HOW TO AVOID BEING MURDERED BY A SERIAL KILLER

A1Have you ever met a serial killer? I can’t say I have—at least not that I know of. But I’ve worked with other police officers who’ve dealt with them and I’ve investigated unsolved homicides that could be the work of a serial killer. Google Highway Of Tears. I’ve also helped send killers to jail who were possibly caught just before their serial murder career could start… or maybe already had…

So how would you recognize a serial killer if you met one?

First of all, let’s define a serial killer. According to the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit:

A2The term ‘serial killings’ means a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.

So it’s an individual who’s committed three or more homicides segregated by a block of time. A cooling-off period, so to speak. This separates true serial offenders like Ted Bundy, who committed a spaced-apart series of nation-wide killings, from localized spree or mass murderers like the Columbine shooters or bombers like Timothy McVeigh.

Now, let’s dispel a few myths.

A3Serial killers are not common. In fact, they’re exceptionally rare. Less than .01% of murders are classified as serial incidents. A 2012 study by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) lists the North American homicide rate as 3.9 per 100,000 in population, so doing the math from a combined populous of 464 million, you’ve got a .00039% chance of being a serial killer victim. It’s also estimated that no more than 300 serial killers are currently active in North America which puts them at .00064% of the population.

So, you’ve got better odds of scoring big on the lottery than bumping into a Bundy.

Serial killers are not dysfunctional, transient loners.

A5Gary Ridgway, Seattle’s Green River Killer, was married, lived in the same house for years, and held a steady job as an automotive painter. BTK murderer Dennis Rader was also married with children, a church leader, and slayed within a small radius of his home in Wichita, Kansas.

Serial killers are not all insane, nor are they evil geniuses.

A6Vancouver’s Willie Pickton, ran unchecked for years, right under the nose of overlapping police jurisdictions who saw him as a simpleton. Pickton, who butchered 49 women and fed them to his pigs, was no Google Geek but he instinctively stick-handled a skillful interrogation by my colleague Don Adam, one of the RCMP’s best polygraphists.

Serial killers are not all about sex.

It’s more a control thing. Satisfaction from the power of holding their victim’s life in their hands seems to be the primary motivator. It’s psychological, not material. David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, and Harold Shipman, the British doctor, are prime examples of power freaks.

Serial killers are not natural deviants.

Paul Bernardo 1993They’re products of their development from birth to adulthood with a vast assortment of contributing factors. Socio-economic upbringing. Neglect. Sexual and physical abuse. Poor self-esteem and harsh peer influence. Clifford Olson, the Beast of BC who brutally hammer-murdered eleven children, became incorrigible early in his pathetic childhood and Paul Bernardo resulted from an affluent, but highly-dysfunctional, middle-class family. He came of age in his teens.

Serial killers have no gender or racial template.

A8John Wayne Gacy was white. Wayne Williams was black. Richard Ramirez was Hispanic. Charles Ng was Chinese. They’re not all male, either. There’s Karla Holmolka, who assisted Bernardo in raping and murdering other women including her own sister, and Aileen Wuronos, a particularly nasty piece of work who did in her johns.

Serial killers are not a 21st century, western phenomenon.

A10They’ve been in all cultures and over all ages. Australia and the UK have an abnormally high rate of serial killers, while some of the really weird ones come from Belarus, South Africa, and Germany. Not classified as serial killers are genocide-orchestrating, evil-entities like Adolf Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot. Those guys got others to do their dirty work and are in a class of their own.

Serial killers do not have a death wish, nor a longing to get caught.

Most go to extremes to avoid detection, learning from mistakes, improving their craft, and rarely do they taunt their investigators like the Zodiac Killer of California did. He’s yet to be identified. Same with Jack the Ripper.

Here’re a few things we do know about serial killers.

A13

They’re not capable of rehabilitation.

By the time they progress to this extremely abhorrent behavior, it’s too late. And who in their right mind would take a chance on releasing one? Life without parole or the death penalty are the only options.

Their psychology is complicated.

A15Psychopathy is the common diagnosis, but their kinks in antisocial personality disorders seem to be as unique as their modus operandis. Commonly, they have lack of self-control, need immediate gratification, practice predatory behavior, and possess a complete lack of remorse. They can be charming, crafty, spectacularly manipulative, and are pathological liars—not the sort of folks you want inviting you over for dinner, especially a guy like Jeffrey Dahmer. And around puberty, most were cruel to animals, pyromaniacs, and chronic bed-wetters. This is known in forensic psychiatry as the “Triad“.

There’s less and less of them all the time.

A16That’s because of better technological and psychological detection methods resulting in their earlier removal from society. DNA and databanks have been a Godsend in solving multiple offenses, especially clearing cold-cases. There’re better analytical tools like the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Profiling System, ViCAP, the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, the NGI, the Next Generation Identification system, and IBIS, the Integrated Ballistic Identification System.

Police resources are better trained and have sophisticated case management software, as well as improved inter-jurisdictional communication. And there’s also legislative initiates like Canada’s Dangerous Offenders Act which allows for indefinite incarceration regardless of maximum statutory sentencing requirements.

We’re fascinated by serial killers.

Why?

Because they tell us about ourselves.

A18I believe they’re extenuation of folklore monsters we heard about in kid stories. The bogeyman. The big bad wolf. Trolls under bridges and witches in forests. Jekyll & Hyde. Frankenstein. Dracula. Psycho. And who hasn’t freaked over Hannibal Lector ?

We’re terrified of monsters and horrified by what they can do to us. But, deep-down, we have an intense curiosity about what makes these monsters tick. It may be a fear that we, ourselves, could become a monster. Or the stranger two doors down may already be one. Nature has hard-wired our brains to manage our safety through recognizing danger and alerting each other before it happens. We do this through storytelling and we’re fascinated by good stories. Especially stories about the most dangerous of creatures—serial killers.

So how do you avoid being murdered by a serial killer?

Simple. Don’t do what their victims do.

A19Serial killers are creatures of habit and opportunity. They go for the easiest, most vulnerable, most disposable prey. Generally, those are women and youths of both sexes in the high-risk lifestyle demographics—sex trade workers, substance abusers, socio-economic outcasts, and free-spirits who travel alone.

The odds of your being murdered—never mind by a serial killer—are astronomically remote.

But you can still decrease those odds by not associating with a charming stranger.

Knowing who to avoid takes sobriety, experience in life, common sense, and exercising caution when being alone.

A20

14 thoughts on “HOW TO AVOID BEING MURDERED BY A SERIAL KILLER

  1. Tanya Hufnagle

    Great article. In writing my books for the Alpa Trilogy, I’ve researched killers…as I build and dive into the mind of two very different killers I absolutely love this blog. I look forward to learning more

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      Thanks, Tanya. I’m always on the lookout for interesting topics. My logline is “Provoking Thoughts on Life, Death, and Writing” and it seems the best- received posts are on the darker side of the world. There’s no shortage of material over there 🙂

  2. Dan Kyle

    I have long thought that a few of those who work in slaughterhouses and factories that process animals, and become desensitized to butchering living creatures, have more chance by way of these environmental factors to becoming serial murderers if genetically predisposed. Organically, exposure to some of these (diseased) animals fluids may also cause degeneration of their brain function and lead to unsuppressed violent behaviour. That hunters who display trophies show similar signs to psychopaths, and in some cases such as Robert Hansen actually start hunting humans, would seem to bolster the possible link between killing animals and then moving to human beings. One of the triads is animal cruelty, though that mainly supports the assertion that these killers seek the thrill of control, as with pyromania, and possibly linked to their own bedwetting, more than any sexual act. A further trait is that serial killers will not use a public washroom (urinal) with others around – so observed in numerous cases by tailing detectives.

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      I’d never heard that about serial killers and public washrooms. Thanks for sharing this and for your thoughtful comment, Dan. I appreciate it!

      1. Dan Kyle

        Garry, it turns out that I am slightly wrong on that aspect: I was referring to The MacDonald Triad (bed wetting, arson, and torturing animals), which are strong indicators of a developing psychopathy – though obviously not definitive. However, I was also remembering several cases I have read of where the surveillance team noted that the suspect (of several murders) would not use a public restroom while others were present. I do not have a reference for that, but have read it a few times in cases over the years. Google did not help me though…
        Cheers!
        Dan Kyle
        Comox, BC

        1. Garry Rodgers Post author

          You could be quite right about serial killers and public washrooms – it sounds plausible, for sure. I’m fairly familiar with the MacDonald Triad and it’s a well-accepted behavior indicator. My recent book “In The Attic” has a reference to the Triad as Billy Ray Shaughnessy was a classic example of the Triad in his formative years. Thanks for commenting, Dan. I appreciate it. Garry in Nanaimo 🙂

  3. Jennifer Chase

    Great article Gary! I think, for the most part, that people (investigators, profilers, public, etc.) want the magic formula or the SK Recipe–but in fact, there just isn’t one and there never will be. The best we can do is study and learn from mistakes, and hopefully catch the next serial killer before they strike again. Investigations as well as investigtors need to evolve just as the SKs are trying to do. Have a great weekend!!! 🙂

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      Thanks, Jennifer. I appreciate this comment – especially coming from someone in the know like you. The “craft” of killing and solving does evolve, but I really think with today’s sophistication in forensics and information banks (like the NGI) serial killers are getting caught faster and earlier. I doubt they’ll ever cease to exist.

  4. chris crowder

    I remember reading years ago about Ann Rule, an experienced police woman, who worked alongside Ted Bundy while investigating the murders he was committing. It was a frightening thought that if she didn’t make the connection what defense would someone like me, just regular folks, have against someone like Bundy. I’ve always been suspicious of overly charming people ever since. Your article puts my fears to rest. Thank you.

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      Thanks for commenting, Chris. I think the chances of a “normal” person, who doesn’t have a high-risk lifestyle, being murdered by a serial killer are like getting hit by sheet lightning and a stolen Ford Pinto at the same time.

  5. Sue Coletta

    Did you notice I didn’t post today? Do you know why? I was midway through writing about this same topic when your post hit my inbox!!! Great minds think alike. 😉 Maybe I can tweak it and link to this article. Happy Canada Day!!!!

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      I’ve also heard it said “Small minds seldom differ” but that obviously that doesn’t apply to you & I, Sue 🙂 Actually, this is a recycled piece from a few years ago and it had a lot of traffic, including me being interviewed on Vancouver’s #1 talk-radio show about this post, facts & figures. (Brag, brag). Still no progress in the Highway Of Tears investigation so I thought I’d re-run it. I worked on a bunch of them in the 80’s & 90’s while stationed in Northern British Columbia. There’s a really unique MO to some, as well as an unknown offender DNA profile… these cold cases are never closed till solved, so here’s hoping. And Happy Fourth Of July to you & Bob!

        1. Garry Rodgers Post author

          I think you should & also feel free to link to this post. Something I picked up from another blogger, who’s been around a while and has grown their mailing list, is to “repurpose” you earlier posts that had good traction. It takes the weekly workload down and gives “fresh” content to new followers and most of the long-time crowd will have forgotten it by now, anyway 🙂

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