Columnist John Katsilometes: Local author is playing the 'Victim'

More than anything, Jason Moss must answer to motive.

He must explain what possesses a person to delve into the universe of demonic mass murderers. Why would a guy become pen pals with Charles Manson? Why would a college student in his late teens spend spring break with John Wayne Gacy?

"I'm somewhat obsessive," is his answer. "No matter what topic I'm pursuing, I dive into it."

He explains that his work on the book "The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer," began merely as a topic for his honors thesis at UNLV.

"I did it to get a good grade on a paper," he says. "I didn't set out to get a book published."

Deftly, Moss was able to gain the confidence and trust of notorious killers like Manson, Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Ramirez by adopting an alter ego. He portrayed himself as a desperate and submissive young man reaching out to inactive, incarcerated (and possibly misunderstood) murderers.

The ploy worked. In its third printing, Moss' book is a lightning-fast read that culminates with a jarring spring break visit with a dangerous, disturbed (and hopelessly horny) Gacy just months before Gacy's execution.

Moss says he's an accidental, incidental literary star. We're asked to take a person capable of conniving his way into the cell of John Wayne Gacy at his word.

"I did this to look into what makes these people behave this way," he says. "What I'm doing gives closure to lots of victims' families."

But having made that contention, Moss is abuzz with his burgeoning fame.

He's appeared on Court TV three times, becoming something of an expert on the psychological sketches of mass murderers. He's star-struck about his appearance on Howard Stern's radio show last month. Another in-studio interview with Stern in New York is being negotiated, which could push the book onto the New York Times' best-seller list.

Possible features by "20/20" and "48 Hours" have been shelved -- maybe only temporarily -- because of the Columbine High School killings. But Moss has already taped an appearance on the syndicated show "Leeza," a full hour featuring him, his parents and Cynthia the postal carrier, who delivered the menacing missives while pinching her nose.

"Four million people watch that show and it's an hour of just me and the book," Moss says.

"Leeza" airs 11 a.m. Wednesday (Channel 3). His second Las Vegas book signing is 7 p.m. Thursday at Borders in Green Valley. Last week Moss held a five-hour satellite radio tour, chatting with morning disc jockeys from places like Milwaukee and St. Louis and Sacramento, Calif.

Moss says he'll author at least two more books, one a sequel to "The Last Victim," and another that will examine the human instinct Moss calls "blood lust."

The most difficult misconception to address, Moss says, is that he's "a budding serial killer myself," which draws a sad laugh. Moss will enroll at a "top 10" law school this fall and hopes to become a prosecutor, certainly a noble end game to the book and Moss' whirlwind media tour.

But two months after it was published, the very title of Moss' book is now a bit misplaced.

"The Last Victim"? Not this guy. Not these days.

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