Serial Killers

People are murdered everyday. Husbands murder wives, wives murder husbands. Neighbors kill neighbors. Disturbed teenagers open fire on a rampage through their school killing classmates.

At times it seems like murder is so common it almost seems routine. However, no matter how immune we are to the reports of murder it does not stop the feeling of fear and disgust when we hear the term “serial killer”. Although the horrific crimes of a serial killer repulse people, there is a strange fascination with these types of deadly killers. I chose this topic for my research paper because I too am intrigued by these killers.

What I hoped to find out in my research is, are these murderers a product of their environment or are they simply born evil (the nurture vs. nature theory)?

So what is a serial killer? Serial killers are people who kill several, sometimes many other people with a break in time between the killings. These murderers are different from so called “normal murderers”. Most murders are committed by a person who has a specific motive for killing someone. Anger, revenge, frustration are just a few example of motives. These murders can be premeditated or can happen at the spur of the moment due to anger and loss of control.

Mass murderers are also different. Even though multiple victims are killed at once there is no distinction among the victims. As is true in ordinary killers, the mass murderer has some kind of motive, whether it is revenge against schoolmates, anger at an employer, or some kind of political agenda. A good example of this kind of mass murder would be the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh killed a large number of people at one time with no distinction among the victims. McVeigh’s motive was some twisted political agenda.

Unlike so called “ordinary killers” and mass murderers, serial killers crimes show similar characteristics, but their victims also display similarities. A serial killer’s victims are usually women, children or anyone who is not in a position to put up much of a fight.

A serial killer is purposeful in committing these murders. He usually builds up the fantasy of the killing, carefully planning it before he strikes. After his first kill, a serial killer will take a break before striking again. The serial killer will then experience a sort of depression because the actual crime was not as satisfying as the one in his fantasies, motivating the killer to kill again.

Since the 1800’s there have been more than 150 documented cases of serial murderers in the United States alone. In the 1970’s law enforcement agencies began to recognize the unique characteristics of these kinds of murders. The term “serial killer” was coined in the mid 1970’s by Robert Ressur, a former FBI agent (Lassieur, 2000). Just thirty years ago few law enforcement officers believed that serial killers were any different that other people who committed murder. Over the past several years people have begun to suspect that a serial killer is very different from any other kind of murderer.

As a result to better understand these killers and their crimes, the FBI formed a Behavioral Science Unit. The focus of this department is to recognize, understand and (more importantly) to catch serial killers (Newton, 2000). Within the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit there are two important divisions; the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crimes and the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. The purpose of these two divisions is to discover why serial killers commit their crimes.

So, what are the characteristics of a serial killer? Almost all serial killers have a very active, violent fantasy life. Many serial killers report having these fantasies from the time they were small children. Over the years these fantasies (usually sexual in nature) become more and more real to the killer. Finally these fantasies become overpowering. Since it usually takes years for these fantasies to spill into the killer’s real life, most serial killers are in their 20’s or 30’s. Because of their active fantasy life, these killers cannot maintain normal relationships with other people.

The majority of serial killers are white males. Once in a while there will be a female serial killer; however, they usually differ in motives. Some women serial killers may have murdered a string of husbands or lovers, others sometimes murdered claiming them as “mercy killings” of patients. The one thing that separates female serial killers from males is the violent sexual nature of these killings.

Most serial killers share several characteristics