A Washington woman stabbed her Craigslist date in the chest and told police she planned to eat his heart because she wants to “become a serial killer,” authorities say.
Amy Brown, 24, was arrested January 31, at the Rodeo Inn in Lynnwood, the Seattle Times reports. The Edmonds woman told police her plan was to kill the man she met online and leave a note on his body telling investigators she would kill again.
After being arrested, Brown told an officer, “I’m a loon,” according court documents.
The 29-year-old victim was able to escape from the motel room and get help at a nearby drugstore, the Times reports. He was hospitalized with a punctured left lung, police said, but is expected to survive.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Brown Asked Her Craigslist Date if He Was a Serial Killer & Replied ‘Well, I Am’ When He Said No, Police Say
Amy Brown. (Google+)
Amy Caroline Brown met the 29-year-old victim on Craigslist after he posted an advertisement there looking for a date, the Seattle Times reports.
According to court documents, the victim told police he posted the ad “not to solicit sex, but for friendship and possibly dating purposes.” Brown responded and they agreed to meet at a room in the Rodeo Inn, which was paid for by the victim, police said.
While they were in bed talking, Brown asked the man several times if he was a serial killer, police said. When he said no, she climbed on top of him and replied, “Well, I am a serial killer!” before stabbing him with a pocket knife, police said.
The attack left a 1 to 2 inch laceration, KING-TV reports.
“He stated that the attack was unprovoked and there had not been an altercation between them prior to the incident,” according to the probable cause statement.
The man said he struggled to fight Brown off and then ran out of the room for help. Officers responded and found Brown in the parking lot of the motel.
The officers asked Brown about the stabbing, and she replied, “I’m a loon.”
A note she wrote and left in the motel room explained “that she planned to kill again,” police said.
According to police, Brown was “extremely emotionless” when talking about trying to kill the victim and was “more concerned with missing work the following day than facing the possible consequences of an aggravated assault.”
2. A Bumper Sticker on Her Car Says ‘I’ve Got a Perfect Body. But It’s in the Trunk & Beginning to Smell’
Amy Brown’s car. (Google Maps)
A bumper sticker on Brown’s car, which can be seen in a Google Maps photo parked outside her home in Edmonds, Washington, reads, “I’ve got a perfect body. But it’s in the truck and beginning to smell.”
According to The Daily Herald, the blue car seen in the photo matches the description of the car she was found in by police at the motel.
3. She Is Being Held on $1 Million Bail & Is Expected to be Charged With Attempted Murder
(Snohomish County Jail)
Brown is being held on $1 million bail at the Snohomish County Jail. She is expected to be charged with attempted first-degree murder.
The class A felony charge carries a punishment of up to life in prison.
She appeared in Everett District Court on Tuesday for the first time. It is not clear if she has hired an attorney.
A judge ordered her held on the high bail, saying there is the danger she could commit another violent crime if released. Prosecutors argued for that based on the statements she made about wanting to be a serial killer.
4. Brown, Who Has No Prior Criminal Record, Is a Big Fan of Vampire Stories
The Rodeo Inn in Lynnwood, Washington, where police say Amy Brown, 24, of Edmonds, Washington, stabbed her Craigslist date as part of her quest to become a serial killer. (Google Maps)
Brown has no criminal record beyond traffic tickets, the Seattle Times reports.
She has been cited twice for speeding and once for failing to stop, according to the Times.
Not much is known about Brown, who attended Edmonds Woodway High School. She also studied at Edmonds Community College and worked at the Edmonds Museum.
(Google+)
Brown describes herself as a “complete nerd” on her Google+ page. She is also a fan of vampire stories and writes science fiction.
“I am me. I live, I breath, and I think. Each person sees the world differently, and I want to spend my life learning what everyone else has to say,” she wrote on the social media page. “And I’m a big fan of Vampire stories. Not stuff like Twilight, but more Dracula, Vampire Chronicles kind of stuff.”
She added, “(Each day, I find myself acting more and more like Lestat. :] Not sure if I should be worried…).”
Lestat referes to Lestat de Lioncourt, a character in The Vampire Chronicles, the book series by Anne Rice.
5. Female Serial Killers Are Rare, but Do Exist, Statistics Show
Female serial killers are rare, but not unheard of, according to statistics and experts.
Since 1900, there have been 541 female serial killers internationally, with 294 of those in the United States, according to the Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database.
According to Psychology Today, female killers are statistically more likely to kill multiple victims than male killers are.
Most female serial killers work alone and kill several victims before they are caught, according to Psychology Today:
A 2011 study found that these lethal ladies operate under the radar; they are less likely to have a criminal history, tend to kill those closest to them (emotionally and physically) and use quieter methods of elimination (poison, drugs, smothering). As a result, their killing careers last much longer than men (between eight and 11 years, in comparison to two years for male serial murderers), with an average of nine victims.
But it has only been recently that many in the law enforcement and psychology community have acknowledged the existence of female serial killers.
In 1998, a well-regarded FBI profiler said, “there are no female serial killers,” Scientific American reports.
“The reality concerning the gender of serial killers is quite different than the mythology of it. Although there have been many more male serial killers than females throughout history, the presence of female serial killers is well documented in the crime data,” according to Scientific American. “In fact, approximately 17 percent of all serial homicides in the U.S. are committed by women.2 Interestingly, only 10 percent of total murders in the U.S. are committed by women. Therefore, relative to men, women represent a larger percentage of serial murders than all other homicide cases in the U.S. This is an important and revealing fact that defies the popular understanding of serial murder.”
