The Mind of the Serial Killer
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SERIAL KILLER: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:
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:
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | Name: Edward Theodore Gein Date of birth: August 27, 1906 Date of death: July 26, 1984 Cause of death: Heart and respiratory failure Killings: 2 (possible more) Location: Plainfield, Wisconsin, USA Killing spree: 1954 - 1957 |
 | Name: Edmund Emil Kemper III Date of birth: December 18, 1948 Date of death: He's still alive (April 2002) Cause of death: Nickname(s): Co-Ed Killer - Edward the 'genius' serial killer Killings: 10 Location: Fresno, CA, USA Killing spree: 1964 - 1972 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | 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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