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Psychodynamic theory of serial killers
Psychodynamic theory of serial killers
The psychology behind serial killers
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Killer Typology and Classification
What type of killer a person is depends on if they meet a specific criteria or not, and the killer classification has many subtypes in addition to that criteria. In the case of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng, they are considered to be process-focused serial killers because they were known enjoy drawing out the torment and death of their victims. Of course, process-focused is a rather broad term which is further narrowed down, into the subtypes of hedonistic killers or control-oriented killers. Lake and Ng are hedonistic killers, which kill for the pleasure they feel committing a murder. More specifically, they are thrill-oriented hedonistic murders.While most might assume simply from the name and nature
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In fact, the exact number and identities of all their victims may never be known. The closest estimate that is capable of being given in regards to the number of victims is anywhere from eleven to twenty-five victims, and much of that is speculation based on those who went missing while the two killers were operating in northern California during that time. A list of possible victims of the killers include all the following: Donald Lake, Charles Gunnar, Robin Stapley, Paul Cosner, Harvey Dubs, Deobrah Dubs, Sean Dubs, Brenda O 'Conner, Lonnie Bond, Lonnie Bond Jr., Kathleen Allen, Mike Carrol, Jeffrey Askern, Randy Jacobson, Cheryl Okoro, Maurice Wok, Donald Giuletti, Clifford Parenteau, and Jeffrey Gerald, as well as some unidentified unfortunates (Newton, …show more content…
Many of their victims were actually friends of theirs, with Charles Gunnar actually having been the best man at Lake 's wedding. It seems to prove that these killers did not hold sympathy for anyone, not even infants like Sean Dubs and Lonnie Bond Jr. The victimology seems to lean towards any victim of chance who could be manipulated or persuaded into being alone with no other witnesses than either Lake or
On the 28th August 1993, Stephen and Helen Gilham became the victims of murder in their own home, located in Woronora, which they shared with their two sons, Christopher (25) and Jeffrey (23). At the hands of Jeffrey Gilham, Stephen, Helen and Christopher Gilham were murdered brutally by means of stabbing, although Jeffrey only admitted to the murder of his brother Christopher. Jeffrey maintained the series of events that it was in fact Christopher that murdered Stephen and Helen, and that he had discovered Christopher holding the murder weapon, a knife, and in a blind fit of rage stabbed Christopher a total of 17 times. Gilham’s uncle believed otherwise, stating that it was Jeffrey who committed the initial murder and not Christopher.
Dick and Perry, who were former employees of Herbert Clutters. Perry confessed to killing Mr. Clutter with the knife and the shooting of the rest of the family. Dick confessed that he couldn’t bring himself to do the killing.
This morning October 8th 1965 at about 5:13 am the body of Bob Sheldon was found lying next to the park fountain he was seen to be in a pool of blood. His body had a single stab wound in his back which had pierced his heart, killing him instantly. Supposed eye witnesses say that a small boy who was a member of the "Greaser Gang" attacked and killed Bob and intended to kill the rest of them. Cherry Valance claims that she was walking with Johnny and Ponyboy after the movies when Bob approached them in his car and threatened the two them. Be on the lookout for the two boys with the description of one that has long light-brown hair, green eyes, and is about five feet tall and another has long jet-black hair, large black eyes, and is about four feet six inches. The first one is considered to be Ponyboy and the second one is considered to be Johnny. The two are now on the run they were last seen at a party with Dally. Investigators report that Dally says he has no idea where these two are but he thinks that they are going to Mexico. A woman was taking a walk through the park and discovered the bloody corpse she said “I was hesitant at first because I thought they were watching me, but I gained some courage and called 911” the friends that were their helping Bob bully the 2 said they were there during the homicide, but decided not to call the police because they were drunk and they were scared after seeing him dead. They said, the murderer was a 16 year old boy named Johnny Cade.
After Caril’s family, the murders continued. The truth behind each murder to come is unknown because Charlie and Caril each told prosecutors a different story. August Meyer, an old family friend of the Starkweather family, came next in the streak of homicides. After killing the seventy year old man, the pair robbed his home after leaving his body in a barn.
Numerous murders have taken place throughout history and sadly, plenty of these murders go unsolved. One of these unsolved murders is the murders of Barbara and Patricia Grimes in 1957. There have been plenty of suspects, but nobody was ever convicted of the murders of the sisters. However, after reviewing possible suspects for the murders of the Grimes sisters, the true identity of the killer has been revealed as Max Fleig.
The book Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?, written by independent journalist and private investigator Ethan Brown, tells the horrific true story of the bayou town of Jennings, Louisiana located in the heart of the Jefferson Davis parish. During the four year duration between 2005 and 2009, the town of Jennings was on edge after the discovery of the bodies of eight murdered women were found in the filthy canals and swamps. The victims became known as the “Jeff Davis 8.” For years, local law enforcement suspected a serial killer, and solely investigated the murders based on that theory alone. The victims were murdered in varying manors, but when alive they all shared many commonalities and were connected to
In “Killings”, Matt Fowler is examined as a father that loves and protects his children. Matt Fowler’s son, Frank Fowler, was killed by Richard Strout, and Matt Fowler takes it into his own hands. Matt Fowler and his wife are devastated about the death of their son and cannot handle the thought of seeing the murderer walk the same streets. Dubus shows the theme of
July 15, 1999, was an ordinary night for Kristopher Lohrmeyer as he left work at the Colorado City Creamer, a popular ice cream parlor. Kristopher had no idea that his life was about to end. When Michael Brown, 17, Derrick Miller and Andrew (Andy) Medina, 15, approached Kristopher and demanded his money and his car keys. Before the boys knew it shots had been fired and Kristopher was dead. About an hour after the fatal shooting of Kristopher Lohrmeyer, all three men were in custody and telling their version of the night’s events. Michael and Derrick who had run away after the shooting confessed to police and named Andy as the shooter. According to the three boy’s testimony, they had only recently met and needed away to get some quick cash, so they developed a carjacking scheme and headed to Andy’s house to pick up 2 stolen handguns. The three boys were uneducated and had spent most of their time on the streets in search of drugs. The judge ruled that they would be held without bail and there was probable cause to charge them all with first-degree murder (Thrown Away, 2005).
Dubbed the “Baton Rouge Serial Killer” Derrick Todd Lee was only one of two serial killers working the Baton Rouge area during the time between 1992 and 2004. Lee is a black male, who lived with his wife and children St. Francisville, LA. Lee had avoided being caught for many years because an eye witness had told authorities the suspect was a white male (Mustafa, Clayton & Israel, 2006). This information was very believable because most serial killers do not cross racial lines when choosing their victims and all of Lee’s victims were white except one (Mustafa, Clayton & Israel, 2006). Lee was eventually named as the suspect in 2002 when DNA tests revealed the killer was a black male (Stewart, Boyd, M., & Nunnally, D. (2002). He was arrested in 2003 and now lives on death row in Louisiana State Penitentiary.
The person I chose to research was Gary Ridgway. He is also known as The Green River Killer. Gary was a serial killer in Washington. He has been convicted of murdering 49 women, he has confessed to around 60 killings, but is estimated to have killed closer to 80 women. All the women that he had killed were prostitutes that he had picked up, had sex with them, and then strangled them. He says that he never raped or tortured any of his victims, he just killed them. Gary started killing prostitutes in 1892 and is confirmed to have killed till 1998, but is thought that his last kill was around 2001. He was called the Green River Killer because his first victims’ bodies were found around the Green River.
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.
These killer traits can be seen in many cases by just looking into the information of the incident. For example, the killing of Christopher Lane in Duncan Oklahoma involved three teens who used murder as a choice of entertainment. Not only were all three teens involved in the killing, they also used social media to show off their acts. These teens were fully capable of understanding the murder and realizing that they could of done many other things to avoid murder, but instead, chose to take the life of a young man. Even though the teens killed Christopher Lan...
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
Scott Falater wasn’t one of them though. In January 1997, Scott Fillater stabbed his wife 44 times and drowned her in the family pool at their home in Arizona. He was as well known for his sleep walking but much of his actions seemed odd for a sleepwalker. Before he committed the crime, he put on his work jeans and a pair of gloves. At the time, he was sleepwalking as he worked on the pool his wife overheard sounds coming from outside as she watched TV. It is believed that she possibly walked out there and accidentally startled him and it caused him to attack. Or he purposely lured his wife out there. After he stabbed her he changed and put his bloody clothes in his trunk compartment where his spare tire was. It is believed he retired back to his wife’s body to find her still alive. He then proceeded to drown her. This is when a neighbor over seen the murder and called 911. To this day Scott Fallater is serving his life
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).