Serial Killers

I find them fascinating, for the lack of a better word. I'm so interested in why they murder. They obviously have to be a genius to be able to pull of several murders. I always wonder how their mind works? Either they have a mental problem, or they have a interesting past. However, each one has a story that drove them to kill. You always read about the victims lives', and how they were killed. But, I'm more interested in the actual killer. What made they do what they did? How did they do it? Like everyone has said, how do their minds work

@ looking for katy.
I'm much the same way. The sick ones are just so, well, exciting to look at/study.
And Mary Bell was truly fascinating, especially when you think about what she was like when she grew up.

I must say though, despite all of the male serial killers we hear about, my favourite is hands down Elizabeth Bathory. Now she was an interesting lady. Particularly seeing as they never really found out how many murders she committed. Granted she lived several centuries ago but being convicted of eighty or something murders and accounts of up to six-hundred, is pretty damn impressive (for lack of a better word). My eyes almost bugged out of my head when I read that.

I find them ridiculously fascinating. The sicker they are, the more grossed out I am but I'm always curious to know the reasoning behind it and what causes them to think in the mindset that they do.

@ MistressOfInsanity
My knowledge on serial killers probably isn't that large but wow, a woman serial killer? That's interesting. I've always been interested in the Manson family murder, but other than that I just watch a crap load of Criminal Minds and learn from there.

Anyone interested by Rod Alcala besides me?

I am OBSESSED with serial killers/ mass murders/ murdering couples. It's the best topic (ya know with death/blood/bats/and horror) in the world.

@ out of her reach
Yeah, sort of cool right? I have a real soft-spot for female serial killers in a weird way, and Bathory's the one that sparked that. As in I think it's stupid that men get all the gory-glory when they shouldn't. Haha, I sound like a psycho myself xD I think female killers are just so much more fascinating, though there are exceptions. The Manson case is one of them but even that had ridiculously heavy female involvement when you actually think about it.

I got the bug for looking up stuff about serial killers a few years ago when I watched Dexter for the first time. Now I have a box filled with crime magazines under my bed. Watching Criminal Minds is probably healthier.

The interest that a number of posters have expressed vis-a-vie Charles Manson is...interesting.

I 'discovered' the book Helter Skelter my freshman year in college and have read it through a couple of times.

One thing that has gotten lost over the years is that fact that Manson himself has NEVER killed anyone.

EVER.

He didn't go on the Tate or LaBianca killing missions, but rather just sat his disciples down and said, "Like, okay. Like, (opens up map with several locations marked on it), here's where the pigs like live and stuff man. (Spreads out assortment of weapons including guns, knives, cleavers and axes on table) And like, here's like some things you can take with you if you, like want , when you like, go to the pigs houses."

He never explicitly said, "Go to (insert exact address) and murder every person that's there." Manson isn;t that dumb.

But he's also not a genuis.

What he WAS very good at was gathering up people around him who let's be frank and honest, were VERY dumb if not outright stupid and even more gullible and willing to be led. Especially since Manson, through his connections with The Beach Boys was able to ensure a pretty much endless supply of pot/lsd/shrooms and other drugs.

Manson also was very careful to make sure that he and he alone was in control of the drugs. he would hide them away and his followers had to come to him and ask for some pot. Also when the group took lsd trips together, Manson never dropped acid, because if he did he wouldn't be in control of the experience or the group. By not taking lsd along with everyone else, Manson ensured that he would be in complete control.

Manson was always very careful to set things up so that he was always seen as being in the position of power, he would sit on a table top or in a chair and it would be the only piece of furniture in the room, so his followers would all have to sit below his level, so that they were not his 'equals.'

@ The Gong of Doom
I was waiting for someone to bring that up xD
Personally, the fact that he didn't actually kill anyone, but the power and influence, if you like, over his followers is really intriguing. If I'm inferring what you said correctly, then no, he doesn't really belong in a Serial Killer discussion thread. The story has indeed been so warped over the years that most people when you say 'Charles Manson' will automatically align him with 'serial killer.' But he definitely was not, like you said. It's simply the case that's interesting.

I'm also fascinated in serial killers. My favorite cases :

-Sylvia Likens murder
-Ted Bundy
-Richard Ramirez
-Karla Homolka
-Aurore Gagnon murder
-Laci Peterson murder, Scott Peterson.
-Natalee Holloway murder
-Casey Anthony
-Ed Gein
-Amanda Knox accused murder.

Just certain events that have happened in these cases always made me curious and want to know what exactly took place. Some of these people seemed completely normal, yet they acted the way they did, especially in cases such as Karla Homolka, the murderers of Sylvia Likens, and even Casey Anthony. It's sad and unfortunate, but I can't help but become interested in it. I admit Sylvia Likens' cases scarred me a bit, but I think that's the main one I've always been fascinated with. Not the death, just the actions and insanity behind her caregivers, it blows my mind how these crimes happen.

@ MistressOfInsanity

Yeah, if you're going to call Manson a serial killer, then you'd also have to call the various Grand Imperial Dragons/Wizards of the various Klu Klux Klan chapters in the South who more or less told the lower ranking members to 'take care of (insert name of uppity NEGROES here)', which was code for murdering them, serial killers as well.

I haven't read anything about the Manson murders in quite some time, nor am I at all versed well or poorly in what California criminal law was at the time, but I'd hazard a guess that conspiracy to commit murder was among the charges brought against Manson. Ok I just looked at that world renowned site for utter bullshit and lies known as Wikipedia and according to the page on Manson he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and was convicted of the murders through the joint-responsibility rule which made every member of a conspiracy guilty of all the crimes committed by the members of the conspiracy that went towards the goals of the conspiracy.

That sort of but not really makes sense. More of a legal argument than anything else, but I certainly wouldn't want Manson walking around the streets.

As for Natalee Holloway, how is her death a serial murderer. Van der Sloot killing one other chick besides Holloway in no way makes him a serial killer.

@The Gong of Doom

Didn't say he was a serial killer, I was just naming a couple cases I was also interested in.

I love learning about serial killers. In fact, I plan on becoming a Criminal / Forensic Psychologist. I'm still an undergraduate, though. In a few semesters I'll have my degree in Psychology and afterwards I'm determined to go all the way and get a doctorates. I'm so excited!

When I'm not studying or doing any work I like to sit in the library and read books on the subject. Luckily there's a large selection. Occassionally I'll watch interviews with specific serial killers... Ted Bundy's last interview before his execution was fascinating. What interests me even more is female serial killers. Jane Toppan... wow.

There's this new course called Criminalogy/Psychology that's gonna be taught next year so I applied for that, hopefully I do well in my exams to get in! The people who administrate the course haven't released a certain score that you need to get yet (unless they have and I've totally missed it...) but I plan on becoming a crim psychologist. So I can freely study serial killers without people being like '....what?' to me. My friends think I'm weird, so I don't talk about it much. Except for this one friend whom I discuss Criminal Minds with frequently.

@ astroz0mbie
Interviews? Oooooh, I've never thought about watching interviews - just reading about serial killers late on a Saturday night is good for me. I love female serial killers - I find them so much more fascinating than men.

@ out of her reach
Yes there are quite a bit of interviews on youtube now. This one is Ted Bundy's last interview. Watching him speak and paying attention to his mannerisms are so interesting to me. So calm, so articulate. He's very good at manipulating others (he seems to even win over the interviewer, I feel)

Also, there's a recording of Bundy in the electric chair. I don't want to post it here, but it's haunting. Truly haunting.

I find them incredibly fascinating. I am completely aware that it is a slightly morbid branch of human behaviour to be so interested in but I can't help it.
I have read quite a few psychology books, a few of them written specifically about serial killers and I find the reasons that they choose to kill quite remarkable. I also find the similarities between certain serial killers quite interesting.
It does get me quite a few strange looks borrowing so many serial killer related books from the library though.. haha

I find them completely intriguing. I, too, find my attention wandering more over to the serial killers rather than the victims. I don't find them senseless monsters...for the most part. Sometimes I like to think they are just very lost and don't understand a lot of things. Though, there are those certain killers who are so far gone, they will never come back.

Motives. I think that is the most intriguing part.

@ astroz0mbie
That sounds wicked, thank you. I'm not sure if I'm up to watching the electric chair one but it does intrigue me...don't think I'll be watching it at night, haha.

I find it horrifying that someone would be driven to kill so many inncocent people. Why would you take someone elses life away. Nobody on this earth has the right to do that. That's why people go to jail for years after comitting murder. I find serial killers sick, and the sooner they're off the streets, the better.

For the longest time, I've been absolutely fascinated with serial killers. I don't know how it started exactly, but they're always just so captivating. Their antics, their motives, their signatures... It's all so interesting to me. Why have they killed the people that they did? Are they classified as psychotic or sociopathic? What was their breaking point? I have so many questions, and I honestly believe that there's no answer that'll satisfy me.

I like reading and watching movies about serial killers as well. I haven't watched any of the Hannibal movies or TV shows yet, but I plan on doing so soon. I remember going through a Ted Bundy phase after I read up on what he did, and when I found the movie on Netflix I was... well. I can definitely see why all of those women would send him letters.

I mean, if it really came down to me being in the same room with a serial killer, then yes I'd be scared as all hell. I'm not gonna sit and study them, I'd be fighting for my life. But from a safe distance, where the serial killers are either deceased or not near me at all? Yes, I'll do that frequently.

Fictional serial killers, too. Just any serial killer, really. All of them are fascinating. Disgusting and morally wrong, yes, but fascinating.

I find them intriguing. Like Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy. They really interest me.