Dr. Mary Ellen O’Toole is currently the Director of the Forensic Science Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Before that, she was a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for 28 years. For nearly fifteen of those years, she was a “profiler” in the Bureau’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, the Unit featured in the hit TV series Criminal Minds. In that Unit, Mary Ellen worked some of the most violent and complex cases involving serial sexual murders, kidnappings, bombings, and sexual assaults.
On December 12, 2023, Dr. O’Toole spoke with us about her time with the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as possible links between psychopathic traits and the behavior of serial sexual killers. She also spoke about using her knowledge on psychopathy to analyze crime scenes and potentially discern perpetrators’ psychopathic traits, and the desire among law enforcement to understand psychopathy.
Click here to watch the full conversation.
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