Title: The Detective Who Outsmarted a Serial Killer: How Kim Mager Broke Shawn Grate’s Silence
Content:
“Am I gonna be at the grocery store? Am I gonna be with my kids? Where am I gonna be when this is gonna hit like a brick?”
Retired detective Kim Mager still grapples with the aftershocks of the most harrowing case of her career—the moment she got serial killer Shawn Grate to confess.
In 2016, an Ohio woman known as Jane Doe placed a desperate 911 call while bound and helpless in an abandoned house. Her captor, Shawn Grate, was asleep just feet away. That call saved her life—and led to the unraveling of one of the most chilling serial killer cases in Ohio history.
Mager, one of the few female officers in the Ashland City Police Department, was tasked with extracting the truth from Grate. Over 33 grueling hours, spread across eight days, she pried open his mind and exposed his deadly secrets—five murders, kidnappings, and multiple sexual assaults.
The media called him “The Ladykiller.” His own mother compared his deceptive charm to the Devil’s. And the small town of Ashland, where Mager was raising her children, would never be the same again. One potential juror for Grate’s trial even revealed that she had once been asked out by the killer himself.
Mager’s interrogation became the backbone of her co-authored book, A Hunger to Kill: A Serial Killer, a Determined Detective, and the Quest for a Confession That Changed a Small Town Forever. A&E True Crime sat down with Mager to discuss what it took to face down a serial killer, the cost of empathy, and the ghosts that never truly leave.
Breaking a Serial Killer
Within two hours of meeting Grate, Mager had secured his confession to the kidnapping and rape of Jane Doe. But she sensed there was more.
“It’s hard to put into words,” she said. “I could see something unresolved. I knew there was more—I just didn’t know it was murder.”
She carefully layered her questions, avoiding any trace of judgment that might cause him to shut down. Instead, she coaxed him into revealing the horrifying truth.
Oddly, Grate seemed to enjoy the game. “He was actually somewhat congratulatory when I would catch something that didn’t make sense,” Mager recalled.
She used an unexpected approach—she played into his ego. She told him he was a ‘stand-up guy.’ Was that hard to say? Absolutely. But she knew his twisted psychology required it.
The Cost of Empathy
Strangely, Mager admits she felt some empathy for Grate. “I know officers who have to project empathy. For me, it’s natural. I often look at someone and think, ‘He was four years old at one point.’”
Grate’s childhood was turbulent. As a small child, he had once attacked his mother’s boyfriend in a desperate bid to protect her. “It was like he was telling me how he became [a killer],” she said.
But keeping a straight face in the face of unspeakable horror took its toll. “There are times when it’s so difficult not to show shock or disapproval. You never get to say, ‘What you did is horrendous!’ Because if you do, you lose them. And in Grate’s case, there was always more to uncover.”
Living with the Darkness
After decades of hearing about the worst of humanity, how did Mager return to a normal life?
Truthfully, she hasn’t.
“I’ve never been debriefed in my entire career. That’s not okay for anyone.”
The weight of it lingers. “There were years where I felt like someone was blowing a fan on my eyes, like I just couldn’t breathe. Because it just keeps coming and hitting you.”
Her only lifeline? Her faith and her family. “I go home to a really good situation. I can’t fathom going through what I did and having things be in disarray at home. That would be too much.”
Even so, she admits the failures haunt her more than the successes. “If I have ten cases where I get confessions, and then one where I don’t—that’s the one that eats at me.”
A Chilling Oversight
One terrifying moment during Grate’s interrogation still makes Mager shudder. Her colleagues were supposed to be monitoring the session from another room—but at one point, they left their post.
She stepped out of the room for a moment and returned to a horrifying realization: she was completely alone with an uncuffed serial killer.
“I looked at him, trying to assess whether he knew what was clear: that there was no one else around.”
Her lieutenant later pleaded with her to keep it quiet. “He said, ‘We’ll look ridiculous. Please don’t tell anybody.’”
But Mager did tell. Because the truth matters. “Another officer can’t be left alone in a room with a serial killer who is not handcuffed. That’s senseless.”
Are There More Victims?
Mager has no doubt: there are more victims. “Absolutely, I do. I’m proud of getting a confession for Jane Doe, and the five who didn’t make it. But I believe there’s more.”
Grate is scheduled for execution on March 19, 2025. But Ohio currently lacks a legal means to carry it out.
Mager hasn’t given much thought to his fate. “Maybe it’s repressive coping. I don’t know.”
What she does know is that his victims’ families have already been sentenced—to a lifetime of loss. “Every holiday, every barbecue… those families got a life sentence. Grate took everything from them.”
And while his death may bring some closure, Mager understands one undeniable truth: the echoes of evil never fully fade.
