Scott A. Bonn Ph.D.

Understanding What Drives Serial Killers

Their individual motives vary greatly.
Posted Sep 15, 2019

Jeffrey Dahmer Milwaukee Police 1991 Mugshot

Source: Public Domain

Many serial killings seem to be completely devoid of meaning

or motivation on the part of the criminal. In actuality, however, there is
great diversity in the needs and desires of serial killers that lead them
to extinguish the lives of others. Sometimes, the act or process of
murder can be an end in itself for them.
One aspect of popularly held beliefs and media stereotypes that often
holds true is that most serial killers derive great satisfaction from the
act of killing. The gratification they receive from the act of murder
differentiates them from one-time murderers who kill incidentally—that
is, to help commit or conceal another crime. Stated differently, serial
killers have a chronic and overwhelming need to commit murder that
distinguishes them from those who kill one time because it serves
other criminal interests. 

It may seem to be counterintuitive on the surface but many serial killers

are actually insecure individuals who are compelled to kill due to a
morbid fear of rejection. In many cases, the fear of rejection seems to
result from having been abandoned by their mother in early childhood.

Infamous serial killers who were rejected or abandoned by their birth

mothers include David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy and Joel Rifkin. Some
serial killers such as Edmund Kemper are tormented, abused and even
tortured by their birth mothers.

A neophyte serial killer who was traumatized as a child will seek to

avoid painful relationships with other human beings as an adult. He will
particularly seek to avoid painful relationships with those he desires or
covets. Such fear of rejection may compel a fledgling serial killer to
want to eliminate any objects of his affections. He may come to believe
that by destroying the person he desires prior to entering into a
relationship with them, he can eliminate the frightening possibility of
being abandoned, humiliated or otherwise hurt by someone he loves,
as he was in childhood. 

As explained by the FBI in a 2005 report on serial homicide, a serial

killer selects victims based on availability, vulnerability and desirability
(1).

Availability is primarily determined by the lifestyle of the victim or

circumstances in which he/she is involved that may provide the
offender access for an attack. For example, a single female who
regularly spends her evenings alone at home is available for a break-in
attack by a serial predator.

Vulnerability is defined as the extent to which the victim is at-risk or

susceptible to attack by the offender. A single female walking down the
street at night is less vulnerable to attack if she is accompanied by a
large dog.

Desirability is highly subjective and is described as the attractiveness or

appeal of the victim to the offender. Victim desirability involves
numerous factors related to the motivation of the offender and may
include characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, body type or
other specific criteria established by the serial killer.

At a symposium on serial homicide in 2005, the FBI and other experts

in criminology and forensic psychology had an in-depth discussion about
the motivations of serial killers. The attendees made a number of
observations and recommendations for serial homicide investigations
that are related to the motivations of the killer.

As presented by the FBI in Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary

Perspectives for Investigators, the specific observations made by
attendees at the symposium are outlined below (1).

•           The motive can be very difficult to determine in a serial murder

investigation.

•           A serial murderer can have multiple motives for committing

his/her crimes.

•           A serial killer’s motive(s) can evolve both within a single murder
and throughout the series of murders.

•           The classification of motivations should be limited to

observable behavior and conditions at the scenes of the murders.

•           Even if a motive can be identified, it may not be helpful in

identifying a serial murderer.

•           Utilizing investigative resources to discern the motive instead of

identifying the offender can derail or bog down an investigation.

•           Investigators should not necessarily equate a serial murderer’s

motivation(s) with the level of injury.

Finally, regardless of the specific motive(s), most serial killers commit

their crimes because they want to. The exception to this would be
those few serial killers suffering from a severe mental illness for whom
no coherent motive exists.

The attendees of the 2005 FBI symposium on serial murder suggested

that broad, non-inclusive categories of motivation be utilized as
guidelines for criminal investigation. They argued that such categories
can assist law enforcement authorities in narrowing the pool of
suspects in a serial homicide case. The attendees at the symposium
identified seven general categories of motivation to be used as
guidelines for investigative purposes.

The categories are not intended to be a complete measure of serial

offenders, nor are they intended to comprise a theory of their
motivation. As concisely reported by the FBI in 2005, they are listed
below.

•           Anger is a powerful motivation in which the offender displays

rage or hostility toward either a certain subgroup of the population such
as the homeless or society as a whole.

•           Criminal enterprise is a motivation in which the offender

benefits in status or monetary reward by committing murder that is
drug, gang or organized crime related. For example, murder may be
perpetrated by a drug gang in order to eliminate its competition.

•           Financial gain is a motivation in which the offender benefits

monetarily from killing that is not drug, gang or organized crime
related. A few examples of these types of crimes are comfort/gain
killings, robbery homicide or multiple killings involving insurance or
welfare fraud.

•           Ideology is a motivation to commit murder in order to further

the goals and ideas of a specific individual or group. Examples of these
include terrorist groups or an individual(s) who attacks a specific racial,
gender or ethnic group out of sheer hatred for the group.

•           Power/thrill is a motivation in which the offender feels

empowered and/or exhilarated when he kills his victims. The act of
killing is an end in itself.

•           Psychosis is a rare situation in which the offender is suffering

from a severe mental illness and is killing specifically because of that
illness. The condition may include auditory and/or
visual hallucinations and paranoid, grandiose or bizarre delusions.

•           Sexually-based is a motivation driven by the sexual needs or

desires of the offender.  There may or may not be evidence of sexual
contact present at the crime scene.

It is important to remember that regardless of the specific motive(s),

serial killers are compelled to commit murder—that is, they do it
because they want to and need to.

Dr. Scott Bonn is a criminologist, professor, and media expert. Follow

him @DocBonn on Twitter and visit his website at docbonn.com  
References

1)      Morton, R.J. 2005. Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for

Investigators. National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Department of Justice.