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In the News

Interactions with a serial killer

Local psychologist Jack Apsche at one time corresponded with serial killer Gary Heidnik. In a recently completed book that he is hoping to publish, he recounts how the contact changed his life.

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April 1, 1987

Gary Heidnik is led to court in Philadelphia for a preliminary hearing on the charge of murdering Deborah Dudley. Heidnik, who was accused of torturing six women and killing two, was executed at a state prison in Rockview, Pa., in July 1999.

Amy Sancetta / AP

Heidnik is escorted from a Philadelphia hospital after being injured in what officials said was a scuffle with another prisoner at police headquarters. Jack Apsche, who works at the Ross Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders in Friendship Heights, exchanged 26 letters with Heidnik over three years.

March 25, 1987

Heidnik is escorted from a Philadelphia hospital after being injured in what officials said was a scuffle with another prisoner at police headquarters. Jack Apsche, who works at the Ross Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders in Friendship Heights, exchanged 26 letters with Heidnik over three years.

Wayne Faircloth / AP

Lisa Thomas was one of three partially naked women police found chained to a sewer pipe in Heidnik's North Philadelphia rowhouse on March 25, 1987.

Lisa Thomas was one of three partially naked women police found chained to a sewer pipe in Heidnik's North Philadelphia rowhouse on March 25, 1987.

/ AP

Police sift through debris as they search for evidence in the front yard of Heidnik’s North Philadelphia house where three starved, partially naked women were found shackled in the basement.

March 26, 1987

Police sift through debris as they search for evidence in the front yard of Heidnik’s North Philadelphia house where three starved, partially naked women were found shackled in the basement.

Charles Krupa / AP

City water department workers and police investigate the sewer lines running under the street from Heidnik’s rowhouse, at right rear.

March 27, 1987

City water department workers and police investigate the sewer lines running under the street from Heidnik’s rowhouse, at right rear.

Amy Sancetta / AP

Plainclothes police officers search for more evidence dig outside Heidnik’s home. Heidnik was charged with murder, kidnapping and rape after police found human body parts in his refrigerator and freed three women found shackled to a pipe in the basement of the home.

March 25, 1987

Plainclothes police officers search for more evidence dig outside Heidnik’s home. Heidnik was charged with murder, kidnapping and rape after police found human body parts in his refrigerator and freed three women found shackled to a pipe in the basement of the home.

Diane Weiss / UPI

This illustration, by artist Dave Noyes and made available by the Philadelphia Daily News, shows how Heidnik kept women captive in a pit in his basement, furnished with mattresses and a portable toilet.

This illustration, by artist Dave Noyes and made available by the Philadelphia Daily News, shows how Heidnik kept women captive in a pit in his basement, furnished with mattresses and a portable toilet.

Dave Noyes / AP

Apsche maintained a lengthy correspondence with Heidnik while he was on death row. When he was hired as a researcher for Heidnik’s defense, Apsche, who had just received his PhD in counseling psychology, says he was addicted to sex, suffering from nightly combat flashbacks and battling a cocaine addiction.These days, Apsche looks back on the case a lifeline. “Gary Heidnik and September 1987 was an absolute turning point for me,” Apsche writes in a book he recently completed and is hoping to publish about his relationship with Heidnik. “By looking into my own scared and desperate experience, I could better understand what was driving Heidnik’s obsessions and sexual violence,” Apsche writes.

Apsche maintained a lengthy correspondence with Heidnik while he was on death row. When he was hired as a researcher for Heidnik’s defense, Apsche, who had just received his PhD in counseling psychology, says he was addicted to sex, suffering from nightly combat flashbacks and battling a cocaine addiction.These days, Apsche looks back on the case a lifeline. “Gary Heidnik and September 1987 was an absolute turning point for me,” Apsche writes in a book he recently completed and is hoping to publish about his relationship with Heidnik. “By looking into my own scared and desperate experience, I could better understand what was driving Heidnik’s obsessions and sexual violence,” Apsche writes.

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

One of the 26 letters exchanged between Heidnik and Apsche. Comprising more than 150 handwritten pages, the letters provide harrowing insights into the mind of one of the most perverse killers in U.S. history. Among Heidnik’s writings are drawings of the torture chambers he dug under his house, as well as descriptions of his crimes.

One of the 26 letters exchanged between Heidnik and Apsche. Comprising more than 150 handwritten pages, the letters provide harrowing insights into the mind of one of the most perverse killers in U.S. history. Among Heidnik’s writings are drawings of the torture chambers he dug under his house, as well as descriptions of his crimes.

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

The letters are the basis of Apsche’s book, tentatively titled “Greetings From the Crypt.” They changed Apsche’s life, he says. He quit cocaine, booze and womanizing, got remarried, and regained custody of his daughter. He is now the pioneer of a psychotherapeutic approach known as Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT), a technique for treating angry, sexually disturbed patients.

The letters are the basis of Apsche’s book, tentatively titled “Greetings From the Crypt.” They changed Apsche’s life, he says. He quit cocaine, booze and womanizing, got remarried, and regained custody of his daughter. He is now the pioneer of a psychotherapeutic approach known as Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT), a technique for treating angry, sexually disturbed patients.

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

Apsche says he and Heidnik had a “unique trust,” and that he even empathized with the killer, whom he viewed as beset by powerful internal demons. They met five or six times in prison, for two-hour sessions, and traded the letters. Ranging from one to 28 pages, the condemned man’s letters are penned in blue ink on yellow legal-size paper. Their tone oscillates between hostility and friendliness, and they are filled with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and smiley faces.

Apsche says he and Heidnik had a “unique trust,” and that he even empathized with the killer, whom he viewed as beset by powerful internal demons. They met five or six times in prison, for two-hour sessions, and traded the letters. Ranging from one to 28 pages, the condemned man’s letters are penned in blue ink on yellow legal-size paper. Their tone oscillates between hostility and friendliness, and they are filled with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and smiley faces.

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

Read cumulatively, Heidnik’s letters illustrate how the mind of a tormenter works. He repeatedly and passionately denies being a serial killer. “Those two deaths were purely accidental,” he says. “There was no willful intent or premeditation on my part to kill anyone.”

Read cumulatively, Heidnik’s letters illustrate how the mind of a tormenter works. He repeatedly and passionately denies being a serial killer. “Those two deaths were purely accidental,” he says. “There was no willful intent or premeditation on my part to kill anyone.”

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

The lengthy correspondence between Heidnik and Apsche resulted in an experimental technique that Apsche touts as a treatment for others whose lives have spun out of control.

The lengthy correspondence between Heidnik and Apsche resulted in an experimental technique that Apsche touts as a treatment for others whose lives have spun out of control.

Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post

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