Serial Killer Essays

Serial Killers. Does the definition of a serial murderer only encompass one who commits the act or is the definition able to be enlarged to include one who leads others to commit murder? A jury in 1971 decided that, yes a person can lead others to commit heinous murders and be labeled a serial killer. […]

The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California for ten months in the late 1960s. He coined his name in a series of taunting letters he sent to the press until 1974. His letters included four cryptograms or ciphers, three of which have yet to be solved. The Zodiac murdered five […]

Introduction This paper presents a case analysis of Richard Ramirez, the serial killer of the 1980s better known as “The Night Stalker”. Using the qualitative method and content analysis, the findings reveal that the law enforcement procedures were minimal because of the technology available during that time and the prosecution was sufficient because of the […]

“One must feel sorry for those who have strange tastes, but never insult them. Their wrong is Nature’s too; they are no more responsible for having come into the world with tendencies unlike ours than are we for being born bandy-legged or well-proportioned”. Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), “Dialogue the Fifth” (1795). If who we are […]

Offender profiling is a technique that involves analyzing the nature of a crime and how it was committed to identify the person responsible. The criminal’s behavioral traits before, during, and after the offense are evaluated to determine various aspects of their personality. This information is then combined with relevant physical evidence and compared with known […]

Each year, thousands of people are given a second chance of life thanks to the gift from another human donor. With great reward comes the ethical dilemma associated with this procedure. In the movie Blood Work, main character Terry McCaleb is given a heart from a murder victim and is faced with ethical decision regarding […]

The search for the truth behind murder begins with the killer’s intent. The study of motivation is important, as understanding thought patterns in murderers may help make sense of a seemingly motiveless murder. Outline the evidence relating to motivational factors involved in murder. Discuss the above with particular reference to a specific type of murder, […]

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson The Devil in the White City recounts an unforgettable story set during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Erik Larson masterfully organizes the book, transitioning smoothly between events and scenes and introducing characters with diverse behaviors and motives. The author merges two plot lines and tackles unresolved […]

On that day, the air in the Los Angeles area was oppressively humid. As evening came and the temperature slightly dropped, Jennie decided to leave her window open in hopes of welcoming a refreshing breeze into her flat. Unexpectedly, a dark and furious fallen angel entered through the same open window, resembling a decayed leaf […]

Criminal profiling is defined by Kocsis and Palermo “as a technique whereby the probable characteristics of a criminal offender or offenders are predicted based on the behavior exhibited in the commission of a crime” (1). Commonly, it has been attached to the idea that it is a set of leads and a biological picture that […]

It is within human nature to feel as though one can label a person as good or bad without fully knowing that person. Serial killers are a type of species presumed to be inherently evil and more flawed then the devil himself. This definition of serial killers is widely accepted among different nations because as […]

During the 18th century serial murders were unheard of. The Whitechapel ripper was one of the first known serial killers in the whole. Communication was so basic in those times but news of Jack The Ripper spread world-wide. The fact that the police never caught the murderer further caused the media to panic and hype […]

In October 1894, the discovery of a murder in Philadelphia unveiled a case that was difficult for many to believe. Marion Hedgepeth, who was once in the same cell as H. M. Howard, alerted the authorities to a scam. The scam consisted of insuring a man named Benjamin Pitezel for $10,000 with the Fidelity Mutual […]

Paper Thesis: Serial killers are made, not born. Essay Thesis: Most serial killers have a history of abuse. A young, Joyful little child has lived a happy life, until one day his parent’s started abusing him. The child gets beaten every time he does something wrong, but he doesn’t tell anyone for years. He finally […]

Gary Heidnik is a Serial Killer who kidnapped, repeatedly raped and tortured six young black women and kept them as prisoners in his basement for months in 1986 at 3520 North Marshall Street in ‘North Philadelphia’. His home will forever be tainted with horrible memories, and his four victims will forever be haunted by their […]

“If you were to ask a psychopath to describe love, they would provide an elaborate explanation, despite never having experienced it themselves. Furthermore, if you were to catch them lying, they would seamlessly transition and continue as if nothing had occurred.” (Goleman) According to Nordheimer, Ted Bundy is regarded as one of the most renowned […]

Behavioral science is all about better understanding criminals and terrorists—who they are, how they think, why they do what they do—as a means to help solve crimes and prevent attacks. The art of what is sometimes called “profiling”—popularized in movies like Silence of the Lambs—was developed by FBI behavioral analysts and has been around for […]

Despite the criminal homicide rate in the United States reaching its lowest point in forty years, with 6.3 incidents per 100,000 people recorded in 1998 (Bureau of Justice Statistics), the media and entertainment sectors persistently depict homicide as a prevalent issue. For the past three decades, there has been significant fascination with serial murder – […]

Ted Bundy’s Trail of Terror From the Beginning of Taking Life Until The End of His Serial killers tend to be white heterosexual males in their twenties and thirties. While it is impossible to predict who will become a serial killer there are traits that appear to be similar in all killers. These behaviors include […]

Introduction The question of whether criminals should be given the death penalty is a highly debated topic. Capital punishment, which includes methods like hanging, the electric chair, lethal injection, or firing squad, refers to when a court decides to impose death upon a criminal. Personally, I strongly believe that it is unjustifiable to subject any […]