crimes profiling

Serial Killers and their Victims

To some capacity, we all have knowledge about serial killers. In fact, I bet you could name at least one right now. I am certain you could also name a television shows or movies that document a serial killer, whether real or fictional. It is important to note, that serial killers are not a new type of criminal. They have existed for quite some time, Jack the Ripper – the Boston Strangler.

What makes a killer a serial killer?

A serial killer is an offender who kills three or more individuals with a cooling off period between the kills. The cooling off period varies and really depends on the offender.

Most serial killers appear quite normal, not usually displaying traits outside of the “normal” range of behaviors. In fact, many of them hold traditional jobs, have families, and do the typical day-to-day activities that you and I do. It is hard to put a number on the total active serial killers because they are operating undetected, but some researchers have suggested there are about 5,000 serial killers in the United States – this number of course is debated and there are other ranges out there from 49-70 to a couple hundred active serial killers.

Estimates are based on number of known and unknown with a percentage of victims these offenders are known to have. Some researchers have found a general increase in serial murder over time, others suggest that there are no more now than in the 17th century. Really, the reason for the idea that there has been an increase is due to our advanced methodologies and better investigative efforts.

What do these serial murderers do?

Serial killers are quite smart and skillfully hide the bodies of their victims to avoid immediate detection.

They select their victims based on vulnerability, generally strangers or individuals who will not be missed. That sounds harsh, but the victims included in that list are prostitutes, street runaways, male drifters, and itinerant farm workers. Some serial killers choose young women near college campuses, elderly folk, and poor individuals who live in solitary. They very rarely choose to break in to a middle class home and select them as a victim. However, once they start to get bored of choosing easy targets, they up the ante and attempt to choose more challenging victims. Fortunately, they are often caught before they get the chance to continue their streak. Most serial killers are arrested four years in to their killing spree. However, the arrest is not always due to the killing itself, but rather something else that they commit.

Their offenses are hands on, premeditated and deliberate.

Why do they do what they do?

Well, there is no single reason or factor that makes a serial killer. Most serial killers state they were abused as a child. They do not usually have a mental disorder and they are not socially inept. In fact, John Wayne Gacy would dress as a clown for various events, became a politician, was married with children, and had a number of other achievements that made it all the more shocking that he killed 33 young males.

Predisposition to serial killing, much like other violent offenses, is biological, social, and psychological in nature, and it is not limited to any specific characteristic or trait. The development of a serial killer involves a combination of these factors, which exist together in a rare confluence in certain individuals. They have the appropriate biological predisposition, molded by their psychological makeup, which is present at a critical time in their social development. There are no specific combinations of traits or characteristics shown to differentiate serial killers from other violent offenders.

Their motive for committing murder is based on psychological rewards rather than material gains. Offenders may have multiple motives for committing the offenses that they commit, but over time, those motives may evolve within a single murder or throughout their murder spree. As profilers, we need to classify the behavioral evidence to determine exactly what the motive of individual serial killers. Really, serial killers kill because they want to.

Serial killers tend to begin their killing career at a relatively late age, around 24 years old. They do often have a criminal record, but the offenses are nonviolent.

Male Serial Killers

Serial killers are not limited to any specific demographic group, such as their sex, age, race, or religion. We do not know of many ethnic serial killers, so we believe serial killers are predominately white.

Female Serial Killers

Female serial killers are different than their male counterparts, in that they tend to kill victims that they know – like their husbands, suitors, and other family members. They are even motivated for different reasons. They kill for material or monetary gain, like the insurance benefits, trust funds, allocations, and estates. Rather than utilize hands on killing methods, they kill by overdosing or poisoning their victims.

17%-20% of female serial killers are actually nurses who commit murder for a variety of reasons. There reasons include:

· -  seek recognition, power, revenge, or control

· -  to relieve their own tension, stress, and frustration,

· -  or to put the patient out of his/her misery.

Where Do Serial Killings Occur?

Well, they occur everywhere, but mostly in the Western states because of the lifestyle, economic conditions, and availability of victims. Think about it, the weather is warmer so there are more people out and about on the streets, and more homeless people than in the colder states.

These offenders engage in their crimes in very specific areas, which we call their comfort zones. Most offenders commit the murder within the same neighborhood or city that they live in. They very rarely travel the interstate to get to their victims, however, there are a few exceptions including those whose jobs keep them on the roads and military members who move around.

Serial Killer Typology

There is no one type of serial killer, but we do have a few general categories or types that serial killers fall under. The typology is based on the motivations of these serial killers. The motivations are as follows:

Anger is a motivation in which an offender displays rage or hostility towards a certain subgroup of the population or with society as a whole.

Criminal Enterprise is a motivation in which the offender benefits in status or monetary compensation by committing murder that is drug, gang, or organized crime related.

Financial gain is a motivation in which the offender benefits monetarily from killing. Examples of these types of crimes are “black widow” killings, robbery homicides, or multiple killings involving insurance or welfare fraud.

Ideology is a motivation to commit murders in order to further the goals and ideas of a specific individual or group. Examples of these include terrorist groups or an individual(s) who attacks a specific racial, gender, or ethnic group.

Power/thrill is a motivation in which the offender feels empowered and/or excited when he kills his victims.

Psychosis is a situation in which the offender is suffering from a severe mental illness and is killing because of that illness. This may include auditory and/or visual hallucinations and paranoid, grandiose, or bizarre delusions.

Sexually-based is a motivation driven by the sexual needs/desires of the offender. There may or may not be overt sexual contact reflected in the crime scene

Victimological Perspective

It is hard to determine just how many victims of serial killers there are. Most serial killers state that they have killed far more than they have been convicted for.

Another issue with determining how many victims are actually victims of a serial killer is the way that law enforcement looks at the victims. Law enforcement looks less into black victims because they assume the homicide is part of long standing violence, thus not even looking for a serial killer.