Cathy Torrez Murder

It was a regular sunday morning around 6 a.m. when Mrs. Robinson was taking her daily run in the morning. She jogged around the perimeter of the neighborhood at a fair speed while she pondered her plans for the day. Would she go grocery shopping, would she go out with some friends, or would she just stay at home and continue to grade papers, as she was a school teacher. These thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when she saw something very peculiar in the corner of her eye. She approached what appeared to be a hunched over figure next to one of the rose bushes that lined the fence of the neighborhood. As she got closer, she realized what it was.

Serial murder is one of the most baffling crimes that occur in the U.S. and all over the world. Knight (2006) defines serial murder as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period. The cooling off period may be weeks, months or even years long. Researchers have proposed various psychological, biological and sociological theories that offer a partial understanding of the nature of serial murder. Some propose that the basis for criminal behavior is a predisposition to violence as well as a mix between environment, personality traits and biological factors. Serial killers are predominantly male. Only 3 percent of serial murders are committed by women (U.S. News and World Report,

Good Friday, 1973, Kemper planned on waiting for his mother to come home from a party, but accidently fell asleep. He was awakened by the sound of his mother in another room. He then entered her room to find her sitting in bed reading a paperback book. She saw him walk in and said, “I suppose you’re going to want to sit up all night and talk now,” to which he replied, “No, good night,” and beat her to death with a claw hammer. He decapitated her then used her head for sex and a dart board. Once he was done with her, he called her friend, Sally Hallett, over to the house. Upon arrival Kemper strangled her and left the scene and evidence behind. The entire time Kemper was planning and performing the murder of his mom, the memories of the abuse, humiliation, and unfairness that his mother had left him were stuck in his head. His mother had left a permanent scar on young Kemper’s ego which led to his horrific murders.

“Serial killers are human black holes; they scare us because they mirror us,” spoke Shirley Lynn Scott, known author and psychologist. This stands true throughout history, as most serial killers blend in with society. Serial killing is formally defined by the FBI as “a series of three or more killings, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.” But what exactly drives someone to kill another human being? What plays as a more drastic motivator for their actions, nature or nurture?

it. As we may or may not know, Selena was shot by the president of her fan

Selena Quintanilla Pérez was a tejano music singer. Selena had the voice of an angel. Her life was filled with singing, bus trips, and gas station food. Unfortunately, Selena tragically got shot dead by her fan club president, Yolanda. Her short lifetime from beginning to end is filled with up’s and downs.

Before collapsing, Selena named Yolanda as her shooter and gave the number of the room where she had been shot. Meanwhile, Yolanda got into her pickup truck and tried to leave the motel. As, a responding police spotted her. Yolanda surrendered after a nearly 9 ½ standoff with police and the FBI. By that time, hundreds of fans had gathered at the scene; many cried and angry as police took Yolanda away. After 50 minutes of surgery, the doctors realized that the damage to Selena's pierced artery was deadly Selena was pronounced dead from blood loss and cardiac

“Bang”, a .38-caliber taurus revolver was fired, a 390 foot trail of blood, and a body on the floor. This tragic loss of a Tejano Mexican singer was on March 31, 1995 at the Days Inn. Selena Quintanilla was known for her singing, songwriting, modeling, and her designing for clothes. Yolanda Saldivar was Selena’s Manager and the president of her fan club. Abraham Quintanilla (Selena’s Dad) caught Saldivar stealing money and record labels. Surely, Saldivar felt guilty for what she did and when Selena went to fire her from the job, she shot her. Saldivar killed Selena because she knew that she was guilty for what she did. She knew deep down that she was gonna have to be punished. Prosecutor Carlos Valdez and defense attorney Douglas Tinker were brought in by the jury. Surprisingly, 122 exhibits were brought to court and 33 witnesses were called on to the

According to FBI Special Agent Robert K. Ressler, more than 60 percent of serial killers went the bed beyond the age of 12. Many are involved in vicious activities. Frequently, serial murders come from dysfunctional families, where the father is almost absent and the mother is often passively domineering. (Julieta, p.2, N.D.) Families of serial killers will often have criminal, psychiatric or alcoholic histories. Family members often abused the serial killer as they were growing up, physically, emotionally or sexually.

It is clear that her fan base is loyal Fans of Selena Quintanilla even after 20 years of her death, still listen to her music, watch her movie and keep her memory alive. It would seem that the majority of her fan base would be Latin women ranging from ages of the early twenties and older but by reading comments on YouTube of various popular songs, it is clear that she had a wide range of fans. Hundreds of comments expressing their love for Selena and her music. Most comments are of people wishing she was still alive and creating music that would hit the top of the charts. Since she had her English album out shortly after her death, it expanded her fan base to an even larger audience. Even her music in Spanish created a large commotion. People on one of her numerous fan pages on Facebook talk about her music being an outlet, an escape from the bad and an extra push to overcome any challenge either with a relationship or simply just with the struggles of life. One fan expressed her mother’s heartbreak on the YouTube video of Dreaming of You, saying that she remembers the day of Selena’s passing and seeing her mother crying in the living room. A fan even going to the extent of saying that her death impacted more people than the death of John F. Kennedy. There are also hundreds of comments of fans wishing she was still alive to make new music and that it would be clear that Selena would be a

murder in many occasions. As we take a deeper look inside the motivations behind these

Selena Quintanilla was born on April 16, 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas. Her parents were Abraham Quintanilla and Marcella Ofelia Samora. She has one older brother, Abraham Quintanilla III and one older sister, Suzette Quintanilla.Selena Quintanilla Perez was a Latin recording artist born April 16,1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas and died March 31,1995 in Corpus Christi, Texas. With dying at the of 24 Selena didn't get to pursue her career very far. Yolanda Saldivar was the president and founder of her fan club but later then turned into a criminal. Selena was shot by Yolanda. You may ask yourself why would she have shot her. There is a story behind everything that happens. Yolanda was embezzling money and soon was going to get fired, before she

Selena (Quintanilla- Perez) was a Latin-American singer. She became famous because of her family’s band, Selena Y Los Dios. Her independent musical career as a singer thrived in the 80’s. She was born to Mexican- American parents, Marcela and Abraham Quintanilla, on April 16, 1971. She married Christopher Perez, guitarist and member of the band Selena y Los Dinos on April 2, 1992.

Yolanda had asked multiple times if she could start a fan club for Selena and Abraham, Selena's father, had decided to allow her. With Yolanda being the president of the fan club, she had grown close to the family and was trusted. Selena was a fashion designer and had opened boutiques, Yolanda was the manager of the boutique in San Antonio. When she was the president of the fan club many people contacted Abraham and told him they had paid for their club membership and didn't get anything back. Yolanda was fired for forging checks and stealing $60,000. After she was fired, she went out and bought a gun and made up a story to get Selena to come to her motel, then shot Selena in the back when she turned around to walk out. Her fans were devastated and in shock.

There are many traits that make a serial killer, with abuse during childhood playing a major factor. The four main aspects of abuse that seem to make killers are: emotional, psychological, sexual and physical abuse. The serial killer group has six times more reported physical abuse during childhood than the general population. Research has demonstrated that many serial killers have much in common when it comes to their childhood experiences Emotional abuse often diminishes a child’s self-esteem, making it hard for them to adapt to their surroundings, such as situations involving school or work. Due to this factor, most serial killers often find it hard to keep jobs and intimate relationships for longer than a very short period of time. Emotional neglect also impairs a child’s ability to develop empathy, therefore lacking compassion. If the child grows up to become a murderer, having no empathy means they are able to kill someone without