Serial Killers
"God, I've never done anything. Help me, help me! God, why is this happening?
Help me!" Robert Violante screamed as the Son of Sam's .44 caliber bullet tore through
his temple (Eyes of a Killer, http.//www.serialkiller.com). Serial killers are the most
famous of all murderers because of their mass numbers of victims and their odd rituals
of
killing. What is a serial killer? A serial killer falls into two categories: psychotics
and
psychopaths. Psychotics are clearly insane, they fail to perceive reality correctly. A
minority of serial killers are psychotics. Psychopaths, also known as a sociopaths, do
not
suffer from a mental illness, but from a character flaw. They are in touch with
reality,
and know right from wrong. They know killing is wrong, they just don't care (1994,
Serial Killers, Time Life Books). You cannot pick a sociopath out in a crowd because
they look just like everybody else. Actually, they act just like everybody else. You
could
have a neighbor that's a serial killer and not even know it. Psychopaths are everyday
people with everyday lives, but they just have one problem, they have a need to kill.
What does a serial killer do? Serial killers usually have reasons for killing, they
just don't go out and kill anyone (the majority). A serial killer will plan out where,
when,
why, and how before they actually kill. Ted Bundy used to lure his victims with a phony
cast on his leg. Others lured with the promise of sex or porno movies. When they kill
they usually have their own style. The Son of Sam used a .44 Cal, Dahmer killed
various ways and then hacked his victims into several pieces, dumping the bodies into
vats of acid, and Gacy molested little boys before strangling them and dumping them into
the crawl space under his home.
What makes a serial killer? A serial killer tends to be white, male, and middle
aged. There are other races, sexes, and ages, but the majority fit the description I've
just
given. Their character flaw seems to come from their childhood. Ted Bundy grew up in
a male dominated family, so Ted grew up to kill women. John Wayne Gacy was sexually
molested by a man and accused of being a "queer" by his father, so John grew up to kill
little boys. Ed Gein was over protected by his mother so he grew up with a warped
sexual sense and started, gravedigging, and making furniture out of corpses, and killing
To be labeled a serial killer, a person must kill at least three people with intervals
between each killing. That is what differentiates a serial killer from a mass murderer.
Mass murderers will kill large numbers of people at one time, (1994 Mass Murderers,
Time Life Books) while a serial killer will kill and kill again over a period of time.
Everybody knows that serial killers murder people in abhorrent ways, they often
do not know the whole story behind these deranged people. Serial killers backgrounds
are often too hideous for the common person to endure. Others view what these people
do as taboo and refuse to believe that it happens in our society. Well it does happen,
and
to understand the full concept of a serial killer you have to know the whole story.
Because every serial killer has their own uniqueness, you'll have to hear several case
profiles too understand the idiosyncrasies between them.
Psychotics are the easiest of all serial killers to pick out. That is because they are
insane. They often tend to have interesting stories behind their killings because they
often see and hear things that the normal person doesn't. Schizophrenia is a common
source are associated with psychotics. Schizophrenics will hear voices in their head
and
will ultimately make them go insane. Often the voices will make these people kill to
appease them or to kill for a cause. Psychotics will most likely have a normal
childhood
unlike the psychopath. Although there are cases were psychotics have had a rough
childhood as in the case of Ed Gein. The number of psychotics compared to the
psychopath are minimal. Psychotics have a mental disease unlike the psychopaths which
have a character flaw. To show what a psychotic actually is, the following are two
profiles on psychotics with interpreted case histories.
Herbert Mullin
Herbert Mullin had a normal childhood. Growing up in a middle class family
Herbert had no major difficulties. But by the time he was twenty, Herbert started to
become violent, had began learning Eastern religions, and became a drug user. In 1969,
he started to imitate his brother-in-law and his parents were worried that he suffered
from
echopraxia. Echopraxia is one of the first symptoms of schizophrenia. Herbert admitted
himself into a mental health institution and was diagnosed with having schizophrenia.
Six weeks later he was released. Upon released he shaved his head and began slipping
away from reality, during this time he was quoted as saying "murder is an act of love".
In
1972 Herbert went to visit his parents in Santa Cruz; it was at this point when Herbert
began to hear voices. He believed that his father was communicating with him
telepathically. The voice would instruct him to go kill people. So in time he had done
just that. His first victim was a man that he clubbed to death. A few months later he
picked up a hitchhiker, stabbed her to death and dumped the body. His third victim was
a
Catholic priest he stabbed to death in a confessional. By this time a new voice had
entered his head. Albert Einstein told Herbert telepathically that Herb was the
"designated leader" of his generation. Einstein then told Herb that he had to sacrifice
people to stop the great California earthquakes. Then the voices changed in Herbert's
head from Einstein to random people offering themselves to be killed. Herb killed five
of these people. In early February he came across some teenagers illegally camping,
Herb first told them to leave but then shot and killed them all. Then on February 13
Mullin was delivering firewood when the voices told him that he could not deliver the
wood until he killed someone. As he was on his way to deliver the wood, he observed a
seventy two year old man, he shot him and continued on his way never leaving his
vehicle. Herb was quickly arrested but he didn't even know why. Herb was not found
insane by the courts, but this is highly arguementive. Herb Mullin was sentenced to
life
in prison.
Ed Gein
The people of Plainfield, considered Ed Gein a gentle man who everybody
trusted. Ed had a very strict childhood. His father died when he was very young. His
mother then decided that she would raise her children and not marry or be involved in
any relationship. Mrs. Gein told Ed and his brother Henry that all women were bad and
that sex would lead to heart breaks and diseases. Later in life, Ed confessed he felt
his
mother was good in every manner (deranged,wierd,sick, http.//www.deranged.com).
Authorities suspected he had a sexual relationship with his mother. Within a matter of
time Ed's mother and brother had died, leaving Ed desolate on a farm which didn't even
have electricity. Ed worked odd jobs like a handyman and baby-sitting. In his free
time,
Ed conducted psychotic experiments. Fascinated with the female body, Ed often
indulged himself in anatomical textbooks. To actually see and feel for himself, he went
to the graveyard and exhumed several bodies, including his mothers'. He found pleasure
in handling dead women's sex organs. Even worse, he skinned the corpses and dissected
the bodies. The inventory inside his home consisted of heads, hearts, livers,
intestines,
and skin scattered about. At night he would take off all of his clothes, put on his
mothers
skin, and dance around the house. Seeking yet more sexual gratification Ed made
furniture and musical instruments from body parts. Some of these items included
lampshades, tom toms, and bracelets. Gein then moved on to killing other people. Even
though he only killed two women (Mary Hogan and Bernice Wordan), Ed was still
considered a serial killer. After killing Bernice Wordan, the evidence left behind lead
to
Ed Gein. When the authorities arrived they were welcomed by an assortment of human
artifacts. Shrunken heads, drinking glass skulls, and skin furniture. Ed didn't realize
that
what he had done was wrong so he invited the police in for coffee. In the kitchen there
was a human heart simmering in a saucepan. The police then found Bernice hanging in
the barn, she was gutted and strung up like a deer. Most of the officers became sick
after
viewing the carnage. Ed was arrested and found by the court to be insane. He was
institutionalized for the rest of his life. The movies Psycho and Silence of the Lambs
were based on his life (1994 Serial Killers, Time Life Books).
Psychopaths or also known as sociopaths are people with a severe character flaw
in which they feel like they have to kill. Sociopaths know that killing is wrong, they
just
don't care. Sociopaths act just like everybody else, some are shy, and some are
extremely
outgoing. These people are usually led to killing by influences that have warped their
personalities. Common examples are child abuse, a fetish with a certain items, or a
hatred of some sort. A serial killer loves to kill, it gives the killer a sense of power
and
gratification. Since sociopaths far out number the psychotic, seven profiles on select
serial killers are givin to understand the many different aspects serial killers have.
Gilles De Rais
This serial killer is the third most notorious serial killer known. His name is
Gilles De Rais. During the Hundred Years War, De Rais was Joan of Arc's personal
bodyguard. Immensely rich, and popular throughout France, De Rais was named a baron
to the people. Being a faithful Christian, it was hard to accept what De Rais had done.
Other lords and the common people became suspicious of all the missing children in the
area. The Bishop of Nantees demanded that De Rais's castle be searched. In a pit
within
the castle, they dug up the remains of one hundred and forty boys. De Rais had murdered
them all by means of satanic ritual or sexual gratification. At times when he didn't
feel
like killing, he had his servants molest, torture, and murder the young men. While this
was happening, De Rais watched and masturbated over the children's entrails. De Rais
and his servants were found guilty of murder and torture. De Rais was simultaneously
hanged and burned alive, while his servants were just burned alive. Though, they only
found the remains of 140 people, it was estimated that he killed over 300 (Compulsion to
Kill, Time Life Books).
Albert Fish
The next serial killer to be discussed is Albert Fish. The father of sadism, Fish
was sexually aroused by pain and misery. After Fish's wife and six children left him,
he
would become aroused by inflicting pain upon himself. He would eat his own
defications, stick flaming alcohol balls into his anus, flagellate himself with a nail
studded paddle, burn himself with red hot pokers, and insert sewing needles into his
groin. At night he would dance naked in his yard screaming "I am Christ!" (1994,Serial
Killers, Time Life Books). As a pass time Fish would answer lonely widow ads in the
newspaper by giving promises of paddling, punishment, and much worse. He bigamously
married three of the women he had met through the ads in the paper. None of these
rituals could fully sexually appease him so Fish turned to molesting children and
cannibalism. After molesting seven little girls and then strangling them, he decided to
try
cannibalism. The 8th and final victim was ten year old Grace Budd. He told her parents
that Fish was taking her to Fish's niece birthday party. There was actually no party,
he
took her to an abandoned house in the country. After molesting and strangling the girl,
he chopped her into pieces and made a stew out of her. When Fish ate the stew he had
experienced an orgasm that lasted seven days straight. He then quickly moved out of
state but his conscience told him to inform the parents what had happened to their
daughter considering the Budds were his friends. Albert wrote the Budds a letter
telling
them what a delight it had been eating their daughter. The police then traced the
return
address and apprehended Fish. He was found guilty of murder and a multitude of other
charges and then sentenced to death. At age 65, Fish was the oldest person electrocuted
at Sing Sing prison. An untrue legend has it that Fish short circuited the electric
chair
due to all the sewing needles in his groin (1994, Beyond Murder, John Philpin, Penguin
Books USA Inc.)
Richard Ramirez
The third sociopath I will write about is Richard Ramirez. Ever since Richard
was a boy he was a loner. By the time he was in 8th grade he was sniffing glue and
smoking marijuana but shunned group activities such as youth gangs. The one thing
about Richard that is the most frightening is that he killed randomly. There were no
racial, sexual, or age preferences. Richard would just break into houses and kill the
occupants. Ramirez's first victim was seventy-nine year old Jennie Vincow, whom he
raped and nearly decapitated. Ramirez was homeless, sleeping anywhere he could. As a
pass time Richard would flirt with Satanism and practice in the occult. After killing
thirteen people and assaulting about thirty more, Richard was finally captured with the
first time used invention of the computer used to match finger prints (VICAP) (1994,
Most Wanted, Time Life Books). Ramirez was found guilty and was given the death
penalty. Richard tried pleading insanity but the court found that he wasn't. "The
Night
Stalker" would kill just because he liked to.
Jerry Brudos
Jerry Brudos was known as the Shoe Fetish Slayer. At age five Jerry found a pair
of high heel shoes in the dump and became fascinated by them. Jerry took them home
and wore them around until his mother found out, Jerry was severely punished. When
Jerry was 16, he dug a tunnel hoping to capture a girl in it so he could make her do
anything that he wanted. Still enchanted by the high heeled shoes, Jerry started to
burglarize houses, stealing their high heeled shoes and sometimes lingerie. After
stealing
the items, Jerry would go home and try them on. In 1956 Jerry was arrested for
assaulting a little girl and trying to rip her clothes off. At age 23, he married a 17
year
old girl and became the father of two children. This is when he started to kill. In
January
1968, he killed a 19 year old who was selling encyclopedias door to door (1994, Lethal
Shadow, Stephan Michaud, Penguin Books USA Inc.). Knocking her unconcience, he
took her to the basement, and then strangled her. He then undressed her, and put on her
undergarments and high heeled shoes. Fascinated by the shoe, Jerry cut off her left
foot,
put a high heeled shoe on it, and then stored it in the freezer. But now what was he
going
to do with the body? He tied her to an old, discarded engine block and tossed her into
the Willamette River. His next victim was killed ten months later. This time he
dressed
up the cadaver and took photographs. He severed one of her breasts before dumping her
into the Willamette River. In March 1969, Brudos had raped another victim and then
strangled her. Once finished with the body, Jerry severed both breasts before dumping
her body. His last victim followed about a month later; after the rape and murder, he
applied electric shocks to the rib cage to see if the body would jump. A anonymous tip
led the authorities to Brudos. At his home they found special electrician knots which
were used to hold down the body in the river. They had also found his souvenir
collection of body parts. The last thing the authorities found was a photograph of a
dead
woman hanging from a hook in his garage. Jerry was charged with three out of the four
murders and was sentenced to life in prison. Jerry is eligible for parole in 1999
(1994,Compulsion to Kill, Time Life Books).
Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy was probably the most brilliant serial killer of all time. A law school
drop out, this murderer of thirty six women was on a killing spree that lasted a decade.
As a child, he grew up in a male dominated household. His father would scream, yell,
and beat his mother. Ted grew up with domestic violence ingrained into his personality.
He tried many times, but relationships never lasted. He was a charming and well
educated man. To some he was considered a hero. When he was a teenager, he saved a
child from drowning. So it was considered odd that he ended up a killer. When he was
in his twenties he married Beth Archer. This seemed peculiar because by this time he
had already killed two dozen women. Eventually she divorced him and he remarried
Carol Bartholomew. Even though he was married, he still continued to stalk and murder.
Ted's common hunting grounds were universities and beaches. He lured his victims by
using a fake cast. Women would feel sympathetic and help him with his books or assist
him in some other way. This would be their fatal mistake. He would take them out of
site and then murder them. Ted's methods of killing were strangling and/or beating to
death with blunt objects (1994, Serial Killers, Time Life Books. He knew how to cover
his tracks and not let anyone notice him. When he'd go "hunting" he would leave the
area
which he live traveling as much as three hundred miles to find his victims. Police
became suspicious of Ted but they had no evidence against him. Nationwide, college
campuses were advised to be on the lookout for anyone unfamiliar roaming the campuses
with a cast on. One day Ted's wife was scavenging the attic for something when she
stumbled upon a box filled with cast material. She called the police and Ted was
apprehended. With Ted's friendly personality he was givin a lot of freedom in the
courts.
Since he was a law student he decided to represent himself. One day in court Ted asked
to go to the bathroom and was allowed to do so. The court room was on the third floor
so
they didn't anticipate an escape attempt. Unattended in the bathroom, Ted jumped from
the third floor window and escaped with a broken leg. There was a state wide man hunt
for Bundy and he was apprehended a few days later. Ted was then shackled in the
courtroom and his liberties were stripped. The courts have convicted Ted with thirty
six
counts of murder. Ted, after conviction, admitted to the crimes he had committed. He
had a hard time remembering the names because there were so many victims. Ted had a
inner hatred towards women and this was the only way he knew how to deal with this
hatred. Ted was executed January 24, 1989. His last word were "Thirty six is the wrong
number, you have to add one more digit" (1992, To Kill and Kill Again, John Coston,
Penguin Books USA Inc.). This means he could of killed one more, ten more, or a
hundred more, we will never know.
Henry Lucas
If anything that can go wrong in a childhood, it has happened to Henry Lee Lucas.
The youngest of nine, Henry came from a severely dysfunctional family. He never knew
his father, just a drunken stepfather that lost both his legs while working for a
railroad,
who eventually died of pneumonia. Henry's mother was a cruel prostitute. She made
him grow his hair long, and put him in dresses just to make fun of him. If he'd
disobey,
she'd beat him until he was unconcience. Sometimes she'd make him watch while she
was with a client. It took Henry three years to pass the first grade and he dropped out
after the fifth. At a young age he was subjected to necrophilia. One of his mother's
lovers killed a cow and had sex with it. His older brother damaged Henry's eye in a
fight
and when a teacher accidentally hit him, he went blind in that eye. In 1960 Henry
killed
his mother in a argument about marriage. He claimed that she died of a heart attack
after
he punched her and slightly slit her throat. The autopsy showed that she had actually
died from bleeding to death. Henry was sentenced to twenty to forty years in prison;
but
only served ten. After Henry was released from prison he teamed up with Ottis Toole, a
bisexual cannibal, and they went on a nation wide killing spree. They killed and raped
their victims as it was a necessity to them. If they ever had a urge to kill, they said
that
they would just pick up a hitchhiker every now and then. Joining up with them later was
Toole's niece, Becky Powell. With time she developed a relationship with Henry and he
ultimately ended up killing her too. Henry had Becky's dismembered body in the back
seat of a car when he was stopped by a deputy sheriff in Texas. After arrest Henry
admitted killing over 360 people nationwide. Officers from twenty eight states came to
interrogate him (which had included my father, Richard Wellner). In one interview he
was quoted as saying "We killed them every way there is accept one, I haven't poisoned
anybody. We cut 'em up. We hanged 'em. We ran 'em down with cars. We stabbed 'em.
We beat 'em. We drowned 'em. There's crucifixion-there's people we fillet like fish.
There's people we burnt.(1994,Serial Killers, Time Life Books) There's people we shot
in cars. We strangled them by hand. We strangled them by rope. We strangled them by
telephone cord. We stabbed them then we strangled them. We even tied them so they
would strangle themselves. Henry Lee Lucas is known as the Bloody Liar because of his
false confessions and that strive for attention. He was only linked to eleven murders,
one
being Becky Powell. He may have killed more but this is all that police have proven so
far. Henry is currently sitting on death row.
John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy's part time occupation as a clown hid his true self pretty well.
Pogo the Clown molested and murdered thirty three boys. When John was a child, he
was what you would call a momma's boy. His father had always accused him of being a
"queer". Later on in childhood his father's friend sexually molested him while taking
him
for a ride in a truck. John grew up and worked as an electrician and a part time clown.
Gacy suffered from two broken marriages and then he started to kill. John would lure
young boys to his house with promises of sex or porno movies. He would have sex with
those who wanted sex and would manipulate the others to masturbate during the porno's.
After having his way with the boys he would then strangle and bury them in his crawl
space. Before all the killings started, Gacy had a police record and spent time in jail
for
sexual assaults. Gacy became a suspect in a number of missing boy cases because of his
police record. With a anonymous tip, they searched his house and found there were three
boys buried in the crawl space. After being arrested and convicted, John Wayne Gacy
was sentenced to death. While sitting on death row, he imitated his father when he used
to lock himself in the basement and started to paint. Gacy's paintings sold up as high
as
five hundred thousand dollars each (1993, Garden of Graves, Maria Eftmiades, St.
Martins Press).
In conclusion, psychotics and psychopaths have only one thing in common, they
are labeled serial killers. Many people see both of them just as serial killers when
they
are extremely different. Psychotics would not kill if they were not mentally ill. A
psychopath is not mentally ill. They know what they are doing and will kill in cold
blood
with no remorse for the shear pleasure of it. Contrary to that, a psychotic will kill
because they have no idea what they are doing is wrong. A psychopath will usually have
their own personal reasons for killing which may include hatred, sexual gratification,
devil worship, or a lust for blood. Psychotics are in their own world where murder is a
perfectly normal way of life. Psychotics will also kill to appease a voice driving them
crazy or a sexual interest which seems fine to them. The label "serial killer" is a
group of
abstract murderers all mixed up together. A "serial killer" is not just one kind of
murderer.
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