I am proud to say that I am a criminology major and my fascination with crime and the criminal justice system only continues to grow each and every day. Therefore when time allows, I often take some time out to explore the world of crime even further and learn more about what makes criminals tick. More specifically, what allows someone to take another’s person’s life without feeling any sense of remorse or guilt. In my search in answering this question, I decided to focus mainly on why serial killers kill and how would you be able to spot one if you saw one in public. After countless hours of watching crime documentaries and looking through multiple cases and trials pertaining to serial killers, I still found parts of this answer to very unclear. I learned through my research that serial killers are able to kill their victims without remorse or guilt by looking at their victims as objects instead of human beings. This helps serial killers dissociate themselves from the heinous act and allows them to seek pleasure through their actions. However, the part of the question that I found that it was somewhat hard to answer revolved mainly around recognizing the signs of a serial killer and what the average serial killer would look like. The harsh reality is that in most cases there are no signs and the person you may have just opened the door for or had a friendly and engaging conversation with could this form of murderous killer. I think some would agree with me when I say that serial killers over last century have become a fascination in American pop culture as their portrayal in cult classics such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), and have also helped bring the idea of the possible existence of serial killers to fruition.
The overall impression of what we as Americans think the average serial killer would look like has been highly influenced by popular stereotypes and characteristics associated with serial killers such as being a loner, a white male, and almost half of the time mentally ill. However, even with these often true stereotypes in mind, this is not always the case as serial killers can look just like you and me and blend into society with raising any red flags. Take infamous serial killer Gary Ridgway for example, also known as the “Green River Killer”. Gary Ridgway from 1982 to 1984, managed to kill over seventy teenage girls in the city of Tacoma, Washington making him one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.
He was given the name “The Green River Killer” because after killing his victims he would later dump their bodies in the now infamous Green River located south of Interstate 90. Ridgway targeted prostitutes as they were easy for him to get alone and take advantage of. He also chose prostitutes as suitable victims because they closely reminded him of his mother who once worked as a prostitute and who sexually abused him as a child. From the manner in which Ridgway killed his victims, which was through strangulation with a ligature, one would expect Ridgway to be a social outcast and stand out amongst the rest when it came to what society deems as “normal” behavior for the average individual. Although, he was very much the opposite as Ridgway was happily married with kids, owned two successful businesses of his own, and was often known by his friends as a social butterfly. When police arrested Ridgway in 2001, they were alarmed to discover how well he was able hold a friendly conversation, how intelligently he spoke, and how well he dressed and groomed himself. Ridgway presented himself in such a conventional manner that it virtually made the heinous crimes that he was being accused of almost unfathomable. Ridgway appeared to be as normal as could be, but sometimes evil has no face and therefore identifying it can be very challenging. Even Ridgway’s wife of thirteen years, Judith Lorraine Lynch, also never expected that the person that she had married and had kids with was the Green River Killer. Particularly, someone with the ability to take human life without remorse and possessed the ability to stay under the radar for almost a decade. Stories like Ridgway’s are real life examples of how these murderous beings, known as serial killers, can live among us with no notable signs. Therefore, from the people we pass down the street to the person we politely open the door for we can never be too sure what people are capable of as the most dangerous killers are the ones that hide in plain sight.