When two girls were murdered in Oklahoma in 2008, FBI profiler Julia Cowley worked to answer the question everyone was asking: who could do something like this?
Criminal profilers assess the behaviour and personality traits of an offender to show police what kind of person they’re looking for.
“One of the things I thought was this person practices with his weapons. He’s a good shot,” Cowley said.
Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Julia Cowley told the story on this episode of Crime Insiders:
Cowley suggested investigators go to shooting ranges and inquire about patrons, describing the offender as a ‘gun nut’, but officers weren’t sure this would distinguish him.
When they laughed at me… ‘Ma’am, everybody in Oklahoma has a gun,’ I had to explain, that’s not what I mean. This is more of an obsessive person who is going to brag and boast.”
Julia Cowley said.
She predicted people who knew the offender would know he was dangerous and that he probably overreacted to perceived slights.
Cowley said to police, “When you start hearing stories about a person who has done something really horrible to other people, that’s who you’re looking for.”
Hear how Cowley’s criminal profile helped catch the killer on Crime Insiders: Forensics