offender. Recognizing that most homicide victims do know their killer, detectives focus their attention on the relationships closest to the victim, particularly during the early stages of an investigation. This strategy is successful in leading detectives to the killer in the majority of homicide investigations. 48
Unlike most murderers, however, serial killers are rarely acquainted with or involved in a relationship of any kind with their victims. Rather than committing crimes of passion, serial killers, especially psychopathic serial killers, are emotionally detached from their victims, and they generally view them as objects. Serial killers are cold-blooded, meticulous predators who are driven to kill by compulsion rather than by passion. Because serial homicide typically involves strangers, there are no relationships between the killer and victims for detectives to investigate. This means that a serial murder investigation is a much more nebulous and complex undertaking than other homicide investigations. Given the lack of an obvious connection between the serial killer and his or her victims, criminal investigators must try to determine themotivations of the killer in order to establish a suspect pool and identify the perpetrator.
In the next few pages, I examine the leading motivations of serial killers and explain the various types and categories of serial killers that have been identified by homicide experts. Many serial killings seem to be completely devoid of meaning or motivation on the part of the criminal. In actuality, however, there is great diversity in the needs and desires of serial killers that lead them to extinguish the lives of others. Sometimes, the act or process of murder can be an end in itself for them. One aspect of popularly held beliefs and media stereotypes that often holds true is that most serial killers derive great satisfaction from the act of killing. The gratification they receive from the act of murder differentiates them from one-time murderers who kill incidentally—that is, to help commit or conceal another crime. Stated differently, serial killers have a chronic and overwhelming need to commit murder that distinguishes them from those who kill one time because it serves other criminal interests.
It may seem to be counterintuitive on the surface but many serial killers are actually insecure individuals who are compelled to kill due to a morbid fear of rejection. In many cases, the fear of rejection seems to result from having been abandoned by their mothers in early childhood. Infamous serial killers who were rejected or abandoned by their birth mothers include David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, and Joel Rifkin. Some serial killers such as Edmund Kemper were tormented, abused, and even tortured by their birth mothers. A neophyte serial killer who was traumatized as a child will seek to avoid painful relationships with other human beings as an adult. He will particularly seek to avoid painful relationships with those he desires or covets. Such fear of rejection may compel a fledgling serial killer to want to eliminate any objects of his affections. He may come to believe that by destroying the person he desires prior to entering into a relationship with them, he can eliminate the frightening possibility of being abandoned, humiliated, or otherwise hurt by someone he loves, as he was in childhood.
As explained by the FBI in its 2005 report on serial homicide, a serial killer selects victims based on availability, vulnerability, and desirability. 49 Availability is primarily determined by the lifestyle of the victim or circumstances in which he or she is involved that may provide the offender access for an attack. For example, a single female who regularly spends her evenings alone at home is available for a break-in attack by aserial predator. Vulnerability is defined as the extent to which the victim is at-risk or susceptible to attack by the offender. A single female walking down the
Unlike most murderers, however, serial killers are rarely acquainted with or involved in a relationship of any kind with their victims. Rather than committing crimes of passion, serial killers, especially psychopathic serial killers, are emotionally detached from their victims, and they generally view them as objects. Serial killers are cold-blooded, meticulous predators who are driven to kill by compulsion rather than by passion. Because serial homicide typically involves strangers, there are no relationships between the killer and victims for detectives to investigate. This means that a serial murder investigation is a much more nebulous and complex undertaking than other homicide investigations. Given the lack of an obvious connection between the serial killer and his or her victims, criminal investigators must try to determine themotivations of the killer in order to establish a suspect pool and identify the perpetrator.
In the next few pages, I examine the leading motivations of serial killers and explain the various types and categories of serial killers that have been identified by homicide experts. Many serial killings seem to be completely devoid of meaning or motivation on the part of the criminal. In actuality, however, there is great diversity in the needs and desires of serial killers that lead them to extinguish the lives of others. Sometimes, the act or process of murder can be an end in itself for them. One aspect of popularly held beliefs and media stereotypes that often holds true is that most serial killers derive great satisfaction from the act of killing. The gratification they receive from the act of murder differentiates them from one-time murderers who kill incidentally—that is, to help commit or conceal another crime. Stated differently, serial killers have a chronic and overwhelming need to commit murder that distinguishes them from those who kill one time because it serves other criminal interests.
It may seem to be counterintuitive on the surface but many serial killers are actually insecure individuals who are compelled to kill due to a morbid fear of rejection. In many cases, the fear of rejection seems to result from having been abandoned by their mothers in early childhood. Infamous serial killers who were rejected or abandoned by their birth mothers include David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, and Joel Rifkin. Some serial killers such as Edmund Kemper were tormented, abused, and even tortured by their birth mothers. A neophyte serial killer who was traumatized as a child will seek to avoid painful relationships with other human beings as an adult. He will particularly seek to avoid painful relationships with those he desires or covets. Such fear of rejection may compel a fledgling serial killer to want to eliminate any objects of his affections. He may come to believe that by destroying the person he desires prior to entering into a relationship with them, he can eliminate the frightening possibility of being abandoned, humiliated, or otherwise hurt by someone he loves, as he was in childhood.
As explained by the FBI in its 2005 report on serial homicide, a serial killer selects victims based on availability, vulnerability, and desirability. 49 Availability is primarily determined by the lifestyle of the victim or circumstances in which he or she is involved that may provide the offender access for an attack. For example, a single female who regularly spends her evenings alone at home is available for a break-in attack by aserial predator. Vulnerability is defined as the extent to which the victim is at-risk or susceptible to attack by the offender. A single female walking down the
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