What Twists a Man So Far as Murder? (serial Killers)

D.Jay Schaibly

Eng 102

May 2, 2005

What twists a man so far as murder?

Many things today confuse, yet enthrall the masses. War, murder, medical science, incredible rescues, all things you would see on The History Channel. There is another topic that is also made into documentaries however, serial killers. Dark twisted people that commit multiple murders are of interest to the population, but what caused them to be this way. What horrible tragic set of events could twist a man to murder one or many people. Could Schizophrenia, psychopathy, or sociopathy? Many people have researched this topic and believe that childhood trauma, heavy drugs during the growing phase of life, as well as many other things have twisted the minds of men such as Jeffery Dahmer, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, and David Berkowitz. Many say that their actions were preventable but many other believe that the warning signs were present and that their behavior could have been modified long before the murders began.

The triad is the name given to the set of characteristic that serials killers are evident of in their youth. The "typical" serial killer is a sociopath or psychopath that during childhood was subject to three diagnoses: fire starting (pyromania), prolonged bed-wetting, and animal torture. All of these things correlate to a phase in life in which the young person is curious of certain things new to them. Most children grow out of their interest in fire starting when they first get burnt and bed-wetting when they progress out of the same phase. Animal torture is slightly different. Many children enjoy pulling the wings off a fly, or the legs off of other insects however grow up into quite productive members of society. Some children are enthused by larger animals. Jeffrey Dahmer was enthused originally by fish. He would gut them and inspect their organs to examined how they worked. Curiosity being the main reason for his actions, he would also nail frogs to trees and collect animals that had been run over by cars. Dahmer was less than characteristic in his choice of animals, the most popular victim being cats. Be it throwing felines from high elevations to watch them "splat" as explained by Ian Brady the Moors Murderer, gutting them and watching how far they can run after, or burying them alive cats have become the general choice among serial killers-to-be. The A to Z encyclopedia of Serial Killers mentions the following about animal torture:

"The vast majority of little boys who get their kicks from dismembering daddy longlegs or dropping firecrackers into anthills lose their stomach for sadism at an early age. The case is very different with incipient serial killers. Fixated at a shockingly primitive stage of emotional development, they never lose their craving for cruelty and domination. Quite contrary: it continues to grow in them like a cancer. Eventually - when dogs, cats, and other small, four-legged creatures can no longer satisfy it, they turn their terrifying attentions to a larger, two-legged breed: human beings."

The author mentions the "primitive stage of emotional development" in which the person would be retaining that would also explain the bed-wetting as one of the characteristics. Pyromania is another clear sign when in conjunction with the triad. Fire is something that can be controlled by a man and twisted into an idea of power. Fire for these individuals brings power and excitement. Henry Lee Lucas, who murdered over 450 people, burned down a house near his own at the age of six. Pyromania and animal torture/mutilation is a manifestation of the need for power that serial killers posses and never progress past in their mental age. The triad, according to The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, hold evident for nearly 60% of serial killers. These characteristics may later develop into sexual sadism, necrophilia, or other similarly disturbing social disorders.

This cookie-cutter triad is a basis developed my many in the psychological field and if present is quite apparent to people around the child. The question lies: Can further action be prevented? Would the parents notice this as a problem or could the parents have cause such issues through mistreatment of the child. Are there other means by which a person can be formed and twisted into a serial killer. John Wayne Gacy as a child was kept on heavy barbiturate drugs by his mother and was sexually molested by a male relative. Gacy later in life would murder his victims after sodomising and molesting them. In the case of Gacy the thing that triggered his murderous ways was the combination of drugs and sexual abuse. It is quite possible that these things twisted his mind and created the monster that he became. Gacy however is a very open case and very well known. The triad as stated before is only accurate about 60% of serial killers. What fueled the others to kill.

According to Melissa Anne Madden, a researcher for Court Tv, there are people called Copycat murderers who become obsessed with a certain serial killer and mimic their ways of murder often times after the murderer has been jailed or put to death. Many of these cases did not meet the criteria of the triad but however murdered as many if not more than the original killer that they chose to mimic. The zodiac killer in New York was one of these. Where the original zodiac killer murdered victims in the Bay Area a mimic appeared in New York. The handwriting on the notes was different and the physical description given by witnesses was completely different as well. Copy cats do not usually fit the normal settings of a serial killer. In most instances these imposters are either obsessed with the rampages of others or are schizophrenic and actually for periods of time believe they are the killer that they have heard of.

More recently however a new type of serial killer has emerged into public view, the "Angel of Mercy" type. Angels are people in the medical profession that kill their patients by means of neglect, drugging, or unplugging their victims. One man used drugs to kill over 40 seriously ill patients from 1987 to 2004 before realizing he was wrong and handing himself in to police. In most cases these people will kill their patients in order to "put them out of their misery." In most cases people who are given short periods of time to live or are suffering intensely become the targets of these twisted nurses. Some angels later in their careers turned to murdering patients that would complain to often, and in some cases would murder any patient just to make work easier on themselves. Like most serial killers the majority of this group tends to plead insanity when brought to justice though