Serial Killers

What type of people do serial killers usually kill? The serial killers find a type of person they like, or a person that will fit a certain criteria that will fulfill their fantasy, always weaker than them selves. Serial killers are people who are usually mentally insane and have totally lost their sense of reality and lost who they really are. The most famous serial killer would have to be Jack the Ripper who is known for being proven to have killed five people and perhaps more, the police never found out who the killer really was but it was suspected to be him with a limited source of evidence. He is most likely the first person someone would think of when talking about serial killing or convicted murderers. Why do serial killers kill? What type of people do they kill? Are they easy to pick out in a large crowd? These are some questions that usually come up when talking about serial killers and these are the questions that will be answered in this paper.

Why do serial killers kill? A frequently asked question when talking about serial killers. There is no one answer to this question, interviews with some of the serial killers show that they are all different.

"It was an urge.....a strong urge, and the

Longer I let it go the stronger it got, too

Where I was taking risks to go out and kill

People--risks that normally I would not

Take because they could lead to arrest."

-Edmund Kemper

This man, Edmund Kemper says that it was an urge to kill and he couldn't resist. Not too many other serial killers said that it was an urge to kill and described it the way he did. "The voices in my head told me it was time to "sing the die song."" Santa Cruz says that he heard voices in his head telling him to kill people and they made him kill people. Almost all serial killers give an excuse, and almost never give the same excuse as another serial killer. Serial killers kill because they are mentally insane, what normal person would be able to kill someone just for the pleasure of it? Any person that kills for pleasure has to be mentally insane.

What type of people do serial killers usually kill? Most people usually think that the serial killers stalk, study, and observe their ways before they kill the person they are stalking. In most cases that is not what happens, the serial killers find a type of person they like, or a person that will fit a certain criteria that will fulfill their fantasy, always weaker than them selves. “Most serial killers deliberately kept conversation brief--if they get to know the victim and saw them as a person, it would destroy their fantasy." Most victims for serial killers fit a certain criteria or stereotype which has symbolic meaning for the killer. Killers like Bundy murdered college-age women with long brown hair. Most serial killers have his own preference to what he likes and prefers. There are a few that don't have a preference like David Berkowitz, a.k.a. "Son of Sam" who did not have a particular preference.... he hated all women. “I blame them for everything. Everything that's evil that's happened in the world--somehow goes back to them." Not all serial killers have a preference or prefer a certain type of people but young women are usually the victims. Serial killers usually