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Olivia Pate

Eng 1201

Argumentative essay

27 March 2022

What Makes a Serial Killer?

The conversation of what makes a serial killer is a topic that has been around since

ancient Egypt. For thousands of years people have been obsessed with finding out what makes a

serial killer tick. Thanks to modern science this long wondered question may finally have a

debatable answer. Nature and Nurture in the form of brain abnormality and life experiences at a

young age are responsible for creating a serial killer based on Fallon and Freemans research, the

five character traits and mental disorders.

In ancient Egypt, people started pondering this question and it led to them making

conclusions. 3,700 years ago Egyptians came up with the conclusion that everyone was born

with a blank mind(Cooper) and experiences filled that “blank slate” so if it was filled with

enough trauma and negative thoughts that is what made a serial killer. This is where people stand

with the nurture point of view. There are still people that believe you are not born a serial killer

but the things that happen to people can turn a mind mad, which is not far off from the

conclusion scientists have made today. Thousands of years go by and people still wonder if that

is all. People still wonder if all people have the same chance of being a cold blooded killer.

Then in the 1900’s a biologist Walter Freeman started to observe what would happen to

people after a lobotomy (surgery on the frontal lobe of the brain) would go wrong. What he
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found changed a lot of people’s thought process, he found that when the frontal lobe right behind

the orbital cortex would be damaged that it could completely change someone’s behavior. In an

article written by Ellison Cooper she said it could change a “gentle man into a violent criminal”.

Freeman discovering this change brought up the question about people that are born with frontal

lobe damage.

In the 1900’s more and more people started wondering if people really could not help

becoming serial killers. One year after the infamous Ted Bundy was born, a doctor named James

Fallon was born in 1947. Doctor Fallon was also looking into the brain scans of people and he

along with Freeman both came to the same conclusion that the frontal lobe right behind the

orbital cortex was the result of many violent people. Fallon looked into this so much that

“Lawyers had been sending Fallon brain scans of convicted murderers in the hope that he could

show there was something wrong with their brains that would perhaps get them a lighter

sentence, or maybe help them escape the death penalty.” (Ma) After researching this for a while

to test his theory he set up a trial where he went through many different brain scans, some of

regular people with no issues, some with people with brain damage to other parts of the brain,

and some from killers. Each time Fallon was able to pick out which one was the serial killer

(Ma). For a minute people were so impressed with that and a lot of people converted to the

nature point of view with nature vs nurture.

It was not until Fallon was reviewing his family brain scans to see if anyone in his family

had a serial killer brain that his biggest discovery began. In an article written by Barbara Hagerty

Fallon revealed that “One of his direct great-grandfathers, Thomas Cornell, was hanged in 1667
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for murdering his mother. That line of Cornells produced seven other alleged murderers,

including Lizzy Borden. ‘Cousin Lizzy,’ as Fallon wryly calls her, was accused (and

controversially acquitted) of killing her father and stepmother with an ax in Fall River, Mass., in

1882.” This information was where Fallon knew he had to start looking into his family's brain

scans and that is where he found the brain of a grade A serial killer and not just a brain scan with

some correlation; he recognized it to be a completely deranged, mad, mad killer. When Fallon

saw this he thought it was a joke from one of his colleagues since they knew he was studying

serial killer brain scans so they would have slipped a perfect serial killer brain scan to freak

Fallon out just for a couple of laughs. But after further review, this was no joke played by a

colleague, he soon realized this was his very own brain. The scan led to so many backtracking

questions such as “Why is Fallon not a killer?”.

Fallon studied this, pondering the question for a very long time before he got to thinking

what if it isn't nature vs nurture but nature and nurture. Fallon started to make the connection of

why he wasn't a killer but someone else with the same brain abnormality was. From there many

people have made the conclusion it is “Three ingredients (Fallon)”. The first ingredient was the

brain abnormality in the frontal lobe. The second is the MAOA and CHD13 which “enzyme

monoamine oxidase-A which plays a key role in the breakdown of neurotransmitters such as

serotonin(Subramanian)”. The final ingredient is abuse and violence growing up, which Fallon's

wife said was lucky he did not have that growing up (Hagerty). So to be the ideal and possible

get a lesser sentence this is what chemical and physically makes a serial killer.
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Serial Killers share typical character traits that make a serial killer and can be

summarized into five points. A list from Steve Myall, a writer for Mirror.uk. states that killers

love to hold power (“Power junkies' '). It has been found that even after being caught and

incarcerated they love to prove they have power by not giving up key information to assist the

detectives even though they are already found guilty. They are also “expert manipulators' ' they

will use the research that has been found that it is a neurological issue and play off that to try to

play the victim as if they had no control over what they were doing. Bundy played this role many

times stating there was nothing he could do, it was an impulse and he had to do it. Then “the

bragger” Serial killer will often brag before and after about thier murder or even just about

themselves. This plays into why so many serial killers will keep trophies from their victims.

Serial killers are “Charmers” and notorious for finding their victims' weaknesses and playing off

of them. Serial killers will often offer something to their victims to make them fall into their trap

by being a comfort person or by claiming they have something they need or want. Serial killers

can also uphold the “average joe” profile that Bundy was a master at. This is how he would get

his victims. Bundy had a great job, was a friendly man and a good citizen. Many other serial

killers will play the complete average person and do so up until they get caught.

While not everyone agrees that serial killer genes, brain scans and trauma are the

reason ,some people still believe in one or the other. While this theory of it being one or

the other is not as common anymore as it previously was, it is still important to discuss

why people may still believe it is one sided. “Unable to control and deal with their life

situations including stress and loneliness; sexual violence and serial murders were the

solution and coping skills used by the three serial killers.(Sharma)”. This quote is pulled
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from a thesis written by a Master student and she explains that it is the trauma that

causes people to become killers. In her essay she states that by letting in all of these

negative things it can turn someone's brain into deranged thoughts. But with the facts we

found from brain scans and genetics along with the trauma and violence this is what truly

makes a killer. While not every killer has a deranged childhood or a deformation in the

brain, what sciences and professionals have found is with Fallon's “Three ingredients”

this has been the case for many Serial killers.

The timeless question of what makes a serial killer may finally be answered.

Through thousands of years, many important people and unfortunately many murders,

many sciencist today think we have finally made our conclusion and Fallon and Freeman

played a very large part in finding out why. Genetics, brain abnormality, violence and

trauma all have a part to play with making a serial killer.

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Work Cited Page:

Cooper, Ellison “ Are Serial Killers Born Bad or Man-Made Monsters?” Crime Reads 9 July

2018 https://crimereads.com/are-serial-killers-born-bad-or-man-made-monsters/ Access

Date 06 March 2022

(Cooper)

Hagerty, Barbara “A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret” NPR 29 June 2010

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976 Access Date 27 March

2022

Ma, Lybi “Are Serial Killers Born or Made?” Psychology Today 30 November 2020

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/you-me-psychology/202011/are-serial-killers-

born-or-made Access date 06 March 2022

(Ma)

Myall, Steve : “What makes a serial killer? Five types of killer personality from the charmer to

the power junkie” Mirror. 24 July 2015.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/what-makes-serial-killer-five-6119084

Acces date: 06 March 2022

Subramania, Anshha “Born to kill? The story of Serial Killer genes” 21 July 2020

https://bsj.berkeley.edu/born-to-kill-the-story-of-serial-killer-genes/ Access Date 27

March 2022

Sharma, Meher “The Development of Serial Killers: A Grounded Theory Study” 2018

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4722&context=theses
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Access Date 27 March 2022