HOW TO SURVIVE A SERIAL KILLER

How would you recognize a serial killer on the street? More than likely, you wouldn’t. Until they are caught, they look exactly like us, act like us, and blend into society like us. Unless you’re psychic, there is no way to tell who is a serial killer. In addition, everyone has the potential to become a serial killer’s victim because they are as varied as serial killers themselves. While most individual serial killers have a specific type of person they target, there are no steadfast rules when it comes to deciding who dies. The majority of victims in the U.S. are white, which supports researchers’ claims that serial killers kill intraracially. More often than not, women become victims, but men and children are also targeted. Age also plays an important role in the killer’s choice of victim, with most of them falling between the ages of 18 and 50.

Since most serial killings are carried out to fulfill a sexual fantasy, serial killers have a type of victim in mind to satisfy their needs. Bundy supposedly targeted young women with shoulder-length hair that was parted down the middle. They had to look like they were from upper-middle-class origins, which might explain while the vast majority of his victims were college students. Kemper also had a taste for co-eds, and with the parking sticker he received from his mother, they were easy to pick up.

Prostitutes, strippers, and other sex-industry workers might be targeted because of the associations of their work. If killers are looking to fulfill a sexual fantasy, they are the prime targets to help them out, but they are also easy targets because they are willing get into a car with the killer. Ridgway targeted prostitutes because he knew they wouldn’t be reported missing for a long time, if at all. Despite the fact that prostitutes are easy targets, not all serial killers go after them. In the mind of a serial killer, any one--teachers, nurses, waitresses, bar tenders, etc.--are just as likely to fulfill their twisted needs.

Homeless people, hitchhikers, drug addicts, and alcoholics are at a higher risk of becoming victims, but they are by no means the primary targets. Richard Ramirez would walk around until he found an unlocked door or open window, while Bobby Joe Long looked in the classifieds and called the numbers during the day. If a woman answered, he would assume that the man in her life was at work. He would then go to the house, and if she was alone, he would proceed with the murder.

Serial killers troll for their intended victims. When they are in the trolling phase, they are highly focused, and all of their senses are directed at locating a victim. He will focus all of his energy, thought, and effort on the potential victim and wait for the perfect moment to pounce. Sometimes, when they find the perfect victim, they will wait days or weeks before finally striking. If a serial killer is not in the mood to kill but still finds a potential victim, he will file the information away until he is ready to kill.

The number of victims a serial killer kills depends on opportunity. The most prolific serial killer in the U.S., who has a proven number of victims, is Gary Ridgway (Henry Lee Lucas supposedly killed around 600 people, but his later recantations make it hard to determine if this number is true or not). In his years of killing, he murdered 48 prostitutes. Ted Bundy murdered 35 women, and John Wayne Gacy killed 33 young men. Charles Cullen has been convicted of 29, and Dean Corll took the lives of 27 victims. The list goes on and on. Many of these killers were able to get away with their crimes because they targeted victims that were the dregs of society: prostitutes, hitchhikers, runaways, etc.

There are no set rules when it comes to the victims of serial killers. No one is safe, and anyone can become a target. Although, “Based on the FBI survey of serial killers and their victims, we can say that being white in the United States immediately increases your risk: Ninety-two percent of victims were white. Being female (82 percent), unmarried (80 percent), and between the ages fifteen and twenty-eight (73 percent) all put you at a higher risk.” 1 So how are you supposed to protect yourself when a serial killer is on the prowl? First, always use common sense. For women, that means not traveling alone at night and in areas that you are unfamiliar with. If you have to be in an area, make sure you have something to protect yourself with. Second, never, and I mean never, get into a car with a stranger.

Most serial killers are organized nonsocial offenders, which means they generally have an above average IQ (mean of 123) and plan their murders methodically. They usually abduct victims and kill them in one place and dispose of their body in another. To be able to do this, they have to have a way to transport the body undetected. Kemper picked up his victims while they hitchhiked on the side of the road. Even after the police issued a warning to all co-eds not to accept rides from strangers, victims still got into his car because of the university parking sticker he had hanging in the window. Bundy lured women to his vehicle under the premise that he had a broken arm and a load of stuff to carry. Feeling sorry for him, they would help him, and he would then knock them unconscious with a tire iron. Of course, it might also be a good idea to not let strangers in your car, either. Aileen Wuornos would be picked up by potential clients, then she would take them to a secluded area in the woods and shoot them.

According to Vronsky, there are some warning signs to look for in a stranger that might indicate they are a serial killer. These include:

Feigned weakness: The stranger makes a big deal of letting you know that he might be physically weaker than you.

Too much information: The stranger gives too much unnecessary information…When somebody is telling a lie, even if it sounds credible to you, he has less confidence in what he says; thus he tends to fill in more details than necessary to bolster it. This revelation of details also makes a stranger appear more familiar to you than he really is.

The unrequested promise: ‘Just one drink and the I will take you home, I promise.’ You never asked him to promise you anything. Sudden offers of unsolicited promises can be a sign of an underlying agenda.

Friendly authority: The stranger projects some kind of nonthreatening authority [for example, a police officer or park ranger]…This is a tough one too, because some serial killers come tricked out with police identification and police-like vehicles. Insist that he call a uniformed backup if you have not done anything wrong and you are being ‘arrested.’

Challenging your ego: The stranger labels you in a subtly critical way, hoping that you will be challenged to prove them wrong.

Teaming: Often a manipulative stranger tries to ‘team up’ with you [for example, “My aunt lives just a few blocks from where you are going, you can drop me off on the way”].

Feminine referencing: The stranger projects an image of himself in relationships with other females or children, therefore reassuring you that he is not interested in you and is harmless.

Imposed obligation: A stranger imposes his help on you, and thus you feel an obligation to him. That obligation can then be manipulated into placing you into a vulnerable position.

An appeal to a vulnerable third party: ‘Help me find my lost puppy before it gets away too far.’

Never taking no for an answer. 1

Serial killers don’t always need a car to attack victims. A disorganized killer murders when the opportunity arises, and usually leaves the body in the same place they found the victim. An example of a disorganized serial killer is Miguel Rivera. Known as Charlie Chop-off to the local children, he would attack young boys in apartment buildings in New York. He would kill them by stabbing them multiple times before chopping of their genitals. His victims were found in hallways, on rooftops, and in basements. When he was apprehended, he exhibited severe signs of mental illness, and claimed that God told him to transform little boys into girls.

Other killers who committed murder without a vehicle included Richard Ramirez, who would randomly choose a house, enter through an unlocked door or open window, then proceed to kill those inside. Dahmer picked up victims and took them back to his house. Dean Corrll had lackeys (Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks) who would go out and find victims to bring to his house.

If you believe you are being confronted by a serial killer, there are a few things you can do that might ensure your survival. As I mentioned before, the first thing is to never get into a car with a stranger. If you have the opportunity, make sure you flee the scene. If you don’t have anywhere to run to, then you need to firmly tell the attacker to leave you alone. If that doesn’t work, you need to use moderate physical dissuasion such as kicking, pushing, or punching to get the attacker away from you. Should that fail and the attacker is persistent, attempt to engage the attacker in conversation. Most serial killers see you as a sexual fantasy, and that fantasy requires that you remain a stranger. If you can somehow change that perception, give the killer something personal about yourself, he might leave you alone. (On the advice of experts, they recommend that you don’t mention anything about the killer’s wife, mother, or sister because that might enrage them further, especially if they killer suffered abuse at the hands of a female loved one.) But if that fails, then attack him with everything you’ve got; go for the eyes, throat, crotch, and face. Remember, you are fighting for you life. Once you get the chance, run and don’t look back.

Of course, all of these ideas work in theory, but it’s different if they have to be practiced. The stress of the situation might be enough to make your mind go completely blank or you might be knocked unconscious by your attacker. What are you supposed to do then? Every serial killer is different, so each killer will react differently. Once you are actually in the killer’s clutches, there’s not much you can do to make it out alive. “The FBI asked the serial killers, how did they perceive the behavior of their victims? In the opinion of the serial killers, 28 percent of all their victims acquiesced or offered no resistance, 31 percent attempted to negotiate verbally, 7 percent verbally refused to obey the killer, 10 percent screamed, 5 percent attempted to escape, and 19 percent tried to fight back.” 1 In most cases, the killer will counter resistance from the victim no matter what they do, and in this study by the FBI, all the victims who acquiesced to the demands were always murdered. According to the statistics, only 7.5% of serial killers’ victims have survived 1. In reality, the odds are not in your favor if you are chosen to be a victim, so protect yourself by avoiding anyone who seems suspicious or acts in any of the ways described above. It is better to be rude than dead.