John Edward Douglas (born June 18, 1945),[1] is a former special agent with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), one of the first criminal profilers, and criminal psychology author.
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John Edward Douglas was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jack and Dolores Douglas.[1] A veteran of four years in the United States Air Force (1966–1970), he holds several degrees: B.S. (Eastern New Mexico University); M.S. (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Ed.S. Educational Specialist (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and a doctorate in Adult Education (Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida).[1]
Douglas joined the FBI in 1970 and his first assignment was in Detroit, Michigan. In the field, he served as a sniper on the local FBI SWAT team and later became a hostage negotiator. He transferred to the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU) in 1977 where he taught hostage negotiation and applied criminal psychology at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia to new FBI special agents, field agents, and police officers from all over the United States. He created and managed the FBI's Criminal Profiling Program and was later promoted to unit chief of the Investigative Support Unit, a division of the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC).[2][3][4]
While traveling around the country providing instruction to police Douglas began interviewing serial killers and other violent sex offenders at various prisons. Some of the most notable violent criminals in recent history were interviewed as part of the study, including David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson, Lynette Fromme, Arthur Bremer, Sara Jane Moore, Edmund Kemper, James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan, Dennis Rader, Richard Speck, Monte Rissell, Donald Harvey, Joseph Kondro and Joseph Paul Franklin. The result was the book Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives, followed by the Crime Classification Manual (CCM). Douglas later received two Thomas Jefferson Awards for academic excellence from the University of Virginia for his work on the study.[2][3][4]
Douglas examined crime scenes and created profiles of the perpetrators, describing their habits and attempting to predict their next moves. In cases that his work helped to snare the criminals, he built strategies for interrogating and prosecuting them, as well. Douglas was instrumental in the capture of numerous violent offenders and for years he assisted police relative to identifying and apprehending the Green River Killer in the Seattle, Washington metro area. The Green River case nearly cost him his life, when his stressed and overworked body was unable to fight off viral encephalitis.[5] Following his retirement from the FBI in 1995, Douglas has gained international fame as the author of a series of books detailing his life tracking serial killers, and has appeared numerous times on television.[2] His books are considered to be some of the most insightful works written on the minds, motives, and operation of serial killers, and the methods and lives of those who track them. He also works as a consultant, most notably in the JonBenét Ramsey murder. His controversial analysis concluded that the Ramseys were not responsible for the death of their daughter. This was the first case in Douglas's career where he was requested to consult for both the prosecution and the defense. In July 2008 the Ramsey family were cleared as suspects after an analysis of DNA found on their daughter's undergarments did not match them.
Douglas was consulted in yet another controversial case known as "The West Memphis Three". In 1993 three eight year old boys were murdered and police and the prosecutors office claimed the children died as a result of a satanic sacrifice. Three teens were later tried and convicted. Douglas concluded the case was not satanic but rather a personal cause homicide. On August 19, 2011, Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were released from prison after Judge David Laser accepted an Alford plea deal, in which the three plead "no contest" to the charges, thereby conceding that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to secure a conviction while reserving the right to assert their innocence.[6]
John Douglas pioneered "criminal profiling." At the time of criminal profiling's conception, Douglas claimed to have been doubted and criticized by his own colleagues until both police and the FBI realized that he had developed an extremely useful tool for the capture of criminals.[5]
Douglas has also written text books for criminal profiling classes. He is the author, along with Mark Olshaker, of several books. There is also a screenplay being written for the book, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit. His book "Mindhunter was optioned for an HBO pilot in concert with Charlize Theron's production company with Director David Fincher directing. Douglas and Olshaker recently received a two book deal with Kensington Publishing Company.
Douglas is married to Pamela Elizabeth Modica (Pamela Douglas). They have three children: Lauren, Erika, and John Jr. "Jed." Currently, he lives in the Washington D.C suburbs.[1]
Jack Crawford, a major character in the Thomas Harris novels Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs was directly based on Douglas.[4] Crawford was played by Dennis Farina in the film Manhunter, by Scott Glenn in the film version of The Silence of the Lambs and Harvey Keitel in the 2002 version of Red Dragon.
In the television crime drama Criminal Minds, profiler Jason Gideon's character shared much in common with Douglas, who has written many books on behavioral analysis. Among the similarities, both controversially predicted that an unknown subject, or unsub, would have a stutter; both also required a prolonged leave of absence due to stress-related illnesses acquired as a result of the job.