Strangulation and Serial Murder: Patterns and Case Studies

Introduction: Serial Murder and the Appeal of Strangulation

The public and the media have long had a morbid fascination with serial killers. While the exact characteristics that determine an individual's predilection toward serial killing and mass murder remain unknown, studies conducted by analysts at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have attempted to identify warning signs among individuals prone to extreme violence. Of the most violent and sadistic forms of serial murder, strangulation may be considered the most personal.

Defining Serial Killers and the Gradations of Evil

In The Anatomy of Evil, Michael Stone (2009) argues that there are several "gradations of evil," of which serial killing is the most severe. These gradations include killing in self-defense or justified homicide, persons with few or no psychopathic traits, murders in which there is malice aforethought and psychopathic features are marked, spree or multiple murders in which psychopathy is apparent, and, at the most severe end, serial killers, torturers, and sadists. In most, if not all, serial homicides, a significant motivating factor — along with manipulation, domination, and control — is sexual desire and gratification. Serial killers commit homicide because the murders "make them feel fulfilled, and [the murderers] will continue doing them as long as they can" (Douglas & Olshaker, 1999, p. 191).

The definition of a serial killer is quite distinct from that of a spree killer or a mass murderer. While a spree killer kills a number of victims at different locations in a short period of time and a mass murderer plays an endgame strategy in which he or she does not expect to survive, a serial killer hunts humans for the sexual thrill derived from the act, repeatedly killing with the belief that he or she can outwit the police. Serial killers operate under the belief that they will not be caught (Douglas & Olshaker, 1999). It is seldom that law enforcement personnel and behavioral scientists get a firsthand glimpse into the predatory world of a serial killer during their active period (Arrigo, 2006). A serial killer is further defined as an individual who has committed murder on at least three separate and distinct occasions, with an emotional cooling-off period between each incident. This cooling-off period may be days, weeks, months, or even years (Douglas & Olshaker, 1999).

References

Arrigo, B. (2006). Criminal Behavior: A Systems Approach. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.

Bell, R. (2011). "Green River Killer: River of Death." TruTV.

Douglas, J., & Olshaker, M. (1999). The Anatomy of Motive. New York: A Lisa Drew Book/Scribner.

Geberth, V. (1995). Psychopathic sexual sadists: The psychology and psychodynamics of serial killers. Practical Homicide Investigation: Law and Order, 43(4).

Schechter, H., & Everitt, D. (1997). The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. New York: Pocket Books.

Stone, M. (2009). The Anatomy of Evil. Amherst: Prometheus Books.