In Plain Sight

Serial killers are seen as psychopathic sadistic murders that just don’t know when to quit. They seem to stand out from society and you probably think it’d be pretty easy to spot one out of a crowd of people. Actually, more serial killers than you think blend in and live normal lives. They have disguises that makes them just like any other person, which is probably why they are so difficult to find.

We cannot comprehend the actions of serial killers just because they seem to be so unrealistic and gruesome. We think: “how can any sane person commit a crime so horrendous?” That leads us to think that these serial killers are not normal people. We think that we can’t relate to them, that we don’t have anything in common with them. We say they’re crazy, mental, or insane (which may be true in some cases), but really, a lot of them have normal everyday lives just like the rest of us.

One of the most famous of serial killers that had the perfect disguises to hid in plain sight was Ted Bundy. He seemed normal being an average all-American guy. Bundy pretty much had it all, he had the looks, the smarts, and a successful future ahead. But he was nothing but a ruthless serial killer. He later claimed to have raped and murdered at least 30 women. How’d he kept his deep, dark serial killer secret for so long? Well, the fact that his cover was near perfect, he was one of the last person that people would suspect to be a serial killer.

Ted Bundy grew up with a stable family and a normal life. Though he did have an interest in knives at a young age and he was not so much of a social kid. He was shy but a really bright student that did good in school. He studied at the University of Washington, and met his then girlfriend who he fell in love with. After his breakup with his girlfriend, he was heartbroken and a lot of victims ended up looking like his ex-girlfriend. Bundy graduated with a degree in psychology and was accepted to law school. This is around the time that his killings had started.

He lured them into his car by faking an injury and asking for their help. He would rape his victims before he beat them to death. The number of victims he killed is not definite (at least 35), but some think it may be close to 100. No one ever thought that this man could be a cold-stone killer. Bundy volunteered with his partner, Ann Rule at a crisis hotline. Rule was shocked to discover that her partner was one of the most notorious serial killers of all time.

Serial killers lead a double life, their normal daily lives and their murderous lives. They do it both. No one suspects them until they are actually caught. They have their cover that shields them from the accusations of the police and investigators. Anyone could be a serial killer. Just because someone commits so many horrific acts does not mean that they are mentally insane. That is just the easiest explanation for our minds to process. Serial killers perfect their disguise to hid in plain sight.

Citation: "How Do Criminals Hide in Plain Sight?" HubPages. HubPages, 21 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 May 2016. 

Their Media Portrayal

In various crime shows on tv, every so often there will be a serial killer case. Or there are even tv shows about serial killers.The source that I found talked about serial killer crime shows where the serial killers are the main characters. These shows included Hannibal, Dexter, and Bates Motel (none of which I have actually seen because they break my creepiness scale, but for the sake of this project I have researched them).

The source is actually a prezi presentation and not a website article like the others. Nonetheless, I got the information that I needed for this blog post. I also found another source titled, “Here’s Why We Love Serial Killers.” This source explains the people’s fascination with serial killers.

The prezi explains that in the crime tv shows, serial killers are portrayed as masterminds. In reality, not all of them are, in fact, most of them aren’t. A lot of them just kill on impulse and drive without even making a plan. In comparison, in tv shows, they are shown with large planning boards and tons and tons of research on their victims. The website article said that the media exaggerates serial killers which has cause people to get confused between fact and fiction. Despite the differences, there are some similarities in serial killers on tv and real life.

The show “Hannibal” is a tv show where a criminal profiler named Will Graham is able to empathize with anyone, even psychopaths. He looks to the psychiatrist, Hannibal Lector, for help. The becomes partners and catch may criminals together, but Hannibal actually has more in common with the criminals they try to catch. He is actually a secret serial killer himself and eats his victims. The prezi compared the character Hannibal to real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. What they both have in common is cannibalism, psychological damage from childhood, and they both use dismemberment. The differences include that Hannibal was seen as a classy man and he was a full time psychiatrist. On the other hand, Jeffrey Dahmer was necrophiliac, which means he was interested in sexual intercourse with corpses (EWW EW EW).

Another comparison made from the prezi was about the charter Dexter Morgan from the show “Dexter” and Ted Bundy, a serial killer in real life. Dexter was actually a vigilante killer (but that still didn’t make his killings justified). He doesn’t kill children and he actually knew his victims. The tv show character Dexter Morgan was motivated by impulse and was a sociopath who suffered from childhood trauma. Ted Bundy, the one who actually exists in real life, killed and raped more than 30 women. He didn’t know his victims like Dexter did and instead of acting on impulse, he was motivated by sexual impulses. Ted was not a sociopath, he claimed to be a normal human being. They had many differences, but what made them similar was that their good looks and charms made them into celebrities (not like a Taylor Swift celebrity).

Even though serial killers are not accurately portrayed in the media, some aspects of them are true. Some of the serial killer characters in tv shows or movies are actually based off of a real serial killer that exists or once existed in reality. They serial killers on the tv shows or movies though, have some slight differences to intrigue the audience.

 Citation: Phan, Angela. “Serial Killers in the Media.” Prezi. Prezi, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 May 2016.

The 7 Phases

Before starting this research project, I believed that the only stages a serial killer had was a sudden urge to kill and then the action of them actually killing their victims. Well, sad to admit, but I was wrong. Actually, to my surprise, there are 7 psychological phases of a serial killer. After researching, I found a website that actually proved me otherwise, but I am still not sure how credible the source is.
http://www.criminalmindsfanwiki.com/page/Psychological+Phases

The first phase that a serial killer experiences is called the aura phase. This is somewhat of a pre-serial killer phase because they are starting to become a stone-cold killer. They begin to lose connection to the real world and begin to be antisocial. They think that life does not have any meaning to them anymore. This phase usually begins with the future serial killer having fantasies about violent acts. After some time, they have to urge to act out there fantasies on someone. This phase can last anywhere from a few moments to a few months.


The next phase is called the trolling phase. This is the phase where the so-called serial killer "hunts for his prey" so to speak. He (or she) takes the time to look for the potentially perfect victim. Usually a serial killer will start looking for victims in a place that makes them feel comfortable. After the right victim is found, the next phase is in motion. It is called the wooing phase. Well from its name you can probably tell that it's similar to wooing your dream guy/girl. But, in this case it's not so much trying to impress the person, it is more of trying to gain the victims trust. This phase is more done by organized serial killers rather than disorganized ones.

The fourth phase is known as the capture phase. The killer basically "comes out" and reveals who
he really is and what his intentions are. Along with the great reveal, as the phase is called, The killer captures the victim. They can do anything from handcuffing the victim to knocking them unconscious. The killer then takes the victim to some remote location where they cannot be found and begins the next phase... the murder phase. This phase is pretty much self explanatory but I shall explain it nonetheless. This is when the killer acts out his violent fantasies on the victim and kills them in the end. Organized killers take the time to torture their victims to the point of near death, while in comparison, disorganized killers kill instantaneously.

When the murder is complete, the next phase has begun. This phase is known as the totem phase. After the murder has been committed, the killer has lost excitement from the kill and wants to preserve their "experience." They usually do this by taking something from their victims. These things can include, their victims clothes or possessions or even news reports about their murder. The murderer might even keep some of their victims body parts. A lot of serial killers generally, take photos and video of the murder process to keep as a reminder.

The last phase before the cycle begins again is called the depression phase. During this phase the killer realizes that the victim he killed did not fully satisfy his fantasies. He goes into somewhat of a depression state that could last up to a couple months. Because of this, the murderer begins to look for the next victim to fulfill his fantasies. On the hunt for a new victim again, the whole cycle is repeated until the serial killer is caught or killed (possibly committing suicide).

Citation: "Psychological Phases - Criminal Minds Wiki." Psychological Phases - Criminal Minds Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2016. 

Dangerous Women

Just as there are psychotic serial killer men, there are also psychotic serial killer women. That's gender equality for you. Most of the time you don't really hear about women serial killers just because there aren't as many compared to the men serial killers. The women serial killers can be just as creepy as the men, or sometimes even more so. Some of them are just downright insane.

The list of female serial killers range from murderous nurses to torturous slave owners. Many may not think of females to be as sadistic as the men, but trust me some are even worse. Most of the common women serial killers just use poison not their victims and do it for personal/financial gain. It's not common for women serial killers to kill for sexual purposes because that is more common for men. Not that it is impossible for women to do the same, it is just not as likely.

One example of the usual female serial killer is being a trained nurse and using poison to kill patients.  Well, that is exactly what Jane Toppan did. Born in 1857, Toppan was a nurse and worked at Cambridge Hospital who experimented on her patients just for her own pleasure. She used poison on her patients and experimentation quickly resulted in murder. She claimed that watching a patient die gave her sexual satisfaction. (Again, not common in female serial killers.) She later killed others, including her landlords and her sister. Topaz went to trial when a family member of one of her victims asked for a toxicology report. She was not found guilty though due to "insanity" and was sent to an insane hospital. She later died in 1938.

The next women serial killer is one that is over the top inhuman. She goes by the name of Leonarda Cianciulli. This women did not murder as many as other serial killers, but what she did to them was horrifying enough to put her at the top of the list of "11 Terrifying Female Serial Killers You've Never Heard Of". Cianciulli killed three women in between 1939 and 1940. She lured the woman into her shop, drugged them, then killed them with an axe. Once she killed them, she disposed of the bodies by using them to make soaps and teacakes. Yes you red that right, soaps and teacakes.

She wrote a memoir and described her first murder in a book called An Embittered Soul's Confessions. "I threw the [body] pieces into a pot, added seven kilos of caustic soda, ... , and stirred the whole mixture until the pieces dissolved in a thick, dark mush... As for the the blood in the basin, I waited until it had coagulated, dried it in the oven, ground it and mixed it with flour, sugar, chocolate, milk, and eggs, as well as a bit of margarine, kneading all the ingredients together. I made lots of crunchy tea cakes and served them to the ladies who came to visit, though Giuseppe and I also ate them." So technically, she basically ate the corpses that she killed, but first turned them into soap and teacakes.

Whether they are poisoning patients or turning people into soap, women serial killers are just as gruesome as the men. They are not as common, but they sure aren't any less horrifying.

Citation: Heaney, Katie. "11 Terrifying Female Serial Killers You've Never Heard Of." BuzzFeed. N.p., 15 July 2014. Web. 10 May 2016. 

Fact or Fiction?

As more and more serial killers are being discovered, more and more myths and truths are being made about them. Many people believe the typical stereotypes about serial killers. Even though some of those stereotypes might not be true at all, some might be true to some extent. Some of the most common myths and truths about serial killers will be discussed in this blog post. You'd be surprised at which ones are actually true and which are not.

Serial killers are all white males.
This is one of the most common misunderstanding about serial killers. This is only true to some extent. Statistically, most serial killers are white males, but saying that ALL serial killers are white males is a very broad generalization. There is always going to be your outliers and in this case there are some too. The usual counterarguments for this statement are that there was Charles Ng, Coral Eugene Watts, and Miyuki Ishikawa. Charles Ng was a Hong Kong native and possibly killed about 25 people. Coral Eugene Watts was an African American man that killed 17 people in Michigan and Texas. Miyuki Ishikawa, a Japanese midwife, is thought to have murdered about 100 infants.

A Serial killers are people that commit mass murders.
This is not true according to the FBI's definition of a serial killer. By definition, a serial killer is one who has murdered three or more people over the span of over a month. From killing just one person, one cannot be considered a serial killer, they are just a killer. Most people do not know the exact definition of a serial killer so they assume if someone kills a whole family at once, that they are a serial killer. That is not true either. To be considered as a serial killer, one would need a so-called "resting period" between each murder.

Serial killers are all dysfunctional loners.
Serial killers try to blend into society just like everyone else, so this statement is not necessarily true. Only some serial killers were dysfunctional loners. A lot of them had regular lives like regular people. The BTK Killer, the Green River Killer, and John Wayne Gacy had normal lives and blended in to seem like any other person. The BTK Killer (blind, torture, kill) killed about 10 people but was married with two kids. The Green River Killer confessed to killing 48 women but was married, had a job, and even went to church regularly (kinda ironic don't you think?). John Wayne Gacy murdered 33 boys and young men but his alter ego was "Pogo the Clown" (now I get why clowns are so creepy).

These are only a few myths about serial killers. For the most part they are true which is why so many people assume them to be fact. But, there are always exceptions.

Citation: Bonn, Scott. "5 Myths about Serial Killers and Why They Persist [Excerpt]." Scientific American. N.p., 24 Oct. 2014. Web. 06 May 2016.