Killing words: inside a murderer’s mind

Irish-born Mark Papazian wanted to go down in history as a serial killer. But he was caught after writing a diary about the murder of his first victim, a gay pensioner, writes Paul Kelly in the first of a two-part series.

THE detectives who caught Mark Papazian are in no doubt they stopped a would-be serial killer in his tracks.

Their reason is Papazian’s own diary — a sick handwritten journal that reveals him to be a predatory killer. Take this sample entry from June last year: “I am a genius. I have thought of everything.”