10 Most Common Traits of Serial Killers
70% of serial killers have reported experiencing some sort of severe head injury during their childhood or adolescence. Damage to the limbic brain, hypothalamus, or temporal lobe can cause unexpected bouts of violence and aggression. Some serial killers who received head trauma are Richard Ramirez, Bobbie Joe Long, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer.
99% of serial killers have admitted that they started by playing out their violent fantasies on animals, most commonly cats, before growing bolder and performing the same acts on human beings.
3. Developing voyeurism and fetishism
From an early age, many serial killers have had an intense fascination with fetishism and voyeurism as well as other paraphilias. Many start off as harmless peeping toms before moving on to more relatively vile acts like house-breaking, rape, and murder.
Many serial killers admitted to distancing themselves from social events, like parties, preferring to bask in their own company. They never formed intimate and romantic relationships as other teenagers do, instead resorted to masturbation and other auto-erotic activities such as pornography as a source of self-sexual pleasure.
Serial killers like to fantasize about control and violation of another human being. During research, it was found that serial killers couldn’t remember any positive fantasies they had as children. A number of them had fantasies about mutilating themselves or their own genitals.
About 60% of serial killers admitted to wetting their bed beyond the age of 12. Usually their parents would tease and belittle them for their uncontrollable habit, which would cause the child to act out against animals or use arson to channel out their frustration. Some examples of serial killers who suffered from this problem are John Wayne Gacy and Alton Coleman (Alton was even cruelly taunted with the nickname ‘’Pissy’’.)
7. Stressful sexual events
Accessible research shows that violent sexual events during one’s childhood could really take a toll on their mental health. More than one serial killer was forced to wear girl’s clothing as a form of punishment. Some serial killers were punished for masturbating as a child, or were sexually assaulted by a family member, which caused them to develop violent sexual fantasies that persisted into their adulthood.
50% of serial killers admitted to having experienced psychological abuse and neglect during their childhood. This could impair a child’s ability to develop vital emotions and end up devoid of any empathy for others. This also causes them to have trouble forming healthy, intimate relationships and holding down long-term jobs.
9. Substance and alcohol abuse
70% of serial killers experienced problems related to substance abuse, however, not directly; very few actually engaged in excessive alcohol and substance use, rather grew up in a home where a guardian abused alcohol.
10. Obsession with fire-starting
This ties into their lust for destruction, control, and power, a practice that they typically begin at an early age. Some of the most notorious serial killers were juvenile arsonists, like Ottis Toole, who was torching vacant houses since the age of 6.
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