Serial Killer Essay

Ryan Lanning
Speech Communications
Professor Lynch
29 October 2012
Serial Killer Speech Did you know that 85% of the world’s serial killers live her in America? At any given time there are between twenty and fifty unidentified active serial killers plotting another’s death. I have always had a strong interest in crimes people commit and criminal justice, especially in the area of serial killers and why they do what they do. Anybody could be one, even somebody you know and you may never know it. Serial killers are everywhere, they could even be in your own neighborhood, and we just have to be aware of it. Now that I have informed you on my topic, let us get into what a serial killer actually is. Mike Rustigan, professor of criminology at San Francisco State University had stated, “with all of them, their motives tend to be total, deep and personal. They feel no guilt, no remorse and have an attitude of total disdain towards their victims.” The FBI defines a serial killer as a minimal of three to four killings with a cooling off period between. The killer is usually a stranger to the victim. The murders reflect a need to sadistically dominate the victim. We all experience rage and sexual instincts, yet we have some sort of internal cage that keeps our inner monsters locked up. A psycho killer doesn’t have these barriers. We now have an idea of what makes a serial killer, but why do they do it? What triggers them? We believe we have control over our impulses, no matter how angry we get. Do serial killers lack this moral safety latch? Dennis Nilsen, who committed the murders of fifteen young men in London, had said “I wish I could stop but I could not. I had no other thrill or happiness.” Many serial killers have Antisocial Personality Disorder, meaning they appear normal and charming, but in reality it’s a mental illness in which a persons way of thinking and perceiving situations are abnormal and destructive. It’s their “Mask of Sanity.” Others find a sexual drive from it. Many serial killers also find pleasure in rape and torture. Charles Albright would surgically remove his victims eyes, Dahmer would dismember their bodies and keep their skulls and Bundy would rape them, kill them, bury them, and then go back to unbury them and have sex with them again. Other excuses include childhood abuse, genetics and mental disorders. We went over what a serial killer is and what drives them to kill, but how can you tell if somebody is a serial killer? Serial killers might be family friends or a close relative. Some your next door neighbor. But you might never know. You eat with them, laugh with them, but you may never know. This is because they are very good at hiding who they are. Some easy characteristics most of them share, most are white males ages twenties to late thirties, they come from lower to middle class background, they are very intelligent, they come from a broken home and they were abused physically, mentally and sexually as a child. Not all serial killers are caught. Some are picked up for other crimes. Bundy was caught at a routine traffic stop. Once convicted they spend their life in prison or are executed if the death penalty exists in their state. Most researches agree there is no cure. So I’ve told you what exactly a serial killer is and what makes them a serial killer, why they murder, what triggers them and their typical characteristics. The main point I am trying to get across is that serial killers do exist and are as much active now as ever before. What they do isn’t normal and is a result from a mental illness, the way they were raised or simply the urge to kill. I just ask you all to be very aware and very cautious when dealing with somebody whether a stranger or a favorite uncle, who shows even little evidence of having evil desires, because you never actually know what they are capable of doing to you.