Transcript
Serial murder
By: Alesha Spellman
Killing types
What is serial murder?
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification.
The murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a "cooling off period") between them.
Serial murder profile
Mostly white males with average intelligence
Average age is 29.
Usually from unstable home.
Absence of a loving and nurturing relationship.
Physical ailments or disabilities (head injuries common).
Types of serial murder
Visionary motive type- considered insane or psychotic.
Voices tell them to commit crime (some see visions).
Mission-oriented type- no psychosis, but has a need to rid the outside world of what he considers immoral or unworthy.
Will select a certain group of individuals to kill
Types of serial murders cont.
Thrill-oriented type- for the fun.
Very sadistic and kills for excitement.
Lust killer- sexual killer. Not psychotic. Kills for the pure turn-on.
The amount of pleasure is dependent on the amount of torture. The more heinous the torture, the more aroused they become.
Serial murderers
Serial killers often keep mementos of their victims.
Souvenirs: personal items allow the killer to enjoy the memories of the crime.
A trophy can become something of a shrine
Facts about serial killers
According to the FBI, more than 70% of serial killers experienced problems related to substance abuse. While only a few serial killers were actually addicted to alcohol and substances, many of them encountered them in their youth.
Many serial killers experienced sexually stressful events in childhood.
America’s first serial killer is considered to be Dr. H.H. Holmes, who confessed to 27 murders in the late 1890s. He claimed that he could not help the fact that he was “a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing.”
More facts
Almost all serial killers admit that they started by acting out their fantasies on small animals before they moved to humans and that animal torture brought them a great source of pleasure. Given that most serial killers are from dysfunctional families, such pathological and abnormal behavior may be ignored.
Former FBI special agent robert K. Ressler (1937–2013) is the man credited with coining the term “serial killer” in 1971
Many serial killers report having an abnormally strong sex drive and many fantasized about dead women rather than living ones.
The Psychological Phases of Serial Killers
Aura phase:
in which there is a withdrawal from reality and a heightening of the senses. This phase may last anywhere from several moments to several months and can begin as a prolonged fantasy, which may have been active for a short time or for years.
Trolling phase:
consists of the behavior patterns that a particular killer uses to identify and stalk his victim.
Rolling phase:
consists of the behavior patterns that a particular killer uses to identify and stalk his victim.
Psychological phases cont.
Totem phase:
After the kill, murderers sink into a depression, so many develop a ritual to preserve their "success." This is why some killers keep news clippings, photographs, and parts of the victims' bodies, or eat parts of the victims, wear their skin, or show parts of victims' bodies to later victims.
Depression phase:
A victim, now killed, no longer represents what the killer thought he or she represented, and the memory of the individual that tortured the murderer in the past is still there
Henry Lee Lucas
Henry Lee Lucas
The convicted killer who 18 years ago confessed to killing his mother and hundreds of other unsolved murders and then recanted
Died in prison when he was 64 from a heart attack.
Ted Bundy
Mother was only 22 years old when she had Ted Bundy.
He was adopted by his grandparents.
He was told his mother was his sister.
Around age 3, he became fascinated with knives
Early years:
Ted Bundy
Middle-age years:
Ted fell in love with a wealthy, pretty, and young woman from California.
But their breakup devastated him, so he managed to start his spree of raping and then beating his victims to death.
Most of his victims after the the break up resembled his college girlfriend.
Bundy moved to Utah in the fall of 1974 to attend law school, and women began disappearing there as well.
In 1975, Bundy was arrested in the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch, one of the few women to escape his clutches. He was convicted and received a one-to-fifteen-year jail sentence in that case.
He decided to act as his own lawyer in this case. During a trip to the courthouse library, Bundy jumped out a window and made his first escape. He was captured eight days later.
Ted Bundy
Later years:
In December 1977, Bundy escaped from custody again. He climbed out of a hole he made in the ceiling of his cell and even dropped more than 30 pounds to fit through the small opening. Authorities did not discover that Bundy was missing for 15 hours, giving the serial killer a big head start on the police. He eventually made his way to Tallahassee, Florida.
Bundy moved to Utah in the fall of 1974 to attend law school, and women began disappearing there as well.
In the end, he had admitted to thirty-six killings, but experts believe that the final tally may be closer to one hundred.
On January 24, 1989, Bundy met his fate at the Florida State Prison. He was put to death around 7 a.m. that morning in an electric chair.
References:
https://www.factretriever.com/serial-killer-facts
http://www.biography.com/people/ted-bundy-9231165
http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/types-of-serial-killers/
