Serial Murder in America: Case Studies of Seven Offenders

This article summarizes and compares information on seven interviewed serial killers in an ongoing project designed to study similarities and differences among these individuals. The aim of this article is to increase our collective knowledge of the dynamics of serial murder by examining the perpetrators ’ backgrounds, as well as the unique ways in which they view themselves and the world around them. Although qualitative interview research alone is not sufficient to fully understand such behavior, it is useful in many ways. Some of the information discussed based on the seven offenders interviewed is compared with broader epidemiological studies, and the strengths and limitations of each type of research are discussed. Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The initial FBI study on sexual homicide and crime scene analysis, which included interviews with 25 serial murderers by the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, was published nearly 20 years ago (The Men Who Murdered, 1985). Since then, the phenomenon of serial murder has been mythologized in popular culture, sensationalized by the media, and increasingly scrutinized by academia. The results have been confounding, with fiction blurring with fact, and assumptions and guesses often treated as certainty. Many of these misperceptions are associated with the technique of profiling, which involves assessment of crime scenes to construct a set of behavioral traits likely to be found in a particular offender. Even today there is a common belief that profiling is an almost mystical experience, and that it is always accurate and clear cut. However, violent criminal behavior is extremely variable, making precise predictions proble-matic. Some researchers have addressed the issue of predictability, among the