Characteristic of serial killer

Serial killers are very well-know people because of their gruesome murders that they commit. One person, whom some may think does not fit that description of a serial killer was Richard Kuklinski. Richard Kuklinski, seen by many people as more of a mobster because of his involvement with the mafia, was indeed a serial killer. Even though he was a hitman, he matched the definition of a serial killer. Serial killers have many motives on why they kill the people they do.

Many serial killers come from a dark childhood where they could have been molested by either a mother or a father and that could lead them on to molest and murder other small children.

A serial killer known as Gary Ridgway killed and murdered over what is to believe seventy eight prostitutes. I was able to look through many articles and background information on many different credible websites.

These sources gave me credible and honest information on how and why Gary Ridgway killed the people he did and why in general serial killers kill the people they do. He was eventually caught and received a death sentence. These were often signed with a smiley face symbol which led to his alias as The Happy Face Killer. The specific criminal behavior I chose is murder, specifically murder committed by serial killers.

A serial killer is defined as someone who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with a cooling off period between murders. In regards to the criminology behind serial killers, the motive is usually based on psychological gratification, but can also include anger thrill, money and attention seeking.

Holmes are still iconic in their own right, though not many people notice it. In television, a character named James March and his hotel are themed after elements of H. Holmes, in both murderous tendencies and a home with traps and death around every corner. Ted Bundy is infamously known as a serial killer, kidnapper, rapist, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered at least thirty women.

His charm, cold-heartedness, deceitfulness, deception, and lack of empathy and remorse qualify him as a pure sociopath. Jeffrey Dahmer is another notorious case of sociopaths.

He was a serial killer, cannibal, and rapist, who was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and psychotic disorder—all of which are subtypes of personality disorders.

Even after his diagnosis, however, the court found him legally sane at his trial. Edmund Kemper was a serial killer who was known for the murdering of his grandparents, his mother and her friend, and six female hitchhikers. During his childhood, there were many early signs of violence and criminality.

Furthermore, Kemper participated in the act of animal torturing at a very young age. The name of my serial killer is Edmund Kemper. He is still alive today. Serial killers often confess once caught to ensure that their names are attached to the atrocities that they have committed.

Not all killers may exhibit antisocial behavior. In fact, many serial killers have been described as charming and charismatic.

Charisma and charm go hand-in-hand with manipulation, and serial killers know this. They know that charming someone will naturally make the other person feel more at ease in their presence and thus become more vulnerable.

Ted Bundy was a notorious charmer in person. Image: Youtube. Charm and charisma can come in all many varieties. While Charles Manson might not have been physically appealing, he had enough charisma to convince a whole group of people to kill for him. This same charm is just another manipulation tactic for the serial killer. For example, Dean Corll murdered at least 28 young boys in the early s after luring them to his home where he tortured, raped and killed them. Dean Corll literally lured children with candy.

Image: Wikimedia Commons. Addiction is defined as the repetition of a behavior despite its harmful consequences. Richard Speck was an alcoholic. Photo: Dallas Police Dept. Many serial killers exhibit addictive tendencies outside of murder.

Dennis Nilsen, Jeffrey Dahmer , Ted Bundy, Dean Corll and Richard Speck were all heavy drinkers, and some killers have even claimed themselves that they were addicted to serial murder. Experts believe that The Macdonald Triad posits three specific behaviors in children which suggest a person may become violent as an adult: bed-wetting, fire starting and childhood abuse towards animals.

The belief is that these three traits display a lack of self-control and a lack of empathy, two things which contribute to the makeup of a homicidal adult. Arson and bed-wetting is a little harder to clarify since many instances of this may have gone unrecorded.

In recent years, the Macdonald Triad has become less associated with potential serial killers and more associated with parental abuse and psychological defects. However, this kind of upbringing can greatly attribute to the making of a serial killer. Many serial killers desire power and dominance, either because it provides a sexual thrill or because they lack these attributes in other areas of life. While individual motivations for murder will vary, a desire for power is one of the most common, at least amongst sexually-motivated serial killers.

These offenders enjoy the act of murder because it gives them control over life and death, which to them is the ultimate satisfaction. Moors murderers mugshot. Photo: Wikipedia. Power play can also be a factor after a killer is caught. Imagine going through life without ever feeling any kind of emotion. Imagine looking at your partner or your children and feeling nothing whatsoever.

No love, just indifference. This is how some serial killers live their lives. Sensation-seeking is the act of engaging in reckless and dangerous activities just to feel something. Drug users will gradually ramp up their substance abuse levels after their tolerance to weaker drugs has built up.

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Can you think of any other traits which serial killers have in common? Perhaps you know someone who exhibits some of these characteristics. Maybe you do yourself. Let us know what you think in the comments.

I worry constantly about the idea that I may be a killer. Every time a killer is mentioned I need to think to myself what about me could lead me in that direction. This is where it started- there is someone who I admire who is very interested in stories of killers, no matter what kind.

And reading this article nudges me towards watching his behaviors more closely. All then and again I could be entirely wrong and just being paranoid for the sake of it. If anything I feel I may be too emotional. Neither were known to have exhibited many of these signs.

Vlado Taneski was a career journalist who was caught after a series of articles he wrote gave clues that he had murdered people; Taneski was a crime reporter. Russell Williams was a successful and respected career Royal Canadian Air Force Officer who was convicted of the murder of two women, along with fetish burglaries and rapes. Some serial killers additionally exhibit various degrees of psychopathy, though this is not always the case. Psychopaths lack empathy and guilt, are egocentric and impulsive, and theoretically do not conform to social, moral and legal norms.

Instead, psychopaths often follow a distinct set of rules which they have created for themselves. They may appear to be normal and often quite charming, a state of adaptation that psychiatrist Hervey Cleckley called the "mask of sanity". It is a disorder mainly defined by traits of both antisocial personality disorder and narcissism. In the near future, the concept of psychopathy requires revision because the new version of the DSM DSM-V no longer includes narcissism.

Robert D. Serial killers exhibiting degrees of ASPD, however, are often aware of how to hide many of the characteristics listed above in order to blend with the rest of society. Serial killer Ed Kemper became particularly notorious for doing this when he tricked psychiatrists into believing he was "cured" seven years after being admitted to the Atascadero State Hospital for the murders of his two grandparents.

Three years after his release, Kemper went on to murder at least eight additional victims. The Macdonald triad—animal cruelty, pyromania, and persistent bedwetting also known as enuresis past the age of 12—is often exhibited by serial killers during their childhood.