ITV viewers feared they would have nightmares after watching a “chilling” interview Piers Morgan carried out with a convicted serial killer.
The Good Morning Britain co-host met Mark Riebe at the Blackwater River Correctional Facility in the USA where he has been locked up for the murder of a pregnant woman.
The dangerous 77-year-old is also suspected of killing another 12 women but police have yet to conclusively prove his guilt.
He had confessed to the murders to his own mother but later denied this.
On his TV show Serial Killer with Piers Morgan, which aired last night as part of ITV’s Crime and Punishment season, the journalist tried to push Riebe to confess to him.
Many found the interview difficult viewing and praised Piers for having the guts to sit opposite the serial killer and interrogate him.
They found the man to be absolutely terrifying as he showed no remorse for his crimes.
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They feared for Piers’ safety even more when he taunted the murderer after he lost his temper with the line of questioning and stormed out of the interview.
“Why can’t you answer these questions?” Piers shouted after him. “Why are you running away?”
He then goaded him further by telling him: “I know I’m not a 110 pound woman that you can kill.”
As Riebe walked away, Piers shouted: “You did kill them, didn’t you? You killed them all!”
Viewers praised Piers for standing up to Riebe but wondered if he feared he would be “lamped” for taunting him.
On Twitter, Piers admitted “the thought had crossed my mind” as “he had nothing to lose” but he was determined to see if he could rattle the prisoner into a confession.
He said the interview was “tense” and left him feeling “drained physically and emotionally” afterwards.
Earlier this week on Good Morning Britain, he told Susanna Reid he wasn’t afraid Riebe would be violent towards him as he was a male, and his victims in the past have always been vulnerable women.
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He said he hoped Riebe one day gets the full punishment he deserves for his heinous crimes so the victims’ families can have some justice.