Die Stone-Skala: Das Böse im Visier

I wish they would bring this show back (either with Michael Stone or Kris Mohandie - I like both of them). It's one of my favorite shows and I find myself choosing to watch the old episodes over and over again instead of some of the newer shows on Investigation Discovery.

While well done, these cases have been covered too many times already. One would swear that only 100 murders have occurred in the last 50 years based on crime shows. Hundreds more die every day, and it's not that the people or cases aren't interesting -- it's just easier to heat up leftovers than to cook.

Anyone interested in true crime MUST see this series. It is normally on the ID channel (formerly Court TV) on Thursday evenings 10 P.M. EST.

Dr. Michael Stone and other physicians analyze what makes criminals and murderers do and think the way they do. CT scans, PET scans, and other medical research is also conducted. It is fascinating, in some instances, no biological reason is found, whereas in others (for example the 1969 Texas Tower killer, Charles Whitman, was found to actually have a brain tumor). One memorable quote from eminent psychiatrist Dr. Park S. Dietz states that people with pathology live life as THEY see it, not how it is. It truly is like a trip through the mind of the serial killer.

If you are interested in these facts, you may also be interested in the book "The Serial Killer Files" by NY professor and criminologist Harold Schecter. He delves into case studies in detail, from the middle ages, to today. Fasciniating subject matter. 9/10.

The voiceovers were confusing. The guy who is supposedly rating these killers hardly says anything. And the other professionals who experiment, observe and draw conclusions about raw human emotion sound neither scientific nor excited about their work. Instead, a jumble of phrases, crime scenes (old/new/blurry/unidentified), and interior settings are strung together in such a way that I honesly couldn't figure out what the point was. Crime documentaries should draw the viewer in by setting up a mystery, whether that is a scientific mystery, a social conundrum, or a murder on the street. Then provide clues that lead to an aha! Moment. This show is anticlimactic from the first to the last scene of each episode. I have watched many, many excellent crime shows -- this is not among them.

I've watched many doc-us about killers, & this is far the best. We get to learn most about different types, like "schemers". We also get to know much more what motivates them. Evil level is measured in Dr Stone scale from 1 - 22.

To bad the newer season 2-3 are so rare. :( I would easily pay for a Bray box instantly(!), or at least a DVD set. No online pay per view either. No torrent.. Just a few loose episodes from the newer seasons is findable.

The scale of evil. 01 Those who kill in self-defense and do not show psychopathic tendencies (justifiable homicide) 02 Jealous lovers who, though egocentric or immature, are not psychopathic (crime of passion) 03 Willing companions of killers: aberrant personality — probably impulse-ridden, with antisocial traits 04 Kill in self-defense, but had been extremely provocative towards the victim 05 Traumatized, desperate people who kill abusive relatives and others (like to support a drug habit) but lack significant traits. Genuinely remorseful. 06 Impetuous, hotheaded murderers, yet without marked psychopathic features 07 Highly narcissistic, not distinctly psychopathic people with a psychotic core who kill people close to them (jealousy an underlying motive) 08 Non psychopathic people with smoldering rage who kill when rage is ignited 09 Jealous lovers with psychopathic features 10 Killers of people who were "in the way" or who killed, for example, witnesses (egocentric but not distinctly psychopathic) 11 Psychopathic killers of people "in the way" 12 Power-hungry psychopaths who killed when they were "cornered" 13 Psychopathic killers with inadequate, rage-filled personalities who "snapped" 14 Ruthlessly self-centered psychopathic schemers 15 Psychopathic "cold-blooded" spree or multiple murders 16 Psychopaths committing multiple vicious acts 17 Sexually perverse serial murderers, torture-murderers (among the males, rape is the primary motive with murder to hide the evidence; Systematic torture is not a primary factor) 18 Torture-murderers with murder the primary motive 19 Psychopaths driven to terrorism, subjugation, intimidation and rape, (short of murder) 20 Torture murderers with torture as the primary motive but in psychotic personalities 21 Psychopaths preoccupied with torture in the extreme, but not known to have committed murder 22 Psychopathic torture-murderers, with torture their primary motive, sexual homicide