Michelle Kaminsky - Serial Killer Trivia

SERIAL KILLER TRIVIA

Fascinating Facts and Disturbing Details That Will Freak You the F*ck Out

MICHELLE KAMINSKY

Text copyright 2019 Michelle Kaminsky. Design copyright 2019 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

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ISBN: 978-1-61243-920-4

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Artwork: from shutterstock.com: skull, lightning bolt, clouds, loose rope, bones
Ms Moloko; gun, handprint, handcuffs Alena Gridushko; cleaver, poison, eyeball, hand, pill, ax mhatzapa; rope, knife Maria Gerasimova; branch, shovel, lighter, Christmas tree, square knot rope, flashlight, multitool, pickax, binoculars Artspace; gas mask, pistol ArnaPhoto

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Contents

Introduction

Since London newspapers made Jack the Ripper internationally famous in the late 19th century, serial killers have fascinated, terrified, and haunted usand understandably so. These real-life monsters often lead ordinary lives, except for their penchant for seeking out and killing men, women, and/or children.

From Jeffrey Dahmers cannibalism and preservation of victims body parts to Aileen Wuornos I-75 killing spree in Florida, many stories are stranger than any fiction even the most creative novelist could hope to write.

And so, whether in a quest to better understand these individuals and prevent similar crimes or simply out of morbid curiosity, we study their stories, from their (almost always) tragic and abusive childhoods to their heinous, murderous acts and, sometimes, to their own deaths, often at the hands of the government or fellow inmates.

Whatever your motivation is to learn more about serial killers, this bookorganized into 150 questions and answers to enable you to take in as much or as little as you can stomach in one sittingwill supplement your knowledge. Within its pages, you will not only dive more deeply into the cases of some of the most notorious serial killers across the world but also read lesser-known stories nearly forgotten by history.

Now, lock your door, grab your favorite beverage, find a comfortable spot, and cuddle up with some of the most horrible humans the planet has ever seen.

Chapter 1

Serial Killer Basics

Q: Who invented the term serial killer?

A: People who have committed multiple murders have been around forever, and most of us probably cant remember a time when the term serial killer was not in use. But it didnt really enter the modern lexicon until the mid-1970s, when FBI criminal profiler Robert Ressler was a lecturer at a police academy in Bramshill, England.

In 1974 Ressler equated a rash of rapes, murders, arsons, and robberies with the serial adventure movies that were popular Sunday matinee fare in the 1930s and 1940s. Think legendary characters such as Dick Tracy, Tarzan, and Zorro, who carried out a new story line each week but always left viewersoften young boyswith unresolved plots to entice them back to the theater the following week.

Ressler reasoned that, just as in these film series, repeat killers heightened the tension with each installment of their murders, only increasing their desire to return to their basest desires again and again, perhaps even to perfect their crime. Their serial killing, then, wouldnt seem to have an end without either their own death or the intervention of law enforcement.

Before we used serial killer to describe multiple murders, the common term was mass murderer, making the crimes sound far more random than the usually more calculated serial killings.

In 2014 Harold Schechter, author of several serial killerthemed books, came across what he believes to be the first use of the term serial killer, dating to the 1930s in Germany. The director of the Berlin Criminal Police, Ernst August Ferdinand Gennat, used the term serienmrder in reference to the case of Peter Krten, the Vampire of Dsseldorf. Margaret Seaton Wagner translated this as serial murder in her 1933 book The Monster of Dsseldorf.

The answer to the original question, though, cannot be complete without mention of Resslers FBI colleague and fellow profiler John E. Douglas, who co-authored the book Mindhunter: Inside the FBIs Elik Serial Crime Unit with Mark Olshaker. Yes, the Netflix true crime drama Mindhunter and main character Holden Ford are based on Douglas, his book, and his experiences. In the show, the term serial killer first comes from the mouth of Bill Tenchthe character based on Resslerafter he and Ford decide they need new terminology for a killer like Edmund Kemper.

Ressler and Douglas dedicated their professional lives to researching and writing about serial killers. They conducted countless one-on-one interviews with some of the most notorious serial killers of our time, including Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Charles Manson, and delved into the psychology behind their murderous acts.

Ressler died in 2013, while Douglas continues to research and write about true crime. Most recently, he co-authored The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBIs Original Mindhunter (2019), again with Olshaker.

Q: Which country has had the most serial killers?

A: Raise up those American flags, because the answer is USA! USA! USA! The sad truth is that no other country even comes close.

The United States lays claim to 3,204 serial killers from 1900 to 2016, while the mother country of England comes in second at a mere 166. Yes, you math whizzes, that means the US tally is nearly 20 times that of the next closest country.

Are Americans just an exceptionally murderous people? Dr. Mike Aamodt, who runs the Serial Killer Information Center at Virginias Radford University, doesnt think so.

Aamodt opines that two factors contribute to the skewed numbers: (1) law enforcement personnel in the US are skilled at both discovering homicides and linking them to the same killer; and (2) the countrys expansive open records policies facilitate the crime-solving process by making information readily available to the public.

Aamodt also points to the overall murder rate in the US compared to other countries as further evidence that maybe the US isnt a hotbed of serial killingthe land of Uncle Sam falls somewhere in the middle of those stats.

Q: What is the most common murder method used by serial killers?

A: The answer may surprise you because it seems so impersonal, detached, and ordinary, but the method used most often by serial killers is the good ole gun. Shootings account for nearly half of the approximately 10,000 recorded serial murders in the US from 1900 up to the present.