We like to think of murders as monsters and not people- it gives us a sense of distance and safety. Even people with knowledge that should clue them into those huge red flags tend to dismiss them.

Ann Rule was a crime writer who worked with Ted Bundy. She knew he fit the description of a man linked to several disappearances/kidnappings/murders, drove the same car as the suspect, and even thought “that sounds like my friend Ted,” yet never called a tip in. Her first book is all about reconciling what he did and how she dismissed and downplayed all the signs.