Since the first modern serial killer, Jack the Ripper, was documented in London broadsheets, they have been a focus of intense public interest and spectacle, despite committing a comparatively low volume of murders. The term serial killer, however, was not coined until the 1970’s by FBI agents and criminal profiling pioneers Robert Ressler and John Douglas. These cream of the crop killers differentiate themselves from the chaff by the volume, more than three, and methodology of their killings. Investigations into their activity are thus more complicated, time consuming, and expensive than those for most crimes or even other murders.
The mind of a serial killer is a dark and twisted place, but many psychologists have attempted to shine a light on its inner workings. Outwardly, many serial killers are nice, well-liked, even charming people. John Wayne Gacy performed his act as a clown for sick children at local hospitals. Ronald Dominique, while himself impoverished, bought Christmas presents for his sister’s children, who would not have received any without him. Ted Bundy was a smooth operator on Seattle’s political scene. However, there is inherently another side to their duality. Gacy wore a black leather jacket while he stalked his victims. Dominique spent his nights at gay bars looking for prostitutes. Bundy, in spite of his charm, could never keep meaningful private relationships. The deviant behavior often begins in childhood. For example, Bundy created “tiger pits” of the type seen in Vietnam, covered in vegetation with sharpened spikes underneath, to catch small animals. As they develop, the sign sometimes disappear for a while, until something triggers a return to and escalation of these impulses in adulthood. They have a desire within them that needs to be fulfilled, and they possess an “irrational notion” that each killing will help remove the desire that the last failed to.
Many modern investigatory techniques began during serial murder cases. Criminal profiling began being used by professional investigators in the 70’s. Howard Teten and Patrick Mullany, who had experience with habitual murders, founded the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit on the belief that they could use details from a crime scene to provide details about the killer to police. They examined detailed evidence and the perpetrators of already solved crimes, searching for correlations between the two. Then, they tested their methods on different cases. After developing what they believed to be a complete system, Mullany and Teten took their method into the field. After several Montana rape and murders, they determined their suspect was a nearby Caucasian male with military experience. This profile led eventually to the killer’s apprehension and prevented him from further harming the remote community.
This case was an example of the typical American stereotype of the serial killer – a middle-aged White male. However, the actual percentage of White male serial killers is about 46%, in line with the demographics of the US population. This stereotype is perpetuated for several reasons. First, the media has historically covered mostly White male killers. Females typically kill via less gorey methods (like in Roald Dahl’s short story The Landlady), which makes them less compelling as print or television narratives, and minorities often live in areas where more affluent journalists balk at entering. The habituation of many minorities also affects this issue in another manner. Police are less likely to launch an investigation in a poorer area, not only because their reduced presence makes the crimes more difficult to discover but because more money and other resources, especially necessary for a long, drawn out affair like a serial investigation, are funneled into the departments of more gentrified areas. This unfortunate reality means that many serial killers of lesser means, and all serial killers typically target people of their own socioeconomic status, have probably gone through their ritual many times without being apprehended.
In their studies on serial killers, two psychologists, Holmes and Deburger, identified four different motivations which account for the driving force behind most serial killers’ actions. The first type, “hedonists,” kill for sexual pleasure, usually torturing his victims before finishing them off or collecting souvenirs from their corpses. The second, “visionaries,” have suffered a psychotic episode, breaking them off from reality. They kill because an internal voice or hallucinated figure eggs them on. “Control seekers” are the third variety. Similar to the hedonists, they kill for pleasure, but the pleasure of holding power, not sexual. They treat the victim as an object in order to appease their own inner sense of chaos. Lastly, are the “missionaries.” They have a “holy mission” they must complete, a type of person whom they believe does not deserve a place in our world. Within these archetypes, nearly all the serial killers throughout history can be placed, giving investigators and psychologists a consistent basis to compare habitual murderers and aid in the investigation of their transgressions.