Classification Of Serial Killers

The mind of a serial killer is not right and is considered a psychopath. This can be caused by brain damage. “After Henry Lee Lucas was convicted, he underwent numerous neurological tests that revealed fairly extensive brain damage. Small contusions indicated a frontal lobe injury, and there was damage to his temporal lobe and pools of spinal fluid at the base of his brain” (Vronsky, 2005). Lucas’s brain damage is just one cause. Another common reason is that the serial killer would of had an abusive childhood. “Traditionally, the answer has been a horrific upbringing. Most serial killers were abused as children, many hideously so.” (Sandi, n.d) This can have a range of different abusive activities. One example would be an abusive mother. The killer’s mother would have abused him therefore making him hate women. That would be an example of how a man killing female serial killer would relate. He would physically abuse the women just like his mother abused him. Another form of abuse is an alcoholic parent. The serial killer would wait outside of a bar and look to see of his potential victims were under the influence. If they were then they would most likely kill the person. A serial killer can also have a euphoric moment. He could see his

A Serial Killer is often defined as a person who murders more than three people in separate events with a "cooling off period" between the killings. Serial killers will often be overwhelmed with a desire to kill often during a period of stress in their lives. After they

What is a serial killer? Retired Special Agent Robert Ressler, a twenty-two year veteran of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, is responsible for creating the term “serial killer.” He defines this person as “one who commits a series of murders, usually three or more, the victims most often being strangers, and usually with a cooling-off period in between each kill” (Kelleher & Kelleher, 1998; Pearson, 1998; Ressler and Shactman, 1997). This precise definition is necessary to distinguish this type of predator from the mass murderer (who kills many simultaneously), mercenaries, war criminals, or mafia hit men.

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

Serial killers is a person that kill three or more people in a short amount of time. He or she murder one after another in a similar way with an inactive period between each murder. The motivation for murdering an adult or child is based on psychological gratification. The serial killer is normally an adult white male in his late twenties, who has killed four or more individuals in separate incident with an inactive period between. It is impossible to tell just by looking at a person who will become a serial killer, the traits of some criminals or serial killers appear to be similar most of the time. The types of behaviors

Some serial killers are considered to have a mission-oriented motive. "Mission-oriented killers typically justify their acts as 'ridding the world ' of a certain type of person perceived as undesirable,

A basic serial killer is a murderer of two or more victims at different times. There are several types of serial killers. The wildest category would be the Thrill- seekers. Thrill-seekers are known for being fearless of danger, having no remorse for their murders, irrational attitude, and impulsive behavior. They seem to enjoy the adrenaline rush they get when they kill and gain pleasure from doing it. The victims are usually strangers who they may stalk to make it more exciting as “a hunt” (‘Thrill Seekers”). Serial Killers are portrayed all the same in Hollywood. Average serial killers are usually old, uncanny men who go after women for sex or money but, Aileen Wuornos turned

The second group of killers is called the mission-oriented killers. When these kill, they have a goal to target and eliminate certain groups of people. (Holmes and Holmes 1998) Mission oriented killers are able to articulate ambitions of social betterment and utopian aspirations (Haggerty 2009). The mission-oriented killer is not psychotic, he does not hear voices or see visions. He does, however, have a self-imposed duty to rid the world of some unworthy group of people. These people may be Catholics, prostitutes, young women, old men, or any other group of people who deems no longer worthy to live. (Holmes and Holmes 1998) One serial killer of this kind that I came across in the literature is Ronald Dominique. Dominique was teased and bullied throughout the entirety of his school career. He felt powerless in the face of the merciless ridicule of which he was on the receiving end. During his late adolescence and early adulthood, Dominique generated an arrest record including telephone harassment, disturbing the peace, and forcible

Valentine’s Day Massacre”). Mission-oriented killers are murderers that believe they are cleansing the Earth, like the Boston Strangler who had presumed that the women he had killed were worthless. Similar to mission-oriented, disciple killers are deluded in that they are influenced to kill by an influential figure, like the followers of Charles Manson. he last type of organized killer is the thrill-seeker. This killer is sometimes interpreted as disorganized as though they may plan, they often kill impulsively, like James Holmes of the Aurora Shooting who had been equipped like a pseudo-commando but had killed for the thrill. While organized mass murders are premeditated, killers can also be classified into the unorganized category which consists of disgruntled employees, visionary/missionary killers, and the aforementioned thrill-seeker. Disgruntled employees are killers that experience recent termination and lash out, like the workplace shooter Andrew Engeldinger. Visionary/missionary killers meanwhile, kill because they believe that it is the will of a higher power, like the nine assailants of the Paris attacks. Defining and categorizing types of mass murderers is a complex task as breeds of mass killers branch out massively into several subtypes that each reveal aspects and insights like depth of planning, methodicalness, and drive.

Many of times we think of serial killers as all being a Visionary serial killer, especially when we watch films and documentaries on them, often times when they are described as insane, or really detached from the world, and then script right of their kill sites it's often times very bloody messy unclean but not all killers are like this. In fact, Visionary serial killers are the minority. One example of a Visionary serial killer that we learned about in our lectures is Cleo-Green, he was a black male in his early thirties and was in a suburb of Kentucky. Cleo-Green Was quite detached from the world in fact after returning to his car after a night out he believed that there was a demon in his car and the demon

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.

Serial murder crime though rare, is not a a new phenomenon. This crime has been committed for centuries and will continue to be a crime that is committed throughout the world. It is unfortunate and scary that this is probably one of the most serious of crimes that cannot be prevented. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, serial murderers commit their crimes because they want to. Rehabilitation is not obtainable for serial killers due to their inability for remorse and empathy, or to see people as people and not objects(Knight 2006). This research paper will focus primarily on serial murder within the U.S. First and foremost, a legal definition provided by the U.S. Department of Justice will be presented to set forth the discussion of this research paper. As follows will be a detailed discussion explaining serial killer typologies with the use of examples of known serial killers in the U.S. Types of serial killers are: power oriented, mission oriented, visionary, and hedonistic, each typology will be clearly defined and explained. Some serial killers can have a mixture of each typology’s characteristic. Serial killers that will be discussed and used as examples to represent the content of this research paper will be, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Robert Berdella, Jeffery Dahmer, and lastly the most prolific serial killer in American history, Gary Ridgeway. Problems with studying serial killing, are that because of rarity and access. Most of what we think

The first recorded serial killers date back to the Roman Empire when men were poisoned by a group of matrons putting it on a ring. Psychologist and Criminologist have identified 5 key elements commonly found in all serial killers: them being having real affinity with power, being manipulative, a bragging oversized ego, ability to pick up on others weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and appear to be every day “average joes”. Each one may vary in strength or background of the killer. For example, most that have an affinity of real power often tend to hold control of those close to them, even when they’ve been caught, lost their twisted game where they have a warped but most authoritorial sense in the situations that follow. This sense of control/power

The ten most common traits among serial killers are as follows: alcohol and substance abuse, psychological abuse during childhood, sexually stressful events in childhood, bed wetting, growing up lonely and isolated, fantasies, preferring auto-erotic activities, developing voyeurism and fetishism in adulthood, and physical injuries. There are four main types of serial killers. Hedonistic - thrill/rush; lust/sexual pleasure; or gain (financial). Power/Control - satisfaction of having complete control; sex; main motive is to gain power. Mission Oriented - seek revenge; eliminate a specific group or person; “ridding the world”; generally not psychotic. Visionary - suffer from some sort of psychosis; delusions; hallucinations; feel compelled or commanded to kill; common: God or demons; victims are not targeted. An example of a hedonistic killer is Jefferey Dahmer who killed 17 men and boys, raped them, and dismembered them. He had necrophilia and was also a cannibal. A power/control killer is Ted Bundy, he was very smart, who would stalk, kidnap, rape, and then kill his victims. Joseph Paul

They see these people as expandable and as a means to an end. They can be divided in two types of Hedonistic Serial Killers: killing for lust or for the thrill. The lust killer kills purely for sexual fulfillment. Their primary motive is sex, even after their victim is dead. They also get pleasure out of the murder. These murders are usually followed by cannibalism (eating the victim), necrophilia (sexual attraction to the corpse), or dismembering. They have a psychological need to be have absolute control and dominance over their victims, and the torture and ultimate death of their victim is an attempt to fulfill their need. They use weapons that require close contact with the victim (e.g. a knife or their hands) (Holmes & Holmes, 1998). Jeffrey Dahmer was a lust killer, after his victims were dead, he performed cannibalism, necrophilia and dismembering. The thrill killer kills purely for the pleasure he/she gets from killing. They usually take a long time to kill, they torture their victims before killing them. After their victims are dead, they lose interest. They believe that they will never be caught (Holmes & Holmes, 1998). Robert Hansen was a thrill killer, he took his victims to a secluded area where he would let them go and then hunt them