Despite being relatively rare, serial killers nonetheless appear in society, presenting a danger to regular people. Their reasoning and brutal methods are frightening and, thus, require a great deal of attention from the side of law enforcement. In order to better understand their practices and attempt to put a stop to their actions prematurely, there was a need for proper classification and consequent analysis. According to Meadows (2004), serial killers can be classified into four groups: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic, and power-oriented killers. Their killings may differ in reasons; however, the fact of murder overlaps across the classification. Another attempt to classify serial killers serves for a more accessible data analysis, which allows for reliable case comparison across law enforcement organizations. It consists of eight standardized profiling dimensions describing the reasoning behind killing: social environment, family background, personal relationships, contact with agencies, offensive behaviors, self-concept, attitudes, and recall of events.
Three serial killers were chosen for this discussion – Henry Lee Lucas, Ted Bundy, and Kenneth Bianchi. Each of them resembles several unique features; however, they all share the similarity of kidnapping their victims and sexually abusing them before killing them. The first dimension that shows common traits is the troubled childhood, e.g., family background. Lucas’s mother was a prostitute who displayed and motivated inappropriate behavior; the unknown father’s identity troubled Bundy; Bianchi was adopted, with his genetic parents refusing him (Simpson, 2017). Another dimension picturing commonality is offensive behaviors – Lucas was repeating his mother’s behavior in public; Budny spoke to unseen presences and displayed overall disturbing behavior; Bianchi was prone to anger outbursts and attended a psychiatrist (Simpson, 2017). Lastly, they all share hedonistic attitudes, such as a tendency to rape their victims.
References
Meadows, R. J. (2004). Understanding violence and victimization. Prentice Hall.
Simpson, P. L. (2017). Serial Killing and Representation. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Web.
The article “Encounter and death: The Spatial Behavior of U.S. Serial Killers” by Canter and Godwin (1997), is a research article that examines the locations where serial killers first met their victims, where the victim’s bodies were dumped, and the residence of the killers. The aim of the article is to test three separate hypotheses, the first hypothesis being whether the residence of the offenders was the epicenter of the crime committed.
The second hypothesis examined by the study is whether the location where the offender first meets the victims becomes an integral part of the offender’s lifestyle and the last hypothesis tested is whether the first point of meeting and the place of dumping the body eventually become incorporated into the serial killer’s lifestyle.
The design of the article begins with a description of the average number of deaths that are reported in the country annually, and deduces the average number of the deaths that can be attributed to serial murderers.
From an analysis, of the article, it is evident that the research focuses on the geographical locations that surround the killings; the location of the first meeting between the serial killers and their victims, the location of the dumping sites of the victims, and the locations of the offenders’ place of residence.
The researchers of the article try to determine whether serial killings can be solved by having knowledge of the three locations described above because from the conclusion of the article, it can be deduced that serial killers get increasingly lax and usually end up dumping their victims near their places of residence (the offender).
The literature reviews on which the article is based include research that make the same conclusions as the article itself; articles that reflect the planning done by serial killers, and the proposed reasons on the choice of the dumping locations of the victims.
The methodology used by the study tries to link the three locations mentioned above to the rational thought process of the killers, using three hypotheses.
As already identified, the first hypothesis is that the home operates as the focus of the serial killer in finding their victims and dumping the bodies while the second hypothesis is that there is a difference in the distances covered by the serial killers in the apprehension of the victims.
The last hypothesis that the research tries to prove is that the distances covered by the serial killers in trying to dump their victims is likely to change, as more murders are committed. The sample used by the study is a selection of 54 serial killers who were apprehended, together with locations in which their victims were found.
These locations were compared with the locations where the killers first met their victims, and the relative distances between these locations were measured by the use of commercially available mapping software called Map Expert.
From the above information, it was possible to identify the distances between the three locations for each of the murders committed, and thus identify the changes in the distances, as more murders were committed. The study then finds the mean distances of the three variables and concludes that, as a serial killer continues murdering the victims, the distances covered to dump the bodies kept reducing relative to the location of the offender’s place of residence.
This is inferred from the mean of the distances covered, and ANOVA results that tested the levels of significance of the group differences of the three hypotheses. The conclusion of these studies is that the relationships between the distances covered by the murderers in disposing the bodies changed over time; the distances from the offenders’ residences reduced as the number of victims increased.
Reference
Godwin, M., and Canter, D. (1997). Encounter and Death: The Spatial Behavior of US Serial Killers. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Vol. 20(1). Pp.24 – 38
Buddy was an American rapist, necrophile, serial killer, and kidnapper (Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, 2012). He was famous for assaulting and killing girls and young women during the 1970s. He confessed to have killed 30 people shortly before he was executed. This paper will analyze his character from a psychological point of view. There are several circumstances in Buddy’s case that indicate the presence of mental disorders.
Mental Health Related Criminal Case Analysis
Buddy’s murders were all female. He mainly targeted young women. This indicates a possibility of a mental disorder that made him to target the females only. After he had killed the young women in a secluded location, he often revisited the scene for several hours (Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, 2012). During these visits he executed sexual acts on the decomposing dead bodies. He performed these repeatedly heinous sexual acts on the dead bodies until they completely decompose or eaten by wild animals.
Buddy’s killings were also identified by missing heads. He completely decapitated twelve of his victims and kept their heads in his house (Menaster, 2012). The manner in which the heads were stored in his apartment signified his close attachment to the heads. Some of his killings were also done during late night hours whereby he broke into the victims’ apartments and murdered them while asleep (Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, 2012).
He was also reported to have physically assaulted one of his homicide victims. These are signs of a mentally ill patient. Mental disorders are usually characterized by unpredictable behaviors that cannot be controlled (Menaster, 2012). The murders performed by Buddy suggested that he was completely out of control.
The criminal conduct case against Buddy was based on the laws and the evidences presented in the case. His mental health status was not used as part of the evidences during the cases. He was treated as a normal person during the cases (Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, 2012).
During the criminal cases leveled against Buddy’s proceedings, there was no psychological analyst for the witnesses. Those who took part as witnesses in the cases claimed that they saw him at the various murder scenes. Other evidences that helped in building up the cases against Buddy were the bite marks and victims’ clothing remains found in his possession (Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, 2012).
These cases did not involve the mental issue in the proceedings. Buddy was visited by psychologists while in prison so that it could be possible to understand his actions. However the information gathered from Buddy by the psychiatrists was not used in the development of the cases against him (Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, 2012). As much as the psychiatrists related his problems to mental disturbances, this was not a major issue that determined the outcome of the cases.
By the time these cases were carried out, the modern understanding of mental health issues was not available. However, the realization of the criminal investigation department that Buddy was a mentally disturbed suspect complicated the investigation. The evidences tabled in the court of law were substantial in proving that he had a mental problem (Menaster, 2012).
The criminal investigation department completely ignored these facts and opted to prosecute Buddy as a mentally sane person. His mental instability was a bit mild. Furthermore, he was a relatively bright individual who had studied the law up to the university level. His arguments made it very difficult for him to be declared as a mentally unstable person.
Psychoanalysis of Buddy could have exposed his problem and the necessary help initiated to prevent further development of the problem (Menaster, 2012). Therefore, from the case leveled against Buddy, the criminal investigation department was greatly influenced by the need of involving psychoanalysis of such suspect during the trial in order to give the court an opportunity to make a more informed decision.
If the criminal investigation department could have involved mental state analysis in the cases against Buddy, they could have saved many lives that were lost due to the mental instability of Buddy. It is definite to note that the latter was suffering from a mental problem that was specifically targeting the women (Menaster, 2012). Interventions were never put in place before it could escalate to dangerous levels.
Recommendations
The criminal justice system and mental health have a common problem. The criminal justice is currently encountering several people with mental health problems (Centre for Mental Health, 2012). This has resulted into increased burden to the criminal justice system. The treatment of the mental patients is also less effective.
The current division between the criminal justice structures and the mental health treatment systems has worsened the state of this problem (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2011). The most effective way of handling such mental cases is by construction of partnership between the two departments (Centre for Mental Health, 2012).
The current criminal justice system has created an environment whereby mentally ill suspects have inadequate access to treatment. Such people are left completely vulnerable to their conditions (Treatment Advocacy Center, 2011). This has led into several instances of repeated crimes by such individuals.
The prison department is not well equipped to deal with such cases. In fact, the setting of the jails has high chances of allowing the problem to develop further. This trend has led into high levels of recidivism among people suffering from mental illness or disturbances.
Since these people are facing psychological challenges that require rehabilitation and treatment, then the commonality nature of the problem offers a solution. A balance between prevention of dangerous behavior and treatment of mental patients should be developed (Centre for Mental Health, 2012). The criminal justice only prevents the persons from harming the public while mental health facilities offer treatment of such people.
When such people are released back to society, they become less harmful. Giving back such people to the society without treatment predisposes them to repeating earlier crimes. Seeking solutions to these problems requires the two departments to work together. The justice system should alienate those persons from the society and then subject them to mental treatment as well as rehabilitation.
The collaboration of the two departments in the rehabilitation of these patients will result to reduced cases of such people ending up back in jail (Center for Mental Health, 2012). Persons with mental illness should therefore be provided with efficient treatment at the earliest stage as possible.
Availability of a diversion system targeting mentally unstable criminals will enable proper treatment of such patients. At the same time, these patients should be properly supervised by the criminal justice system. Subjecting such patients to the jail system may not be of great help at all.
References
Center for Mental Health (2012). Mental Health Treatment Requirement can address a root cause of offending behavior, says new report from Centre for Mental Health and the Criminal Justice Alliance. Web.
Menaster, M. (2012). Psychiatric Disorders Associated With Criminal Behavior. Web.
All offensive or good actions are traceable to the doer because they have personal reasons or motivation. This is an indication that it is possible to trace some psychological evidence and find out some of the serial killers’ motives, especially in contemporary American society. The advancement of technology allows detectives to have an easy time finding finer details that would have been hard to salvage in the early epoch. This is also the reason why investigators have transformed serial killers cases into psychologically related investigations. A clear understanding of the killer motives and behavioral patterns assist investigators’ profiling process, criminal hunting procedures as well as the ability to narrow down their scope into workable logic. In the mid-twentieth century, psychiatrists and psychologists hypothesized the concept that serial killers have comparable personalities and behaviors. The experts thus based their search and investigation of such cases on their expert opinions. Perhaps these experts are in a position of determining the behavioral patterns and personalities through professional analysis of a crime. Various investigation departments such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have units or departments with well-equipped profilers such as the behavioral analysis units that assist in the investigation of such cases, through analysis of crime scene reports, photographs, forensic reports, witness reports, and evidence to determine possible motives of the criminals. They investigate the unique information that covers the killer’s experience, explore the suspect’s background and potential motives.
Based on the above-stated arguments, this paper forms research for evidence from some of the serial killers in modern American society and various tactics utilized by the investigative departments to determine and differentiate between serial killers and other criminals. The special branch investigators such as psychiatrists, forensic analysts and psychologists are profile developers who come up with psychosomatic reports indicating the behavior, gender, race, employment and marital status. They also present other similar details that lead to finding the perpetrator’s motives (Schechter, 10). Is it possible that serial killers’ behavioral patterns and traits leave a trace of accurate and specific conclusions that investigators are able to pick up during their investigations? Mainly the social inadequacy among these killers provides some evidence and similarities. This paper also tries to compare the behavioral patterns of various serial killers in contemporary American society. There is a great improvement in the profiling process as investigators advance both the technological systems and the psychological analysis techniques.
Some Worse Serial Killers in Modern American Society
Various countries have diverse shares of criminals, especially serial killers. The United States has had devastating effects on brutal serial killers. Although there is limitation over investigation information by the administrators and the involved governments, there is numerous information about these worst serial killers in the modern U.S. such as Ed Gein some evident even in the movie scenes. Although the investigative reports indicate otherwise, Gein’s conviction was over two murders (Schechter, 173). The detailed investigation revealed the existence of many human skulls in his house and other awkward items such as lampshades made of human skin (Schechter, 173). Theodore (Ted) Bundy is also linkable to a set of serial killings within the 1970s when the numbers of murders were unconfirmed. The serial killer however owned up to more than thirty cases especially the murdered female victims clubbed and strangled to death. The investigations also revealed signs of necrophilia acts. The killer faced execution in 1989 in Florida State (Michaud and Aynesworth, 15).
Another common serial killer was Dennis Raider also commonly known as the ‘BTK Killer’. He was arguably one of the worst U.S. serial killers between 1974 and 1991 and his ‘BTK’ identity, which stands for “Bind, Torture, Kill”, emerged from his style of killing that involved blinding and torturing before killing. Although his arrest, as well as conviction, occurred much later in 2005, ’BTK Killer’ communicated all the committed murders to the police through letters (Michaud and Aynesworth, 16).
In modern American Society, Dennis Raider (BTK Killer) is most likely one of the serial killers on the go for the longest period. There is a wide range of information that the investigators and the public, in general, can learn from the ’BTK Killer’ operations. He had an intriguing mode of operation where he would wait for years before killing. Due to the many years in between the killings, he was able to taunt police officers for decades by communicating with them through the media. He was thus an eluding capture for the longest time in history and it was not easy to determine when his first murder occurred. According to Capps and Dobkins (220), his killing personality was not biological but was raised and created by society, which is full of distorter human manifestations. Like any other child, this serial killer probably wished for happiness and the best that life has to offer, but society subjected him to brutality, sanity, abuse, assaults and lies. The experiences revealed by serial killers do not emanate from the choices they make especially during childhood but are rather more connected to the kind of social setting subjected to them. In line with Capps and Dobkins (221), Dennis was a severely traumatized child and his continuous conscious denial of responsibility for his killing acts is a clear indication of the existence of horrible childhood memories. The serial killer places the blame on what he terms as the ‘Factor-X’. In line with (Wilson and Seaman, 372), psychological studies indicate that victims who faced torture during their childhood stage are not able to accept the existence of traumatic or abusive cases in our society. They consider and implicate their acts to various aspects like the way Dennis linked his actions to the “Factor-X”. This is a clear indication that the majority of these serial killers are victims of extremely distressing events, but they are not ready to accept or place the responsibility on society.
Lack of evident Psychological Distress among Serial Killers
Human homicide is one of the greatest inhuman acts and thus the reason people will always argue against the killers. Considering Dennis’s case, investigations did not provide substantiating evidence to show the existence of child-related abuse. Regardless of the state representation, no one is ready to argue for serial killers to show clearly the possibilities or clear signs of child abuse. Through his denial of committing the brutal acts, Dennis could have also acted so, to hide his personal memories. The denial is however not a clear indication of childhood abuse (Wilson and Seaman, 372). The victims of childhood abuse act in a way to conceal the experiences. The dishonesty thus ends up as a social responsibility because the victimization is of a great relative degree. The criminal thus reflects the abuse onto the innocent victims as a way of taking away frustration, ideology, anger or anxiety. According to (Wilson and Seaman, 372), the distressing reality is such a criminal is the main motivation for the acts. Society fosters the brutal experiences or the killing acts by failing to address psychological traumas and instead of assisting the victim to shape the abuses into their inner reflection of true reality (Wilson and Seaman, 372). Today, the investigative departments have the required facilities to formulate the truth of a case such as psychological disturbances, but they are equally quick to deny the possibilities by reversing the blame to the killer for the anticipated conviction.
Physiological Effects Related to Serial Killings
Are there internal, self-induced, mental or childhood experiences linkable to serial killing? In connection to findings on Dennis’s serial killings, the acts of childhood abuse are evident, for instance, his mother whipped him after finding out that he engaged in masturbating (Capps and Dobkins, 227). Society permits the whipping acts by the mother, and she thus did it out of impunity by the society. This clear child abuse can cause devastating implications in the future. Subjecting a child to insane ideological aspects, physical/sexual abuse or other forms of delusions can be the cause of such serial killing actions.
A common finding on the serial killing cases indicates that criminals like Dennis carry out the acts systematically, carefully and critically as an assignment. A good example is a systematic arrangement and filing of killing by Dennis the ’BTK serial killer’. He called his carefully filed paperwork ‘projects’. Argumentatively the society permeates or supports serial killing acts by condemning some of the acts such as prostitution. Most of the serial killers will focus on people who practice the condemned acts because their minds are, corrupt and thus consider such people as evil in society. Unlike many serial killers, the ’BTK serial killer’ focused on the more law-abiding or obedient citizens. He was more cold-blooded, more specific and critical and it was a positive aspect to him. It was his true inner reality. Most humans have a personal reflection of the society that assists them to direct the societal force internally other than express their reiterations. Drug abuse, suicides, tattooing and other aspects are common reactions just like serial killing or other homicides (Wilson and Seaman, 372). When the murders focus more and affect the common person or the law-abiding citizen, then there is little or no protection from society.
The mind of a serial killer
The above findings are therefore an indication that there are some motivating factors in the mind of a serial killer. More reveals are in various television series such as criminal minds, CSI law and order and the fascinating Dexter series. We love watching these shows as suspenseful stories, but they also provide some insightful information about the minds of a serial killer and what causes them to act beastly. Various television shows about serial killers show exactly how the criminals intelligently slip through the social settings undetected. The majority of the killers camouflage perfectly and pass by as good people. They also present the reality of how the killers go free due to poor or lack of enough evidence presented to the court. Society is equally denying the existence of background effects because the reality is that the social causes the emergence of such situations but is quick to prosecute the victims of poorly managed societies, such as serial killers. This is the reason that such people face poor representation in the courts.
Modern Dexter drama is an awesome TV show. The initial season had a link to the 2004 ‘Darkly Dreaming Dexter’ novel by Lindsay. In this series, the main character Dexter, a vigilante killer has his own code of justice administered to those termed evil and is able to escape the legal system. A key point to note in this case is that Dexter is a hermit, but the key point is that he was traumatized when he and the brother witnesses the death of his mother, who was brutally murdered by being cut to pieces with a power-saw. The two brothers young enough to understand anything lie in a pool of their mother’s blood for days. the scene injured the boys psychologically and both turn out to be serial killers due to their desire to kill. Dexter presents a character that is clearly able to live within the society and camouflage the social and even family settings with his real nighttime acts.
Conclusion
Shows like ‘numbers’ present the cold and well-calculated killers. Serial killers have the desire or urge of killing because the feeling grows in them. They possess some motivational factors often linkable to lack of love, special treatment of affection, lack of recognition, remembrance, and cherish from the family members, friends and society. Some of these killers actually begin from killing animals and graduate systematically to people. It is possibly a nurturing moment that transforms to a beastly act. Ed glen a serial killer in modern American society was seeking motherly affection and attention, but the mother failed to fulfill this childhood requirement. There are many factors that research findings place froth in line with serial killers, for instance, some killers like the publicity their acts receive, and they may be finding their limit of performance, the pleasures of life or are merely trying to collect some trophies to indicate their conquer. Others find it fascinating when they are in control regardless of whether they leave others in lamentation or happiness.
Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gien, Dennis, Ted Bundy and Gacy Wayne were all in control of their emotional needs and thus had the pleasure to kill. Did they have some aspects in common? Is it possible to identify this aspect early enough to prevent the emotionless serial killers that keep returning in our day-to-day existence?
References
Capps, Mary, and Dobkins Jim. My Boss Was the BTK Killer: I Was the Next Victim. California, CA: UCS Press, 2007.Press.
Michaud, Stephen, and Aynesworth Hugh. Ted Bundy: Conversations with a killer. New York, NY: Authorlink Press. 2000. Print.
Schechter, Harold. The serial killer files: the who, what, where, how, and why of the world’s most terrifying murderers. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2003. Print.
Wilson, Colin, and Seaman Donald. The Serial Killers: A Study in the Psychology of Violence. New York, NY: Virgin, 2007. Print.
When murders are often repeated and the similar victims arise experiencing the same trauma or manner of death, then the law enforcers should shift their gears toward looking at this as a case of a serial killing. As early as 1972, a serial murder was termed as a “multicide”. It was described as “a number of homicides committed by one person, but spread over a longer period of time, say months or even years, and generally corresponds to an unfolding, deep-seated psychopathological process”. It is often said that the perpetrator usually chooses the same type of victim and “repeats the murders periodically up to the time of arrest” (Cormier et al. 1972, p. 71). Indeed, it is undeniable that former prostitute Aileen Carol Wuornos (born as Aileen Carol Pittman) was a serial killer as she murdered seven men in Florida until she meted death by lethal injection in 2002.
In a well-known book by Holmes and DeBurger (1988), they took note of a serial murder by its central elements with emphasis on the murderer’s traits:
repetitive homicide, continuing if not prevented
primarily one-on-one
relationship (victim-perpetrator) usually one of stranger or slight acquaintance, strong affiliation seldom
motivation is to kill; not conventional passion crime or victim-precipitated
intrinsic motive (not apparent or clear-cut) and ordinarily not for passion, personal gain or profit (p. 18-19).
It is often safe to note that serial killers often commit sex-related crimes that often end up as murders. In history, the most well-known serial killer must be Jack the Ripper, a nickname given to the murderer who perpetrated a killing spree out of prostitutes in London. That was 1888 and until now, the identity of who the real killer was remains a mystery. Moreover, feminist scholarship has recently begun to examine serial murder as “sexual terrorism” or as a perpetuation of gynocide, the systematic crippling, raping and/or killing of women by men (Dworkin, 1976). In Wuornos’ case, it was different because she classified by the FBI as the first female serial killer who preyed on men as her victims.
Working as a prostitute for almost seventeen years before she was arrested in January 1991, “she testified that she had armed herself with a gun when soliciting clients in response to increasing levels of violence” (Basilio, 1996). As she was a woman, Wuornos always reminded that her actions were a form of self-defense: “I’m supposed to die because I’m a prostitute? No, I don’t think so. I was out prostituting. And I was dealing with hundreds and hundreds of guys. You got a jerk that’s going to come along and try to rape me? I’m going to fight. I believe that everybody has a right to self-defend themselves” (Basilio 1996). For Wuornos, it was androcide as she went on to a murder spree killing seven men along a stretch of central Florida freeway. Her modus operandi bore the reckless signature of a dissolute, desolating life: She hitched a ride in a car or truck with a male driver, rattled off a song and dance about wanting to get back to her kids in another state.
Born in a seedy Detroit suburb in 1956, young Aileen’s mother ran out on her and a brother early on. Her father was found out to be a convicted child molester, who would later kill himself in prison. The children were sent to their grandparents in Kallikak, who enthusiastically continued the daily round of brutal abuse, physical and perhaps sexual. Further on, the mean streets furnished Wuornos all the education she ever had. By her early teens, she had already borne a child and given it away. After the termination of a hasty marriage, she returned to her maiden name-strangely alliterative with the oldest profession she had begun to ply. After squandering insurance money from her brother’s early death, she returned to the streets, exchanging sex for meager sustenance. She was occasionally arrested for various petty crimes. In this case, her unruly life, drinking and drugging to wretched excess, gradually eroded her blonde good looks. Nevertheless, one still perceives, in photos and on film, the traces of a curious attractiveness.
In seeing Aileen Wuornois’ profile, we can see her reason as why she turned to killing men because of the several abuses she experienced in her life. This is why a serial killer like Wuornos could present as a challenge to law enforcers because she did not fit in the classification of what traditional serial killers should be. In our time, most serial murders are considered to be high profile cases in law enforcement because it often emanates widespread fear among people and mass media has a tendency to sensationalize the murders by putting it their headlines. The extreme awareness of people about serial murder cases is often not helpful because it will make the entrapment of the serial killer more difficult because he or she will cease to commit another murder to evade being easily caught by the police. In this criminal profile, we can learn how the development of certain characteristics can be associated with a specific type of criminal offender, who is a woman who suffered terrible abuse in the past can turn into a serial murderer.
References
Basilio, M. (1996, Winter). Corporal evidence: representations of Aileen Wuornos. Art Journal, 55(4): 56-62.
Cormier, B. M. Angliker, C.C. J., Boyer, R. & Mersereau, G. (1972). The psychodynamics of homicide committed in a semispecific relationship. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Corrections, 14, 335-44.
Dworkin, A. (1976). Our Blood: Prophecies and Discussions on Sexual Politics. New York: Harper and Row.
Holmes R. M. and DeBurger J. (1988). Serial Murder. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Edmund Kemper is one of the most famous serial killers, since he was mentioned in various popular shows and movies because of the cruelty of his crimes. The men murdered ten people, including grandparents and mother, and called the police to report about his crimes (Tallerico, 2017). Although the actions of the serial killer indicate deep mental problems, the causes of the occurrence are also important. Consequently, this article will examine the biography of Edmund Kemper, as well as the history of his murders, to find the reasons for his terrible crimes.
Childhood
A person’s childhood has a significant influence on the formation and prediction of his or her adult life. Ed Kemper had a difficult childhood and has been showing alarming signs from an early age. He was born in Burbank in 1948, and after his parents split up, he lived with his mother and sister (Greig, 2017). Kamper was gloomy and aggressive, loved violent games, and abuse animals. In an interview, he said that he and his sister were playing “a gas chamber or an electric chair,” and, once, he buried their cat alive in the garden (Serial Killers Documentaries, 2017). He also once told his sister that he would first have to kill the teacher he has a crush on before kissing her (Greig, 2017). Kemper’s problematic behavior was also facilitated by his relationship with adults, since his mother often insulted and humiliated him, his father did not want to live with him. Such relationships with adults, as well as early mental problems, formed the character of the men.
In adolescence, Kemper became even more closed, aggressive, and gloomy. The teachers had no complaints about him, since he did not stand out for his behavior but was much larger and taller than other children. At the farm, the boy had a tense relationship with his grandparents, but he also had the opportunity to hunt birds, ferrets, and other animals, although adults did not approve of this hobby (Greig, 2017). After a small quarrel with his grandmother at the age of 15, Kemper shot her in the kitchen and after he met the grandfather, who came from the grocery store and shot him too. On his mother’s advice, Kemper called the police, and when officers asked about the reason his actions, he replied: “I just wondered how it would feel to shoot Grandma” (Greig, 2017). Kemper was arrested and sent to a secure hospital for the mentally ill in Atascadero, and after five years, he was released on the recommendation of psychiatrists. Consequently, one may note many traumatic and disturbing circumstances in the early years of Ed Kemper.
History of Crimes
Kemper committed most of the murders in one year and confessed to his crimes only after he killed his mother. In an interview, Kemper says that initially, he picked up hitchhikers only to get to know them, as well as “play the game” and lure the girls to sit in his car in a few simple tricks (Serial Killers Documentaries, 2017). In addition, the man had a special campus sign in the car where his mother worked, which allowed him to drive to college. For this reason, Kemper picked up college students who hitchhiked along the road and later became his victims.
Kemper felt rage, sexual desire, and the need to kill, and the defenselessness of the victims helped him realize his fantasies. In May 1972, the first victims were two students, whom Kemper picked up on the Palo Alto road. He tried to strangle the first girl, stabbed her, and cut her throat, as well as the second girl (Killers Documentaries, 2017). Then he took their bodies home, sexually abused them, cut off their heads, and hid parts of their bodies in different places (Greig, 2017). Kemper admits that he was shocked by the first killings as he did everything wrong, and the most difficult for him was to get rid of bodies. However, each time the rage and desire became stronger, and his knowledge that he received in the bar about a new friend of the policeman helped him to go unnoticed (Serial Killers Documentaries, 2017). For this reason, the killings continued for almost a year.
Kemper later used the same method to find victims as he randomly picked them up from the road. He had a gun to kill the victims, then drove them to his home, committed sexual acts, dismembered bodies, and hid. One day, he went to talk to his mother, while a dead girl lay in his trunk because it gave him a strange pleasure (Ressler & Shachtman, 2015). Another time, Kemper went on a visit to two psychiatrists who noted progress in his treatment and sealed his case, while one’s girl’s head was in his trunk (Ressler & Shachtman, 2015). However, in a short time, Kemper decides to stop and report on his crimes to the police.
The turning point in Kemper’s life was the decision to kill his mother. As the man notes, he was convinced that he would kill his mother a week before the murder and realized that he should stop after that (Serial Killers Documentaries, 2017). He repeats in several interviews that, at that moment, he had a childish desire to hear something that could stop him. However, his mother mockingly said, “O my God, I suppose you want to stay up all night and talk” (Serial Killers Documentaries, 2017). These words touched Kemper even more, so he waited until she fell asleep, and then killed her with a hammer, decapitated, and humiliated her corpse (Ressler & Shachtman, 2015). After that, he also invited her mother’s best friend to the house and also killed her and had intercourse with her body; later, he called the police and confessed to his crimes (Tallerico, 2017). Kemper was convicted for eight counts of first-degree murder and is still in the California Medical Facility (Tallerico, 2017). In this way ended the story of one of the most famous serial killers in the United States.
Reflection and Searching for the Reasons
Although there is no excuse for Kemper’s brutal killings, one can notice causes and signs pointing to his mental problems. The first feature was a tense relationship with the family, since the mother constantly insulted and blamed her son and scorned him, and the father became a stranger after leaving his family. This treatment influenced the closed and insecure boy who became even more alienated. Kemper himself says that his social insecurity and inability to communicate with women also exist due to the cruel and matriarchal attitude of his mother and grandmother towards him (Serial Killers Documentaries, 2017). Consequently, the boy grew up a troubled teenager, but adults did not care about his problems, so they continued to develop.
It should also be noted the relationship between animal abuse, which showed Kemper and violence that later manifested itself to people. The man says that his desire to decapitate also comes from childhood because once his father cut off the heads of two pet chickens and the boy was forced to eat them for dinner (Serial Killers Documentaries, 2017). Besides, facts from his biography show that he was cruel to animals since childhood. Hensley, Browne, and Trentham (2017) also note that there is a link between animal abuse in children and later interpersonal violence. In addition, violent games and phrases about the killings were also supposed to cause concern among parents.
Moreover, interviews and facts from the biography demonstrate that Kemper has a high intellect, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and be charismatic. However, his skills were used in malicious intent because Kemper succumbed to his mental problems, hatred, and loneliness. Therefore, it is possible that if Kemper’s parents paid attention to his issues at an early age, the adult man could control his cruelty, fantasies, and desires, or would not have them at all. Besides, he could become a more self-confident and successful person, since he had no obstacles for this, except for his mental problems.
Conclusion
Therefore, Kemper’s story is an example of how childhood traumas and untreated mental problems lead to terrible consequences. Many people were killed at the hands of one man and could have suffered even more if he had not confessed to the police. Although it is difficult to interpret the reasons for Kemper’s behavior accurately now, studying his biography demonstrates that problems could probably have been avoided by timely intervention and help.
References
Hensley, C., Browne, J. A., & Trentham, C. E. (2017). Exploring the social and emotional context of childhood animal cruelty and its potential link to adult human violence. Psychology, Crime & Law, 24(5), 489–499.
Greig, C. (2017). The world’s worst criminals. London, England: Arcturus Publishing.
Ressler, R.K. & Shachtman, T. (2015). Whoever fights monsters: My twenty years tracking serial killers for the FBI. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
Serial Killers Documentaries (2017). Edmund Kemper documentary – In his own words [Video file].
Serial killings are not a strange occurrence in most parts of the world although they are minimal and add up to not more than 1% of total murders annually (FBI pr. 32). A serial killer is defined as a person who has killed at least three persons consequently to satisfy personal aims. The murderers are mostly sexually, financially, motivated, or do it to get thrilled or due to anger. Usually, the murders are similar in form as victims may be from the same sexual or racial backgrounds. The macabre concern regarding the matter is extensive, given attention by not only the law enforcers but also by individual scholars, journalists, through movies, and other aspects. This began during the 1880s due to mysterious series of killings in Whitechapel, London performed by a mysterious person dubbed “Jack the Ripper”. This continued in the 1990s after cases regarding Green River serial murder, Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgeway who had murdered 48 women in Seattle. BTK, Dennis Rader had killed ten victims in Kansas in the nineteenth century. All these cases have sexual aspects where serial murders killed their victims, who were especially prostitutes after having their sexual encounter (FBI pr. 39).
Law Enforcement Response to Serial Killing
Law enforcement agencies are constantly demanded to handle murders in all nations in the world. Specifically, many homicide cases are usually tragic, particularly ones that involve serial killers. These cases have been constantly studied by scholars as well as law enforcers since Jack Ripper’s cases during 1800, California’s “the Zodiac Killer” and including the most recent sniper murders that occurred in 2002 (Newton 386). Studies have tried to evaluate the cases in relation to the causes, patterns, and effects of serial murders. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has tried to analyze serial murder in relation to profiles through the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime and partnering with local and international agencies to curb serial killings through teamwork to achieve their goal. Serial killer cases are critical especially when the media is involved. Investigation of such cases is usually hard and such studies are usually done independently by expatriates and there have been limited efforts for law enforcers and experts to agree on the outcome. As a result, the FBI has tried to link together the controversial viewpoints regarding serial murders through the establishment of a multi-disciplinary approach in a symposium held in Texas in 2005. This symposium was meant at connecting experts in the field in various specialties to gather enough information regarding serial killers (FBI pr. 22). The expertise incorporates law enforcers for successful apprehension as well as in investigations regarding the matter. Additionally, mental health practitioners, scholars, and other experts such as media personalities and judges made their contributions. Here they discussed the international viewpoint regarding serial killers since experts came from different parts of the globe (FBI pr. 25).
To successfully handle the issue of serial murders, the law officials have gathered knowledge on common myths, forms, forensics, cause, motivation, characteristics, effects, prevalence, media role, prosecution as well as serial killer profiling to allow the criminal justice system to effectively respond to the issue through recognizing, investigating and adjudicating the cases. The FBI Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) through The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) for instance has acted as an operational aid to the federal, state as well as international agencies to investigate such crimes through behavioral, forensic as well as investigative aspects for law enforcers to be better equipped with the necessary knowledge on serial killers. The legal officers are equipped with descriptive as well as behavioral traits of suspects and offer advice regarding investigative procedures for accurate identification of offenders. NCAVC engages in research to acquire knowledge on criminal thinking, motivations as well as behaviors, where the outcomes are incorporated to become investigative as well as innovative procedures meant to enhance the effectiveness of law enforcers.
Future of Serial Killing
Dr. Richard von Krafft-Ebing was the mastermind to document his research regarding violence, sexual assaults, and consequential crimes. He recorded various case studies, which included serial murders. The law enforcement agencies such as the FBI maintain that there are several serial killers in the United States and they are expected to increase and hit an epidemic proportion with many people losing their lives as a result of serial killers (FBI pr. 25). Serial killers are predicted to be on the rise as the geopolitical world order changes. The future of serial killing is promising from a legal perspective. The law enforcers have up-geared their efforts to put the vice into halt not only in the United States but also in the other parts of the world. Moreover, the public has increasingly become aware of serial murders. This will be enhanced through the media such as movies, which trigger audience curiosity through portraying serial killings. This captivates the public, which overemphasized the need to be critical about serial killers.
However, most of the information about serial killers in the movies is inaccurate, which results in various misconceptions concerning the matter. Even though the information is based on speculations it creates public awareness of the issue. These speculations may in fact affect the credibility and efficiency of law enforcers in their investigations. The media enhance related myths such as “serial killers are all dysfunctional loners, are all white males, are only motivated by sex, all serial murderers travel and operate interstate, cannot stop killing, are insane or are evil geniuses, and that they want to get caught” (FBI pr. 15). These are nothing but myths that are spread by movies, based on speculations and not on accurate evidence from experts. The gain of more insight regarding serial murders will prove vital to prosecutors and pathologists as well as crime investigators.
The causality of serial murders is still an unresolved issue but it is thought to be environmental, biological and social as individuals interact towards them. A person however, might be genetically predisposed and causality is liked to their progress during development. Free will is also crucial in the aspects and dictates the behaviors as serial killer choose their victims keenly and very timely based on their preference. In future, the neurobiologists will be in a position to evaluate the contribution of the nervous system and its interaction with the environment as it is structured in a manner to crave for killings. With the rising cases of drug and substance abuse, child assault cases and social-economic constrains might further result to a rise in serial murders since social coping ways are compromised, causing violence (Newton 25).
The means of killing for serial killers may take forms such as asphyxiating, drowning, strangling, use of torture, hanging or stabbing, which they may improvise to achieve their desires. This may be achieved through methods such as using the internet as in dating sites to search their ideal prey. They may change their targets as well as methods of killing in order to create illusions and hinder their identification.
Although there is no generic template for such an offender, psychopath plays a crucial role. Therefore, physicians should recognize psychopath and offer timely therapeutic measures before individuals become extreme. In identifying such cases, law enforcers should collaborate and network with different investigative agencies locally and internationally in order to be able to face future challenges posed by political system, media and the public. With the increased use of forensic however, extensive media coverage as well as rising crime laboratories, serial killings will decline in future. With more technological advances in future, there will be accurate investigations and identification of serial killers via innovative processing and ways of gathering evidence. These forensic tests could be compared with database cases of unresolved suspects. The computerized models will be crucial in solving such cases with the now increasing systems e.g. Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) as well as National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network (NIBIN) (FBI pr. 43).
Works Cited
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “Serial.Murder.” Reports and Publications. 2005. Web.
Newton, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. New York: Infobase Publishing. 2006. Print.
In the modern world, homicide is considered to be one of the most severe and immoral crimes. To try and prevent the losses of human lives, criminal scientists develop theories about environmental and genetic factors that propel people to become murderers. According to statistics, men are responsible for most homicides, while women tend to kill for self-defence and other material reasons (Menard & Morris, 2011). However, although the percentage of deliberate female-committed murders is low, psychopathic women have higher chances of committing a homicide, so it is reasonable to analyze such instances. A practical example of a cold-blooded female murderer can be found in Aileen Wuornos’s case. Aileen’s lack of attachment and early childhood abuse promoted psychopathic development and led to homicide.
Criminal Offender
Aileen Wuornos was born on the 29th of February in Rochester, Michigan. Upon Aileen’s birth, her mother was 16, and her father, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was in jail for raping a seven-year-old child (Arrigo & Griffin, 2004). After four years since the birth of Aileen, her mother abandoned the family, leaving the girl and her brother with their maternal grandparents, whom the girl considered her birth parents. In one of the interviews, Aileen Wuornos mentioned the sadistic tendencies of the grandfather. He would beat her with a leather strap while she was lying naked on a bed (Arrigo & Griffin, 2004). The beatings, she recalled, could be committed regularly without allowing her damaged skin to heal (Arrigo & Griffin, 2004). In addition to physical assault, she was exposed to mental pressure. During the beatings, the grandfather called her “evil, wicked, worthless” and that “she was not worthy of the air she breathed” (Arrigo & Griffin, 2004, p. 383). The grandmother did not prevent her husband’s violent behaviors and had drinking problems. Eventually, Aileen and her brother discovered the truth about their natural parents, which made the kids even more distant from their elder caregivers.
The difficult childhood profoundly affected Aileen’s life, leading to social unacceptance, prostitution, and criminal activities, including murders. She was aggressive and irresponsible during her adolescence, which resulted in her becoming pregnant at the age of 15 and failing to establish social connections (Arrigo & Griffin, 2004). Like her mother, she left the child to be adopted by her grandparents. Almost all of Aileen’s relationships were brief and filled with violence and domestic abuse (Arrigo & Griffin, 2004). To earn for a living, she became a prostitute, but still struggled with money. As a result, she was charged with multiple robberies and was once sentenced to three years of imprisonment for deadly weapon use. In her thirties, Aileen committed her first murder by killing a 51-year-old-man. Later, she would reason every murder by self-defence against raping men, but the claims seemed inconsistent with all the forensic evidence. After killing six more people, she was caught and sentenced to death.
Criminology Theory
The theoretical explanation of Aileen Wuornos’s Case is based on attachment and psychopathy theories. Attachment theory describes the connection between the development of a child’s mental models and paternal interactions with the child. The theory states that the formation of attachment in early childhood is a pivotal factor in the child’s emotional, social, and personal development (Kocsis, 2018). On the other hand, the absence of the parental bond can result in the child’s anger, despair, and mistrust, leading to the adoption of a destructive world image (Kocsis, 2018). For example, if caregivers do not satisfy all the infant’s basic needs, the child can develop a notion that people are unreliable and the child itself is inadequate. Another danger of improper attachment is its correlation with psychopathy (Kocsis, 2018). An infant lacking meaningful bonds cannot develop the mental tools necessary for understanding others’ feelings and emotions (Kocsis, 2018). Therefore, the lack of attachment can provide an individual with dangerous mental models, impairing the worldview, promoting aggressive and violent behaviors, and even psychopathy.
Criminal Offended Motivation, Deviance, and Abnormal Behaviour
Throughout her life, Aileen Wuornos showed multiple signs of psychopathy, including violence, aggression, antisocial behaviors, and substance abuse. She could not assimilate into the school environment, had poor study results, and lacked meaningful connections. All the Aileen’s relationships were unhealthy and involved mental and physical violence. The only close person for Aileen was her brother, with whom she shared the experience of being abused in their childhood (Arrigo & Griffin, 2004). The failure to understand the emotions of others, along with the deep hatred towards men, led to the murderous acts. Aileen did not show any empathy to her victims and treated them as objects that helped to achieve material and personal satisfaction.
There were two main reasons behind Aileen’s abnormal behaviors: her difficult childhood and biological heritage. During her early years, Aileen experienced neglect, resentment, and domestic abuse, which dramatically affected her mental development. As a result, she could not correctly understand other people’s emotions, implied hidden motives behind others’ actions, and became hateful and defensive. Even though the environmental factors played a pivotal role in Aileen’s development, the genetic influence could also be profound. For instance, she showed impulsive behaviors and a lack of concern for other people, the similar way her father did.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the primary causes of Aileen Wuornos’s murderous acts came from her experience of an abusive childhood and parental neglect. The irresponsible attitude of Aileen’s parents and the abusive behavior of her grandfather produced a serial killer who took the lives of seven people. This statement highlights the significance of personal and governmental responsibility to ensure appropriate childcare and mental development to prevent such tragedies.
References
Arrigo, B. A. & Griffin, A. (2004). Serial murder and the case of Aileen Wuornos: Attachment theory, psychopathy, and predatory aggression. Wiley InterScience, 1(22), 375-393.
Kocsis, R. N. (2018). Applied criminal psychology: A guide to forensic behavioral sciences. Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Menard, S. & Morris, R. G. (2011). Integrated theory and crimes of trust. J Quant Criminol, 1(28), 365-387.