Serial Killers

Profile of a Serial Killer Serial killings can be shocking, terrifying, and horrific for many people that are around the murders, have family around them or just hear about what is happening. When people hear that someone they have known for years has committed one or multiple murders they often express great shock and surprise (“Early” np). People find it hard to believe that the seemingly “normal” person they knew could do such a thing, this is because most, if not all, serial killers have the power to behave in a manner that arouses no suspicion (“Early” np). These killers seem like normal everyday people because serial killers are generally smart just mentally unstable, and even though they share similar psychological profiles, childhoods, and traits there are different types of serial killers and they have different motives ranging from a variety of reasons. A serial killer is not a murderer; it is not a person that looks to kill another person then stop because they have done what they wanted to do. They go on, searching for whoever steps in their way at the right moment then attacks and does not stop until they are caught, but just like murder, there are different types of serial killers and serial killings. A serial killer is traditionally defined as an individual who has killed three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time (a "cooling off period") between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification. Serial killers are motivated to kill, but many have different reasons and motives (“Serial Killers” np). Micki Pistorius, a psychologist who worked for the South African police on more than thirty cases of serial killing wrote, “Serial Killers are not monsters: they are human beings with tortured souls; the motive is intrinsic, an irresistible compulsion, fuelled by fantasy, which may lead to torture, and/or sexual abuse, mutilation and necrophilia” (Innes 6). A typical serial

Cited: “Early signs of a serial killer”. Crime library. 2008. National Museum of Crime and Punishment. 7 January 2013 http://www.crimemuseum.org Innes, Brian. Serial Killers. London: Quercus publishing PIC, 2006. Newton, Michael. Criminal Investigations: Serial Killers. New York City: Info base publishing, 2008. “Serial Killer I.Q.”. Serial Killer Information Center. 2012. Radford University. 7 January 2013. http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu. “Serial Killers”. Macalester.edu. 7 January 2013. http://www.macalester.edu/academics/psychology/whathap/ubnrp/serial killers/homepage.html