Serial Killers
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Serial murders - repetitive homicides, nearly
always one-on-one murders, where the
perpetrator is usually a stranger or has a slight
acquaintance to the victim.
Historically, the majority of homicide victims
knew their killer, but during the 1990's, this
figure changed. Statistics from 1995's Uniform
Crime Reports state that 55% of homicide
victims have no known association with the
perpetrators.
Berg & Horgan, Criminal Investigation, 3rd edition, pg. 332
Osterburg & Ward, Criminal Investigation, 3rd edition, pg. 455
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The serial murderer’s motivation to kill is not
based on crimes of passion, victim
precipitation, personal gain or profit.
Serial murderers are nearly always males
prompted by sexual or aggressive drives to
exert power through killing.
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Modus operandi - a characteristic pattern of
behavior repeated in a series of offenses.
The following are categories of modus
operandi devised by Major L.W. Atcherley, an
English constable in the 1800's.
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Classword - the kind of property attacked, such as a
house, a college dormitory, people parked in cars at
lover's lanes
Entry - the point of entry, such as open bedroom
windows, sliding glass doors
Means - implements or tools that were used, such as
a pry bar, ladder, screw driver
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Object - kind of property taken, such as bras and panties
Time - time of day or night, weekdays, non-work days,
holidays (when people would not miss the perpetrator at
work)
Style - the description the criminal gives the victim to gain
entrance (plumber, cable TV repairman)
Tale - any disclosure the criminal makes as to his
business/purpose
Pals - any co-conspirators
Transport - what type of vehicle was used in connection
with the crime
Trademark - any unusual act committed by the suspect
while in the commission of the crime (i.e. poisoning the cat,
eating at the scene after murdering the grandmother)
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Signature - the murderer's psychological calling
card, unusual characteristics of a murder that are
repeated at several crime scenes:
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Intentionally displaying victims in a spread-eagle
position. This behavior reinforces the perpetrators
underlying psychological needs.
Ted Bundy's choice of victims - young women
with blond or light brown hair, parted in the
middle
John Wayne Gacy's victim type - adolescent boys
Green River Killer's victims - young women,
mainly prostitutes
TWO MURDERERS BOTH BURN THEIR VICTIMS BY
DOUSING THEM WITH GASOLINE.
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The first murderer does
so as an anger-retaliatory
act.
This is a signature
behavior.
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The second murderer
douses the victim with
gasoline to cover up the
crime.
This murderer does so to
evade detection.
This therefore is a
precautionary act, and as
such is a modus operandi
behavior.
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Usually intelligent
Good appearance
Ted Bundy
Superficial charm
Able to differentiate right from wrong
Have no conscience
Enjoy victim's terror
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Serial murderers are often very mobile,
traveling from one locale to another to
find victims, extensive interstate travel
Lack of any prior association with the
victims
Use of remote burial sites
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Charles Whitman, the man who shot multiple
people from the tower at the University of
Texas, was a mass murderer, not a serial killer
Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the shooters
responsible for killing 12 classmates and a
teacher in the deadliest school shooting in U.S.
history, are also classified as mass murderers,
not serial killers
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Perpetrator plans the murder for months or years
beforehand.
Offender is normally married, has steady
employment, and is thought to be a good member
of society (ex., BTK-Dennis Rader)
They bring the instruments of the crime (knives,
guns, tape) to the scene with them.
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When Ted Bundy was pulled over for driving
suspiciously (in 1975), police found an ice pick, ski mask,
rope and handcuffs in his trunk.
These murderers are often highly intelligent and
are knowledgeable about forensic evidence and
law enforcement's investigative capabilities.
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They do not plan their crimes in advance.
The disorganized murderer commits the crimes
spontaneously.
They are often unemployed and without
transportation.
They are more often of low intelligence or
psychotic.
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Power Oriented – Ted Bundy and Dennis
Rader enjoyed watching terror of their victims
Mission Oriented - killers feel they are
improving the world by getting rid of
undesirable people such as prostitutes, i.e.
Green River Killer Gary Ridgway
Visionary - those who kill because they are
directed by hallucinations, i.e. David Berkowitz
- "Son of Sam"
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Hedonistic - gain sexual satisfaction from
raping, killing, mutilating, and sometimes
eating the victim, i.e. Jeffrey Dahmer
Comfort - those who kill for financial
gain, such as insurance benefits, real
estate, i.e. Golay & Rutterschmidt
Disciple - those killers who kill under the
influence of a charismatic killer, i.e. Leslie Van
Houten and Lynette Fromme of the Manson
family
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A psychological profile is a submitted report
utilizing information and approaches from
various social and behavioral sciences, focusing
on a specific type of violent crime
According to the FBI, a typical serial killer is a
Caucasian male between the ages of 18-32 who
has been a victim of child abuse and who has
exhibited signs of the McDonald triad
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McDonald triad – bedwetting after the age of 12,
setting fires, killing small animals
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Most serial killers exhibit at least one of these
behaviors
According to Robert Ressler (FBI), more than 60%
of serial killers wet the bed past the age of twelve
The Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, set 1,412 fires
but switched over to killing because it gave him
more excitement and TV news coverage
Keith Jesperson, a serial killer from British
Columbia who murdered more than 160 victims,
started with dozens of cats and other small
animals, before he moved on to human beings
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Intelligent, college educated,
handsome man who faked injuries and
impersonated police officers to gain access to
his victims.
His criminal activity began as a peeping Ted
and as a shoplifter.
While at the University of Washington, Bundy
worked for a suicide hotline with writer, Anne
Rule, who later wrote a bestseller “A Stranger
Beside Me”.
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The majority of Bundy’s victims were young
women with blonde/light brown hair parted in
the middle. Many victims were stabbed, raped,
tortured, and had been strangled with panty
hose. He desecrated and dismembered them.
Bundy confessed to killing 23 women between
1974-1978, but the official toll may be closer to
100.
Bite mark evidence from his victims at Florida
State University sealed his fate. Bundy was put
to death in Florida's electric chair in 1989.
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Ramirez, avowed devil worshipper, randomly
raped and murdered his victims in their
homes.
Most of Ramirez's victims lived near freeways.
In July 1989, Ramirez killed one of his victims,
beat and raped the man's wife, and then raped
the couple's 8-year-old son.
While in 8th grade, Ramirez began sniffing
glue and smoking marijuana. By the time he
began killing, he had graduated to shooting
cocaine.
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Lieutenant Gil Carrillo, of the LA Sheriff’s
Department, was the co-lead investigator of the
Night Stalker serial murder case.
Ramirez’s AC/DC baseball cap, his size eleven
and a half Avia sneaker footprint, along with
his fingerprint found on a stolen car led to his
capture and conviction.
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Ramirez was captured
shortly after a
fingerprint lifted from
a stolen car was linked
to the Night Stalker.
California's state-ofthe-art fingerprint
database had been up
and running for only
three minutes when the
match was discovered.
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Ramirez's picture was
then run in newspapers
nationwide. When
spotted by citizens in a
rough neighborhood in
Los Angeles, Ramirez
bolted from a liquor
store running nearly
two miles. Shortly
thereafter a group of
people began beating
Ramirez, until stopped
by LAPD.
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Gacy, a successful contractor and pillar of his
community, was arrested for the murder of more
than thirty young boys.
These boys had been sodomized and strangled.
They often were tricked into being handcuffed.
He buried 28 of his victims in the crawl space
under his home.
He was put to death by lethal injection on May 10,
1994.
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Dahmer, like Bundy, was calm, cool, and collected. He
invited young boys to his apartment to drink and take
pictures. He appeared to be so normal that two
Milwaukee police officers actually released one of
Dahmer's fourteen-year-old victims back to him after
the victim had escaped and had gone to an area
hospital.
Dahmer killed at least 17 people, by inviting them to
his apartment, and then drugging, strangling, and
dismembering them. He cannibalized some of his
victims as well.
A prison inmate killed Dahmer.
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Most of the Zodiac killings took place in the San
Francisco Bay Area during a five-year period from 1969
- 1974. The Zodiac, has been positively linked to the
deaths of seven students. However, in letters written to
San Francisco newspapers, he claimed to have killed
nearly forty people.
The Zodiac's modus operandi was to attack his victims
(usually couples) on weekends, in areas near water,
using a different weapon and a different automobile
each time. Neither sexual molestation nor robbery were
motives. ("Zodiac" by Robert Graysmith, 1976)
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Lawrence Kane –
 Kathleen Johns identified Kane as her abductor
 Pam Huckaby, sister to Zodiac victim Darlene Ferrin,
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identified Kane as a man who followed Darlene in the
months before her murder
Kane traded his car in five days after Ferrin's murder
Kane lived within three blocks of the location where
Paul Stine was murdered in San Francisco
In 1970, Kane moved to Lake Tahoe as did possible
Zodiac victim, Donna Lass. Kane and Lass worked in
the same building
Kane's name can be clearly discerned in a cipher from
April 20, 1970.
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Rick Marshall
 Lived within blocks of the Stine murder scene
 Worked as a projectionist at a silent movie theater. The
Zodiac had signed one of his letters as "The Red Phantom", a
silent movie.
 Owned a Royal typewriter and a teletype machine - devices
such as these had been used to create messages written to
police and the newspapers
 Owned a car with a stripped reverse gear (as used in the
Vallejo attempted murders)
 Physical appearance - crew cut and similar glasses to the
Zodiac
Arthur Leigh Allen (recent DNA testing of saliva on the
postage stamp did not match Allen’s DNA*)
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Zodiac’s first murder*, two kids
out on a first date, occurred in
1968, near Vallejo, California.
A couple was attacked near Lake
Berryessa, another “lover’s lane”
Paul Stine, a San Francisco cab
driver was murdered and a piece
of his shirt was later sent to the
police as proof that “The Zodiac”
was the murderer.
At the time, the Vallejo murder was thought to be Zodiac’s first
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The 1966 murder of Riverside college student
Cheri Jo Bates was later thought to be the work
of the Zodiac.
This watch was found near the
murder scene.
It was sold at a PX in England.
(Post Exchange is a store that
sells merchandise to military
personnel )
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The Zodiac signed his letters with the symbol
above
His letters included cryptograms, “a type of
puzzle which consists of a short piece of text
encrypted with a simple substitution cipher in
which each letter is replaced by a different
letter. To solve the puzzle, one must recover
the original lettering“
[1]
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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogram retrieved 4/30/08
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Three of the
Zodiac’s four
cryptograms have
never been
solved[1
]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogram retrieved 4/30/08
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Gary Ridgway murdered scores of women in the
Seattle area. The longest running homicide
investigation in U.S. history
Ridgway pled guilty to murdering 48 teenage
runaways and prostitutes who he had strangled and
dumped into the Green River in the state of
Washington between 1982 and 1998.
He was finally arrested in 2001 after DNA and paint
evidence linked him with the crimes.
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Evidence collected in 1987 (saliva and hair) was used as
evidence to obtain the arrest warrant.
Ridgway passed the polygraph test years before he was
apprehended.
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Dennis Rader, the Bind, Torture, Kill strangler murdered his
victims in during a 25 year crime spree in Wichita, Kansas. Rader
was apprehended after DNA evidence collected at a crime scene
was tested against DNA collected from Rader's daughter. [1]
Rader was married with two children
He was a Boy Scout leader, a compliance officer in charge of
animal control
Rader was a psychopath who morphed into a serial killer, who
easily maintained a family life while committing these heinous
murders
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In typical psychopath style, Rader didn’t show a lot of affection or
emotion
[1] http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/27/btk.investigation/index.html - Obtained June 9, 2008
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A Vancouver-area pig farmer who murdered as many
as 60 female prostitutes
Pickton was found guilty of second-degree murder
after the longest trial in Canadian history and an
investigation that cost $100 million.
Evidence found in and around Pickton's property
included skulls cut in half with hands and feet stuffed
inside, a garbage bag with remains from another
victim, blood stained clothing, a .22 caliber revolver
with a dildo attached that contained both his and the
victim's DNA
In a video-taped recording played for the jury, Pickton
claimed to have attached the dildo to his weapon as a
makeshift silencer.[
1]
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[1] Accused serial killer 'fed bodies to pigs' - The Australian - Obtained on January 25, 2007.
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Aileen Wuornos, a female prostitute, killed at least six men on the
roads of Florida. She was the subject of the film "Monster", which
starred Charlize Theron.
Wuornos pawned a camera and radar detector that belonged to
one of her victims and had left her required thumbprint on the
receipt. When the thumbprint was run through AFIS (Automated
Fingerprint Identification System), her thumbprint matched an
outstanding warrant against a Lori Grody (one of Wuornos'
aliases)
Wuornos‘ bloody palm print was also found in the vehicle of one
of her victim's
Wuornos claimed she had killed each of her victims in selfdefense. However, because of Florida's "Williams Rule",
information regarding the other murders was presented to the
jury, clearly showing the pattern to the murders committed by
Wuornos.
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Puente was a 59-year-old boarding house owner in
Sacramento, CA. who killed seven of her tenants and
buried their bodies in her backyard.
When neighbors complained about the stench coming
from Puente's yard, she told them the sewer was
backed up, rats were dead under the floorboards, or
she blamed the odor on the fish emulsion she put on
her garden.
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When her boarders started disappearing, a concerned social
worker tipped off police, who made a gruesome discovery: She
had drugged and killed her frail boarders.
Puente's motive was to collect her tenants' government benefit
checks
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Bundy was apprehended after a patrol officer noticed a vehicle
prowling an area near a restaurant that had just closed. Bundy,
who sped away, was followed and then stopped by the alert
patrol officer. Bundy then provided a stolen credit card as
identification, assaulted the officer, and attempted to flee the
scene.
One of John Wayne Gacy's victims worked in a pharmacy. He left
the pharmacy briefly to speak with a contractor in the parking lot
about summer employment. When he failed to return to his job,
his disappearance was reported. Gacy had been spotted in the
pharmacy between 6 and 8 PM the night of the victim's
disappearance.
David Berkowitz,known as the "Son of Sam", came under
suspicion when investigators noticed that he had received a
parking ticket at a location near one of the murder scenes. When
following up on the parking citation, an officer noticed a machine
gun protruding from a bag in Berkowitz's car.
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A. There are two schools of thought on the extent of
serial murder in the U.S.
On the one hand, "The US produces more serial killers
than any other country. Up to 85% of the world's serial
killers are in America. According to an FBI Behavioral
Unit study serial killing has climbed to an almost
'epidemic proportion'. At any given time, there are an
estimated 20 - 50 active serial killers. Those who
change their targets, methods, are often never
identified. Experts speculate on what happens to
unsolved cases of murderers. Some may commit
suicide, die, be incarcerated, in mental institutions,
relocate, or have stopped killing, a few turn themselves
in." (http://www.karisable.com/crserial.htm)
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In 1985, the FBI's ViCAP program became operational. This
program's purpose is to eliminate the problems that prevent the
apprehension of serial killers. These problems include:
Lack of cooperation between police agencies
Lack of communication between local, state, and federal agencies
 Mobility of serial murderers
 Lack of prior association between victims and assailant
 Unidentified bodies
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ViCAP submission criteria:
Homicides (solved, unsolved, attempted) appear to be random,
sexually oriented, lack motive, and appear to be part of a series
Missing persons may be submitted if there is a strong likelihood of
foul play or the victim remains missing
Unidentified bodies - may be submitted if it appears the manner
of death is criminal homicide
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Even if a suspect has been apprehended in a case, the
report should still be submitted for two reasons.
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ViCAP's files can be compared against the case
If the suspect apprehended is released for lack of evidence (or
other reasons), the case can still be compared to others in the
ViCAP system.
ViCAP system's advantages
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Can recognize a serial killing earlier in the investigation process
May clear up other unsolved murders when suspect is
apprehended
Allows for the pooling of clues from a case, whereby allowing
investigators to compile the list of suspects and eliminate as
many as possible as quickly as possible, preventing further
homicides.