Multiple Murders
Multiple Murders
There are various types of multiple murders. Multiple murders are generally classified according to the type of personality involved in the murder, the relationship between the victim of the murder and the murder, the circumstances under which the crime was committed and the legal classification of the murder. However, the most common multiple murders which have been reported in different societies in the world include serial murder, mass murder and spree murder. Mass murder is determined by how long the crime takes to be completed. Mass murder involves a case where one individual kills a large number of victims in one area within a short period of time. There are several cases that have been reported where an assassin enters a compound in a school or other public places and shoots anybody. A very good example is the case of James Oliver Huberty who murdered twenty one people in a restaurant in the city of Texas in 1984. Mass murderers can pseudo commandos who can be described as young men who are fanatical about the use of a certain weapon such as a firearm. They can also be organized criminal, the set and run type of killers, who are good planners of their attack to facilitate easy and secure escape from the scene. There are various reasons why people choose to participate in such murders. Many cases involves the killers being fanatics of a cult group with funny behaviors, the murderer suffering from serious mental conditions or in some cases it may be employee who are out to revenge for ill-treatment or unwarranted dismissal by their employer ((Gresswell and Hollin, 1994).
Other common multiple murderers are the spree murders. Spree murders are killings by an assassin who kills several victims over a short period of time that is within hours of a few days. This impulsive killer makes no attempt to seal of his act and therefore makes no attempts to evade detection or identification as the perpetrator. Victims of this killer may not have any relationship with the killer but may possess symbolic to the murderer. After this killer has completed his sequence of murders he is unlikely to commit another murder later in life because most spree killers commit suicide after assaulting their victims or are killed by security officer in the shootout. Spree murder is however very similar to serial murder although many criminologists treat them as two different types of multiple murders. However, spree murderers do not have a cooling of period as in the case of serial murder between the episodes. The most common type of multiple murders that is family annihilation where an individual executes his or her family then commits suicide lies in this category. It is also observed that roughly all case of mass murders and spree murders have male perpetrators with cases of females being involved in these crimes being very rare or inexistence (Lavergne, 2003).
Another common category of multiple murders is serial killing. The main characteristic of this kind of murder is the repetitive murders which are carried out after a long cooling off break. Criminologists have given six conditions that must be met for series of murders to be categorized as serial murder. They states that there should be two or more episodes of murder, the victim and the killer should have no relationship, the episodes should be at different locations and the victim of the murderer have a certain characteristic in common that makes them vulnerable to the wrath of the killer. The murders should however not be committed at the same time, there should be no direct relationship between one episode and the subsequent episode and the murderer should not be motivated by any material gain from the episode (Gresswell and Hollin, 1994).
Serial killers
Serial killers are the most common multiple killer all over the world. It is estimated that the United States has the highest number of serial killer in the world. Since 1980s more than 30 male killers have been operating in the United States at any time. Most of these serial killers are white and this makes many people to believe that serial killers are white. However in other countries such as Japan and South America there are a good number of blacks who are serial killers. Additionally serial killers are not only men as in the case of spree killers and mass killers. There are many reported cases of women being involved in murders that can be described as serial murder although the number of female serial killer is much less as compared to male serial killers. While female serial killers mostly prey on people they very well know and their main drive is money, most male serial killers victims are strangers and there main drive to kill is not for material gain (Cullen n d).
Just as the categories of multiple killers, serial killers can be classified in to some subclasses depending on why the killer decides to go killing. Serial killers can be organized killers or less organized which can be determined from the information obtained from the scene of the episode. They can also be classified depending on their geographical mobility or the motives of their actions. Depending on the intentions of the serial killer, he can be described as visionary, missionary, a power and control, a lust or hedonistic serial killer.
A visionary serial killer is a murderer who kills because he is psychotic. The killer suffers from a psychotic mental illness which results into hallucination and delusions forcing him to kill victims with certain characteristics. The psychotic illnesses may be as a result of drug abuse or depression. They have no sympathy for their victims and do not feel guilty of their actions. This particular person does not live a normal life and may be commanded by unknown spirits to kill. There are others serial killers called mission killers who prey on any person they do not like. They are driven by their accord to eliminate a certain group of individual from the society whom they believe are undesirable. This killer may not necessarily be mentally ill and may perform other functions as a very normal person. A very good example is a serial killer who occasionally kills black children or elderly women because they consider them undesirable members of the society.
A power and control serial killer murders his victim to show that he has have power over his victims destiny. Other male serial killers are team killers. He is motivated by the thoughts that he has total control his victims life. Although the killer may sexually assault the victim before he commits murder, their main aim of committing this crime to kill. Other categories of serial murderers includes the hedonistic murderous who are either lust killers who will always kill for fun for fun or to enjoy himself. The act of killing may be accompanied by sexual assaulting of their victim. Other hedonistic serial killers are the thrill oriented serial killers who are motivated by the fiction in the action movies or novels. Hedonistic killers are known to be very brutal killers who may mutilate their victims body and try to seal of the evidence of sexual assault of their victims. They have a team of two or more males and may also include women. Team killers can either be lust killers or power killers (Holmes, 2009).
Dealing with Serial Killers
Serial murderers have posed a serious difficulty to crime investigators since their reasons for committing these crimes may not be as obvious as people who commit other crimes. Like other mass murderers the serial killers are generally considered to be suffering from serious psychotic mental disorder. There have been several attempts to deter serial murderous. The Behavior Science Unit of the FBI has since 1960 come up with a psychological profile to investigate serial killers. This kind of profiling enables crime investigators to understand what instigates serial killings. However, despite the attempts by the FBI to develop a profile for multiple murders have existed in the society and has not reduced significantly over the years. It may be easier to understand how revenge can drive some one to kill, but the reasoning of a serial killer and his motive is behold normal and it is difficult to identify his motives.
The greatest challenge in developing serial murderers profiles has been the varying age, sex, races and the motives that drive them to commit these crimes. Most serial killers are not that intelligent but they are very lucky to commit several crimes without being caught. Serial killers are known to experiment or use different weapons and killing techniques. (Ramsland, 2009). One of the best approaches in dealing with serial killers is looking at the mental health of the criminal. Some physiologists argue that it is a mental disorder which makes people not to feel guilty or sympathize for other people. A person suffering from this disorder may commit dreadful crimes without any emotional misery. Research indicates that majority of serial male killers were abused physically or emotionally when they were young. This may have caused them to adopt criminal life and be a murderer as a means of protecting themselves from further abuse. The murderer may fell contented after committing a crime but after a short period of time the fantasies drives him to commit another murder.
Evidence at the scene of crime is very important in the development of a serial killer profile. The scene will suggest whether the killer is an organized or unsystematic murderer. It also suggests the level of intelligence of the murderer depending on how the crime was premeditated and executed. A careful and intelligent serial killer will plan and execute the crime in a way that will conceal the evidence. However he may lose control over his actions if the fantasy controls him. On the other hand serial killer who leaves the crime scene messy or uses any weapon in his reach is considered to be of low intelligence. Such executions are not carefully planed and the killer makes no attempt of concealing the evidence. An organized serial killer is more likely to be employed while an unorganized murderer may be without a job. It is also noted that a well thought-out murder will most likely use less violence compared to an unorganized killing which can easily be observed on the scene of crime. Research also indicates that organized and intelligent serial killers are most likely expected to be living a normal life, having a family and most probably living a very social life. On the contrary, an unorganized serial murderer may be suffering from a mental disorder which may make him anti social (Tithec, 1997).
In most cases the criminal will take away any valuable or anything that can serve as evidence including the weapon used. However, a serial murderer may take away something that may have no value to anybody else but himself. This item may be a medal or a souvenir which reminds his of his achievement of his fantasies. The investigators should therefore note that items the killer consider to be trophies or souvenirs are important in development of the serial killer profile. These items are important in understanding the murderers mode of operation. They can be used to suggest the motive of the crime and the strategy used in the execution. These items can also give an idea of the location of the crime, the weapons used or accomplices involved in the crime. It should however be clear that serial killers change with time and become more skilled and therefore their mode of operation changes with time. The investigators at the scene of the crime should also be keen on uniqueness of the execution such as a note, level of mutilation or the position of the corpse. It is also important to study the victims very carefully in the development of psychological profile. Statistics indicate that serial killers prey on certain characteristics that fit their fantasies. It is evident that many serial murderers do not chose there victims randomly and some commonality can be easily identified on a certain killers victims (Gale, 2005).
Conclusion
It is not clear why criminal involves themselves in multiple murders. Sociologists have suggested that most multiple murderers suffer from mental disorders. For this reason, it has been very difficult to deal with multiple killers especially serial killers.
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