Mass murderer and serial killer are terms that are often confused with each other. They are both terms used to describe people who have taken lives, but are two completely different types of criminals. A mass murderer is someone who kills a large amount of people, usually at one time and in the same location. Charles Montaldo (crime expert) advises that “a mass murderer kills four or more people at one location during one continuous period of time, whether is a few minutes or over a period of days. “-(Multiple Murderers). With few exceptions, most mass murderers end up dying themselves, usually using suicide by cop, or suicide in general.
A serial killer however, is someone who has murdered multiple people over time with a cooling off period in between. Serial killers will have a specific type of person that they prefer, and often derive psychological and or sexual pleasure from their murders. Serial Killers carry a signature with their killings, this is something that is unique to them and allows law enforcement to recognize the killers work. Mass
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Unlike mass murderers, serial killers can appear to be perfectly normal, with uneventful life styles making it easier to hide what they are. Serial killers can span multiple racial and gender groups, not just Caucasian and not just male as most people expect. A prime example is written by the FBI, “Robert Yates, a well-known serial killer, killed seventeen prostitutes in Spokane, Washington during the 1990s. He was married, had five children, and lived in a middle class neighborhood.” (Serial Murder). Another serial killer, which shows that this practice has gone back centuries is Jack the Ripper. Just about everyone knows who Jack the Ripper is, but no one knows his true identity. Though his identity is largely speculated, it is known that he brutally murdered prostitutes in the late