Have you ever wondered why some people love art and music, and some love science and math? These individuals love math or art because they get a sense of relaxation and excitement from these activities. Serial killers are the same way they love to kill people and have lots of different motives for why they kill them. A serial killer is a person who kills repeatedly. The one motive that drove Dennis Rader, to kill his victims was to gain power and control over them. In order to identify serial killers before they kill repeatedly, a person needs to study the characteristics that makes up this type of criminals. Most serial killers have been abandoned, by one or both parents, they are emotionally, physically, and even sexually abused by a family member, or relatives from unstable families who have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories, or tend to have hate for their parents and people in general which makes them have antisocial personality disorder. They have conflicted pain or tortured animals at a young age and most are highly interested in gaining control over things. Even though not every serial killers posses these characteristics, but most share these characteristics the same way they share the psychological need to have complete control and power over people. Dennis Rader was one normal avaergae citizen untill he shocked the public to when he was caught as a serial kiiler who caused tragedy in their town. A article stated “either in his genes or in his childhood or perhaps a grim combination of both created a hole in the spot most of us call a soul”(Klepper). Dennis rader was the oldest of four sons. He grew In Wichita Kansas. As a child dennis was known to kill and hang stray cats.( article 3) Peopl... ... middle of paper ... ...05, Mar 06). Suspect in 10 kansas murders lived an intensely ordinary life. New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/433020415?accountid=10244 O'Driscoll, P. (2005, Jun 28). 'BTK' calmly gives horrific details ; serial killer who stalked wichita enters guilty plea. USA TODAY. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/408976968?accountid=10244 Help prevent children from growing up into monsters. (2006, Jan 23). Redlands Daily Facts. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/379956373?accountid=10244 Megan, K., & Courant, S. W. (2005, Mar 10). THE KILLERS (AND LIARS) IN OUR MIDST ; HOW DOES A SERIAL MURDERER LIVE UNDETECTED AMONG `NORMAL PEOPLE'? BY BEING A SOCIOPATH -- A PERSON WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE, WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO LOVE. Hartford Courant. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/256830354?accountid=10244
Dennis Lynn Rader also known as the “BTK” killer; Blind, Torture, Kill. He is an American serial killer that murdered ten people in Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA in the year 1974 to 1991. Rader was born on March 9, 1945 in a place near Kansas, USA, and the oldest of four children. Rader grew up in Wichita, Kansas with an average family. His father was a former US Marine who then later worked for an electric company. He went to Riverview Elementary School. In an early age, Rader admitted that he have had developed sexual pleasures from killing. When Rader was a child, reports from Los Angeles Times stated that he used to do hanging of stray cats. Dennis Rader got married to her wife Paula in 1971 and had two kids. On January 15 of 1974, Rader committed his first murder; killing four members of the Ortero family in their own home which he says that these are his “projects”. After murdering and slaying numerous people, Rader would steal items as his reward or his souvenir. He also would leave semen at the scene due to having sexual pleasure from killing. The fifteen year old son of Joseph and Julie Ortero, Charlie, came home that day and shockingly discovered the bodies of his family. After a couple of months, in April 4, the next victim was Kathryn Bright. Rader murdered Kathryn by stabbing and strangling her. He also had tried killing her brother Kevin. Kevin was shot twice but survived the incident.
Scott, S. L. “What Makes Serial Killers Tick?”. Crime Library. Retrieved April 3, 2014, http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/tick/victims_1.html
The most obvious perspective is the perspective of a serial killer as a psychopath. Serial killers often kill due to things they themselves cannot acquire. Fourteen percent of serial killings are caused from greed. Most cases are for wants of life insurance or fortune from relatives and wealthy citizens (Newton 17). Killers will begin to first kill for money off relatives. When they receive the “rush” they obtain from taking a human life they intend to continue on. The first kill is out of greed and jealousy, but the rest of the killings are out of a rush. In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, he talks about the people on death row and their reasons. Two of those men were Ronnie York and James Latham. They went on a killing spree because of one opinion- “the world was hateful, and everybody in it would be better off dead” (Capote 322-323). Killers like these two men are great examples of psychopaths. They have a poor motive to kill and their brains clearly aren’t working properly. Most people experience depression and self-hatred at points in their life, but most don’t deal with their problems by killing innocent people on a pointless motive. Revenge is another motive that serial killers use to gain a rush. One percent of all serial killings are inspired by revenge. Most consist when losing jobs or relationships (Newton 17). Everyone will experience lows in their lives and deal with them in different ways. Serial killers are just psychopaths because they deal with these problems very poorly. When losing a partner or spouse, killing them is not the answer, but serial killers think this is the only way to even out. They harvest this feeling of taking a human life and begin to go on a rampage and continue this horrible addiction. While many think serial killers are just evil or insane psychopaths, people sometimes rarely believe they are adults with mental
2011. “Serial Killers and Mass Murderers.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9:
Vronsky, P. (2004). Serial killers : the method and madness of monsters. New York, NY:
Dennis L. Rader was born on March 9, 1945, in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was the first of four sons born to William and Dorothea Rader. His father was a member of the US Marine Corps. The family moved to Wichita, Kansas, when Dennis was a young boy. The Rader’s settled into a modest but pleasant home at 4815 N. Seneca, Wichita, Kansas (Blanco, 2014).
According to Psychological Inquiry, “Strong evidence suggests that people who have become serial killers have typically suffered from sever over control, humiliation, neglect, or all of these from the individuals who should have cared for them at an early age”.
Serial killers have different things that drive them to kill. Some kill specific groups of people out of hatred, others kill because they are psychotic and derive pleasure from killing. And then there are those who
Thomas, Michael. "Psychopaths, And How Not To Become A Serial Killer." Exposing The Truth. Exposing The Truth, 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 May 2014.
They are all motivated to for different reasons; some kill to gain or exert power over the victims, entertainment or mission. Some kill because they believe they have the responsibility to society to do so (Julietta Leung N.D.) Frequently, homosexuals, prostitutes, and the homeless are viewed by serial killers because they might believe they are devalued in society or they view as being beneath humanity. They believe those kinds of people are easy targets based on the belief that no one would notice if they went missing.... ...
Serial killers are usually young, white males who are quite intelligent and often come from broken homes. They may have been abused either physically or sexually during childhood and they have serious personality defects, such as low self-esteem and a lifelong sense of loneliness. Although no two serial killers are alike, they all fit this description somewhat. In the sixth edition of Crime and Criminality by Sue Titus Reid, a serial killer is defined as a person who commits more than one murder but at different times (Reid, p. 134).
There are many motivations involved in serial killings such as the fear of rejection, power, and perfection. Most serial killer tend to be intensely afraid of rejection and are very insecure. They try not to cultivate a relationship with their intended victim so as to avoid the possibility of being abandoned, humiliated, or exposed. There are many serial killers who engage in intercourse - the ultimate form of intimacy - with their victims, and many times also with the corpse. In doing this there is no risk of rejection. Serial killers also find satisfaction in prolonging the suffering of their victims, giving them the feeling of power over the victim. In doing this the get to decide if and how the victim will either live or die.
Johnson, Jason B. “ Slain Teen’s family: Cops eyeing 7-10 suspects.” Boston Herald. 7 ,April 1995
The FBI defines a serial killer has someone who has killed a minimum of three people with a cooling off period in-between each of the killings. What would drive someone to kill three or more people? A lot of it has to with their childhood, but there is not really a definitive answer. With that being said doctors, investigators, and others agree that serial killers are made because of their childhood. It stems from the unconscious mind, which is able to control behavior. Most serial killers had an abusive childhood that showed the child that they have no other value other than being a sex object or someone to hurt. This fear will build up the child’s mind and they start to fantasize about being all powerful and controlling. They aren’t shown how to love or care for others making them be a sociopath because they lack the ability to empathize.
Motives of serial killers can vary greatly by murderer. "The motives of serial killers are commonly placed into four categories: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic and power or control; however, the motives of any given killer may display considerable overlap among these categories" (Coulthard, 2011 para. 5). Hedonistic killers typically fall into a few subgroups according to their motivations. It can be difficult to determine a specific motivation since serial killers can fall into more than one classifications.