Villains do not just spring from the imagination of writers. For the most part, these villains are inspired by real people. Arnold Friend was inspired by Charles Schmid.
Charles Howard 'Smitty' Schmid, Jr. (July 8, 1942 - March 30, 1975), also known as "The Pied Piper of Tucson," was an American serial killer. His crimes, profiled in the March 4, 1966 issue of Life Magazine, are the basis for "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?," a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, and "The Lost," a novel by Jack Ketchum. The 1971 movie The Todd Killings is based on the Schmid case. Schmid's crimes also provide the source for the 1995 film "Dead Beat," starring Bruce Ramsay, Balthazar Getty, and Natasha Gregson Wagner. In addition, he was the inspiration for Treat Williams' character in "Smooth Talker", which was inspired by Oates' short story.
In 2008, The Library of America selected Don Moser's article "The Pied Piper of Tucson" from Life Magazine for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American True Crime.
