Serial Murders In The United States

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,

Los Angeles, California went through a time period where serial killings happened and the suspect was on the run for over two decades. Most of the victims were prostitutes in South Los Angeles. The serial killer began his killings in 1987, apparently stopped for 13 years then resumed with his killings. The killer left little to no evidence, besides his DNA from sexually assaulting his female victims. For decades LAPD failed to find the killer or anyone who was related to him (Dolan & Landsberg, 2010).

Due to today’s advanced media technology, we as a society are more aware and instantly informed about mass murders and serial killers. There is a difference between a mass murderer and a serial killer, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, statistics Bureau. (“Mental Floss”, 2008). A “mass

Serial killings/murders/homicides has been a topic of fascination since even before the. Today, news and media, the psychological field, and the criminal justice field find serial killings intriguing because of the abnormality and unlikelihood of a serial homicide occurring and being linked to one person. Serial homicides are known to be multiple killings by the same killer over a time period- varies from months to years. “ INSERT BOOK DEFINITION” Some of the most infamous serial killers known today are Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, the Zodiac killer, and Jeffrey Dahmer. All of whom are white males between the age of 20-45 and who presented themselves as a normal person; living a double life. Serial killers are hard to identify they present to be normal people, some married or in a relationship, loving, and show no out of the ordinary behavior to those who interact with them. Serial Killers I. Subtypes, patterns, and motives by Laurence Miller, states that the most common characteristics and description of serial killers are known to be white males between the ages of 20-40, are charming, smart, and hold a stabled home. ( INSERT page number CITATION) The main victims of male serial murderers are mainly white young female girls mainly because of a killers compulsive and predatorily fetish based motive to act out sexual fantasies. ( INSERT CITATION) Serial killers: I. Many male serial killers like Ted Bundy, stab and strangle / suffocate

In society, many people have several questions about serial killers, some questions they confer are: how do these individuals have the mind set to kill people and why they take part in what they do. What do you think creates these killers? Some factors that researchers have paired to the making of a serial killer are parents and the, mental illness that comes with this. Many serial killers are in every state around the world and are both sexes. Serial killers are considered a serial killer once they have killed two or more people. The definition of 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. In 2005 statistics show that there are 4,007 killings in the world. 2,715 of these killers are from the United States. The remaining 1,292 killers are from other countries.

The only reason these movies even sell is because of the stars you make serial killers out to be. While these movies are interesting and intriguing, it is not okay to capitalize off the crimes of serial killers. The only thing productions inspired by serial killers leads to is the serial killer gaining more confidence and publicity. A few years ago, Stephen King produced a movie based on Dennis Rader and his family (Wenzl). Rader’s daughter, Kerri Rawson, finally sat down for an interview when she heard the news. Rawson seemed to show no pity for her father, and she feels King’s movie is “exploiting her family (Wenzl).” She also added, “He’s only going to give my father a big head, and her absolutely does not need that (Wenzl).” These producers do not realize how they are affecting the serial killers family when they make these productions. Rawson felt that you were relentless after her father was arrested (Wenzl). Lowering the excitement around serial killers will cause a major deficit in crime drama production. Although this result will leave many people unhappy, it will provide comfort for the families of many serial

killers are given this title because “there are at least three or four victims and killing takes place across different time frames” whereas non-serial sexual killlers are “those where there are one or two victims” (Carter & Hollin, 2010, p.26). Serial sexual killers have the following characteristics: they are more likely to have suffered from problems in childhood, there was a greater prevalence of compulsive masturbation, daydreams and cruelty to animals; are more likely to disclose fantasy and more likely to have a stranger victim; and have of fantasies of murder or sexual assault (Carter & Hollin, 2010). Carter and Hollin (2010) made an interesting

Believe it or not in the 1980 there were the most known serial killers in the United States with 680 known killers. Today it is estimated that there are more than 2,625 serial killers in the United States, and over 1,088 male and 162 known female serial killers incarcerated or still continuing their sprees Victims in Missouri alone there have been more than 293 cases in the history of the state (“Serial Killer Statistics”). So needless to say that there are still a lot of serial killers at large, but a lot goes into the making of a serial

To give some insight into the scale of the problem posed by the serial killer, in the United States can be gained from examining the statistics for just one year. In 1989 (the last year for which detailed figures are available) there were 21,500 recorded homicides, of which some 5,000 are unsolved. Unofficial sources believe that as many as a hundred serial killers may be at large at any given time. Add to this the number of known victims of serial killers, then between 3,500 and 5,000 people are killed by serial murderers every year. (Lane and Gregg 3)

Another aspect that “created” serial killers is childhood trauma. Studies from Aynesworth 1999 have revealed that 35% of serial killers witnessed sexual abuse, 43% of serial killers were sexually abused and 42% of serial killers actually suffered from physical abuse as children. The serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, or also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal had been sexually molested by someone living in the neighbourhood at age 8.

In order to explain how a serial killer is different than a normal homicide is to first understand how a serial killer operates. On December 20, 1968, in the sleepy town of Benecia, California the murders of a teenage couple were discovered in an area called “lover’s lane” off Lake Herman Road. The victims, Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday, were shot while parked in their car around 11:10pm. Investigators collected shell casings and other evidence from the scene, but after several months they still did not have any witnesses or suspects. Then on July 4, 1969, a second young couple were attacked by a gunman while in their car parked at Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo; about 10 miles northwest of the Benecia murders. The female victim Darlene Ferrin died from her wounds, but Michael Mageau who was shot in the leg, neck and jaw survived and was able to tell the police what had occurred, along with a brief description of the gunman. Later, the gunman phoned the Vallejo Police Department

Serial sexual murderers represent a small proportion of serial murderers. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), serial homicides account for no more than one percent of all murders committed in the U.S. Based on recent FBI crime statistics, there are approximately 15,000 murders annually (i.e. 150 victims of serial murder per year) in the United States. The FBI estimates that there are 25 to 50 serial killers operating throughout the U.S. at any given time (U.S. Government, 2008). Of all serial murderers, 60% are sexual murderers (Geberth, 1995). Therefore, serial sexual murderers are responsible for nearly 20% of all sexual murder victims (i.e. 42 victims per year). Since serial sexual murderers kill an average of ten victims each, they account for

Before we can take on the definitions of serial murder and mass murder, we must 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 (4). 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 mid-1970s by Robert Ressler, the former director of the FBI 's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. He chose the name “serial killer” because authorities in England called these types of murders “crimes in a series” (Freeman, 2007). John Wayne Gacy, known as the “Killer Clown,” who tortured, raped and murdered 33 men between 1972 and 1978 is an example of a serial killer. On the other hand, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location in which a number of victims are killed by an individual (2). An example of a mass murder would be the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh, in which 168 people were killed. While serial murder has a definition that contains certain

The twentieth century is marked by several remarkable events, from World War I to World War II, to the cold war and nuclear arms race to a plethora of other distinctive occurrences. This time period, however, possesses a rather gruesome attribute as well. It was in this century, the year of 1970 to be exact, in which the term “serial killer” was first coined. Serial killing ran rampant during the 1900s, riddling each of its decade with bloodshed and horrific methods of murder. Notorious killers, such as Albert Fish and Richard Ramirez, made their debut in this century, brutally and methodically slaughtering innocent victims in the most ghastly ways. The violence via psychopathic murder was so much so during this era that “Serial Killer” became known as the “twentieth century bogeyman.”

As times have changed, technology has become more advanced. In many ways, it has changed the way people have lived. Technology is supposed to make life easier and better, and it has done that, but it has also cut down on then number of serial killers. Since the advancement of technology, the number of serial killers has declined. Serial killers are most likely to get caught sooner, and less likely to kill more. In 1980 serial killing was at an all time high, but by the 2000s it has dropped greatly (Racine). Various factors have changed that, but technology may be a big part of that.