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Robert William “Willie” Pickton is currently serving a life sentence for the second degree murder of six British Columbian women. Although convicted for the murders of six victims, physical and forensic evidence for thirty-three women was uncovered at Pickton’s Port Coquitlam pig farm which served as the crime scene for his murders. Numerous other missing women, mostly marginalized prostitutes with chronic drug addiction, from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside area remain unaccounted for. It is not unreasonable to assume that they too, met the same disturbing fate as the other murder victims. Pickton’s modus operandi for the serial murders was the same; he would prowl the drug and poverty ridden Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver looking for potential victims, take the victims back to his Port Coquitlam pig farm, and then sexually abuse, torture, and murder them before mutilating and disposing their bodies. Most disturbingly, the victim’s remains were allegedly fed to the pigs on his farm, which were then slaughtered with the meat given out to associates of Pickton or to visitors of the farm (The Pickton Trial, CBC.ca/news). What would cause an individual to behave in this rather heinous and macabre manner? Using Robert Pickton as a case study, this paper will explore the phenomenon of serial murder and apply research literature to help explain his behaviour and examine issues such as psychopathy, mental disorder, and substance abuse relevant to the Pickton case. In addition, the paper will explore the sexually sadistic nature of Pickton’s murders. Finally, the paper will explore the reasoning behind Pickton’s selection of drug addicted prostitutes as victims that enabled him to conduct his murders in relative anonymity. ... ... middle of paper ... ...al murder. In short, if we are to prevent more unfortunate tragedies such as the Pickton murders from reoccurring in the future, more attention must be paid to intervening, treating, and rehabilitating negative psychological states in juveniles before they can give rise to violent and sadistic behaviours in adulthood, such as those present in serial killers. References Arndt, W., Hietpas, T., & Kim, J (2004). Critical characteristics of male serial murderers. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 29(1). Quinet, K. (2011). Prostitutes as victims of serial homicide: Trends and case characteristics, 1970-2009. Homicide Studies, 15(1), 74-100. Simons, C. (2001). Antisocial personality disorder in serial killers: The thrill of the kill. The Justice Professional, 14(4), 345-356. The Pickton Trial. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/pickton/more.html
The Case of Robert Pickton is a long one, that may have started in 1978 when he was in his early 20’s. His involvement in the case of the disappearing women was only noticed after 1997 when Geographic forensics Dr. Kim Rossemo and the RCMP said there must be a serial killer in the Vancouver area. Pickton owned and lived on a pig farm in Vancouver British Columbia, with his brother David Pickton. They were known for their parties at the Piggie palace; which were large, dirty and filled with prostitutes and drugs. R. Pickton was a frequent around skid row and was known as a “good date”; he provided good money and drugs to prostitutes. When police showed prostitutes his picture in early 1999, they wouldn’t admit to knowing because of this. However, many prostitutes were scared of him. It was known that a fellow ‘prostitute’ and friend of Pickton’s Lynn Ellingsen was helping him get prostitutes who didn’t trust him out to the farm after the 1997 attack on Sandra Ringwald. The police received a tip in 1998 after over 15 women disappeared, but ignored it. The VPD then created Project Amelia to help find the women who disappeared, but it was a joke. When in jail before the trials, Pickton confessed to have killed 49 women to an undercover police officer and over 26 plus different women's DNA was found on what authorities had deemed his death farm. To hide the bodies, Pickton used a grinder to destroy the bodies and fed the women to his pigs and guests. Due to systematic and fundamental errors of the police, Robert Pickton managed to murder of over 26 female sex trade workers in seven years. The VPD was not involved enough in the disappearances of the women and many of the mistakes that happened within the investigation and departm...
...“the Vancouver department had a bias against sex workers.” The majority opinion of the department was evident, the women were no more than misplaced prostitutes. Therefore, they did not require priority status. Rather than, acknowledging the possibility of a serial killer, the VPD and RCMP ignored tips that could have incriminated Robert Pickton. The tips collected consisted of, public complaints regarding a serial killer preying on addicts and prostitutes, individual police suspicion, and a 1999, eye witness statement of a butchered women on the Picton farm. Lastly the report addressed critical devices which could have been used to apprehend Pickton earlier. The two specifically mentioned were, Kim Rossomo, a geographic profiler who was ignored when he warned of a serial killer, and the investigators who were not provided with key information relevant to the case.
A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it, (Lapham, 1985). Unfortunately, such acts of rampage have become a prevalent factor in the Canadian culture. As a result of endless media coverage, Canadians now are constantly bombarded with countless images of violence. Many of which often portray a victim avenging their opponent by force. Thus, indoctrinating individuals to believe that it is only through aggression that problems are resolved. Rather than being punished for acts of violence, those who commit such offenses are often praised for their “heroism”. In addition, the success of films like The Godfather, Gladiator, and Troy further aid in reinstating we live in a society that praises violence. Furthermore, this ideology allows for people to partake in violent acts with little or no backlash from ones community. However, when an person strays away from the “norm”, they are likely to then be viewed as a deviant. Such cases of rejection within a society, are often seen in the portrayal of serial killers. Although our society tends to condone violence when it is directed towards a specific individual(s), it does not allow the killing of innocent bystanders. Instead, crimes that are targeted against a number of people over a long period, entail the harshest forms punishments under the law. Sadly, in executing the law for said crimes, those in charge often face much public scrutiny. Such occurrences were apparent in the faulty murder investigations of Canada's most notorious serial killer Robert Pickton. This is due to the fact that, the negligence of the Vancou...
According to federal law, the term ‘serial killings’ means a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors. Throughout history, serial killers have always been a fascination among many individuals. On numerous occasions, law enforcement has tried to dive into the psyche of these killers to determine why they kill. There have also been numerous stereotypes placed on serial killers. Typical stereotypes are serial killers are all white males, loners, and that their crimes are driven by sex.
Holmes and Holmes developed this typology based on various characteristics of the crime scenes and the victims themselves of 110 interviews of selected offenders and serial murders (Canter & Wentink, 2004). David Canter and Natalia Wentink conducted an empirical test of this typology and developed several criticisms to their work. Their empirical test concluded that the features described for each category tend to co-occur within each other. For example, the characteristics of a lust killer include a controlled crime scene, evidence of torture, the body being moved, a specific type of victim, no weapon left at the crime scene, and rape; all of these features are also included for the thrill killer. This makes it difficult to categorize these
The present paper intent to enquire into a female serial killer. It shall describe and analyze the theories behind the occurrences and sequent offer explanations. The studies of criminology theories it is important to recognize why humans decide on living a life cycle of crime. Wikipedia.org defines serial killer as, “a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a “cooling off period”) between them.” Precisely of this, humans who tend to be a serial killer are prone to developmental and physical characteristics. Several of these trends could fit into a model standard of a crime. A good example of analyzing the life and crimes of Aileen Wuornos, an American female serial killer who killed
Introduction: On the spectrum of criminal activity, serial killers are rather rare. Rarer still is a serial killer like Ted Bundy. Bundy confessed to killing 28 women in the 1970s in ghastly fashion and some believe he may have killed far more. It is hard to imagine what could cause any person to cross the mental boundary into such macabre behavior as Bundy perpetrated. Nevertheless, it is important to try to understand that behavior because only though such an understanding would society be able to identify and deter mass murderers in order to save lives.
Library. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. Rosie, DiManno. “Prostitutes Suffer with ‘Sinister’ Law.” Toronto Star. EBSCO. Web. 8 Apr.
Beasley, James. 2004. “Serial Murder in America: Case Studies of Seven Offenders.” Behavioral Sciences and the Law 22: 395-414
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
It discusses childhood characteristics and how those behaviours lead into their more violent and aggressive adolescent behaviours. It has been found that more than half of men have some sort of sexual fantasies whether they are violent or not and that a serial killer will fantasize and replay these fantasises in their minds until they are perfected enough to demonstrate in real life. This article will serve a purpose in discussing more concepts of serial killing and describing in more detail about what fantasies can lead into one becoming a future serial killer.
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
Schechter, H. and Everitt, D. The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Pocket Books. N.Y. 1996
Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. What gives people these urges to kill? What motivates them to keep killing? Do these killers get satisfaction from killing? Is there a difference between mass murderers and serial killers or are they the same. How do they choose their victims and what are some of their characteristics? These questions and many more are reasons why I was eager to write my paper on mass murderers and serial killers. However, the most interesting and sought after questions are the ones that have always been controversial. One example is; what goes on inside the mind of a killer? In this paper I will try to develop a better understanding of these driven killers and their motives.
Forms of natural science can convert an innocent child into a brutal killer. Antisocial disorders are known as the “catalyst” for the development of serial killers. Mental illness,