...cases people who commit crimes were fatalities of other types of crimes before. There are different types of crimes, but I am going to centre on one type of contemporary crime, which is serial murder, and I will also not forget to look at the incidence, nature, causes and lessening and prevention measures also of serial murder. Understanding Serial Murder/ conceptualisation “South African criminal law defines murder as the unlawful and intentional killing of another person”, Bezuidenhout (2011). In other words the killing must be unlawful in order to be defined as murder. The perpetrator may not be found guilty of murder if she/he claims it was self-defence. Bezuidenhout (2011) , also emphasis that the killing also has to be intentional in order to be labelled as murder. For example if sixteen people die in a car accident. The tax driver may be guilty for not driving like he is expected but he the killing may not be defined a murder. There are many different types of murder, but I will focus on Serial murder. “Serial Murder is defined as the killing of multiple victims over the period of time ranging from days or weeks to months” Adler et al (1996). Adler et al, also emphasis that Serial murders have a minimum of three to four victims. All serial murders turn to have many things in common.“Serial murders tend to be highly mobile in order to minimise the likelihood of establishing links between the murder they commit between various geographic”, Addler (1996). It has been argued...
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...Jack the Ripper was one of the most famous and renowned killers in history. Even though he was not the first serial killer, he was the first killer to strike on a metropolis setting. Jack the Ripper was in his prime at a time when the media had a strong control over society and society had as a whole was becoming much more literate. Jack started his killing campaign at a time of political controversy between the liberals and social reformers along with the Irish Home rule partisans. The reports of Jack the Ripper were collected and reported by the police, but then the different newspapers with their political influences slightly distorted the stories to give them their own effect. It has been more the one hundred years since the last murder and there is no longer any more original evidence, and the "facts" about the stories have changed over time due to different writers or differing sources. The press changed Jack the Ripper from being a depressed killer of prostitutes to one of the most romantic figures seen throughout history. One fact that most sources agreed upon was that the Ripper was a killer who wanted nothing more than to strike fear into the entire city by horribly mutilating his victims and then leaving them in locations where they were sure to be seen. Jack was the type of killer that wants fame and loved the fact that his "name" was on everyone's lips and was able to strike fear into anyone and everyone's heart. In the late 1800's "Jack the Ripper"...
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...Gary Leon Ridgway was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and after a string of killings that extended roughly 20 years he was dubbed, by local police, as the Green River Killer. He had admitted to killing over 90 prostitutes and had “lost count because it was so many”. Despite his IQ of 82, he had this serial killing down to a science and evaded police for quite sometime before a DNA test eventually convicted him of a murder and tied him to the whole string of murders that he had committed over the past decade. One has to ask themselves, “What makes a person such a monster?”, in this paper I will attempt to explain what may or may not have contributed to these horrific murders. However it is important to keep in mind that these are theories and not actual factual explanations for these acts of violence. Neurosis is defined as various forms of mental disorders of less violent nature. Now you think how could I have chosen this, “less violent behavior”, when the man killed prostitutes by strangling them, one of the more violent things a person is capable of. I chose it because it includes anxiety disorders which I believe Ridgway must have had that stemmed into his adult life, I based this theory off the fact that his mother would embarrass him in front of family and friends because he had a bed wetting problem later into life than most. Also the list of disorders that neurosis had, one stood out to me, Post traumatic stress disorder or PTS. He did serve in the military during Vietnam...
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...A Reasonably Sane Killer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born may 21st 1960, in West Allis, Wisconsin. He was the son of Joyce Annette and Lionel Herbert Dahmer, and an older brother to David Dahmer. By all accounts he was born into a seemingly normal family, in a middle class white neighborhood. He attended and completed Revere High School, and then attended Ohio State University for a short period of time, but was asked to leave due to his drinking habits. Dahmer underwent Hernia surgery when he was eight years old, and it is said to have changed his personality from that point on. Growing up, Dahmer realized at a young age his fascination with dead creatures. He would patrol his neighborhood for dead animals and then bring them back to his home or the woods and dissect them. Although Dahmer did not torture or kill animals, he had pets of his own at home; he was interested in seeing what was inside of them. At the age of thirteen, Dahmer also had the realization that he was homosexual, causing him major confusion, and sexual frustration. After the age of thirteen he began to distance himself from reality more and more. He suffered from being the victim of bullying all through his school years, due to his strange uncommunicative personality. He was also suffering from loneliness and rejection from his peers and family. Dahmer severely lacked social skills in his teenage and childhood years. At this point in his life he was starting to have very impulsive fantasies and...
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...religion; not everybody who is Muslim is also tied into al-Qaeda. Just because woman/man wear head gear also make them an extremist who is out to bomb something. But because of this tragedy, we have done just that, accused and damned their religion and beliefs; because they are not like us and well because of 9/11. “The Chaser” The movie I chose was “The Chaser”; a movie filmed in South Korea about an ex-detective turned pimp who finds himself in financial trouble because two of his girls disappeared. After sending his last girl, he finds out that the customer is also the last customer of the other two girls who just went missing; in his quest of finding the where about of those two other girls he unfolds the truth. This customer is a serial killer! The reason I chose this movie was first because it was filmed in South Korea, second because I would be able to see how their laws were and how they lived in South Korea. Many stereotypes I have heard over the years: political corruption, violent sex crimes,...
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...“Mr. Brooks” I chose to do my term paper on the film “Mr. Brooks.” The Plot of the Film consists of the main character; Earl Brooks who is played by Kevin Costner, owner of a successful box business, who is married to a devoted wife, which they have a loving daughter together and love unconditionally. But Mr. Brooks has a terrible secret that he has been able to hide from everyone. That terrible secret happens to be that he is a psychopathic serial killer who is known in media as the “Thumbprint Killer.” Being a wealthy, successful businessman recently honored by the Portland, Oregon, Chamber of Commerce as "Man of the Year" as well as a philanthropist no one has ever suspected him. Being unable to control his horrific addiction, Brooks gives in to his sadistic, all too real alter ego “Marshall” played by William Hurt. A pesky, voyeuristic witness “Mr. Smith,” played by Dane Cook catches him in the act of his latest crime. The rush that Mr. Smith felt after seeing Mr. Brooks brutally kill a couple he used to watch and take pictures of while engaging in sexual activities has set him on a path of destruction and he is taking all the wrong steps to get there. Then there’s the detective, “Tracy Atwood,” played by Demi Moore who has been on the case for quite some time without Mr. Brooks knowledge of it adds a few twists and turns to an already terrifying game of cat and mouse. The way the script has been written, is a “moral” one. You have a man, “Mr. Brooks” who is fighting...
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...FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY | H.H HOLMES | AMERICAS FIRST SERIAL KILLER | | Kevin Hutter | 10/20/2011 | H.H HOLMES, THE FIRST AMERICAN SERIAL KILLER, IN THE FOLLOW RESEARCH PAPER WE WILL BE LOOKING AT PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HIS CRIMES TROUGH HIS EARLY CHILDHOOD TILL HIS EXECUTION IN THE LATE 1800’S | Herman Webster Mudgett, better known under the alias of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, was one of the first documented American serial killers in the modern sense of the term. Mudgett was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire [4] to Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodore Page Price, both of whom were descended from the first non-native settlers in the area. According to the 2007 Most Evil profile on Holmes, his father was a violent alcoholic, and his mother was a devout Methodist who read the Bible to Herman. He claimed that, as a child, schoolmates forced him to view and touch a human skeleton after discovering his fear of the local doctor. The bullies initially brought him there to scare him, but instead he was utterly fascinated, and he soon became obsessed with death. Born to an affluent family, Holmes had a privileged childhood. It has been said that he appeared to be unusually intelligent at an early age. Still there were haunting signs of what was to come. He expressed an interest in medicine, which reportedly led him to practice surgery on animals. Some accounts indicate that he may have been responsible for the death of a friend. [2] Holmes also talked about his childhood...
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...DEAHow was the suspect identified? How was the crime solved? What evidence was there? What could, or should, have been done differently? While reading this case about the serial murders of John Norman Collins there were a couple of things going through my mind. While there was sufficient detail on how the murders were performed, I don’t believe there was sufficient information on the evidence that was available for Collins to be incriminated. The following is information on how he was identified, how the crime was solved with the evidence that was used, and what I thought could have been done differently. It is important to note the dates of the crimes as that could interfere with any potential tests that could have been done to incriminate Collins faster. The suspect John Norman Collins was identified for various reasons. He was seen by various witnesses in the motorcycle that was identified as the transport he used for his victims, as well as the car he used. The fact the most of the murders occurred within a close proximity of each other and most had to do with East Michigan University further pointed the evidence that he was the serial murderer. Most of the murders were the same with the victims either naked or almost naked, all women, most on their menstrual cycles. Collins had had a confrontation with a woman that he had been fondling and was on her period before hand. He was disgusted and stormed off angrily. By learning the locations of the murders as well as where...
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...Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer was a notorious serial killer who killed about seventeen young males and boys. Most of the victims were African-American or other minorities, but they were also homosexuals. Dahmer, a 31-year-old good-looking man from Milwaukee, would cruise gay bars and choose his victims by their skin color (mostly dark), attractiveness, and their physique. Jeffrey Dahmer would lure them into his apartment and that’s where he would begin his infatuation with his supposedly new lover. Dahmer would perform some of the most horrifying acts a human being could ever commit. In some cases Dahmer would drill holes in the victims head and then pour acid through the skull, he would keep the heads as a “souvenir”. He would also tear the bodies’ limb from limb and keep a certain body part from the victim to remind him of their endless beauty. Jeffrey Dahmer was a sick and twisted man. In his eyes he believed he did no such thing wrong. He blamed his outrageous behavior on alcohol. But one thing Jeff Dahmer had was wits because he did know how to out smart a judge. Dahmer at one time spoke on his own defense and the things he would say would make you think twice maybe he is truly sorry for his actions and deserves a second chance or maybe it’s just an extraordinary act which he plays well. The judge fell right into his trap in which lead Dahmer to be on probation for five years, serve a sentence for a year in the House of Correction and Dahmer would still be able to...
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...Explore, in depth, one well-known criminal case. You may select your own case, or select from one of the following: Jeffery McDonald, Andrea Yates, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Aileen Wournos, John Wayne Gacy, Philip Markoff (the Craigslist killer), Scott Peterson, Anthony Sowell, or Dennis Rader (BTK strangler). Your case study should focus on the following 1. Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. 2. Must include a title page with the following: a. Title of paper b. Student’s name c. Course name and number d. Instructor’s name e. Date submitted 3. Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement. 4. Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought. 5. Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis. 6. Must use five to eight scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library. 7. Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. 8. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. a.Summarize the case, including a description of the offense(s), the investigation, and the outcome (such as the trial and sentencing). b.Analyze the psychological history or path that took the criminal to commit his or her crime(s). Describe the psychological, behavioral, environmental, and cognitive factors that you believe led to the offender’s...
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...an approaching problem, the serial killer. A serial killer is a person who kills a number of people, usually considered over five, with a cooling off period between each murder, usually one murder at one given time). Two murders at one time occasionally happen and these murders may go on for a period of months or years until the killer is caught. Throughout the last three decades the US serial killer rate has risen 94% and it is estimated that by the next millennium it will claim an average of 11 lives a day. Serial Murder is an epidemic; there are at least 35 serial killers active in the USA today who claim one third of the annual murder rate. The USA has 6% of the world's population yet it has three quarters of all serial killers. Not only are serial killers appearing in more numbers in the US but also all over the world countries are terrorized by serial killers, which are appearing in more numbers year and year after. KILLER TRAIT: A serial killer is a typical white male, 20-30, and most of them are usually in the USA. Their main motives are sex (even though the act of sex may or may not take place), power, manipulation, domination and control. The sex motive is usually rape for an organized killer and sadism for a disorganized killer. They act in a series of 5 or more murders with a cooling off period between each murder. Serial killers can go on for months and years before they are usually caught. The victim is usually the same for every killer - prostitute, hitchhiker etc...
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...Serial Killers: America's New Epidemic. Serial killers have been around since the dawn of history, their numbers multiplying exponentially within the past five decades. In recent years, words such as "baffling" and "mysterious" have become routine to describe the growing phenomenon. It is imperative to develop a workable solution and general understanding of these predators in human form as a new wave of serial murders reach crisis rates in this millennium. More than fifteen-hundred serial killers are on record at this time. Though serial murder is not "new", the numbers have gone up in recent years. From 1900 to 1959 the U.S. reported about two serial murder cases a year. By 1969, six cases per year were logged. During the 1970s that number tripled. "An average of three per month have been reported since 1985."(Newton 120). It is still not determined why serial killers kill, however, understanding the causes and recognizing the traits of a serial murderer will help the public better prevent and protect themselves from falling victim to a serial killer. North America has produced eighty percent of serial killers. Europe runs a distant second with a mere sixteen percent, and Third World nations spawn four percent of the world's known serial killers, but recent numbers from South Africa and Latin America are beginning to alter those statistics. "Though the U.S. has only about 5 percent of the world population, it has produced 76 percent of known serial killers since 1900" (Apsche...
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...Matt Klaus Professor Firestone Com 4030 4 March 2012 Feminist Criminology, Aileen Wuornos, and the Future of Third Wave Feminism Crime committed by women is on the rise, especially in the area of violent crimes such as murder (Balfour’ 739). This has produced a new form of feminist studies in an area called feminist criminology. What hasn’t been studied as extensively is the question of why women kill. I argue that by using the individuality concept of third wave feminism and doing more research in the field of feminist criminology, patterns of criminal behavior may be established which may prevent severe female crime such as murder. This paper seeks to explain how advancing the study of feminist criminology is good for the U.S. legal system and could have changed the outcome for Aileen Wuornos. In this paper I will discuss what third wave feminism is, then I will discuss what feminist criminology is and how it applies to the Aileen Wuornos case, and lastly I will show that with advanced studies into the field of feminist criminology, odds of severe crimes committed by women could decrease. The third wave of feminism is not easily describable. However, it can be framed by saying that it is a movement that continues to advance the women’s rights agenda of the second wave (Zimmerman et al. 77). Unlike the second wave which was intended to give a voice to all women, the third wave tends to reflect more on the individual. By focusing on personal narratives, responsible...
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...Ted Bundy Theodore Robert “Ted” was born on November 24, 1946. His mother lived with her parents, which created a confusing perception in Ted as a kid. He believed his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his older sister. As Ted grew his mom move out and married Johnny Culpepper Bundy. Ted took his stepfather’s last name and so his new name came out to be “Ted Bundy”. Ted Bundy was known for his smartness, charisma, and good persona personality. Many believed he would make it far based how much he was improving in his academic fields, but many did not know what the obscure side of Ted was capable of. Ted Bundy while growing up would live with confused believes about his own family structure, after his mother married Johnny Bundy; Ted Bundy isolated from his family and did not spend much time with them. In school people knew him as a shy kid. When Ted made it college he met a wealthy girl named “Stephanie Brook”, the reason of why Ted picked victims with similar characteristics to her. Stephanie graduated and terminated her relationship with Ted Bundy abruptly leaving a man with a heart broken and also with a thirst for revenge. Ted Bundy began his revenge by improving in academic fields and making a name for himself. He expanded his knowledge by learning Chinese, enrolling in politics, and studied law. Ted Bundy began a new relationship with Stephanie Brooks and broke up with her after having proposed, it was a revenge done by Ted Bundy for what Stephanie...
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...Forensic Science and Murder: The Ted Bundy Case Sheila Hawkins Criminalistics Abstract Forensic science is the foundational element of all crime investigation procedures. Recent advances in forensic technologies make possible to resolve even the most challenging crimes. This paper tells a story of Ted Bundy, a serial killer, whose case was solved with the help of forensic science. Implications and possible changes in case investigation are proposed. Keywords: forensic science, Ted Bundy, serial killer, case, solve. The Ted Bundy Case Forensic science is at the heart of all crime investigation procedures. Recent advances in forensic science make possible to solve even the most challenging cases. The contribution of forensic science to crime investigation is difficult to overestimate: according to Ribaux, Walsh and Margot (2006), forensic science facilitates accreditation, standardization, and interpretation of forensic evidence and ensures the scientific efficiency and objectivity of crime data. The case of Ted Bundy, a serial killer, is no exception: it is with the help of forensic science that the crimes committed by Ted Bundy were solved. The story of Ted Bundy is believed to have started between 1973 and 1974, when he committed his first murders. In just two years, Bundy managed to kill almost two dozens of girls (Ramsland, n.d.). Victims’ age ranged from 12 to 20; some of them were reported to be missing, whereas others vanished from their rooms, leaving...
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