The killer was more stunned by talking to Howard than Howard was by talking to him... Wow.

Impressive how Howard will interrupt even a serial killer

"I've got no tattoos, I wouldn't do that to myself." Oh... I'm glad he drew the line somewhere...... lmfao

Very impressive on part of both hosts. When I was in psychiatry, I would interview a lot of guys kind of like this, though not as bad. The fact that Howard got him to laugh and relax is absolutely masterful. The fact that the guy was not exaggerating, not emotionally charged, indicates it's likely the real deal. Howard quickly switched on the investigator mode. I guarantee you he was on high alert, but through his years of experience in these conversations he did something most people cannot.

It is pretty impressive that he got this guy to describe himself sporadically throughout this interview. Not fat, not typically good-looking, no tattoos, describe his hunting grounds, parents still together, one parent is a church-goer.

Lol Howard telling him he might as well just off himself is hilarious. Can't say I disagree but the way he said it so upfront 😭

“If my kid killed something cute I would probably just be like ‘well this is it..’ “ 😂😂 that has to be the funniest thing he said, I’m sorry

I love how Howard does his best to pull details out of the guy, asking long lines of nonsense and flattering questions only to end with something revealing such as "Do you have many tattoos?" "Do you hang out in that place very often?" That's an excellent means of getting details that can lead to his arrest The guy is so polite even as Howard does a good job trying to get a rise out of him, no wonder he wasn't caught, who would think he is a psychopath?

Howard was smart, he not only got clues for the police, he kept his caller thinking Howard was still doing his show, brilliantly done. I hope the cops were listening.

His answers are so quick, confident, and never strays away from what inevitably became the facts

“You’re not a serial killer?” “No, I never said my name was Ed” 😭😭

I know it’s been said before, but it’s pretty scary how some guy sitting next to you in a restaurant or passing you on the sidewalk could be someone evil like this. I remember getting creepy vibes from some people at times through the years and making a decision to avoid them. Sometimes I wonder if they were this type of person.

This is almost like an interrogation before they even know who the killer is, they do a great job making him comfortable and disclosing information

I know we're all impressed with how Howard handled this, but "Clay" was so casual about the whole thing. It's horrifying to imagine people like this walking among us.

This is fascinating, (and horrible, of course), but the hosts handled this so well and kept him talking for as long as possible. I'm surprised that I've never heard about this before today.

Impressed Robin and Howard were getting info and keeping him on the call. They actually gathered a huge amount of info. He kept his cool thru the entire call many would have not been able to have kept it together.

howard was actually really good at building and maintaining rapport while slipping in little questions here and there that would unquestionably help in identifying the guy.

Kudos to Howard and the co-host for continuing the interview, getting his voice recorded, speech patterns, "baba booey", getting info out of him that establishes a timeline of his first kill, car breakdown, his approximate age, marital status, his parents marital status, number of kids, lack of tattoos, the implication that he isn't black, his body type, and the Jimmy Swaggart Town "area around here" comment which could help find a location, all of which can help link an eventual suspect.

Wasn't expecting to watch this for the full 27 mins. Great format, great narration. Great video.

They HAVE to have found this guy. There is no way he gave all that away and they didnt find someone like that.

howard stern is the only man with the balls to tell a serial killer (who could be anywhere) to take their own life

When I served with a Marine infantry battalion in Iraq, there were 0311's who said the only reason they were in Iraq was to kill people, and they enjoyed it. There were some infantrymen that we swore would be serial killers if they were not killing people for Uncle Sam

This guy is slightly breathless when he gets to the point of talking about the black police officer, and sniggering, Sounds like he's likely walking outfoors while talking at that point? Or possibly doing ahem something else while talking and exposing himself about his crimes. As a massage therapist for two decades, we were taught and learned from experience how to notice someone masturbating on the phone while they're trying to make an illegitimate appointment. The language, slightly hesitant/delayed answers, slightly breathless speech. (That only happened for me two or three times, and I inform them I don't provide the type of service they're looking for, just hung up on them, recorded their number then blocked it basically. And was grateful to my teachers for teaching me to listen almost microscopically for those things!)

He's talking about the comic book Spawn #5 where a serial killer uses his victims fingers on a "painting"

I'm not a big Howard fan but I'll admit he did a great job interviewing this guy. He kept his tone very even & didn't try to shame him(which would probably shut the killer down). He talked to him like 2 guys in a bar talking about fishing. I wish Robin would've stayed quiet though. Howard should invite more killers to call in. There are about 2,000 active serial killers in just the US today. Maybe Howard could help catch a few of them.

"You haven't killed any prostitutes?" "No, I never said my name was Ed." This is such a crazy line 😭

Omg! I can’t imagen getting that call! Robin was so smart with her questions. Whenever Howard insulted him I was so scared it would cause the caller to hang up.

Its scary to think that the most despicable things we can imagine, or see in movies or crime shows etc are nothing compared to what happens in our home towns every day.

The most scary part is how the police is just looking for someone to blame it on regardless on if they did it or not

I remember listening to this. He took the call like the caller was bullshitting so he went along with it. As the call went on, he started to believe him, and so did a lot of listeners, me included.

This is actually not the only serial killer who did something like this. Rodney Alcala,and infamous serial killer in the 70’s,became known as the Dating Game Killer because in 1974(when he was already well into his murder spree)he went on the Tv show the Dating Game to try and get his next victim,and won,the girl he won the heart of literally refused to go out with him because of how creepy he was,and that saved her life because less than 1 weeks later after that he killed another girl.it’s also worth noting that he photographed ALL of the women he killed…there are over 2,000 photos in his collection.

And many years into listening to this interview for the first time, here it is, I found it again. Howard was Howard, as good as he always is, but Robin asked the smartest questions.

This is one of the best things Howard has done, dude knew how to handle this situation.

When I was a "phone actress" I had a client describe to me in very vivid detail what he wanted to do to his step daughter. I could actually hear a child in the background. I came up with some bullshit reason, like a bathroom break, and put him on hold. While he was on hold I got my supervisor on the line. I explained to her the situation and told her we needed to call the police to investigate because a child was in iminent danger. I didn't have any of his personal info, because that wasn't the way it worked, but she, or someone on her side, had all his credit card info and stuff. I'm 100% sure that someone in the office could have done something to get law enforcement out there to check on the kid. Maybe I'm extra sensitive to that kind of thing because I was abused as a kid, but, when my supervisor told me that it was none of our business, and she wasn't going to get law enforcement involved, I quit. Right then. She told me I could take a lunch break and think about it, but I told her, I was done. Guess I just wasn't cut out for the business.

The genius of Stern is this is he didn't change his behaviour. He still instulted the guy and kept his persona. I think normally the killer would be angry if someone talked to him like that but he was obviously a fan of Stern so he probably felt more powerful that he was being treated like a famous person who is being interviewed. Pretty crazy.

Can we appreciate how professionally Howard handled the situation though?

I was born and raised in New Orleans. My mom wasn't the most discerning parent when it came to inappropriate content. Her thought process was if she had to get up early and drive me to school, she was going to listen to the Howard Stern Show while doing it and simply hope that I didn't turn out a complete degenerate in the process. Imagine how surreal it was being a 4th grader getting dropped off at school halfway through the above segment. As soon as I got into the classroom, I told everyone, "There's a serial killer on the loose in New Orleans! He's on the Howard Stern Show right now bragging about it!" My mom got called to arrange a parent-teacher meeting that night. She just laughed and said sure and then didn't show up for it. Apparently, you can do that and the teacher will just have to keep teaching your kid.

This has likely been mentioned already, but I'm about 99% positive the comic he's talking about with the severed fingers was Spawn issue #5, a serial killer named Billy Kincaid would lure kids into his icecream truck, then after killing them would glue their severed fingers to a canvas making a 'Finger Painting'.

I love how Howard pushes through to sound calm so the guy will keep talking

I am very impressed with the research it mustve taken to make this video good job man

Howard and the co-host did a great job. They came up with a lot of good questions quickly. Scary just how matter-of-fact and emotionally detached that guy was.

I love how you can hear Howard asking for lots of details that law enforcement would want to know.

Okay, but Howard did perfect in "interrogating" the dude. Having him feel comfortable about talking about it, almost as if he's impressing them with his acts.

People paint this guy as a typical psychopath, and Howard constantly brings up being 'full of hate' but that just isn't the impression I get from the guy. He doesn't even know why he does it, and he admits to not really even being sure if he feels gratification or not. He doesn't have a lot of conviction, and he even mentions being empathetic of one and letting her go. Now, maybe I'm projecting here but during this I've weirdly found this guy relatable in a large sense. As noted, he takes a lot from what he reads in book and other fictional media, in fact his joke about missing batman makes it clear that he does value entertainment a lot. He's not a fan of tattoos, and his substance use is so minimal and gives off the impression of just trying it entirely for himself- meaning not really drinking because he cares about social conforming for example. The part where he gets called lame for his inexperience and he just doesn't really have much to say, it really convinces me of him being this same 'loser' type of nerd. I make the assumption that he's the type who has spent a lot of his life living inside his own head, this is why he enjoys fiction so much. A huge detail is also the fact that he has only tried Acid. Psychedelic drugs are pretty much the only type of drugs that these type of people would have any interest in; as the idea of heightening your inner fantasy, experiencing your exotic inner world blending with reality is appealing. During the segments about race, it makes it clear he's not exactly racist, but he isn't necessarily against racism per say. When the fact that most of his victims were black was brought up, he kind of tried to make it clear that was because of the environment, he didn't really seek out any specific races. At the same time, he found humor in the idea of the black officer being suspected, and he's also seemingly a fan of The Howard Show. It gives off the impression that he really is just on the middle bridge of it all. He's not actively for or against anything, so without having any moral guard rails he's subject to having a bit of edge at times. And this all goes back to the killing. In which I can imagine his biggest cause for it all, is that he's morally apathetic, which means there's nothing stopping him from committing this kind of murder, except circumstance. He makes it clear that circumstance did get in his way, mentioning that he was on this break because his car broke down. Anyone who feels more convicted in needing to carry out some sort of personal 'mission' going through a murder, would not just stop simply because of a minor inconvenience like that. He murdered because the chances were given to him, once it became more of a reach he just didn't really bother. I think in his search for reasoning why he killed, he was also searching for any reason to do it again. To kind of find motivation to start doing it again; or to see if his inner desire is to actively stay away from that kind of thing, making sure to never pick it up again. He says he has a few kids, which means he's probably middleaged in this recording. A notorious time period where people are really lost in their lives. And him in particular, I believe due to not caring about it morally, he had nothing stopping him from trying out murdering to see if he'd really feel something meaningful in his life. Prostitutes were easy to kill, and he also didn't really emphasize with any of their type. The seductive body-confident unintelligent Prostitute Archetype that lives their life around sex. It's not really an archetype that you can feel for. What's notable is that he mentions letting one of them go, because of her innocence, seeming new and all. It reminded him of his Ex. He could kill all the others because he couldn't bring himself to care about them in the slightest, which is why a type of person he can find a bit of care into (a bit of personal appeal to him) he can't go through with it. Again this is all most likely heavy projection excused as analysis. Now I'm diagnosed with SZPD, and I'm not exactly trying to say this guy has it too. But throughout the full recording of this conversation, I felt like this was a very easy thing to see many people go through; Like the average introvert on the internet I guess. Living a life full of apathy, getting to a point in your life where you essentially get so bored that you try things as depicted elsewhere. Most people hear stories and read in fiction all about how murder is carried out, and then they think "Huh, what would I do if I were to be a killer like this?" but most people also have a sort of barrier that ever prevents them from doing that at any point in their lives. I can see this Clay dude as simply just not having that barrier from stopping him, and he ends up trying it out like he would try a drug, or some other experience to really try and add some substance to his life. I don't really think moral apathy at least is the most uncommon in the type of nerds that browse on the internet. At the very least, to me this guy felt pretty human and relatable. This whole post probably sounds dumb, I'm just rambling my incoherent thoughts late at night. I guess the whole point that got me feeling the need to share my thoughts was seeing how people treated this guy in the comments, as some blood thirsty killer. Just my thoughts on why that isn't the case I suppose.

Got to love how Howard is very cleverly trying to get information out of “Clay” like appearance, location, vehicle, personal history, methods, family, work place etc. by stroking the ego and sounding disapproving to goad “Clay” into revealing more. Ar the same time his co-host is asking stupid questions that could destroy the momentum of this interrogation. Real or not, it was a good insight into how to do that kind of thing.

Glad I'm not the only one to hear this radio segment and see that Howard and his co-host essentially saw the opportunity to conduct an evidential interview with a serial killer and certainly did not pass on that. The questions they ask are so direct, and yet establish extremely useful descriptors - height, build, tattoos, family background, method for killing. Howard is an effective police investigator who made a career as a radio show host.

This is actually one of the most genuine vulnerable calls I've ever heard them take tbh

Hey it's the dude from ATA! Great voice, tone and cadence.

This may very well be the most disassociated person of all time. The fact he can get on the radio and OPENLY talk about it like it’s normal is wild. Just absolutely wild.

You all completely missed him admitting he would have done it to his fiance but he would have became a suspect. When they were asking about his fiance.

I remember hearing this at the time it aired. Definitely, at first I was thinking it was a hoax. But, as I continued to listen, I realized this was not a joke. Maybe, this was a reason I went into law enforcement. Howard and Robyn always had conversations with people who were questionable. But, they definitely knew the difference between what was radio, or trash, worthy.

I love that the guy didn't think he was talking to Howard Stern until he started interrupting

It's crazy how excited he got once he realized he was on air and actually talking to Howard.

My dad used to love listening to Howard stern DAILY I wish he was still around to hear about this, I know he would’ve been telling us all about it. Rest in peace dad ❤

This is wild. I'd never heard of this event before. Crazy

I actually started instictively write down all details from this. What the hell... Good job, Howard.

I've been watching real crime videos for like 5 years now, and I'm so shocked I've never heard of this guy before.

Kudos to Howard. He actually tried his best to try an get as much information from the guy as possible without pissing him off or alerting to him what Howard’s motivations was. Howard would disguise a lot of his questions as joking or up beat. Howard was able to nearly paint a picture of who this guy was.

What's wild is that i was born in the 90's around the new Orleans area, but stayed in the west Bank and i heard of most of the murders (atleast the ones in the 90's) on the news when i got a lil older to understand. All of my ppl understood the assignment of staying out of storyville around that time.

Regular people think that he’s killing people out of anger. Anger has zero to do with it.

13:03 I’ve listened to parts of this interview before and never caught where he seems to be saying he would have liked to kill his fiancé but since he’d clearly be the suspect, he didn’t.

The killer's confidence was eerie and heavy to hear, and in general he gave off a nasty pressure... Just listening to him made me feel ugly. Like others have said, I have to give praise to Howard and Robin for their level-headedness and calm demeanors.

Sometimes when relaying a story or experience, my voice can get shaky, as if im experiencing it again. 22:05 makes me think he's really thinking about and seeing that moment again. It's like adrenaline in his voice.

This is probably the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’m shocked I’ve never come across this before? He is talking so matter-of-fact it is the creepiest thing. Very fantastic questions asked wow they asked everything I wanted to know lol

Howard Stern is the only person ever who could pull this off. Even Joe Rogan would ruin this interview with too much or too little input. Stern did it perfectly, he kept it serious, straightforward and perfectly matched the killers attitude to keep him spilling more

Did the person who transcribed the audio have earplugs in or something? lol

I love how he still calls him Ed after the guy tells him his name isn't Ed

These are the type of people that can roam around and do whatever they want with a society that doesn't know their own neighbors and have no ability to protect themselves without reprocussions.

I love that howard purposely screws up facts this guy already stated so he has to repeat, if not elaborate, the information. Also tests to see how his demeanor changes each time Howard messes up information. This guy either wanted to be caught so he called in to leave breadcrumbs AND/OR hes just that much of a narcissistic sociopath that he truly felt like all the info divulged still wouldnt get him caught because hes SO much smarter than the police and general population. I hope Clay is living out his extra miserable life, haunted. He deserves to have the days he gets.

Howard actually handled that pretty well. he got a lot of information out of him without giving him a reaction or making him fear the questions he was giving him. even coaxed his ego at times to get more airtime which equals more information... he was doing the best he could with the little bit of time he had

I was listening to the killer's tones. I am a note-to-color musical synesthete, and in my writings and on my channel I explain how I have reason to believe that our hearing is color-spectral, beginning with middle C as red, and the final B as magenta (end of the rainbow). Meaning that C always. naturally sounds warm and robust, where as B is thin, light and airy (less physical and more like a ghost or spirit). That being said, I demonstrate how some serial killers (including John Wayne Gacey) speak of their crimes literally in the key of death: Blue. A-flat. Blue because it is the coldest, most distant and detached color. What's interesting here is that the guest-killer is speaking in the RELATIVE MINOR of A-flat: F-minor. (Each key shares a unique minor key that uses the same note-names. And this minor key is harmonically dependent on it's major key to function). I usually write down time-line examples within the video so that readers can reference it here, but I'm traveling so I can't. It's still very unique in this given conversation because in the cases that I've analized the serial killer is always speaking in A-blat major. Major being the "happy" key, and of course minor being "sad." If I had to make a final analysis is the man's (unconscious) choice of speaking in F-minor I'd say this. So, the F note is like green. Growth, change, letting go; transition (See Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony in F. The ode to Nature). But since the guest killer is "converting" that green into a minor mode, then he may very well be open to changes In other words speaking in A-flat would be embodying Death; But speaking in it's relative minor (F-minor) he is sort of questioning his motives for inciting death on others. There in an element introspection in his speech. Which may explain in calm while speaking of his crimes. He was pausing in a green, grassy field to analyze is cold, blue, heartless heart. My other stuff is posted if anyone is interested. - _The Acoustic Rabbit Hole_

Very cool and interesting interview, to hear from someone who's like that.

I’m not a Howard fan but I think he did a good job asking this guy the right questions and keeping him on the air as long as he could or as long as he wanted. I think he did a good job. Along with his co host her questions and remarks could seem childish and something small but those could help also. I do think they did a good job. Sucks they never caught him.

this was so chilling. to think the guy was so calm when he talked about his killing. its scary to know people like clay are real.

It’s weird how Howard was emotional about this guy, he made quite a few comments that probably gave The Killer some pleasure because it showed that Howard was upset enough about the situation that he couldn’t hold back his emotions even though overall he did a very good job of asking non-emotional questions otherwise throughout it

He did a really good job of keeping the guy on the line and sifting evidence out of him

The fact they’re able to treat this as an every day episode is just insane

How many years have Howard and Robyn been together. She knows her place and knows no fear. The instant Howard hesitated, she would ask a brilliant question. This gave Howard time to think of a new line of interviewing. What a great team!

from my knowledge of interviewing suspects from studying forensic psychology, howard did a pretty good job. it's all about the rapport. they're a serial killer, but they're also a human. so to succeed in an interview you must treat them as such, as well as cater to them somewhat like respecting that their name wasn't Ed, a small but meaningful moment at the start of the conversation that tells our potential suspect Howard wants to actually talk to him - this is also a great representation of what we mean by treating them like a human, yes, they're a serial killer, but generally, success in interviewing anyone, comes with rapport. sure Howard also wants the controversy and fame for talking to a serial killer, but the two things aren't mutually exclusive. he wants to both genuinely talk to him and profit from it.

The most chilling thing about this isn't what he was saying, but how casually he was saying it.

Its a shame more hosts don't try this kind of thing, anything that helps catch these sickos is good, and all that background info he was trying to get outta him (and somewhat did) is all useful. I reckon if somebody did weirdo call ins, they should get the FBI to set them up with tracking and just not mention it- go outta their way to avoid tipping off the criminals.

Howard has an amazing talent for making people feel comfortable on the air! I wish they could've traced the call!

This really reminds me of the movie 8mm. The killer himself goes into an explanation of his motives in the film. Which sounds a lot like this caller.

I just love the way robin talks like they're discussing something trivial

You end by saying this serial killer is at large to this day, yet if he is Russel Elwood, he's in prison for life. Hopefully, that is him, and DNA evidence (if there is any on the victims) may yet convict him for the unsolved murders.

The comic book character that he was talking about with the thumb painting is most likely Billy Kincaid, one of the most sadistic and vile psychopaths in comic book history. He was a deranged child killer and pedophile. First introduced in Issue #5 of Todd McFarlane's Spawn series which came out around '92. This phone call took place in '97. In the book, there was an incident where Billy Kincaid “finger paints” by gluing dead kids’ fingers to the wall. All in all, he killed around 28 kids. Eventually Spawn kills him but they bring him back in the afterlife and he's much worse then. This guy had an unhealthy fascination with comic books mentioning Batman, Spawn's villain and whichever character that killed with a hammer.

he wasn't bragging about it when the whole talk was a Q&A basically. huge difference

Stern is a masterful interviewer. He knows how to set people up, or push their buttons so they give up more.

Great Howard Stern quote I thought I’d never hear, “I wish you would die but uh I guess you know.” Insane to think about this whole story actually being real

Thanks to you Howard S. for letting us listeners on the insight of a serial killer. It was very creepy and just glad he is behind bars for good.

I love how Howard disarms him and gets him playing 20 questions, and then gets him to spill the beans about not having any tattoos. Seemed like pretty good detective work for an off the cuff radio host. Could've paid off.

I don’t like how they give him leading questions. They should have just let him talk. He sounds in his 30s, has a very slight Jersey accent, sounds intelligent, so might be educated, sounds like he might be a smoker … I’m not sure this is real… he really doesn’t give detail to what he did to these women.. ex. Like his stamp to connect the women together, how he strangled them, how did he position the bodies, does he have keepsakes from each victim… he doesn’t look like he would fit the voice in that call..

I thought his reaction to being pressed on what he said to the women before he killed them was very interesting. He didn't seem as confident or comfortable talking about that and he didn't want to give any specifics. I wonder why he didn't want to talk about that. I'd love to see an FBI profiler, or even just a cop, react to this interview. A therapist or psychiatrist reacting to it would be interesting, as well, and there are plenty of those on KZfaq already.

everytime it showed a picture of the victims, my heart just broke, those poor people didn't get to live their lives.

this is chilling and actually horrifying.

This is the most braindead “analysis” I’ve ever heard. “He said ‘you can CALL me Clay’ instead of ‘my name is Clay.’ This leads us to believe Clay may be an alias.” Gee, ya think?! 🥴

Most serial killers WANNA be caught. I think he took that year off cause he was done killing. The thrill was gone. (The fear/thrill that he may get caught by police). So, after the police didn't knock on the door after a year, he needed too get the thrill back by calling a radio show, and taunting the police. He called a NATIONALLY BROADCAST show. He knew he could shock people. That's a straight narcissistic psychotic. And, he NEEDED to be caught to take the credit he felt he deserved. And, say, look, I freaking HAD TO CALL Howard Stern to help you catch me!!!

I think he was referring to an early Spawn comic. A serial killer would cut off his victims fingers and make "finger paintings" with them.

He SHOULD remain calm, he can get out so much information out of the killer. Pretty impressive.

When this radio interview happend?😮😮😮 I am in shock I never knew , never hear about it.