Serial killer John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy

A brief look in the world of serial killers Often people get confused between a serial killer and a mass murderer . A mass murderer is a person who kills several people , all at once or within a short period of time . A serial killer on the other hand is one who kills several people over a long period of time , sometimes spanning several years . Technically , a serial killer is someone who kills at least three people with a break or free period between the killings . A mass murderer

may have victims who cannot be generalized to fit into any category , as these victims are generally those who happen to be present at the time of the incident . However , the serial killers select their victims according to some type or class , like sex , age , looks etc . Generally serial killings occur for sexual gratification , but there are also cases where victims have been selected with the sole intent of killing

Just like any other criminals , serial killers can also be prod . The FBI has developed a Behavioral Science Service Unit in 1978 at Quantico Virginia to study and establish pros of serial killer suspects . The pros attempt to predict the age , race , sex , and habits etc . of the serial killers . Although all serial killers wont fit a same pro most killers can be characterized by a general pro . The general pro of a serial killer suggests they are mostly white males of 25 to 35 years of age , and have a similar type of victims (CCMC , 2007 . These killers are thought to have an above or average intelligence , suffered child abuse or have had a troubled childhood and have little or no social attachments . Serial killers are also thought to return to the scene of killings or burials and keep body parts of their victims as souvenirs . Playing with fire , bed-wetting and cruelty to animals are some important childhood traits of a serial killer . Serial killers are generally associated with a pattern , because of which they are ultimately tracked down by the police . Such patterns may include either their method of killing , location , motive or the pro of victims

Serial killers have existed for several centuries . Four types of serial killers are (Holmes and De Burger , 1988

The Visionary type who believe that they are guided to kill by an inner voice or vision

The mission oriented type who believe they have to eliminate a particular group or class of people from the society

The hedonistic type of killers who get pleasure from the killings they carry out

The control or power driven type who derive sexual satisfaction by controlling

their victims

In addition to this the FBI has identified two more categories of serial killers namely the organized type of serial killers and the disorganized type of serial killers . The organized killer is intelligent , socially acceptable , uses restraints and targets strangers . These organized killers are likely to hide the victim 's body , leaving little or no evidence...