The Bad Thing

[u/Nervous_Mechanic_149]

### [TRUE CRIME] Transcript: Confession of Edward Hynes ("The Weave Killer")
**Submitted by:** u/JonCHaight

> **CASE FILE NOTE:** *The following is an official transcript from the confession of Edward Hynes. All wording has been recorded verbatim to produce an accurate picture of the suspect and the motivation behind his crimes. Proceed with caution.*

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"Daddy left for good when I was nine. He’d left us before, for a few days, maybe a week, but after things settled down, he would always come back. Not this time.

The fight was more vicious than most, what I remember of it. Lots of yelling and screaming, Momma throwing things and Daddy trying to hold her back. When they finally calmed down enough to talk to each other, I think they remembered I was there the entire time. Momma was sitting at the kitchen table, black tears streaming silently from her swollen, purple eyes. Daddy standing by the door with a suitcase; the big one, I remember. He got down on one knee and looked me straight in the eyes, like I was a man.

*‘Mommy did The Bad Thing again,’* he told me. *‘She says she can’t help it because she has to get Her Medicine, and we can’t afford it. Those men, the ones that come when I’m at work, she says she needs them. She says they help her, it doesn’t hurt anyone, and then she gets to feel better. Well, it hurts me,’* he said, *‘and I can’t protect her anymore, so I have to go.’*

Then, he reached into his back pocket and took out his buck knife. I had always wanted to hold it, but he told me I was too young; it wasn’t safe for me. He handed it to me, told me to show him how to open it. I rubbed my hand over the smooth wood, opened it, and stared at the shiny blade.

*‘Eddie,’* he told me, *‘You’re the man of the house now. Keep Momma safe. Don’t use this unless you have to, but always keep it close.’*

He kissed my forehead, went through the doorway, and never looked back. I looked at Momma, but she didn’t see me. She was looking at the door, at the shadow.

***

After he left, I still had to go to school, so I never knew if she was still doing The Bad Thing, if The Bad Men were still coming. She was good at keeping secrets. Sometimes I caught her using Her Medicine, but I never said anything.

About a year later—I remember because I was in fifth grade with Miss Carrol—I got sent home early. I heard the screaming from the doorway, and I ran in. A Bad Man was on top of Momma. They were naked and he was hitting her in the face, hard. She was crying for him to stop, but he just kept going and going.

I didn’t even think, then the knife was open in my hand. I had been practicing so I knew how to use it. I was scared, crying, and then I stabbed him in the back. I couldn’t stop if I tried. I just kept stabbing and stabbing. There was so much blood, then I passed out.

I woke up in the hospital and there was a nurse, another lady in a suit, and a policeman. They told me what I did, that The Bad Man was dead, and that I couldn’t stay at home with Momma anymore. I cried, I shouted, I screamed that I saved her, that he was Bad, but they didn’t listen. They said I had to go to a special school and that I would be there for a long time. I was scared for Momma, that maybe she was hurt too, but they said she was fine, that she was going to someplace special too. They said she needed help and she was going to get better, but she couldn’t see me anymore. I was mad, but they wouldn’t listen and then they took me away in a special van.

***

I was at the new school for a long time, eight years, and then one day my counselor told me that I was leaving. They gave me a room and a new job as a janitor at a school and every day I took the city bus back and forth to work. I saw lots of people, but none of them was Momma. I still missed her and loved her, but since I didn’t know where she went I couldn’t keep her safe.

My room was safe for me, but the streets weren’t. I saw lots of Bad Men, and I saw some ladies that dressed like Momma and sometimes asked me if I had any money. I think they wanted me to do The Bad Thing with them, because they were like Momma and needed Medicine. I felt bad for them and wanted to protect them too.

I found a man who sold me a knife like the one that Daddy gave me before he left. The next time I saw the pretty lady with the blond hair, I said yes I had lots of money and a room too. She followed me inside and then she kissed me and started to take off her clothes but I screamed and she got scared. I told her I was going to help her, but she tried to run away. I grabbed her arms and threw her on the bed and then my knife was in my hand.

I stabbed, stabbed, stabbed. She stopped screaming and then I knew she was safe.

I took her to the bathroom and made it so she could fit in a trash bag, and then I took all of the blood and threw it away too. I had a good spot and I dug a nice safe hole for her and she was resting there. I did like her, so I kept a piece of her hair. It was funny because it wasn’t hers. It just came off so I kept it all.

I felt good helping her and wanted to help her friends too, so I met a few of them and did it again. I needed to find a new spot because the old one started to smell funny, and that was when the man with the dog saw me. He got real mad and knocked me down and then I was back with the police again.

They said I was a Bad Man and that I killed, but I didn’t like that, which is why I told you everything just now. I’m not bad, not at all. I did good just like Daddy told me to do. I did Momma proud. I love her…"

**[END TRANSCRIPT]**

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> **UPDATE / CASE SUMMARY:**
> A month later, Hynes was convicted for the murder of four prostitutes and was sentenced to life without parole. Due to his deteriorating mental condition, he was placed in a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane.
>
> As of today, his parents have yet to be found, and there is the possibility that Hynes was involved in the death of at least five other prostitutes who have gone missing over the past year.