JOURNEY INTO THE MINDS OF SERIAL KILLERS

Serial killers have left professionals stunned, officials disgusted, and families devastated. They can be as deadly as a war, plague or natural disaster. Given, the body counts differs drastically, but keep in mind that some 200 serial killers are in operation on any given day since the mid 20th century. Then consider how often a war, plague or natural disaster occur, this may help you even out the odds a little better. The issue of serial murder is one that should be of great importance to everyone. Undeniably, serial murder has been responsible for many inhumane and unnecessary deaths.

The evil perceived to exist inside of serial killers is so great that to anyone who is not a serial killer they are a mystery. To some they may be a fluke, to others, just a bad seed, to some a phenomenon of man. Either way to write them off as accidents made by mother nature is just about the worst way of protecting ourselves from them. It is human nature to question the unknown and the only way to find a solution is through logical thinking. To achieve results we must ask ourselves why, why do serial killers lust to kill, and not answer ourselves with the short justifications we’re comfortable with. To find the appropriate answer we must journey into the minds of serial killers.

Brain damage or defunct is the number one suspect and the most widely accepted explanation for serial murder. In deed, one would have to be at least a little crazy to savagely kill his victims while his family slept around him, as John Wayne Gacy did. Then to go on to bury the bodies in his own crawlspace, any reasonable mind would know that keeping such strong evidence in their own home would be dangerous. The brain is the central life force in anyone’s life and is therefore the first to blame when someone turns up with 33 bodies planted in their crawlspace. Many serial killers are in fact affected by brain damage or defects, but so are many non-serial killers. So clearly, problems with the brain are not the sole creators of serial killers.

Malfunctions of the brain have a strong hold on any affected by them. These malfunctions can be caused or acquired in many different ways. Some may be born with a disorder and others develop problems through life experiences such as injuries or abuse. Injuries are all unique, and so are their affects. Some affects are a direct result of a brain injury, others a side affect, per say feeling self conscious about a scar or deformity left behind by the injury. Emotional trauma is also a leading cause of brain defects. An abused child can experience chemical imbalances or underdevelopment of certain vital sections of the brain as a result of the abuse they experienced. They may also have multiple problems if they are receiving both physical and mental abuse. Sexual abuse can also tug and pull the brain out of shape. But, can brain damage excuse a person from responsibility of murder? Where should the line between full responsibility and diminished responsibility be drawn? Even if a universal line was agreed upon, brain defects are not always easy to see or prove. You may have an X ray in front of you that shows clear damage to the frontal lobe area, a location in the brain responsible for such human tasks as thinking, planning, and problem solving, but who is to say exactly how said damage would affect the person in question and how much the damage would impact an individual. Each head injury or brain defect is unique and its results cannot be predicted or even understood.

To have a better chance of understanding what if any traits of a serial killer are brought about due to a suspected cause, you must compare serial killers with these causes and then compare their outcomes. If a similar trait is found then it can be suggested that this trait of serial killers is brought about by this cause.

For instance, say brain damage. You must take two serial killers affected by brain damage, we’ll use Henry Lee Lucas and Bobby Joe Long, and compare their outcomes.

Henry Lee Lucas was 50% of the dangerous duo that inspired the famous Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. Bobby Joe Long was known as the Want ad Rapist. Both serial killers had experienced serious head injuries that left clear brain damage. Around the age of 12 Henry was beaten with a 2 by 4 so badly that he was put into a coma for a week. The beating was administered by his mom who also left him where he dropped while he was out cold for a week. Bobby had multiple injuries that could have caused brain damage. At five he fell from a swing and was knocked unconscious, at six he had a bike accident that sent him flying head first into a parked car, at seven he fell off a pony and landed on his head. Then he took a few years off but his worst head injury was still to come. In his 20s, Bobby had a motorcycle accident, his head was smashed into the pavement with such force that it had cracked his helmet. Other then the head injuries and the fact that they were both serial killers, Henry and Bobby seem to have little in common.

Henry was raised by an abusive prostitute mother with some input from her many johns. His father, who had been left legless after dancing with a train one drunken night, died of an pneumonia while Henry was still young. The pneumonia that killed him was acquired when he slept outside in protest of what his wife was doing with herself. Bobby was raised by his mother too, but she was a waitress who struggled with her finances throughout Bobby’s youth. She was only able to provide them with a motel room, and at that it was only a one bedroom. Bobby slept in bed with his mom until the age of 12. By her accounts she was always fully clothed. Bobby does not complain about the living conditions, he complains that his mother was always out on dates until it was morning when he would be leaving for school. Henry’s life had been a downward spiral from the day he was born. As he grew in age he traveled further and further down his downward spiral and eventually landed in jail convicted of serial murder. Aside from what was either clumsiness or just very bad luck Bobby had led a somewhat normal life until that final head injury in the motorcycle accident. He was happily married and living in Florida when it happened and afterwards his sex drive skyrocketed. He excessively demanded sex from his wife two to three times daily. Eventually his outrageous sexual demands led him to rape. His MO, find items for sale in the newspaper, schedule a daytime meeting to go look at the object in question, and then go to the home in hopes of finding a helpless and alone housewife. When he did, the poor unsuspecting women would be tied up and raped. Bobby raped countless times, but always left the victims alive until one day when he began to take more then just their dignity. In the end Bobby was responsible for the deaths of ten women. Henry had been a killer since he was a young boy, but his victims then had been farm animals. He claims he was about 15 or 16 years old when he claimed his first human victim. She had been a 17 year old rape victim of his who fought him off too hard. His next victim would not come for another eight years. This time it was his mom who was killed in the heat of another of many bitter arguments. He stabbed her to death. For this incident he spent 11 years in a hospital for the insane. In 1970 he was paroled and managed to kill a girl only a few blocks from the prison on the day of his release. In 1976 he tied up with killing partner Otis Toole and the duo went on to kill more then could be counted.

There are many differences in their stories. Bobby worked alone, Henry had a partner. Bobby targeted woman specifically and his murders were premeditated very tediously. Henry’s murders were hot blooded, heat of the moment incidents. Bobby was caught because he got careless, Henry confessed when he had a sudden attack of conscious. It seems they have nothing in common, but there actually is a few similarities. Both raped before murder and in both cases rape did eventually lead them to murder, even if Henry did start out on farm animals. But, even more important then this is there similar desire for non-objectionable sex partners. Bobby kept his tied up, Henry killed his off before sex. When questioned as to why he preferred sex with the dead, Henry answered, “I just wanted a little peace and quiet.” Both Bobby and Henry would have left childhood with tainted and promiscuous images of their mothers. Henry’s mother was clearly the worse of the two, she not only had better things to do, but she was out to destroy her own son. Both were left starved for affection from any source. That may explain why both had a need for a completely submissive sex partner and why Henry’s case is more extreme since he goes as far as to prefer a dead sex partner. So while we know that head injuries alone cannot cause a serial killer perhaps the combination of head injuries, and a neglectful and promiscuous mother can lead to a lethal and dominating sex drive that is common among serial killers.

It has also been speculated that adopted children, foster children, and all children raised by someone other then family members have a disadvantage for becoming a serial killer. Some of these unfortunates go through childhood knowing no place as home, never feeling secure or loved while being passed between institutions, foster homes, and other temporary shelters. They never form the social bonds necessary for proper human development. Just as with head trauma and brain effects cannot single handedly mold a serial killer, neither can this type of upbringing. Many have had these disadvantages and have grown to become functioning members of society. However, there have been quite a few cases of serial killers who have been raised in this way and so it merit’s a look into the situation. Charles Manson and Albert Fish are two such examples. In Manson’s case his father was never in the picture and his mother never wanted him. Like Lucas mom, Mrs. Manson was a prostitute who had little time for her son. As a result Charlie became involved with crime at a very young age and so began his juggling between institutions and boys homes. Charlie claims that this upbringing caused him to become dependent upon a government controlled surrounding. The only life he knew was an institutionalized life and in his own words he would be unable to function in a normal society. When the parole board disagreed with his findings, he proved them wrong by concocting a cult and masterminding the slaughter of celebrities.

Albert Fish was placed in an orphanage at the age of five. There discipline was often and fierce. The usual punishment was to be stripped completely naked and whipped. All this was done in front of the other boys for maximum humiliation. Fish found the only way to cope with his harsh surroundings was to learn to love it, which he did. Throughout the duration of his life, Albert mixed pain with pleasure and found pain to be an erotic, sexual thrill, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He was able to maintain a normal life from all outward appearances. He married and had children. His wife left him alone with the children, and he played the role of a caring, loving father to his children. But years into his life, his childhood trauma reappeared with killer force and took over. Fish could no longer cage his demons and began to target, rape, and kill young children. Manson’s victims were selected for their financial and social status for maximum impact on the world, while Fish selected the black boys from the slums as they went unnoticed. Manson had an extensive criminal record while Fish kept a low profile. It seems the only common trait is that they were serial killers, but careful examination will reveal a similarity.

Manson’s yearn to affect the world with his crimes was blunt and obvious. Everyone one knows Manson the hippie cult leader from the 60s. Fish however is not quite as common a name. Although he may never have achieved the notoriety Manson has, his famous letter to a victims mom shows his urge to attract attention to himself and his crimes. Often serial killers, being the uniquely strange individuals that they are, grow pompous and proud of their crimes. They expect to be caught one day at which point they will no longer be able to kill, but will be able to finally take credit for their deviant accomplishments. In his famous letter Fish boasts to the mother of poor Grace Budd of how much joy he had in killing and eating her daughter, how delicious she had tasted and so on. Taking credit for his work seems to be exactly what Fish was looking to achieve. Had he never wrote the letter he may have never been apprehended for any murders. Perhaps that was the last thing Fish wanted. Maybe the years spent in institutions, during their constant search for placement, love, and acceptance left children like Manson and Fish with a lifelong hunger for attention as well as a lack of self development. They may have been trying to confirm their self worth which they felt could only be done by attracting the attention from many. They may have felt a need to leave their mark on the world, that in doing so they made themselves someone. They may have been trying to compensate for what they lacked in childhood. They were always they forgotten one and they wanted to change all that. The demented means by which they went about making names for themselves were molded by their personal life experiences, but their common trait, starved for attention, may have been brought about by their similar childhood dispositions. So while we know that being an unwanted child cannot alone cause a person to kill, perhaps being the unwanted one leads to a desperation for attention, by any means necessary.

There are many subjects of interest aside from the two I focus on that are believed to be causes of serial murder. There is also much speculation about what may be signs of a future serial killer. Many serial killers practiced on animals before moving on to human victims, some wet the bed years after they should have been over the problem, some show sadistic and/or awkward fetish’s. But, signs of serial murder like causes of serial murder all dead end. Many have had similar or even worse problems but do not become serial killers. There is no one cause or sure sign of serial murder. And, vice versa, normally serial killers cannot be classified as simply an adoptee or a mental case. They usually have had multiple disadvantages. While Fish was institutionalized he was also abused and had religion drilled strictly into his head. Henry had his head injuries and the resulting affects, a neglectful, rejectful, and abusive mother and showed famous signs of the serial murderer such as killing and raping animals as well as becoming involved with petty crime at a young age. H H Holmes was physically abused by a strictly religious father, rejected by his peers, and also dabbled in animal torture and killing. Along with all this he also had a backwards and disturbing interest in human anatomy. David Berkowitz was an adoptee who enjoyed setting fires. His mother waited until David was just old enough to have grown very close with her before putting him up for adoption, leaving him with a lifelong feeling of rejection from women. Each serial killer has his or her own unique story. In most cases their life stories can help explain why they did what they did, but the victims are still dead, having had their lives rudely snatched from them prematurely. There is no sure way of detecting a serial killer in the making or of pin pointing one single cause for them or even many. There is only our vast knowledge on what is or isn’t detrimental in the developmental stages of life. Advancements in child service programs is our best bet at avoiding or detecting a problem. They have the power to decide what is or isn’t a stable home and the capability of making a better life for disadvantaged children. Time will bring more knowledge of how to better handle this reoccurring problem.