Mental Illnesses Of Serial Killers

Webster’s Dictionary defines a psychopath as “A mentally ill or unstable person. Especially: a person affected with antisocial personality disorder. ” Antisocial Personality Disorder is defined as “A personality disorder that is characterized by antisocial behavior exhibiting pervasive disregard for and violation of the rights, feelings, and safety of others starting in childhood or the early teenage years and continuing into adulthood. ” Serial killers are people who murder at least three people over the course of longer than one month and have a specific time in between each murder. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines a serial killer as someone who murders at least three people over a period of longer than one month with a “cooling off” period in between each murder. Most serial killers show behaviors of antisocial personality disorder. In extreme cases, antisocial personality disorders can be considered sociopathic or psychotic. Therefore, serial killers are in some way, mentally ill.

One infamous serial killer is the Phantom Killer from Texarkana, Texas/ Arkansas. In 1946, a series of murders started occuring. The Phantom Killer was described as a tall man with a white sack covering his face with eye holes cut out. He attempted to kill a total of eight people in the span of ten weeks. His first two victims survived. The couple was parked at a popular spot called ‘Lover’s Lane’. The Phantom Killer approached the car and blinded the couple with a flashlight. He told the man to take off his pants and then proceeded to beat him. He told the woman to run away. He chased her, sexually assaulted her, and then told her to run away again. Luckily, both of them survived. His other victims were not as lucky. Another couple was found dead in their car down a lightly traveled road a few weeks later. The Phantom Killer’s next victims were his youngest ever. Per usual, it was a couple. The girl was only fifteen years old. His last victims were a married couple. The husband died after being shot twice in the back of the head. The wife, on the other hand, survived. She was shot twice in the face and ran to the neighbor’s house for help. Due to the murders, Texarkana residents were very freaked out. They armed themselves and set an early curfew. The man that many believed was responsible for the murders was named Youell Swinney though no true evidence was ever found to prove this theory. He was arrested for auto theft in 1947. After he was arrested, the murders stopped.

The Phantom Killer is a prime example of a serial killer. He killed more than three people over a period of longer than a month. His killings were all spaced out nearly exactly three weeks apart. The Zodiac Killer is just about the most well known serial killer the world has ever seen. In December of 1968, the Zodiac Killer began his killings in Northern California. He had begun to send letters to the media, but it was all anonymous. In the letters, the Zodiac disclosed his motives for his killings and his plans for his future victims. A young couple was parked on a secluded road. Witnesses said they saw the couple in the front seat of the boy’s car for about forty- five minutes. Around eleven fifteen, the couple was found near the car. The girl had five gunshots to the back and was deceased. The boy was shot in the head, but still alive. He later died on the way to the hospital. A couple that was also there that night had seen a suspicious vehicle. The couple left quickly and the vehicle followed them. They were able to get away. The suspicious vehicle was found parked with no one in it.

Seven months later, another murder occured. Four miles from where the previous shooting happened, a couple was parked on a golf course about midnight. A vehicle pulled up behind the car so they could not pull out and leave. The man had a flashlight that blocked his facial features and walked up to the car. He unloaded five rounds into the car. Both of the people in the car were shot. The shooter began to leave, but heard shouts from the man. He walked back to the car and fired four more shots. Finally, he got in his car and took off. Three teens heard what happened and ran to help. When help arrived, the girl died on her way to the hospital, but they boy survived. The boy was able to give a description of the man: five foot and eight inches tall, heavy set, white, and about 195 pounds. Shortly after the attack, the Vallejo Police Department received a call from a local phone booth. The man who called claimed to be responsible for the attack. He also admitted to committing the previous attack. The man said, “I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find two kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a nine- millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye. ” Two months later, the letters the Zodiac wrote were received by the local police departments. He demanded they be published or he would go on a killing spree. One of the coded letters was ciphered by a highschool teacher and his wife. It explained that he killed people because it was fun and once he died, his victims would be his slaves in paradise.

A man in a hoodie approached a college couple having a picnic. He talked to them for a while and eventually made them tie each other up. He stabbed them seventeen times in total. A fisherman found them and called the authorities. One died after two days and the other survived to tell about the vicious attack. Shortly after the attack, a man, who was believed to be the Zodiac Killer, called to report the murder. At the end of the call, he told the police he was the one who did it. The Zodiac claimed to have killed thirty seven people. Authorities have only confirmed five murders and seven attacks. The attacks ended in October of 1969.

The Zodiac Killer is considered a serial killer because he killed well over three people in a much longer period than a month. He went above and beyond the requirements to be a serial killer. Ted Bundy grew up in a classic middle- class family. As a child, he became obsessed with knifes. Once he grew into a teenager, his more curious behavior started to unfold. He would look into other people’s windows and steal things he wanted without thinking twice about it. While in college, Ted fell in love with a beautiful girl with long brown hair. When they broke up, he was absolutely devastated. He later graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in psychology. How ironic. In 1974 many women around the Seattle area went missing. Many say this is when Ted’s murders began. One day, Ted was pulled over and his vehicle was searched. The police found many objects that were identified as burglary tools. He was arrested for possession of these items. The police began to connect Ted to other malicious crimes. The next year, he was arrested for the kidnapping of a young woman. About two years later, he was accused of murdering a woman from Colorado. On the way to the Courthouse, Ted jumped out the window. He was found eight days later. Later that year, in December, Ted escaped again through a hole he made in the ceiling of his cell. He was gone for fifteen hours before the police noticed. In January, Ted broke into a sorority house, attacked four girls, and murdered two of them. The following month, he abducted and killed a twelve year old girl. That same month, Ted was pulled over and caught. He was executed in January of 1989 by an electric chair.

In the end, Ted admitted to killing thirty six women. The number is believed to actually be well over one hundred. Many of his victims looked like his college girlfriend. Ted would act handicapable to received attention from women. He would then kidnap them and murder them. He would sexually assault their corpse’s until it was literally impossible. One of the detectives that encountered Ted, was amazed at his hatred for women. One thing Ted said was, “Society wants to believe it can identify evil people, or bad or harmful people, but it’s not practical. There are no stereotypes. ” While Ted’s quote is insightful, it is not completely true. Society can identify evil, bad, and harmful people. Serial killers fit the three descriptions perfectly. They are evil. They set out to kill people for enjoyment. The watch people suffer and take their lives for happiness. There is hardly anything more cruel than taking away someone’s father, husband, or brother. There is nothing more painful than a mother losing a child. A serial killer causes so much pain to so many people because it is their sick idea of fun. That itself is evil. Clearly, serial killers are bad. Anyone that causes any harm to any being is bad. It is frowned on by society. Rules and laws are set in place to prevent bad things from happening.

A serial killer is a harmful person through and through. Their normal is to hurt people. They dedicate their lives to murder and try to cover it up so they will not get caught. It is a dangerous game to play. They play it for excitement and the rush. Anyone who would do such cruel things has to have something mentally wrong somewhere in their brain. Calling a serial killer mentally ill is not a stretch. It could even be considered a fact. They could either be considered a psychopath or a sociopath. A psychopath is someone born with the urges a serial killer has. A sociopath, on the other hand, is someone who acquires the urges over time. By definition, a psychopath is someone who has antisocial personality disorder. Antisocial personality disorder causes them to want to inflict pain on others with complete disregard on how it makes the people around them feel. In extreme cases, it is considered sociopathic or psychotic. Not everyone with antisocial personality disorder can be considered especially violent, only the more extreme cases are. The Phantom Killer, the Zodiac Killer, and Ted Bundy can all be considered either sociopathic or psychotic. They did absolutely horrible things to completely innocent people to fulfill their desire to harm others for enjoyment.