ARE SERIAL KILLERS BORN PSYCHOPATHS OR PUSHED TO THAT LIMIT?

AUTHOR – G. LOGA ABIVARDHINI, Student at PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY, BENGALURU

Best Citation – G. LOGA ABIVARDHINI, ARE SERIAL KILLERS BORN PSYCHOPATHS OR PUSHED TO THAT LIMIT?, ILE Journal of Equity and Justice, 1 (1) of 2023, Pg. 113-121, ISBN – 978-81-961791-3-7.

Abstract

Serial killers are individuals who have committed three or more murders over a period of time, usually with a cooling-off period in between each murder. They often have a psychological need or compulsion to kill, and their victims are usually chosen randomly or based on certain characteristics that the killer finds appealing or desirable. Serial killers often have a specific modus operandi, or method of operation, that they use to carry out their crimes, which can help law enforcement identify them and track their movements. The study of serial killers is a complex field that involves understanding the psychological, social, and environmental factors that contribute to their behaviour. Television shows like The Fall, movies like The Perfume, and songs like The Ripper by Judas Priest, provide evidence of a widespread fascination with serial killers. Serial killers have operated throughout history and around the world. Even though the majority of the people do not kill, the general public seems to have a fascination with serial killing (Miller, 2014). Newton (2006) identified Locusta, a professional killer from Rome, best known for poisoning Emperor Claudius, his son Britannicus, and 6 other unnamed victims in the first century CE, as the fust documented serial killer. Newton also described the case of Gilles de Rais, a leader in the French army, a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc, and a confessed serial killer, best IQ1own for killing a large number of victims (100 children) in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the United States, documented serial murder cases date back to the 1800s (Wright & Hensley, 2003). One of America’s first and most famous serial killers was H. H. Holmes. Reports confirm that he killed at least 12 people including men, women and children during the 1800s, although he claimed to have killed 27 (see Benzkofer, 2014; Cipriani, 1937; Larson, 2003). Hickey (1997) recorded 337 serial murder cases in the United States from 1800 to 1995, the majority occurring between 1980 and 1995. A more recent example of an accused serial killer is that of William Devin Howell, who confessed to ki1ling seven people in Connecticut in 2003 (Stewart, Murray, Moller & Jvittalfoxct, 2015).