Edmund Kemper: The Serial Killer

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Childhood
History of Crimes
Reflection and Searching for the Reasons
Conclusion
References

Introduction

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].
Tallerico, B. (2017). Watch the real-life interviews with serial killer Ed Kemper that were recreated on ‘Mindhunter‘. Business Insider. Web.

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Edmund Kemper: The Serial Killer

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