Serial Killer Dichotomy

Although serial killers come in all shapes and sizes, there is a general profile that criminologists go by when trying to profile a criminal. The typical serial killer is a white male in his late 20s to early 30s, kills within his own race, his targeted victims share specific characteristics, and his method of murder is “hands on” in means of strangulation. The types of serial killers include visionaries, missionaries, lust killers, thrill killers, gain killers, and power seekers. Depending on the type of serial killer, their profile may change; for example, certain clues from missionary-type killers can help decide their religious affiliation. Also, certain types of serial killers may generally have different age groups. Most serial

In the late sixties and early seventies, California was haunted by dozens of unsolved murders. The offender remains unknown to this day. The murderer, who referred to himself as "the Zodiac," made contact with the police and area newspapers throughout his reign of terror through a series of menacing notes. Although the police were never able to apprehend Zodiac, they were able to gather information about him via the letters. Zodiac boasted of killing up to forty victims, however, police estimated he may have killed over 50.

Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are are generally vicious, fierce beasts and have an unusual inclination to murder. The questions that people ask about serial killers and mass murderers are what gives these people the desire to kill? What inspires them to continue murdering? Do these killers get fulfillment from slaughtering? Is there a contrast between mass murderers and serial killers or would people say they are the same? How do they pick their victims and what are some of their characteristics? This paper will highlight the answers to these questions and give a better insight of what goes on in the minds of mass murderers and serial killers.

Serial murder crime though rare, is not a a new phenomenon. This crime has been committed for centuries and will continue to be a crime that is committed throughout the world. It is unfortunate and scary that this is probably one of the most serious of crimes that cannot be prevented. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, serial murderers commit their crimes because they want to. Rehabilitation is not obtainable for serial killers due to their inability for remorse and empathy, or to see people as people and not objects(Knight 2006). This research paper will focus primarily on serial murder within the U.S. First and foremost, a legal definition provided by the U.S. Department of Justice will be presented to set forth the discussion of this research paper. As follows will be a detailed discussion explaining serial killer typologies with the use of examples of known serial killers in the U.S. Types of serial killers are: power oriented, mission oriented, visionary, and hedonistic, each typology will be clearly defined and explained. Some serial killers can have a mixture of each typology’s characteristic. Serial killers that will be discussed and used as examples to represent the content of this research paper will be, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Robert Berdella, Jeffery Dahmer, and lastly the most prolific serial killer in American history, Gary Ridgeway. Problems with studying serial killing, are that because of rarity and access. Most of what we think

There are 4 major typologies of serial murders. One type is referred to as visionary type. A visionary type serial killer murders due to pressure from delusions, hallucinations or visions. They exhibit extreme psychopathy and do not clean up their crime scene. They often report that they have committed the crime because voice in their head told them too. Another type is power and control serial killers, they tend to enjoy their victim’s suffering and torture. They often sexually abuse their victims, but they are not interested by feelings of desire. Mission orientated serial murders feel as through they are doing society a favor by murdering certain people such as prostitutes, drug dealers, or homosexuals, people they feel that society could do without. These murders are very seldom psychopathic. Last, but not least is known as trill-orientated motive type,

The Zodiac Killer was an infamous murderer who terrorized Northern California in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. He killed with zero remorse and even stated in one of his letters that “I like killing people because it’s so much fun” (“Zodiac Killer”). Between December 1968 and October 1969 had killed a total of five people and severely injured two others. He made his first appearance on December 20, 1968, when he shot and killed 17-year-old David Faraday and his 16-year-old girlfriend Betty Lou Jensen. The police were unable to determine the motive for the crime or a suspect. However, on August 1, 1969, the zodiac sent letters to the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle, and Vallejo Times Herald. Each letter started the same “Dear Editor:

The Zodiac Killer, a notorious serial killer, claimed thirty-seven murders in Northern California during the late 1960s and early 1970s and terrorized the police and public and was never caught. With only seven confirmed victims, the Zodiac Killer seemingly disappeared in the 1970s. He committed murders and claimed them by sending ciphers to local police and journalist demanding to be published in a newspaper and broadcasted on television. “I get awfully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my thing,” Zodiac killer (Grinell 2).

My paper will reflect how serial killers get attention. I will explain why serial killers commit crimes. I will talk about their genetic dispositions and if the person is programed to be a killer. All serial killers don’t always have a theory. I will talk about the importance of health, personal history, social habits, and the personality of the victims. I picked two serial killers the first one is Velma Barfield. Velma Barfield was a serial killer from South Carolina. She was born Margie Velma Bullard. She died on Nov. 2, 1984 from lethal injection. It was said that Velma Bullard killed 6 people. She did her killings from 1971 until

The serial killers of the United States have become many things after their stories; they have become hated by families, research for psychologists, and celebrities to their followers. Serial killers are one of the most terrifying thoughts in the back of the mind. The mere thought of being tortured and then killed just for someone’s amusement is one of the most terrifying thoughts anyone could imagine. The reason for this is because of killers like: John Wayne Gacy “The Killer Clown”, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer

There are eight different types of desolating motives a serial killer can have, all of which have a devastating effect on our society. Some motives a serial killer can have include, hedonistic motives, mission-oriented, or they are killing purely out of lust. The formation of a serial killer starts young. They usually grow to become

An interview with Mr Allen Perry, who expertise in crime, criminology and violent crime will be conducted, as he provide information on how these serial killer’s personalities correlated to why they started to kill, which helps answering focus question 2. The book ‘Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit’ by J. Douglas will be used to gain information on identify if there was any childhood trauma from these 10 serial killers that abetted to why they started killing, which assists in answering focus question 4 To help answer focus question 1 news articles will be used to find the ten most infamous caught serial killers. The book ‘Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters’ by P. Vronsky will provide information of what makes someone a serial killer which helps answer focus

The first recorded serial killers date back to the Roman Empire when men were poisoned by a group of matrons putting it on a ring. Psychologist and Criminologist have identified 5 key elements commonly found in all serial killers: them being having real affinity with power, being manipulative, a bragging oversized ego, ability to pick up on others weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and appear to be every day “average joes”. Each one may vary in strength or background of the killer. For example, most that have an affinity of real power often tend to hold control of those close to them, even when they’ve been caught, lost their twisted game where they have a warped but most authoritorial sense in the situations that follow. This sense of control/power

What is a serial killer? Retired Special Agent Robert Ressler, a twenty-two year veteran of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, is responsible for creating the term “serial killer.” He defines this person as “one who commits a series of murders, usually three or more, the victims most often being strangers, and usually with a cooling-off period in between each kill” (Kelleher & Kelleher, 1998; Pearson, 1998; Ressler and Shactman, 1997). This precise definition is necessary to distinguish this type of predator from the mass murderer (who kills many simultaneously), mercenaries, war criminals, or mafia hit men.

Many people have proposed theories as to why a person becomes a serial killer. One theory that has been stressed was the diathesis-stress model, this says that all serial killers have a tendency to act a certain way due to environmental factors. A combination of factors such as self-esteem and self-control, the person goes into a serial killer mode. The killer now believes that their problems will stop if they kill. There are specific types of killers: visionary killers, mission-oriented serial killers, hedonistic killers and power/control killers. Visionary serial killers are killers that are out of touch with reality and are known for hearing voices in their head, mission-oriented serial killers state that their life 's mission is to kill certain

The Zodiac Killer is an infamous serial killer first reported in California around the late 1960s to early 1970s. This psychotic criminal committed the murder of thirty-seven innocent citizens, although only about five have the police investigated. He has sent the police department clipped letter notes and personal items of his victims. The identity of this executioner remained a mystery for several years until the year of 2014 when the truth came out.