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Jana Monroe didn't expect to get a call from “The Co-Ed Killer.”
It was the early 1990s and Monroe was a member of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Division in Quantico, Virginia. She wasn't afraid of facing a serial killer – but this encounter with Edmund Kemper was different.
“He shook me up,” Monroe admitted to Fox News Digital. “There was no way I gave him the opportunity to contact me, and yet he did just that. It is very difficult to make calls in prisons or mental institutions. This can be earned through good behavior. I was surprised to hear that from him. And that monotone voice – it's very creepy. Very scary.”
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REAL “MINDHUNTER” RECALLS MEETING WITH “PERSONAL” SERIAL KILLER EDMUND KEMPER: “HE DON’T SEEM TO HOLD HIMSELF”
Jana Monroe was the model for Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster) in The Silence of the Lambs. (Michael Ochs archive)
The former FBI agent recently wrote a memoir titled “Hearts of Darkness: Serial Killers, the Behavioral Science Unit, and My Life as a Woman in the FBI.” It's about the challenges she faced as a woman in the male-dominated FBI and the cases that have stuck with her over the years.
Monroe was the model for Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. She even helped train Jodie Foster for the Oscar-winning role. Monroe has advised on more than 850 murder cases, including those involving serial killers like Kemper.
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In the 1970s, Kemper murdered eight people, including his mother and her close friend.
Edmund Kemper was charged with the killing of eight people, including his mother. (Getty Images)
“I don't know if Anthony Hopkins used him as a model, but his role as Hannibal Lecter reminded me so much of Kemper,” Monroe explained. “Kemper had a way of staring at you and staring through you. He didn't blink very often. His face was emotionless. He just stared at you and didn't blink. The same went for his voice. She’s completely emotionless.” Just flat out. Hearing it gives you goosebumps. He just didn’t seem human.”
Jana Monroe didn't know how Edmund Kemper, known as “The Co-Ed Killer,” was able to find her number and call her. (Getty Images)
Kemper, known as “Big Ed” because he is 6 feet 3 inches tall, committed his first murder at the age of 15 when he fatally shot his grandparents in 1964. Kemper was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was returned to the custody of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. Security Atascadero State Hospital, Investigation Discovery reported.
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According to the media, he was released in 1969 at the age of 21. Kemper was allowed to live with his mother in Aptos, California, because he convinced psychiatrists that he was no longer a threat to himself or society. Shortly thereafter, he went on an eleven-month killing spree. His last known murder occurred in 1973. He was convicted that year and sentenced to life in a maximum security prison.
WISCONSIN KILLER, BODY SLAUGHTER ED GEIN'S VOICE HEARD IN UNDIGGED RECORDING: “BARNEY FIFE WITH A CHAINSAW”
Edmund Kemper's right arm is bandaged after a suicide attempt in his cell in Redwood City. He received eight concurrent life sentences. (bedman)
“I don’t know if you believe in IQ tests or not, but he always scored very high on those standardized tests,” Monroe said. “He was very intelligent. But the thing about him was that he had no conscience… a true sociopath. He tried to conjure up a tear when he talked about his mother, because he knew that's what normal people would do if they were feeling sad or guilty. But he never quite made it. So to see someone who really doesn't have feelings, someone trying to imitate feelings… it's just scary. I had never seen anyone do it to this extent.”
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Jana Monroe's book “Hearts of Darkness” is available in bookstores. (Harry N Abrams)
Monroe was never in the same room as Ted Bundy because he wanted “absolutely no women present.” One of the country's most prolific serial killers, who slaughtered at least 30 women and girls nationwide in the 1970s, was executed in 1989. He was 42 years old.
“The reason he didn't want to talk to a female investigator was because of how he viewed women,” Monroe explained. “He didn’t look at women with respect. He didn't believe they could hold a position above him even if he was behind bars. He demeaned women and didn’t want to think about them in any professional setting.”
Ted Bundy refused to meet with an investigator. (Getty Images)
Monroe learned that Bundy only selected what he described as “worthy victims.”
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“What he meant was that he chose women who were very attractive by his standards,” she said. “They were in college or had jobs, careers. He didn't think prostitutes were worthy because anyone could have them. Part of that excitement and thrill he felt was that an attractive, well-educated woman was taking notice of him and was able to take control of her.
“It was a challenging game for him,” she said.
'MONSTER': JEFFREY DAHMER SURVIVOR NEVER RECOVERED AFTER Harrowing Escape From KILLER, DEFENSE LAWYER SAYS
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Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences or a total of 957 years in prison. Dahmer was killed in November 1994 by a fellow inmate, Christopher Scarver, 28, at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin. (Eugene Garcia/Getty Images)
In 1994, Monroe was scheduled to interview Jeffrey Dahmer, known as “The Milwaukee Cannibal.” But two days before their meeting, Dahmer was killed by a fellow prisoner. He was 34.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Monroe admitted. “We have a term called 'prison justice.' It's a pecking order. Within the prison walls, cases of child abuse and incest are at their worst, but especially any cases involving a child. Although not all of Dahmer's victims were so young, some were certainly under 21 years old. He was also homosexual. Typically, such prisoners are in protective custody or isolated from others for this reason.”
There was one serial killer who “felt very sorry” for Monroe – Aileen Wuornos. She was convicted of murdering six men who worked as prostitutes on Central Florida highways. She was executed in 2002 at the age of 46.
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Aileen Wuornos is seen in this undated photo provided by the Florida Department of Corrections. Wournos was executed by lethal injection in Florida on October 9, 2002 for murdering six men while working as a prostitute. (Florida DOC)
“If you look at her story, I don’t think she had a chance,” Monroe said. “From the day she was born, her mother betrayed her at cards. Then she was abused.” [by an adult]. She lived in various foster families. After her arrest, she claimed she was either harassed or assaulted at these nursing homes.
“She had, from her perspective, a really good reason for not liking men,” Monroe continued. “I think it would have been excellent if she had grown up with morals and been on the spectrum of normal. But when I talk about a bad childhood, she had one of the worst I’ve ever studied.”
Monroe also studied women who fell in love with serial killers. She said they were the biggest secrets of her career.
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Jana Monroe was once the only female agent in the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Division at Quantico. She later became the first deputy director of the FBI's Cyber Division. (Courtesy of Jana Monroe)
“One of the women we interviewed was an emergency room nurse with a master’s degree,” she said. “She could have easily made her own money and lived on her own… A lot of these women stayed with these serial killers. I would have assumed that these women would have been truly needy and financially dependent. That turned out to be inaccurate… They loved those bad guys on steroids. They are the ones that really need to be investigated in my opinion. How can an emotion be so strong that it overcomes all judgment?”
TED BUNDY's ex-girlfriend recalls horrific encounter with serial killer: 'He just laughed'
Jana Monroe in Quantico. (Courtesy of Jana Monroe)
Monroe hopes her book will shed light on the cases she has investigated over the years. A frequently asked question about serial killers is, “Why?”
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“The big misconception that still exists is that a serial killer looks a certain way,” Monroe said. “People expect a serial killer to look like Charles Manson – someone with weird eyes. There must be something different about them physically, otherwise they simply won't engage in conversation. But the truth is that serial killers can hide all of this.”
“If you ran into one in a grocery store, they would talk to you,” she shared. “I think people don’t expect that. They underestimate some of the pretenses and social skills they can have…It's captivating and repulsive at the same time.”
Jana Monroe (right) taught Jodie Foster how to confront a serial killer. (Courtesy of Jana Monroe)
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“Why are people fascinated by serial killers?” Monroe thought. “Well, it’s like a traffic accident. People don't want to see others hurt or hurt. But at the same time, they can’t stop looking.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.