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99% Invisible
99% Invisible

Murderland

November 25, 2025 • 27m

Summary

⏱️ 7 min read

Overview

In this episode, Roman Mars interviews Caroline Fraser about her book 'Murderland,' which explores the connections between environmental pollution from industrial smelters, infrastructure design failures, and the spike in serial killers in the Pacific Northwest during the 1970s and 80s. Fraser weaves together personal memoir, true crime, and environmental history to examine how toxic emissions from the ASARCO smelter in Tacoma, combined with leaded gasoline and other environmental hazards, may have contributed to increased violence and the rise of notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgway.

Caroline Fraser's Personal Connection to Pacific Northwest Violence

Caroline Fraser grew up on Mercer Island, Washington in the 1970s, a time when the area was plagued by inexplicable death and violence. Ted Bundy committed his first confirmed murders nearby, and Fraser witnessed other tragic events including a man who blew up his house with his family inside. These haunting memories stayed with her throughout her life, leading her to eventually investigate whether there was a common cause behind the violence. What she discovered was a literal dark cloud of lead, arsenic, and asbestos coming from a giant smokestack near Tacoma.

  • Ted Bundy committed his first confirmed murders near Mercer Island in the 1970s when Fraser was a teenager
  • Fraser witnessed multiple tragic deaths including a neighbor who killed his family in a house explosion
  • A giant smokestack near Tacoma was releasing lead, arsenic, and asbestos into the air
  • The 70s and 80s saw both the heyday of heavy metal smelting and a massive spike in serial killing
" I mean, it was just this horrific and inexplicable thing, which I think just stayed with me because I didn't understand it. "
" It just cried out for some kind of explanation. "

The Discovery of ASARCO's Pollution Map

Fraser's investigation began in 2014 when she and her husband were looking at property on Vashon Island and encountered a real estate listing that required arsenic remediation. This shocking discovery led her to research and find a GIS map created by Washington State's Department of Ecology showing the entire plume of pollution from the ASARCO lead smelter in Tacoma. The map allowed anyone to input their address and see how much pollution they had been exposed to, revealing the massive scale of environmental contamination in the region where multiple serial killers grew up.

  • Fraser discovered the pollution issue through a 2014 real estate listing on Vashon Island that mentioned arsenic remediation
  • The Department of Ecology published a GIS map showing the entire pollution plume from the Tacoma smelter
  • The map allows anyone to input their address and see their pollution exposure levels
  • Vashon Island was heavily affected because it was directly across the water from the smelter
" And the Osarco map was something that really inspired this book in a lot of ways. "

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