A serial killer is a person whom everybody knows as a friend, a lover or even a father but no one knows about his killer instinct until it’s to late. Serial killers have plagued this country and others for many years. They are hard to find and virtually undetectable until they start murdering the innocent. Serial killers are usually young, white males who are quite intelligent and often come from broken homes. They may have been abused either physically or sexually during childhood and they have serious personality defects, such as low self-esteem and a lifelong sense of loneliness.
Although no two serial killers are alike, they all fit this description somewhat. In the sixth edition of Crime and Criminality by Sue Titus Reid, a serial killer is defined as a person who commits more than one murder but at different times (Reid, p. 134). Serial killers have been around for decades but According To Jack Levin, “seven of the ten largest mass killings in American history have taken place in the last decade (Douglas, p. 137). One of the most popular and well-known serial killers in history was Ted Bundy.
He was convicted of killing three women but is suspected of killing thirty-six other women (Douglas, p. 137). So what makes a serial killer? Levin points out that contrary to popular belief, serial killers don’t just “snap” or “go crazy” (Douglas, p. 137). Many of the serial killers have been the victims of childhood abuse. Jack Levin stated “Research shows many serial killers suffered abuse, incest or neglect as children and develop poor self images” (Douglas, p. 137). Serial killers often have a childhood marked by the absence of any nurturing relationship.
They often come from families where the parents were absent or ineffective, where authority was not defined, and where they could engage in destructive behavior undeterred-violent play, cruelty to animals, and incidents of arson being some of the childhood behavior patterns noted among many serial killers” (Clark, p. 206). A serial killer’s murdering spree is methodical and extremely well planned, and the motive usually is to get even (Douglas, p. 137). A serial killer often plans his crimes extremely carefully. He looks for a certain type of victim based on lifestyle, age, appearance or occupation (Clark, p. 206).
As a way of gaining the victim’s confidence and avoiding the use of force to abduct the victim, the serial killer may use a pseudorelationship (Clark, p. 206). After he gets the victim’s trust he persuades them to do things that they normally wouldn’t do with a stranger and that is when he strikes. Psychologists classify a serial murder as sociopath because they continue to murder over a period frequently shows sociopath tendencies (Clark, p. 206). Two FBI agents conducted a study of serial killers over an eight-year period and came up with two distinct types of personalities, the organized and the disorganized serial killer (Clark, p. 6).
An organized killer will most likely be a highly intelligent, skilled, socially competent individual who plans his crimes carefully (Clark, p. 206). Most of the men during this eight-year study had an average IQ of 115, with some ranging as high as 145 (Casey, p. 80). Disorganized serial killers are almost a complete opposite of organized serial killers. “They are of average or below average intelligence and are socially and sexually incompetent” (Clark, p. 206). They are often the youngest or younger children in the family. They were abused or very sternly disciplined during their childhood.
The disorganized murders are usually in an anxious state during the crime. They rarely use alcohol or drugs before or during an offense and are experienced minimal stress beforehand. They live alone, usually near the crime scene. They do not follow news accounts of the crime and do not move around in an effort to escape detention (Markowitz, p. 3). The disorganized killer is often spontaneous and his murders are often unplanned. “These types of killers are usually caught more quickly because they leave behind the most evidence often including the murder weapon” (Markowitz, p. .
Research shows that nearly all of the serial killers targeted women and the murders tended to have a sexual aspect to them. Most serial killers have overactive fantasy lives and their deeds fuel their fantasies. “If no suitable “victim of opportunity” is found during a serial killer’s hunt, the killer might return to the scenes of previous abductions, murders or disposal sites, seeking fuel for their fantasies” (Stalking evil, p. 85). The murder in itself is relatively quick and the killer may use excessive assault to the face to try to depersonalize himself with the victim.
The victim is often blindfolded or restrained. There is usually a series of assaultive acts against the victim resulting in death. After their death, the victim’s body is hidden, the evidence carefully disposed of, and the killer may carry the murder weapon with him to use again in other murders. “Disembowlment or mutilation of the face, genitals or breasts are often hallmarks of disorganized killer, who leaves a sloppy crime scene with blood and flesh scattered about” (Stalking evil, p. 85). A serial killer may take “souvenirs” of “trophies” to keep the high of the kill for a prolonged period or until their next kill.
These trophies may consist of victim’s underpants, jewelry, credit cards or even body parts. The more sadistic of the killers who may use a video camera to tape their victims so that they can relay them to relive the crime over and over again in their minds. “The anger of a serial killer usually surfaces when the killer is in his mid to late 20’s and the first murder is usually the result of a “precipitating stressor” some event that pushes him over the edge” (Clark, p. 206). Mass killers tend to be white, middle class, middle aged males.
After they kill their first victim, they may experience some remorse but after they kill again their remorse dwindles and they enjoy the kill and the high that goes along with it. Once the murder hunt begins, it never ends until the killer is caught, letting him operate for years without being detected. No one knows what causes these men to kill, they don’t know themselves. Jack Levin notes “the mass killer may be depresses, disillusioned, despondent, or desperate, during the kill but afterwards act like nothing has ever happened” (Douglas, p. 137).
A serial killer may have a fascination with law enforcement. Some serial killers will get involved in an investigation by going to bars where cops gather to try to overhear the cases details, some may monitor the investigation of their own crimes and some give bogus to throw off police (Clark, p. 206). When they are part of their own investigation, it allows them to keep extending control over their deed. Jack Levin stated “Afterwards knowing they’ve gotten away with the crime and they’ve left no evidence-that’s like earning their Bachelor of Science degree” (Douglas, p. 137).
Serial murderers have a great need for dominance and control, which they satisfy by taking the last breath from their victims. Very few will use a gun because they want physical contact with the victim. Serial killers know what they’re doing is wrong; they simply do not care (Douglas, p. 137). Levin is quoted as saying “They do not have a defect of the mind, they have a defect of the character. They are not mad, they are bad. They are not crazy, they are crafty. They are not sick, they are sickening” (Douglas, p. 137).
Authorities say sexual problems are a shard characteristic among serial killers (Reid, p. 4). Serial killers often have a childhood marked by absence of any nurturing relationships (“Stalking evil”, p. 85). Based on their interviews, the author of “The Grim Face of Death” says a serial killer may be a first or second born child. His father was a good provider, but during childhood, he was inconsistently disciplined. A serial killer may live with someone, but that someone is usually unaware of his activities (Clark, p. 206). “These are two types of multiple homicides. First are the mass killings often in the news.
Here the individual kills a number of within a short period. Serial killings differ in that instead of a violent outburst, the murderer kills one victim at a time over a period of days, weeks, years, and even decades” (Douglas, p. 137). Ted bundy is probably one of the most famous serial killers in American history. “Ted Bundy was born to a prim, modest department store clerk, the eldest of three daughters in the family of a Philadelphia nurseryman. On November 24, 1946 Ted Bundy was born to Louise Cowell, Bundy’s father left his mother when he found out she was pregnant.
Just before his fourth birthday, Ted and his mother left Philadelphia to join her uncle and his family in Tacoma, Washington” (Michaud and Ayensworth Hugh, p. 99). Bundy’s mother later married John Culpepper Bundy and that’s how Ted got his last name. Ted didn’t like his new stepfather but to his mother John was the whole world. Ted did anything he could to upset his stepfather. For instance, Ted became friends with a black kid that lived down the street because his stepfather was prejudice (Michaud and Ayensworth Hugh, p. 99).
When Ted was about eight years old his mother gave birth to a boy, Glenn, then to a daughter, Sandra in 1965 and finally to Richard in 1961 (Michaud & Ayensworth Hugh, p. 99). Ted was just like any other boy. He daydreamed of being adopted by movie cowboy Roy Rogers and having his own pony. He was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout, ran the low hurdles on the junior high track team and was graduated from high school and lacked self confidence, but few friends he had then were fond of him. Ted Bundy was not a man who didn’t have anything going for him.
At age 25, Bundy had received a BA in psychology and served as a campaign aid to Washington’s governor, Dan Evans. Bundy as educated, articulate, likable, witty and industrious, a politically active young lawyer in the making (Markowitz, p. 3). Not long after a wealthy sweetheart broke off with him, young attractive women in the Seattle area began turning up as mangled corpses in remote wooded areas (Michaud & Ayensworth Hugh, p. 99). Since Bundy was a very intelligent he used to trick the women he captured to accompany him to where ever he wanted them to.
He would show up on college campuses and would put his arm in a sling and ask young women to help carry books to his car (Michaud & Ayensworth Hugh, p. 99). Bundy’s victims were innocent, trusting young ladies who fit the ideal of the girl next door. His first victim, 21 year old Lynda Ann Healy, was an accomplished singer, she had a sweet voice, wide set blue eyes, shoulder length brown hair and an even smile. She was a senior psychology major at the University of Washington; she wanted to become a teacher (Michaud & Ayensworth Hugh, p. 99).
She was the type of girl that Bundy thrived on killing, pretty, young and outgoing. Bundy was only convicted of murdering three girls, Lisa Levy, 20, Margaret Bowman, 21, and the youngest of all his victims Kimberly Leach, 12. Although Bundy was only convicted of those three murders he is suspected of killing almost 30 other women from three different states, Washington, Utah, and Colorado (Michaud & Ayensworth Hugh, p. 99). His victims were mostly in their lower 20’s. On August 16, 1975, Bundy finally made a mistake. It was in Granger, Utah.
A Utah State policeman was going home from the night shift when he saw a man parked in a Volkswagen. It moved away, headlights off. The trooper caught up at a gas station. The driver, Bundy, said he had lost his way after watching “The Towering Inferno” at a drive-in theater. “The Towering Inferno” wasn’t playing there, the trooper knew. He wondered why a law student, dressed all in black, was lurking in Granger in the middle of the night. In Bundy’s car, police found a crowbar, an ice pick, handcuffs; pantyhose made into a mask and strips of cloth torn from a bed sheet.
Bundy was charged with evading an officer and possession of burglary tools. He laughed it off, but it was the end. Soon he was charged with kidnapping and telephone operator in Murray. He became publicly known as a suspect in the Utah disappearances and Washington disappearances (Markowitz, p. 3). The true definition of a serial killer is a person who commits more than one murder but at different times (Reid, p. 34). “Recent studies of serial murderers have refocused attention on the sociopath” (Reid, p. 134).
People who continue to murder over a period of time frequently show sociopath tendencies. Serial killer’s have little self-esteem and a sociopath’s inability to feel other people’s pain or sorrow for any wrongful acts that they have committed (Casey, p. 80). Levin points out that all told about 500 people die a year at the hand of a serial killer. This is quite small compared to the 23, 000 single victim homicides a year (Douglas, p. 137). These 500 victims don’t seem to be a lot but to those 500 victims families they are 500 murders to many.
In conclusion, serial killers might be anyone in particular; you will never know where they are lurking around. They have been around for a long time and mostly all of them are hard to find. It even takes some police months to years to even get clues to where they might be and when they do find them they just hope to catch them before they flee. When they finally get convicted, Douglas believes that serial killers can’t be rehabilitated if they show no remorse or sorrow for their acts and until a serial killer can show some kind of sorrow for their acts. It is then that someone can finally help them.
