99% Invisible Murderland
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Nov 25, 2025 
Caroline Fraser, an author and journalist known for her insights on American culture and environment, explores a chilling connection between industrial pollution and serial killers in the Pacific Northwest. She recounts her haunting childhood near Mercer Island during a series of unexplained deaths. Fraser discusses her discovery of pollution maps tied to Asarco, linking environmental toxins to violent behavior like that of Ted Bundy. She emphasizes the role of corporate misconduct and design flaws, arguing these factors coalesced in a disturbing way during that era.
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Haunted Childhood On Mercer Island
- Caroline Fraser recounts growing up on Mercer Island amid a startling number of deaths and violent events.
- She describes how local tragedies, including Ted Bundy's early murders near her home, haunted her youth and curiosity.
Pollution As A Regional Backdrop
- Caroline links a regional pollution plume from a Tacoma smokestack to a broader pattern of deaths and disease in the Pacific Northwest.
- She suggests the smelter's emissions created an environmental backdrop that may have influenced local social harms.
The Map That Sparked The Book
- Fraser found a GIS plume map from Washington's Department of Ecology that visualized pollution spread from the Tacoma smelter.
- The map let her plug in addresses to see historical contamination, sparking her investigation.
