SERIAL

KILLER?
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) defines
serial killing as "a series of
two or more murders,
committed as separate
events, usually, but not
always, by one offender acting
 HISTORY
• Historical criminologists have
suggested that there may have been
serial murders throughout history, but
specific cases were not adequately
recorded.
• The unidentified killer Jack the Ripper,
who has been called the first modern
serial killer, killed at least five women,
and possibly more, in London in 1888.
 CHARACT
ERISTICS
• varying degrees of mental illness or
psychopathy, which may contribute
to their homicidal behaviour.
• abused: emotionally, physically, or
sexually by a family member.
• They were frequently bullied or
socially isolated as children or
adolescents.
• average or low-average IQ,
 •
MOTIVES
Sexual: murder motivated by sex. This
included any type of sexual interaction, no
matter how subtle or diverse. Since the basis
for sexual interest varied according to the
fantasies of the offenders, sexual penetration
was not necessary for inclusion in the
category.
• Anger: was defined as a motivation in which
an offender killed victims based on personal
pentup hostility which was projected towards
a person or group represented by the victim.
Included within this category were also cases
where the offender was jealous or seeking
revenge
• Mental illness: although not technically
a motivation, this “motive” was
utilized as a category to cover the
cases in which an offender appeared to
demonstrate symptoms of various
psychiatric maladies.
In turn, those symptoms were a
significantly contributing factor for the
murders. There were some cases in
which offenders were clinically diagnosed
by mental health professionals.
• Profit: was defined as the killing of
victims in order for the offender to profit
financially from the death of the victims
 S
Bed-Wetting – enuresis
When the bed-wetting problem persists
into puberty, however, it may well be a
sign of significant and even dangerous
emotional disturbance.
According to the findings of the FBI’s
Behavioral Science Unit, fully 60 percent
of sex-murderers were still suffering from
this condition as adolescents-like the
African-American serial killer Alton
Coleman, who wet his pants so often that
he was saddled with the taunting
 Fire-Starting – pyromania
Given their lust for destruction, it’s no
surprise that, among their other twisted
pleasures, many serial killers love to set
fires, a practice they often begin at an
early age. Some of the most notorious
serial killers of modern times were
juvenile arsonists. Ottis Toole, for
example-Henry Lee Lucas’s loathsome
accomplice-began torching vacant
houses when he was six years old. 
 Animal Torture – precocious
sadism
According to the FBI, animal
abuse is highly correlated with
interpersonal, human-to-human
violence. Serial killers often
torture or kill small animals
from an early age, and men who
commit child abuse or domestic
violence very frequently harm
household pets as well.
 T
Analysis begins with the crime scene, as
the interaction between the offender and
the victim can highlight a number of
factors:
• The approach to the victim
• The nature of the physical interaction
• The nature of the sexual interaction (if
any) • Choice of weapon or weapons
• The manner of death
• Method of body disposal
All these factors can also help determine
 LINKAGE
FACTORS
Case linkage of different murders
is central to identifying a serial
killer. It is paramount to identify
the first murder or attempted
murder in a series. Similar to
other human behavior, the first
time an event is performed, the
greater the chances for mistakes
to be made.
• Consistent Method of Operation
• Similar choices of victims
• Common approaches to victims
• Similar physical and/or sexual
interactions
• Use of similar weapons
• Similar causes of death
• Forensic results
• Geographic locations of
murders
 AUTO
• Multiple murders

SHAN
between 1987 and
1988.

KAR
• Abducted and
murdered 9
teenage girls from
Thiruvanmiyur

• He liked to burn
bodies and dispose
them in the sea.

• Police were able to

recover a total of 5
Cyanide Mallika
• KD Kempamma, India's first female
serial killer

• Mallika’s victims: vulnerable

women, childless or facing marital
problems

• Convicted in six murder cases;

Raman Raghav
•  Killed over 40 Mumbai residents
between 1966 and 1968 by bashing in
their heads with an iron rod.

• Diagnosed with schizophrenia.

• Sentenced to death by the Bombay

High Court, but commuted to life after