Sasha Reid’s Fascination with Serial Killers

She created one of the most comprehensive serial killer databases in the world and interned in a prison. Now the UCalgary student is focused on the intersection of law and psychology.

Videography by Haley Martin

Why are serial killers the way they are? How do they develop? Dr. Sasha Reid, PhD, current student and researcher at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law, is finding the answers.

Reid’s fascination with monsters started when she was young and living across from a dark forest. Before long, she realized “monsters” could look a lot like people. Her interest led her to compile an extensive database of unsolved missing persons. Along with a team of 12, she profiles recent and historic serial killers. It’s one of the most comprehensive serial killer databases in the world.

From spending a summer internship in a prison and teaching psychology and sociology at UCalgary, to rerouting her focus into law, the serial killer expert’s path has been anything but straight and narrow.

You May Also Like
Read More

Next-Gen Islam

Many young first- and second-generation Canadian Muslims have an entirely different relationship to their religion than do their parents. A fascinating storytelling project illuminates how spirituality, expectations and community are shifting in this country’s youth-driven Islamic culture
Special needs couple lying and using mobile phone
Read More

The Sex Talk for Everyone

For far too long, people with developmental and intellectual disabilities have been excluded from conversations about love, romance and pleasure. A new initiative crushes an unsexy taboo.
Read More

From Waste to Wealth

A student implements a black soldier fly biowaste treatment method in Tanzania that empowers women, and could positively impact human health and the environment