According to this BBC roundup of his neighbours’ opinions, Derrick Bird was:
Outgoing, real nice, friends with everyone, a nice guy, quiet, quite a friendly person, a normal bloke, a nice guy, nothing out of the ordinary, all right, very placid, a quiet fellow, fairly popular, a very normal person.
Obviously, people are partly playing as cast here: he was normal in the sense that no-one was going to think that he was just the kind of chap that would go on a spree killing rampage. The opinions seem to be more a product of people finding something to say to the media rather than a commentary on the individual concerned. But you can get a sort of oblique view of a man smiling maybe twenty times a day, saying the appropriate things at the appropriate times to familiar faces and slowly going mad. Maybe that’s just a product of the standard murderer story too.
Maybe he thought that when he reached 10 people would remember him as "Bo Derrick".
Posted by: skidmarx | June 04, 2010 at 03:52 PM
Somebody I know who has family in the region:-
"[Relative] was a union rep when he [Derrick Bird] was dismissed from Sellafield for stealing mechanical kit, and thought he was bad news back then, although (of course) not to the extent we now realise. By contrast, David Bird, his brother was a mechanic who worked regularly [for my relative] and seemed a kind, hardworking man."
Posted by: Richard J | June 04, 2010 at 03:58 PM