Characteristics Of Serial Killer

Serial killer is a broad term to describe a large group of killers. Among this group are sadists, it is believed that sadists are the most dangerous, hard to catch, gruesome, killers that will and ever shall walk this planet, this is made possible by their occasionally inconsistent methods, motives and targets, their ability to blend in with everyday life, and in some cases their lack of any empathy toward the victim. To uncover the fearsome behaviors of sadistic killers we must define what sadism is, the definition of sadism is as follows “a sexual perversion in which gratification is obtained by the infliction of physical or mental pain on others (as on a love object)” (Sadism). Sadism doesn’t always mean killer, there are plenty of sadists

Visionary type is those who kill in response to a voice in their head, they often believe they are doing the will of a god or other deity. These people are usually diagnosed as or believed to be suffering from psychosis (DuVal). Then we have the mission-oriented type, which are those who believe it is their live work to eliminate all those of a specific group of peoples (DuVal). They may target the elderly, prostitutes, children, or those of a particular ethnicity, religion etc. (DuVal). Hedonistic serial killers are those who derive some form of pleasure from the killings, many sexual sadists fit under this category. (DuVal) Then we come to the power/control-oriented killers, these killers don’t derive sexual pleasure from the kills, instead they achieve pleasure from their ability to control and exert power over his/her helpless victim. “Some offenders enjoy watching their victims cower, cringe, and beg for mercy.”

Authorities have spent many years trying to identify specific motivations for serial killers, then to apply them to different typologies developed from classifying serial murderers (Morton). Common motives include but are not limited to anger, criminal enterprise, financial gain, ideology, power/thrill, psychosis, sexual (Morton). The motive can be difficult to determine in some cases and there can even be multiple motives for the killer. The motive can be a mental disorder such as psychopathy which is defined as “Psychopathy is a psychological condition in which the individual shows a profound lack of empathy for the feelings of others, a willingness to engage in immoral and antisocial behavior for short-term gains, and extreme egocentricity.” (Schouten Silver 18)This cannot be determined by observation and therefore can make it difficult to catch the killer at large. A serial killers motive may vary from murder to murder, or alter during the course of the killing spree. Even after the motive is discerned it still may serve of no use to the investigation.