Killer instinct used to track a murderer
'The Riverman' leads viewers into the mind, heart of Ted Bundy
By MIKE MCDANIEL
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

'THE RIVERMAN
• What: Bruce Greenwood plays Robert Keppel, former chief criminal investigator with the Washington state attorney general's office, who is trying to catch a killer with the help of serial killer Ted Bundy (Cary Elwes) in The Riverman .
• When: 7 p.m. Monday on A&E

The mind of a serial killer is a place you really don't want to visit, but visit it we do in The Riverman. Peeking into the warped mind of a coldhearted murderer proves as unsettling as it is thought-provoking.

The Riverman works because of the performances of Bruce Greenwood and Cary Elwes. Greenwood (Thirteen Days) portrays Robert Keppel, for 17 years the chief criminal investigator with the Washington state attorney general's office. Elwes plays creepy Ted Bundy, infamous for killing dozens of young women during the '70s.

Produced by Hawk Koch and Peter Lance and directed by Bill Eagles, The Riverman (7 p.m. Monday, A&E) is based on a book by Keppel, who today teaches criminal justice at Sam Houston State University.

The Riverman, oddly enough, is less about Bundy's misdeeds than it is about the tête-à-tête between criminal and criminal investigator that eventually led to the resolution of another killing spree, the Green River murders.

The movie includes scenes, some uncomfortable to watch, of the two killers' handiwork. The main plot concerns the resolution of the Green River case. For me, though, the heart of the film is the scenes between Bundy and Keppel in an ugly Florida prison.

Bundy, on death row, has written to Keppel, who was on Bundy's trail during his murder spree. He believes he has something he can offer Keppel that will postpone his date with death.

Keppel, quiet and introspective, is attracted — not only because it might crack the Green River case but also because he believes Bundy committed 10 unsolved murders in Washington.

So head-to-head they go, each trying to play head games on the other.

The key to getting someone like Bundy to open up, says Keppel, is patience.

"The ability to keep your mouth shut is another," Keppel told the Chronicle. "Far too often investigators make the mistake of talking too much to suspects. They're not going to open up unless they want to. What they perceive is what's in it for them."

In one of three jailhouse sessions, Bundy provided insight into how to interview a serial killer.

"It has proven to be quite useful," Keppel said. "As an investigator, you have to appreciate where the serial killer is coming from, that killing is a pleasurable experience for him. You're sitting there as an interviewer, ready to kill him yourself, but you can't show any of those emotions.

"You have to be empathetic and nonjudgmental in your questioning, body language and everything else, so that the killer believes you're helping them through an event. The interviewer has to believe, at least in talking with the killer, that some killings are OK, that there's morality to murder. That's the hard part to get across to police detectives. It doesn't fit with their usual interviewing techniques."

Keppel has seen the movie and is thrilled with it.

"It's dramatized, for sure, and there are some elements that are out of sequence, and obviously they've got me doing more than I really did," he said, "but for a movie it works out fine. It's so intense. The duel between Bundy and myself is brought out."

Greenwood read Keppel's books, listened to tapes of the interviews and reviewed court transcripts to come up with his portrayal.

"He did a better job playing me than I could," Keppel said.

As for Elwes, "it's creepy and eerie to see him play (Bundy) because I'm sitting in the room with him, feeling the same way. He's that good."