Although professional hitmen do meet some of the criteria for a serial killer, they are not serial killers because their motivation to kill is strictly financial.The murders fulfill no emotional or psychological needs on their part. Also, hitmen do not need a cooling off period in between murders because of the pragmatic nature of their killings. There is an exception to the clear distinction of serial killers and professional hitmen. Richard Kuklinski for example was both a serial killer and professional hit man. When he was contract killing, he did so for the Gambino crime family, but as a serial killer, he killed people just for being annoying or irritating. He was nicknamed “The Iceman” for his method of freezing his victims to confuse