Serial Killer Research Paper

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

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

A serial killer is someone who has murdered at least three people on at least three different occasions with a break between the murders (Egger, 2002; Hickey, 2002). … It is likely that they kill during a time of stress and after it is done, they feel temporarily

Ever heard of the zodiac killer? He was a serial killer who operated in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in 5 states between December 1968 and October 1969. The general profile for a serial killer is a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. There are many types of serial killers. There are natural born killers who are born willing to kill someone, insane killers which have mental and physical disorders and criminaloids who do not exhibit specific traits. The childhood of a serial killer would typically be someone who is neglected by their family mainly their mothers. They tend to be antisocial and have anger issues. Poor families often cannot provide what the child always wants so they might commit crimes to get want they want. Abused children have a higher chance of being killers also because they have a lot of built up aggression and anger. All can lead to substance abuse which is never a good thing to mix in with a potential serial killer in the making. General behavioral progression from pre-crime to post-crime are that they use killing as a source of relief. Before committing a serious crime they could have built up anger and hatred. They is a high possibility that they are suffering from depression and anxiety too. After killing someone the killer feels relieved. They also feel

There are 4 major typologies of serial murders. One type is referred to as visionary type. A visionary type serial killer murders due to pressure from delusions, hallucinations or visions. They exhibit extreme psychopathy and do not clean up their crime scene. They often report that they have committed the crime because voice in their head told them too. Another type is power and control serial killers, they tend to enjoy their victim’s suffering and torture. They often sexually abuse their victims, but they are not interested by feelings of desire. Mission orientated serial murders feel as through they are doing society a favor by murdering certain people such as prostitutes, drug dealers, or homosexuals, people they feel that society could do without. These murders are very seldom psychopathic. Last, but not least is known as trill-orientated motive type,

A serial killer is defined as an individual who has murdered three or more people over a time period of longer than a month; with a process called “cooling off” in between the different murders (What are the Different Types of Serial Killers?). The FBI states that motives for serial murder include "anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking.” Throughout history, the FBI has zeroed in on four different types of motives for serial killers, visionary, missionary, hedonistic, and power or control killers.

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

There are many people who choose to do bad things and break the law; however, there are people known as serial killers who take breaking the law and harming others to an unbelievable level. Murder is a very serious crime. Murders happen for many different reasons such as turf wars and drugs for gangs, by having an argument with another person and not being able to control your anger, or murdering because of a troubled past. Serial killers often come from a troubled past and seek some sort of revenge to what happened to them when they were younger. Serial killers are people who murder over and over again. There are many different types of serial killers. There are serial killers who choose to rape their victims, choose victims whom they know, choose victims because they are a different gender, choose their victims because of some fantasy that they have, or some even choose their victims to prevent them from going through what they had to go through as a young teen. There is no set description of what a serial killer looks like or if they are a woman or a man. Women serial killers tend to be more alluring with their crimes. Women tend to choose victims they may know but murder in a less heinous way. However, there are more male serial killers then women. The male serial killers tend to keep to the more violent and heinous murders. Although not all serial killers have something happen to them in order

“We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow,” is what serial killer, Ted Bundy responded with when an interrogator was shocked how casually he talked about hating women. The Oxford Dictionaries define serial killing as, “A person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, or predictable behavior pattern.” People hear the term ‘serial killer’ and several questions pop into their heads such as; what kind of person can commit such terrible crimes? Or what drives a person to that point of insanity?

A serial killer is a person who kills a number of people. They act in a series of 5 or more murders with a break period between each murder. Serial killers can go for months and years before they are usually caught. The victim is most likely the same for every killer- a prostitute or a hitchhiker -someone who, if they were to go missing would probably not be noticed (cite). Their victims may also have the same or similar attributes in gender, age, race or general look. Serial killers also stick by their modus operandi closely but may change it with when needed.

It is important to remember that serial murder is a form of patterned violence. Serial murders as defined by the FBI are, “a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors” (FBI). There is also typically a “cooling off” period between murders. This is a period of time in which the perpetrator of the murders takes up a period of rest between killings. Some suspect this period to be an emotional break before their next outburst and the next murder (FBI).

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.

go back as far as the fifteenth century, only a few were written about prior to

The act of Serial murder and mass murder have similar characteristics, however they are not the same. Before they can be defined, it is necessary to first understand what exactly constitutes murder. According to the United States Code-section 1111, murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought (FindLaw, 2014). With that said, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “the term serial murder implies that there are at least three different murder events at three different locations, with a “cooling off” period between each event” (Ramsland, 2009). Individuals who perpetrate the crime of serial murder are referred to as serial killers. The term “serial killer” was coined in the

The legal definition of a serial murder, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)(Morton & Hilts, Eds., 2006), in 2005 is, “[t]he unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events" (p. 9). However, numerous people debate over the definition, including this researcher, because it lacks a cool-down period in between murders, which numerous professionals believe is necessary for serial killer status. The cool-down period is a short to extended amount of time between murders. This is what differentiates them from other killers such as mass murderers and spree killers. Despite this disagreement, serial killers remain a rare phenomenon. The FBI (2006) states, serial murder accounts for under one percent of the killings a year. Nevertheless, throughout the years, countless people have