Serial killers -- stereotypes and reality

The culprit in a typical homicide is so obvious as to make an investigation almost superfluous. In many cases, the killer does nothing to hide the crime and readily confesses to police - - indeed, many killers call the police before the crime is even discovered.

Serial killers are very different. Though extraordinarily rare serial killers generate more fear and concern in the public than ordinary killers. This heightened anxiety is perhaps explained by the (often false) sense that the violent family member or co-worker can somehow be avoided whereas a serial killer comes out of nowhere and cannot be protected against.

Certainly, serial killers are seldom obvious wrongdoers and often escape justice for extended periods. This motivation is often obscure and while serial killers often chose victims with common characteristics (say women between 25 and 35 years old), the deduction and capture of serial killers is not simple. Indeed, even identifying a series of killings as being the work of a serial killer can take a long time, and sometimes years elapse before a serial killer is caught.

Popular fiction tends to portray serial killers as deranged, out of control loners who kill in an ever increasing spiral of intensity. Genius is often attributed to serial killers, as an explanation for the success with which they evade justice. Fictional serial killers are almost always white men who kill for sexual gratification. Finally, serial killers are described as committing their crimes in widely dispersed geographic areas to hide their crimes. In fact, the stereotypes of fiction are almost all wrong.

Serial killers do not tend to be reclusive social misfits who live alone. Indeed, they often have families, responsible jobs and participate in their community - - one reason they evade capture is because they seem so normal. I met Paul Bernardo many years ago and was struck just how ordinary he seemed. Dr. Thomas Neill Cream an early Anglo-Canadian serial killer was a reasonably successful doctor who graductated with distinction from McGill. More recently, of course, Col. Russell Williams the high achieving married commander of CFB Trenton was charged with multiple murders.

Sexual gratification is often a motive for serial killers, but other motivations ranging from financial gain, anger at society or unknown demons also exist. The Washington sniper murders of John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo had no obvious sexual component. Among female serial killers, sexual gratification is a motivation is only one in ten murders. Perhaps the only factor linking serial killers’ motivation is their desire to kill, sometimes as an end in itself or sometimes for another goal. This variation in motivation is a factor in frequency of killing - - serial killers do not inevitably kill more frequently, indeed, it is not unknown for serial killers to stop killing.

Serial killers, while largely male, are not always white with enhanced intelligence. Indeed, the racial diversification and ranges of intelligence of serial killers generally mirrors that of the overall population. Serial killers in Germany tend to be German.

Finally, serial killers tend to commit their crimes in a defined geographic area, usually close to their home or job. Clifford Olsen, for example, confined his killings to the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region of British Columbia. Serial killers who kill over extended geographical areas tend to be those who travel for employment, such as those in military service. Keith Hunter Jesperson, for example, was a truck driver from British Columbia who killed his victims in the United States while traveling.

Serial killing comprises less than one percent of all murders; that said, the killers tend to be more ordinary than fiction would suggest. It is that very ordinariness that allows serial killers to hide in plain sight and evade detection and capture for so long.