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What makes a "Serial Killer"?
Posted by m2urray • 5/19/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: advice, cops, detectives, expert, fact, ficton, killers, male, serial, white
I've heard it said that the average serial killer is a white male aged between 18 and 35 years of age.
Many of you will have seen movies about serial killers and they all talk about various things that go in the mix to make up the character of such an individual.
I would like to discuss this as a follow on or aside, if you like, from the great discussion started by "timethief" on the subject of what makes us evil.
Many say a serial killer develops from childhood trauma or some such thing, I would like to find someone or some people out there who are involved in research or have a connection to the subject of serial killers to join our discussion and contibute their expert advice.
After all, it would be great to separate fact from fiction, would it not?
User Comments
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they say that 1 in every 100 people is a psychopath (having no faculty of conscience) but that only a tiny fraction of those are actually violent.
The rest, seemingly, would be well cut out for phone sales/solicitations or other occupations for which having any compuction for one's fellow man would be a hinderance-
that includes thread spammers
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Nobody really knows what turns one person to violence and another away from it. There are plenty of sociopaths and psychopaths who have no empathy for their fellow man but who never cross the line into murder. There are those who have been abused as children in both camps, so that can't be a triggering mechanism.
Also, I think their reasons for killing are varied: some just don't want to leave witnesses behind, others get some kind of thrill (sexual gratification or a feeling of power or both) out of the killing, while others may be doing it for profit...isn't a hit man, at least technically, a serial killer?
The variables are legion and the triggers unknown. Having been married to a sociopath for 13 agonizing years, I just consider them all potentially dangerous and do my best to stay away from them. -
Profiling is a limited subject since it's based on the one's that have been caught. Interview's and hear say. There are serial killers that walk among us for years without ever being caught. Their signature is always altered (meaning, using different ways of killing - knife, hammer, rock, car etc)
Have a look at John Douglas one of the most respected profilers in the nation.
www.johndouglasmindhunter.com/home.php -
I think that a lot of murders are committed on the spur of the moment, a few for the heat of passion and only a couple are planned, thought out murders.
I believe that most murders are chance - such as the perpetrator is in a situation and somehow the victim ends up deceased (such as a robber who is surprised by the victim or the suspects in a robbery just go a step too far and actually pull the trigger.)
In situations where a person plans out the murder - and in fact is a serial murderer - I find that those individuals are usually psychotic or gain pleasure at the pain of others.
Are they created?
Are they just THAT way?
Do they have things happen to them to make them evil?
In my own humble opinion, I think a serial murderer can be created, or is already "that" way.
I believe that there are certain things that can give a person mental health issues (childhood trauma, chemical imbalances, etc.) which can permit them to think that killing someone else - or killing SEVERAL someone else's is ok --- or is a NEED.
Do I think there is a special pattern to it?
NO.
Do I think ALL serial killers had horrid childhoods?
NO.
Do I think there is a way to predict serial killers?
NO.
There may be signs that you could interpret to be signs that should have shown people that there was something wrong - but not all things can be understood UNTIL AFTERWARDS - when it is studied.
I think there are so many factors involved in each mental health issue - that there are NO TEXT BOOK rules.
Why?
Are you thinking of becoming one?
One thing Serial killers lack is the appreciation of life of other human beings - or they have become insane enough to think that their actions are saving someone - or they think that by killing someone else, they are protecting, saving or creating safety for something.
In other words - something is not working in their heads and they are defective.
If you're thinking about doing something like that - turn yourself in and figure out what it is that is wrong.
WW-
Ummm, no I'm not thinking of becoming a serial killer, I have enough trouble working up the courage to swat a fly!
It's just a part of human psychology that interests me as a subject to study. -
LOL!
That's a good thing to hear.
I think a lot of us have the morbid fascination of things like this - and we all wonder if it could be us --- or someone we know.
Murder is a scary thing. To lose life to someone who has no sympathy for life... that is the loss of eternity and understanding.
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childhood trauma
psychopath
depression
mental illness
insane
if you read all the serial killers fact..all the element have in it.Its not suddenly they become the serial killers.cause they think that what they do are right for them..and that's maybe the pleasure to go on and on.. -
wagerwitch,
serial killing is a way of life,
it has nothing to do with murder of passion, or those things you mention.
Just like a mass murderer is different.
m2urry is asking about serial killers.
A guy going postal is not a serial killer.
Ed Gein would be a good example of a serial killer.
And yes, your right, none of the above have any remorse for how they treat human life. It's just that their means and methods are different. -
There was a man found dead in his home in Memphis this morning. He was face down in his bathtub which was filled with milk, corn flakes, and sugar. The preliminary assessment by police suggests that he was murdered by a cereal killer.-
Cute. -
Ha, Ha! Very funny...LOL
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I have a perverse obsession with serial killers. While I am appalled at their actions, I like getting in their heads to see what makes them tick.
I'm sick, I know.-
Me Too
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As I understand it, the theory is that serial killers don't necessarily view other people as as real as they are themselves. That the lack of empathy for others combines with the view that others' needs and rights are not valid in comparison to their own.
This is similar to some personality disorders, like Narcissistic Personality Disorder, (which I've read quite a bit on) but taken even further.
And as far as I know, they're not sure about the causes of some personality disorders and sociopathic behaviors, including things like NPD-- I've read theories that it occurs as a result of a missing emotional connection growing up, or also that it's the self-centeredness of a small child, which the adult can never grow out of. -
"Once I killed five people and then sat in the car with their bodies for two hours not knowing what to do with them. The smell was unbearable."
- Anatoly Onoprienko -
Serial killers seem to view their victims as toys they can play with for their own sexual or emotional gratification. Many of them enjoy the feeling of having complete control over another person, the way an angry child might kick a pet or smash a doll's head in. A god-like feeling of superiority or omnipotence.-
That describes a sociopath or psychopath, some of whom become serial killers, many of whom do not. One need not kill a victim to achieve that god-like feeling of power.
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Ditto
Slapping a wife around will make one feel God like. Or, telling an employer to get coffee. The feelings are much deeper rooted than that.
It's like asking How many people did Hitler kill, by his own hands? Was he a serial killer? No. -
Sicko parents had a hand in it
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What about men who kill their wives simply because they haven't met the right woman yet?-
Well, I guess they wouldn't be considered a serial killer if they only killed ONE of their wives. Now, if they killed more than ONE wife, like Drew Peterson, I suppose then they could be considered a serial killer.
p.s. M2urray looks like he fits the profile he described...hmmm
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To some degree I would expect a serial killer would in some way be experienced in killing, butchering or have some knowledge of anatomy. Hunters, butchers, doctors etc.
Do serial killers show remorse? that could be something they lack which doesnt give them that "off switch" before taking the fantasy of killing to the next level. -
Here's a good source for reference
books.google.com/books?id=hhj70gx9eSIC&dq=%E2%80%98River+of+Blood&printsec=... -
MissSuzie you are not sick for wanting to get inside of their heads and understanding what makes them tick. You probably are like myself and have to know why things happen in our world, including serial killings. If you and others can find out why they act as they do,then you will be doing a great service to all of humankind,so keep on trying to understand them,and hopefully your understanding will help experts find ways of reducing the number of them in our world
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According to FBI profiler, John Douglas, what is the key aspect of a s serial killer's behavior is what has been called a killer's "signature," which has been defined by John Douglas as "a personal detail that is unique to the individual, why he does it: the thing that fulfills him emotionally.John Douglas thinks the killer's signature is a better guide to behavior than his MO (modus operandi) (MO) of the crime. MO includes victim type, how the criminal approached or overcame his victim, tools used, and the time and place that the crime occurred. Douglas believes that while the MO may change as the killer comes up with a better technique, the emotional reason he or she commits the crime does not change.
(source:http://www.deathreference.com/Py-Se/Serial-Killers.html -
OK - after thinking this through:
What makes a Serial Killer?
Lots of Dead Bodies. -
Well at the moment they start at 3 bodies at different times, with a cooling off period. But, it's a blanket label.
An estimate of 2,300 people adult and child are reported missing every day, how many are not? My point, some sexual predators, become killers , so not to leave a witness, while a life long serial killer will get rid of the body, so not to leave any evidence. No body, no case. The mob done it all the time, but they had more than 1 person with that knowledge so bones would turn up. A loner, crossing the country, could prey for years and never be caught.
John Douglas, works with what he has, and his books are filled with great insight. But, Like I said, to some it's a way of life. Some learn to control it and use it when it best serves them. Some, need heavy doses of meds.
www.johndouglasmindhunter.com/home.php
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