introduction Spree killers Take the lives of several victims over a short

introduction

Spree killers

Take the lives of several victims over a short period of time without a cooling-off period

Serial killers

Murder a number of people over weeks, months, or years.

May live normal lives between attacks.

Though there is a spree-serial killer distinction, both types of offenders are extremely rare.

Definition challenges:

Some argue that 2 victims are enough to quality as a serial killing.

Others research serial killings by only examining cases with 3 or 4 victims.

Researchers have identified that victims with 2 are qualitatively different than cases with more victims.

Misconceptions

Much of the general public’s knowledge concerning serial murder is a product of Hollywood productions.

Do not accurately portray serial murder, thus certain stereotypes and misconceptions take root regarding the nature of serial murder and the characteristics of serial killers.

Myth 1: Serial killers are all dysfunctional loners

The majority of serial killers are not reclusive, social misfits who live alone.

Many hide in plain sight within their communities.

They often have families and homes, are employed, and appear to be normal members of the community.

Since they can blend in so effortlessly, they are oftentimes overlooked by police and public.

Examples:

Robert Yates killed 17 prostitutes in the Spokane, Washington area, during the 1990s. He was married with 5 children, lived in a middle class neighborhood, and was a decorated U.S. Army National Guard helicopter pilot. During the time period of the murders, Yates routinely frequented prostitutes, and several of his victims knew each other. Yates buried one of his victims in his yard, beneath his bedroom window. Yates was eventually arrested and pled guilty to 13 of the murders.

The BTK killer, Dennis Rader, killed 10 victims in and around Wichita, Kansas. He sent 16 written communications to the news media over a 30 year period, taunting the police and the public. He was married with two children, was a Boy Scout leader, served honorably in the U.S. Air Force, was employed as a local government official, and was a leader in his church.

The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, Confessed to killing 48 women over a 20 year time period in the Seattle, Washington area. He had been married 3 times and was still married at the time of his arrest. He was employed as a truck painter for 32 years. He attended church regularly, read the Bible at home and at work, and talked about religion with co-workers. Ridgeway also frequently picked up prostitutes and had sex with them throughout the time period in which he was killing.

Myth 2: Serial killers are all white males

Serial killers span all racial groups (~40-50% nonwhite).

Examples:

Charles Ng, a native of Hong Kong, China, killed numerous victims in Northern California, in concert with Robert Lake.

Derrick Todd Lee, an African-American, killed at least six women in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Coral Eugene Watts, an African-American, killed five victims in Michigan, fled the state to avoid detection, and murdered another 12 victims in Texas, before being apprehended.

Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, a native of Mexico, murdered nine people in Kentucky, Texas, and Illinois, before turning himself in.

Rory Conde, a Colombian native, was responsible for six prostitute homicides in the Miami, Florida area.

Myth 3: Serial killers are only motivated by sex

Serial murders are not ALL sexually-based.

There are many other motivations for serial murders – anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking.

Examples:

2002 Beltway Sniper Attacks – John Allen Muhammad, a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, and Lee Boyd Malvo killed primarily for anger and thrill motivations. They terrorized the greater Washington, D.C. metro area for three weeks, shooting 13 victims, killing 10 of them. They communicated with the police by leaving notes, and they attempted to extort money to stop the shootings. They are suspected in a number of other shootings in 7 other states.

Paul Reid killed at least seven people during fast food restaurant robberies in Tennessee in 1997. After gaining control of the victims, he either stabbed or shot them. The motivation for the murders was primarily witness elimination. Reid’s purpose in committing the robberies was financial gain, and some of the gains were used to purchase a car.

Myth 4: All serial murderers travel and operate on the interstate

Most serial killers have very defined geographic areas of operation.

They conduct killings within comfort zones that are often defined by an anchor point.

Serial murderers will, at times, go outside of their comfort zone, when their confidence has grown or to avoid detection.

Very few serial murderers travel to kill; those who do fall in 3 categories:

Traveling individuals who move from place to place.

Homeless individuals who are transients.

Individuals whose employment lends itself to interstate or transnational travel (e.g., truck drivers, military).

Myth 5: Serial killers cannot stop killing

It has been widely believed that once serial killers start killing, they cannot stop.

This is not always the case – some serial killers stop murdering altogether before being caught.

There may be events or circumstances in offenders’ lives that inhibit them from pursuing more victims.

Example:

BTK killer, Dennis Rader, murdered 10 victims from 1974 to 1991. He did not kill any other victims prior to being captured in 2005.

Myth 6: All Serial killers are insane or are evil geniuses

Serial killers range in intelligence from borderline to above average levels.

As a group, serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders, including psychopathy.

lack of empathy or remorse and are regarded as callous, selfish, insensitive, dishonest, arrogant, aggressive, impulsive, irresponsible, and hedonistic.

Most, however, are not considered insane under the law.

The Many Forms of Serial Killing

Most serial killers kill as a way to satisfy their own needs for power and control.

Most tend to be organized serial killers.

Holmes & Holmes (1998) Typology

Organized vs. Disorganized

Organized – leads an orderly life that is also reflected in the way he commits his crimes.

Tends to be of average to high intelligence, socially competent, and more likely than the disorganized offender to have skilled employment.

Tends to plan his offenses, use restraints on his victim, and to bring a weapon with him to commit the murder and to take the weapon away with him from the crime scene.

Disorganized – Crime reflects an overall sense of disorder and suggests little, if any, preplanning of the murder.

The disarray present at the crime scene may include evidence such as blood, semen, fingerprints, and the murder weapon.

There is minimal use of restraints and the body is often displayed in open view.

Thought to be socially incompetent and to have below-average intelligence.

Holmes & Holmes Typology: Motives

ACT-FOCUSED (quick kill)

The Visionary–

hears voices or sees visions that tell him to kill (psychotic), the voices tend to be either God or the devil.

The Missionary–

goes on hunting “missions” to eradicate a group of people (prostitutes, Jews, etc.).

PROCESS-FOCUSED (slow kill)

The Comfort-Oriented Hedonist–

takes pleasure from killing, but also gets some profit or personal gain from it. Females usually in this category.

The Lust-Oriented Hedonist–

associates sexual pleasure with murder.

The Thrill-Oriented Hedonist–

gets a “rush” or “high” from killing.

The Power/Control Freak–

takes pleasure from manipulation and domination, experiences a “rush” or “high” from victim’s misery.

Citation: Holmes, R.M. & Holmes, S.T. (1998) Serial Murder (second edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Profile of Serial Killer

There is no generic profile of a serial murderer.

Most tend to be lower-class white males in their late 20s or 30s, have victim counts of 6-7 on average, have career length of 5 years on average, target vulnerable people.

Serial killers differ in many ways, including their motivations for killing and their behavior at the crime scene.

There are certain traits common to some serial murderers, including the need for control and predatory behavior.

They are often abused as a child – emotionally, physically, and/or sexually by a family member.

Although later refuted as a triad of symptoms that present themselves together in controlled studies, many do exhibit 1 or more of the MacDonald (1963) predictors of psychopathy:

Involved in sadistic activity; especially in children who have not reached sexual maturity, this activity may take the form of torturing animals.

Wetting their beds beyond the age of 12.

Fascinated with fire setting.

Frequently bullied as children.

prevalence and trends

It is difficult to identify an accurate count of serial killers.

Cases are often very complex.

Difficult to link one offender to multiple victims, occurring at different time points, and likely different locations.

Based on what is known, researchers estimate that serial killers account for less than 1% of all murder victims.

Although this could be an underestimate due to an unknown number of possible serial killer victims that have never been identified.

The Radford University/ Florida Gulf Coast University Serial Killer Database is one of the most comprehensive sources for serial killer and victim information.

Contains information on 5,000 serial killers (defined as killing at least 2 victims).

14,000 victims.

Dates back as far as the 15th century.

The count of serial killers peaked in the 1970s and have been declining ever since.

In the 2010s, serial killer counts are approaching as low as they were in the 1950s.

The rise in serial killers may be more as a result of increased reporting and improved detection of these types of offenders.

Characteristics of Known Serial Killers

Data from 1970-2016 using the Radford/FGCU database highlights:

876 offenders killing more than 4,600 victims during this timeframe.

~ 94% male offenders

~ 51% of offenders started killing in their 20s

~ 50% of offenders are white

~ 40% of offenders use a firearm

Lower than broad homicide trends

~ 71% of offenders kill locally.

1/3 of male killers operate with an accomplice (most likely other males)

1/5 of female killers operate with an accomplice (most likely with another male).

Victims of Serial Murder

Data from 1970-2016 using the Radford/FGCU database highlights:

Almost half of victims are between 20-39 years old

~ 64% of victims are white

Unlike general homicide trends, victims often do not know their offender

~ 67% of victims are female

Victims most likely to be a part of a vulnerable population group (runaways, prostitutes, homeless people, nursing home patients)

Female Serial Killers

There is limited research on female serial killers

Kelleher & Kelleher (1998) argue that female serial killers are more successful, careful, precise, methodical, and quiet in committing their crimes

They examined 100 cases since 1900 and found an average duration of 8 years before being caught.

Female serial killers account for only 8% of all American serial killers, but American females account for 76% of all known female serial killers worldwide.

Citation: Kelleher, M. D., & Kelleher, C. L. (1998). Murder most rare: The female serial killer. Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group.

Kelleher & Kelleher’s 9-category Typology of Female Serial Killers

Characteristics:

Tend to be younger, aggressive, vicious in their attack, sometimes disorganized, unable to carefully plan, attack victims in diverse locations, and use guns, knifes, or torture:

 Team Killer – kills or participates in the killing of others in conjunction with at least one other.

 Question of Sanity – kills in apparent random manner and later judged to be insane.

 Unexplained – kills for reasons that are totally inexplicable or for unclear motives.

 Unsolved – a pattern of unsolved killings that may be attributed to a woman (or women).

9-Category Typology cont…

Characteristics:

Tend to be mature, careful, deliberate, socially adept, highly organized, attack victims in their home or place of work, and favor a specific weapon, like poison, lethal injection, or suffocation:

 Black Widow- systematically kills multiple spouses, partners, or other family members.

 Angel of Death- systematically kills people who are in her care for some form of medical attention.

 Sexual Predator – systematically kills others in clear acts of sexual homicide.

 Revenge – systematically kills out of hate or jealousy.

 Profit or Crime – systematically kills for profit or in course of committing another crime.

Hickey’s (2002) Research on Female Serial Killers

Examined 62 females out of 399 serial killers and found that they used the following methods and motives:

Methods

Poison (80%)

Shooting (20%)

Bludgeoning (16%)

Suffocation (16%)

Stabbing (11%)

Drowning (5%)

Motives

Money (74%)

Control (13%)

Enjoyment (11%)

Sex (10%)

Drugs, Cult involvement, cover up, or feelings of inadequacy (24%)

Citation: Hickey, E. W. (2002). Serial murderers and their victims. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Critical Thinking Questions

Out of the common myths of serial killers presented in the notes above, which one surprised you the most?

How are male serial killers different from female serial killers?

In your opinion, it is possible to move towards a culture that does not popularize the crimes committed by serial killers? Why are we so fascinated with these types of violent acts?