Classifying Serial Killers

It can be difficult to understand why anyone would choose to murder another human being. However, not all serial killers have the same motivation behind their crimes. There are many different categories, and each tend to have different reason for why they choose to take the lives of others. The two main types of serial killers are organized and disorganized. From there, they can be broken down into even more specific categories, however, each category will usually fall under organized or disorganized. Classifying serial killers can be useful for law enforcement because it helps them to determine common traits shared among different types of killers. When trying to apprehend a killer, once you determine what type they are, you can use

He was responsible for ten murders in Wichita, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. His MO involved strangling his victims and then taking souvenirs from the scene of the crime. Several months after his first murders, he left a note in a library book, in which he took responsibility for what he had done. He did not reveal his identity, and warned authorities that he would kill again. After his next killings, he sent a letter to the local media, claiming responsibility for his victims. After these murders, he and his wife had two children, and he took a break from killing, however, he had three more victims between 1985 and 1991. 2004 marked the anniversary of his first murders, and Rader sent a variety of clues to local media and authorities, which ultimately led to his arrest. He pled guilty to ten counts of first degree murder and received ten life sentences (Dennis

He went after prostitutes who worked in the East End in London. He is believed to have killed five women, but it may have been up to eight. He would strangle his victims until they lost consciousness, and then lower them to the ground and slit their throats. Afterwards, he would take organs from his victims as a trophy. Although Scotland Yard did have suspects in the Ripper case, they never found enough evidence to charge anyone with the murders, and the identity of Jack the Ripper remains unknown to this day