My Life Scientific

Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes talks to Helen Pilcher about psychopaths, stalkers and the surreal side of working with serial killers.

- Helen Pilcher

What do you do?

I’ve spent a lot of my career working with people who have severe personality disorders, including psychopaths and sexual offenders. It was my job to make them less of a risk.

What’s it like working with these people?

It can be surreal. I worked with one serial killer, a trained butcher, who dismembered people. You have to build up a rapport with people in order to work meaningfully with them, so we cooked together. He taught me how to bone a turkey! All along I was aware these were the same skills that he used on his victims.

Which are you more like, Clarice Starling or Cracker?