Investigation Discovery presents the modern-day Clarice Starling as Dr. Michelle Ward goes behind bars to interview violent murderers and offer insight into what drives people to kill with the new series THE MIND OF A MURDERER premiering tonight, February 19 at 10/9c. From her early doctorate research on psychopathy, to her ongoing study of criminal behavior, Dr. Ward possesses a unique ability to push murderers to the limit, getting them to admit things they wouldn't confess to anyone else. She is trained to go beyond excuses and get to the psychological core of why people commit heinous acts - and she does it alone in a room, face-to-face with coldblooded killers.
"This series plays out like a fictional psychological thriller, a dark version of
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST -- but it's a real-life
HANNIBAL vs. Clarice, if you will - with its gritty tone and Dr. Michelle Ward serving as the strong protagonist with a steadfast determination to unmask these brutal killers and reveal their inner motivations," said Henry Schleiff, Group President of Investigation Discovery, Destination American, American Heroes Channel,
Discovery Family Channel and Discovery Life. "THE MIND OF A MURDERER delivers an unparalleled sense of danger and an edge-of-your-seat experience that is best enjoyed with a glass of Chianti and a side of fava beans."
Each episode of
THE MIND OF A MURDERER begins with Dr. Michelle Ward's mission, whether it's to get the criminal to confess, to demonstrate remorse, or to tell parts of the story that they've never shared before. She looks at the evidence through her unique lens to formulate a theory on the killer's true psyche before conducting the interview. And viewers will experience first-hand, the suspenseful and riveting in-person interviews with the killers which are contrasted with emotional statements from the victims' families and friends who are so desperately seeking closure.
The first three episodes of
THE MIND OF A MURDERER are as follows:
IVY LEAGUE KILLER Premieres Thursday, February 19 at 10/9c
Successful Wall Street lawyer Jason Bohn mercilessly strangles and beats his girlfriend to death in their New York City apartment. He claims he can't remember a thing but Dr. Michelle Ward comes face-to-face with this convicted killer to see just how much he really remembers.
HEAT OF THE NIGHT Premieres Thursday, February 26 at 10/9c
Following a heated argument over an alleged affair, Janene Patton kills her husband Troy with one shot to the head. She claims it was an accident, but Dr. Michelle Ward is determined to uncover what actually went wrong that night - and what Patton is hiding.
EVIL RIDER Premieres Thursday, March 5 at 10/9c
In a drug-fueled killing spree, Karl Knapp brutally guns down his ex-girlfriend Jane Johnston, along with two other innocent people at her job. Is it an act of desperation or cold-blooded murder? Dr. Michelle Ward goes behind prison walls to find out.
THE MIND OF A MURDERER is produced for
Investigation Discovery by Atlas Media Corp. with Bruce David Klein and Lorri Leighton serving as executive producers. Fae Moore and Dr. Michelle Ward serve as co-executive producers. For Investigation Discovery, Liz Massie is executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior vice president of production, Kevin Bennett is general manager, and Henry Schleiff is Group President.
About Dr. Michelle Ward
Channeling her personal experience as a victim of a stalker for eight long years, Dr. Michelle Ward has made it her mission to probe psychopathic behavior. She also hosts the ID series, STALKED: Someone's Watching, which profiles emotional stories of stalking victims and delves into the twisted psychology of the people who relentlessly pursue them. Dr. Ward holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern California (USC) with a dual emphasis in clinical neuroscience and behavioral genetics. Her interest and focus was the study of predatory criminals, and her current career actively puts her face-to-face with these unusual individuals.
Early in her career, Dr. Ward worked on studies that used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on murderers and non-murderers to identify structural differences in the brains of these groups of people. To further understand the complicated and dangerous predatory individual, Dr. Ward assisted her colleagues at USC in launching The Southern California Twin Project, a research project set out to identify biological characteristics and environmental underpinnings of psychopathic behavior in people before adulthood. Dr. Ward and her colleagues were some of the first to investigate this phenomenon in children in order to understand if these biological abnormalities are in future predatory individuals. Dr. Ward has published numerous articles related to psychology and complex human behavior and has used her extensive background in psychology, genetics, and biology to become one of the first scientists to identify potential future predatory behaviors in a population of children. Today, she is widely sought after to assist in the criminal trials of some of the nation's most notorious offenders.
About Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading mystery-and-suspense network on television and America's favorite "guilty pleasure." From harrowing crimes and salacious scandals to the in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries that result, ID challenges our everyday understanding of culture, society and the human condition. One of our nation's fastest growing cable networks, ID delivers the highest-quality programming to more than 86 million U.S. households and is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). For more information, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com, facebook.com/InvestigationDiscovery, or twitter.com/DiscoveryID.
Investigation Discovery is part of Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's #1 pay-TV programmer reaching nearly 3 billion cumulative subscribers in 220 countries and territories.
