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CCJ1191 HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Dr. Elizabeth C. Buchholz
SERIAL MURDERERS & THEIR VICTIMS
CHAPTER 1:
Introduction: The Phenomenon of Serial Murder
Learning Objectives
 To understand the many myths surrounding the phenomenon of serial murder and how
society perpetuates those myths
 To explore the definition of homicide and the various classifications s of murder in American
society
 To explore the extent of mass and serial murder in the United States
 To examine the definitions and differences between mass and serial murder
 To evaluate case studies of mass and serial murder as they relate to the reality and frequency
of multiple homicide in modern society
The Journey Into Forensics has a Unique Path for Each of Us~
 Crime scene investigations
 Competency to stand trial
 Termination of parental rights
 Solving crimes
 Psychopathy
 Sex offenders and sexual predators
 Post-conviction assessments
 Expert witness
 Classification of criminals
 Jury selection
 Hostage negotiations
 Eye Witness credibility
 Mapping criminal behavior
 Juvenile offenders
 Workplace violence prevention
 Sex offenders – assessment and treatment
 Neuropsychology and forensic practice
 Criminal and victim profiling
 Prediction of violent behavior
 Elder abuse
 Directing criminal investigations
 Correctional psychology
 Psychological autopsies
 Police psychology
 Terrorism/Homeland Security
 Interviewing suspects
 Detection of Malingering
 Jury understanding and behavior
 Competence: death penalty; Miranda rights;
o sentenced as an adult
 Mitigation in criminal offenses
 Criminal insanity
 Probation and parole evaluations
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Threat assessment and risk management
Forensic anthropology and body farms
Homicide: mass and serial murder
DEFINING MURDER
A murder
 requires an illegal taking of another's life
 is specifically formed around intent
 is determined by provocation, cooling off periods and what a reasonable person would be
expected to do under the circumstances that led to the killing
FIRST DEGREE MURDER
 Often includes felony murder, or murder committed while in the course of committing
another felony (i.e., killing someone while robbing a bank.)
 May involve poisoning, lying in wait, torture, or use of explosives.
Murder Victims in the United States
CAPITAL CASES
From a judicial point of view the most serious of murders are those that are capital cases
involving premeditated murder, or the willful, intentional killing of another person(s).
Non Capital Types of Killing
 Justifiable homicide is sometimes referred to as “no fault” homicide, and usually involves
the killing of someone under necessity or duty. These killings lack criminal intent. This can
include various forms of defense of family, self or others.
 Manslaughter can be either voluntary manslaughter that involves the killing another
person(s) in the heat of passion, in the commission of another felony or in self-defense.
 Involuntary manslaughter is sometimes referred to as negligent homicide and involves the
killing of another person(s) while committing a non-felony offense such as reckless driving
(also referred to as vehicular manslaughter).
OTHER TYPES OF HOMICIDES
 Neonaticide: killing of a newborn within the first 24 hours of his or her life.
 Infantcide: Killing of an infant child who is less than one year of age.
 Siblicide: typical in survival behavior of animal groups the term is also used to refer to the
killing of an individual by a sibling or siblings or facilitated by the parent(s).
 Fraticide: killing of one’s brother or sister. Often used in terms of military fratricide or the
act of killing a relative(s) or countrymen; killing of own military forces such as “friendly fire”
incidents.
Diane Fanning
On September 11, 2011, the 25-year-old woman gave birth to twins while sitting on a toilet in the
bathroom of her parents’ home. When the first baby arrived, he cried. Since her parents didn’t
know she was pregnant, she didn’t want them to hear and learn the truth. So she placed a hand
over the infant’s mouth and nose and, looking away, held it there until the little boy smothered.
When the second child was born, she repeated the same action and then hid both of the bodies in
a laundry basket in her bedroom and covered them with a blanket.
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OTHER TYPES OF HOMICIDES, cont’d
 Prolicide: killing one’s own children including infanticide and killing of a fetus in utero.
Commonly referred to as filicide which usually refers to the killing of a minor, including a
step-child.
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Parricide: killing of a parent(s) or other relative. Patricide refers to the killing of one’s father
while matricide is the killing of one’s mother.
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Genocide: extermination of a specific racial, ethnic, religious or national group of people.
Parricide
 August 20, 1989,Lyle and Erik Menendez shot their parents, Jose and Kitty, to death in
the den of the family's Beverly Hills, California, home. They then drove up to
Mulholland Drive, where they dumped their shotguns before continuing to a local movie
theater to buy tickets as an alibi. When the pair returned home, Lyle called 911 and cried,
"Somebody killed my parents!" The Menendez murders became a national sensation
when the new television network, Court TV, broadcast the trial in 1993.
DEFINING MASS MURDER
According to the FBI, killing four or more persons at one time is considered to be a mass murder.
Over half of all attempted and/or completed mass murders in the United States involve domestic
homicides.
Profiles in Mass Murder
 Jared L. Loughner, 22, Tucson, Arizona, 2011 shot 20 people, killing six.
 Dr. Amy Bishop-Alabama, 2010 shot six faculty members, killing three.
 Dr. Nidal M. Hasan, psychiatrist, Ft. Hood, Texas, 2009, shot over 40 military personnel,
killing 13.
 Omar Thornton, Connecticut, 2010, shot and killed 8 co-workers and himself.
CHARLES WHITMAN: 16 dead, 32 wounded as well as his wife and mother~
I do not quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave
some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I do not really understand myself
these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However,
lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational
thoughts.
Charles Whitman
Holmes Mass Murder Classifications
 Family Slayer or Annihilator—a person who kills his family and commits suicide.
 Murder for Profit—a person who kills in order to profit materially.
 Murderer for Sex—a person with the primary goal to sexually torture, rape, and murder
their victims
 Pseudo-Commando—a person with an obsession for guns and a fantasy for murder.
 Set-and-Run Killer—a person who plans an escape route following the mass killing.
Holmes Mass Murder Classifications Cont’d
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Psychotic Killer—a person suffering from acute or chronic psychosis; someone legally
insane: J. Kallinger
Disgruntled Employee—a person who seeks revenge for real or imagined wrongs at the
hands of coworkers or employers; “going postal”
Disciple-Type Killer—a person who commits murder at the behest of a charismatic leader
such as Charles Manson.
Ideological Mass Murderer—a person, especially a cult leader, who is able to persuade
others to kill themselves or each other: Jim Jones; Herff Applewhite; David Koresh.
Institutional Mass Murderer—a person who commits mass murder as a crime of obedience
when ordered to by his or her leader: genocides
Facts About Mass Murderers
 Appear to give little concern to his or her inevitable capture or death.
 Some are killed by police during the attack
 Others kill themselves once they have completed the massacre
 Some offenders surrender to police or offer no resistance
Bifurcation in Mass Murder
 Most mass murders usually occur at or around one distinct location such as a school,
office building or a private residence.
 In some mass killings an offender begins his/her murders in one location and then moves
to another building or address to continue the killing. This is referred to as bifurcation.
Bifurcation in Mass Murder Con’t
 Public to public events that are deemed mass murders are extremely rare.
 Private to public mass murders, however, are much more likely to occur when mass
murders events are bifurcated.
A Sampling of Bifurcated Mass Murders in the United States
1927-2011
Mass, Serial and Spree Murder
 Mass murderers usually are apprehended or killed by police, commit suicide, or later
surrender.
 Reactions to mass murder are often media intense, focused and of short duration while
cases of serial murder may extend over several years.
 Serial killers usually make special efforts to elude detection. They may continue to kill
for weeks, months, or years before being stopped.
Mass, Serial and Spree Murder Cont.
 A mass murderer kills groups of people usually within a few minutes or hours, whereas
the serial killer individualizes his or her murders over days, weeks, months or years.
 In cases of spree murder investigators and researchers cannot agree on how to adequately
define the cooling off period that allegedly occurs between killings.
 As of 2008 experts have collectively agreed that the concept of spree murder be
eliminated and that such offenders be included with other cases of serial murder (FBI,
2008).
DEFINITION FOR SERIAL MURDER
the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offenders in separate events (FBI, 2008, p.
12).
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SERIAL MURDERER MYTHS
 Nearly all white
 All male
 Insane
 Driven to kill due to sexual abuse
 Highly intelligent
 Lust killers
 Kill alone
 Cannot stop killing
 Highly mobile
 Most have a desire to be caught
 Dozens of victims and all die violent deaths
SERIAL MURDERER FACTS
 In recent years the majority of serial killers are Black
 Nearly 17% are female
 Insanity is a legal term: only 2-4 percent are legally insane
 Most serial killers are of average intelligence
 Some killers are motivated by material gain
 Many kill due to rejection and abandonment in childhood
SERIAL MURDERER FACTS, Cont’d
 Most kill under 10 victims
 Most kill in a local area
 Some have several years between murders
 About 1 in 4 have one or more killing partners
 Some victims are poisoned
 Some learn from experience and avoid detection while
 others are caught and imprisoned only to be released and kill again
Primary Motivations in Serial Murder
 Anger
 Criminal enterprise
 Financial gain
 Ideology
 Power thrill
 Sexual
 Psychosis
TYPOLOGIES
 New typologies raise issues of motivation and etiology and may overlap one another
 Some generate more explanations and understanding than others.
 The FBI organized-disorganized dichotomy has proven to be a stepping stone to more
advanced profiling techniques as researchers delve inside the minds of serial murderers.
HOLMES TYPOLOGIES OF SERIAL MURDERERS
 Visionary
 Mission-Oriented
 Hedonistic
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Power/Control-Oriented
Related Movies
 Citizen X (Story of Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer and cannibal).
 Deliberate Stranger (Story of Ted Bundy, American serial killer).
 The Deadly Tower (Story of Charles Whitman, mass murderer at the University of Texas,
Austin).
 The Boston Strangler (Story of Albert DeSalvo).
 Natural Born Killers (Story of two persons in a pathological, symbiotic, murderous
relationship)
 RELATED WEBSITES:
 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Serial Murder
www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder
 Slate, Blood Loss: The Decline of the Serial Killer
www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2011/01/blood_loss.html
 Australian Institute of Criminology, Serial Murder
www.aic.gov.au/documents/9/1/8/%7B9182A5C7-A457-4B97-814EE9A7820E9B0C%7Dti25.pdf