"Nobody Could Tell"

It takes a special person to share the stage with true crime fan-favorite Jim Clemente, but at CrimeCon 2018, John White, Ph.D did exactly that. The soft-spoken but good-humored White shared stories from their days as criminal profilers, but White’s experience extends well beyond the realm of criminal profiling.

After working as an investigator sergeant in Dallas, White worked in Internal Affairs before moving to the Psychology Services Department. The work inspired him to pursue his Ph.D in psychology and he is now a professor of Psychology at Stockton University in New Jersey. He also maintains a private neuropsychology practice evaluating and treating sex offenders. Through his work, White has compiled a database of over 500 serial killers with 164 distinct variables. Safe to say that he has come face-to-face with many of the worst humanity has to offer. There is one perp from his past, though, that he can’t get out of his head.

During his time on stage at CrimeCon 2018, we discovered that White is a good storyteller, so we think this story is best told by him:

I was working as an investigator with the Dallas Police Department and we received a call with an unknown cause of death. We arrived on scene and found a deceased young woman. We had just arrived and as we were standing over the young woman, her boyfriend (let’s call him Jay) arrived home. He was distraught, inconsolable, and my heart broke for him.

We took Jay to the station to get a statement from him. He gave a full report and was cooperative and his emotions seemed genuine. We were preparing to let him go when he turned and said “You fools . I’m the one who killed her. And I’ve killed a lot more.”

I was astounded that nobody could tell we had been sitting in a room with a cold-blooded killer. It came to light that he had killed thirteen women and none of us knew. I began to wonder how a man like that could kill so easily -- and fool so many people. These were the days of Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, the outliers. But there was Jay, a normal guy going about his day who happened to have killed thirteen women. The experience lit a fire inside; I wanted to learn more about people like him. People who could commit such heinous acts against their fellow human beings and then breeze through society without remorse or conscience. I would go on to think about Jay often throughout my career.

My work leading the Fugitive and Special Investigations unit in Dallas led me to investigate a surprisingly large number of sex crimes. When I left the police department and began teaching , I was able to conduct formal research into the phenomenon of serial killers. I combined what knowledge I had gained about sex crimes and serial killers together and it was through that lens that I began my research . at Stockton University.

Today, I evaluate and treat sex offenders as a forensic psychologist. I study them and work to find the best ways to rehabilitate each individual offender. It is not lost on me that while all sex offenders are not serial killers, nearly all serial killers committed one or more sexual crimes at some point in their lives. By the time my patients come to me, they are entrenched in their trajectory. In twenty years, I haven’t treated a patient who went on to become a serial killer.

Still, during group sessions, I look around the room and I think about Jay. These men look and sound normal. They look like your next-door neighbor or the pastor at your church. I’m less trusting now than I was when I encountered Jay. I wonder if any of my patients have the capability to move on, to escalate and become a serial killer. After decades of research, will I know this time?

I like to think I will, but decades of research says I probably won’t.


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Dr. White’s session with Jim Clemente was wildly popular with attendees. Dr. White will take the stagesolo at CrimeCon 2019. He’ll dive deeper into how he identifies potential violent offenders and how profiling helps to prevent them from acting on their violent impulses. Don’t miss what’s sure to be a jaw-dropping, fascinating look at the way killers behave.