TAMPA, Fla. — A three-part true crime docuseries featuring a University of South Florida professor is now streaming on Hulu.
"The Lesson is Murder" follows criminology professor Bryanna Fox and her five graduate students as they show how researchers analyze convicted murderers and their personality traits.
"A lot of times, I get asked, 'have you seen Criminal Minds or Mindhunter or those types of shows? Are they real?' I'm like, no, it's not real, it's not the way it is. We're trying to show people this is how our field actually operates and the way we use research and apply it to cases," said Bryanna Fox.
Fox said the docuseries is inspired by a class she taught at the University of South Florida, where she teaches the next generation of criminologists to better understand murderers.
"Why would this person have done what they did? A lot of the true crime shows document what happened in a case or tries to solve a new case, but this show really dives into the unanswered question of why," said Fox.
Fox and her students review the cases of three convicted murderers, including Will Davis, a former Texas nurse convicted of killing four patients. Fox speaks to Davis in his first-ever broadcast interview from death row.
The series tries to uncover why killers kill and use that knowledge to help solve and prevent violent crimes.
"To try and show the public some red flags and things they can look for to essentially stop crimes that may be brewing before they even start," said Fox.
Fox hopes the docuseries inspires the next generation to become criminologists.
"Another hopeful goal of the show is to inspire more people that want to become criminologists. We are a relatively young field compared to psychology and chemistry and economics. We're trying to show this is what we do and it's not necessarily like it's shown on TV. Hopefully, that will inspire the next generation of criminologists to want to join and become scientists and researchers and solve the next cases," said Fox.
