Gory story of serial killer: a psychological analysis

John Reginald Christie was a paranoid man, partly because of the bodies he had hidden in the garden, partly because of the bodies he stowed under the floorboards, and after all, he had a dog.

Or so describes senior Morgan Dowsett who is directing Christie In Love, a play written in the late 1960s by Howard Brenton exploring the character of the convicted serial killer Christie who was convicted and subsequently executed for the murders of eight people.

The play begins with a constable played by senior Ben Esner digging in the garden at the notorious No. 10 Rullington Place where the introverted Christie resides. Christie's neighbor Timothy Evans was hanged for the murders of his wife and a child only a few years ago, giving the real estate a ghost or two to begin with, but when the constable finds two bodies buried in the garden, and four more scattered througout the house. Christie is convicted, but during the trial he only says, "I don't know," and "I don't remember."

Dowsett has done extensive research on the serial murders that rocked England in the '50s. Under his direction, he hoped to develop the spooky character of Christie.

"He kept to himself. He was a very tidy, very quiet type," Dowsett said.

After his wife left him, Christie became involved with a number of amateur prostitutes, perferring two with illnesses. As he developed friendships with the women, he would describe himself as a doctor-type. "He was very able to convince people that he was more educated than he really was," Dowsett siad.

One of his "cures" was having these women breath natural gas, asphixiating them, then burying their bodies.

"It's definitely interesting," Dowsett said. "Hopefully it's something a little different to go see."