Southwestern Michigan College professor Don Ricker has been tapped by a national publisher to write a new college textbook on serial killers, a subject he has taught for years in his criminal justice and psychology courses.
Ricker, a former Houston detective, said his interest in serial homicide dates back decades to a college class where a professor handed him a book that first drew him into the topic.
“He’s the one that got me interested in serial murder. He asked me to read a book which is about a serial killer named John Norman Collins that was really a Ted Bundy before there was Ted Bundy,” Ricker said.
The new textbook will cover both historical cases and newer patterns in violent crime, including mass shootings.
“The mass murderers, of course, are the active shooters, you know, the people that go to schools and churches and hospitals and just maximize the number of people they can shoot at,” he said.
Ricker said one of the challenges in writing the book is presenting disturbing subject matter without sensationalizing it.
“I don’t really want to get too gruesome. I might mention that, but I’m not going to get into great depth about it. I really want to focus on theories,” he said.
Ricker teaches the material at SMC’s Dowagiac and Niles campuses, and he said the class is open to anyone in the community.
“Anyone can take it. There are no prerequisites for it. The more the merrier. We get into some really interesting dialogues and classroom discussions,” he said.
The textbook is expected to be completed next year and could be used in SMC courses as well as at other colleges nationwide.
