Serial Killer Myths

Despite popular belief, serial killers are not always people that have that stereotypical “serial killer” look to them. Yes, most do not usually look happy and cheerful, but most of the time they just look like normal people. They are not always skinny, or have a long scraggly beard. There are some common myths about serial killers that many people believe to be true. For starters, most think that serial killers are male. The common belief is that the men are the aggressors, and women are always the victim; although that is found to mostly be the case, it is not one hundred percent true. “Approximately 17 percent of all serial homicides in the U.S. are committed by women”(Bonn). Another myth about serial killers is that they are always lonely,

These killers are usually high school dropouts, live alone, are messy, had an abusive family and never had a stable father figure in their life. Although they do not usually dismember the victim's body, most will leave the crime scene with evidence in place, and do not clean up well. They will normally pick a location to kill or store the bodies that is located close to where they live or work. Some will return to the crime scene to reminisce about the actions that took place, because they like to relive the memory of the crime (Types of Serial Killers). Some will even contact the victim's family before or after the victim's death to play games with them. (Maria) Many of these killers just decided to kill people, they did not have a specific way it needed to be done each time, and normally did not have a “type”.

Ottis Elwood Toole did not have a type, he just killed people randomly, which is why he would be an individual who is characterized as a Disorganized Serial Killer (Types of Serial Killers). Some other characteristics that put him into the disorganized serial killer category are low IQ because he was deemed disabled after his first murder when he was just fourteen, for running over a salesman who had forced Toole to have sex with him. He had no stable father figure, as his father left him and his mother when Toole was young, and an abusive mother (Ottis Toole