Serial Killers: Q&A...

Larry Gray said:How do you not remember the movie Monster from 2003? It stars Charlize Theron as a female serial killer and she actually won an Oscar for Best Actress for it -link

It’s a damn interesting movie, if I do say so myself, though the whole backstory regarding Aileen is just heartbreaking. We all know there are plenty of lowlifes out there who would mistreat a sex worker without a second thought, simply because nobody cares enough to look out for her or even bother to listen to her side of the story... It really is such a profound injustice.

Karen Booth3 said:It’s a damn interesting movie, if I do say so myself, though the whole backstory regarding Aileen is just heartbreaking. We all know there are plenty of lowlifes out there who would mistreat a sex worker without a second thought, simply because nobody cares enough to look out for her or even bother to listen to her side of the story... It really is such a profound injustice.

... and to me, she comes across more as a victim in the film... which is exactly how Theron herself described her...

shadowowl9 said:Serial killers are typically men carrying around heavy childhood trauma—most were abused or abandoned by their parents (or victimized by others).
A surge of male hormones during puberty, combined with a fractured psyche, fuels an intense aggression and a thirst for vengeance. They develop a "mother complex"—it could be the father too, though that's less common—where they project their issues onto any woman who fits a certain mold, often targeting sex workers.
Women generally lack that specific hormonal "aggression" drive, so they don't embark on these types of retaliatory crusades. That doesn't mean they don't harbor just as much hatred for certain individuals as men do. But even among women, there are exceptions to the rule, which ultimately proves it: occasionally, they become serial killers too.

That's exactly right. Female aggression in "serial killer" cases is usually subtle and hidden, much like their preferred method of poisoning. While some women might show explicit aggression due to genetics or psycho-sexual hormones, those examples are far less common...
A few thoughts on atypical female aggression

http://209.85.135.132/search?q=cache...&ct=clnk&gl=us

silentpilot6 said:A while back, after watching a movie about Ted Bundy (one of the worst serial killers in history), I did a bit of digging into the subject.
Now, it’s been quite some time and much of it has faded from my mind, but...

Yes, as you have noted, the vast majority of serial killers are men... and they generally kill out of "passion" 😵 and/or a desire for power... whereas women most often kill for material gain.

Furthermore, most come from dysfunctional families... whether it's a dominant, possessive mother and a weak father (or no father at all), sometimes the situation is reversed, or perhaps the parents struggle with alcoholism, leaving the child neglected or often cruelly punished... there was even one case where a mother forced her son to act like a girl, even sending him to school in women's clothing...
It also happens that they come from strict households of religious fanatics, raised to believe that sex is something evil, dirty, or low... that women should be avoided, blah, blah, blah...
It is interesting that a large majority of serial killers were under heavy maternal influence...

Additionally, they are characterized (though one cannot generalize, it is true for most) by emotional coldness, a total lack of empathy, and egocentrism... they are mostly socially isolated, lacking friends, possessing poor social skills, and having little to no success with the opposite sex... or, to put it simply 😁—they are oddballs.
Most began by torturing and killing animals during adolescence.

Moreover, and this is almost a rule, they collect either body parts of their victims, their clothing, or they record their deeds... they say this is done to "reminisce" 😵 and relive the crimes. Cases of cannibalism are not uncommon either.
Similarly, the murders almost always become increasingly frequent... the tempo accelerates.

The victims are most often people whose disappearance won't be noticed quickly, or who aren't being heavily searched for... prostitutes, the homeless, or various people living on the fringes of society... though that isn't always the case.
Victims often share connections... whether through status or other similar characteristics. Often the victims are of the same gender, but even that isn't a rule. Certain serial killers target both men and women.
Take Ted Bundy, for example... he primarily killed young boys, but he also killed girls...

Furthermore, many serial killers have a high IQ, though there have certainly been some "low-functioning" ones as well...

Anyway, that is basically what stuck with me 😁; if you want to dig deeper online, there really is a massive amount of literature on the topic...

I have always been intrigued by why people—and psychiatrists in movies, anyway—link serial killers to psychopaths. Psychopaths, by definition, lack emotional experiences. Yet, serial killers take trophies specifically to more intensely recall their own and their victims' emotions and sensations... over and over again. This seems to contradict psychopathic coldness and the inability to feel emotion. I would truly love for someone to clarify this for me.

It seems to me that psychopaths are primarily driven by ego, willing to go to any lengths for their own gratification without a second thought for anyone else... which is why I don't find it surprising or contradictory at all that they would collect trophies 🤷

casualharbor9 said:Melpy, you're scaring me now... how on earth did you dig up a thread this old from two and a half years ago?

Now you've gone and done it. Asking questions like that is exactly how people end up on the "do not disturb" list...😲

silentpilot6 said:It seems to me that psychopaths are primarily driven by ego, willing to go to any lengths for their own gratification without a second thought for anyone else... which is why I don't find it surprising or contradictory at all that they would collect trophies 🤷

Those trophies work for them just like how some people hang souvenir plates from their summer trips on their kitchen walls. You're eating comfort food in the middle of winter, and there's that plate with a Santa Barbara sunset on it reminding you of your vacation a few months ago. It's a memory trigger. For sociopaths, they love revisiting those moments because it acts as a catalyst for their crimes. Most of the time, we're talking about body parts from victims that become fetishes for them. They actually get a thrill out of it, reliving the victim's trauma and that intense sense of power they held over them. It is sick... truly sickening. Honestly, just stick to hanging plates on the wall instead...😁

How would you guys actually handle someone who’s a mass shooter posting right here on the forum—assuming they were honest about it?

Not talking about myself because of my username, just... I'm curious.

Quentin Tarantino

Sophia Murphy37 said:How would you guys actually handle someone who’s a mass shooter posting right here on the forum—assuming they were honest about it?

Not talking about myself because of my username, just... I'm curious.

I’d honestly just report him to the moderator... let him face the music for breaking the forum rules.

Betty Chase54 said:Now you've gone and done it. Asking questions like that is exactly how people end up on the "do not disturb" list...😲

😱

Sophia Murphy37 said:How would you guys actually handle someone who’s a mass shooter posting right here on the forum—assuming they were honest about it?

Not talking about myself because of my username, just... I'm curious.

Oh boy, 😕I would have a million questions for them... and then some...😁

Quentin Tarantino

wearyowl29 said:Oh boy, 😕I would have a million questions for them... and then some...😁

So, what exactly would those questions be? (You don't have to list every single one, obviously...)

Not many questions come to mind, really. Aside from the obvious "why"—and maybe the standard stuff like "what's their name" or "where do they live"...

wearyowl29 said:It was an American documentary about women from a small village—a true story where their husbands would slowly vanish, essentially ending up in cemeteries, because the wives were eagerly burying them just to collect their Social Security benefits or something similar.

Oh, you actually reminded me of a specific case in Canada from the feudal era, when some noblewoman named Batori murdered 600 young girls, drinking their blood in a desperate attempt to achieve eternal youth. In the end, she met her demise by being burned at the stake instead of simply facing decapitation.

ambasadorica;7203202 said:I think we should start by defining what a serial killer actually is.
How many victims does one truly need to earn such a label?

If someone takes more than one life, they fall under the definition of a serial killer.

Sean Hernandez5 said:I think we really need to establish a clear definition for what constitutes a serial killer first.
How many victims does someone actually need to claim that title?

To me, it just feels like a trendy label used for anyone committing multiple similar crimes.
So, theoretically, if someone kills two people with some time in between, they’re already a serial killer, right?
If that's the case, there are way too many of them. Most of the examples mentioned here seem to fall outside that typical pattern (🤣) which is why they're actually interesting.
We also have to keep in mind that the recidivism rate in the USA is around 80%—though I don't know how many of those are specifically murderers.
The point is, there are probably more serial killers than people realize. The idea that they're all just monsters hunting specific groups of people is mostly a creation of crime novelists, and I don't think it reflects reality very well.

🙂

Precisely so.

casualharbor9 said:Quentin Tarantino

So, what exactly would those questions be? (You don't have to list every single one, obviously...)

Not many questions come to mind, really. Aside from the obvious "why"—and maybe the standard stuff like "what's their name" or "where do they live"...

How does he feel in the moment he kills...what's crossing his mind right then...what specific impulses drive him to act that way...why pick that particular victim...was there something in his past fueling this need for revenge...who abused him...did he kill animals when he was just a kid...what was his relationship with his parents like...all that stuff.

Nicole Barrett76 said:Oh, you actually reminded me of a specific case in Canada from the feudal era, when some noblewoman named Batori murdered 600 young girls, drinking their blood in a desperate attempt to achieve eternal youth. In the end, she met her demise by being burned at the stake instead of simply facing decapitation.

Precisely so.

War is actually a perfect setup for serial killers—you get to kill, but you don't have to answer to anyone! Personally, I think that definition is a bit too broad. You’ve got people who snap and kill their neighbor, but nothing else... those aren't serial killers. They just had a neighbor who was driving them absolutely insane!😂

Impulsive killings are totally different. Real serial killers? That comes from deep within the psyche. There isn't a financial motive involved, and they definitely don't act on a whim. No, they plan everything out meticulously to satisfy this internal urge to destroy or torture victims. It’s all about that feeling of power; their mental state is just broken in that specific way.

casualharbor9 said:Quentin Tarantino

I’d honestly just report him to the moderator... let him face the music for breaking the forum rules.

Buddy....

wearyowl29 said:

War is actually a perfect setup for serial killers—you get to kill, but you don't have to answer to anyone! Personally, I think that definition is a bit too broad. You’ve got people who snap and kill their neighbor, but nothing else... those aren't serial killers. They just had a neighbor who was driving them absolutely insane!😂

Impulsive killings are totally different. Real serial killers? That comes from deep within the psyche. There isn't a financial motive involved, and they definitely don't act on a whim. No, they plan everything out meticulously to satisfy this internal urge to destroy or torture victims. It’s all about that feeling of power; their mental state is just broken in that specific way.
War is actually a perfect setup for serial killers—you get to kill, but you don't have to answer to anyone! Personally, I think that definition is a bit too broad. You’ve got people who snap and kill their neighbor, but nothing else... those aren't serial killers. They just had a neighbor who was driving them absolutely insane!😂

Impulsive killings are totally different. Real serial killers? That comes from deep within the psyche. There isn't a financial motive involved, and they definitely don't act on a whim. No, they plan everything out meticulously to satisfy this internal urge to destroy or torture victims. It’s all about that feeling of power; their mental state is just broken in that specific way.
I wasn't talking about serial killers—more like people who "make a living at it," if you can call it that.
I don't think a standard member of The Assassins working for the government or some crime syndicate necessarily had a rough childhood or messed up impulses by default.
It's simpler than that. This guy kills for the paycheck or because of an ideology. He hits the gym, stays clean, fits right into society.

He isn't that "perfect neighbor" type who wouldn't hurt a fly. He drinks when he wants, gets speeding tickets, maybe gets into a scrap at a football game, swears during the match... basically just your average American, haha...

Sophia Murphy37 said:Buddy....

War is actually a perfect setup for serial killers—you get to kill, but you don't have to answer to anyone! Personally, I think that definition is a bit too broad. You’ve got people who snap and kill their neighbor, but nothing else... those aren't serial killers. They just had a neighbor who was driving them absolutely insane!😂

Impulsive killings are totally different. Real serial killers? That comes from deep within the psyche. There isn't a financial motive involved, and they definitely don't act on a whim. No, they plan everything out meticulously to satisfy this internal urge to destroy or torture victims. It’s all about that feeling of power; their mental state is just broken in that specific way.

I wasn't talking about serial killers—more like people who "make a living at it," if you can call it that.
I don't think a standard member of The Assassins working for the government or some crime syndicate necessarily had a rough childhood or messed up impulses by default.
It's simpler than that. This guy kills for the paycheck or because of an ideology. He hits the gym, stays clean, fits right into society.

He isn't that "perfect neighbor" type who wouldn't hurt a fly. He drinks when he wants, gets speeding tickets, maybe gets into a scrap at a football game, swears during the match... basically just your average American, haha...
Honestly, that's almost cleaner... there’s nothing going on besides chasing the money and the thrill of the logistics.
It's like their conscience just went into permanent sleep mode and won't wake up for anything unless someone starts waving a stack of hundreds in front of them.

wearyowl29 said:I was just scrolling through the news this morning and read about this absolute monster—some guy who slaughtered around 60 sex workers, and some people are even saying he might have ground them up into sausages. It’s gruesome stuff. It really got me thinking about why, by almost universal rule, serial killers are men and their victims are women, most often those working in the nightlife industry.

Where does all that deep-seated, pathological hatred toward women come from? Why do they feel driven to go on these relentless killing sprees...?

And honestly, why don't we see more female serial killers out there? Why does it always seem like they're the ones being targeted instead of the ones doing the targeting...?

How do you all make sense of this???😕

Female serial killers are much harder to catch. Usually, their victims die from "natural causes." If our forensic medicine and standard medical examiners were actually competent, even a dead horse would have noticed something was wrong sooner.

wearyowl29 said:How does he feel in the moment he kills...what's crossing his mind right then...what specific impulses drive him to act that way...why pick that particular victim...was there something in his past fueling this need for revenge...who abused him...did he kill animals when he was just a kid...what was his relationship with his parents like...all that stuff.

There's actually a series about this—well, two, really. One of them is on Netflix about Richard Kuklinski, aka The Iceman, where he breaks down all those questions and then some.
The interesting thing is, he doesn't fit the typical serial killer stereotype, which makes it much more compelling to watch.

Men kill women because it’s all about male dominance. It’s just easier to kill a woman when she’s physically weaker; they can't fight back as effectively, which gives men this sick sense of power and satisfaction. I mean, why else would men lash out at women like this? Why beat them? Probably because they can't do it to anyone else—women are just the easiest targets...

I honestly don't think you can justify every single crime by pointing to childhood trauma. We've all been through some kind of trauma, but that doesn't make us all murderers, does it?
People claim Jack Trbosjek was a man who targeted sex workers because of a physical deformity, but I find it hard to believe he was actually a woman... though, I guess we'll never truly know the truth.