Types of Killers
Types of Murder
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Killers
There are many types of killers and whether we wish to consciously admit it or not they have been among us since the dawn of time. Arguably they are more prevalent today then they were fifty or a hundred years ago. But the killers who are caught do not even begin to encapsulate the actually number of killers who get away with it each and everyday. I have seen CSI also and I can tell you that the police don't get their killer every week. Killers don't get caught very often.
The ones that do are the ones who most frequently have a close connection to the victim. There is an entire science of victimology which is very fascinating. And there is a belief that only people who are victims can really only be taken by murder. And the murder has to perceive its prey as a victim. That can be anything from short in stature to being weak. It is all in the perception of the killer.
There are three types of killers which I will define in this article. The Mass Murder, the Spree Killer and then finally the Serial Killer. I will avoid providing profiles not because by definition of the way these individuals kill they have already established their own profile.
The first is a the Mass Murder. One thinks of the Postal Worker quite literally going postal. Or the children at Columbine. This is when a murder or murders kill many individuals in one place at one time. The end result is their own suicide or death. From a criminal justice perspective terrorism is very much mass murder. It is the least sophisticated type of murder of the types being reviewed in this article.
Second is the Spree Killer. The Spree Killer kills one or two people and then moves on to another location. And then kills again. This continues until the killer is caught in the spree. Spree killers are difficult to catch because they are literally on the move and they are exceptionally difficult to profile. A Spree killer escalates until he finally burns out or is caught. So the number of kills a spree killer makes keeps increasing in shorter intervals in time.
Third is the Serial Killer. And this is the most difficult killer to catch. They have an internal perception of who they believe are their choosen victims. They have cooling off periods which means they can kill and take a break for several years. Their killing is almost always sexually motivated. It is believed that all serial killers suffer from sexual dysfunction. They are high intelligent although I must admit I have known some who didn't seem very bright. I believe they would have fallen more into the spree category but were found guilty of serial crime.
In Conclusion
All three types of killers exist in our society today. They go largely undetected and not noticed as killers but in the case of serial killers can have quite high profiles although that is not always common. Each killer has triggers that bring them to their crimes. And these are individuals who show signs of being criminal as juveniles but it is assumed they will out grow it on their own. Our criminal justice system needs to focus on addressing criminal behavior in children early and providing appropriate interventions to stay off the epidemic of killers growing amongst us.
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