Serial Killers Ability To Kill

The biggest question swirling around psychoanalysis is if the killer’s ability to kill is from a lack of empathy or an excess of testosterone or egoism. How could one kill an innocent being with no regard to the effect and consequences? Although many have asked this very question in interviews with notorious serial killers, the motive, or reasoning behind the action, has never been understandable. As Dr. Salvatore Costa, Ph.D. in Psychology, states in his published notes: “The strange thing is serial killers are not raving lunatics with voices commanding them to kill. They enjoy killing” (Costa 16). It is true that some serial killers enjoy the thrill and scandal of hunting down a victim and finishing what they feel is their mission. However,

Because psychopaths are the most deceptive form of human being and are adept pathological liars, they use it to their advantage in manipulating juries and judges. Sean Spence wrote in a published academic journal about the true emotional response from a serial killer: “the amygdala also initiates the "fight or flight" response that we experience as a raised heart rate and sweating palms. And, likewise, calculating killers do not react when exposed to situations that would distress most people. What they seem to lack is empathy” (Spence 38). If all other plans fail, serial killers are not above playing the remorse card in a theatrical show of spontaneity on the stand. Dr. Salvatore Costa, Ph.D. described a general psychopath to be a “blatant pathological liar and a manipulator. His hedonistic ways are often hostile when prevented from being fulfilled” (Costa 42). Therefore, when something, or someone, is preventing a psychopath from completing their task, they often become violent, which can stem into a murderous