In present day, the number of serial-killer cases have increased greatly. Referring to the chart shown (Trends in Serial Killing), in the span of years from the 1970s to today the amount of serial killings climbed up to about 10 times more in 1980 than the amount previous to the 1960s. Since 1980, the numbers have dropped, due to the help of technology and resources used by the government, but they are still much higher than roughly 60 years ago. Currently the approach of ‘hiding in plain sight’ has been utilized. This can be seen in terrorists for example, when some of them that are called sleepers are sent to a certain location and build a life for themselves over a certain amount of years, creating trust and finding a set spot in their community. …show more content…
In order to lure his victims, which overall were women, he would wear a cast on either his arm or leg, and would ask for help to unload something from his car, and take that opportunity to beat the victim unconscious and handcuff her (Crime Museum). Bundy was known to have raped and murdered over 35 women in six different states, and being the intelligent man he was, had the capability to escape prison twice. This increased worry amongst citizens, because anyone could be a potential predator. Another example of this method was seen in serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a man who would dress up as a clown to perform at children’s parties and appeared to be harmless. Instead, he managed to murder 33 men and boys. A similar situation was seen with Kristen Gilbert, a woman who used her job as a nurse to kill four patients through epinephrine injections (National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime). Additionally, by the mid-1970s, 8.5% of murders committed had unknown motives, which rose to 17.8% in 1981, then 22.1% in 1984. This ‘randomized tactic’ was first seen in serial killing in David Berkowitz, who would shoot his targets at random, arousing citizens to become more aware of their surroundings (National Center for the Analysis of Violent