Serial killers are defined as a person who kills multiple people over a long period of time. Everyone has experienced unique events throughout their life that shapes their personality and how they interact with people around them. In the case of Ronald Dominique, a serial killer who suffered a traumatic event while in jail, he was raped by an inmate. Although this event triggered his serial killings it does not justify his actions. Serial killers are justly punished for their actions with life sentences because they can no longer function as law-abiding citizens. Serial killers are prone to violence and aggression. They have prior criminal offenses and tend to escalate from petty crimes to murder. For example, Ronald Dominique had previously …show more content…
He recalled his victim’s murder from this memento which was the victim’s urine stored in a jar (Forsyth 867). Serial killers do not feel remorse for their victims they get a thrill from their killings and seek out this pleasure again and again. People without remorse cannot assimilate into society again after serial killings. As we could see with Dominique, he tried to be normal by helping in his community by calling out Bingo number for senior citizens and even went as far as to buy his whole family Christmas presents when they could not afford any (Forsyth 862), but in the end, he let the violent and aggressive side of his personality take over and lost the charitable facade he tried to make others see him as. Serial killers cannot think nor process things the same everyone one else …show more content…
This was certainly true for Dominique whose health was rapidly declining. Forsyth discusses his meeting with Dominique as surprising. He goes on to say that due to the brutality of the murders he was expecting “more physically fit man. Instead, I saw a five feet four inches, overweight, pale, unhealthy, out of shape, man, who could barely stand up. He had a heart condition that rendered him so weak that he had to sit on a stool in the shower. None of his victims could have felt threatened by him until he displayed a weapon. Indeed, he could have physically deteriorated from the stress and fear of being in jail, but even pictures of him taken in the past by his family did not show a man who possessed the brute force to have committed these crimes. It is still something that baffles me today” (866). His victims never thought a sickly man could pose any danger to them and let their guard down. Dominique used this to his advantage to lure men to his home, his storage room, or his car. Where he would then proceed to tie them up, rape them, and murder them (Forsyth
Teachers, friends, classmates, relatives and parents could not believe he kills his girlfriend. The reality sometimes is very hard to face especially when feelings are involved. Parents never will accept that their own child who was raised with comfort, love and support could be capable of murder somebody. Disturbing people could be disguised very well under a charming appearance. Many serial killers were known as decent, brilliant and admired persons.
...theorize that serial killers have brain damage or other biological abnormalities that contribute to their actions. Damage to areas like the frontal lobe, the hypothalamus and the limbic system can contribute to extreme aggression, loss of control, loss of judgment and violence. Henry Lee Lucas, who was convicted of 11 murders, was shown to have extreme brain damage in these areas, probably the result of childhood abuse, malnutrition and alcoholism. Arthur Shawcross, another 11-time serial killer, was found to have had several brain injuries, including two skull fractures. While in prison, he suffered from headaches and often blacked out. Bobby Joe Long, convicted of nine murders, stated at one point, "After I'm dead, they're going to open up my head and find that just like we've been saying a part of my brain is black and dry and dead" [source: Scott].
In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighbourhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Typically, they come from broken families, usually...
A serial killer is defined as the killing of 2 or more people in separate events with a cooling off period
In order to identify serial killers before they kill repeatedly, a person needs to study the characteristics that makes up this type of criminals. Most serial killers have been abandoned, by one or both parents, they are emotionally, physically, and even sexually abused by a family member, or relatives from unstable families who have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories, or tend to have hate for their parents and people in general which makes them have antisocial personality disorder. They have conflicted pain or tortured animals at a young age and most are highly interested in gaining control over things. Even though not every serial killers posses these characteristics, but most share these characteristics the same way they share the psychological need to have complete control and power over people.
Taking the life of another person is one of the worst infractions of the law to commit. The Bureau of Justice defines serial killing as “[involving] the killing of several victims in three or more separate events” (“Michigan” 1). Serial killers often commit extremely violent crimes; they usually become infamous for these crimes. The first recorded serial killers are probably Jack the Ripper in 1888 and Fritz Haarmann in 1924 (“Michigan” 1). Jack the Ripper is also one of the most well-known criminals, almost everyone knows who he is or has at least heard of him. Most people know what he is famous for and associate him with being a bad person. Serial killers are typically sadistic and sociopathic, meaning that they are unable to feel empathy for people who are suffering (“Michigan” 1). Whimsical sociopaths who have sadistic tendencies are very dangerous. They inflict pain because they do not care that someone else is suffering, they only care that it makes t...
The most common characteristics that many serial killers share are killing and abusing of animals during childhood, fetishism, anti-socialism, high I.Q.’s (while also doing poorly in school), and alcohol and/or substance abuse. Fictional character, Dexter Morgan, exhibited serial killing tendencies from a young age. He would kill neighborhood animals and was forced by his father to fake emotion and normality to fit in. It appears that Showtime hit the nail on the head with this one. One of the most well known serial killers, Ted Bundy, was infamously known for being cold and merciless. During interviews, he responded to questions about his victims by calling himself cold and explaining that he could not care less about his victims. Cannibalistic serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, started out by killing dogs and leaving their heads out on a stick for others to see before moving on to killing and eating people. These are just a few examples of many that prove that commonality is what makes a serial killer, a serial
Each of a serial killer’s killings temporary gratifies whatever provokes the killer’s actions, and each subsequent killing terminates a separate sequence of behaviors. They are all motivated to for different reasons; some kill to gain or exert power over the victims, entertainment or mission. Some kill because they believe they have the responsibility to they society to do so (Julietta Leung N.D.) Frequently, homosexuals, prostitutes, and the homeless are viewed by serial killers because they might believe they are devalued in society or they view as being beneath humanity. They believe those kind of p...
The Zodiac Killer’s reason for killing was that once he killed his victims, they would be his slaves in the afterlife. He thought of himself as a “God”, all powerful and all knowing. (Wilbur R. Miller, 2012) In conclusion, both Nannie Doss and the Zodiac Killer, killed for different reasons, but both had selfish motives to take someone else’s life. Since we never caught the Zodiac Killer, we can’t compare their childhoods, but in the Zodiac Killer’s psychological profile, he grew up in an abusive home.
A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Most people do not understand what can make a person want to kill multiple people for no reason other than own satisfactional gain. In actuality serial killers have been studied for over hundreds of years, and the information that has been documented continues to grow. The research that I have gathered about serial killers focuses on their childhood development, the differences and similarities between men and female serial kills, and finally general information on how their brains operate and their motives for committing such harmful acts.
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.
A serial killer is defined in Webster's Dictionary as someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short period of time. There is no one generic profile to identify a serial killer. They usually are people seeking for a sensation, a lack of guilt or remorse, a need for control, impulsivity, and predatory behavior. These traits make up a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopathy is a disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, manipulation, and occasional violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own wants and needs. There are four main types of serial killers; thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary serial killers, and power and control killers. There may be other
One of the biggest traits of psychopath serial killer is their inability to empathize with human feelings. There is no generic profile for psychopath serial killer. Serial killers differ in many ways, including their motivations for killing and their behavior at the crime scene. They will use people for excitement, to build self-esteem. In the movie the behavioral science doctor mentions that Dr. Lecter ate a nurse’s tongue and during the ordeal his pulse rate never raised above eighty-five, which is usually a pulse pate of a regular person that is resting. The calmness he displays is a shallow emotional response, as well as lacking empathy or remorse.
Serial murder as defined by the FBI is, “[t]he unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events" (Morton Robert J. Ed, & Hilts., Ed, 2005, p. 9). Numerous people disagree with the definition, this researcher included, since it lacks the cool- down period after they murder, which various people feel stands necessary for serial killer status. Serial killers remain a rare phenomenon. The FBI states, serial murder accounts for less than one percent of killings per year (Morton Robert J. Ed, & Hilts., Ed, 2005, p. 2). Nevertheless, throughout the years, countless people have researched serial killers since they commit such heinous crimes. Criminologists and researchers have been attempting to identify various
Serial killers are usually young, white males who are quite intelligent and often come from broken homes. They may have been abused either physically or sexually during childhood and they have serious personality defects, such as low self-esteem and a lifelong sense of loneliness. Although no two serial killers are alike, they all fit this description somewhat. In the sixth edition of Crime and Criminality by Sue Titus Reid, a serial killer is defined as a person who commits more than one murder but at different times (Reid, p. 134).