History Main / GunmanWithThreeNames

According to at least one broadcast journalism writing textbook, the reason for this is that a person is more likely to have the same two-part name as someone else than the same three-part name. So it lets John ''Henry'' Booth or [[Music/JohnLennon Mark]] ''[[Music/JohnLennon Lindsay]]'' [[Music/JohnLennon Chapman]] not have to wonder [[MistakenIdentity why everyone is looking at him funny]]. TV reporters also generally read the police report verbatim, figuring they can't be sued for slander if they merely report what is in a public document. Also note that this might be an American thing -- in most European countries, middle names aren't that common, or used even if people have them, and people in Hispanic countries often have ''four'' names. Naming conventions in non-western countries are a whole different topic altogether. Furthermore, in many European countries, middle name is often associated with sophistication, so it usually does not suit common criminals, though it can be a part of a {{Professional Killer}}'s image.

Note that this isn't the case for just any handgun-wielding punk who makes the news. It takes a special crime that catches the public's attention. "Ordinary" shooters -- as well as the rare sympathetic figure -- are accorded less formal (and less obsessive) address by the media.

* Creator/JerrySeinfeld, on the allegations that his wife was plagiarizing another author's cookbook idea (each book happens to be about making tasty -- yet inconspicuously healthy -- meals for their kids; Missy Chase Lapine's is "The Sneaky Chef", while Jessica Seinfeld's is "Deceptively Delicious"). Seinfeld, in his wife's defense, appeared on talk shows joking around at how he's noticed assassins tend to often have, like Lapine, three names -- Mark David Chapman, James Earl Ray, etc. (This, naturally, caused a bit of a [[http://gawker.com/5072344/jerry-seinfeld-devastates-wifes-rival-by-calling-her-an-assassin stink]].)

** John Wilkes Booth -- assassin of President UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln (he used his middle name, as "John Wilkes" was [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous a reference to]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes a famous Radical/Whig politician]] in his father's native England, to whom he was distantly related)
** Lee Harvey Oswald -- assassin of President UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy
** Leon Czolgosz -- assassin of President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley (his middle name was "Frank," but he never used it.)
** Charles J. Guiteau -- assassin of President UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield (his middle name was Julius, but he never used it)

* The lone sniper played by Creator/MarkWahlberg in movie ''Film/{{Shooter}}'' rejoices in the name of Bob Lee Swagger. Lee referencing no other than Lee Harvey Oswald.

** When they cast for a Lennon biography movie in 1985, they were going with an actor billed Mark Lindsay until someone found out the actor's full name was ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lindsay_Chapman Mark Lindsay Chapman.]]'' Even though his middle name wasn't David and he had changed his name earlier in his career because of a similarly-named actor already in the business, it was [[TooSoon enough for the film producers to take him off]] the production and hire another actor. Mark Lindsay Chapman went on to have a steady career in television anyway.

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* Karl Ruprecht Kroenen in ''Film/{{Hellboy}}''.

(The quoted assertion is false, as John Wayne Gacy/[[RepetitiveName Sirhan Sirhan]] demonstrate.)

* James Eagan Holmes, the perpetrator of the 2012 Colorado theater shooting. Most news sources refer to him simply as "James Holmes," almost never calling him by his full name.

* Robert William Pickton, a Canadian pig farmer convicted of [[DisposableWoman killing 6 women]] and charged with killing 20 more.

* James Holmes, the perpetrator of the 2012 Colorado theater shooting. Most news sources refer to him simply as "James Holmes," almost never calling him by his full name.

** Leon Czolgosz -- assassin of President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley (his middle name was "Frank," but he never used it.

* Lampshaded in ''GoneGirl''; the media referring to Nick as Lance Nicholas Dunne is recognised as an extremely bad sign, and he is greatly relieved when they simply call him Nick Dunne (which is the name he prefers in daily life).

* James Holmes, the alleged perpetrator of the 2012 Colorado theater shooting. Most news sources refer to him simply as "James Holmes," almost never calling him by his full name.

** Leon Czolgosz -- assassin of President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley (his middle name was "Frank," but he never used it. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Frank_Czolgosz Though his Wikipedia article begs to differ]]).

* James Holmes, the alleged perpetrator of the 2012 Colorado theater shooting. Most news sources refer to him simply as "James Holmes," almost never calling him by his full name. His Wikipedia article, however, is titled "James Eagan Holmes." Justified, as they have 11 other articles on people with similar names.

According to at least one broadcast journalism writing textbook, the reason for this is that a person is more likely to have the same two-part name as someone else than the same three-part name. So it lets John ''Henry'' Booth or Mark ''Lindsay'' Chapman not have to wonder [[MistakenIdentity why everyone is looking at him funny]]. TV reporters also generally read the police report verbatim, figuring they can't be sued for slander if they merely report what is in a public document. Also note that this might be an American thing -- in most European countries, middle names aren't that common, or used even if people have them, and people in Hispanic countries often have ''four'' names. Naming conventions in non-western countries are a whole different topic altogether. Furthermore, in many European countries, middle name is often associated with sophistication, so it usually does not suit common criminals, though it can be a part of a {{Professional Killer}}'s image.

According to at least one broadcast journalism writing textbook, the reason for this is that a person is more likely to have the same two-part name as someone else than the same three-part name. So it lets John ''Henry'' Booth or Mark ''Daniel'' Chapman not have to wonder [[MistakenIdentity why everyone is looking at him funny]]. TV reporters also generally read the police report verbatim, figuring they can't be sued for slander if they merely report what is in a public document. Also note that this might be an American thing -- in most European countries, middle names aren't that common, or used even if people have them, and people in Hispanic countries often have ''four'' names. Naming conventions in non-western countries are a whole different topic altogether. Furthermore, in many European countries, middle name is often associated with sophistication, so it usually does not suit common criminals, though it can be a part of a {{Professional Killer}}'s image.

* John Wilkes Booth mentions this in a conversation with Lee Harvey Oswald (also referencing James Earl Ray, and referring to all three as "rednecks") in the StephenSondheim musical ''{{Theatre/Assassins}}''.

* The backstory of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' mentions a gunman named Michael Moser Lang who assassinated the US and Chinese presidents with a powerful submachine gun several years before the events of the first game. (Both at once. The Chinese president tackled the American, trying to shove him out of the way, and the slugs fatally penetrated both bodies. It's implied he only intended to kill the American.) Shepard gets his/her hands on the original weapon (and a copy) in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''.

* Shelly De Killer from ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' is a ProfessionalKiller in disguise of Butler/ [[BunnyEarsLawyer ice cream seller]] which eventually [[spoiler:killed [[AssholeVictim Juan Corrida]], and his client was no more than [[FauxAffablyEvil Matt Engarde]], then he discovers that Matt wanted to blackmail Shelly, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty and he decided to search Matt instead of working for him]]]], though, he's also AffablyEvil because he's a man of word, and never breaks a promise until he's betrayed [[spoiler:just like Matt]], also, this is demonstrated when [[spoiler:In ''AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2'' he [[HitmanWithAHeart helps miles]] to discover the truth about the assesination of his ArchEnemy: Ethan Rooke. Ultimately, at the end of the game he forgives the life of [[EvilClown Simon]] because Sirhan Dogen interrupts him from murdering Simon]]

* Jerry Seinfeld, on the allegations that his wife was plagiarizing another author's cookbook idea (each book happens to be about making tasty -- yet inconspicuously healthy -- meals for their kids; Missy Chase Lapine's is "The Sneaky Chef", while Jessica Seinfeld's is "Deceptively Delicious"). Seinfeld, in his wife's defense, appeared on talk shows joking around at how he's noticed assassins tend to often have, like Lapine, three names -- Mark David Chapman, James Earl Ray, etc. (This, naturally, caused a bit of a [[http://gawker.com/5072344/jerry-seinfeld-devastates-wifes-rival-by-calling-her-an-assassin stink]].)

* Referenced in ''TheFastAndTheFurious'' when Dom checks Brian's wallet.

* Johnny Paul Penry, convicted of killing Pamela Carpenter (sister of [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Washington Redskins]] player Mark Moseley) and sentenced to death. (Various anti-death penalty activists have since called his sentence unconstitutional, claiming that he only has the mental ability of a 7-year-old.)

** Breivik has taken a great deal of influence from the English speaking Western world so perhaps this can in part explain the phenomenon.
*** The other part possibly being that both Behring and Breivik are surnames (his mother is Behring and his father is Breivik).
** In northern Europe it's rare to see someone without at least three names (even if they don't commonly use the second one), the second name is commonly related to a family member or a celebrity.

* Averted with Adam (Peter) Lanza, perpetrator of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
** The confusion that this caused in the media shows the usefulness of the trope. When the perpetrator's first name was initially reported as "Ryan", [[http://thestir.cafemom.com/technology/148300/wrong_lanza_idd_as_sandy unrelated people named Ryan Lanza were harassed on Facebook and Twitter]] and [[http://www.tmz.com/2012/12/14/connecticut-school-shooting-ryan-lanza-correctional-officer/ reporters surrounded the house of another guy]] who also happened to have the same first and last name (and a different middle name, as well as being a few years older).
* Also averted with most teenage school shooters, e.g. Eric (David) Harris and Dylan (Bennet) Klebold.
** Since his is a very common name, and since he shares a name with a popular singer of standards (and a metal guitarist), Santana High School shooter Charles Andrew "Andy" Williams was a rare example of a teenage school shooter commonly referred to by all three of his names.
** Also played straight with Gary Scott Pennington, who killed a teacher and a custodian and took his classroom hostage.
* James Holmes, the alleged perpetrator of the 2012 Colorado theater shooting, is an interesting case. Most news sources refer to him simply as "James Holmes," almost never calling him by his full name. His Wikipedia article, however, is titled "James Eagan Holmes." Justified, as they have 11 other articles on people with similar names.

* Riffed on in a ColdOpen to an episode of ''Series/TheArsenioHallShow'' when [[HannahMontana Billy Ray Cyrus]] was the musical guest.

--> Fran: "Niles... The killer!" *Both Gasp*