Serial Killers: The Zodiac Killer

H.H. Holmes said, “ I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing. I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been there ever since.” Serial killers became a recent epidemic in the 1970’s. There were a lot of famous killers at the time like the Manson family, the Zodiac Killer, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, Hillside Strangler, and Jim Jones. Many people say that the childhoods of serial killers could be very similar, leading to brutal murders. Many serial killers have common mental and physical traits.

Many serial killers come from dysfunctional families with an absent

Charles Manson growing up with an alcoholic mother who was sent to prison for robbery. Manson was later sold off to a waitress for a pitcher of beer, and he exclaimed that the only good memory he had was the embrace of his mother when she got out of prison. Albert Desalvo was abused constantly by his father. The abuse occurred almost daily, and Desalvo was even sold to a farmer as a slave along with two of his siblings for $9.00. The neglect and abuse serial killers went through impaired their self esteem, prevented them from functioning in society and forming healthy relationships (Lehnart). Child abuse has a huge effect on the child as he grows and starts to make his own decisions. Some children who grow up in abusive homes choose to be violent, brainwashed by the abuse they suffered in their own homes and become brutal killers. Children who grow to become serial killers may suffer more than just physical abuse, and physical abuse can also become mental

More than 60% of serial killers wet the bed (Eric). When the child is a prolonged bed wetter, that is another warning sign and is also part of the triad (Lehnart). When children are wetting the bed as a preteen, some people believe that something more is going on within the child’s mind while others may not think too much of that issue. Today, many people in the authorities question and deny the significance of this issue. This is because there was a community based study over bedwetting having a significant link to a child growing up to be a serial killer or being a psychopath. Bedwetting is often done as a toddler during potty training. It is a usual occurrence for that age, but when the child is reaching the preteen mark, it is normal that the bedwetting should have come to an end. Criminologists believe that the child should be observed closely because it can be a warning sign that the child may become a serial