Southern Fraud True Crime covers cases that are not suitable for young listeners, and there may also be some explicit language used.

Listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes details of graphic violence against children, so please proceed with caution.

These types of cases are hard for me to cover.

You may have noticed I rarely cover serial killers or spree killers.

I need to connect emotionally and not just with the victims, but with the killers, because that simply need to know why.

We all have an inherent need to understand why.

The term senseless is often used in the press with these cases, because there isn't a real reason why.

At least not one we can relate to.

I can delve into a killer's history and tell you what I found.

Some people don't like that. They think it's somehow excusing the horror.

It's not. I'm presenting the facts.

And they are often depressingly common.

Abuse of parents, sexual molestation, head injuries, learning disabilities.

The two murderers I am discussing today are no different.

They had difficult and abusive backgrounds resulting in anti-social behavior that escalated as adults.

They terrorized Richmond, Virginia for seven days, murdering at least eight innocent people before they were caught.

Robbery was the only motive found, and yet it doesn't match the brutality of the killings.

This was no liquor store hold up, a split second decision with a gun.

Robbery simply isn't a good enough explanation for what these men did.

The only thing we can do is face the horror, to accept that they enjoyed the terror and pain they inflicted.

As the author Ken Liu wrote, the truth is not delicate and it does not suffer from denial.

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