Time went particularly slow in Plainfield Wisconsin. As the name suggests, nothing truly newsworthy came out of Plainfield: it was completely plain. Men would work and occasionally hunt. Women kept the households, and children went to school and blithely played outside; nothing out of the ordinary ever occurred in Plainfield. The inhabitants of this small village of less than a thousand residents did not live through the rush and stress endemic to the cities, yet something odd and evil started to cook in the village in the years preceding 1957.
Hunting season had started, and the vast majority of men spent a good deal of time out in the woods enjoying the sport; apparently nothing could disrupt the peace and ordinary in this village. However, shock came when a store clerk found his mother and truck missing upon his arrival to his store. He also found a puddle of blood and traces going back to where the truck originally parked. The traces led the police department to a middle-aged man’s tattered barn. This man, Edward Gein, did not really prove suspicious to anyone in Plainfield. He preferred solitude, and did not mingle with others much. He spent much of his time alone in his barn, and promptly contributed to the peace and quiet predominant in the village, but no one would have ever guessed what this man stored deep beneath his outer semblance. Upon entry to his unlit barn, the policemen made a gruesome discovery.
The missing woman hung from the ceiling, skinned open like an animal. The head had been cut off, and much of the body presented severe cuts that resembled a cow in a butchery (Fox & Levin 2011, pp. 3-4). Sadly, this extremely macabre event was just the first discovery in a series of terrible findings. After scrutinizin...
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Tragically, the butchered upper-torso of Winter’s once-robust body was stumbled upon by his father, who had noticed the absence of his son since Sunday, March 11 (Smith 2002, 25-26). Unsurprisingly, an investigation occurred to obtain the identity and whereabouts of the murderer. When the various pieces of the body are found in differing areas of the town, theory begins to formulate that the murder was conducted by one of the two butchers in town; Adolph Lewy, a Jew, and Gustav Hoffman, a Christian, due to the precision of the cuts made upon Winter’s body (Smith 28).
I had been in the village for all but a week when I realized there was something... wrong. There seemed to be an underlying atmosphere of fear and animosity. Of course, with my wide-eyed, innocent thinking at the time, I assumed the presence of Satan had damaged the townspeople 's trust of one another. Again, I blissfully accepted this, and I was wrong.
After the death of his brother Edward Gein lived alone with his mother until her death after suffering from numerous strokes. Her death devastated him she was his only friend and companion. Even after a lifetime of mental and physical abuse he loved her I believe he developed a Dependent Personality Disorder with his mother because he never separated from her. Once considered maybe a little odd not Gein started to show multiple escalated behaviors that were and still to this day are considered some of the most abnormal ever witnessed.
It is nine in the morning, Professor Chagnon informs me of the information and data we hope to collect today, the three main forms of violence that accrue in and out side of each village, “chest pounding, side slapping and club fights” (Chagnon, 118) Professor Chagnon instructs me to follow him with the camera and film equipment. The Professor stops as he watch’s two men pounding each others chests, I begin preparing my camera to talk a photo when a friend of Professor Chagnon come’s over to say hello Professor Chagnon greets his friend an introduces me, Professor Chagnon as his friends what ...
Bowers, W, Pierce, G., and McDevitt, J.(1984), Legal Homicide: Death as Punishment in America, 1964-1982, 333
On November 17, 1957 police arrived to the house of Ed Gein, they had suspected him of robbing the local hardware because he was found loitering around the store and being the last person seen at the store. When the police entered the house they found chairs, couches, lampshades, bowl made from a skull, a belt of female nipples and a costume made from human skin.
Simon, Robert I. "Serial Killers, Evil, And Us." National Forum 80.4 (2000): 23. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior exhibited by individuals with psychopathy is that it is mostly instrumental in nature. They are extremely goal-oriented with interests in acquiring wealth, sexual opportunities and increased status.
Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. What gives people these urges to kill? What motivates them to keep killing? Do these killers get satisfaction from killing? Is there a difference between mass murderers and serial killers or are they the same. How do they choose their victims and what are some of their characteristics? These questions and many more are reasons why I was eager to write my paper on mass murderers and serial killers. However, the most interesting and sought after questions are the ones that have always been controversial. One example is; what goes on inside the mind of a killer? In this paper I will try to develop a better understanding of these driven killers and their motives.
The town of Halifax in West Yorkshire had never experienced such a manhunt in it’s history (Glover 3). During a short, but long lasting in feeling, time period in late November through early December in the year 1938, the town of Halifax underwent a period of mass hysteria. A mysterious “slasher” hid in the shadows and lunged out with a razor blade at people who passed by (Halifax Slasher).
Keeney, Belea T. and Kathleen M. Heide. 1995. “Serial Murder: A More Accurate and Inclusive
Schechter, H. and Everitt, D. The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Pocket Books. N.Y. 1996
Goldman, Stuart. "Murder As Therapy." National Review 45.23 (1993): 44. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 14
These numerous multiple murders, often without consequence and justice, have shocked civilized society with incomprehensible acts of inhumanity. Horrific amounts of body counts and volumes of spilt blood accompany the discovery of each new serial killer. The indescribable events associated with each murder leave such unanswered questions as: what deviations lurk in the mind of a serial killer, what provokes an individual to commit such hideous acts, and what can be done to reduce these inconceivable murders?
---- World Book Online Americas Edition. Ed. Franklin E. Zimring. Capital Punishment. 17 Apr 2002 14 Apr 2002.