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About

How killers get caught, and why some never are.

Pattern of Errors is a documentary series in short form. This site is its record: one page for every Short, with the claim, the diagram, the case, the mechanism, the rule and every source in full.

In brief

What is Pattern of Errors?

Pattern of Errors is a documentary series and a sourced record of how killers get caught, and why some never are. Each entry takes one adjudicated case, names the mechanism that ended it or let it run, and lists every source in full. The subject is the system. The killers are the evidence.

The idea

Two kinds of error

The killer’s errors get him caught. The system’s errors let him keep going.

The name carries both halves. The series is drawn with its own instrument, the timeline: five events sit on a line, and one is knocked out of it.

  • His error · the catch

    A slip that names him: a ticket, a sample, a sheath.

  • Their error · the missed chance

    A moment the system had him and let him go.

How a Short is built

Four beats, under a minute

  1. Claim

    One sentence, on screen and spoken. It is the title.

  2. Case

    One adjudicated case, in a few facts, with the dates on screen. Victims first.

  3. Mechanism

    Why it happened that way, drawn as one diagram in one notation.

  4. Rule and source

    The takeaway in a line, then where it comes from.

The ten cases

Five series

  • The Pyramid

    Five tiers, sorted by how many ways there are to catch a killer. Each step up removes one.

  • The Catch

    The single mechanism that ends a case: a ticket, a sample, a sheath, a forged will.

  • The Failure

    The moments the system had him, or had the information, and let it go.

  • The Myth

    The genius, the loner, the man who cannot stop. The record says otherwise.

  • The Class

    Definitions and typologies describe a case. A few conditions decide it.

The notation

One grammar for every diagram

The line
Time, left to right. Down the screen on a phone.
Event
A fact on the record.
Missed chance
The system had him and let him go.
The catch
The error that ended it, knocked out of line.
Open case
No one charged.
A wait
Time passes and nothing moves.

Standards and corrections

Adjudicated cases only. Victims named first. No faces and no crime scenes. Every source in full. The standards set out each rule, and the corrections log is public. Write to corrections@patternoferrors.com.

Standing line

Educational analysis. Adjudicated cases only. Victims named with respect.

Questions

Why is it called Pattern of Errors?

The name carries both halves of the idea. The killer’s errors get him caught. The system’s errors let him keep going.

Is Pattern of Errors a true-crime channel?

It uses adjudicated cases as evidence for how investigations succeed and fail. The subject is the system. There are no faces, no crime scenes and no detail of methods.

How is a Short built?

In four beats, in under a minute: the claim, the case, the mechanism, then the rule and its source. One diagram carries the argument.

Where can I check a fact?

On the case page. Every case page lists its sources in full, and the sources page lists every citation on the site.