Serial Murder
There is multiple definition of serial murder in the last thirty years, in the literature. These definitions share many things, but they differ on few issues. This is because they differ on the motivation of committing the murder, number of causalities, and the nature of the murder. However, attempts have been made to differentiate a serial killer from other murder, such as, spree murder, mass murder among others. As a result, the most acceptable definition of serial murder is the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate occasions. Therefore, a serial murder is a person that attacks and murder victims one by one sequentially. Serial murder usually murder not less that two people within 14 days (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).
Serial killers have common personalities that set them distinct from other killers. The driving forces among the serial killer differ in one way or another. As a result, there are many types of serial killers all over the world. However, serial killers share some common traits developed from childhood. Some of behavior in childhood that links the child to serial murder traits includes bed-wetting, abusing animals, and setting fires. As a serial killer grows older, they develop serial murder’s traits, which include the desire to be alone, poor performance in schools, and family problems due to aggression (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).
There are different types of serial killers in the world. The first category of serial murder is visionary serial murder. Visionary serial murder commits the murder due to the voices that direct them to murder the victims. They allege that a supernatural power derives them in commitment of these acts. Thus, the serial murder develops a psychological problem that leads him to commitment of the acts. The second categories of a serial killer are the missionary serial murder. Missionary serial murder alleges to carry a responsibility of cleansing the world by removing unwanted people in society. Therefore, supernatural spirits guides missionary serial murder. Third, lust serial murder is another category of serial killers. Lust serial killer attacks their victim with reasons related to sexual encounters. The most common places her lust serial killers attacks are the prostitution industry. Thus, a lust serial killer is motivated by sexual favors in committing a murder. A thriller killer is the fourth category of the serial killers. Thriller killer kills because they love killing. The motivation of killing is the passionate love they have when they see a person dying. Firth category of a serial killer is the power seeker killer. Power seeker killer loves killing to maintain the power balance. Thus, nothing stops them from killing a person competing in clenching the authority they have. Finally, gain killers form the last category of a serial killer. Gain serial killer is motivated by material gain (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).
David Berkowitz is also known as the son of Sam, who is famous in New York in serial killing crimes. David killed six people and wounded several others. David was born in 1953 and was adopted by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz. David alleges that the demons appeared to him and directed to look for the evil people in the city resulting to murder of six people and wounding several others. Later the police arrested David due to a murder of a victim near the place, where David received a parking ticket. The police charged David for serial killing crimes. As a result, David is a missionary derail killer because supernatural believes motivates him in committing the crimes (Biographiq, 2008). In conclusion, serial murder poses a significant threat to the society due to killing of innocent men and women for unlawful reasons.
Reference
Biographiq. (2008). David Berkowitz - Son of Sam (Biography). New York: Filiquarian Pub Llc.
Holmes, R. M., & Holmes, S. T. (2009). Serial Murder. Washington: SAGE.
