Serial Killers: A Summary

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

Crimes and criminals define not only places, but certain time periods. Serial killers are usually the ones that individuals tend to remember the most. An individual is considered a serial killer when they murder three or more individuals during a period of time with a cooling off period between each crime (Frailing & Harper, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to discuss one of the most controversial and yet famous serial killer, Theodore Robert Bundy. Something interesting that attracts the attention of most towards him is the fact that he was an unexpected face for a serial killer. The fact that he was handsome, intelligent, integrated into his community and with a bright future ahead of him made him an unexpected suspect during the investigation.

I’ve always wondered what drove a person to want to go out and take another person's life, what makes them want to squeeze so hard you can hear their victims lasts breath, or stab them so hard that they feel each bristle from the bone break. I offend look up what goes through a person in that state of mine want to go so far to take a life, I understand these people are mentally ill and don't have the right mindset, but what kind of mindset do they have? I have to realize that everyone has a hobby and hobbies build confidence because being good at something and learning something new is very rewarding and I believe this is what serial killers do. It catches my attention as these people are so curl in way they find normal. I offend go to youtube

A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break which can also be called a "cooling off period” between them. There are different types of serial killers. Some are mission oriented serial killers; others are visionary killers. There are equally power and control killers and thrill or hedonistic killers. There are many serial killers in the world at large with different motives for killing. Some people are serial killers on their own while others kill as a couple. In this case, we will talk about serial killers as a couple. We have the Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo who have a mix of hedonistic killers and power and control killers. We equally have Ray and Faye Copeland which also falls under power and control killers. The paper will focus on the background, victims, and trail of Ray and Faye Copeland and Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo.

Serial killers can be profiled in many ways, but they do not always fit perfectly into one category. Most of the definitions and techniques used to profile these criminals are based on reoccurring patterns and characteristics in their killings. While society may view most of these people as troubled, there are classifications of some serial killers as being well adapted into society. Serial Killers can be characterized as organized or disorganized murders, as well as classified into four different types created by Ronald and Stephen Holmes; serial killers are typed as visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic, or power-oriented. Albert Fish is a well-known serial killer who is a good representation of how serial killers do not always fall or stay in one box.

Although the prevalence of the serial killer is ultimately unknown, many researchers agree about “one-half of 1%” of homicides are determined to be the product of serial killers (Homant & Kennedy, 2014). In order to prevent future victims, improve the ability of law enforcement to detect and apprehend, potentially incorporate treatment for current serial killers, and increase the ability to detect potential future serial killers it is important to identify characteristics that may cause one to become a serial killer. The question researchers have strived to answer is are serial killers born or are there explicit factors that contribute to someone ultimately becoming a serial killer? Researchers have potentially exposed several factors that potentially contribute to one becoming a serial killer. These conditions are notably greater in prevalence in known serial killers compared to the general population. These factors consist of family dynamics/parental characteristics, experienced child abuse (physical, sexual, and neglect), and psychological disorders.

Serial killers have been a rare phenomenon throughout history. Although, they are rare researchers have long since tried to determine characteristics and typologies of serial killers. Their main goal is to get into the minds of these vicious offenders. This article is intends to discuss the different characteristics and typologies that law enforcement, researchers and criminologists have used to tried to explain what create a serial killer and develop a profile in hope to be able to catch serial killers quickly, if not before they kill.

For the most part the domain of serial homicide is ruled by men. There is however some females that has and can be serial killers. According to Bartol & Bartol (2005) there have been at thirty six female serial killers throughout the United States. In general society we do not like to believe that women are capable of committing such acts, but as we continue to alter our views, moral, and beliefs of women’s equality and feminism there is room for women to be just as likely to become serial killers. As long as the conditions and environment that facilitate such behavior allows for it. Women who become serial killers usually kill for different reasons than their male counterparts. Their overall motives vary from each female serial killer, but generally they kill for “…purpose of comfort…” like money, insurance, etc… (Holmes &Holmes, 1991). Female serial killers usually end up killing known individuals that have some type of relationship that is not to say that female serial killer won’t kill strangers. One third of female serial killers kill strangers (Holmes & Holmes, 1991). Although not as well-known there are infamous female serial killers throughout our history and will likely be more in the future.

2. The FBI is involved in a serial murder cases. This myth can be attributed to television and the many shows that air showing the FBI and their specialized division, the Behavioral Analysis Unit, helping to solve serial murder cases. In truth,

A serial killer is someone who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break between them. There are three types of serial killers: medical killers, organized killers, and disorganized killers. A medical killer is the rarest type of serial killers. This kind of killer feels they have the best and most perfect cover because it’s very common for people in hospitals to pass away. These types of killers are really smart and know how to carefully conceal their murders. An organized killer is the hardest to identify and capture. They are highly intelligent and really organized. Every detail in the crime is planned

A serial killer is defined as someone who has murdered two or more victims and the incidents occurred at separate events at different times (Morton). Serial killers can be motivated by a variety of things like anger and the power and thrill they feel by gaining control. The common misconception is that people become violent because they are mentally unstable, but not all mentally unstable people are serial killers. So the important question is what causes the distinction. One common theory is that they are molded by their childhood experiences and their environment. This theory is accepted by many because the profiles of serial killers are always the same. Another theory is that serial killers are formed by abnormalities to the brain, like trauma and irregular hormone levels. Gene dysfunction is also another recognized theory and is backed up by countless experiments. But the real cause for someone to become a serial killer is a combination of all of these theories. Brain abnormalities and genetics coupled with childhood environment and experiences both play a big role in the molding of a serial killer.

Serials killers can be defined in different ways, depending on who you ask. If you ask me, I think a serial killer is someone who has killed more than a couple people. If you ask someone else more than likely you will get a different definition. But what really is the definition of a serial killer? According to Zoe McKnight “Serial murders usually refer to two or more murders at different places and times with a cooling-off period in between, rather than several unrelated murders, or a killing spree” (McKnight). So basically the real definition of a serial killer is someone who has killed at least two people with some time in between the murders. Rather than a killing spree which would be killing person after person. That would be a mass murderer. What I find really interesting about serial killers is how they choose their victims or why they choose the people they do, characteristics of the killer’s victims and what serial killers have in common with other serial killers, and more importantly why they actually kill people, and what happens to them once they get caught.

We shape our lives with our behaviour and our day to day interactions with the people around us. What we commonly forget is that many of the people we interact with change their behaviour depending on who they are around without realizing it. For example, a person you work with could present themselves in one way, but if you were to encounter them with a group of friends they may act differently. While this is the case for many and possesses no threat of danger; this is not the case when it comes to serial killers. In those rare cases, this behaviour of acting differently depending on who they are with can quickly turn deviant if the person in question is searching for their next victim.

go back as far as the fifteenth century, only a few were written about prior to

“The serial killer ‘is an entirely different criminal,’ ”The term serial killer is misleading on the ground that each murder is intended to be the last.” We see them as a figure of “the dark side of human potential,” but they believe they’re “on a heroic quest for the biggest score possible” They believe they are “the archetypal figure of impurity, the representative of a world which needs cleansing.” However, society knows that serial killers are not heroes, and they’re not cleansing the world. “The figure of the serial killer is violent impurity personified, and it is a construction that necessitates figures of violent purity to confront it.” While it can be argued whether having mental disorders should prevent a serial killer from being capitally punished, it is proven that many serial killers suffer from “paranoid schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, or psychopathology.” It’s even said that “this crime is actually a form of disease. Its carriers are serial killers who suffer from a variety of crippling and eventually fatal symptoms, and its immediate victims are the people struck down seemingly at random by the disease carriers.” Serial killers usually have a stressor in their life that makes them start killing, and when they do “homicidal mania becomes ‘a necessity… linked to the very existence of a psychiatry which had made itself autonomous but needed thereafter to secure a basis for its intervention by gaining recognition as a component of public