Chapter 28: Forensic Psychology
Chapter 29: Forensic Psychiatry
Chapter 30: Serial Offenders: Linking Cases by Modus
Operandi and Signature
Chapter 31: Criminal Personality Profiling


Some murders are committed only for the
offender’s own enjoyment and psychological
satisfaction
Many killers have high numbers of victims and
their actions are sadistically brutal
2
 Mass murder: The killing of several people at one
location.
 Spree murder: The killing of several people at
different locations over a period of several days.
 These killers typically commit suicide or are killed
by the police.
Two types of mass murderers:

Those who chose specific targets who the killers
believe to have caused them stress.

Those who attack targets having no connection
with the killer but who belong to groups the killer
dislikes.
3
Mass and Spree Murder
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Most mass murderers are motivated by a hatred
that simmers until some specific event provides
the flame that brings it to a boil.
Spree killers move from victim to victim in fairly
rapid succession.
Spree killing is rare, but spree-killing teams are
even rarer and are typically composed of a
dominant leader and submissive lover.
Spree and mass murderers have increased steadily
in the United States since the middle of the
century.
4
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FBI’s three criteria for defining a killer as a serial
killer:
Kill in three or more separate events.
At three or more separate locations.
Engage in an emotional cooling off period between
murders.
Serial murder: The killing of three or more victims
over an extended period of time.
5


Some empirical evidence suggested that roughly
20% of the murders in the United States yearly were
committed by serial killers.
However, other data sources contented that the
share of serial killers accounted for no more than
300-400 murders each year.
6
 88% MALE
 AVERAGE AGE
28.5
 TARGETED
STRANGERS 62%
 CAUCASIAN 85%
 OPERATE IN
SPECIFIC
LOCATION 71%
 ADOLESCENT LIFE
 BIPOLAR MODE
 ALL COME FROM
DYSFUNCTIONAL
BACKGROUNDS
INVOLVING SEXUAL
OR PHYSICAL ABUSE




DISORDER
A FEELING OF
RESENTMENT TOWARDS
SOCIETY
SEXUAL FRUSTRATIONS
DAY DREAMING
ISOLATION
 MOST NOT
PSYCHOTIC
 THEY ARE
PSYCHOPATHS
 THEY PERCEIVE
THEMSELVES AS GODS
 BECOME ADDICTED
TO KILLING
*You can also have Copy Cat Killers: those who set out to copy more
infamous killers
Definitions of Psychopath (or sociopath)
on the Web:
*
A person who willfully does damage
without remorse. "Such individuals are
insensitive to other's needs, and unable to
anticipate the consequences of their
behavior... characterized by absence of guilt
and anxiety normally accompanying an
antisocial act."
 Killer
 Motive
 Sex, race, age
 Sex
 IQ
 Power
 Psychopathology
 Fianancial Gain
 Crime Scene
 Victim
 Type of weapon
 Sex, Race, Age
 Use of torture
 Occupation
 Attempt to hide body
 Personality
 Location
 Visionary: betterment of society, for better good
 Missionary: justified killings
 Hedonistic: pleasure (lust), ‘black widows’
 Economic Gain: for material ends, “things”
 Power & Control: domination, abused as child, most
common
 Sexual in Nature
You may come across additional reasons in your research.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/
 Definition
 Pattern of irresponsible or harmful behavior
 Lack of conscience
 Ignore social rules and laws
 Impulsive
 Fail to learn from punishment
 Examples
 Gang Members
 Criminals who kill for no reason
This type is not
the primary
focus of our
discussion /
project.
Figure 12.2
Stephen Giannangelo's Diathesis/Stress Model of
Serial Killing
Biological

Predisposition
(low arousal
levels, possible
prefrontal cortex
damage, etc)
Environmental
Trauma/Stress
Predisposition
Self-esteem
and selfcontrol
problems
Sexual
dysfunction

Maladap
tive
coping
skills
Retreat
into
fantasy
world

Dissociative
process

First
Kill!
14
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The Investigative Support Unit (ISU) of the FBI
has developed methods of profiling serial killers
and other violent offenders through extensive
interviewing and formal psychological testing of
incarcerated killers in order to develop a typology
based on personality and other offender
characteristics.
Offender profiling is augmented by crime scene
analysis, which often tells experienced
investigators a lot about the perpetrator’s
personality.
May serial murders may occur in diverse police
jurisdictions without law enforcement being able
to not the connections between them. This
problem is known as linkage blindness.
15
Law Enforcement’s Response to
Serial Killing


In 1985, the FBI created the Violent Criminal
Apprehension Program (VICAP) which was a national
clearinghouse that collates information on unsolved
violent crimes from different jurisdictions.
Law enforcement now has the ability to link a number
of homicides committed in different jurisdictions to a
single individual or individuals.
16
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Henry Lee Lucas
Angelo Buono
Andrei Chikatib
Belle Gunness
Richard Trenton Chase
Ed Gein (Tx Massacre)
Jake Bird
Michael Swango
Mary Ann Cotton
Karla Homolka
Robert Yates
Gary Ridgway
Nannie Doss
Bloody-Benders (US)
Thug Behram (India)
Miyuki Ishikawa (Japan)
Alexander Pichuzkin
(Russia)
 Bruce Lee (Britain)
 Nikolai Dzhvmagaliev
(Russia)
 Karl Denke (Germany)





 Jeffrey Dahmer
 Black Dahlia
 David Berkowicz (Son of Sam)
 Black Widow
 Jack the Ripper
 Charles Manson
 Zodiac Killer
 John Wayne Gacey
 Albert Desalvo (Boston Strangler)
 Ted Bundy
 Yorkshore Ripper
 Daisey de Melker (South Africa’s 1st
 BTK
 Weepy-Voiced Killer
 Charles Ng & Leonard Lake
 Eddie Gein
 “Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run”
 The Frankford Slasher
 William Burke & William Hare
 Frederick Bailey Deeming
 Fritz Haarmann
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serial killer)
Clairemont SK
Green River Killer
Rostov Ripper
Carl Panzram
Axeman of New Orleans
Berrima Axe Murderer
Anna Marie Hahn
Jack the Stripper
 Create a PhotoStory Timeline (or a narrated PowerPoint
with automatic timing) detailing the following:
 Part 1: Brief Overview of …
 What Makes a Serial Killer (cause, reasoning, thinking, normal
behaviors, abnormal behaviors, intelligence)
 Actions of a Serial Killer (reasons, victims, what they get out of the
killings, trophies/keepsakes, what they do with the bodies, etc.)
 Media Attention (good or bad or both)
 Part 2: Select a Famous Serial Killer (most likely from the list
provided) & discuss your Killer based on the items you
explained in Part 1
 Be sure to give sufficient detail on the victim(s) – was there a trend
between all the victims?
Be sure to use your textbook (chapters 30 & 31) as a guide
when profiling your serial killer.