A serial killer is typically somebody who kills multiple people in separate events. They are usually gaps in between the first set of killing and the next set of killings which can range from a couple of days to a couple of months or even a couple of years. Different agencies have different criteria on defining a serial killer. While most agencies believe a serial killer becomes a serial killer once he commits his second straight, murder agencies such as the FBI defines a serial killer once a series of three or more killings occur, not less than one of which was committed within the United States. The first serial killing to date was in 1861, and it only continues to rise. This is seen more in-depth than just the infamous Ted Bundy.
The first believed serial killer in the United States was Herman Mudgett, who was born in New Hampshire, in 1861. Mudgett was born into a wealthy family and was always interested in medicine. Herman eventually ended up graduating at the University of Michigan. In 1886, he moved to Chicago were he started murdering people for their property. According to John Philip Jenkins “The house he built for himself, which would become known as “Murder Castle,” was equipped with secret passages, trapdoors, soundproof rooms, doors that could be locked from the outside, gas jets to asphyxiate victims, and a kiln to cremate the bodies. At the reputed peak of his career, during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, he allegedly seduced and murdered a number of women, typically by becoming engaged to them and then killing them after securing control of their life savings. (---) Mudgett also required his employees to carry life insurance policies naming him as a beneficiary so that he could collect money after he killed them. He sold the bodies of many of his victims to local medical schools” (2018). Mudgett was arrested in 1984 after he was caught for the killing of three of his victims whom he was tried for and later confessed to the killing of about 27 people in which he ended up getting sentenced to death and was hanged in 1986.
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Jeffery Dahmer was another known serial killer born in Milwaukee in the 1960s, what made Dahmer a cold-blooded serial killer was the fact that Dahmer didnt just murder them he also raped them and not only that sometimes he would eat his victims. Dahmer sought out men from gay bars with the promise of money or sex and usually trapped them with alchol laced with drugs. He would engage in sex acts with his victims and afterward kill and dismembered them while also disposing of them, he would also keep parts of their body like their skulls as trophies or souvenirs. Dahmer said he frequently took pictures with his victims in different stages of the murder process so he can go back in time and relive the crime he just did. Dahmer admitted during his trial that he tried to turn his victims into mindless sex slaves by drilling holes into their heads after he murdered and raped them. Dahmer made so many enemies With his hate crimes that he was sentenced to death but was ultimately beaten to death in prison in 1994. According to biography.com “Dahmer was killed on November 28, 1994, by his fellow prison inmate Christopher Scarver.In accordance with his inclusion in regular work details, Dahmer was assigned to work with two other convicted murderers, Scarver and Jesse Anderson. After they had been left alone to complete their tasks, guards returned to find that Scarver had brutally beaten both men with a metal bar from the prison weight room. Dahmer was pronounced dead after approximately one hour.”
One of the most dangerous serial killers is free right now, he goes by the name of Pedro Lopez. Pedro Lopez was born October 8th,1948 in Santa Isabel, Colombia and he is most known for his nickname which is “The monster of the Andes”. Lopez is linked to more than 300 murders in Colombia,Peru and Ecuador. He seemed to target a lot of tribal women as ? of his attacks came from tribal women. Lopez's first taste of killing came in jail as he claimed he was raped and remembered the faces of his killers and went back to kill all of them one by one. According to Karen Harris “Pedro Lopez claimed that he was viciously gang-raped as a new prisoner. He remembered the faces of his attackers and, one by one, he hunted them down and killed each one before he was released from jail.' This was Lopez’s first taste of murder”. Lopez was arrested in 1980 as police found about 45 graves of his victims. He was convicted and later confessed to about 350 killings in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. In 1988 he was released from prison on good behavior and today his locations still remain unknown.
Have you ever seen a cop turned serial killer? Never happened? Joseph James Diangelo was a police officer before he became a serial killer and rapist, his crimes started in the 1970s and lasted around the 1980s. He committed a total of about 13 murders and he would get away with the crimes he committed by moving from state to state on April 24th,2018 he was arrested and charged to 13 counts of special counts and murders. he was traced and caught due to the fact of dna and the evidence that was gathered throughout the years. According to Allah, “detectives of the case traced back all evidence to him because of a public genealogy website as well as the DNA samples from his car and trash. Since he pleaded guilty, he will not be facing the death penalty however, 11 life sentences would not give him any kind of light for parole as well. All these serial killer facts just prove that the truth will surface no matter how long it takes. ”
The most notorious killer in London went by the nickname Jack The Ripper as he is still unknown. He was one of the smartest serial killers there ever was due to how he would mutilate their bodies in an unusual way; it was believed that he had knowledge of anatomy. Jack the ripper managed to kill about 5 women and he is still on the run and has yet to be unidentified. He still remains London's most wanted suspect. All the killings took place within a mile within each other, after the killing occurred the man known as Jack The Ripper would call and taunt officers and give them the intentions that more killings were coming. The first murder was Mary Ann Nicholls on August 31st, the second murder was Annie Chapman which happened September 8th, the third and fourth murders were Elizabeth stride and Catherine eddoweson which happened the same day on September 30th and the final victim was Mary Jane Kelly which occurred November 9th. There has been many speculations on who the ripper is alot of people think he was a doctor or a nurse just because of the weapons he would use, like stated before it was also believed he knew alot about anatomy. There also has been rumors that he might have been killed more then just 5 people, he also linked to the murder of prince albert victor whom is queen victoria's grandson and was also known as “duke of clarence” althoug he wasn't ever to blame because of evidence remain uncleared and insubstantial. Despite countless days and countless hours they have not been able to figure out the ripper's motives and or his identity.
Richard Ramirez or better known as the night stalker was born on February 29, 1960, in el Paso texas. Richard was one of the most feared serial killers in the late 80s across California. He killed about 14 people while torturing about 24 more. Growing up Richard was a huge drug addict and grew interested in satanism. The first murder came on June 28th, 1984; victim was known as Jennie Vincow who was not only murdered but she was raped and assaulted during a nighttime burglary. Ramirez was a calculated serial killer so it wasn't until 9 months later when his second victim, in march 17 1985 he attacked maria Hernandez who mircasialy managed to escape so he ended up killing her roommate Dayle Okazaki and his third victim came within the same day as she was known tsai-lian. Not satisfied with his killing just 10 ten days later he murdered 64-year-old Vincent Zazzara and Zazzara's 44-year-old wife, Maxine, using an attacking style that would become a pattern for the killer.Over the next few months, Ramirez killed and tortured around 1o more victim. Ramirez was forced out of Los Angeles due to the huge media presence and made his next two killings in San Francisco and killing these two victims gave him the famous nickname we all know him by which is the night stalker. Ramirez's last victim on August 24th was spotted on someone's property and they were able to capture his car plate. Later on through that same night he raped women and murdered her fiance, which ultimately led to his downfall as his victim survived the attack and was able to give a description on the night stalker. Just 6 days later Richard Ramirez was captured attempting to carjack a car which led to him getting beaten badly and then finally arrested. Richard Ramirez was convicted to the death penalty in which he stayed for about 24 years and died in 2013 at the aged of 56 from complications.
The ultimate most notorious serial killer known to most of America is no other than Ted Bundy who was born on November 24, 1946. Bundy didn't start his killing spree until the 1970s. His killing spree went on for about 20 years, went over about seven states and included over 30 women. Bundy enjoyed torturing his victims and found it sexually amusing to rape them while having the Ultima satisfaction of killing them. Bundy is known to be an effective predator because of the empathy he lacked along with being unable to feel any type of pity or remorse. According to Lybi ma “Bundy sexually assaulted his victims but it was not motivated by lust. Instead, rape was another means of dominating and controlling his victims. Also, Bundy did not lose interest in his victims after they were dead. Sometimes, he would return to have sex with the decomposing corpse of a victim long after the murder to perpetuate his domination and control of the deceased. ” Acts and thoughts like this are what made the capture of ted Bundy more glorified. In 1978 ted bundy met his fate as he was captured and arrested in which he was sentenced with the death penalty and later died by the form of electrocution in 1989. The most amusing part of ted Bundy was the fact he was able to live a double life the whole time as his wife came out years after the fact and stated Bundy treated her like he was supposed to and never made it obvious he was hiding something so cruel.
An interesting question that always comes up when discussing serial killers is what do serial killers look like? Or how can we identify a serial killer? Well the scary answer to those questions is that there is no way to actually identify a serial killer as we know with ted bundy a serial killer can look like the person next to you. According to Allaah “Movies and social bias descriptions would often portray killers as middle-aged sadistic white men who have sexual motives. While some serial killer profiles fit this, this image is often misinterpreted. If one would take a closer look, the serial killers, as well as their victims, come from a variety of backgrounds and age groups. This just shows that anyone could be a serial killer. You will come across at least 36 serial killers in your lifetime. ”However, according to the serial killer data centre, around 90% of serial killers are masculine, meaning the evil favors the Y chromosome. Some common characteristics include sensation seeking, a lack of remorse or guilt, impulsivity and the need of control.
There are also a lot of signs that point out to somebody possibly becoming a serial killer and those signs include them having lack of empathy, lack of remorse, impulsivity, grandiosity, narcissism, superficial charm, manipulation and an addictive personality. Many serial killers start as arsonists they believe in manipulating power and having control. Another sign of a serial killer believe it or not is if someone likes to tortue animals. According to Susan Frese “This is one of the strongest warning signs. Children who torture or kill small animals like squirrels, birds, cats, and dogs without showing remorse are highly likely to be sociopaths. Many serial killers kill to control others’ lives, and as children, small animals are the only lives they have the power to control.” Another huge sign that most serial killers have in common is just the fact they come from poor or beaten families. According to Susan frese “Many serial killers come from unstable families with criminal, psychiatric, or alcoholic histories. These killers often have terrible relationships with their families, and often use them as their first victims.” ( Susan Frese, 2014). Like i said before there no one way of just figuring out how a serial killer looks but the most important characteristic to notice is if there a power junkie, according to Victoria woollaston “‘Serial killers typically have a real affinity with power, even when they’ve been caught and know the game is up,’ explained the experts. ”
Serial killers are the most interesting yet disturbing human beings that exist today. In 1928 there were 128 convicted serial killers operating in the United States which is the most up-to-date. Serial killers are some of the hardest cases to solve as usually the suspect has had months of planning and is already ahead of the law once he committed the killing, so it can be days before the law notices that there is a serial killer nearby. According to Allah “Since the 1980s, there are still 222,000 unsolved serial killer murders in the US. ” She also claimed in her writing that we as humans walk right by a serial killer about 36 times throughout our life. The United States holds the highest number of serial killers, while California has the most in the United States at 1,682.
In conclusion, serial killers are the most unique and cruel people ever created in mankind. They have a controlling way of thinking and a possessive mind to have control of anything and everything, including humans. There is no visual way of spotting a serial killer, however, there are signs we cannot ignore. Some signs include a Lack of Empathy, Lack of remorse, impulsivity, grandiosity, manipulation, and an addictive personality. Serial killers tend to have a thought process and they tend to plan ahead of their crimes. Some of the worlds most prolific include Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, Joseph James Diangelo, Pedro Lopez, Herman Mudgett and Jack the Ripper. All of these serial killers are alike yet so different due to the fact they all planned their attacks in different ways, ted Bundy planned his attacks using his looks and sweet charm he usually made sure his victims were younger women so he can overpower them once he got them where he wanted, Richard Ramirez made sure he attacked while everyone was asleep and attacked his victims in the night, and Jeffrey Dahmer victims were usually gay and he would lure them in with drugs and sweet talk offering them money and sex. All these serial killers had their own method behind their madness, some just assaulting for a couple of months while others have yet to be identified. Overall serial killers have been going on for a lot of years especially here in the United States and police agencies have done a good job in capturing them.
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