This is a three-part podcast series dedicated to understanding how serial killers form, and how we can stop them before they strike again. Hosted by award-winning crime scene investigator Sheryl McCollum, each episode features a guest expert who brings unique expertise into the psychology, behavior, and patterns of serial offenders.

Guest Bio and Links:

Phil Chalmers is a 40 year American Criminal Profiler, true crime writer, and host of the Dennis Quaid owned podcast “Where The Bodies Are Buried.” His live trainings are legendary in the law enforcement world, as he trains police officers, the FBI, probation officers, school administrators, and many other professionals. You may have seen Phil on A&E’s Killer Kids, or Fox’s Crime Watch Daily. He has interviewed hundreds of violent killers, including serial killers, school shooters, mass murderers, family annihilators, and spree killers. Names you might know on his interview list include Charles Manson, The Son of Sam, BTK, The Hillside Strangler, The Gainesville Ripper, The Zodiac Copycat, The Smiley Face Killer, and the Amityville Horror Killer.

Listeners can learn more about at Phil Chalmers at his website, on IG @philechalmerprofiler and his podcast - Where The Bodies Are Buried

Aeman Presley is a currently incarcerated serial killer who is serving life sentences for four murders committed in Georgia. Before his crimes, Presley worked as an actor and performer, appearing in commercials and on television. Now, from prison, he shares his story in an effort to help law enforcement and society understand the psychological trajectory that led to his violence.  

Resources:

Part 1 - The Anatomy of a Serial Killer: Psychology, Profiling, Prevention  

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum and Phil Chalmers talk with Aeman Presley as he recounts his descent into violence; from an aspiring actor with a troubled past to a convicted serial killer. Aeman reveals the psychological battle he’s fought since childhood, marked by fatherlessness, gang affiliation, and undiagnosed mental health issues. He talks openly about his early life in Chicago, his attempts to pursue a professional life in acting, and the psychotic break that led to a series of brutal murders in the Atlanta area. Aeman walks listeners through his inner monologue before the killings, the warped logic he believed justified his actions, and the moment of psychological rupture when the “demon” within took over. This is not a glamorization, it’s a rare firsthand look into the psyche of someone who once viewed murder as both necessity and compulsion.

 

Show Notes:

• (0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum  
• (0:10) Intro - On the line with Aeman Presley
• (2:30) Presley's early life and path to crime
• (3:30) Military discharge and mental health struggles 
• (5:30) Chasing an acting career in Atlanta and LA
• (7:30) Financial strain and the turn to crime
• (10:00) Aeman’s first killing - inside the Kmart parking lot
• (15:00) Realizations in the aftermath - would it have continued?
• (16:00) Aeman describes the appetite for violence during movies
• (19:00) Why prison changed Aeman’s perspective
• (23:00) The last victim - a break in pattern 
• (29:00)  ”It takes a village to raise a child. Well, the village that raised me were criminals, gang bangers, killers, and murderers.” -Aeman Presley
• Thanks for listening to another episode! If you’re loving the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review! 

---

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

Social Links:

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
• Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

Instagram: @officialzone7podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.