6 common myths about serial killers

People are both horrified and intrigued by serial killers. They appear on the front pages of our newspapers. They star as the antagonists in our horror movies and crime novels. They’re even given large-than-life nicknames such as “The BTK Killer” and “The Night Stalker”. When whispers of a possible serial killer operating in an area rise to the surface, the media is set alight. The tabloids explode and the Internet buzzes with excitement; with blog posts, social networks and forum topics feeding the ever-growing frenzy. “He’s probably a white male”, proclaims one blog author. “He’s most likely a loner”, affirms a forum member. The rumors and the Chinese whispers and the misconceptions continue to be passed around, fueled by years of watching popular crime-based TV shows and movie scenes of FBI agents delivering psychological profiles on the serial killers that they’re trying to catch. Hopefully, this post will challenge some of those myths.

1: Serial killers are dysfunctional loners and social misfits.

Incorrect! Take the “BTK Killer”, Dennis Rader, for example. Rader was married with two children and was the president of his church. He was a boy scout leader (see picture on the left) and had served honorably in the US Air Force. The fact is however, that this settled family man and church leader was also a horrific serial killer who tortured and brutally murdered 10 people between 1974 and 1991. Rader also frequently taunted the media and the police by sending them letters. In one of his many letters, Rader even came up with his own nickname: “The BTK Killer”, with “BTK” being an acronym for “Bind, Torture and Kill”. In February 2005, KSAS-TV in Wichita, Kansas received a padded envelope from a person claiming to be the “BTK Killer”. Enclosed was a floppy disk, a letter and a photocopy of the front cover of a crime novel called Rules of Prey. On the floppy disk, police computer forensics discovered a deleted Microsoft Word file. After recovering the file, the police were able to pull metadata from it. The metadata read “Christ Lutheran Church”. It also showed that the document was last modified by somebody named “Dennis”. After tracking down the Christ Lutheran Church and realizing that their main suspect was the president of the congregation council, the police decided to put Dennis Rader under surveillance. During this period of time, police also managed to obtain a warrant for his daughter’s medical records. Using a tissue sample of hers, police were able to confirm that his daughter’s DNA was a familial match with semen collected at an earlier BTK crime scene. This, along with evidence collected during the surveillance of Dennis Rader, gave police a probable cause for arrest. On the 25th of February, Rader was pulled over by Wichita police. After being arrested, one of the police officers asked Rader if he knew why he was “going downtown”, to which Rader replied, “Oh, I have my suspicions. Why?”. So, why did Rader continue to send letters to the press so long after he had stopped killing people? Well, according to Rader himself, he chose to resurface in 2004 after David Lohr’s feature case on the story and the release of the book, Nightmare in Wichita: The Hunt for the BTK Strangler. He also said that since his kids had grown up, he had a lot more free time on his hands.

2: Serial Killers are always white.

Wrong! According to the FBI, “the racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors that of the overall U.S. population”. For example; Carl Eugene Watts, aka “The Sunday Morning Slasher”, was an African American serial killer who kidnapped, tortured and then murdered 12 women. Police now suspect that Watts may have killed more than 100 women. It’s a scary thought, because if that number is correct, then Carl Eugene Watts committed more murders than Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy… combined. In 2007, “The Sunday Morning Slasher” died of Prostate Cancer while in prison.

Another example of a non-white serial killer is Charles Ng, a native from Hong Kong, China. In 1999, Ng was sentenced to death after being found guilty of murdering 11 people in Calaveras County, California. Ng and his accomplice Leonard Lake, had even filmed themselves torturing and raping their victims. Ng is currently sitting on death row.

In July 1999, Angel Maturino Reséndiz
(aka “Rafael Resendez-Ramirez”, aka “The Railway Killer” / “The Railroad Killer”) was arrested on suspicion of murdering 24 people. The Mexican citizen had wandered throughout the United States on trains in order to commit his attacks. After killing his victims with rocks and other blunt objects, Reséndiz would often spend time in his victim’s home, eating their food and rummaging through their personal belongings in order to try and get to know them. On the 26th of June, 2006, Reséndiz was put to death by lethal injection.

3: Serial killers cannot stop themselves from killing.

Yet another misconception. Remember “The BTK Killer”, Dennis Rader, who I mentioned in point one? Well, he took his last victim in 1991. From 1992 until 2005 (the year that he was apprehended), Dennis Rader didn’t kill anyone. Why did he stop claiming victims? Well, according to Rader himself, he began taking part in various auto-erotic activities such as BDSM, which he said satisfied his needs. The truth is, serial killers can stop killing for a number of reasons, with increased participation in family activities and sexual substitution being just two.

4: All serial killers are evil geniuses and/or insane.

I see this one pop up all the time. The truth is; Serial killers tend suffer from a number of personality disorders such as psychopathy. However, they generally don’t suffer from insanity. As for all serial killers being evil geniuses? Well, I reckon that’s just a myth that has been cultivated by the big screen. In fairness to Hollywood, it wouldn’t be exciting if the big bad serial killer was a complete dumbass who gets apprehended five minutes into the movie. When it comes to intelligence, serial killers tend to be in the “bright normal” range. However, it is important to note that there have been many cases of serial killers having low IQs.

5: Serial killers want to get caught.

Wrong. The reason that serial killers end up getting caught is because they generally become less careful as time goes on. After evading capture for a period of time, a serial killer will begin to feel as if he or she is somehow invincible and that law enforcement officials are incapable of catching up. They start out being meticulous with their murders, but as time goes on and their feeling of empowerment grows, they begin to cut corners and plan out their murders less. This is when they begin to leave behind vital pieces of evidence.

6: Serial killers are always male

While female serial killers are rare, they do in fact exist. Take Aileen Wuornos for example. Wuornos killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Wuornos claimed that the men she murdered had raped her or had attempted to rape her while she worked as a prostitute. Wuornos would riddle her victims with 5 or 6 bullets and then leave their bodies in remote areas. In October, 2002, Aileen Wuornos was executed via Lethal Injection.

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