The interview I have watched is devoted to the life of Arthur Shawcross, an American serial killer, who was famous for numerous cruel murders. Although most of his victims were killed in the late 1980s, his case still evokes a lot of debate since he is considered to be one of the most demonstrative examples of prisoners who were released without any warrant.
What was the most surprising for me is that after twelve years, social and prison workers concluded that this prisoner was no longer dangerous even though psychiatrists warned that he was a schizoid psychopath–the diagnosis that made it impossible to release him even on parole. Although numerous psychiatrists evidenced that Shawcross’s report concerning his Vietnam experience was untrue, it still seems to me that releasing a man with this diagnosis was unreasonable.
Watching the documentary “Interview with a serial killer”, I could not help focusing my attention on Arthur’s behavior. Since I was well aware of his biography and crimes, it was particularly interesting to me to observe his reactions. The first thing that leaps to the eye is his frequent blinking of blepharospasm. This term refers to any abnormal contraction of the eyelid and in most cases disappears without any medical intervention. However, in difficult cases, the condition is chronic and persists throughout the whole life. Although there is no particular psychological distortion associated with it, in some cases it indicates that the patient was subjected to home violence or had some other experience connected with sexual, physical, or psychological abuse.
In the case of Shawcross, this detail is particularly interesting taking into account the fact that his voice is unemotional whereas his non-verbal expression is minimal. No matter if he is talking about his normal social experiences or murders, his voice remains unchanged. Besides, his hands and face remained unemotional regardless of the facts that he was reporting. For instance, when he was talking about the woman whose head he cut off in Vietnam his expression did not change. They say that it is one of the major indicators of psychological distortions, which is supported by the fact that the majority of maniacs are unable to express their emotions using verbal and non-verbal means. To reveal their hidden feelings, they have to resort to violence.
The interview with Shawcross reminded me of the case of Jeffrey Dahmer–one of the cruelest serial killers ever. The similarity that was striking to me was connected with the manner of behavior of these criminals during the interview. Both of them were self-possessed, calm, reasonable, and rather eloquent. Any person who has no relation to criminology may think that these people are adequate. It seems especially strange when they start to talk about rapes, tortures, murders, and vivisection without changing the tone of the voice. In the case of Shawcross, several experts concluded that his reports about Vietnam (including confessions about cannibalism) are fake even though he believes in his tales.
Another thought that the video triggered in my mind was about the appearance of the criminal. It may sound awkward but Shawcross simultaneously looks like a criminal and an innocent man, depending on the information that is programmed in our minds. If I did not know that this man was a criminal, I would never think that he is capable of harming people. This makes me conclude that we are often wrong when we underestimate the level of danger posed by others.
The psychological history of Charles Manson suggests that the offender’s behavior is heavily contingent on his childhood memories. Moreover, Manson’s psychological disorder can be characterized as a gradually developing ailment that led to a number of dire consequences (Guinn, 2014). The evaluation of the offender showed that he could be well-defined as a sociopath and a psychopath at the same time. Despite the complexity of Manson’s case, his psychological history can also suggest that he was critically influenced by a number of external sources such as family and peers (Fox & Levin, 2015). The analysis of the offender’s behavior showed that he suffers from cognitive impairment and cannot be a member of society.
Manson was mostly abused by his parents, so there were numerous factors that led to the development of a mental disorder that could not have been described in a definite manner. Manson’s behavior largely depended on his childhood sufferings, and the very first crime that he committed was a gas station robbery at the age of 16 (Shanafelt & Pino, 2015). The majority of environmental influences are concealed by the abuse (several times, Manson was dressed like a girl and was obliged to go to school like that simply because his aunt’s husband believed that he was not man enough). Behavioral factors cannot be separated from their psychological counterparts, but Manson’s cognitive impairment is still one of the biggest mysteries in forensic psychology (Guinn, 2014).
Moreover, the psychological history of Charles Manson includes a number of events that can be rightfully considered the triggers of his ultimate delinquent behavior. First of all, he was the son of a prostitute. Manson did not even know who was his birth father, and this put a lot of pressure on him throughout his childhood (Forbes, 2016). His personality was formed under the influence of the mother’s illicit behavior. One of the first crimes that he committed was connected to a stolen car that Manson took to have some fun and visit his relatives. Even though he was captured and sent to prison, he managed to escape (Fox & Levin, 2015). After that, he was captured one more time but was later released for being a model prisoner.
One of the examples of behavior that can be associated with psychological influences is Manson’s insanity. Regardless of his high level of IQ, he could easily lose his composure over trivial things and showcase his temper. In other words, Manson was rather an improviser than a planner (Forbes, 2016). Also, we can relate to the offender’s view of the world and reach a verdict regarding Manson’s perception – he is a visionary that is basically detached from real life. Manson’s prophetic delusions are the result of his behavior, and he cannot tell these signs of nuclear war from an actual threat. Manson is also remembered for his mad eyes that are considered to reflect what he has in mind (Forbes, 2016).
When it comes to the discussion of the treatment that was received by Manson in accordance with his mental disorder, there is not a lot to discuss because the majority of the treatment options are not even seen as effective by healthcare specialists (Shanafelt & Pino, 2015). One of the underlying factors that seriously impacted the development of Manson’s antisocial personality disorder was his willingness to conceal the committed crimes for the sake of keeping the integrity with his own behavioral patterns (Fox & Levin, 2015).
As seen in Manson’s example, there was not much eagerness for treatment. This happened because the effects of the treatment were short-term and so common that Manson abandoned treatment and returned to his socio- and psychopathic behavioral patterns after his anxiety were eradicated. Even though Manson was prescribed a number of medications that were previously seen as effective, the impact was minimal, and even continuing psychotherapy did not help to deal with Manson’s mental illness.
It can be concluded that the psychopathic disorder present in Manson was successfully identified by forensic psychologists, but they were not able to provide an efficient treatment due to the grave background of Manson’s mental condition (Guinn, 2014). It was decided to put him in prison and simply observe his behavior throughout the imprisonment period. Nonetheless, despite his unpredictability, Manson was seen as a calm prisoner with rather infrequent outbursts (Shanafelt & Pino, 2015).
One of the most well-known cases related to the name of Charles Manson is the killing of Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski’s wife. This crime is currently considered to be one of the most brutal homicides in the history of the US criminology. The victim was slashed numerous times, and some of Tate’s features were detached from her body (Shanafelt & Pino, 2015). Additionally, Tate was pregnant, and the Manson family cut an X on her stomach. Charles Manson is an infamous murderer that will be forever remembered as one of the most violent offenders that were not devoid of intelligence.
References
Forbes, R. (2016). Criminal psychology: Understanding the criminal mind and its nature through criminal profiling. New York, NY: Kimmers Publishing.
Fox, J. A., & Levin, J. (2015). Extreme killing: Understanding serial and mass murder. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Guinn, J. (2014). Manson: The life and times of Charles Manson. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Shanafelt, R., & Pino, N. (2015). Rethinking serial murder, spree killing and atrocities: Beyond the usual distinctions. London, UK: Routledge.
Albert Fish was born as Hamilton Howard Fish in Washington, D.C. on 19 May 1870. Most of his family members had a standing history of mental instability; for example, his uncle suffered from religious obsession, a brother was admitted in a mental hospital, another brother had suffered from hydrocephalus, which had made him to pass on.
More so, his sister had a mental affliction, three “other close relatives suffered from chronic mental illnesses, and his mother was believed to suffer frequent aural and/or visual hallucinations” (Chamblee, 2004).
Fish’s mother, forced to look for another source of livelihood due to her inability to take care of her son following the death of his father, took him to Saint John’s orphanage in Washington. While here, Albert together with other boys could be frequently battered and whipped in front of one another by their teachers. He eventually came to relish physical pain from the communal beatings and related sadistic acts of brutality.
By 1880, his mother got a fairly better government job and was able to take care of him; however, his behavior started to take a negative twist more so due to the kind of relationships he established, for instance, he adopted weird practices like taking human urine and “visiting public baths where he could watch other boys undress” (Wilson (1988).
By 1890, Fish had arrived in New York City, where he became a male prostitute; and at the same time began defiling and murdering young boys, a crime he kept committing not necessarily seeking sexual gratification, but because he enjoyed feeding on flesh of children (Hopkins, 2003, p. 3).
First incarceration
Even after starting his professional life as a house painter, Fish’s ‘appetite’ for assaulting young children especially boys continued to grow; moreover his attention turned to mentally ill men, with a case in point being the relationship he had with a mentally impaired man, who at a given time he attempted to castrate. As if this was not enough, Fish started visiting brothels frequently where he could be whipped and flogged; and in 1903, “he was arrested for embezzlement and was sentenced to incarceration in Sing Sing” (Kray, 2007).
In 1917, Fish’s wife left him for John Straube, a rejection that caused him to start indulging in self-harm; for instance, he would always insert pins in his groin and removing them, a behavior that persisted until he could no longer remove the pins he had inserted (Newton, 2006, p. 78). Moreover, his psychological problems that involved elusions and hallucinations grew so much that he began to abduct, castrate, and torture young boys, a practice he claimed to have been directed by spiritual voices.
Early attacks and attempted abductions
Fish happened to commit his first attack on a child, Thomas Bedden in the years 1910, and nine years later, he stabbed a mentally retarded boy in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. However, the most astonishing case was witnessed in the 1920 when Fish turned cannibal by kidnapping, killing and subsequently feeding on flesh of a ten-year girl (Philbin and philbin, 2009, p. 7).
Apparently, many of his intended victims would be either mentally disturbed or black Americans. However, his efforts to murder Beatrice Kiel were futile when the latter’s parents noticed his ill intentions and kept him off.
Second incarceration, arrest and trial
Fish remarried in 1930, in New York; however, this marriage could not as well last for long as he eventually divorced his wife within seven days of marriage. In addition, Fish was later arrested in May 1930 for “sending an obscene letter to a woman who answered an advertisement for a maid” (Wilson, 1988). This was after a psychiatric observation Bellevue psychiatric hospital in 1930 and 1931 for observation, following his arrests; but two years before this, Ford had kidnapped Grace Budd, which led him to be arrested six years later.
Fish’s trial started in 1935 during which he defended himself alleging that he was insane. After much examination and trial, he was found both guilty and sane by the jury after which he was sentenced to death, followed by an execution a year later (Wilson, 1988).
Underlying cause for the evidence for the cause of Albert Fish’s behavior
An analysis of Alvin Ford serial killer’s case is very closely related to that of Albert Fish. In 1986, the “United States Supreme Court used Florida’s procedure for determining mental competency for execution as a test case for banning execution of the mentally ill;” indeed, under Ford v. Wainwright “the eighth amendment prohibits the state from inflicting a penalty of death upon a prisoner who is insane” (Miller, and Radelet, 1993).
Although Florida’s procedure may now be constitutional on its face, in practice, Florida continues to execute the mentally ill. In 1974, Florida charged Alvin Ford with murder, after which he was sentenced to death. At the trial level, Ford raised no competency issues but after imprisonment, he showed symptoms of delusion, confusion, and psychosis.
A fourteen months examination by a defense psychiatrist revealed that Ford was suffering from paranoid Schizophrenia with suicide potential that hindered him the potential to defend his life. Other three governor- appointed psychiatrists examined him for only thirty minutes and discovered that although he exhibited mental disorder, he understood his total situation including his death penalty and the implications thereof (Wilson, 1988).
After the defense psychiatrist examined Ford, he concluded that Ford suffered from paranoid schizophrenia; however, although the examination of other three governor-appointed psychiatrists revealed that Ford suffered from mental disorder, they concluded that he understood his total situation, including his penalty and its implications.
When the case reached the Supreme Court, the Court’s plurality observed that no states allowed the execution of mentally retarded persons. The Justice in concurrence with Ford suggested a procedure used by Florida today that does not require full sanity prior to execution and an individual’s need to assist the counsel in his or her defense.
Even though the court left the standard and procedures open-ended, it clearly indicated that Florida’s procedure totally violated the eighth Amendment in three ways. (1) by denying the prisoner a mechanism to challenge the findings and impeach the findings of the governor appointed psychiatrists, (2) by placing the entire competency determination in the hands of the governor and (3) by preventing the condemned from playing any relevant role in the quest for truth (Chamblee, 2004).
Conclusion
In comparison to Albert Fish’s case, Dempsey termed Fish as ‘a psychological phenomenon’. Psychiatrist Wertham also examined and found Fish to be obsessed with religion, cannibalism, and communion.
Fish himself pleaded insanity; however, although the jury found him sane and guilty, the reports, and examinations from other psychiatrists, rendering him insane should have been put into accurate consideration (Wilson and Seaman, 2004, p. 176). Fish’s activities totally reveal that he was mentally retarded, and if this is true, then the jury totally violated the United States Supreme Court’s eighth amendment.
References
Chamblee, L. E. (2004). Time for a legislative change: Florida’s stagnant standard governing competency for execution. Web.
Hopkins, A. (2003). This Cannibal loved Kids – Literally. Weekly World News, Vol. 24, No. 19. Web.
Kray, K. (2007). The world’s worst crimes of 20 killers and their 1000 victims. Brooklyn, John Blake.
Even though serial killers have been around forever the name “serial killer” has only been around since 1970. Before this, serial killers were known as “stranger killers”. The name “serial killer” came from the word “series”, since this is the way that a serial killer kills, in series’ (Huppert, 2003) Serial killers have only been acknowledged for about 125 years. The acknowledgment came with Jack the Ripper. Serial killers tend to be white, heterosexual, males. They tend to be between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. Serial killers are dysfunctional and usually have very low self-esteem (Huppert, 2003). They will also usually keep some sort of trophy from their victims.
Serial killer characteristics
A serial killer is identified through seven characteristics. First; killings are separate. There are usually cooling-off periods between murders. Killings last for months or years and will often last until the killer is caught or until the killer dies.
Usually, at least five victims will be killed by a serial killer. Second; killings will be performed one on one. Killings will occasionally be two on one. Third; victims are rarely known by the killer. Likewise, killers are rarely known by their victims. They hardly ever have any previous relationships with their victims. Fourth; although there is usually a pattern, motives are not clear, visible, or rational. Fifth; killers will often commit new murders before the previous victim has even been found. This characteristic has been around only since the invention of convenient travel mechanisms. Sixth; serial killers will often over-kill their victims. Even after the victim is dead, they will perform sexual acts, or continue to beat or torture their victim’s body. Seventh; the weapons of choice for serial killers will be a rope or knife.
Serial killers will usually have very high IQ scores. They are usually average-looking white males. The killers will usually have a clean background and nice family history. They will be living in urban areas with well-paying jobs. The terrible triad is three characteristics of children that almost every serial killer will have when they are young. 60% of all children will wet the bed after the age of 12 years old. They will almost always be fascinated with fire. Serial killers will also enjoy killing small animals as children (Jack, 1985).
Ted Bundy
Serial killing is the most malicious crime a human being can commit in our society. Many people believe you are born a serial killer but that is simply not true. No one is born a serial killer; their surroundings and social groups create the murderer. Many people wonder how such an intelligent and, highly accomplished man such as Bundy would be able to kill so many women. Ted Bundy was one of the most famous serial killers of the 20th century. When looking at Ted Bundy’s case it was his lack of guidance from parents, rejection from social groups and, constant rejection from women, which led him to become a serial killer. These factors all added to make Ted Bundy vengeful, bitter, and mentally unstable.
Although Ted Bundy was a good-looking, intelligent, and respected man, horrible secrets were hidden from outwards appearances. Ted Bundy’s full name is Theodore Robert Bundy and he was born on November 24th in 1946. His place of birth was Burlington, Vermont. When he was born his mother was only twenty-two. Bundy’s father was never involved as he had only dated Bundy’s mother a few times and was in the armed forces. Ted Bundy was put in foster care for the first two months of his life because in 1946 illegitimate children were looked down upon. Bundy’s grandparents took him in as an adopted child and told others that his mother was his sister. Bundy went through childhood thinking his mother was his sister and his grandparents were his parents. Ted admired his grandfather and his grandfather was fond of Bundy. His grandfather was verbally abusive towards other members of the family, as well as physically abusive to his wife and family pet. Bundy’s environment was even worse because of the depression his grandmother faced, which was eventually treated with electroshock therapy.
As Bundy got older it was harder to hide his identity. So when Bundy was four his biological mother moved to Washington and married John Bundy. John then adopted Ted. Bundy always had excellent marks in the school attended boy scouts and church regularly, although he was known to have a violent temper especially when provoked. Eventually, he attended Washington University and fell in love with Stephanie Brooks in 1967. This relationship ended in 1968. Bundy’s first murder was Lynda Ann Healy on January 31, 1974. He killed countless women until he was finally sentenced to death on July 23rd, 1979. There is evidence to say he killed 30 women but many people believed it to be 40 or even some believe it to be close to 100. Bundy’s victims were all white, females, attractive, middle or upper-middle class and, young. Bundy had different methods to get his victims one included pretending he needs help with his car. Another way to attack women at night when they were alone. Bundy would usually beat his victim in the head with an object until they were unconscious. Some of the victims died quickly due to head injuries while others were alive for up to several days. Well, the victim was unconscious Bundy was able to rape them, engage in various forms of abnormal intercourse, as well as mutilation. In some cases, he inserted objects into the vagina. Bundy sometimes kept body parts and was even known to apply make-up after death. He was finally executed in 1989.
A major factor Leading to the murders in Ted Bundy’s life was his constant rejection from women and social groups. All through grade school Bundy was made fun of and publicly humiliated. Students recall Bundy never quite fitting in at school and had a violent temper, especially when rejected or provoked. A second-grade teacher once broke a ruler on his hand for punching a student in the face. Bundy says this is when he first started feelings of “disturbing uneasiness” as described in his own words. Bundy found it very difficult to make friends and spent most of his time alone. Bundy tried out for basketball and baseball but never made the teams, thus having a constant feeling of rejection. This is when he started to ski, a sport he could do alone. Bundy felt rejected because he was not of upper-middle-class background. He resented the fact a lot because he was rejected from those peer groups.
Types of serial killers
There are six types of serial killers. First; there are visionary motive killers. These killers claim to hear voices or to see images that make them kill. They are psychotic killers. Second; mission-orientated killers display no signs of psychosis. These are the family men appearing to have the perfect past. Mission-orientated killers feel a need to rid the world of whatever they see as immoral. These are the types of serial killers that will target gays, minorities, and prostitutes. Third; thrill-orientated killers kill for the fun of it. They enjoy the excitement they get from killing and torturing their victims. Fourth; lust killers will kill for sexual pleasure. The more these killers torture their victims the more they will get sexually excited. Fifth; gain killers will kill a person for personal gain. They will often steal their victims’ money, wallet, and personal belongings. This type of killer will also kill for personal gain besides wealth.
Along with this, there are stable and transient killers. Once serial killers are broken down into the seven groups above, they are broken down into stable or transient killers. Both types of characteristics have six characteristics each. A stable killer is identified by first; living in one area for a long period. Second; stable killers will hunt and kill from the same local area. Third; bodies will be disposed of in the same or similar areas. Fourth; the disposal site is collected for concealment of the killer and body. Fifth; stable killers are known to return to the scene of the crime. Sixth; stable killers will seldom travel. Transient killers are the other type of serial killers. They are classified by first; seldom staying in one place for a long period. They usually do not stay put for longer than a few weeks. Second; crimes will be committed throughout a large area. Third; transient killers dispose of the bodies in random areas. Fourth; the disposal sites of the bodies are determined by convenience for the killer. Fifth; the killer will seldom return to the scene of the crime. Sixth; transient killers will travel a lot. They enjoy traveling for fun and business (Shaffer, D 2002).
Types of crime scenes
Something that helps classify a serial killer is the crime scene. The crime scene is split into four different types. First; organized crimes are 75% of all serial crimes. Organized crime scenes show planning and an individual who knows what he is doing. Organized crimes are always planned out. The body will be moved from the actual crime scene and hidden. The killer demands submissive victims. The victims are also usually strangers. The killer will personalize his victims. The crime scene shows control of the killer over the victim. Aggressive acts are usually performed on the victim before death. Restraint kits are often brought and used, however, evidence will never be left behind. Second; disorganized crime scenes are more hurried. The killer uses materials at hand. The offense is spontaneous, and the body is left at the death scene. The killer will depersonalize his victims. Evidence and the body of the victim will be left in plain sight. Crime scenes of disorganized killers will be sloppy and messy, also sexual acts will usually be performed on the victim after death. Third; mixed crime scenes have characteristics of both disorganized and organized crime scenes. This could mean that there is more than one killer, that the killer was interrupted, or that the killer is trying to stage the scene. Fourth; atypical crime scenes are crime scenes that can not be put into any of the above groups. The bodies are usually decomposed. The killer could have his repetitive patterns, or could be a copycat (Shaffer, D 2002).
Serial killer statistics
The U.S. makes up 76% of the world’s serial killers. California is responsible for most of the United States’ serial killers. California has had about 35 reported serial killers in its past. These 35 killers have been responsible for at least 350 deaths in California alone (John, 1996). Patrick W. Kearny was responsible for 28 deaths between 1975 and 1977. Kearny was a freeway killer. He was an extremely neat and good-looking homosexual male. He was an Army veteran. Kearny would dismember the victims’ bodies and toss them onto the freeway into garbage bags in Redondo Beach. Charles Ng and Leonard Lake are responsible for the deaths of 25 between 1982 and 1985. They had a torture chamber and snuff parlor in northern California. They were caught after being arrested for shoplifting at a local supermarket. Juan Corona killed 25 men in the early 1970s. Juan was a farmworker in Yuba City. He would sexually assault other male workers. Then to prevent the males from talking to others he would hack them to pieces with an ax. Richard Ramirez was responsible for at least 16 murders in the 1980s. Ramirez was known as the L.A. Night Stalker. He would break into houses rape his victims and then kill them. After he killed his victims he would party in their house.
Randy Kraft was a “Freeway Killer”. He was responsible for at least16 lives. Kraft was finally caught in May 1983. Kraft would pick up young marines in Orange County and kill them. He was sentenced to death on September 11, 2000. William Bonin killed at least 14 people in the 1970s. Bonin was another “Freeway Killer”. Bonin was a truck driver in Downey, California. He would pick up teenage boys hitchhiking, and kill them. Bonin was the first lethal injection in California. William Lester Snuff killed anywhere from 13 to 22 people during the late 1980s. Snuff was also known as the “Riverside Prostitute Killer”. In 1974 William beat and killed his 2-year-old daughter. In 1984 Snuff was let out on parole. A few years later Snuff went on a killing spree. Snuff was finally found guilty in 1995.
Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buon also known as the “Hillside Strangler” murdered at least 10 people in the late 1970’s. They would impersonate cops in Hollywood. Bianchi and Buon would pick up hookers, kill them, and then put them in provocative positions. Edmund Kemper III murdered 10 in the early 1970s. Kemper hated his mother so much that he first killed his grandparents. He would then find coeds with similar characteristics to his mother and he would kill them. Kemper would then cut off their heads and bury them in his mother’s yard facing her bedroom window. After burying their heads he would have sex with the decapitated bodies.
David J. Carpenter killed 10 people in the early 1970s. Carpenter was known as the “Trailside Killer” in San Francisco. David would kill women and then dispose of their bodies along the trailside of a park. Dorothy Puente killed anywhere from 8 to 25 senior citizens in the late 1980’s. Puente owned a boarding house in Sacramento. She would kill and bury senior citizens that stayed at her boarding house. Puente would continue to cash in their social security checks.
Loren Joseph Herzog and Wesley Howard Shermanter killed at least 6 teens in Stockton in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Douglas Edward Gretzler and Willie Luther Steelman were other teams that killed during the early 1990s. They were responsible for at least 16 murders.
Robert Joseph Silvera was known as the “Boxcar Murderer”. He killed at least 14 and was caught at the Sacramento train station in 1995. Herbert Mullin also had a nickname was the “Mercy Killer” from Santa Cruz. Mullin killed 13 in the early 1970s. Gerald Parker from Orange County was known as the “Bedroom Basher”. Parker killed at least 6 in the late 1970s.
Vaughn Greenwood was an African American serial killer. Vaughn killed 11 between 1974 and 1975. Cops found smashed pills in the already slashed throats of his victims. Johnnie Malarkey killed 10 in 1993. Seven of Johnnie’s kills were at a club in Fresno. He barged into the club and just opened fire. Malarkey could be considered both a serial killer and a mass murderer.
Cleophus Prince Jr. killed 6 women in San Diego in the early 1990s. Morris Solomon killed at least 6 female hitchhikers in Sacramento in the 1980s. Ricardo Caputo was known as the “Lady Killer”. Caputo killed at least 4 women in the mid-1990s in the Las Angeles area.
Douglas Clark and Carol Bundy were boyfriend and girlfriend in L.A. They killed at least 6 female prostitutes in the early 1980s. They would hire prostitutes along the sunset strip. Carol would shoot the prostitutes while they were performing oral sex on Doug. They would then cut off the heads of the victims and put make-up on their faces. Richard Trenton Chase was responsible for 6 deaths in the late 1970s. Chase was known as the “Vampire Killer”. Chase was killed in Sacramento is only a four-day-long killing spree. Chase would kill his victims, mix their blood and body organs, and then drink them. Juan Chavez killed 5 L.A. citizens in the late 1990s. Chavez would kill his victims and steal their ATM cards. This is a rare case of a gain killer. Chavez was finally caught by a bank teller ATM video camera.
Ramon Jay Rogers killed at least 3 women in the mid-1990s. Roger would kill his girlfriends and collect their body parts. Wayne Adam Ford killed female hitchhikers in Eureka in the late 1990s. Ford would kill the women and save their breasts. Harvey Murray Glatman killed and raped at least 3 women in Hollywood in 1958. Darrell Rich killed 4 women in Shasta in 1978. Earle Nelson was responsible for the deaths of 22 women in 1926. He would rape and strangle the women. Earle was known as the “Gorilla Murderer”. Gerald and Charlene Gallego was a Sacramento couple that killed 10 during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Lawrence Bittaker and Ray Norris were another serial killing duo. They killed at least 5 in the 1980s.
Randall Woodfield was yet another “Freeway Killer”. He killed all along interstate 5. Woodfield was responsible for 13 deaths in the 1980s. Andrew Uridales was responsible for the deaths of at least 8. Uridales were killed during the early 1990s. Roger Kibbe killed at least 2 during the 1980s. Herbierto Seda killed 3 people in 1992. Seda was a “Zodiac Killer”. Seda lived in San Francisco. Seda planned to kill someone from every zodiac sign. ( Jill, 1995).
Throughout the U.S. the rate of serial killers in the last 30 years has increased 940%. There are at least 35 killers loose. By 2010 serial killers will probably account for 11 deaths a day (John, 1996). However, in California, serial killer deaths have dropped from 1975 to 1995. In the 1970s there were 12 serial killers in California accounting for 146 deaths. In 1980 there were 10 serial killers in California accounting for 114 deaths. By 1990 the number dropped to 9 serial killers in California accounting for 75 deaths.
The FBI plays a large role in catching serial killers. Serial murders are incredibly hard for the cops to figure out, and this is why the federal government often steps in. A serial killer will have no reasonable explanation making them incredibly hard to understand. The next move is always unpredictable. The FBI developed the CPRP (Criminal Personality Research Project). The CPRP is an accumulation of past serial killers that helps the FBI understand more about serial killers. The Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP), and the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) were also developed by the FBI to help end serial murders.
Categorizing a serial killer
There is a phrase that is used to describe a killer who is both medically and legally sane, who murders again and again and again until they are either captured or dead. That phrase/classification is “˜Serial Killer.’ When most people hear that phrase we tend to think of a social outcast, who is horribly ugly and mentally deranged. This is generally not true. Most serial killers are very well-liked by those who know them, they are also very attractive to members of the opposite sex (or in the case of homosexual serial killers members of the same sex) and usually have an above-average I.Q. There are ways to categorize these vicious killers by the calling cards they leave at all of their crime scenes. This is what homicide detectives call “the signature” of the killer. It lies within the very nature of the killer that his signature will be recreated in every murder he commits. These categorizations include sadism, necrophilia, picquerism, and cannibalism.
When categorizing a serial killer as a sadist one must be careful to recognize its underlying significance and meaning. According to Webster’s online dictionary, sadism is “a sexual perversion in which gratification is obtained by the infliction of physical or mental pain on others. “Cannibalism is the first term to be considered in describing serial killers. When most people think of cannibalism they think of Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lector from The Silence of the Lambs, or more recently from the movie Hannibal. It is in such films that acts of cannibalism are glorified and made to look more outwardly than anything that could happen in real life. But they do. A cannibal is someone who eats the flesh or body parts of another human being in a ritualistic manner. This is often done to achieve some sort of unity with their victims. As you can see there are many categories of serial killers. These categorizations are often interpreted as the signature of a killer. The calling cards that a criminal leaves at all of his crime scenes are usually what law enforcement officials use and examine to catch the deranged killers before they strike again.
Why they kill?
Serial Killers can be thought of as one of the worlds “imperfections”. Why they kill? It is not known and there are no excuses for it but there are people who have come up with their own theories for that answer. It may be a Social problem or a Psychological problem; this essay will elaborate on some of those theories. Serial Killer are made, and not born into society because the Social Control Theory and Agnew’s General Strain Theory justify these claims. Aileen Pittman, born February 29th 1956 in Rochester, Michigan, is an example of a serial killer who follows under the Social Control Theory. Her teenage parents separated months before she was born and her father Leo Pittman moved on to serve time in Kansas and Michigan mental hospitals as a deranged child-molester. Her mother Diane Pratt left both her and her older brother Keith to their grandparents Laurie and Britta claiming they were crying, unhappy babies. Wuornos later adopted them.
Aileen’s childhood was ruff and being brought up by grandparents did not help the situation. Not having a mother around probably made her feel like she was not good enough to have her mothers love. When her grandmother Britta died of liver failure July 7th 1971 Diane suspected Aileen’s grandfather of murder, claiming he threatened to kill Aileen and Keith if they were not removed from his home. Seeing as how Aileen might have been threatened by her grandfather, a male, she started taking her anger out on men that were in her life; eventually killing 7 of them.
Ted Bundy took his first breath on November 24th 1946 and was forced to consider that his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his older sister. The news was kept from him in order to protect his birth mother from harsh criticism and prejudice of being an unwed mother. He never knew his birth father who was an air force veteran. As a youth Ted was shy and uncomfortable in social situations and was often the center of jokes made by bullies, but Ted always kept up a high grade point average. When in college Ted met a girl that changed his life, though they were different they loved to ski and would go on ski trip together where they fell in love. She liked Ted slot but thought he had no future goals or any real direction. When she broke up with him Ted never recovered and what started as love became obsession.
Ted Bundy fits into the Agnew General Strain Theory because once his girlfriend broke up with him and that was the only girl he ever truly loved. Agnew noted two different ways of identifying and measuring strain in a person’s life. The first way is the subjective approach, where the researcher directly asks the “individual if they dislike the way that they are being treated”. The second approach is the objective view, in which the researcher asks individuals about pre-determined causes of strain. Bundy’s emotional Strain was caused by his break-up which prevented him from reaching positively valued goals like finish college.
John Wayne Gracy Jr. was welcomed to the world the earth on March 17th 1982 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in a loving home with a loving mother and 2 sisters but his father was a drunk who often beat up his family. He was born with a bottleneck heart, a serious condition, which made him very weak as a child and prevented him of playing sports in school. This Serial Killer falls under the Social Control Theory. His father was abusive and Gracy was victimized along with his mother and sisters. Seeing his father doing those things and making it seem as if he did not love his son would cause a young boy pain. Not getting to go to his father’s funeral made it worse because he never got to say good-bye the right way.
Serial Killer are made, and not born into society because the Social Control Theory and Agnew’s General Strain Theory justify these claims. Wuornos’ and Gracy’s situation seems to have started with some sort of childhood traumatization. Wournos she never really had any love from her parents and she seemed to do things as a cry for help and a plea for attention. Plus he grandfather supposedly threatened bother her and her brother so she may have taken her anger our on males. Gracy was just trying to be noticed by his father, he could not play sports because of his bottleneck heart and maybe because he could not find a common ground with his father or a common interest he felt he was not loved and chose to rebel, he was trying to get the love he could not from his father; but went about it the wrong way. Bundy was convinced he found the love of his life and thought she would always be there but that was not the case; so his love turned into obsession and he started killing girls in college that looked or reminded him of this perfect girl he couldn’t do without.
Upon tracing the steps of an individual’s childhood, many discoveries can be made, which lead to explanations behind such callous acts as murder. Socialization, and the family in particular, are major influences. Socialization is ‘the process by which children acquire the beliefs, values, and behaviors considered desirable or appropriate by the society to which they belong'(Shaffer, 2002). Modern researchers have rejected this simplistic model however, and favored more of a ‘systems’ approach. This approach basically recognizes that parents influence their children’s behavior. (Shaffer, 2002).
To what extent this occurs however, must be examined when investigating criminal behavior. We must look at an individual’s family situation and whether this has had a positive or negative influence on the individual’s life. Furthermore, when dealing with most criminals, it becomes necessary to take into account how much involvement their parents in fact had in their lives. This is apparent in many criminal cases. Aileen Wuornos was the child of teenage parents who abandoned her several times in her early life. Edmund Kemper was passed onto his grandparents after his parents divorced, and Charles Manson’s mother, who was a prostitute, used to pass him off to other people, and disappear for periods of time.
Aggression seems to be an important factor to look at when dealing with murderers. Aggression is generally, ‘behavior performed with the intention of harming a living being who is motivated to avoid this treatment’ (Shaffer, 2002). Aggressive behavior could result from upbringing, as previously mentioned, however it may also be triggered by emotion. This theory could be used to explain the behavior of Andrei Chikatilo, whose gruesome murders involved the mutilation of his victim’s genitalia, and other sex related acts. These could have been a result of his emotional aggression towards women as they teased him in the past about his impotence.
Such deviant behaviors as those previously explored, are also sometimes believed to be inherited. Although psychologists have typically assumed that our environments shape our personalities, family studies and other longitudinal projects reveal that many core dimensions of personality are genetically influenced. In terms of personality traits however, there is no such evidence to support that deviant behavior is inherited, apart from twin studies which reveal that many personality traits are ‘moderately heritable’ (Shaffer, 2002). Mental illness on the other hand, seems to be. Many serial killers suffer from psychoses which are ‘gross disturbances involving a loss of reality’ and these are ‘primarily genetic in origin, although childhood and adult experiences shape their expression.’ (Westen, 2002).
Schizophrenia is another mental disorder suffered by a collection of serial killers, and thus, could be explained as a cause for their actions. David Berkowitz, who killed after hearing voices, and Peter Sutcliffe were two serial killers diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenics. Rose West’s father was also a paranoid schizophrenic. Although she didn’t suffer from it herself, she may have had elements of it in her personality, as ‘most people with an underlying biological vulnerability, develop the disorder’ (Westen, 2002). Generally, schizophrenia is a term for a number of psychotic disorders that ‘involve disturbances in nearly every dimension of human psychology, including thought, perception, language, behavior, communication and emotion’ (Westen, 2002). Sufferers, such as Berkowitz and Sutcliffe, experienced ‘blunt emotional responses and performed socially inappropriate behaviors’ (Westen, 2002), which are known symptoms of the illness. Such an illness could therefore be an explanation for performing such negative behavior as murder.
As well as schizophrenia, personality disorders seem common in nearly all serial killers. Aillen Wuornos was believed to suffer from borderline personality disorder. This is marked by ‘extremely unstable interpersonal relationships, dramatic mood swings, an unstable sense of identity, manipulativeness and impulsive behavior’ (Westen, 2002), which sounds like the exact sort of behavior demonstrated by many murderers. However, the most common personality disorder suffered by serial killers, and perhaps the best explanation behind their actions, is that of an anti-social personality disorder. This is marked by ‘irresponsible and socially disruptive behavior in a variety of areas’, and sufferers experience a sheer lack of empathy or remorse. (Westen, 2002) Although not all murderers are diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder, the sheer ability to be capable of multiple murders, suggests signs of the disorder.
Tracing back one more step, and discovering what causes these personality disorders can lead to further explanations for such behavior as serial killing. Several studies implicate sexual abuse as a cause for borderline personality disorder, and thus is could be the constant abuse that Aileen Wuornos suffered from those men she solicited for sex, that caused her to suffer from it. In addition, a ‘chaotic home life, a mother with troubled attachment history, a male relative who is sexually abusive, and a genetic tendency towards impulsivity and negative affect’ provide fertile ground for the development of this disorder. Wuornos is a textbook case. She grew up with abuse, abandonment and violence, and didn’t find out that her grandparents weren’t in fact in her real parents until later in life, her mum was just a teenager when she had her and abandoned her, and her father was a sociopath who was convicted for the rape and murder of a seven year old child.
Antisocial personality disorder in many respects resembles that of borderline personality disorder, except that physical abuse is more common than sexual abuse, and biological contributions to the disorder are better established. ‘Both cognitive- behavioral and psychodynamic approaches implicate physical abuse, neglect and absent or criminal male role models’ (Westen, 2002). Once again, these conditions are generally all ones which were experienced and suffered by many known serial killers, thus providing further explanations for their behavior.
Most serial killers are sociopaths who feel no remorse for what they have done. Victims are usually seen as tools within society. These tools are there for only one reason and that is to fulfill the needs of the serial killer. The other important aspect to remember is that a serial killer has a strong desire for sexual sadism. They find pleasure in raping, mutilating, and sodomizing their victims to death. This gives a serial killer dominance and power over others. This is their source of greatest pleasure.
Predictions have been attempted but a number of problems exist within the aspect of prediction. There are a lot of white males ranging from the ages of late twenties to thirties who desire power and dominance in society but most of them truthfully do not commit brutal acts such as serial killing. Most serial killers have had a rough childhood through abuse or abandonment but it isn’t safe to say that all the children who are experiencing these things know are going to be our “future serial killers”. These unfortunate difficulties continue through out investigations and some times the only thing some authorities can rely on is luck.
In investigating a serial killer three types should be taken into consideration. There are the thrill killings that occur and these are the most popular of the three. Within the thrill there is sexual sadism and dominance over a victim. Next, there is mission style of serial killing and in this type there are the reformist and the visionary. Most serial killers that fall under this category believe that they are riding the world of the filth and evil that exists within society. Finally, there are the killings for the sake of expediency. Within this there are the killings that exist within a main plan of the killer.
The victims of serial killers are extremely vulnerable people within society. Examples are prostitutes, drug users, elderly people, and hitchhikers. The easier it is to obtain a person the most likely they are to becoming a victim. Possible victims such as these still do not put any care into the situation. Prostitutes would rather take the chance for the money than quit what they are doing. The serial killer called the “angel of death” is one who seeks out to kill the elderly. The power of this killer exists in the idea of playing God. These are one of the most difficult killings to investigate due to the fact that elderly people die every day.
Sadly enough most serial killings continue to be unsolved. These cases are extremely difficult to investigate and many problems tend to pop up for authorities. The killings are mainly done by complete strangers and with no motive making things very complicated. Profiles have been done to help authorities but the results only label a certain type of killer and not the actual killer. There is the organized and disorganized type of killers where the organized killer tends to be smarter and socially and sexually competent. These profiles are aids in ranging toward a group of suspects rather than point to one particular individual. Success rates in identifying serial killers are unfortunately very low.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there must be an agreement on how disturbing these situations can be. It is amazing, yet also scary, that serial killers are not that easy to pick out of a crowd. When thinking about its credit must be given to the authorities that strive to end these situations with all of the problems that exist in the investigation process. Also, there is always going to be the fear of becoming a victim but society cannot live a life of hibernation. Yes, a strict look out on the situation must exist but let us not forget to live our lives while we have them.
Psychological processes behind serial murder have been receiving a lot of academic attention within recent decades. However, it should not be neglected that, like any crime, serial murder can also be regarded from the social perspective. Social construction of serial killers has become the subject of various studies, and it is recognized today that the social position, social interactions, and perceived social image may play a significant role in the process the result of which is becoming a serial murderer. Six groups of theories have been chosen for addressing the social construction of serial killers: social structure, social class, social process, neutralization, social control, and labeling.
Multiple attempts have been made to explain crime from the perspective of social structure. Essentially, this approach implies that some people may be more inclined to commit crimes of particular types due to these people’s social positions. For example, being part of an underprivileged community is a possible explanation for the driving force for a person to rob, mug, and steal. However, according to Hickey (2013), “[s]tructural theories offer cogent explanations for many types of crimes, except for serial murder” (p. 107).
Serial killers rarely come from minorities or vulnerable groups. One of the perspectives that can be nonetheless applied to serial killers in the context of social structure is urbanism. Serial murder occurs more frequently in urban areas, and the reasons for this are higher rates of social disorder, drug use, poverty, and psychological challenges among people in these areas.
Another way to regard serial murder is from the perspective of social class. In the 1980s, some theorists established that most serial killers came from the same social class (the verge of upper-working and lower middle), were excluded from desired social class, strived ardently for joining it, and largely based their choice of victims on the social class of the latter (Hickey, 2013). The connection between social class and serial murder is modernly considered confirmed; however, the nature of the relationship between the two is not sufficiently explored. On the one hand, the social class position can be seen as a reason for a person to commit serial murder; on the other, the desire for social class change or shift can be seen as a more important reason.
One more perspective is a group of social process theories that suggest that behavior is shaped by the processes of socialization, i.e. criminal behavior is caused by certain failures or abnormalities in the process of social interactions of an individual (Hickey, 2013).
These failures or abnormalities may be associated with performance among peers (e.g. at school) or problems with law. However, major problems from the social process perspective are connected to one of the most—if not the most—important type of social interactions: family relations. For example, according to (Hamama & Ronen-Shenhav, 2012), in families in which parents are divorced, children are more likely to adopt violent and criminal behaviors.
From the point of view of neutralization, it should be noted that “people are not criminals all the time” (Hickey, 2013, p. 112). People who commit crimes drift between conventional behaviors and illegitimate behaviors, and in order for them to rationalize the shift to the latter, they need to neutralize; it is stressed that the processes of neutralization are learned techniques. For example, a well-known serial killer John Wayne Gacy asserted that someone else had placed 27 dead bodies in his home while he had been at work. Therefore, neutralization is one of the approaches that help understand the psychological background of serial murder.
A major way of analyzing crime is the hypothesis that people do not involve in illegitimate behaviors because they are afraid of crime; this analysis is summarized by the social control theory. Further development of the theory showed that not involving in criminal behaviors is associated with a wide range of social connections and is not only caused by the fear of punishment. In the context of serial murder, it was found that serial killers often lack these connections (Hickey, 2013). Further studies are needed to explore the social connections of serial killers and their perceived mechanisms of social control.
Finally, what may be particularly applicable to serial murder is the array of labeling theories. Generally, according to these theories, people tend to behave according to their perception of how they are expected to behave, i.e. according to who they are labeled to be by people around them. A particular insight into this understanding in the context of serial murder was suggested by a popular TV show The X-Files; in one of the episodes, a serial killer asks a character why he (the killer) kills people, and the character responds that it is simply because he is a serial killer (Hauser, 2013). This suggests that being once labeled or self-labeled as a murderer may drive people further toward new homicides.
It has been shown that the social perspective on serial murder provides a vast array of insights into how one becomes a social killer. It can be stated that further exploration of serial killer’s social position, interactions, connections, and role can generate a better understanding of serial murder as a type of criminal behavior.
References
Hamama, L., & Ronen-Shenhav, A. (2012). Self-control, social support, and aggression among adolescents in divorced and two-parent families. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(5), 1042-1049.
Hauser, B. R. (2013). The X-files: I want to believe in forensic adaptation. Adaptation, 6(1), 78-92.
Hickey, E. W. (2013). Serial murderers and their victims (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
It is always painful to read about children’s death, especially if the child is cruelly slaughtered; in fact, our society still views the people who offend minors as heartless maniacs abusing the most sacred and the most obscure value, the purity of childhood. Such stories barely leave anyone indifferent, and author Joyce Carol Oates created her short story “Where are you going? Where have you been?” affected by the piece of news from Life Magazine, narrating about a teenage girl, seduced and murdered by a strange man. The short story was first issued in 1966 in a journal and then was incorporated into The Wheel of Love, a collection of Oates’s narratives. Beyond the prominent, sometimes thrilling psychologism, the story also reveals the historical events associated with the murders of the 1960s committed by the so-called Pied Piper of Tucson. The present paper argues that whereas Arnold Friend is portrayed by Oates as a “superhuman” copy of Carl Schmid, the murderer, and the situation with Connie is partially sketched from the case of Alleen Rowe, Connie is actually a collective image of the three young girls Schmid abducted, molested and killed.
First of all, it is important to note that the prototype of Arnold Friend in the short story is named Charles Schmid, the Pied Piper of Tucson. As Ramsland writes, “Dubbed “The Pied Piper of Tucson” for his ability to get girls to fall for him, he stood five feet, four inches tall, but added three more inches by padding his stack-heeled cowboy boots with rags and tin cans. He also dyed his reddish-brown hair black and applied a fake mole to his left cheek – a “beauty” mark” (Ramsland, 2008, par.3). Nevertheless, Schmid was a school champion in gymnastics until he was suspended from the educational institution for truancy and pathological lying. He originated from a wealthy family (Pearlman, 1989, p. 111; Schmid and Schmid, 2005, p. 58) and therefore surfed smoothly through life, turning it into a never-ending entertainment. The similarities between the reports about Charles Schmid and Arnold Friend are too clear-cut to be accidental. In particular, Friend’s victim, Connie, very quickly notices that the man has short stature (Oates, 2008, par.12). However, the girl also considers him physical and fit as well, as he had a “belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pull-over shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard, small muscles of his arms and shoulders. He looked as if he probably did hard work lifting and carrying things. Even his neck looked muscular” (Oates, 2008, par.12). Oates’s description of the villain’s face was also taken from the photographs, which accompanied articles in national newspapers and magazines (Cologne-Brookes, 2005, p. 76; Scott, 2007, p.49). In particular, similarly to Schmid, Arnold Fiend had unshaved cheeks and glittering dark eyes. More specifically, the character also wears makeup; for instance, his eyelashes are unnaturally dark “as if painted with a black tarlike material” and, as Connie assumes, Friend might be wearing a wig (Oates, 2008, par.15). Friend’s face also seems to Connie like a mask, probably because of the generous layer of makeup the young man put on.
In terms of behavior, Friend also employs the patterns Schmid was believed to use. For instance, due to his Napoleonic complex, Schmid tended to speak excessively loudly, as if he was addressing a crowd of people, and Oates also includes this manner into the portrait of her short story’s character. Friend’s sexual directness and sincerity appear to be parallel to the “real life” Piper’s habit of talking about “100 ways to make love”, for which women ostensibly paid him money (Ramsland, 2008, par.5). In addition, both Schmid and Fiend are extremely importunate: according to the newspaper chronicles, the Pied Piper used to remind about himself, again and again, persecuting the objects of his attention, whereas Friend threatens to break into Connie’s home unless she goes out with him and spends hours standing under her window and convincing her.
Referring to the above-outlined points of likeness between the serial killer and the villain of the narrative, Cologne-Brookes and Daly state that Arnold Friend was copied from Schmid (Cologne-Brookes, 2005, p.73; Daly, 1998, p. 42), thus challenging the initial thesis of the paper. At the same time, Quirk calls Friend “superhuman” (Quirk, 2001, p.194), probably referring to his supernatural abilities; this assumption is closer to the thesis and can be substantiated by the fact the Friend gradually hypnotizes Connie. At the beginning the protagonist is not attracted to the young man at all and treats him with a slight disregard and suspicion, attributed to all gorgeous and self-confident teenage girls: “She couldn’t decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk, and so she dawdled in the doorway and wouldn’t come down or go back inside.” (Oates, 2008, par. 24). However, towards the end of the short story, Friend manages to suggest her that he is really able to kill her family and destroy her home, so that the girl gets paralyzed by fear and surrenders. Friend’s communication and persuasion skills are hyperbolized in the short story and therefore seem “supernatural” or “magical”: “If my father comes and sees you ‘”He ain’t coming. He’s at barbecue.” How do you know that?” Aunt Tillie’s. Right now they’re uh- they’re drinking. Sitting around,” he said vaguely, squinting as if he were staring all the way to town and over to Aunt Tillie’s back yard” (Oates, 2008, par. 31). Schmid, his prototype, failed to develop such a strong power over others (Scott, 2007, p. 57), so this “supernatural” component can be viewed as pure creative imagination. As one can assume, the evidence suggests that Schmid’s personality was to a great extent “embellished” by Oates’s fantasy, and the assumption about the absolute resemblance between the true villain and the fictional murderer is easily refutable.
In the year 1964, Schmid lured Alleen Rowe, age 15, from her home, took her for a walk to the desert beach, raped and murdered her. The story about Connie is quite similar, given that she is also persuaded to leave her “shell”; in addition, similarly to Oates’s protagonist, the real victim also stayed at home alone and washed her hair before her assailants arrived. The official account of the crime also suggests that Schmid was accompanied by his girlfriend and male pal, who befriended Alleen long before and were used as a “safety guarantee” (Ramsland, 2008, par.6; Scott, 2007, p. 18). As one remembers, in order to distract Connie from the inherent danger of Arnold Friend, she introduces Ellie, the minor character, who, however, appears to be the protagonist’s acquaintance. Critic Quirk believes that the scenarios are similar, but, most importantly, Oates stresses the events that took place before the crime, instead of focusing on the murder itself, as contemporary newspapers did (Quirk, 2001, p.195). This hypothesis greatly coincides with the thesis; moreover, the critic’s arguments, to a great extent, support it.
Quirk observes that articles, which appeared after the murderer was identified, “portrayed the real criminal act as very nearly motiveless and unaccountable. In fact, Life, Time, and Newsweek all preferred to lay the blame on the generation of indulgent, cruising teenagers and their unmindful parents” (Quirk, 2001, p.195). Ramsland also suggests that Schmid’s experiments took him too far from the boundaries of common sense, so he really sought to kill someone, preferably a girl, in order to empirically comprehend the process of destroying a human life (Ramsland, 2008, par.8). Consequently, one can conclude that there were no obvious or objective motives in the 1964 murder, whereas the “pre-crime” episode with Connie suggests that the reason at least for abducting the girl is uncontrolled lust as displayed by Arnold Friend since his harassing sexual hints are elucidated and emphasized (Oates, 2008, par. 14, 28, 36). In addition, by describing exceptionally the events, which preceded the manslaughter, Oates tries to justify the allegedly lost and careless generation. She actually localized the evil of the story in the single character, Arnold Friend, who has a satanic influence on people and is able to subjugate everyone. Connie, in contrast, is portrayed as a naïve teenager with innocent interests: “Sometimes they did go shopping or to a movie, but sometimes they went across the highway, ducking fast across the busy road, to a drive-in restaurant where older kids hung out” (Oates, 2008, par.5). Furthermore, Connie is referred to as smarter and more compliant with social norms than amoral Pettinger girl, so the author implicitly infers that the protagonist still lives in a world of childish fantasies. Friend, as opposed to Connie, is shown as a “mature” adult villain, who pretends to be a teenager, but appears to be much more guileful and crafty. Responding to the accusations placed by the newspapers on the young generation, Oates weaves the plot that to a certain degree justifies allegedly “thoughtless” girls killed by Schmid. In her short story, the author shows her protagonist in the perceived cul-de-sac, which results from Friend’s promise to hurt Connie’s nearest and dearest people if she refuses to join him in his journey.
Finally, in her literary work, Oates seems to combine Piper’s three victims into one. The first victim of Charles Schmid, Alleen, was a fifteen-year-old genius who dreamed about an oceanographer’s career and was a brilliant learner. 17-year-old Gretchen Fitz was a blonde beauty, expelled from school for low attendance and even suspected of several minor crimes. Her younger sister, Wendy, age 13, got along with Gretchen quite well but did not seek to realize herself in antisocial activities, being motivated to do well at school and in the community (Ramsland, 2008, par.7; Scott, 2007, p. 20). Pearlman assumes that Alleen is actually Connie’s prototype due to physical similarities and the fact that both girls appeared to be sensitive to external influence (Pearlman, 1989, p. 89). The thesis is not consistent with this argument, given that deeper research of this aspect, conducted by Daly, suggests that the author herself underlines the fact that she attempted to embody several personalities in her protagonist (Daly, 1998, p. 45). In particular, when looking closer at Connie, it is possible to notice the divergence in behavioral patterns the girl uses in various social dimensions: “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home: her walk, which could be childlike and bobbling, or languid enough to make anyone think she heard music in her head […]” (Oates, 2008, par.6).
Furthermore, although Connie greatly resembles Alleen given her age, appearance, and hair color, the latter actually does not belong to any of the youth subcultures. Alleen Rowe is described as a bookish, education-oriented girl whose only close friend, Mary French, happened to be Schmid’s girlfriend (Ramsland, 2008, par.7). In addition, Alleen was much more cautious than Conny, so Schmid dedicated months to winning the girl’s trust and establishing contact with her. Connie, however, is much more sociable and inquisitive in attending to new people. Moreover, owing to her inherent empathy and the affiliation to the same subculture, Connie quite soon allows Friend to create a psychological connection between them: “She sat on the edge of her bed, and listened for an hour and a half to a program called XYZ Sunday Jamboree, record after record of hard, fast, shrieking songs she sang along with […]” (Oates, 2008, p.11). Similar to the other representatives of the youth subculture, Connie rejects the friendship of her older relatives and considers school and family gatherings, intrinsically associated with adult values, boring and unworthy. In this sense, she is more similar to Gretchen, whose adherence to the subculture even enabled her romantic relationship with Schmid (Ramsland, 2008, par.7). Finally, Connie resembles 13-year-old Wendy, an infantile creature that still needed parental care and protection and unconsciously accepted her parents’ moral values. In addition, Connie appears to be much more obedient and dependent, whereas Gretchen seemed to not recognize adults’ authority and, as a result, gradually lost her adherence to the institutions of social control like school and police. Thus, Connie can be viewed as a threefold character that includes the traits of all girls, tortured by Schmid.
As the present paper has proven, the historical facts about the deeds of the serial killer are creatively “enriched” by Oates’s imagination, which, however, cannot be viewed as an end in itself but rather as a means of showing the vulnerability and defenselessness of the younger generation and justifying the girls, depicted in newspaper articles in a biased way.
Works cited
Cologne-Brookes, G. Dark Eyes on America: The Novels of Joyce Carol Oates. LSU Press, 2005.
Daly, B. Authoring a Life: A Woman’s Survival in and Through Literary Studies. SUNY Press, 1998.
Pearlman, M. American Women Writing Fiction: Memory, Identity, Family, Space. University Press of Kentucky, 1989.
Quirk, T. Nothing Abstract: Investigations in the American Literary Imagination. University of Missouri Press, 2001.
Ramsland, K. The Pied Piper. 2008. Web.
Schmid, D. and Schmid, D.F. Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture. University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Scott, G. American Murder. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.
A serial killer is defined as any person who manages to kill three or more people with enough time intervals between each killing. Most of the time, crimes of men serial killers are heard regularly as they are more horrible than that of women serial killers. As for the men, they do their crimes in a brutal manner and damage the bodies of the victims (Hickey 52). Another reason that make men serial killers to be common than women serial killers is because of the methods they use to kill their victims.
According to the profile analysis, 40% of the men’s victims are killed by firearms, 38% are denied some oxygen, and 35% are stubbed the most sensitive body parts, and some small percentages are killed by poisoning or drowning. In addition, most of the men serial killers do not hide or deny their actions, but they rather draw some attention with their actions (Hickey 68). The physical counting of the men serial killers victims is very high compare to that of women serial killers.
The main difference between women serial killers and men serial killers is that, women try to keep their actions under cover, without drawing any attention. Women serial killers can be referred to as gentle murderers because the methods they use to kill their victims are not brutal. According to the profile analysis, approximately 80% of their victims, women make use of poisoning to kill them. Although they also use some other methods like shooting, suffocating, and drowning, they prefer the silent killing methods.
Women serial killers are not known to be violent in most of the time like their counterparts. Men serial killers have been spotted to be violent even to small children, and sexually harassing their victims dead or alive. Men serial killers start by giving their victims some pornographic materials, so as to make them psychologically prepared before they rape them (Hickey 112).
An example of a man serial killer is Jack the Ripper from London. He brutally killed people for three months in 1888 among them five prostitutes.
Jack did not hide his actions, as he went to an extent of mutilating and dissecting the bodies of his victims openly. Most of the men serial killers fall under the category of missionary killers who perform their act of killing to some specific groups of people like prostitutes or homosexuals. An example of a women serial killer is Aileen Wuornos who fell under the category of sexual predators. This lady killed seven men in Florida in her duties of prostitution (Hickey 230).
She claimed that these men were trying to rape her. Men serial killers are divided into four subdivisions depending on the reasons behind killing such as power seekers, visionaries that involve obeying the source of egos of killing, missionaries whereby, the serial killer claim it’s his responsibility to clean up the society by killing the unwanted personnel according to him.
The final type of men serial killers are hedonists, who kills so as to gain power and satisfaction. To some extent both men and women serial killers work as a team either male and male, male and a female, female and a female, or in some cases as family teams. Other examples of men serial killers include John Wayne Gacy who happened to kill 33 people and Ted Bundy who raped several women and killed all of them in Florida.
Other female serial killers include Irene Leidolf who murdered 49 patients, in addition to some other three nurses. Mary Ann Cotton murdered more than 20 people by secret. Women serial killers are also divided into five types the most two common types are Black widows and Angels of Death.
The black widows women serial killers kill their several partners as well as family members, or anybody who has a close relationship with them. On the other hand, angels of death type kill people who are left to take care of them for instance nurses. Other types of women serial killers are revenge killers, sexual predators and contract killers.
Both men and women serial killers have causes of their actions. Like discussed above, men mostly become serial killers due to several reasons, but the most important factor is getting rid of a certain group of people from the society (Hickey 302). The psychological effect of hating some group of people may have a great impact to these people. The profile research shows that majority of men serial killers are missionary killers who either concentrate on killing prostitutes, homosexuals or may be a certain tribe of people.
That idea of hating a certain group of people may be a great contributor that may require to be addressed. Same to women serial killers, the psychological effects are the most contributors. The issues of finding pleasure and revenging out of killing are unpersuasive. It’s unusual for any normal person to find pleasure in the act of killing, instead humiliations and frustrations are gotten. If any wrong done is revenged by killing that means everyone should be long dead, because everyone in one way or another has done something wrong.
Work Cited
Hickey, Eric. Serial Murderers and their Victims. New York: Thomson Higher Education, 2006.
Ted Bundy is an American serial killer associated with kidnapping, raping, and murdering several young women and girls in the early 1970s. He became infamous because of these crimes, being against society’s beliefs and values. Ted Bundy was born on the twenty-fourth of November 1946 in Burlington, Vermont. Ted Bundy was the son of Eleanor Louise Cowell; however, his father is not well-known. The unclear information about his biological father affects his early life because he was told that his grandparents are his parents and his mother is an older sister (Sastry, 2020). When he learned he was a bastard, he was angry with his mother for life. Bundy was married to Carole Boone, who was a mother of two.
Bundy’s aberrations did not manifest visibly in his childhood and university ages. As Sastry notices, “Bundy was an obedient and respectful child who also performed well in school” (Sastry, 2020). He is a graduate with a degree in psychology from the University of Washington. Bundy was actively involved in political affairs in his country; he was outwardly confident and participated in social matters. He was part of the team that worked in the campaign of the Republican governor of Washington, who later rewarded him with a recommendation letter. However, none of this prevented his career as a serial killer.
Bundy has murdered more than thirty-six young women; he raped and killed them after. Although, as Venas notes, “the actual count of the people he murdered remains a mystery” (Venas, 2019). After Bundy got admission to law school, the act of women disappearing emerged. A year later, the police arrested him, and he was linked with sinister crimes based on the items he was caught with. Moreover, Bundy escaped from prison twice and committed other crimes. The police later on convicted him, and this time around, he could not delay justice any longer. Venas writes, “Bundy was found guilty on both murder charges and given two death sentences” (Venas, 2019). He appealed for the death sentence at the Supreme Court, but his appeal was rejected. In the year 1989, Bundy was executed by the use of an electric chair.
Theory Content
Rational Choice Theory
The rational choice theory states that an individual uses his rationality to achieve his goals; decisions are made with calculations of all costs, risks, and benefits. Lambert emphasizes, “At the heart of rational choice is an analysis of the thought or cognitive means by which individuals process information from the environment” (Lambert, 2017). For instance, Bundy used to lure his victim into his car, pretending to be injured and seeking assistance, which later turned to rape and murder of his victims. The theory suggests that individuals venture into criminal activities based on their decisions in life. That is, social behaviors are a result of the decision made by the individual. Besides, the rational choice theory is more concerned with people’s choices. Every action that an individual is involved in significantly depends on the conclusion that they make. For example, Bundy committed another crime immediately after escaping from prison.
Therefore, an individual involves in criminal activities as a result of the decision that they make. The rational choice theory assumes that an action committed by an individual is motivated by the individual interest and the orientation to the consequences. Furthermore, the theory assumes that the results in any circumstance depend on an individual’s choices or options in making decisions. Here an individual is supposed to be aware of the consequences of their actions. Hence, an individual ventures into criminal activities depending on their personal decision. For instance, Bundy had chosen the path of a serial killer during his time.
Application of Rational Choice Theory
The rational choice theory concerns the social perception or instead approaches to human action. The choices involved have many effects on both human judgment and effort. The police could not easily detect Bundy’s criminal activity since he had no adult criminal record. Bundy decided to change his career from psychology and pursued law. His education aided his career as a serial killer, which later resulted in his death.
The rational choice theory explains that choices that people make in life significantly influence their behaviors. Bundy developed weird behaviors because of the decision he made concerning his life. Nobody can be coerced into immoral behaviors, but they choose to venture into such activities depending on their interests. The control of the actions that an individual performs or does lies in their conscious agreement to perform such actions. Bundy’s judgment on issues that affected him could have led to his act of raping and killing his victims. The decisions people make lead to the development of behavior that may lead to significant consequences. In Bundy’s case, he decided on his terrible experience of a breakup with his college girlfriend. The rational choice theory argues that criminals are rational in making choices.
Despite the results of crime, the perceived benefits of committing criminal activities outweigh the consequences that they will be subjected to. The theory stipulates that before individuals decide to commit a crime, they have known awaiting the result of their actions. This means one would examine what awaits them before executing a particular activity. Therefore, Bundy, being a law and psychology student, was likely to be healthy about his actions. Most of Bundy’s murder victims resemble his first love, whom he broke up with, indicating that he had a clear decision on the specific individual to attack.
Policy Recommendation
There are several programs and policies established to stop or reduce crime. Some procedures that can reduce or prevent crime include police arresting suspects and known criminals to deal with criminal activities. The government should introduce a compulsory rehabilitation process for the people suspected to be criminals to be taught how to live in society. The confirmed criminal should be taken to correctional facilities for better change. Additionally, police operation is essential in preventing gang operations and organized illegal activities. Therefore, police operation and arrest in one of the policies can assist people like Bundy in stopping criminal activities.
The government should make crime unprofitable to practice. The government should impose a high fine on criminals upon conviction. Criminals should be subjected to brutal conditions to make people like Bundy stop their criminal acts. Additionally, imposing high penalties on criminal offenders would discourage other people that may like to venture into illegal activities. All these measures align with the rational choice theory, for they are “aimed at finding immediate and practical solutions to crime problems” (Ekblom, 2019). Jail terms should be increased to make those tempted to get involved in criminal activities find an alternative means of earning a living rather than engaging in criminality.
The government is introducing mandatory rehabilitation for people who have been involved in criminal activities. People like Ted Bundy who have engaged in serious illegal activities should be subjected to compulsory rehabilitation to help in reducing criminality. Through repair, convicted criminals such as Bundy can be exposed to other pieces of training that would make them develop business ideologies, thus creating less time to be thinking about illegal activities.
The government may also include a court penalty to avail correctional facilities. Subjecting criminal offenders to lengthy jail terms would provide opportunities for criminals such as Bundy to change their behaviors and nurture good manners. The judgment passed to criminal offenders should be extreme to act as a lesson to the criminal offenders, thus discouraging the future reoccurrence of such illegal activities. Hence, once the action is depressed, the probability of such activities occurring will be minimal, reducing or completely doing away with criminal activities. Judgment such as the death penalty is more likely to reduce criminal activities than any other form of punishment. Besides, corporal punishment can also be used in reducing illegal activities.
Furthermore, the government can also introduce a development prevention policy specifically designed to prevent the development of potentially criminal people. This policy would not allow them to engage in any unlawful activities or allow them to explore their ill-motive intentions to harm the community. Also, Ekblom notes that the Rational Choice Perspective “was aimed at developing a theoretical understanding of human behavior when faced with the opportunity to offend (Ekblom, 2019). Thus, studying the potential criminals would enable the government to develop strategies to help reduce criminal activities and promote reforms in the police sector on handling criminals to ensure they are changed.
Conclusion
Development prevention will also pave the way for measures to prevent criminal activities that may occur. Therefore, the government should put the following policies to avoid unlawful activities: development prevention, death penalty, high fines, and charges. Additionally, capital punishment and corporal punishment would be better for dealing with criminal activities in society. It also requires unity among the people. The people must stand together to fight illegal activities and ensure that people live in peace without any form of fear.
References
Ekblom, P. (2019). Rebuilding Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Strengthening the Links with Crime Science. Taylor & Francis.
Lambert, R. D. (2017). Routine Activity and Rational Choice. Volume 5. Taylor & Francis.
Sastry, Dr. V.V.L.N. (2020). Serial Killer Ted Bundy. Independently Published.
The paper at hand is devoted to the investigation of the life, personality, and criminal behavior of one of the most notorious American serial killers of 1980s-1990s, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (who was also nicknamed Milwaukee monster for excessively violent nature of the crimes he committed as his victims were not only raped and murdered but also tortured and dismembered). Researchers agree that Jeffrey was a difficult child suffering from psychological distortions and impaired social skills – the conditions that were aggravating while he was growing up (Palermo & Bogaerts, 2015). The present study is going to investigate what factors of Dahmer’s biography triggered his propensity to violence and contributed to his inability to socialize.
Childhood and Background
To understand what conditions may lead to the formation of a serial killer, one should have a closer look at his/her background in general and childhood in particular. Jeffrey Dahmer was born on the 21st of May, 1960 in West Allis, Wisconsin. He was raised by a normal American family of Joyce (a teletype machine instructor) and Lionel Dahmer (an analytical chemist). The parents loved their son, however, their professional lives prevented them from devoting much time to his upbringing. Moreover, the fact that they had to live with Lionel’s parents at Jeffrey’s early childhood created additional tension and told on his psyche. A hernia operation, which he had to undergo at the age of four, triggered the process of personality metamorphosis characterized by a propensity to isolation and unwillingness to enter communication with other people.
During this period, Jeffrey was deprived of the attention he needed as his mother was too deeply absorbed in her problems whereas his father continued to satisfy his career ambitions. This resulted in the transformation of a happy child into an outsider who learned to conceal his emotions. As is was later mentioned in mass media, at the age of eight, the boy called the police to say that he raped by his neighbor but his claim was ignored. Lack of social contact diverted his attention from people to the forest that surrounded his home. He started to collect dead animals and make experiments on their bodies scraping the flesh off them with the help of acid. This interest developed into the habit of killing animals to enrich the collection of their carcasses and gradually switched to fantasies about torturing and murdering men (Palermo & Bogaerts, 2015).
When the parents broke up, Jeffrey stayed with his father and never got in touch with his mother and younger brother. This made him even more secluded and withdrawn. However, he managed to preserve seeming adequacy showing no signs of psychopathic inclinations. That is supposed to be the major reason his crimes could not be discovered for such a long time. Jeffrey was an average student who could not make friends, which led to the development of drinking problems during his teenage years. The medical expertise later concluded that alcohol addiction coupled with perversions led to the development of multiple personalities (Miller, 2014).
After school graduation, Jeffrey entered Ohio State University but dropped out after two semesters. He committed his first crime during this period and managed to escape from punishment. Under the pressure of his father, he had to join the Army but was discharged after two years because his alcohol addiction continued. After some time spent in hospital in Florida, he went home and was arrested for disorderly charge. In 1982, he moved to his grandmother who was the first person to discover some troubling signs in his behavior. While living with grandmother, Dahmer was in prison two more times for indecent exposure (Miller, 2014).
Tired of her grandson’s conduct, his grandmother made him leave in 1988. This was how Jeffrey found himself in Milwaukee, where the sequence of murders began after he was arrested as a sex offender and drug abuser. The story ended in 1991 when Dahmer was charged for 15 cases of murder and convicted to a life sentence. Other prisoners attempted to kill him twice. He managed to survive the first attack with a razor and receive only light injuries. However, the second attack was successful and Jeffrey died because of head injury (Miller, 2014).
Analysis of the Victims
Jeffrey Dahmers’ victims were not selected randomly; a closer look reveals a pattern of repetition in his murders. All the men were young homosexual representatives of various minority groups. This allows inferring that he was rather careful to select his victims on the fringes of society where no one would bother about their sudden disappearance. Jeffrey mostly chose men of African-American descent at bus stops, bars, and department stores and promised them money for having sexual intercourse with them. At home, he gave them drugs, strangled them to death, and had sex with their corpses before dismembering them. He usually made numerous photos of the men at every step of the process for keeping memories of them (Mann, Anderson, Holland, & Webb, 2015).
A more profound analysis proves that Dahmer’s victims not only had a common background but also demonstrated a similar attitude towards him. His first victim, a 19-year-old hitchhiker, Steven Hicks, was cruelly murdered after he refused to stay with Jeffrey till the morning after having sex with him. This situation repeated several times, which allows concluding that Jeffrey killed those who rejected him and demonstrated indifference to his feelings (Miller, 2014).
Analysis of Murders: Profiles, Symbolism, and Method of Operation
Dahmer admitted committing 17 crimes between 1978 and 1991. Their detailed profiles with photos, personal data, and descriptions of the murders are presented in the presentation of this research paper. 12 of these men were murdered in 213 Oxford Apartments, North 25th street. Jeffrey killed three men at his grandmother’s place. The first man was murdered at Joyce and Lionel’s home in Ohio. The second one – at the Ambassador hotel situated in Wisconsin. Even though Dahmer later claimed that the race was chosen randomly, nine of the victims were Afro-American. The major thing that interested him was the shape of the body (Earle, 2014).
As for the method of operation, most of the victims were drugged or offered drinks with sleeping pills and later strangled to death. Some of them were sodomized before dismembering. The remains were either eliminated in acid or thrown away with the garbage. One victim died because of blood loss and shock when his artery was cut. Some happed to be Jeffrey’s apartment after he offered money to them for taking a couple of naked shots before the camera. In several cases, Dahmer made experiments injecting muriatic acid or boiling water into the brain trying to make a body that would be under his total control. These victims either died or were later strangled by Dahmer (Earle, 2014).
As far as symbolism and fetishism are concerned, Jeffrey collected trophies: skulls (which he painted gray) and body parts (biceps, torso, heart) of his victims and kept them in the fridge. In two cases, he preserved the entire skeletons and hanged them in his wardrobe. Once, he decorated the walls of his apartment with bones (Miller, 2014).
Investigation and Prosecution
Dahmer was initially charged with four murders and then – with eleven more when enough evidence was discovered. However, he was not charged with the murder of Tracy Edwards and Steven Tuomi as only those charges that can be proven beyond any reasonable doubt can be brought according to the legislation system of the district and there was no evidence supporting these crimes. Dahmer was pleaded guilty but insane by the defense.
The defendant tried to argue that Dahmer suffered from mental and personality disorders which meant that he was unable to control himself. Finally, Jeffrey was diagnosed by a defense psychiatrist with several mental diseases including personality disorder, schizotypal disorder, necrophilia, alcohol addiction, and psychotic disorder. However, the forensic psychiatrist claimed that Dahmer could not suffer from necrophilia since he attempted to create obedient “zombies”, which meant that he preferred sex with living partners. Dahmer was described as a cunning maniac, who could make a difference between the good and the evil and control his behavior (Miller, 2014).
Two mental psychiatrists for prosecution and defense, George Palermo and Samuel Friedman, were chosen by the jury to decide the case. The former claimed that the murders came as results of aggression and sexual attraction, which meant that Dahmer was a sadist and suffered from the antisocial disorder but was legally sane. The latter diagnosed a personality and obsessive-compulsive disorder revealing some sadistic features (Miller, 2014).
On the 14th of February, both sides spoke before the court for two hours each. The defense portrayed him as a lonely, abandoned, and the deeply insane individual who could not control his impulses. On the contrary, prosecution counsel described Dahmer as a sane person who calculated his murder in advance and made everything to avoid being detected by the police. On the following day, Dahmer was ruled to be sane at the time he committed the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment plus 70 years after his death. This sentence is explained by the fact that capital punishment was abolished by the State of Wisconsin.
The parents were allowed to have a short face-to-face meeting with their son. Later, he had to go to Ohio to be charged for the murder of Steven Hicks, pleaded guilty, and received one more term. Dahmer was in solitary confinement out of concerns that he can be attacked by other prisoners. However, he was later transferred to a more insecure unit. He gradually got interested in Christianity. His fellow inmate tried to kill Dahmer with a razor but he was not seriously hurt. However, the second attempt made by other prisoners was successful. Dahmer was killed in a gym with a heavy metal bar (Miller, 2014).
Personality Account: Summary
To summarize the circumstances and personality traits that characterized Jeffrey Dahmer as a serial killer, the following points should be singled out (Earle, 2014):
lack of socialization;
parental neglect;
homosexuality;
alcohol addiction;
the propensity to necrophilia (though not recognized by the course as a sign of insanity);
sadistic traits;
fetishism (preserved the bones, skulls, and other parts of bodies after dismembering them).
Even though all these characteristics form a picture of a maniac, Jeffrey was ruled to be sane as he always preserved logic reasoning, distinct and literate speech, and ability to analyze his motifs and actions (Earle, 2014).
References
Earle, H. E. (2014). My Friend Dahmer: the comic as Bildungsroman. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 5(4), 429-440.
Mann, R. W., Anderson, B. E., Holland, T. D., & Webb Jr, J. E. (2015). Unusual “crime” scenes. Hard Evidence: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology, 133-148.
Miller, L. (2014). Serial killers: I. Subtypes, patterns, and motives. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(1), 1-11.
Palermo, M. T., & Bogaerts, S. (2015). The dangers of posthumous diagnoses and the unintended consequences of facile associations: Jeffrey Dahmer and autism spectrum disorders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 59(14), 1564-1579.
Serial killers commit a lot of crimes during their active years. Previously it was rather difficult to catch them because professionals were not focused on their psychology and did not realize the values of profiling. Still, with the course of time, they started to identify similarities in victims and the way they were killed as well as resorted to the improved technologies, which enhanced this process greatly. Among those serial killers who were caught in the period of rapid development of the forensic science was Tommy Lynn Sells. He was also widely known as Cost to Cost Killer, who was active for about 20 years starting from 1979.
Tommy was born along with his twin sister in 1964. The girl died from meningitis being less than 2 years old, and their mother, Nina, sent Sells to live with his aunt, Bonnie. His father remains unknown even though it is supposed that he could have been William Sells or Joe Levins. However, when Bonnie started the adoption process after taking care of a child for 3 years, Tommy’s mother took him away (Contributor).
Nina was indifferent and did not care about her son much, so he turned into a troublemaker. She allowed him to live with Willis Clark, a man who groomed him, when he was only 8 years old. The man molested him, which affected Tommy negatively. In the future, he referred to his abusive experiences and used them on his victims. Being just 11 years old, he already consumed alcohol and drugs, tried to rape his mother and consulted a psychiatrist. In three years, he left home. Sells was arrested several times and jailed, but his real crimes became known only in 2000.
Sells killed his first victim being only 15 years old. Having seen a man sexually abusing a boy, he became mad and murdered him out of rage (Whitney). Such behavior could be explained by his personal experience. Still, he did not stop killing. A lot of his victims remained unknown, but the identities of some of them were revealed.
In 1985, Tommy lived in Missouri. He was working at a carnival where he met Ena Courdt and her little son. That night he beat them to death with a baseball bat. According to Sells, the woman invited him to her house and tried to rob him after having sex, which made him very angry. However, it seemed that he followed them, raped Ena, and then killed both.
In two years, Tommy moved to Illinois. There, he broke into the house of Keith and Elaine Dardeen (Gauen). The man was shot in a field. His genital was mutilated, which can be explained by Sells’s perception of men who abuse children. Elaine and her two kids were found in bed. They all were beaten to death. In addition to that, the woman was raped. What is more critical, she was pregnant and gave birth to the girl in the presence of Tommy. It is still not clear how he managed to get into the family’s house.
In 1992, Sells was found in Virginia. He raped a woman who had obviously considered him to be a simple homeless individual and wanted to take him home to feed him. Tommy stabbed and beat her with a piano stool when she managed to take a knife and hurt him. The man left as he thought that she was dead, but she survived and described him to the police. As a result, he was arrested and imprisoned for almost 4 years.
Living behind bars, Sells was able to get married. His wife, Nora Price, started living with him since 1997. Being occupied in odd jobs, Tommy would leave the town rather often and abandoned Nora in less than a year. It is believed that in October of the same year he killed a 13-year-old girl in Missouri and moved to Texas.
Working for a carnival, Sells met his new wife. Even though he had never divorced, the man lived with Jessica Lavrie and her four children (Sherwood and Effron). However, family life did not change him. Tommy continued to travel to various states throughout the USA, abuse drugs and kill people. It is not proved, but the police claimed that Jessica had no idea of these things.
In 1999, Sells killed a woman and her daughter in Tennessee. The girl was stabbed, and her mother was raped before that. Several days later, he kidnapped a girl from a music festival in Texas. It was found out that she was molested before death. Her body was dumped in a creek. In a couple of weeks, he raped a girl in Kentucky and strangled her. In fact, Tommy was arrested that day but just for public intoxication, so he was released the following morning. Soon, he raped and shot another girl.
As Sells moved to Texas again, he started attending the Grace Community Church, where he met Terry and Crystal Harris who had three children. Tommy and Terry became friends. On December 31, 1999, the father of the family was going to be out for some time, so Sells broke into his house through the window in the boy’s room (“Tommy Lynn Sells”). However, Tommy left the kid untouched, as he did not pay attention to the noise. The man targeted one of his sisters, Katy. He entered her room and woke her up as he laid beside. Sells started molesting her, but the girl yelled, so he slit her throat twice and then stabbed her more than 15 times. He also slit her friends’, Krystal, throat. She was in the room at that time but was too scared to move. After Sells left, Krystal went to the neighbors and asked for help even though she was severely wounded and could not speak. Katy did not survive, but her friend identified the criminal. Finally, Tommy was arrested and sentenced in 2000 (Montaldo).
When analyzing Sells’ crimes, it can be concluded that he started with beating his victims to death but, in the majority of cases, stabbed them or slit their throats. In general, he targeted at young women and their children. Sells might have associated them with his mother and him, as he blamed her for not taking care of him properly and for the inability to protect him. Tommy would break in people’s homes and molest them before taking their lives. He got his nickname due to the fact that he operated in different states, including Missouri, Texas, and Illinois, etc. All in all, Sells murdered more than 20 people. The majority of this information became known when he was caught by the police. It happened in Texas on December 31, 1999. Tommy spent 14 years in prison, being pleaded guilty for his last crime, and he was executed in 2014 at the Texas State Penitentiary.
Works Cited
Contributor. “Biography of Serial Killer Tommy Lynn Sells.” Itchy Fish. 2010. Web.
Gauen, Pat. “Gruesome Illinois mystery appears to end with Texas execution.” STL Today. 2014. Web.
Montaldo, Charles. “Tommy Lynn Sells.” About News. 2016. Web.