What Makes A Serial Killer
so, because i am starting this new blog on serial killers, i figured what better way to start than with what a serial killer even is anyways.
Se•ri•al Kill•er
noun
a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern.
“police have arrested a suspect they believe is a notorious serial killer who terrorized Wichita in the 1970s”
this is the given definition by google and is a very widely accepted definition. although, it is not the only definition ever to be given. in 1998, the first and only federal law to define a serial murderer was passed. the law, entitled Protection of Children from Sexual Predator Act of 1998 (Title 18, United States Code, Chapter 51, and Section 1111), gave the following definition.
"The term ‘serial killings’ means a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors."
the definition in its main purpose was to dictate the required characteristics of a case to possess in order for the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) to invite themselves onto the investigation. a Serial Murder Symposium was held to discuss the pros and cons of this definition and, in the end, decided to come up with a simple yet broad term of their own, to be used as a descriptor by law enforcement.
the factors they considered in the making of this definition were number of murders as well as the killers motivation, though the latter was left out of the definition in fear of making it too complex.
according to fbi.gov, a list of qualifications was decided upon alongside the definition at this symposium. they were
• one or more offenders
• two or more murdered victims
• incidents should be occurring in separate events, at different times
• the time period between murders separates serial murder from mass murder
the groups at the symposium discussed in depth the difference between a serial and spree killer but in the end, the decided the “cooling off period” which differentiated them was too arbitrary. in the end, most agreed that a unique category of spree murderer held no real use to law enforcement and should not be used.
the definition was decided upon to be this:
Serial Murder: The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.
Although many scholars and law enforcers believe that there is more to it than that. for example, many add “with no apparent motivation” to the rest of the qualifiers in the above definition.
people may widely disagree on a definition but most people (im looking at you, hybristophiles) agree serial murderers to be disgusting, low-life, scum. maybe it is our inability to understand on a deep level how someone could kill with such apathy that we have a hard time defining those who do commit such atrocities.
dededos
areudirty
vaporwave
romaincrisis
titsay
germansingergirl
snowghoul
blakekathryn
