Ray BlackIan - Killers in Cold Blood. Chilling Murders That Make Your Skin Creep and Your Stomach Turn

The news is always full of stories of horror whether it is the brutal killing of an individual or mass killings under a political guise. There are those who murder for profit, those who murder for the sheer thrill of it, or those who are motivated by rage. These are the people who inspire the horror movies, but usually the fictional stories are nothing in comparison to the truth. For example, Ed Gein, whose particularly bizarre and morbid crimes shocked the world, was the inspiration for countless books and films, including Robert Blochs Psycho and Tobe Hoopers Texas Chainsaw Massacre . The Amityville Horror was based on the character of Ronald DeFeo who killed his parents and siblings one by one as they slept, blaming his actions on the malevolent force of an evil spirit living in the house. Whatever the reason for these cold-blooded killings, as we read about yet another death, it sends a shiver down the spine or at least for the average person.

Killers in Cold Blood looks inside the dark side of the criminal mind. These are the men and women who commit heinous acts with a gruesome disregard for human life. They do not conform to what society considers to be normal standards, they seem to act purely for self gratification in their own little world of perversion. The difficulty in bringing these monsters to justice is proving whether they are just bad or mad, whether in fact the individual is mentally ill or whether they are fully aware of what they have done. Ed Gein was always thought to be a mild-mannered bachelor who had been held back by his domineering mother. He shocked the world when police raided his home and found a vest made out of human skin and a hoard of body parts. The question that came to the forefront in this case was, is he clinically insane or a cold-blooded killer with a hatred of women? Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer are fine examples of men who killed in cold blood. They knew exactly what they were doing, they knew right from wrong, and yet they still committed their crimes.

The motive behind a cold-blooded killing can probably be differentiated by different labels, i.e. hatred, passion, profit, revenge, fear, power or domination, opportunism, contract killing, desperation, racist, compassion and ritual. For example, Hitlers desire to cleanse Germany of the Jews was because he believed that they were his powerful enemies and he was bent on destroying them. Hitler believed that he was the greatest German and military leader to have ever lived and his paranoia and delusions drove him to commit one of the worlds greatest atrocities.

Pol Pot who was the famous leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia was also paranoid about his supposed enemies, which resulted in a reign of terror. He launched a bloody purge in an attempt to purify the Cambodian race killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people with a complete disregard for pain and suffering.

There has been a considerable amount of research carried out on the criminal mind, but still it causes considerable concern and puzzlement as to how a person could commit a cold-blooded, senseless killing and yet maintain a normal existence. Friends, families and workmates are totally unaware of the sexual or sadistic side to the person who they thought they knew so well. Ted Bundy is representative of a serial killer who was polite, smart and well-liked and yet underneath this facade was a man who had an addiction to hard-core pornography which fuelled the terrible crimes he committed.

The most feared killers must be those in the medical world. They are people who we are often alone with, and who we trust implicitly even when we are in a weakened state. They have trained for years to try and make us feel better, and yet occasionally one may have macabre plans. For example, medic Donald Harvey claims to have killed fifty of his patients out of mercy, to put them out of their suffering. However, his psychiatrist thought otherwise, calling him a sadistic and compulsive killer who murdered to satisfy his needs. Nurse Beverley Allitt, dubbed the Angel of Death was convicted of killing four children and injuring eleven others, but her motives were completely different. Allitt, who showed signs of Munchausens Syndrome by Proxy, craved attention and by injecting helpless babies with lethal doses of insulin and then attempting to revive them in front of her colleagues, this is exactly what she got. On the outside, Allitt appeared to be a caring, loving nurse, but on the inside she was really indifferent to the childrens pain. Harold Shipman, who everyone thought was the friendly family doctor, was responsible for the worst murder spree in British history, killing as many as 260 people.

Other killers may have had a long history of being institutionalised in juvenile and adult correctional facilities. In some cases this has greatly impaired their ability to live in the community, often lacking both social and work-related skills. Many show signs of aggression and feel they are not really part of normal society. By killing they get the sense of importance, many often revisiting the scene of the crime in the hope of getting caught.

In the case of mass and serial murders, the killer achieves an immense amount of satisfaction as he momentarily gains control of his or her life by controlling others. Whilst serial killers generally try to elude detection so that they can continue to kill for weeks, months and often years, mass murderers are usually either caught by the police, commit suicide or turn themselves in to the authorities. It is very rare that we ever hear of a mass murderer who has had the opportunity to carry out a second crime. Serial killers will often keep a trophy of their victim and display it proudly in their home. They rarely show any emotions to their family or friends and it is very rare that they know their victims. A serial killer will also often develop some sort of trademark which becomes more elaborate with each murder.

When dealing with serial killers, the question of sanity almost always arises and an insanity plea is usually used when the case goes to court. This defence claims that the defendant is unable to appreciate the error of his ways due to a severe mental disease or defect. Because a person who is insane is not considered to be capable of killing with wilful intent, they cannot be charged with wilful murder. However, for this defence to be successful in court, the defendants insanity has to be convincingly proved.