As a student, while growing up. I noticed something that affects the world. Serial killers; known to be notorious killers. They kill not just because someone ordered them to. They kill for their own reasons. It really made me curious. Why? What defines a serial killer? What motivates them to kill over and over again? These are some of the questions that are on my mind right now.
While searching it says that there have been approximately more than four hundred serial killers in the US. But there’s no way to know how many serial killers are active at the moment. Knowing those serial killers is that many. It kind of scares me because knowing it makes the world not a safe place.
Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Chase, Andrei Chikatilo, Pedro Alonso Lopez – and the list goes on. These six men that I have mentioned are the infamous serial killers that have been responsible for at least more than twenty deaths.
Serial killer by definition is a person who has killed three or more people with a “cooling-off” period between any of them. They don’t kill continuously; it might even take a month or even a year for a serial killer to kill again. The killer doesn't know who his /her victim is. They attack randomly in different places but it really depends on the killer.
An article of Shanna Freeman with the title of “How Serial Killers Work” with the topic of “Serial Killer Classifications” The article states the types of serial killers. Studying serial killers requires the knowledge of psychology a scientific study of human behaviors and mental functions. In the article the Holmes typology method is mentioned. Holmes typology is based on the obsessive-compulsive characteristics of the serial killers as indicated on the verbal interview data on the reason of why they kill.
There are many reasons why would they kill. It opens my eye to learn more about them. We mustn't judge them yet, we must look at their backgrounds, as well the environment they grew up in. Knowing the world is not perfect, we should try to understand of why they would do that. One of the main reasons is that they had a horrible childhood experience that made them their point-of-view in life change in a wrong way.
In the article “Serial Killer Behavior” was also mentioned. There are two types of serial killers. This is the disorganized killer and organized killer. Most of the serial killers (about 5/6) are organized and their victim count seems to be high. The reason why is because their intelligence is above average. While the disorganized killers are lonely and only kills to express his/her anger. Their IQ is below average and they suffer from mental disorder.
An organized killer plans, fantasize and dreams about the kill before he does it, he will often stalk his victims and will try to learn more about them. He/she already has a clear plan before he/she strikes, not just to attack but also what the killer will do to the victim and what he will do afterwards. (eg. disposing of the body in a different location etc.) A disorganized killer is someone who doesn't have a plan. He/she only kills when he is in the mood and strikes randomly. The killer only has a few ideas of what he will do for the victim, simply doing whatever the killer feels like. Once finished, the killer doesn't have a clear plan for disposing the body, often leaving it someplace that is easy to find or simply dumping it near where he/she killed the victim. Some serial killers display the both characteristic of an organized and disorganized killer. And these types of killers are called "mixed". These are basic classification of both types.
Categories and Attributes of 'how serial killers work'
Disorganized Killer (eg. Ed Gein, Richard Chase)
- Will not attempt to hide the body, bury it etc. Not concerned about its discovery. But they often take anatomical "souvenir"
- Socially awkward
- Does not bring any tools. Only use weapons found at the scene.
- Lives near the scene of the crime
- Does not care for evidence left at the crime scene
Organized Killer (eg. Ted Bundy, John Gacy)
- Will attempt to hide, bury etc. the body. In an attempt to delay discovery.
- Cunning, even charismatic.
- Will bring a "rape kit" (handcuffs, ropes, chloroform etc.)
- Lives far away from the scenes of the crime
- Kill with awareness of evidence (which is destroyed, cleaned etc.)
Knowing more about them will made one realize something about life. Life is not perfect, some struggles every day to live and some enjoys the day being happy. All of us don’t have the same life, everyone is different, and everyone has their own experience. So open your eyes and try to understand what’s around you. Maybe one day we will be able to find the answers that we are looking for.
