Characteristics Of A Serial Killer

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According to Culhane there are three or more victims, three or more incidents and an emotional “cooling off” period in between murders that are considered the three main characteristics in defining a serial murderer. Being a serial killer is hard work in their minds, but yet again it’s very easy to them just depending on if they are organized with their killings or unorganized with their killings, along with having a difference in their behaviors of which is which. Is it a serial murder or a serial killer? A serial murder, or as some people know it as a mass murder, is defined when a large number of people are killed usually at the same time in a single location, whereas a serial killer is defined as a person who murders three or more people …show more content…

Serial murders are taken place when a single large number of people are killed all at once at one location at the same time and usually don’t have “cooling-off” periods. Whereas a serial killer is much more selective with their targets and murders three or more people in two or more separate locations over a period of time and have “cooling-off” periods. “This cooling-off period may be weeks, months or even years” (Knight 1190). Serial killers also try to remain undetected so they can go on killing for several years and could spend months trying to find the right individual to kill. Geographical location is one similarity between a serial murder and a serial killer, even though it is more than likely that it won’t be the same they will each have their own distinctive location. A few more similarities or common traits between a serial killer and a serial murder is that they are either single or divorced, they are often loners, they tend to torture animals in their younger years of life, their age rage is in the 20’s and 30’s and about 90% of all serial murders and serial killers are men. The victims often all share a trait, something that has important symbolic meaning to the

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