Who Is Darrell Gene Devier? New Details About The Obsessive Murderer Featured On Netflix's 'Mindhunter'
What to know about this real life killer.
Who Is Darrell Gene Devier? If you've watched David Fincher's Netflix original series Mindhunter, chances are you've done your fair share of googling the real stories behind the serial killers featured on the show. I mean, I know I certainly have. Once you learn about their stories it is almost impossible not to start digging in the hopes of finding out why on earth they could have done the things that they did.
It's a question countless people have asked, even professionals, and it's one that still feels pretty unanswered, that's part of what makes serial killers so damn scary in the first place.
Super well-known serial killers like the notorious "BTK Strangler" Dennis Rader and the "Shoe Fetish Slayer" Jerry Brudos played major roles during season one, however, there was one killer who took a backseat.
His name was Darrell Gene Devier. The reason Devier takes a backseat is because he actually only committed one murder (more than enough, thank you very much). But Devier's crime and the story of his arrest shouldn't be downplayed. Read on to find out exactly why Devier's story is one you should know, and 5 essential facts about the killer himself.
1. Devier only committed one known murder.
In 1979, Devier murdered Mary Frances Stoner, a 12-year-old in Bartow County, in 1979. Her body was found with signs of rape, choking and the head crushed.
2. Devier's murder was the product of his obsession.
After confessing to the crime, Devier was able to admit that he had been obsessed with little Mary for weeks.
Other men working alongside Devier reported that he could often be heard saying things like, "It's time for the good-looking girl to get home from school," at the end of the day.
He had first spotted her while doing his job as a tree trimmer and landscaper. In fact, Mary's father was Devier's employer at the time he committed the crime.
3. This was the first murder interrogation where the profiling techniques were implemented.
In the TV show Mindunter, Holden places a giant rock in front of Devier in a bid to shake him into confessing to the horrific crime.
This wasn't a stretch. In reality, the real-life Holden, FBI agent John Douglas, placed a bloody rock directly in front of Devier and the technique absolutely worked.
It gave the FBI the notion that this whole profiling thing might actually work!
4. The FBI believed he would almost certainly kill again.
John Douglas, the original mindhunter, was certain based on the information he received from his work developing the profiling system for the FBI, that while this could possibly be Devier's first kill, it wouldn't be his last.
Douglas pointed out Devier's transience, his difficult childhood, his cocky evasiveness with the police, and his sexual obsessions were all indicators of what a danger he really was.
5. He was executed in 1995.
Because of his horrific crimes, Devier was sentenced to death.
There were thoughts for a time that his sentence might be instead commuted to life in prison since he admitted fully to the crimes, however, in the end that was not the view the state took.
In the end, he was executed by electrocution in Georgia on May 17, 1995.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cat, Batman. She hosts the love and dating advice show, Becca After Dark, on YourTango's Facebook Page every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:15 pm Eastern. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr.