Is it necessary for a serial killer to have a dark past? There have been many serial killers in the history of humanity, and “inhumanity” (as some like to describe those who have the heart to kill another human) over the time. However, in the history of serial killers, there is not another like Ed Gein, “The Plainfield Ghoul”. He was known with this peculiar and sinister nickname because he grew up on a farm a few miles outside of the town of Plainfield, Wisconsin where he exhumed corpses, body-snatched, and assassinated. Although very mentioned and feared when people hear his name, with fewer than three murders attributed, it is said that Ed Gein does not meet the traditional definition of a Serial killer. In 1968, Gein was sentenced to
Not all people have the same definition of evil. Evil can be expressed in many ways. Whether that be describing a person or giving a place a scary setting. Most though, think of evil as a person rather than a place. Those true qualities of evil help show if a person is a human monster. Many people have minor qualities but do not have the label of serial killer. John Wayne Gacy is an excellent example of a human monster because of his actions of murder and rape while demonstrating that nurture can shape a person's personality proving human monsters are more terrifying than those we read about in fiction.
The theory used in this journal pertains to the race, age, and gender of a serial killer; how they kill, the race, age, and gender of the victim; and how the killer lived before and during the killings. Before beginning his own study, Pakhomou (2004) found that “Serial (sexual killers are believed to be mostly white males in their twenties and thirties (at the time of the crimes) with above-average intelligence who commit intra-racial (within the same racial group) murders of strangers” (p. 220). Approximately half of them never had consensual sex with another adult, some joining the military, about half did not finish high school, and they had a history of burglary and sexual offenses prior to murders. There is no set reason or evidence that explains why people commit sexual homicide; however, there are many theories. One set factor that all researchers agree on is that “the most monstrous and most perverse sexual acts are usually committed by persons of sound mind, who are functionally rigid (in terms of a number of activities that they carry on), obsessed with fantasy and who have a determination to do what they want” (Pakhomou, 2004, p. 221).
His favorite spot to pick up boys was bus stations. If they did not willingly get into Gacy’s car he would use chloroform and force them in to the car. When he got them home he would “perform a magic trick”, the magic trick was with handcuffs and the victims ended up eventually being handcuffed to either a chair or a bed and that’s when Gacy would start raping them. In attempts to prevent neighbors from hearing his victim screaming he would shove things such as articles of clothing into their mouth. Once Gacy was finished with them he would strangle them or shove the clothing further down the victim’s throat until they stopped breathing. His favorite way to murder is victim was to tie a tourniquet around their neck and then sit there and watch the die slowly. Not every one of his victims were murdered, some of them he let go and a few of them escaped (Gacy 's Murders Consisted of Thirty Three Murders,
It all started with the ambition to be like his father and understand how to be like him. John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942. Gacy did not have the best childhood growing up. His father was a drunk and repeatedly beat his siblings and him with a razor strap and was said to have physically assaulted his mother too. Gacy’s sister, Karen, said that they learned to toughen up and not cry during the beatings.
Ted Bundy was a notorious serial murderer who’s reign of terror lasted from 1974 to 1978. Bundy was convicted of three homicides and was sentenced to death for all three charges. However, at the time of his execution, Bundy confessed to 30 murders however the exact number of victims is still unknown. Bundy’s crimes evolved over time but he was both a sexual sadist and a necrophiliac serial killer. At the beginning of his rampage, Bundy would sneak into the victims house in the middle of the night, violently attack them while they were sleeping with a blunt object and then Bundy would usually sexually assault them. However, as Bundy evolved, he utilized several different ruses (such as being injured or as an officer of the law) to lure the
He obviously carried this violent nature into his adulthood on a much larger scale and thought of his actions as acceptable. The fact that Gacy dressed as a clown clearly portrays that he learned these behaviors from a young age because being a clown is a childhood symbol. This reflects directly on what he was doing as an adult because here he had switched roles in a situation involving the molestation of a child. You can easily see the correlation between his childhood experiences and his reversed role adulthood actions. One personality disorder pertaining to Gacy was sociopathic. This is defined as "breaking rules and laws, takes advantage of other people for personal gain, feels little remorse or guilt, appears friendly and charming on the surface, and is often intelligent." John Wayne Gacy was doing all of the above. He lured children and employees into his car, being charming on the surface, and his friendly neighbor said that he was very intelligent and brilliant. Another disorder relating to him is borderline. He had very unstable relationships, starting with his father-son affair. Also, his wife had divorced him and his relationships were short term and very meaningless. He was very impulsive with his actions and was unpredictable with his sexual behaviors, considering he managed to rape 33 people. John Gacy was organized, which shocked many on their psychoanalysis of the crazed killer. This could be evidence to prove he was not insane. Personally, we believe that
In this paper I will be applying the psychological theories to serial killer Ed Gein. Ed Gein was a prolific serial killer in the 1950’s. He murdered and robbed graves for body parts to make furniture and clothing. He was apprehended in 1957, where he stood trial and was institutionalized.
Imagine that you are taking a brief walk at night with your dog or by yourself and suddenly feel suffocated. The next thing you know, you have become the next victim of a gruesome sexual attack. However, you could never tell your tale because, at the lowest point of this heinous ordeal, you realize that your rapist will now turn into your murderer. This is the case of the Hillside Strangler, a story of two cousins, Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, and the brutal crimes they were charged with. There were witnesses who dare to testified against those brutal murders. The murders used the insanity plea as route to escape their destination in jail.
On March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was born to John Wayne Gacy, Sr. and Marion Elaine Robinson as the second of three children. Gacy was very close to his mother and sisters as a child, but had a very troubled relationship with his alcoholic father because he was abusive. He was struck in the head when he was 11, forming a blood clot that caused him to suffer blackouts beginning when he was 16. Other than the issues with his father and the blood clot, John Wayne Gacy lived a seemingly normal childhood. He attended four high schools in four years, eventually dropping out and moving to Las Vegas. He began working for Palm Mortuary as a janitor. A few months later, he returned home to Chicago. He then enrolled to a business college and became a salesperson. After graduating, Gacy began working as a management trainee Nunn Bush Shoe Co. After working there for only a couple weeks, he was transferred to Springfield, Illinois.
The late sixties and early seventies were mostly known as a time of overseas war and stateside flower power. Although for the Northern California communities, it was a time of fear and desperation. During this time a man, a psychopath really, was terrorizing the people with his deranged antics. This man was, and still is, one of the most well known and dangerous serial killers that the United States has ever produced. This man is the one and only infamous Zodiac Killer.
This essay will examine the case study of the convicted serial killer Gary Ridgway, who was eventually caught and convicted for the murders 48 women. Ridgway, went on a killing spree of women without getting caught for over two decades, he went on to become the Green River Killer (Reichert, 2004). The essay will explore and evaluate the characteristics including the attribution of Garry Ridgway’s horrific crimes. In the 1980s and 1990s Ridgway targeted prostitutes, runaway girls, hitchhikers and vulnerable women in the locality of where he lived in Washington State, USA (Reichert, 2004). It baffled the authorities as to how he was able to commit these crimes whilst working and living in the locality of his crimes however, he was not suspected
The rarest form of murder is the one of serial murders. It is defined as the murder of three or more individuals with a ‘cooling-off’ period in-between. Serial killers have intrigued people for years and we still don’t fully comprehend what drives them to murder countless people. John Wayne Gacy, also known at the famous “Killer Clown” became a national phenomenon when his 33 rape and murder victims were uncovered in his home and other areas. The purpose of this research paper is to consider John Wayne Gacy’s abusive father, internal struggle with his sexuality, and constant need to be accepted and praised as possible reasons that led Gacy to murder 33 teenage boys. At the conclusion of this research, there will be no dominating factor to explain
John Wayne Gacy is a serial killer who killed 33 people in total. He was born on May 17th 1942 in Chicago where he was physically and verbally abused by his father. Since this age he showed unusual behaviours and avoiding society, but then was determined that he has a psychological disorder.
History is fraught with serial killers that committed unbelievable crimes. One of the most celebrated and commercialized is called Jack The Riper. Jack the Ripper is not the most notorious, successful or the first serial killer the world saw. Yet a lot of people consider him to be the godfather of the whole concept of serial killers. One of those killers, who easily outran Jack the Ripper is Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as H. H. Holmes, who bought and renovated a building in Chicago thus transforming it into a hotel where he killed foreigners, mainly women but also men and children during the World 's Columbian Exposition in 1893. “Trough his precise number of victims will never be known- estimates range into the