Killer Education: Notorious Murderers Like Ted Bundy and Bryan Kohberger Who Studied Criminology and Law

Some killings are crimes of passion, others are premeditated or motivated by psychological disorders that the perpetrators may not understand. Then there are the killers, many of them notorious, who use their studies in criminology, psychology or law to help them commit crimes, evade capture or avoid being held responsible.

Bryan Kohlberger, who murdered four University of Idaho students in 2022, appears to have used his graduate school studies as a way to study how to try to successfully pull off the crime. 

California’s Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, had worked as a police officer and knew enough about law enforcement and crime scene investigations to prevent investigators from finding his trail for decades. 

And attorneys and law school students, including Ted Bundy and Alex Murdaugh, seemed to believe their knowledge of the law was so profound that it could prevent them from being convicted during their trials.

Here are accounts of notorious killers who used their education to plan crimes, stave off inevitable arrests or to defend themselves in court.

Education: College degree, psychology major; attended law school

Victims: At least 30 in seven states from 1974 to 1978

Often described as charming and personable, Bundy graduated from the University of Washington “with distinction” with a major in psychology. Bundy attended multiple colleges before graduating and it is believed that gave him the opportunity to learn how to identify likely victims, exploit their sympathies and manipulate them into trusting him.

Bundy was a prolific killer and rapist by the time he enrolled in law school at the University of Utah in 1974. While he never completed law school or passed the bar, he put his legal education to use by representing himself in court. 

Perhaps believing he could use his powers of persuasion on the judge, Bundy put himself on the stand. It didn’t work.

He was convicted in 1979 of three murders and confessed to dozens more on the eve of his execution. Bundy died in the electric chair at Florida State Prison on January 24, 1989.

Education/Background: College degree, criminal justice major; former police officer

Victims: At least 13 throughout California in the 1970s and 1980s

In the 1970s and 1980s, a sexual predator known as the East Area Rapist was suspected of committing more than 40 rapes from 1976 to 1979 in Northern California. Meanwhile, a killer who murdered 10 people in Southern California from 1979 to 1986 was called the Original Night Stalker.

The crimes stopped in the 1990s and it would not be until 2018 that authorities would use DNA evidence to identify DeAngelo as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker.

DeAngelo had a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and likely used his knowledge about law enforcement to evade detection until his arrest. He pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Education: College degree, psychology major; Master’s, criminal justice; criminal justice Ph.D candidate

Victims: Four University of Idaho students in 2022

With an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in criminal justice, Kohberger enrolled in Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice, where he was a teaching assistant and Ph.D. candidate. 

His studies involved interviewing convicted criminals and researching the psychological motives behind their criminal acts, asking perpetrators how they prepared to commit their crimes. One of his professors wondered whether he was inspired by his curriculum. 

Upon pleading guilty to the stabbing deaths of the four students, Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Education: College degree, administrative justice major; psychology minor

Victims: Nine women in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Pennsylvania in 1970s and 1980s

The lessons he learned at Southern Illinois University taught him how police think and how they investigate crimes. Krajcir would eventually confess in 2007 to murdering nine women dating back to 1977.

Police say he stalked victims that he had no connection with, broke into their homes and waited for them to arrive. Some victims were shot, some were asphyxiated and others were stabbed, leaving no discernible pattern for police.

Authorities said that while Krajcir was in college would have learned important investigative information about fingerprints, footwear impressions, hair fiber and other details. Some law enforcement officials believed the killer they were tracking might be one of their own.

Ultimately, DNA technology caught up with Krajcir, who is serving 13 consecutive life sentences at Illinois’ Pontiac Correctional Center. 

Background: Practicing attorney

Victims: Wife and son in 2021 As the scion of a powerful legal dynasty, Murdaugh may have thought himself above the law.

At his trial for killing his wife and their younger son, Paul, testimony revealed financial misdeeds, plans to fake his own death, his role in helping Paul escape responsibility for a deadly boating accident. It also raised questions about the suspicious death of the family’s housekeeper.

Murdaugh admitted to lying about his alibi, originally claiming he was not near his wife and son at the time of their murders, then acknowledging he was with them shortly before their deaths. He blamed his lie on paranoia caused by his opioid addiction. 

Murdaugh is appealing his conviction while serving two lifetime sentences at South Carolina’s McCormick Correctional Institution for the double murder of his wife and son, plus a concurrent 40-year sentence for federal financial crimes.

Education/Background: College degree, justice administration major; Worked for ADT alarm system company

Victims: At least 10 people, between 1974 and 1991

Rader, who dubbed himself The BTK Killer–short for Bind, Torture, Kill, is suspected of more murders than the 10 in Kansas for which he was convicted.

He was an Air Force veteran and committed some of the murders before he obtained a justice administration degree in 1979. 

Rader boosted his notoriety by taunting investigators. His killing spree apparently ceased in 1991, at which point he then continued to live in plain sight as scout leader, prominent church leader and father.

A newspaper article on the 30th anniversary of BTK’s first kill motivated Rader to seek attention by sending notes to investigators in 2004. His efforts inadvertently left a digital trail that led investigators right to him. Metadata on a computer disk the killer sent to authorities revealed the disk had been used by “Dennis” at Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita, where Rader served as president. 

Arrested in 2005, Rader pleaded guilty and is serving 10 consecutive life terms at El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.