Serial Killers: An Overview of Multiple Homicides - Essay Sample

Introduction

Serial killing is one of the three primary forms of multiple homicides. It is said to be the killing of three or more individuals by a person or a group. Multiple homicides are associated with mass, spree, or serial. Mass murder involves killing or committing more than three homicides at the same time. On the other hand, spree killing, the crimes are spread out in terms of time and location and usually consist of three or more continuous series of murders. The serial killers may or may not take a ‘cooling-off period.’ When serial killing occurs, the same individuals committing the killings are likely to commit three or more killings where the cooling-off period in between. In the last few decades, the issue of multiple homicides, which involves serial and mass murder, has created a lot of attention in the criminology field. The media is also on the front line in informing the people about the homicide cases to the public. The impact of the media representation of homicides cases to the people using homicide cases that have happened in real life will be discussed in this essay.

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According to history, homicide is one of the oldest legal prohibitions. The earliest case of murder occurred in the bible when Cain killed his brother Abel. The laws that prohibit homicide are implemented differently depending on the culture or the constitution of that state. A good example is a roman republic where they believed that homicide victimization is for the families to settle rather than involving the movement (McNamara et al, 2019). The literature scholars have also explored the matter in depth. Shakespeare, through his stories, he explains the fiction of murder most foul. Even the social sciences such as history, psychology, and political science have also addressed the issue in depth. Literature and social sciences help the public to understand the different types of homicides and how they occur. Due to technology, the media has taken the role of informing the public about homicide cases and how they happened.

The field of criminology has identified four types of serial killings. They include:

Thrill-Seekers

There are the killers that view outsmarting the law as an amusement. They seem to be enjoying the attention they get from the media and also enjoy being chased by the authorities. They are differentiated from the rest of the serial killers since they send messages to each other are which live records of themselves behind. They appear organized although they do not fully organize everything; hence can be said to be unorganized murderers. Also, they are known to rape their victims before they can eliminate them. They use weapons and hide the corpse's body before moving to the next victim if they are not caught in the process (Cassell et al, 2018, p.1581).

Mission-Oriented

The mission serial killers feel that they are doing society a favor by getting rid of specific people who bring shame to the community. Some of the victims of serial killers are prostitutes, drug dealers, homosexuals, among others. They fully organize their crime, which makes it easier to track them. They go after specific people hence are quickly followed.

Visionary Killers

Some people suffer psychotic breaks in society. At one time, they are not themselves and continuously believe that they are other persons. At times they are compelled to murder by entities such as God or the devil. An excellent example of a visionary killer is David Berkowitz. He claimed that the devil had commanded him to kill his neighbor’s dog. The visionary killers are unorganized and quickly confess, making it easier to track them.

Power and Control Seekers

These serial killers tend to enjoy when they see people suffering, screaming, and in terror. Most of them have a history of child abuse that made them feel powerless and inadequate. There are also victims of sexual abuse hence believe in rape to dominate their victims.

In most of the criminal homicides committed, the victim, in most cases, is always the senior contributor to the crime. However, there are several cases when the victim is innocent, or the act was just a mere accident. According to scholars, around 70 percent of victims of homicide cause their demise. One of the well-known stories of a serial killer is Holmes. He was convicted of having committed more than nine murder cases (Fairbairn et al, 2018, pp.477-497). He is considered the first serial killer in the United States. After being sentenced, he confessed to having been involved in 27 murders.

After admitting some of the investigators felt that maybe he was involved in more than the murder cases that he had confessed. The authorities knew about his killings after one waiter told the police that he was not allowed to clean certain parts of the floor. After he admitted to being guilty, he was hanged in 1896. A century later, in 2003, a book was written where the author called it ‘The Devil In The White City.’ The book juxtaposes murderers explaining how some act as if they are possessed, hence killing them. Somehow the ideas written in the book relate to Holmes acts (Fairbairn et al, 2018, pp.477-497).

Various authors of philosophy came out and wrote articles and books that explained the theories of interactions. They seem to focus on social psychology. Hentig in ‘The Criminal and Victim’ provided some theories that are used to analyze the relationship between the offender and victim (Fox, 2017, pp 37-43). In one of the chapters, the author states the ‘duet frame of crime’ where he says that it is difficult to perform an amenable analysis. He seems to attack the legislative for paying attention to the premeditation and not investigating the motives. According to Hentig, it is essential to examine the interrelationship between the offenders and the victims. He was quick to note that at times the victim may provoke the person into the attack.

Apart from the theoretical concepts, the law of homicide has stated that it might be possible for the victim to be the main reason the crime occurred. The crimes include murder to manslaughter or from criminal to homicides, among others. According to researchers, the two mitigations may be caused by the four prerequisites.

Presence of provocation by the victim to the offender

The murder must have been as a result of the heat of passion.

The killing might have been caused by provocation, and the victim did not have enough time to cool the passion.

A connection that connects provocation, the heat of passion, and murder act like rape to a close relative to the offender or adultery (Mouzos, 2017

Victim precipitated is a term that is used to refer to homicide crime, and the victim was a direct precipitate in the whole ordeal. In such a crime, the victim is the precipitate since he or she picked the weapon first in self-defense. In such cases, the victim is always the first to provoke the offender. A good example is when there is robbery in the victims’ house and tries to stop the theft. At times people fail to take the robbers seriously when they are told to lie down; as a result, the offenders end up killing the victim despite it not being their plans. Another example is the infidelity of a lover, which leads to an argument. Both lovers will try to argue the reasoning, which may lead to a person provoking another one then may lead to the killing, which was out of anger.

There are examples of illustrations that can be used by those in the criminology field to explain more about homicides prerequisites (Culhane, 2019, pp.1-13). The first one is when the husband attacked the wife for having sent cash to another man. They started the argument when the wife was making breakfast. The husband attacked the wife with a milk bottle and a concrete block. However, the wife was holding a butcher knife in her hand, and she stabbed him during the fight. In such a situation, the victim was the one who started the fight but unfortunately ended up being the victim. Had he not attacked the wife with the bottle, it’s evident that the wife would not have stabbed him.

Another case is when a couple is arguing because the man is accused of adultery. The man tries to break off the relationship with his mistress, but they end up arguing. The man gets angry and throws a kerosene can that was next to his leg. The mistress is retaliated and throws the liquid to the man and later toss a lighted match to his direction. The man dies from severe burns. The two illustrations show that there are many causes of homicides. However, in most cases, the victims are the ones that provoke the offenders (Schlesinger, 2017, pp.72-80). Most of the homicide criminals who plead guilty claim it to be self-defense; though some may be lying, there are chances for it to be real. For example, a wife who has an alcoholic husband may accidentally kill her husband when he tries to hit her.

There is a strong relationship between crime and the media. The media has a role in formulating policies and ensuring thorough coverage of crime news that will help in setting a plan that will reinforce and support the punitive policies. The media includes social media platforms and weblogs, which are in the front line in ensuring that the members of the society are aware of what is happening. The public is made aware of the things that may affect them either directly or indirectly.

Due to modern technology, the mass media has become the source of news, entertainment, and other product information that are in the western world. The media is always keen to ensure that they inform the public on all the events that may affect their lives (Roberts,2018, pp.391-409).To fully understand the role of the media in reporting crimes, one should first understand how the media reports crimes. It is worth noting that the media is also business to some people. Currently, due to global changes, the news media is also struggling to achieve its goals. There are different types of media and cover crime news differently.

National Media

The national media is not involved in covering personal crime stories unless it is unique and contains aspects that attract the individual. The national media include high profile homicide cases like the Robert Pickton homicide case. Individual cases attract the national media if it involves a serial killer, many numbers of people, or involves allegations that show police negligence. There was also a case of a British Columbian woman who was gang-raped at a party. Some of the people took pictures and posted on the internet and other social media platforms. After the photos were posted online, the nation became interested in the story and decided to do a news story about it.

Once a story is already on the internet, the national media covers it and adds intensity to it. The talk shows on the radio may also discuss topics that are related to different views. Radio presenters ask the listeners on the opinions about current issues that are happening in the world or their country (Zeoli, 2018). The national media also use the opportunity to cover crime-related problems such as a law that is being discussed in parliament. The reporters will find some of the victims and ask them about the questions related to the homicide crime that they were involved in.

Local Media

The local media covers news that belongs to a specific geographical area. It may be a country or a city. The reporters give the crime in-depth, unlike the national media that provides only the relevant information.

Web-Based Media

The type of media includes weblogs, online sharing, and social media platforms. They are growing at a rapid pace. Currently, most of the organizations that produce the daily newspapers have made it a norm to post copies online since most of the people can access it there. Since it is possible to a...