‘Mind of a Serial Killer’ exhibit in Seattle: Explore infamous crimes
SEATTLE - There's a new exhibit in Seattle that's not for the faint of heart. Mind of a Serial Killer: The Experience, is now open at Pacific Place in Seattle.
It recreates the crime scenes of more than a dozen of the most notorious serial killers from around the world, including two prolific killers from right here in Washington state.
Those brave enough to step into the shoes of detectives and prosecutors in the interactive exhibit will see how they tracked down some of the world's darkest minds as they terrified communities.
The interactive layout places visitors in the role of law enforcement to highlight the tactics and tools used to track down dangerous criminals.
"Their brains work a little bit different than the rest of us," said Victoria Boerboom, a visitor from British Columbia. "They started out as a normal person, and then= bad things that happened in their life changed them, made them who they are. Brutalized in their life, and then transferred that to somebody else."
"Never seen anything like this before," said visitor Ramiro Vinan, from Seattle.
Walking in the shoes of detectives
The exhibit gives you an idea of what officers might have seen when they arrived at the scene of the crime for each serial killer.
On your journey through the exhibition, you walk through nearly 20 simulated environments and crime scenes for each killer, where you can look into a sink for evidence or crack open a freezer to determine what's inside.
"It’s just unsettling, but it is very realistic," said one visitor.
While some may recoil, Anne Bremner, a trial attorney and former Prosecuting Attorney for the Criminal Division of the King County Prosecutor’s Office in Seattle, says it was part of her job.
"This is what they did, and they did a great job even with what they had," said Bremner, referring to the technology that detectives had at the time these cases were solved. "This is exactly the way that cases of serial killers were investigated."
Washington's most infamous cases recreated
In her career, Bremner worked on and analyzed cases involving Washington's two most famous serial killers, Gary Ridgway and Ted Bundy. Her ex even represented Ted Bundy.
She walked us through the exhibit's recreation of Bundy's Volkswagen, to give us her take on how realistic it is. The lights shining on the names of his victims.
Bremner is pictured below next to the car.
Washington's Ted Bundy
"It’s an uncanny replica," said Bremner about the mock-up of his Volkswagen on display at the exhibit. "To see this is just so chilling."
Bremner says the model accurately shows how he reworked the car into a prison on wheels by removing a seat and door handle.
"He took this seat out. It’s so creepy when you look at it how intentional he was," said Bremner. A replica of the cast and crutches he used to fool victims into approaching him before he knocked them out is also on display at the exhibit.
The ski mask, rope, gloves, handcuffs, these are the things that were found in his car," said Bremner. "He was really good at what he did."
The Green River Killer
The exhibit featuring Gary Ridgway, known as The Green River Killer, also rang true for Bremner.
"This is what he looked like when I saw him at the sentencing," said Bremner, pointing to a photo.
Ridgway stalked victims from his truck.
"He used to sit at Pacific Highway South," said Bremner. "They say he was the most prolific serial killer, 48 victims."
She worked a case involving one of those victims.
"She didn’t show up for court, and she was one of his first victims," said Bremner.
She was also present at his sentencing.
"Ridgway just turned around and blankly stared and nothing, it was unbelievable," she said.
Understanding the human mind and staying safe
"We are attracted to things we don’t understand," said Jaq Seifert, Assistant General Manager of Mind of a Serial Killer: The Experience.
Seifert and Bremner say the fascination with the exhibit and serial killers themselves is about the fight for justice.
"We want folks to feel like they were in those spaces, but they are in those spaces as investigators," said Seifert.
Bremner and Seifert are pictured below, looking at one of the exhibit rooms.
They say those who flock to the exhibit are also interested in learning how detectives cracked the cases with limited technology.
"Telephones, manual typewriters," said Bremner. "They had eyewitness identification. They didn’t have DNA."
The exhibit also pays tribute to those victims that the investigators fought so hard for.
Making sure that people remember them. There is a long hallway with several chalkboards where we ask people to write a prayer," said Seifert. One of the chalkboards is pictured below.
"How are you supposed to know what these victims went through without it being shown to you?," said Victoria Boerboom, after touring the exhibit.
Bremner says many choose to walk in law enforcement's shoes for another reason, to avoid becoming a victim themselves.
"How do you identify these people?" said Bremner.
"You just never know. It could be anybody. Stay safe!," said Boerboom.
The exhibit also features a virtual reality experience where visitors are able to put on a VR headset in order to help to solve a virtual crime. The virtual reality room is pictured below.
The exhibit runs through November 15th. Tickets are available online.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Jennifer Dowling.