Last week in my blog, I talked about how serial killer characteristics can start to emerge as early as two years old. Wow, that’s a crazy thought. This week in my blog post, I will talk about the four types of serial killers; Hedonistic, mission-oriented, visionary, and power serial killers and control killers. “Warning some disturbing facts.”
Hedonistic or thrill killers are like the label suggests in it for fun or the rush they get when they kill. Often engage in rape, sex being the biggest motivation. Some of the more well-known examples of hedonistic or thrill killer included Jeffery Dahmer. Jeffery, aka “The Milwaukee Monster stalked bus stops, malls and gay bars seeking out his targets. His target was black, gay men. He ended up killing 17 of these individuals before he was caught and taken into custody. After leaving in his victim by drugging them, he would then commit acts of necrophilia (sexual intercourse with or attraction towards corpses). His thought behind this was that he was trying to turn them into a zombie by giving them a “chemical lobotomy.” And if you do not know what that is, it is a procedure where you drill a hole into someone’s head in this care his victims, and he would take it a step further and pour acid into, hoping he would reach his end goal of them being zombies.
- 'serial killer' (Lefebvre, 2005). Holmes and Holmes (2010) defined a serial killer as an individual killing three or more people, while Dyer (1997) emphasized the serial nature of the killings: 'Serial killers kill serially: one murder after another, each a variation and continuation of those before, each an episode in a serial' (p.
- Experts divide serial killers into different types. One of these types is the “visionary serial killer”. These are the ones who claim to hear voices in their heads – from ghosts, from Satan, from God. There can be some debate on the nature of these voices.
- Experts divide serial killers into different types. One of these types is the “visionary serial killer”. These are the ones who claim to hear voices in their heads – from ghosts, from Satan, from God. There can be some debate on the nature of these voices.
- Visionary: Visionary serial killers often report hearing voices that tell them to kill, but don’t seem to have a mental illness that would be associated with hearing voices. David Berkowitz aka The Son of Sam aka the.44 Caliber Killer, proclaimed to hear demonic voices that told him to kill.
The second type of serial killer is the visionary serial killer. In comparison, quite similar to the hedonistic or thrill killers mentioned above lay in one single difference. Those who fit this type of serial killing are generally psychotic or schizophrenic, so there is something neurologically wrong with the brain. Vision or hallucinations motivate them to kill random victims, commonly coming from God or the devil. You may have heard of Vince Li, a schizophrenia killer who believed he was being called to behead a fellow passenger on the bus as a higher calling from Jesus. This happened on July 30, 2008, near Portage la Prairie Manitoba. These individuals often time in a trial are found not criminally responsible because of insanity.
Visionary - Visionary serial killers suffer from psychotic breaks with reality, sometimes believing they are another person or are compelled to murder by entities such as the Devil or God. The two most common subgroups are “demon mandated” and “God mandated.” Example: David Berkowitz ‘Son of Sam’.
The third type of serial killer is power and control killers. These individuals are motivated by power and control. They thrive on the feeling of domination of their victims. These killings often take a considerable amount of time and have sexual components as well. Other characteristics of these serial killers are that they are highly organized, preventing them from being easily caught. They are often deemed charming and intelligent by those closest to them, sometimes even giving these people trophies from their victims. One example of this type of killer is John Wayne Gacy, who told his family the reason for the smell in their home was moisture. In actuality, it was the smell of 29 out of 33 of his victims buried within their home and property. The others were found in the nearby Des Plains River.
The fourth and final type of serial killer I am going to address is mission-oriented killers. These killers are motivated by the desire to eliminate a specific kind of person to make the world a better place. Not often psychotic, these killers are well organized and quite to jump on the prey they find undesirable. For example, the commonly known serial killer nicknamed Jack the Ripper was convicted he was doing the world right by targeting and getting rid of sex workers. By killing certain groups of people, they believe they cleanse them of whatever the “bad” is about them.
Overall serial killers fascinate me. I love to learn how they think and act. It is a fascinating topic, and I have enjoyed the last two weeks delving deeper into this content. I hope you enjoyed it as well. Thanks.
