Dahmer

Many different traits make up a serial killer. But not all of them are the same. Different killers have different fantasies, perversions, previous abuse, hunting grounds, and prey. Copy cat killers are not unheard of though, there were Zodiac Killer and Jack the Ripper wannabes. There are many different kind of perversions as well, and the perversion of the killer can outline the murder. Common perversions of serial killers include pedophilia (sexual attraction to children), gerontophilia (sexual attraction to the elderly), necrophilia (sexual attraction to the deceased), anthropophagy (consumption of human blood and flesh), and vampirism (wanting to drink human blood). This doesn't surprise me at all, because often times dead bodies are found with evidence of some kind of sexual assault, whether before death or not. The murders directly related to any kind of perversion are called lust murders. An example of a lust serial killer was Jeffrey Dahmer. When he killed, he engaged in sexual acts with his victims, both before and after death, causing him to be classified as a lust killer. "A few weeks after his mother abandoned him [Dahmer], he picked up a nineteen-year-old hitchhiker named Steven Hicks and invited him home. The two shared some beers, chatted, had sex. When Hicks announced that he had to be moving on, Dahmer smashed him in the back of the skull with a barbell and strangled him. Then he dragged the body into the crawl space under the house, dismembered it, and stored the pieces in  plastic bags" (Schechter 202).

Unsolved Cases

One famous killer who has never been caught was the Zodiac Killer. The Zodiac killer was a killer in Northern California during the 1960's and 1970's. They claimed to kill 37 people, but only 5 of their victims were confirmed dead. The Zodiac interests me because they would send notes to the police about their crimes, or about who may be their next victim. Even today, the true identity of the Zodiac Killer has not been confirmed, meaning the killer could still be alive today, maybe even still killing. But the Zodiac isn't the only killer who was never caught. Charlie Chop-off is another example of a serial killer who was never caught. Charlie Chop-off was a killer during 1972-1974, and he killed 6 children. He was nicknamed Charlie Chop-Off for his trademark genital mutilation inflicted upon his male victims. Another killer, known as The Babysitter or the Oakland County Child Killer, killed 4 children but was never convicted. The thought that detectives and the police can not always find the person behind heinous crimes can be unsettling, and it can make you wonder how many murderers walk the streets at this very moment.

Cults and Manson

Charles Manson was a cult leader in the 1960's and 1970's. He had his followers kill nine people in different locations in the summer of 1969, and was convicted in 1971. I'm making this post because Manson died just a few days ago, on November 19th, 2017. Manson was 83 years old, and he died of natural causes. He dubbed his cult the "Manson Family." One of the victims of his cult was Sharon Tate, an actress. His cult consisted of about 100 members, who actively used drugs such as LSD. Manson took no part in the actual killings, but he had his four most loyal followers carry out the murders for him. Cults are often based on religion, and Manson's cult was no different. His followers believed that Manson was a God. "I am what you have made me and the mad-dog killer fiend is a reflection of your society." -Charles Manson

   

Serial killers aren't often in cults, but the Manson Family is definitely a cult to be remembered.  The four followers who carried out the murders by Manson's command were Tex Watson (alive), Patricia Krenwinkel (alive), Susan Atkinds (dead), and Leslie Van Houten (alive). 

To my surprise, cults are not as prevalent in serial murder as I would have thought. Some other murderous cults include The Vampire Clan, The Fall Rivers Cult, The Carny Cult, and The Children of Thunder. In the case of the Kallingers, Joseph Kallinger asked his thirteen year old son Micheal to assist him in murdering and castrating young boys, to which Michael agreed. This is just one example of how abuse as a child can turn into psychotic tendencies as adults.

Pedophiles and Murder Styles

In my opinion, Albert Fish was one of the most deranged, psychotic serial killers in American history. Not in the sense of how many people he slaughtered, but his personality and his actions towards his victims. For me, it was more difficult to read the section of this book that was about him than other killers. Albert Fish once wrote a letter to one of the victims mothers. It explained what had happened to her daughter, from Albert's point of view. "First I stripped her naked. How did she kick-bite and scratch. I choked her to death, then  cut her into small pieces  so I could take my meat to my rooms, cook and eat it" (Schechter  228).  Albert had cannibalized, raped, molested, and strangled his victims, which is not very uncommon for serial killers to do. One killer, H. H. Holmes, had used many different strategies to end the lives  of others, which is very interesting to me because that means he didn't have one specific motive for his murders. Often times serial killers will use a surrogate, meaning whatever trauma caused them to become mentally unstable or psychotic will be reflected by their crimes. For example, if someone was severely abused by their mother as a child, they might target middle aged women to kill. Ed Gein, for example, killed 2 women who looked similar to his deceased mother. If this was true for every serial killer, law enforcement or psychologists could possibly predict the victim of a killer before it's too late. Another thing that interests me about serial killers and this book is a killers MO. MO means modus operandi, which is a characteristic method, or the way someone does something. In the case of crime, its the characteristic way that a criminal will commit their crime. This interests me because you can figure out who or what kind of person you're looking for from the way they execute their crime.

Killer Kids and (not so) Abusive Bundy

The most interesting part of my book so far was learning about how each killer went about their homicides. I also liked learning about what factors into someone murdering others. Why people are necrophilic, why people are pedophilic, or gerontophilic. Often times it's because of childhood experiences. It makes me wonder about all the kids who experienced abuse, emotionally or physically, and didn't grow up to become serial killers. Other killers had not been necessarily abused, but still ended up being deranged killers. One example of this is Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy was not abused, but he did have some family issues, such as being raised by a viciously racist grandmother, who got a kick out of hurting family pets. "Even so, there is little in Bundy's background to account fully for the sheer malevolence of his adult behavior" (Schechter 160/161).  In the end, Bundy murdered 30 women.

It is hard for me to believe that even 10 year old kids could be killers, that they could be capable of cold blooded murder. Mary Bell, a young girl who was subject to horrendous torture by the hands of her mother, strangled two little boys in 1968. Mary Bell is more proof that murderers can be someone you may never expect.

Skin Lamps and Psychopaths

In order to be classified as a serial killer, you must have commit 3 separate killings in three or more separate locations with a cooling off period between homicides. This means that, Ed Gein is not a serial killer. Ed Gein only killed 2 people, but he was a grave robber. "For the past twelve years, ever since his mother's death, he had been a grave robber, turning to the dead for the companionship he could not find among the living. In strict definition of the term, Eddie Gein was not a serial killer. He was a ghoul" (Schechter 192). When Ed Gein died, he was buried next to his mother. I wonder why they gave him such treatment, unlike other killers who were bludgeoned to death by a fellow inmate, executed, or just died in jail from sickness. This book makes me wonder how many serial killers are in Wisconsin, looking for their next victim. Albert Fish, for example, was a serial killer that no one expected. Albert Fish was a frail looking old man, not one someone would expect of cannibalism and murder. This scares me, knowing that someone that you may trust could be a killer, someone who seems so harmless could be haunted by murderous demons. Luckily, the beginning of this book has some traits of psychopaths you should look out for. Some traits include bed wetting through teenage years, pyromania (or firestarting), and animal torture. In my opinion, almost all of these traits should be checked out even if you don't believe that person has homicidal tendencies.

<-- Edward Gein, Wisconsin ghoul.