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Source: Dennis Rader Mugshot All serial killers have a compulsion to kill but their individual motivations vary. Some killers are driven by hedonistic lust.
Others are motivated by greed or needs. Perhaps the most common type of serial killer is the power/control killer. Classic examples of this type include Gary Ridgway, John Wayne Gacy, and Dennis Rader. The primary of these serial killers is to control and dominate their victims. They enjoy the process of murder. That is, they enjoy stalking, capturing and torturing their prey.
They find it sexually arousing but the act of murder is normally the most satisfying and final expression of their power and control over their victims. They are patient and they kill their victims slowly in order to prolong their own sadistic pleasure. Such behavior is empowering because the killer gets to decide when, how and under what circumstances his victims will die. Dennis Rader (aka “Bind, Torture, Kill” or BTK) is a leading example of this type of serial killer. In a twisted mind such as that of BTK, prolonged torture and killing can become the only means to quench his otherwise insatiable thirst for power and control. The story of BTK is incredible. He murdered at least ten people in Wichita, Kansas, over a twenty-year period prior to his capture in 2005.
He pled and received ten consecutive life sentences. Prior to his arrest, Rader was married for thirty-four years with two children, a Boy Scout leader, employed as a local official and was the president of his church congregation. His alter ego, BTK, on the other hand, was a stone-cold killer who sought power, control, and domination of his victims. The torture of his victims gratified BTK and strangling the life out of them made him feel like God.
Throughout the years that he was committing his murders, Rader lived a remarkably normal looking outward life and he was perceived to be a pillar of his community. Inwardly, however, BTK was secretly satisfying his sexual needs and delaying his compulsion to kill for months and even years at a time through autoerotic combined with in which he relived his murders with the aid of trophies taken from his victims. Power/control killers are frequently stone-cold psychopaths and they fall into the FBI’s 'organized' category of predators because they are meticulous planners, unflappable and patient. Such serial killers are frequently charming, charismatic and intelligent. Many power/control killers sexually assault their victims but, unlike hedonist lust killers, for them, rape is not motivated by lust. Instead, rape is another means of dominating and controlling their victims.
Power/control killers do not necessarily lose interest in their victims after they are dead, as thrill killers such as the Zodiac do. Sometimes, a power/control killer will return to have with the decomposing corpse of a victim long after the murder in order to perpetuate his domination and control of the deceased. Because necrophilia totally eliminates the possibility of unwanted rejection, the power/control killer can return to violate the victim whenever he pleases. This affords a psychopathic serial killer with a tremendous sense of empowerment while avoiding the disturbing prospect of rejection and disappointment by a living person. Voracious postmortem sexual behavior was manifested by Ted Bundy and Ed Kemper, for example, who were both power/control killers.
Many power/control serial killers also keep souvenirs or trophies from their crimes which serve to sustain and refuel their violent and sexual fantasies. When Ted Bundy was asked why he took Polaroid photos of his victims he said, “When you work hard to do something right, you don’t want to forget it.” The former FBI profiler John Douglas has said that keeping mementos from a victim such as a lock of hair, jewelry, ID card or a newspaper clipping of the helps to prolong and even nourish the serial killer’s secret fantasy. In between their murders and while targeting future victims, serial killers often take out their trophies to help them relive past murders through fantasy.
Trophies help a prolific killer such as Bundy to recall each one of his many victims. Similarly, Dennis Rader kept a locked treasure chest of trophies in the basement of his home which helped him to prolong and heighten his autoerotic fantasy life as he recalled each one of his victims. Some serial killers such as Bundy and Gary Ridgway give their trophies such as items of jewelry to a family member or intimate partner. The recipient might be the wife or a girlfriend who was causing the killer psychological pain at the time the trophy was acquired.
Like a cat that catches a mouse and gives the special item to its owner, a serial killer may take a trophy home and present it to his significant other. For example, Ted Bundy would give an item of jewelry to a woman in his life and say, “Look at what I found on the street. I want you to have it.” When the killer later sees the trophy being worn by his wife, girlfriend or mother, it becomes part of his secret game.
He will look at her wearing it and fantasize about the victim he raped and murdered in order to acquire it. Bundy said that in such moments he would think to himself with much delight, “If she only knew that the necklace she is wearing came from someone I murdered.” If you are interested in serial killers, you are not alone. I explore our curious fascination with serial killers in both fact and fiction in my best-selling book.
The FBI estimates that there is anywhere between 25-50 active serial killers in the United States at any given time. It’s enough to make you wonder who they might be. Perhaps someone you bumped into on the street? Maybe a neighbor, a coworker or even family member – wouldn’t you like to know the tell-tale signs so you could avoid them at all costs? While not all serial killers possess the same traits, have similar backgrounds, lifestyles or motives, there are several common denominators:.
Mental Illness/Psychopathy. Victims of emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Fetishism, partialism or necrophilia. Fascination with fire setting. Sadistic childhood activity like torturing animals Just note, however, that having one of these traits doesn’t inevitably necessitate you’re a serial murderer, but you might want to consider seeking professional help. There is no infallible equation or formula for making a serial killer, but we have a rough idea of how they tick.
Examples Of Mission Oriented Serial Killers
Based on motivations for killing, there are four basic types: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic and power/control seekers. There can be overlap, of course, depending on the killer. The visionary generally suffers from a severe mental disorder and has lost touch with reality. They have delusions and hallucinations that compel them to murder. Sometimes they believe they were only doing what God or the Devil told them to do.
The “Son of Sam” is a classic example of a visionary demon-mandated serial killer. He believed a demon spoke through his neighbor’s dog and ordered him to kill. Mission-oriented serial killers, on the other hand, are not typically considered psychotic. They target people they deem undesirable and feel it’s their justifiable duty to eliminate them.
With that said, victims are usually individuals from different religions and ethnic or racial groups. However, mission-oriented serial killers have also been known to murder based on sexual orientation and occupation; homosexuals and prostitutes have been targeted by this type of killer.
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A hedonistic serial killer is the type you’d expect to see in a psychological thriller or horror movie. They take pleasure in killing and are capable of doing really heinous things to their victims. There are three subcategories of this type killer: thrill, lust and comfort killers. Thrill killers get an adrenaline rush from inducing fear and pain.
They live for the hunt and kill and many strive to commit the perfect murder, meaning they are able to go without killing for long periods of time and tend to refine their methods. For lust killers, fantasy is the key factor in their killings, and they get a rise out of torturing and mutilating their victims. The comfort killer murders for material gain and often has previous convictions for theft, fraud, embezzlement or other related crimes. Hitmen, for example, are sometimes considered comfort killers.
The primary motive for a power/control-oriented serial killer is self-explanatory. To overcome feelings of powerlessness or inadequacy, such killers murder to exert power and dominance over their victims. While this type often also sexuallyabuses their victims, it is not motivated by lust. Often, power/control-oriented serial killers were victims of sexual abuse themselves.
Despite popular belief that serial killers have an above average IQ, studies actually suggest, minus a few exceptions, that serial killers tend to have an average or low-average IQ. Out of a sample size of 202 individuals, 89 was their median IQ. Still, a low IQ is little comfort to anyone who might cross their paths. As for what makes a serial killer, it’s hard to say. There are theories suggesting that damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, the part responsible for planning, motivation and decision-making, may be a trigger for murderous tendencies. Chromosomal abnormalities and mental illness may be another possibility.
However, the most common denominator found in serial killers relates to childhood development and trauma. Many came from broken homes caused by divorce, separation, a lack of discipline or an absent parent. A number of them were victims of physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse and neglect. Without support from others and positive relationships,a child is unlikely to recover from in a positive way, but thankfully, most people who’ve experienced childhood trauma do not grow up to be serial killers.
If there is an “X” factor in the making of a serial killer, we don’t know it yet. They could be anybody. Haven’t reached your daily quota of serial killer stories? Check out the Parcast podcast drama series Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories at parcast.com. It’s a modern twist on old time radio that delves into the mystery of true cold cases and unsolved murders.
Majority are single, white males - Often intelligent, yet often do poorly in school, have trouble holding down jobs, and tend to work menial jobs - Typically abandoned by their fathers and raised by domineering mothers - Families often have criminal, psychiatric, and alcoholic histories - Mistrustful of their parents, commonly abused as children - Many have records of early psychiatric problems - Higher rates of suicide attempts - Fascinated with fire starting - Involved in tormenting small animals.
Source: There are number of theories regarding the motivations of serial killers. Perhaps the most widely accepted and most comprehensive involves a four-fold typology of serial homicide developed by criminologists Ronald Holmes, Stephen Holmes and James De Burger (1).
Based on in-depth interviews with a number of incarcerated serial killers, these criminologists concluded that serial killers are generally either act-focused or process-focused. In the case of act-focused killers, who typically kill quickly, the motive for murder is the act itself. Within the act-focused group, there are two different types: visionary killers and mission-oriented killers. Process-focused serial killers, on the other hand, derive satisfaction from the torture and prolonged suffering of their victims, so they typically kill slowly. Within the process-focused group, there are two types: hedonists and power/control killers.
Hedonistic serial killers are thrill seekers who derive immense pleasure from their murderous exploits. Additionally, there are three sub-types of hedonists: lust, thrill and comfort/gain killers. The second type of process-focused serial killer—that is, power/control killers—are highly organized and primarily motivated by dominating and controlling their victims. Let’s take a closer look at power/control killers. They are perhaps the most common of all serial killers and classic examples of this type include Gary Ridgway, John Wayne Gacy (The Killer Clown) and Dennis Rader (Bind, Torture, Kill or BTK). Such predators often use pain as a method of control and torture as a ritualistic token of it.
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The primary of these serial killers is to control and dominate their victims. They enjoy torturing their prey and find it sexually arousing but the act of murder is normally the most satisfying and final expression of their power and control over their victims. They are patient and they kill their victims slowly in order to prolong their own sadistic pleasure. Such behavior is empowering because the killer gets to decide when, how and under what circumstances his victims will die. Dennis Rader is a leading example of this type of serial killer. In a twisted mind such as that of BTK, prolonged torture and killing can become the only means to quench his otherwise insatiable thirst for power and control.
Power/control killers are frequently stone-cold psychopaths and they fall into the FBI’s organized category of predators because they are meticulous planners, unflappable and patient. Such serial killers are frequently charming, and intelligent. Many power/control killers sexually assault their victims but, unlike hedonist lust killers, for them rape is not motivated by lust. Instead, rape is another means of dominating and controlling their victims. Also, power/control killers do not necessarily lose interest in their victims after they are dead, as thrill killers do. Sometimes, a power/control killer will return to have with the decomposing corpse of a victim long after the murder in order to perpetuate his domination and control of the deceased.
Because necrophilia totally eliminates the possibility of unwanted rejection, the power/control killer can return to violate the victim whenever he pleases. This affords a psychopathic serial killer with a tremendous sense of empowerment while avoiding the disturbing prospect of rejection and disappointment by a living person. Voracious postmortem sexual behavior was manifested by Ted Bundy and Ed Kemper (The Co-ed Killer), for example, who were both power/control killers.
I examine the public’s intense fascination with notorious, psychopathic and deadly serial killers in my book. 1) Holmes, R.M. And Holmes, S.T. Serial Murder, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Scott Bonn is professor of sociology and criminology at Drew University. He is available for expert consultation and media commentary.
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Follow him @DocBonn on and visit his website docbonn.com.
The Serial Killer A Closer Look at the Mind of a Serial Killer Ted Bundy, Edward Kemper, Anders Behring Breivik, Jeffrey Dahmer and Aileen Wuornas - all of these famous individuals were serial killers except for one. Can you guess which one? There are numerous definitions for the term, but generally a serial killer is described as someone who has killed three or more individuals and the murders took place on separate occasions, meaning there is cooling off period between each of the killings.
At a Serial Killer Symposium organized by the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), the following definition for 'serial murder' was created: 'The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events'. That brings us back to our question: Which of those famous aforementioned murderers is not a serial killer? The answer is Anders Behring Breivik, who in 2011 killed 77 people - eight via car bomb in Oslo and 69 on Utoya Island by embarking on a shooting rampage. Since the murders all took place on the same day, and considered part of a single event, Breivik is considered a spree killer.
So how does an individual become a serial killer and forge a lifestyle that revolves around murder? 'Serial murderers, like all human beings, are the product of their heredity, their upbringing, and the choices they make throughout development,' states the BAU.
But psychiatrists, law enforcement, lawyers and behavioral analysts have not figured out the entire formula that equates to serial murdering. The BAU adds, 'Since it is not possible to identify all of the factors that influence normal human behavior, it similarly is not possible to identify all of the factors that influence an individual to become a serial murderer'.
Indicators It is a myth that serial killers are necessarily geniuses. While noteworthy murderers like Ted Kaczynski, Edward Kemper and Ted Bundy had above average IQs, others like Donnie Gene Craig, Simon Pirela, and John Staffen had below average IQs. A traumatic upbringing may be a factor in someone becoming a serial killer, although many people who grow up in an abusive environment do not become murderers. According to Dr. Mike Aamodt (Radford University), it was found in 2005 that 36% percent of serial killers had been physically abused (compared to 6% reported by the overall study subjects), 26% had been sexually abused (compared to 3%) and 50% had been psychologically abused (compared to 2%). Henry Lee Lucas, who was convicted of 11 murders but at one time confessed to 600 murders (believed to be a hoax), had a very traumatic upbringing.
When he was only three years old, his mother made him watch her have sex with several different partners. At age ten, his mother's boyfriend demonstrated to him how to kill and have sex with animals. A Closer Look - Categories Based on Motive: Visionary: These serial killers generally suffer from a form of psychosis where their delusions or hallucinations command them to kill. Herbert Mullin is an example of a visionary serial killer who believed voices told him to kill in order to prevent an earthquake.
He also burned his penis with a cigarette because voices told him to do so. Power/Control: These serial killers murder due to the satisfaction they gain of having complete power over their victims.
Sex is often part of this type of serial murder. Ted Bundy, who confessed to murdering 30 women (as well as kidnapping, raping, mutilating and having sex with them after they were dead), is an example of a power/control serial killer. Mission: Mission serial killers murder because they are motivated to seek revenge or eliminate a particular group of people.
Four Types Of Serial Killers
Their motives are generally not created out of psychosis. Carroll Edward Cole is an example. His mission was to kill women who cheated on their partners and he killed at least 13 women who had sex with him. Hedonistic: Hedonistic serial killers are driven by the thrill/rush, lust/sexual pleasure or gain (such as financial) brought on by murder. 'Killing is an eroticized experience fueled by the linking of sex and violence in the developmental history of the offender,' writes Jacqueline B. Helfgott (in her book Criminal Behavior - Theories, Typologies and Criminal Justice).
Black widows fit into this category, such as Lydia Trueblood who killed five husbands and her baby daughter. Jeffrey Dahmer is another example of a hedonistic serial killer.
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His crimes involved the murder of 17 young men and boys coupled with rape and necrophilia. The FBI's BAU describes other possible motives for serial killing including a person's ideology and their affiliation with organized crime. The BAU adds that law enforcement, such as detectives and crime scene investigators, should not dwell on one possible motivation type, since a serial killer's can have multiple motives which also can evolve and change over time. 'The classification of motivations should be limited to observable behavior at the crime scene,' adds the BAU'. Are All Serial Killers Psychopaths? Serial killers differ from one another in various ways such as by their MO (method of operation or modus operandi), their motivation and personality disorder. While not all serial killers are psychopaths, the FBI's BAU Symposium discussed that several serial killers share psychopathic tendencies.
Psychology Of Serial Killers
These include a fake charm, lack of remorse, little emotion, a tendency to pathologically lie and a grandiose sense of self. Not all psychopaths become serial killers and serial killers may possess a few or many of the items on Dr. Robert Hare's Psychopathy Check List.
Case Study - The 'Green River Killer' Between 1982 and 1998, he picked up young women (many of them alleged prostitutes or runaways) had sex with them, strangled them and hid their bodies away in forests and other remote areas around King County, Washington. At first, he would return to their bodies and have sex with them again; then, he began to bury the victims as a means to resist his temptations for necrophilia. The first five women who lost their lives to his hands were found in and around the Green River. Gary Leon Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer, has the most murder convictions of any serial killer in the United States. As of February 2011, Ridgway pled guilty to his 49th count of murder in the killing of 20-year old Rebecca Marrero back in 1982. Just recently (June 18, 2012), the remains of Sandra Denise Major were identified and tied to Ridgway.
In exchange for a sentence of life in prison without any possibility of parole, rather than the death penalty, Ridgway made a deal that he would confess to all his murders and lead law enforcement to their remains; so far he's admitted to killing at least 70 young girls (some sources say 71). In 1983-84, Ridgway became a suspect for the Green River killings since a witness saw one of the victims, Marie Malvar, struggling with him in his truck.
(He also had a criminal record for soliciting prostitutes). But, in 1984, Ridgway passed a polygraph test. Sheriff, formerly detective, Dave Reichert was on the Green River Killer case from the beginnings until Ridgway was arrested in 2001 due to DNA evidence linking him to four victims. Reichert and his fellow investigators described the Green River Killer as a pathological liar, who wanted to be the center of attention, to be in control and who took pride in his 'career' of strangling women. Reichert added, 'there's no remorse. He doesn't have any feelings toward anybody, his family included,' as reported by The New York Times in 2003. According to 'The Role of Psychology and Geography in the Green River Murders' by Sean M.
Cramer, Ridgway fits the power/control category of serial killer, characterized by experiencing sexual gratification from overpowering his victims. However, Jacqueline B. Helfgott states that the Green River Killer fits the mission serial killer mould, characterized by the desire to seek revenge against a particular type of person (i.e. Prostitutes that reminded him of his mother). In the case of Ridgway, the hedonist typology of serial killer must also be considered since sex was a consistent part of his MO. Cramer describes Ridgway's relationship with his mother: 'Ridgway's mother was a very dominant figure that cruelly punished him for his shortcomings and made it clear that she was disappointed in him.
LaBrode (2007) states that Ridgway's mother abused him physically and verbally' Numerous sources say that Ridgway was sometimes sexually aroused by his mother (she would dress inappropriately in front of him and possibly sexually assaulted him); at other times he was extremely angry with her (he would refer to her as a 'whore'). Additionally, his interactions with his father may explain why Ridgway engaged in necrophilia. According to Cramer, his dad, who worked in a mortuary, told him about a staff member who engaged in sexual acts with the corpses. Ridgway was a more prolific serial killer when he was having problems with women in his personal life.
'Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, began his career as a sexual homicide offender after his first divorce, and his offending behavior increased during problematic periods in his relationships with women (e.g., between his first, second, and third marriages),' states Helfgott. See also: - Canada's most prolific serial killer.
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