Brady 'wants to catch serial killers'

Ian Brady on his way to his trial in 1966

By the BBC's Peter Gould

The Moors murderer Ian Brady claims he can help the police track down serial killers.

The extraordinary offer is made in his book "The Gates of Janus", just published in the United States, and now being offered for sale online.

The serial killer's chosen path is towards perdition and desirable oblivion

Ian Brady
The Gates of Janus

The 300-page book is Brady's analysis of serial killing is based on his own experiences as one of Britain's most notorious murderers.

In the 1960s, together with his accomplice Myra Hindley, he tortured and killed four children and buried them on the moors above Manchester. He also murdered a teenager with an axe.

Predator

Brady, who is now 63, is a patient at the top security Ashworth Hospital, who insisted on seeing a copy of the book before it was distributed in Britain.

Ian Brady in his own words

BBC News Online has obtained an advance copy from the American publishers, who are hoping the title will soon be on sale in the UK, priced at £17.99.

Brady says it is not intended to be a text book, but he believes he can assist the police in finding the perpetrators of such crimes.

He writes: "It is a modest manual for helping to track and capture the greatest and most dangerous animal in existence: the human predator."

But he says the book is not an apology for the crimes he committed, and he makes no expression of remorse within its pages.

Anger

"To whom should I apologise and what difference would it make to anyone?" he asks.

"You contain me till death in a concrete box that measures eight by 10 and expect public confessions of remorse as well?

Psychopathic Killer

Organised, plans crimes carefully

Emotionless when killing

Socially competent, persuasive and manipulative

Follows media coverage, returns to crime scene

"Remorse is a purely personal matter, not a circus performance."

The appearance of the book in Britain will dismay the family of one of Brady's victims, John Kilbride. His brother, Danny, is urging bookshops not to stock it, and appealing to the public not to buy it.

The American publisher, Feral House, has already received hate mail. But the company argues that the book may help criminologists to understand the minds of killers like Ian Brady.

The first part of the book is a philosophical discussion about killing. Brady says the serial killer is usually a failure in normal walks of life.

Perdition

"He lacks the patience to compromise and bear the stultifying lassitude of ordinary modern life," he writes.

"The serial killer's consciously or subconsciously chosen path is towards perdition and desirable oblivion."

Psychotic Killer

Volatile, spontaneous and disorganised

Maladjusted, emotionally and intellectually

Stress or anxiety during killing

No interest in media reports or police tactics

The book includes a discussion of eleven famous cases, mostly American. But he also analyses the crimes of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, and the St Albans Poisoner, Graham Young, both of whom he talked to behind bars.

Brady claims six other killers have tried to emulate his crimes.

"Two killed, were caught and committed suicide," he writes.

"Another two are serving life sentences for multiple murder. The remaining two are still free and the body count continues to mount."

Hannibal

Brady refers to the pioneering work of the FBI in the psychological profiling of serial killers, a skill personified in the fictional character of Dr Hannibal Lecter in the films "Manhunter" and "The Silence of the Lambs".

Serial killers: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley

He says that because of "Lecter syndrome" psychiatrists have sought fame and fortune by claiming a special insight into the criminal mind.

"One could achieve a higher percentage of success with a Tarot pack," Brady says dismissively.

He goes on to outline his own classification of serial killers, placed in two main categories: Psychopathic and Psychotic. He discusses their personality traits and what investigators should look for at the scenes of their crimes.

Brady claims that he helped the FBI during one murder investigation, viewing a videotape of the suspect, and reading through papers on the case, before concluding that they had the wrong man.

Motives

And discussing a number of unsolved crimes in the United States, including the Green River murders in Seattle, he suggests new lines of inquiry for the police.

You contain me till death in a concrete box that measures eight by ten and expect public confessions of remorse as well?

Ian Brady
The Gates of Janus

Brady does not discuss any of the details of his own crimes, but does refer to his early life, challenging the popular view that he was a "loner" set apart from other children.

He says it was only during his teenage years that he turned to crime, eventually stepping into "forbidden territory" and "spiritually switching on the dark".

He acknowledges that some readers may wonder about his decision to offer help to the police in identifying serial killers.

"I have no compunction, no sense of betrayed fellowship or breach of trust, in assisting the opposition, so to speak," he writes.

"After all, the killer knows the risks and is prepared to take them."