Ryan Becker - Edmund Kemper: The True Story of The Brutal Co-ed Butcher

Edmund Kemper

The True Story of the Brutal Co-ed Butcher

(Real Crime by Real Killers Vol 2)

(Second Edition)

Ryan Becker

Copyright 2018 by Sea Vision Publishing

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The story of Edmund Kemper is an illustration of how individuals can slip through the cracks of society, resulting in deadly consequences. The evil that drove Edmund Kemper to claim ten lives was the product of a tragic history. Kemper is just one of 2,625 serial killers in the history of the United States, which has more serial killers than any other part of the world.

According to the FBI, a serial killing is, A series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics, suggesting the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.

Research by the Internal Association of Forensic Science produced a list of 14 characteristics that increase the likelihood of becoming a serial killer:

1. Over 90 percent of serial killers are male.
2. Serial killers tend to be intelligent, with IQs in the bright normal range.
3. Serial killers tend to do poorly in school, have trouble holding down jobs, and often work as unskilled laborers.
4. Serial killers tend to come from markedly unstable families.
5. As children, many serial killers were abandoned by their fathers and raised by domineering mothers.
6. Families of serial killers often have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories.
7. Serial killers often hate their fathers and mothers.
8. Serial killers are commonly abused as children psychologically, physically and sexually the abuse is oftentimes by a family member.
9. Many serial killers spend time in institutions as children, with records of early psychiatric problems.
10. Serial killers generally have a high rate of suicide attempts.
11. From an early age, many serial killers are intensely interested in: voyeurism, fetishism, and sadomasochistic pornography.
12. More than 60 percent of serial killers wet their beds beyond the age of 12.
13. Many serial killers are fascinated with starting fires.
14. Serial killers are involved in sadistic activity or tormenting small creatures.

Of these 14 indicators, Edmund Kemper met 12 of them.

The term serial killer, was originated by FBI profiler Robert Ressler in the 1970s. Until then, such crimes were referred to as mass murders. Ressler, who interviewed Kemper, derived the term serial killer from the label serial adventurer. Used by the movie industry, serial adventures described short episodic films that ran as a series each series building on the one that came before it. An example of serial adventurers is the Batman series. Ressler observed that crimes often follow a similar pattern.

In todays terms, mass murder is used in reference to multiple killings that occur during one incident. An example is James Holmes, who shot into the audience of a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012.

Profiling serial killers, Ressler believes each murder that the serial killer commits is motivation to kill again. Part of this desire is driven by the goal to commit the perfect murder as it relates to the killers fantasy. This desire was part of Kemper's mindset, as each co-ed that he killed was used as a mechanism to hone his skills in killing

The FBIs Behavioral Unit-2 released a multi-perspective study on serial killers and indicted the media for spreading myths through interviews with pseudo-experts, lacking the kind of in-depth research that the FBI conducts. One of those myths is that serial killers are loners who are unable to function in society. Robert Yates, Gary Ridgeway aka the Green River Killer, and Dennis Rader aka the BTK Killer, all lived functional lives within their communities. Edmund Kemper was no different, stating he always felt he lived in a parallel universe. Part of Kemper functioned at school and work, while the other part was lost in dark fantasies.

Another myth is that serial killers are unable to stop killing. In contrast, the FBI points out that certain factors in the lives of serial killers can cause them to halt the killing; when they are caught. The BTK killer, Dennis Rader, killed ten people over a 17-year period, between 1974 and 1991. He was caught in 2005, at which time he was married. Another serial killer, Jeffrey Gorton killed his last victim in 1991 but was not captured until 2002.

Research on serial killers is leading the way in understanding why serial killers can commit multiple murders before being caught. The first finding is that serial killers are highly skilled in presenting themselves as being normal individuals, preventing them from being viewed with suspicion. The second finding is that there are usually no connections between the serial killer and his victims.

In a study of 107 serial killers, 90% of their victims were unknown to them. Furthermore, long-term studies on serial killers indicate that the victims of serial killers tend to be equal gender wise; female victims slightly out numbering male victims. As for victim ethnicity, most victims are white, with a quarter being black. In regards to victim age, serial killers tend to target young victims. The number of victims over the age of 30 drops dramatically.

FBI research also indicates there is no general profile for a serial killer: each serial killer is driven by their own motivation, and serial killers are not limited to a specific demographic group. Additionally, some serial killers, like Kemper, are unable to separate violence from sexual gratification. Killing women was the only way Kemper felt safe to connect with co-eds.

Suffering from a severe fear of being rejected, Kemper did not know how to communicate with his victims. For Kemper, who had never kissed a girl or been on a date, killing women was the only way he could relate to them.

So what causes a person to become a serial killer? Research indicates there is no simple answer to this question because it involves several factors. However, there is one key point that researchers agree upon: if we want to stop creating serial killers, we need to learn to live peacefully in society, especially in the home. Ending domestic violence is the surest way to end serial killing.

Experts in criminology, social, and behavioral psychology, agree that ongoing psychological trauma during childhood is a hallmark of serial killers. To gain relief from this trauma, these children often commit violence against pets or other animals.

Another serial killer, Jeffry Dahmer, as a child, would leave home when his parents fought and take refuge in the woods, where he found comfort with the pelts of animals he had killed.