Gary Leon Ridgeway

There are seven generalized motives to kill. Ridgway displays two of these. They are thrill killers and lust killers. Thrill Killers kill because they like to, they have a desire to kill them. As above, it is stated that he Ridgway told the interviewer that he had to be in the mood to kill. It is just like being in the mood for a certain kind of food. The food is liked and you have to be in the mood to eat it. Ridgway had to be in the mood to kill. He liked to kill. Also, stated above when he stabbed the boy in high school, when he walked away he laughed and said that he always wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. He was not upset by almost killing him, he was laughing. The other one is a lust killer. A lust killer will kill for sexual gratification. Ridgway would have sex with the victims before and sometimes even after they were

Crime occurs every day, all over the world. Most crime is unreported or is unknown to the vast majority of the populations. Over time, crime has grown to become a normal part of society and typically people are not surprised to hear that a crime has been committed. Most crimes are dealt with and forgotten, however a few crimes grab the media’s attention and are highly publicized, ultimately giving the criminal their 15 minutes of infamy. Ted Bundy was one of these criminals. Bundy was a law student in Utah and during the 1970’s, he assaulted, raped and murdered at least 30 known women with some criminologists suspecting as high as nearly 100 victims. The tactics he used along with the extent of his killings is how Bundy acquired his long lasting infamy and notoriety as one of America’s top 10 most wanted during his time. Our true focus here is explaining why these murders occurred; truly understanding the motivation behind Bundy’s actions and finding the roots of causation which could lead a person to commit such serious crimes.

Serial murder is defined as the murder of at least three victims accompanied with an intermittent “cooling off” period in between. Often during the “cooling off” period the serial killer fantasizes about his next potential victim and contrives a plan to enact said fantasy (Simons, 2001). The term “serial killer” was introduced into the English lexicon in the 1970’s and used to describe individuals who committed a series of murders under these pretenses. The typical age of onset for serial murder is usually in the mid-to-late twenties (Arndt, Hietpas, and Kim, 2004). It is difficult to determine when exactly Robert Pickton began his string of killing since much of his early life remains shrouded in mystery. The best way to examine the frequency of Pickton’s murders and the duration of the “cooling off” period between them then, is to examine data of women reported missing from the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver. Using this data, it can be reasonably assumed that Pickton began his murders (at least within the context of his general modus operandi) sometime in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s (The Pickton Trial, CBC.ca/news). Using the missing women data along with evidence found on the Pickton farm, it is seen that the murders increased in frequency with a much smaller “cooling off” period throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s before his eventual arrest in 2002.

This essay aims to examine weather serial killers are born a certain way and their genetics define their psychotic tendencies or whether they're a product of a bad environment that they grew up. This essay looks at recent killings in the late 20th century as there is more information on the killers from this period and it's easier to gain details about their childhoods. Whilst I will look at various different killers to reach more rounded conclusions (see appendix for comparison table), this essay will focus on four in detail to examine the debate; Ted Bundy (1946-89), Jeffery Dahmer (1960-1994), John Wayne Gacy (1942-1994) and Gary Ridgway (1949-present).

| Shows no emotion to the murders and crimes that he committed. A heartless selfish man.

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

In the article The Serial Killer Phenomenon Richard Whittington-Egan aims to explain what exactly a serial killer is and how they differ from a mass murderer. Whittington-Egan breaks down and showcases the defining characteristics of a serial kill with the help of numerous cases of evidence to confirm the accuracy of each statement. The article concludes with examining the future of this phenomenon, what has been done, and most importantly how difficult it will be to solve such an unpredictable behavior.

As I viewed the case of Gary L. Sampson, 41, he can best be described as a man dependent on liquor and cocaine, a miscreant father, and a bank burglar with a long history of brutality. On August 1, 2001, he handed himself over to the Vermont State Police in the wake of escaping from interest for a string of three killings he submitted in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The individuals who knew Sampson estimated that his homicides were an urgent finale to a pained life. Amid his initial life in New England, he once bound, choked, and beat three elderly ladies in a treat store. He had commandeered autos at knifepoint and was therapeutically analyzed as schizophrenic. In 1977, he wedded a 17-year-old young lady he had impregnated; after two months, he was captured and accused of assault for having "unnatural intercourse with a

There are numerous portraits, perspectives, and analyses of the life and deeds of American serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who is thought to have sexually assaulted and murdered 32 boys between 1976 and his arrest in December 1978 (Cahill, 1978; Gacy, 1989). This profile of Gacy compiles a birth-to-death chronology of events and activities that may lend insight to the personality of a habitual liar, model citizen, and serial murderer.

Serial killers have plagued the world since before the 1500s. Theories have evolved over long periods of time for explanations as to why people begin killing. The earliest explanation was rooted in witchcraft and demonic possessions overtaking the person causing them to commit these acts of violence. Biological, psychological, and social theories have emerged over the years as society has developed and advanced. The latest theory suggests that the behavior of serial killers results as a combination of biological, psychological, and socialization factors. Despite the numerous theories trying to explain the phenomena of serial killing, no one knows exactly why or how seemingly normal people begin killing others. One of the most infamous serial killers was Donald Harvey. Harvey was a self-proclaimed “angel of death.” He murdered dozens of victims as a hospital aid. Due to Harvey’s difficult childhood and prolonged sexual abuse,  Donald developed a psychopathic-type personality disorder and killed dozens of victims.

John Wayne Gacy was considered to be one of the most vicious serial killers in U.S. history. He viciously murdered 33-34 boys and men between January 3, 1972 and December 11, 1978. He would lure his victims into his house promising them jobs, he would then capture them, sexually assault them and then strangled most of them with a rope. He would than bury their bodies under his house. He was caught and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Through this paper you will see first-hand who John Wayne Gacy was and how he became the monster we all know him to be.

Gary Leon Ridgway has confessed to 48 killings attributed to him. His cooperation lead to finding four sets of remains. His killings spanned from 1982 to 1998. Ridgway plead guilty to murdering 48 Green River Killer victims on November 5, 2003. Ridgway says strangling young women was his "career."

In this world, there are people who are able to shoot, bludgeon, or torture a whole family and then sleep peacefully just hours after. Serial Killers have piqued the American public’s interest for generations. In the 1970s, for example, America was enthralled by the danger and fear of Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, famous serial killers who killed a combined number of over a hundred people. Following suit of the popularity of serial killers, they have become ingrained in our culture through art, books, news, talk-shows, and movies. A famous example of this trend is in Flannery O’Connor’s ”A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, where the antagonist, The Misfit, brutally murders a family of six. O’Connor described The Misfit as a calm, polite, analytical, morally-confused, murderer with leadership skills and “strong white teeth.” This archetype, a person who can be perfectly calm while being aggressive and lacks a sense of right or wrong, has also been an interest of study in the medical field. The medical community has come together for patients that are described as lacking a moral conscious, naming their disorder psychopathy (Robinson). In Flannery O’Connor’s ”A Good Man Is Hard to Find” The Misfit exhibits signs of psychopathy, shown from his manipulating control over Bobby Lee and Hiram, and staying calm while he directly and indirectly kills six people.

Gary Ridgeway, A.K.A, the Green River Killer, was one of the most notorious serial killers in U.S history. Over the course of two years in the 1980s nearly 50 lives were taken in the Seattle and Tacoma areas of Washington. This case was given this name because of the location of all of the bodies. Most of the bodies were dumped either in or around the Green River located in Washington. Upon discovery of these bodies, the king county sheriff department formed a task force to attempt to solve these murders. One of the interesting things the task force did was interview Ted Bundy to gain insight as to what the killer may be planning next. In 1982 and again in 2001, Gary Ridgeway, was arrested on charges that related to prostitution. This brought

Through 1980 and 1990, Ridgway was to have killed at the least 71 people. In an interview he said he killed so many that the lost count. Most of his victims were runaways or prostitutes whom he had picked up and strangled along Pacific Highway South. A majority of the murders took place in 1982-1984. A lot of the bodies were dumped along the Green River, in the wooded area, hence the name”Green River Killer.” He would always keep up with where he threw the bodies, because he would later return and have intercourse with their corpse. Sometimes he would leave the bodies in a posed, nude position. Out of all of the women Gary killed, only 4 are unidentified. Most of his bodies were left in Washington, but often to throw off the police, he would cross over into Oregon and leave a few there. He would contaminate the crime scenes by leaving gum and written material belonging to others. His murders would start by just driving along and picking up a woman, most of the time a prostitute. To make them feel more comfortable with him, he would show them a picture of his son that he carried in his wallet. He would lure them in, get them to have sex with him and then he would murder them. He would always strangle them. Never would he use anything but his hands. You could tell where the girls would struggle,because he would have bruises and claw marks on his arms. After