Daren Witmer was one of the three scariest people I ever covered while working as a reporter, something I did for 20 years.

Reporting is a stressful, frustrating, difficult, sometimes exhilarating job that has one great perk. You can meet people you would never otherwise talk to and they teach you things.

Witmer taught me about evil.

I was working for the Frederick (Md.) News-Post in 1994 when Witmer was charged with murdering two elderly men. I interviewed him by phone the day he was arrested and charged with the crimes.

He confessed. To me. A newspaper reporter.