Finding primary sources:

Within a search engine such as Google, put your person's name in quotes and then follow it with a type of primary source.
For example: “ted bundy” archives

Some primary source keywords:

• Archives
• Transcripts
• Photos
• Audio recordings
• Video recordings
• Journals
• Letters
• Diaries

Also consider adding site:.gov as part of your search string to search only government web sites.
For example: "Ted Bundy" letters site:.gov

Potential primary source locations:

• Anthony Sowell “Cleveland Strangler” or “Imperial Avenue Murderer”
• Albert DeSalvo “The Boston Strangler”
• Ted Bundy
• Gary Ridgway “Green River Killer”
• Robert Pickton
• Jack the Ripper
• Aileen Wournos
• David Berkowitz "Son of Sam" ***

***Please not that the materials presented on David Berkowitz are a mixture of secondary and primary sources. The images are primary, not the text.

• John Wayne Gacy
• Jack the Ripper
• Ted Bundy
• Wayne Bertram Williams “Atlanta Child Murders”
• The Zodiac Killer
• Samuel Little

• Ted Bundy
• Andrew Cunanan
• Jeffrey Dahmer
• John Wayne Gacy
• Jack the Ripper

Other potential serial killers:

• David Berkowitz "Son of Sam"
• Joseph James DeAngelo "The Golden State Killer"

Although a documentary is a secondary source, they often contain primary source material.

• Serial Killers Documentaries

The library has many excellent secondary sources that contain snippets of primary sources within them. In particular, we have many ebooks relating to serial killers.

Within OneSearch, try a search using your serial killer's full name or nickname surrounded in quotes. For example, "Dennis Rader", or "BTK serial killer"

The OneSearch search engine can be found under the "LRC Services" tab in MyCampus.

Another good database to look at is NewsBank. The database is a large collection of newspaper articles both domestic and international.