Serial Killers: Q&A...

feralmaker7 said:Yeah, I see where you're coming from—but personally, I wouldn't label women who kill their own newborns as serial killers; I just don't think they fit that specific mold. They aren't out there hunting for pleasure—it’s more about trying to solve a desperate, impossible situation through a horrific lens—they simply didn't want those children. Obviously, there are massive mental health struggles involved since they could have chosen adoption or even giving them up to a shelter, but that isn't the mindset of a serial killer—those people go looking for strangers to target.

But look, if a mother kills her own child and then goes on to have more children just to kill them with that same intent, she is nothing less than a serial killer. Regardless of the underlying motive—and I realize the legal sentencing might differ due to mental health factors—if they commit multiple murders with cooling-off periods in between, they meet the definition.🤷

copperharbor47 said:Man, that woman is just sick.

Also, it feels kind of stupid how sex workers are portrayed here as people nobody would ever actually look for!
I mean, they have friends, kids, parents... they're real people.

Someone will look for them, but who? When? How often?
You made a valid point about how serial killer victims are most often people on the fringes of society—individuals at the bottom of the social ladder.
Sex workers, the homeless, runaways... people without a fixed address or a way to be tracked.
The truth is, life isn't fair, and it’s unrealistic to expect the police to investigate the murder or disappearance of a sex worker with the same intensity they would for someone from the middle class, or especially someone wealthy. Serial killers understand this and exploit it. That's just how it goes. 🤷

When you talk about being "lower" in society, you're talking about true vulnerability. I was watching this documentary about people living in the sewers in Washington, D.C., 😢.
They are at the absolute bottom of the food chain. Even other outcasts look down on them with total contempt...

The filmmaker actually interviewed them along with a doctor who has been providing free medical care to these people for twenty years.
He mentioned that it frequently happens over the weekend—armed gangs or even just regular citizens will descend into the tunnels to kill them 😢.
Why? Beyond the fact that these killers are clearly disturbed, they know their victims are invisible. They know no one is going to file a report or bother investigating a murder in the sewers.
What’s most heartbreaking is hearing that sometimes, even local police officers are involved in these attacks. It's an absolute tragedy. 😢

Kevin Flores2 said:But look, if a mother kills her own child and then goes on to have more children just to kill them with that same intent, she is nothing less than a serial killer. Regardless of the underlying motive—and I realize the legal sentencing might differ due to mental health factors—if they commit multiple murders with cooling-off periods in between, they meet the definition.🤷

I have to disagree here. I'm not entirely sure what the official FBI definition of a serial killer is, but I'm pretty certain the threshold isn't strictly based on hitting a magic number like three victims. There have to be other criteria met—if we follow your logic where she's intentionally having children specifically to kill them, then sure, maybe that fits. But if she's just having kids and then killing them to cover up something else, I wouldn't label her a serial killer. To me, the motivation matters immensely—it's probably the defining factor that separates a serial killer from a mass murderer or someone who just happens to kill multiple people. Serial killers usually have these specific, often incomprehensible motives, a particular psychological profile, or a signature *modus operandi*... it's about the pattern, not just the body count.

feralmaker7 said:I have to disagree here. I'm not entirely sure what the official FBI definition of a serial killer is, but I'm pretty certain the threshold isn't strictly based on hitting a magic number like three victims. There have to be other criteria met—if we follow your logic where she's intentionally having children specifically to kill them, then sure, maybe that fits. But if she's just having kids and then killing them to cover up something else, I wouldn't label her a serial killer. To me, the motivation matters immensely—it's probably the defining factor that separates a serial killer from a mass murderer or someone who just happens to kill multiple people. Serial killers usually have these specific, often incomprehensible motives, a particular psychological profile, or a signature *modus operandi*... it's about the pattern, not just the body count.

That’s true, having more than three victims isn't the only condition; the "cooling-off" periods mentioned earlier are also a key part of the equation. I suspect there's often a sense of personal gain involved too, though I'm not entirely certain, so I won't speculate too much on that. While you might feel the motive is the defining factor, I don't think the rest of the public would hesitate to call someone a serial killer if they were murdering people for money or sexual gratification. And honestly? Mothers kill their children for all sorts of reasons, too. There was one case where a mother killed two of her sons because she thought it would win her lover back. ☕ Another did it due to a mental health crisis, and a third simply didn't know what to do with them. Even though those aren't technically classified as serial killings, it doesn't change the reality of it. 😳

Is it just curiosity?😕 I’m not sure. When someone mentions a serial killer, my mind immediately jumps to some guy with major issues involving his mother or an ex—someone who lashes out at women as a way to settle those old scores. And they usually grab some kind of trophy along the way. That’s just my first thought, anyway.
P.s. I could see the sexual thrill aspect fitting a serial killer profile, but the whole money thing? It feels too calculated for me... I get the impression that most killers are driven by some deep psychological break rather than just being after a paycheck. Hard to say.

Thomas Rodriguez14 said:I honestly wonder if people even have a conscience—like, are they actually aware of what they're doing in the moment? 😕

I watched a movie about Ted Bundy today. I’m not quite sure how to process it... it was unsettling, yet strangely gripping. It felt like he was a prisoner of his own mind; he clearly needed help, but there was none to be found, and he couldn't escape the impulses and fantasies that haunted him.

The trial was particularly fascinating. Unlike many criminals, he seemed almost relieved to be caught. He confessed to everything, essentially asking to be removed from society because he knew he couldn't stop himself. He talks about his actions—much like everyone else does—as if he's just trying to figure out where it all went wrong, though he doesn't have an answer.

His level of psychopathy is equally chilling—that total absence of feeling. You see it most clearly here: he is incapable of remorse or empathy. It gives you the impression that he views the whole situation through a detached lens, like, "some woman is screaming at me hysterically, but I suppose I'm guilty, or so they say, so I might as well be polite."🤷
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4hb_...eature=related

There is a certain irony in the fact that he was eventually killed in prison by another psychopath. Apparently, he didn't even bother to defend himself, acting as if he simply didn't care whether he lived or died.

"It's just a sick, pathetic, wretched, miserable life story, that's all it is. How it can help anyone, I've no idea"