WHAT IS SERIAL MURDER? Serial murder has been defined as ‘two or more separate murders where an individual, acting alone or with another, commits multiple homicides over a period of time, with time breaks between each murder event’ (Geberth). Hickey simply defines serial murder as killing over time. Holmes and Holmes define a serial killer as “Someone who murders at least three persons in more than a thirty-day period. It has also been defines as one person killing another in the context of power, control, sexuality, and aggressive brutality” (Burgess et al) (Deborah, 2000)
FEMALE SERIAL KILLERS IN THE U.S.A
Female serial killers account for only eight percent of American serial killers but American females account for three-fourth of all female serial killers worldwide (H. Thomas, 2004). Of a total of about 400 serial killers identified between 1800 and 1995, approximately 16 percent were females- a total of 62 killers. Although this number is not an overwhelming majority, neither is it a number that can be ignored. Those 62 women collectively killed between 400 and 600 victims including men, women and children (Peter, 2007). At any one time it is estimated that there are between 50-75 serial killers operating in United States. Approximately 7-8 out of these are females,