Gary Ridgeway: An Unidentified Serial Killer

Cases that involve an unidentified serial killer can be hard if the law enforcement doesn’t understand the psychological mind of a serial killer. The psychological mind may seem confusing, but someone can look at smaller parts of becoming a serial killer to help better understand the situation as a whole. Each small area plays an important role in the psychological mind of a serial killer, and each area will have a different effect on that person. First, someone has to know and understand what a serial killer and a psychopath is. Although a serial killer may not be classified as a psychopath, they will still show the traits of one meaning it is important to understand both. Any person who is trying to study a serial killer will then have to

Serial killers are good at blending in with the normal population. They will have a job and a loving family, and they still choose to make the decisions they do. Gary Ridgeway is an example of a serial killer that had a family and seemed like a good person but was not. Gary Ridgeway is known as the Green River killer. He killed 48 women in Seattle over a 20-year time period. No one knew him as a serial killer because he was a truck painter for 32 years, he went to church and read the Bible at home and work, and talked about religion with other people. But while he was doing that, he was also picking up prostitutes and killing some of them (Morton). Gary was never the type that law enforcement would have kept their eye on because he blended in with the normal population. But, oftentimes a serial killer will have a certain type of personality disorder that will

Some personal traits a serial killer will have are having a huge amount of self-worth, being able to manipulate others easily, lying, and a sense of charm (Morton). But, sometimes they can have traits that can affect other people which include a lack of guilt, no empathy for things, and failure to accept responsibility. A psychopath may also display different behaviors which might include a lack of realistic goals, behaviors that are meant to seek attention from others, making impulsive decisions, early behavior problems, not being able to control behavior, and criminal versatility (Morton). There have been studies done on nonhuman animals to help understand the basics of the mind (Psychology). This helps people, who are studying the mind of a serial killer, know what areas of the brain look normal and which ones do not. Then, this can help figure out what is causing them to make the decisions they are choosing to make and why they are showing those traits. Relojo states, “Studies have shown that a malfunctioning amygdala, the region of the brain responsible for regulating emotions and aggression, may be involved in the development of violent behaviour.” By scanning the brain, it can help people find things like a malfunctioning amygdala and can reveal low levels of serotonin. Both of these things can cause the type of behavior that serial killers act on. The traits that a serial killer may display may come from