Serial Killers Essay

As if molded directly from the depths of nightmares, both fascinating and terrifying. Serial killers hide behind bland and normal existences. They are often able to escape being caught for years, decades and sometimes an eternity. These are America’s Serial Killers (America’s Serial Killers). “Even when some of them do get caught, we may not recognize what they are because they don’t [sic] match the distorted image we have of serial killers” (Brown). What is that distorted image? That killers live among everyday life, they are the ones who creep into someone’s life unknowingly to torture and kill them. The serial killers that are in the movies, Norman Bates, Michael Myers, and the evil master mind of SAW, these characters are just that

Jack the Ripper was a serial killer in the United Kingdom in 1888. Why is Jack the Ripper so famous? He was essentially a media star. He is believed to only have 11 victims but, the media is what made him famous throughout England. “All of his victims were alcoholics who turned to prostitution,” says Thomas K. Grose from Time Magazine. Also, the area where Jack the Ripper killed all his victims was well known. It was known as a “hotbed of vice and villainy, and a breeding ground for social unrest.” Jack the Ripper was never found and over the course of these many years there have been hundreds of suspects but nobody has been brought to justice.

A serial killer is traditional defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media.

Serial killers can be defined as a person who kills multiple people over a long period of time. American media spreads stereotypical information about serial killers. The media portrays serial killers as either a monster or a charming guy next door (Forsyth 868). Serial killers cannot be fitted into the medias cookie-cutter definition. Everyone has experienced unique events throughout their life that shapes their personality and serial killers are not an exception. Ronald Dominique, a serial killer suffered a traumatic event while in jail; he was raped, and this event triggered his serial killings. “Serial murderers like those who kill only once, fit into no single profile; and create too wide a burden to be explained with one idea. They do seem to have one similar characteristic –that is; to blend into society and appear normal” (Forsyth 872).

In this paper, I will describe who the Zodiac Killer was, how a serial killer is different from a normal homicide suspect. In addition, I will explain what the Zodiac Killer’s criteria was for selecting his victims and whether forensic psychology or criminal profiling provided input into this case. Finally, I will express my thoughts on why the Zodiac Killer was never captured and what else, if anyhing, could have been done to help find the infamous Zodiac Killer.

Serial killer: A person who attacks and kills victims one by one in a series of incidents.

For instance, the case of the “Green River Killer” (Hickey, 2010:24) may offer another possible explanation for what caused Jack the Ripper to become a serial killer. Gary Ridgway is America’s most notorious serial killer (Hickey, 2010), he “holds the record for the most serial murder convictions in the history of the United States” (Hickey, 2010:24). Ridgway is responsible for the deaths of 48 women (Hickey, 2010). Like Jack the Ripper, Ridgway selected prostitutes as his intended victims (Paley, 1995).

Theodore Bundy is a serial killer well known for his rape, kidnapping, assault, strangulation, decapitation, and necrophilia of young women. His murders span from 1974 to 1978 taking over thirty victims across seven states. Ted Bundy led two lives: one as a law student and volunteer counselor in a rape victim clinic, and the other as a murderer of more than thirty women. Bundy had a chameleonic style that presented a unique form of mental flexibility that certain predatory psychopaths possess.

The thought of murder and serial killers is a frightening topic. It is often wondered what leads these serial killers to doing such dreadful things. After an extensive amount of research done by psychologist it has been determined that they are lead to these horrible acts because of certain personality traits, the way they were raised, and mental illness. First and foremost is the certain personality traits and characteristics these murderers have that could be an indication of their actions. One important characteristic is high intelligence, as many organized serial killers are known to have above average IQs.

Emotional abuse- when a parent or caregiver harms a child’s mental and social development, or causes severe emotional harm, it is considered emotional abuse ("What is Child Abuse")

Findings in this article are designed to ask questions and gain a better understanding of what a serial killers mind is like, why serial killers are so popular in American pop culture and, the basic fascination and interest in serial killer cases and, review basic facts and ideas of how we can stop or try to limit cases of serial killer violence and crime, through studies and research. Covering a range of historical, medical and, scientific views in a wide variety of cases and findings, the goal is to expand on the ideas and theories of what causes people to become serial killers.

Serial killing has been around for a very long time, however not in the same way that it is in today. While in olden times, numerous killed for power, revenge, or to fulfill a blood desire, today, most serial killers utilize their killings as a way to

Thesis statement: Serial Murderers are not just murderers but also victims of the rotten hand they were dealt.

From what I’ve seen throughout my research on the self named “serial killer fandom” there are several different sections of it. The first section i came across was hybristophiliacs people who are interested in the knowledge that their partner has committed a crime, in this case murder. The next section would be people who are close to the community, instead in a community that often has an overlap, I was told that this group refers to themselves as the “true crime community” or TCC for short. The final part that I found is teenage girls, this is the group that this paper will go into the most detail on later in the paper.

Jack the Ripper has become quite a famous man due primarily to his ability to stump Scotland Yard. This legendary serial killer is considered the first serial killer in history or at the very least the first to go uncaught by the police. He was particularly famous because of his ability to taunt Scotland Yard and the fact that he remained at large and to this day has never been