Most murder mystery plots revolve around a single killer. Murderous partners are rarer in fiction and in real life, which is why they have a macabre fascination. In fact, as a 2014 Psychology Today article noted, more than a fifth of serial killers operate in teams, most involving two offenders. And these teams have a unique psychological dynamic: One member is invariably a dominant figure who manipulates a subordinate partner's youth, neediness, mental instability, or low intelligence, according to Eric W. Hickey, a forensic psychologist and the author of Serial Murderers and Their Victims, who has studied more than 500 serial killer teams. The dominant predator in a killing team maintains such psychological and even physical control that the partnership acquires greater emotional significance than any personal moral code that might prevent heinous acts, experts agree. These deadly partnerships are often sexual: Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate; Paul Bernardo and Karen Homolka; Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. But it is the aberrant emotional glue that really counts; consider the father-son relationship of the 2002 D.C. sniper team of Muhammad and Malvo, or the same-sex peer bond of the teenage Columbine killers. So how do such murderous duos form? Gregg McCrary, a behavioral criminologist and former FBI agent, theorizes in the article: "There's radar, gaydar, and, maybe, mur-dar. It resembles the phenomenon wherein normal people meet and decide that they're going to get along, but with these couples, it takes a dark turn. They vector in on each other, sensing the excitement of a kindred spirit. It becomes electric." There's a dark law of attraction that leads to nightmares. For the complete Psychology Today article, including historical examples, read https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201406/partners-in-crime. For some more examples of famous killing teams, see http://listverse.com/2012/07/08/10-awful-serial-killer-teams/.
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