The Mind of the Serial Killer
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SERIAL KILLER:
1. Killings are separate ('serial'), occurring with greater or less frequency, often escalating over a period of time, sometimes years, and will continue until the killer is taken into custody, dies, or is himself/herself killed.
2. In common with normal homicides, killing tends to be one on one. There are instances however where a serial killer has struck down more than one victim in a single incident.
3. There is no (or very little) previous connection between the perpetrator and the victim; the persons involved rarely being related.
4. Although there may be a 'pattern' or 'victim trait', individual murders within a series rarely display a clearly defined or rational motive.
5. An increasingly greater spatial mobility (since the advent of the automobile) has enabled killers (if they wish) to move rapidly from one place to another, often before a murder has even been discovered.
6. There is usually a high degree of redundant violence, or an 'overkill', where the victim is subjected to a disproportionate level of brutality.
MOTIVES:
These are the motives a serial killer might display (some killers display various motives): Visionaries - Acts in response to voices and is instructed by these voices to perform the act of murder. These killers are usually schizophrenic and psychotic.
Missionaries - They think it is their responsibility to rid society of unwanted elements.
Hedonists - Kill because murder causes them pleasure.
Lust Killers - Kill for sexual gratification with acts that are usually sadistic.
Thrill Killers - Kill because of a desire for a thrill or experience.
Gain Killers - Kill for personal gain. The killer premeditates the act to require financial gain or materialistic goods. While gain is not the main motive in a murder some serial killers have took the opportunity to steal from their victims for their own personal gain.
Power Seekers - Kill for the desire to have control over the life and death of others.
Mobility:
These are the classifications for the stable killer and the transient killer:
The Stable Killer (eg. Gacy, Dahmer) -
- Lives and works in one location for an extended period.
- Hunts and kills within the local area.
- Disposes of bodies in the same or similar areas.
- Disposal site selected for concealment.
- May return to the crime scene or burial site.
- Seldom travels, but when forced to travel it is usually for business, family visits, or personal recreation.
The Transient Killer (eg. Bundy, Lucas) -
- Seldom stays in one spot more than a few weeks.
- Kills are spread out over a large area.
- Disposes of bodies in random locations.
- Disposal site selected for convenience.
- Seldom returns to the region of the crime.
- Travels continuously either for pleasure, to confuse law enforcement or for new hunting grounds.
ORGANIZATION:
There is the disorganized killer and the organized killer. Most serial killers (about 3/4) are organized and their victim counts seem to be higher, that is also because they are usually above average intelligence. The disorganized offender is lonely and his murders usually display his anger, most are of a low IQ and suffer from some mental disorder, the killing is not planned and is a usually spur of the moment thing. It should also be noted that some serial killers display both the characteristics of a disorganized and organized killer, these killers are typed as being 'mixed'.
These are the basic typologies:
Organized Killer (eg. Gacy, Bundy) -
- Plans out the murder (may become accustomed to using it quickly).
- Will bring a 'rape kit’ (rope, handcuffs, chloroform etc) if desired.
- Personalizes himself with the victim (talks, leads, captures etc. the victim into/for planned murder situation).
- Rape, torture etc. may take place before murder, for the killer’s own gratification.
- Kills victim with awareness of evidence at crime scene (which may cleaned destroyed etc).
- Might move the body to hide, bury it etc. in an attempt to evade/delay discovery.
- Killer will not be involved further with the victim's body, but may take articles, jewelry etc. for trophy or gain.
Disorganized Killer (eg. Berkowitz, Chase) -
- Murder usually happens at the spur of the moment (with no planning but the one simple objective to kill).
- Does not bring any tools ('rape kit') to the kill except maybe murder device.
- No contact with the victim prior to spur of the moment murder.
- No rape, torture etc. will take place before murder.
- Kills victim but does not care for evidence usually left at the crime scene (high degree of violence takes place at murder).
- Will not move body in an attempt to hide, bury it etc., unconcerned of its discovery.
- Killer might be involved further with the dead victim (mutilation, necrophilia, cannibalism, etc) and may also take souvenir.
ORIGINS:
Robert K. Ressler (a FBI Behavioral Science Unit agent) coined the term ‘serial killer’ in 1975. Before it was known as being a 'serial killer' it was referred to as a 'stranger killer' because the killers victims were usually unknown to him. Ressler concluded that sometimes the killer did kill people he knew so the word ‘serial’ (by meaning series) applied to this sort of killer; the term serial killer was then adopted to and used. The first cases of serial killers probably go back into early times of history with no or few records. Some of the oldest recorded serial killers are Gilles De Rais and Elisabeth Countess Bathory who go back into the 1500's(most of these old century killers were thought to be vampires or werewolves!). Jack the Ripper is widely seen as the first serial killer because the nature of the crimes (with the typical sexual motive) line up more with the more recent common ones, therefore serial killers are widely accepted to be only 125 years old.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Robert Lee Yates, Jr.
Spokane Serial Killer - Psycho Killer - Grocery-Bag Killer
 | Name: Robert Lee Yates, Jr.
Date of birth: May 27, 1952
Date of death: He's still alive (april 2004)
Cause of death:
Killings: 16+
Location(s): Spokane, Tacoma, USA
Killing spree: 1975 - 2000 |
John Duffy and David Mulcahy
Railway Killers - Railway Rapists - Thriller Killers
 | Name(s): John Francis Duffy and David Mulcahy
Date of birth: Duffy - 29 November 1958; Mulcahy - 1958
Date of death: Both are still alive in jail
Cause of death:
Killings-rapes: 3 Killings 18+ Rapes
Location: London, UK
Killing-rape spree: 1982-1986 |
Jeffrey L. Dahmer
Milwaukee Monster
 | Name: Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer
Date of birth: May 21, 1960
Date of death: November 28, 1994
Cause of death: Beaten by a fellow inmate, he died on his way to the hospital
Killings: 17
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Killing spree: 1978 - 1991 |
John Eric Armstrong
The model Sailer
 | Name: John Eric Armstrong
Date of birth: Nov 23, 1973
Date of death: He was still alive in february 2004
Cause of death:
Nickname(s): The model Sailer
Killing: 5 (He claims 16+)
Location: USA, and possible other places around the world
Killing spree: Police thinks: 1992-2000 |
Carl Panzram
Copper John
 | Name: Carl Panzram
a.k.a: Jefferson Rhoades - Jeff Davis - Jeff Baldwin
Date of birth: June 28, 1891
Date of death: September 5, 1930
Cause of death: He was hung
Killings: 21+
Location: USA, Africa and Europe
Killing spree: 1910-1929 |
Theodore Robert Bundy
Campus killler - Lady Killer - Charismatic Killer - Ted the Troller
 | Name: Theodore Robert Bundy
Date of birth: November 24, 1946
Date of death: January 24, 1989
Cause of death: Executed in the electric chair
Killings: 36+
Location: Washington, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Florida, Idaho, Usa
Killing spree: 1961 - 1978 |
Angel Maturino Resendiz
Railroad Killer - Railway Killer
 | Name: Angel Maturino Resendiz
Date of birth: Aug. 1, 1959
Date of death: June 27, 2006
Cause of death: Lethal injection
Killings: 9
Location(s):
Killing spree: 1997 - 1999 |
Albert Henry DeSalvo
Boston Strangler - Mad Strangler - Phantom Strangler - Measuring Man - Green Man
 | Name: Albert Henry DeSalvo
Date of birth: September 3, 1931
Date of death: November 25, 1973
Cause of death: Stabbed to death
Killings: Maybe 13, maybe none
Location: Boston, USA
Killing spree: June 1962 - January 1964 |
Andrej Tsjikatilo
Rostov Ripper - Citizen X - Mad Beast - Red Ripper - Butcher of Rostov - Forest Belt killer
 | Name: Andrej Romanovitsj Tsjikatilo
Date of birth: Oktober 16, 1936
Date of death: February 16, 1994
Cause of death: Executed by a gun shot
Killings: 53
Location: Rostov
Killing spree: 1978 - 1990 |
Arthur John Shawcross
Genesee River Killer - Rochester Nightstalker - Rochester Strangler
 | Name: Arthur John Shawcross
Date of birth: June 6, 1945
Date of death: He's still alive (Dec 2004)
Cause of death:
Killings: 13
Location: USA
Killing spree: April 1972 - December 1989 |
David Berkowitz
Son of Sam - .44 Caliber Killer - Son of Hope
 | Name: David Berkowitz
Date of birth: June 1, 1953
Date of death: Still alive (april 2004)
Cause of death:
Killings: 6
Location: New York, USA
Killing spree: 1976 - 1977 |
Guy Georges
Beast of the Bastille
 | Name: Guy Georges
Date of birth: 1962
Date of death: He's still alive (Jan, 2004)
Cause of death:
Killings: 7
Location: Near Bastille, East Paris, France
Killing spree: 1991 - 1997 |
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Killer Clown - Fat Man - Pogo the Clown
 | Name: John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Date of birth: March 17, 1942
Date of death: May 10, 1994
Cause of death: Executed by lethal injection
Killings: 33
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Killing spree: 1972 - 1978 |
Kenneth Erskine
Heatwave Killer - Stockwell Strangler
 | Name: Kenneth Erskine
a.k.a: Heatwave Killer; Stockwell Strangler
Date of birth: 1963
Date of death:
Cause of death: Still alive (at secure mental hospital Broadmoor)
Killings: 7+
Location: South London, UK
Killing spree: Summer months of 1986 |
Lorenzo J. Gilyard
Kansas City Strangler
 | Name: Lorenzo J. Gilyard, Jr.
Date of birth: May 24, 1950
Date of death: He's still alive (May, 2004)
Cause of death:
Killings: 12
Location: Kansas City, Mo
Killing spree: 1977 - 1993 |
Luis Alfredo Garavito
Goofy - Priest - Madman - Cannibal of Bogota
 | Name: Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillos
Date of birth: Jan 25, 1957
Date of death: He was still alive in March 2002
Cause of death:
Nickname(s): Goofy - Priest - Madman - Cannibal of Bogota
Killings: 140+
Location: Colombia, nationwide and some in Ecuador
Killing spree: 1992 - 1998 |
Peter William Sutcliffe
Yorkshire Ripper
 | Name: Peter William Sutcliffe
Date of birth: June 02, 1946
Date of death: He's still alive in jail (April 2005)
Cause of death:
Killings: 13
Location(s): Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Manchester, Halifax, (UK)
Killing spree: 1975 to 1980 |
Richard Ramirez
Valley Intruder - Walk-In Killer - Night Stalker
 | Name: Richard Ramirez
Date of birth: February 29, 1960
Date of death: He still alive (December 2002)
Cause of death:
Killings: 16
Location: Los Angeles, San Francisco, USA
Killing spree: 1984 - 1985 |
Richard Trenton Chase
Vampire of Sacramento - Dracula Killer - Vampire Killer
 | Name: Richard Trenton Chase
Date of birth: May 23, 1950
Date of death: December 26, 1980
Cause of death: Suicide
Nickname(s): Vampire of Sacramento - Dracula Killer - Vampire Killer
Killings + Type: Six - Disorganized
Location: Sacramento, CA., USA
Killing spree: Between December 28, 1977 and January 27, 1978 |
Robert Hansen
Alaskan Prostitute Hunter
 | Name: Robert Christian Hansen
Date of birth: February 15, 1939
Date of death: He's still alive
Cause of death:
Killings: 17+
Location: In and around Anchorage, Alaska
Killing spree: 1980 - 1983 |
William Lester Suff
The Riverside Killer - The Lake Elsinore Killer
 | Name: Bill Lee Suff
a.k.a: William Lester Suff
Date of birth: August 20, 1950
Date of death: He's still alive (San Quentin death row)
Cause of death:
Killings: 12+
Location: Texas & California, USA
Killing spree: 1986-1992 |
Fred & Rose West
Gloucester house of horrors
 | Name(s): Fred West - Rose Letts
Date of birth(s): Sept 29, 1941 - October 29, 1953
Date of death(s): December 31, 1995 - Rose is still alive
Cause of death(s): Suicide by hanging - Still alive
Killings: 12+
Location(s): Gloucester, England
Killing spree: 1967 - 1987 |
Aileen Wuornos
Damsel of Death - Heliborne Hitchhiker - Highway Hooker
 | Name: Aileen Wuornos
Date of birth: February 29, 1956
Date of death: October 9, 2002
Cause of death: Executed by lethal injection
Killings: 7
Location: Florida, USA
Killing spree: 1989 - 1990 |
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