violent, yet never kill each other (for flesh or otherwise). What’s up with that?

Is dead meat not good enough for the undead? I mean, when they are alive they eat dead meat (vegans/vegetarians aside), but when they become “undead” they all of a sudden develop such a snobbish attitude towards what food they will consume. If you’re so damned hungry, why hold out for living humans? There are millions of potential meals mindlessly walking about all around you. Just start eating each other already! Hell, if I was a zombie I would probably exclusively eat other zombies, because they are so readily available and trusting. It would go down something like this:

Random zombie: “Ggrrraww rrawar human brainrwarggrgr.”
Me: “Yes, grrrgrgrgr over there in corner grgrawwawa.” (I point at a dark corner. Random zombie walks to dark corner. I attack and eat his brains. Covered in blood, I walk to the other zombies.)
Me: “Grggrrawawa human survivors graww kill one of rawww own.”

It would be the perfect crime.

The zombie or zombies who execute this plan might in turn become zombie chieftains who ensure the survival of their kind by not being so damned picky about what to fricking eat, teaching them to swim, starting a zombie civil war, using the internet to search for zombie porn — you know, primal urges and zombie needs other then eating.

On a side note, would vegetarian/vegan humans-turned-zombies not continue their dietary ways? I mean, if zombies eat humans for survival only, wouldn’t nuts/fruits/veggies fulfill other zombie nutritional needs?

Dear Hollywood producers, directors, actors/actresses and writers: stop making films about the survival of a small group of humans who face complex existential questions of murder, betrayal, manipulation and what it means to be human. Instead, make a movie about a zombie that evolves from his/her zombie group. This zombie might inadvertently become an ally to the survivor group, adding a nice twist.

Imagine a group of survivors running down a street. Zombies are attacking and eating each other in the background. It’s a nice touch of pragmatism, don’t you think?

Evolve or die

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EIC
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I mean you people are the reason we don’t have flyng cars and butler robots. Goddammit.

By Gary Lim
Photos by Tim Vickers

I’m a pretty apathetic guy, almost to the point where it’s starting to become a real danger to my academic career and personal life. But if there’s one thing that just rubs me the wrong way, it’s the denial of evolution.

Evolution, or the “thing that science made up to piss off god” as it’s known to 26 per cent of British Columbians and 30 per cent of all Canadians according to a September 2012 Reid-Angus poll, is simply the gradual change of a species over time, due to selective pressures of the environment. But what am I telling you this for? I’m sure you’ve taken Science 10 and/or your parents aren’t siblings.

But just as a refresher, here’s evolution in a nutshell:  individuals in a population have some DNA-based trait that makes it easier for them to survive in an environment. Ergo, it’s more likely that they’ll survive and actually get to have kids of their own. These kids have inherited said trait from their parents, survive better than their compatriots, and spawn kids of their own. Eventually a generation of these kids will be so genetically different from the original population that they wouldn’t be able to breed with them (unless they had access to some sort of hot tub time machine), and are considered a entirely different species.

This a gross simplification, but I only have about 500 words, so if you’d like to learn more, I highly recommend the Wikipedia page for Introduction to Evolution. It answers such questions as, “If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” (Spoiler: we didn’t evolve from monkeys.) It’s important to add that evolution has been proven on a microscopic scale; we see the effects of it every year when the influenza virus mutates just enough to make the shot we got last year useless.

The theory of evolution is far from perfect. It’s incomplete, with many key variables still not understood, otherwise evolutionary biologists would just spend all day sitting around, high-fiving each other.  But that’s the beauty of it: the theory is continually being revised, rewritten, and re-hypothesized. Whereas the theory of intelligent design, arguably its largest rival in answering the question, “From whence did humanity arise?” is the opposite; it’s stagnant, slow and singular.

The crux of intelligent design theory is based off of the “argument from ignorance” fallacy.  The term “god of the gaps” is a phrase coined by 19th century preacher Henry Drummond, which refers to the gaps in the knowledge or logic of one solution acting as the proof for the other. This makes intelligent design an unfalsifiable theory, which holds no value for science. A falsifiable theory (like evolution) is one that can be proven or disproven in a variety of scientific settings, meaning we can actually learn from it, unlike intelligent design.

The real takeaway here is that when your answer to one of the most fundamental questions of life (let’s call it theory A) is right, because theory B doesn’t account for the totality of all of everything your answer is just fundamentally unsound. You need to be proactive. You can’t just point to a lack of transition fossils, or complexity and call it a day.  That’s where the beauty of scientific rigor comes in; if you somehow prove something in your field, you can bet that there’ll be 10 other people on your ass trying to disprove it (possibly due to some sort of deep-seated insecurity issues in the scientific community).

Evolution is currently our best explanation for the emergence of new species, the range of eco-diversity on Earth and our own humble origins.  In 100 years, the theory of evolution may be drastically different from what it is today, or be completely disproven in favor of some new theory. Either way, we will have only gotten to that point through experimentation, analysis and lengthy debate.

If you ask me why it is then, that a banana fits perfectly in a human hand, I will hit you. Hard.

Superstition everywhere

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EIC
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Superstition in sport is part of the game

By Bryan Scott
Photos by Ed Shipul

Sports superstitions and rituals are built into the game. I remember being a kid playing hockey trying to mimic my favourite players. From Wayne Gretzsky’s jersey tuck, putting on my equipment in the same order, all the way to eating some delicious candy before the game, superstition has always been a piece of the puzzle.

One of the more common superstitions is about wardrobe. Some athletes have a lucky item that they wear to keep them calm, cool, and collected. For anyone who has seen Space Jam, you know that Michael Jordan wore his college shorts from North Carolina under his NBA game shorts for his entire career. Tiger Woods always wears red on Sundays, and it seemed to work, early in his career. He was unstoppable on the final day. I wonder what happened?

Sometimes, it has nothing to do with what they are wearing, but how they put it on. For instance, Taylor Hall tweeted that he puts all his equipment on from left to right, for every game.

The shutout jinx in hockey is a crazy occurrence. It may seem dumb that saying the word “shutout” around the goalie, or even when watching the game, can cause the other team to score. Do not tell that to Jonas Gustavsson and Carey Price; they had their shutouts broken on back-to-back weeks last season. TSN announcers Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro are to blame; they mentioned the S-word during the live broadcast of a Maple Leafs game, and the shutout was broken shortly after. A week later, during a Montreal Canadiens game, Price had a shutout over Detroit heading into the third period.  The announcers were discussing the previous week’s jinx and saying how it had no effect on actual game play. Before the sentence was completed, Detroit scored. This jinx also occurs in baseball when a team vies for a no-hitter. It is probably a good idea not to mention either of these things if your favourite team is playing.

My personal favourite — and November-appropriate — is the playoff beard. The New York Islanders started it in the 1980s. As soon as they playoffs start, the coach and the players do not shave. It doesn’t matter if you have a big, bushy beard, a pencil-thin moustache, or a patchy fur chin, it does not come off until they are eliminated or win the championship. Football and baseball players have adopted the same idea, as was evident with Giant’s pitcher Brian Wilson’s famous beard. After he and the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, The San Francisco Chronicle wrote “Wilson is now the face (and beard) of the team.”

Finally, players have pre-game and in-game rituals that they go through each time they get ready or during a particular part of the game. For instance, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher eats two chocolate chip cookies before each game.  Recently, Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks has devastated defenses, breaking tackles and seeming unstoppable. So what does he eat when he comes off the field? Skittles. Yes, he tastes the rainbow, which he has been doing since his high school football days.  Who says nutrition is everything?

Clan open wrestling season in Oklahoma

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EIC
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Clan women’s finish fifth in Oklahoma City

By Clay Gray

Simon Fraser’s women’s wrestling team travelled to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for their first dual tournament of the year, placing fifth. The dual format varies from the traditional bracket format, in that teams went head to head in pool play and then cross over for medal round.

The trip began with some challenges. Due to miscommunications, SFU arrived a day late to the venue. However, this wasn’t a problem for the rest of the 16 teams in attendance; they simply let SFU wrestle all six of their matches in one day. Jones’ women rose to the challenge and won five of the six preliminary duals for a shot at fifth place. Head coach Mike Jones said, “As a coach, you always want them to be better, but we performed better than I thought we would. Since we only had nine athletes make weight, we ended up forfeiting a weight class, and that hurt us a little bit.”

Even though the Clan had to pack two days of wrestling into one, four women went undefeated: Justina DiStasio, Danielle Lappage, Gina Carpenter, and Darby Huckle. Three athletes had only one loss: Nikkie Brar, Laura Gordon, and Jenna McLatchy. Sidney Morrison lost twice, and Laura Wilson suffered three losses.  Darby Huckle, who is entering her first year on the dual team said, “I felt like I wrestled well. It was the first tournament, there was nothing to lose, so why not go all-out. But there are always things that I felt I could improve.”

The mat pack started the day strong by toppling teams from Cumberland, King’s College, and Lindenwood-Bellville. However, the Clan hit a stumbling block in Lindenwood-St. Charles, which knocked them out of a chance for a top three placement.  SFU didn’t let the defeat get to them, as they rebounded with a convincing win over Wayland Baptist, which pushed them through to the dual for fifth place.  The Clan grappled Jamestown in the fifth place showdown, which was really more of a throw-down, as the Clan only allowed one match to slip through their fingers.

The Clan rolls on to their next competition, which is taking place in the Central Gym this Friday and Saturday. It will also be the season opener for the men’s wrestling team. SFU has been hosting this tournament for over 36 years, and the men’s wrestling coach, Justin Abdou says, “Some of the male athletes to look out for are Sukhan Chahal, Skyler Davis, Alex Stemer, Brock Lamb, Manvir Sahota, and Gurjot Kooner.  These guys all had successful seasons last year, and are looking to start this year strong.”

Clan women impressive in GNAC Championships

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EIC
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Clan women finish second, men sixth

By Bryan Scott

The Simon Fraser cross-country teams were in action at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship in Monmouth, Oregon over the past week. The women finished in second place, matching last year’s result. The only team better was Alaska Anchorage University. The men’s side improved on last year’s seventh-place finish by earning the sixth spot this year.

Both teams earned a spot in the West Regional Championships this week in Kahuku, Hawaii. The women’s team was led by captain Lindsay Butterworth, who finished in fifth position, and was the first athlete to finish who wasn’t competing for Alaska. Her time was 21:19.46 over six kilometres. The next finishers for the Clan were two freshmen: Kansas Mackenzie, who finished ninth with a time of 21:25.57; and Peggy Noel who finished in 10th with a time of 21:28.06. All three women earned all-conference recognition for their performances. Kirsten Allen and Michaela Kane finished in 19th and 20th, respectively, helping the Clan to their 61 points overall.

The men faced an eight-kilometre course, and were led by captain Adam Reid, who finished in 25:48.86, earning him 16th place. Freshman Timo Hoberg finished in 21st place with a time of 26:01.4. The next top finishers for the Clan were Lawrence Viola (41st, 26:43.24), Cameron Proceviat (49th, 26:55.01), and Brendan Wong (52nd, 26:58.19). These men helped the Clan earn their sixth place finish with 165 points.Alaska Anchorage won the men’s side as well.
Clan coach Brit Townsend was happy with the results. “In training, we have been focusing on regionals, and some athletes were tired but performed well regardless. Our freshman on both sides performed well and really stepped up,” she said after the GNAC Championship.
Hopefully the Clan will continue their success in Hawaii. The women’s team is ranked ninth in the NCAA heading into this weekend.

Clan take Wildcats to five sets

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EIC
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Clan fall a little short, lose in five sets

By Clay Gray

The Simon Fraser Clan volleyball team entered last week’s game as the underdogs against the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s second-place team, the Central Washington Wildcats. With virtually opposite records and an early-season straight-set victory over SFU, the Wildcats came expecting a win.

Central Washington opened the night strong by taking an early 6–1 lead in the first set. Although the Clan fought back to lead 14–13, the Wildcats beat the Clan to the buzzer in the opening set, 25–21.  The Clan began the second set by grabbing a 5–1 lead and holding on to win by four points, 25–21.

After half time both teams were ready to battle. The game was tied at five when the Wildcats started to pull away and captured the third set, 25–18, regaining their one set lead.  After some early back and forth action, the Clan rallied to take the fourth set 25–23, and forced a fifth set. The Clan jumped out to an early lead in the fifth set, but Central Washington tied the set at six and eventually squeaked past SFU for a 17–15 victory.

The Clan’s record now sits at 4–14 for the season, 1–10 in GNAC play. However, they remained positive; Alanna Chan said, “Even though it’s a loss, it’s the best we’ve played together as a team this year.  We’ll carry that over to the next game, and hopefully get the win.”  SFU travelled to Lacey, Washington last Thursday and squared off against Saint Martin’s, and then went to Monmouth, Oregon on Saturday, where they dueled Western Oregon. Both these games will be covered in the next edition of the Peak.

Thrill of the Kill: The 10 most notorious serial killers

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EIC
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By Ljudmila Petrovic
Photos by Eleanor Qu  Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper is a legend: he was a serial killer in 1888 London, and to this day, his identity remains an enigma. His victims were female prostitutes in impoverished parts of London, and it was believed that he might have had medical training due to the immaculate surgical removal of some of his victims’ organs. There were numerous letters to local media that hinted at the true identity of Jack the Ripper, but to this day, everything is merely speculation. This has led to over a century of fascination, and has been the inspiration for numerous films and books.

The Zodiac Killer

The self-proclaimed “Zodiac Killer” took responsibility for the murders of 37 people in the Northern California area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Police investigators only managed to confirm seven attacks, mainly because the identity of the killer remains unknown to this day. This case is more known for its enigmatic nature than for its bloodcurdling brutality. The killer sent series of coded letters to local newspapers, saying he would go on a killing rampage if they didn’t print the letters on the front page. He continued to send cipher messages that professionals and civilians alike attempted to decode for years; in some cases, it was decided to be a fraud, but in other cases, the letters revealed information that only the killer could possibly know. The case remains a mystery, and has been the inspiration for several movies.

Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo

Prior to meeting Homolka, Paul Bernardo committed a long string of sexual assaults, and became known as “The Scarborough Rapist.” Together, though, Homolka and Bernardo were also known as the “Ken and Barbie Killers;” they were young, vibrant, and attractive. When the two got involved, Bernardo was allegedly upset that Homolka wasn’t a virgin. Homolka subsequently decided that it was her responsibility to provide her lover with a virgin, and so for Christmas in 1990, she drugged her 15-year-old sister Tammy with the intent of having Bernardo rape her. Things went violently wrong, however, when Tammy started choking on her own vomit. She was rushed to the hospital where she subsequently died. Bernardo and Homolka were not convicted, and it was deemed an accident. They went on to kidnap several adolescent girls, with Homolka playing a key role; Bernardo would then viciously rape and kill the girls. When they were caught, Homolka went with a plea bargain: in exchange for a 12-year sentence for manslaughter, she testified against Bernardo, and claimed that he had abused her. She was released in 2005, while Bernardo is still in prison.

Hillside Strangler

The Hillside Strangler actually refers to two men: Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono. Their murders took place in California over a four-month period, and their victims were 10 girls and women that they raped, tortured, and killed. When they were finally charged, Buono fled the state, but was soon arrested for another, similar crime. Bianchi claimed that he had dissociative identity disorder in an attempt to set up the insanity defense; his act was so good that he almost succeeded, but court psychologists caught him in the act. He agreed to plead guilty, and to exchange leniency for testimony against Buono.

Richard Trenton Chase

Chase had the delusion that Nazis were trying to turn his blood into powder by putting poison under his soap dish. As part of this delusion, he developed the habits of cannibalizing his victims and drinking their blood, earning him the nickname of “The Vampire of Sacramento.” In 1977, Chase was found guilty of six counts of first-degree murder, having performed necrophilia, mutilation, and/or cannibalism on all his victims. He was sentenced to death, but his crimes followed him and, according to prison officials, the other inmates on death row frequently tried to talk Chase into suicide. Three years later, he was found dead in his cell, having overdosed on prescription medication he had been hoarding.

Ted Bundy

Known mostly for the charms and good looks that he used to lure his young female victims, Ted Bundy is one of the most notorious serial killers. He raped and killed over 30 women between the ages of 15 and 25, most of whom were said to resemble his fiancee. Not only did he engage in necrophilia, but he also collected the heads of his victims. He has become infamous for the violence and number of his crimes, but also for the fact that he didn’t resemble the stereotypical image of a “serial killer” that people had. He was executed in 1989 for his murders.

John Wayne Gacy

Scared of clowns? Maybe you should be. John Wayne Gacy was known as the killer clown, an allusion to the fact that he dressed up as “Pogo the Clown” for charitable events, parades, and birthday parties. He wasn’t all about the smiles, however: Gacy sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men over a span of six years. The remains of a majority of his victims were found buried in the crawl space of his home, with the others discarded in the vicinity of his home. He was sentenced to death for these murders — which he had committed because of the “thrill” they provided — and was consequently executed in 1994.

Charles Manson

“Summer of Love,” indeed! Set to the backdrop of the hippie movement, Manson was responsible for the brutal stabbing of Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski’s pregnant wife. Manson had a history of petty crime dating back to his adolescence, but it was not until later that he truly became the face of evil.  Manson believed that the Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter” subliminally predicted a race war, and that it was up to him to fight it. So, in the late 1960s, he founded a cult that became known as “The Family.” This group of young men and women killed on his behalf, and showed their support throughout the entire trial, even taking blame for all accusations against Manson. The trial was in itself a bizarre event (at one point, Manson came to court with a swastika carved into his forehead); he is currently serving a life sentence in California, and it is unlikely that he will ever be let out.

Aileen Wuornos

Wuornos is part of the rare breed of female serial killers; even rarer, she would shoot her victims multiple times rather than using a more passive weapon, such as poison (which women killers usually choose). Wuornos was held responsible for the death of seven men, some of whom she claimed to have killed in self-defense during instances of her sex work. She remained remorseless for the murders until her execution in 2002. Charlize Theron portrayed her in the 2003 film Monster, with Christina Ricci playing her girlfriend, Tyria.

Ed Gein

Freud would have had a field day with this guy. His mother was a single parent, abusive and fervently religious, preaching to Gein and his brothers that all women but her were prostitutes. After her death, Gein became obsessed with studying the female anatomy and, eventually, with becoming a woman. He would rob the graves of recently dead females, and skin them for certain body parts. He would drape himself in these body parts, and made various clothing items from them. Sound familiar? That’s because Gein was the inspiration behind film serial killers such as Silence of the Lamb’s Buffalo Bill, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface. Technically, Gein only killed two women — and three is the number used in the definition of a serial killer — but his crimes mark him as a notoriously twisted killer

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© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024