Why do some women find killers irresistible?

Women who fall in love with killers have always fascinated and repulsed me. What drives them? Do they think they can ‘save’ these men? Are they secret sadists, acting by proxy? Are they masochists, getting a cheap thrill from communicating with someone who has tortured a fellow woman to death? Bonnie and Clyde syndrome, also known as hybristophilia, puts the case that, as an evolutionary reproductive trait, some women can be drawn to ‘bad boys’ who are prepared to break rules/laws and are therefore ‘stronger’.

I was pleased to see that Denmark has now banned prisoners serving life sentences from starting romantic relationships while in jail. The ban was introduced after a 17-year-old fell in love with 50-year-old Peter Madsen, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 for killing, sexually assaulting and dismembering a young woman named Kim Wall. The country’s justice minister said last week: ‘We have seen disgusting examples in recent years of prisoners who have committed abominable crimes contacting young people in order to gain their sympathy and attention… lifers should not be able to use our prisons as dating centres or media platforms to brag about their crimes.’

My views on prison dating are hardline. I wouldn’t even allow a petting session with a pickpocket or a fondle with a fraudster. The idea that a prison would permit murderers to have what are essentially ‘dates’ — let alone ‘conjugal rights’ — makes my very flesh crawl. It’s not ruddy Butlin’s!

Denmark’s bill also ends long-term prisoners being allowed to broadcast freely their offences on social media or on podcasts. This seems very sensible. I wonder how many of the new generation of murderer-groupies have been encouraged by true crime, a genre which grows ever more popular — particularly stories about the murder of women by men, preferably involving dismemberment.