In this Episode: The transition to Category 17 is what Micahel Stone calls “a move into the darkest territory of the Gradations of Evil scale—covering a wide array of serial killers, torturers, and sadists. “ Long behind us are the killers who kill in self-defense, or because they momentarily lost their reasoning, their sanity…. The level 17 killer is something else, something darker. • They kill purely for the psychological gratification of the murder itself. What sets the level 17 killer apart is their attacks usually involve some kind of sexual contact with their victim. To review Michael Stone’s Gradations of Evil scale is to try and understand the motives behind WHY people do these things. Sometimes, even the killers themselves can’t explain it. When you look at the examples commonly given for level 17, you find familiar names- Ted Bundy & Richard Ramirez- two serial rapists and sadists. Utterly unfeeling. The thing is, both of these cases have been covered Ad nauseam on this and every other podcast. - So I don’t want to focus on the stories of Richard Ramirez and Ted Bundy as much as I want to talk about the pathology of the level 17 killer, using Ramirez and Bundy as examples. Hosted by Professor Michael Drane of the Unpopular Culture Podcast Follow us on these platforms: facebook.com/upcpodcast instagram.com/upcpodcast twitter.com/upcpodcast Pinterest.com/upcpodcast Unpopular Culture Podcast is a psychology podcast hosted by Professor & Psychoanalyst Michael Drane. With help from professionals in different fields, he seeks to shine a light on the broken underbelly of society. Listen as he takes on the psychology behind subjects like: True Crime: serial killers, murders, stalkers, cults, forensic analysis Psychology: mental illness, social phenomenon, mob mentality, psychoanalysis, etc. Culture: Sexuality, Satanic Panic, love, Tv analysis, movie analysis. We are an independent psychology podcast. Help us keep UPC free of ads and on the air. Please consider supporting the show and get access to our "Stalkers Only" archive, and help be a part of the creative process.