George Zimmerman smiles after a not guilty verdict was handed down in his trial at the Seminole County Courthouse. Picture: TV Pool Source: Supplied
GEORGE Zimmerman was raised in a typical middle-class home and worked as an insurance fraud investigator.
Living in the confines of a gated community of 260 townhouses in Florida’s port city of Sanford, no one would have suspected he would be capable of murder.
Yet, one a rainy night in February 2012, police were dispatched to a confronting scene.
Trayvon Martin lay dead, face down on a patch of rain-and-blood-soaked grass as Zimmerman stood near the corpse.
The 17-year-old had been shot by a Kel-Tec pistol at point blank range and a single bullet ripped through his left lung before lodging in his heart.
Zimmerman made a kerbside confession to the attending officer.
He took responsibility for the slaying, but claimed he did so in self defence.
This is just one of the gruesome tales former soldier Chris Rhyss Edwards heard after spending five years researching and interviewing more than 250 people who have killed.
Former soldier Chris Rhyss Edwards. Source: Supplied
Chris Rhyss Edwards has interviewed over 250 killers Source: Supplied
Why would someone chat to over 250 killers?
Chris Rhyss Edwards was a soldier, institutionalised to accept men and women die during times of war.
However, as a peace-loving man, Edwards struggled to accept how 500,000 humans could die every year from acts of intentional violence, infanticide, gang violence and state executions.
In order to try to understand the instinct to kill, Edwards went in search of answers by speaking with soldiers, euthanasia doctors, cannibals and gangsters who had taken a life.
“The common denominator in the majority of people who have killed is that they all had their reasons,” he told news.com.au.
“For some people it was killing to protect family, for others it was about honour and then there were the murders committed out of pure hatred.”
The 43-year-old explained he rarely felt intimidated when talking with the killers.
“Most of these people were just like you and me, the only difference is they have done an extraordinary thing,” he said.
“Some now regret their actions, but many did not.”
Edwards said the project started out pretty informally, but stared to gain momentum in 2010 when he took to Twitter with a direct question.
“I think I asked something along the lines ‘do we ever have a good reason to kill’ and I was flooded with responses,” he said.
“People started sending me messages about different forms of culturally or contextually accepted killing in other countries.
“I was truly astounded at what I was learning,” he said.
How does it feel to kill someone?
By using his social media contacts, Edwards was able to interview one of America’s most prolific killers, Charles Thomas O’Reilly.
Responsible for taking over 140 lives, you could be excused for thinking he was one of the world’s most infamous serial killers.
However, his kills are deemed legal in the eye of the law because they were planned executions taking place while he was warden in command of one of America’s most notorious jails.
“In the US, O’Reilly has become something of a pin-up boy for the millions of Americans who support capital punishment, even as global support for the death penalty wanes,” he said.
After speaking with the warden, Edwards discovered he didn’t regret a single death because he viewed killing as part of his job.
“You have the capacity to abduct, rape and murder a seven-year-old little girl ... I have no problem fulfilling my responsibilities,” the warden is quoted saying.
The death chamber was a common sight for O’Reilly. Picture: Sue Ogrocki Source: AP
One of the more chilling interviews came when Edwards spoke at length with a former gang member in the US who had served time for executing a competing gang member to earn his stripes.
“He was young and had grown up in a really rough part of LA and had little option to survive than to choose a gang and have their protection,” he said.
After hearing how rough the gangster’s childhood was, Edwards was able to understand his actions were purely out of desperation.
“Gang members operate and make decisions under a different set of rules that are, for the most part, based on sheer survival,” he said.
“If they were seen to simply disrespect their gang by dating the wrong people, wearing the wrong colours, backing down in a fight or heaven forbid, taking the stand in court, they could be killed.
“His gang encouraged vicious behaviours in retaliation and revenge as a way to increase their reputation and to instil fear in others.”
Edwards now understands gangsters actions are mostly out of desperation. Source: AP
Not everyone who kills is bad
In addition to those who have killed another human, Edwards looked at those who take their own lives.
“I had a fascinating conversation with Kevin Hines, who is one of a handful of people who have survived a suicide attempt off the Golden Gate Bridge,” he said.
“He suffers from mental illness and he jumped as a result of being unmedicated.
“He said as his hands came off the railing he decided he wanted to live so he flipped his body so his feet would hit the water first to break his fall, and though he broke his back, he survived.”
Another tale that sticks out to Edwards is that of a woman who sustained physical, mental and sexual violence for over a decade at the hands of her husband.
“One night he was especially violent and was beating her around the kitchen,” he said.
“She picked up a knife and swung at him, hitting him in the neck and he bled out before the ambulance arrived.
“Mothers amaze me with what they put up with in relationships and the lengths they will go to protect their families.”
Edwards was amazed with what some mothers will put up with to protect their family. Picture: Mario Tama Source: Getty Images
After talking with over 250 killers, Edwards discovered that most were far from bad people,
“Child soldiers, gang members from rough upbringings, criminals and wives who killed their husbands because of sustained domestic violence, all did what they had to survive,” he said.
As for himself, the former soldier said his five year journey had been an eye opening experience.
“I didn’t realise what an isolated view of the world I had and what people are forced to do every single day on this planet simply to survive,” he said.
“They say you only know a man when you walk a mile in his shoes.
“I’ve been so very lucky to have the opportunity to connect with so many people who have let me see what life in their shoes is like.”
Chris Rhyss Edwards’ findings have been published in a book Good Reasons to Kill.
Follow Matthew Dunn on Twitter @mattydunn11
George Zimmerman signs autographs at gun show 5:08
George Zimmerman continues to push the boundaries of 'tasteful' by signing autographs at a Florida gun show. Courtesy Fox 35.
- news.com.au
- 11 Mar 2014
- News
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Getty
