Warm Up
#MysteryMonday| October 5, 2015
Many have heard me, but nobody has seen me,
and I will not speak back until spoken to. What
am I?
Alone I am 24th, with a friend I am 20. Another
friend and I am unclean. What am I?
Work with your group to solve The Liars Puzzle
Write your answer on your own warm up sheet
Who is the murderer? Charles, Daisy, Betsy or
Arnold? Defend your answer
Warm Up
#MysteryMonday| October 5, 2015
An echo
The letter X
The murderer is.
Note that although it is NECESSARY to show a
logical possibility of Arnold being the killer, it is
not SUFFICIENT to simply show this possibility
to prove that it was Arnold. To demonstrate
that it was truly Arnold, you must show that
Arnold could be the killer, and also that the
other three could not be.
Agenda
Warm Up/SATWOTD
U3 Exam Results
A Little #FF
U4: Criminal Minds
Introduction
Serial Killer Case Studies
Forensic Files: Sharper Image
I know you guys may have a ton of questions this unit.
For the sake of time, please write down all questions and put them in
the question bowl
I will answer as many as possible within the next few days
What Is A Serial Killer?
U4: Criminal Minds
Essential Vocabulary
Mass murder: The killing of several people
at one location.
Modus operandi: the usual way that a
particular criminal performs a crime
Serial murder: The killing of three or more
victims over an extended period of time.
Spree murder: The killing of several people
at different locations over a period of
several days.
Q: What is the difference
between a serial killer and a
mass murderer?
By technical definition
Mass Murder:
The USA Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a mass
murder as "[involving] the murder of four or more
victims at one location, within one event
Serial Killer:
A person who kills three or more people in three or
more separate events over a period of time including
an "emotional cooling-off" period in between the
homicides (FBI definition)
Mass Murder
Kill a large number of people, typically at the same time in
a single location
Many mass murders end with the death of the perpetrator
(self-infliction or being killed by law enforcement)
Characteristics of mass murderers:
Generally dissatisfied people, poor social skills, few friends
Male
Paranoid individuals with acute behavioral or social disorders
Social misfits or loners pushed over the edge
Ever heard of the phrase going postal?
Going Postal!
Expression derives from a series of incidents from 1986
onward in which United States Postal Service (USPS)
workers shot and killed managers, fellow workers, and
members of the police or general public in acts of mass
murder.
Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986
Patrick Sherrill shot 20 coworkers (killing 14) before committing
suicide.
Serial Murder
The FBI defines serial murder as
A minimum of 3-4 victims
Cooling off period in between victims
Murders appear unconnected or random
Killer is usually a stranger to the victim
Murders reflect a need to dominate the victim
Murders are psychologically motivated
Rarely motivated for profit
Victim has a symbolic value for the killer
Victims are generally vulnerable
Summary
Mass Murderer
Multiple Victims
Victims wrong place /
time
Usually single crime
scene
Single Episode
No specific
methodology involved
Serial Killer
Multiple Victims
Victims carefully
selected
Several crime scenes
Several episodes
Very specific
methodology
Introduction to Serial Murder
Serial murder is neither a new phenomenon, nor is it
uniquely American.
Serial murder is a relatively rare event, estimated to
comprise less than one percent of all murders committed in
any given year.
Much of the general publics knowledge concerning serial
murder is a product of Hollywood productions. Story lines
are created to heighten the interest of audiences, rather
than to accurately portray serial murder. By focusing on the
atrocities inflicted on victims by deranged offenders, the
public is captivated by the criminals and their crimes. This
only lends more confusion to the true dynamics of serial
murder.
Q: What is the key to serial murders?
Killings are separate (serial) and occur with greater or
less frequency, often escalating over a period of time,
sometimes years.
Generally little (if any) previous connection between
the serial killer and the victim and the persons involved
are generally not related.
The victim as a symbolic object of someone or
something that they find desirable but they cannot
possess or someone or something they find repulsive
and they want to destroy.
Warm Up
Tuesday| October 5, 2015
True or false:
What is the difference
between a spree and serial Serial killers are all white males
All serial killers are insane or are evil
killer?
geniuses.
When you hear the term
Serial killers are functional losers
Serial killers are only motivated by
serial killer, what comes
sex
to mind?
All serial murderers travel and
operate interstate.
What do you think
Serial killers cannot stop killing.
motivates a serial killer to
Serial killers want to get caught.
kill?
Most Evil: Inside the Killers Mind
Follow along with worksheet
We will stop periodically to make sure everyone is on
the same page
Big Ole Warm Up
Thursday | October 8, 2015
You may need a separate piece of paper. Worth 10 pts.
The text identifies six important preconditions
for serial murder that have their roots in
modernity. List and describe three.
Describe the typical mass murderer as
according to a 2000 New York Times survey
Create a Venn Diagram comparing mass and
serial murder
What are some primary motives for serial
killers?
10 minutes
End
What Makes a Serial Killer?
Set up your notes
Essential Vocabulary
Psychopath: a person suffering from
chronic mental disorder with abnormal or
violent social behavior.
Signature: Unusual characteristics of a
murder that are repeated at several crime
scenes
Sociopath: a person with a personality
disorder manifesting itself in extreme
antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack
of conscience.
Q: Where did serial killers originate?
The term serial killer was likely coined by
Robert K. Ressler (FBI Agent; Behavioral
Science Unit) in the mid 1970s
Ressler said description of serial
crimes reminded him of the movie
industry term serial adventures
Short episodic films, featuring the likes of
Batman and the Lone Ranger, shown in
theaters on Saturday afternoons during
the 1930s and 1940s.
Countess Elizabeth Bathory
Killed over 600 girls for their blood
The Prime Minister of Hungary decided
to take a stand and arrested the
Countess and her associates
Sentence = death
Died in 1614 at the age of 54
Jack The Ripper
An unidentified serial
killer believed to have been active
in the largely impoverished area
of the Whitechapel district of
London in 1888.
5 female victims
Has Jack The Ripper been found?
Q: Who is the typical serial killer?
White men between 20 and 30/35
Female serialists do also exist.
15% of the serialists operating in the
US from 1800 to 1995 are female
Differences in the typology of the
crime
Males tend to use brute force and
direct their rage to strangers, women
tend to focus more on members of the
family and use poison.
Female serial killers tend to kill for
money whiles males tend to kill for
control or sexual gratification.
Q: Who is the typical serial killer?
Middle-class background even though there are also
killers that belong to other social strata.
Generally have memory disorders and an inability to
tell the truth.
Drug or alcohol abuse (or their parents have histories
of alcohol or drug abuse).
History of assault, robbery, fetish robbery or cruelty to
animals.
May have demonstrated abnormal sexual behavior or
hyper sexuality.
IQ = generally borderline, average
Q: Markers in Childhood?
The Macdonald Triad
AKA the triad of sociopathy
or the homicidal triad
A set of three behavioral
characteristics that predicts
later violent tendencies
Predicts future violent
behavior if all three or any
combination of two are
present together
Q: Markers in Childhood?
Torturing Animals
Animals = practice for killing humans
Keith Jesperson
Pyromania
Often a sexually stimulating activity
for future killers
The dramatic destruction of property
feeds the same perverse need to
destroy another human.
David Berkowitz (Son of Sam)
Enuresis (Bed Wetting)
Unintentional bed-wetting during
sleep, persistent after the age of five
60% of multiple murderers wet their
beds past adolescence.
Q: Insane? Psychopaths? Sociopaths?
Very few serial killers suffer from any mental illness to such
a debilitating extent that they are considered to be insane
by the criminal justice system
To be classified legally insane, an individual must be unable to
comprehend that an action is against the law at the extent moment
the action is undertaken
Most serial killers are aware of illegality of murder while they are in
the process of killing their victims
Understanding of right and wrong does nothing to impede crimes
Desire and compulsion to kill causes them to ignore criminal law
Q: Insane? Psychopaths? Sociopaths?
Commonalities:
Disregard for laws and social mores
Disregard for the rights of others
Failure to feel remorse or guilt
Tendency to display violent behavior
Q: Insane? Psychopaths? Sociopaths?
Sociopaths
Nervous
Easily agitated
Volatile and prone to
emotional outbursts
Likely to be uneducated
or live on the fringes of
society
Q: Insane? Psychopaths? Sociopaths?
Sociopaths
Unable to hold down a job
or sty in one place for long
Appears to be disturbed in
the eyes of others
Crimes will be haphazard,
disorganized and
spontaneous
Q: Psychopaths? Sociopaths?
Psychopaths
Unable to form emotional
attachments or feel empathy
with others
Disarming or charming
personalities
Very manipulative
Carefully plan out every detail of
crimes in advance and often
have contingency plans
Criminals are cool, calm and
meticulous
Warm Up
Friday | October 9, 2015
Compare and contrast sociopaths and
psychopaths
What is the MacDonald triad? What can it
predict?
What are three facts someone wouldnt
know by looking at you?
Warm Up
Tuesday | October 13, 2015
Criminal Profiling Worksheet
Write criminal profiling summary on
warm up sheet
Use the notes from yesterday and the
helpers on your desk
Serial Killer Classifications
Q: How are serial killers classified?
Serial Killers can be classified in a variety of ways
1. According to their motives
2. According to their mobility
3. According to planning
4. According to their nature and modus operandi
M.O., Signatures, & Staging
Q: What is the Modus Operandi?
Object - kind of property taken, such as bras and panties
Time - time of day or night, weekdays, non-work days, holidays
(when people would not miss the perpetrator at work)
Style - the description the criminal gives the victim to gain
entrance (plumber, cable TV repairman)
Tale - any disclosure the criminal makes as to his
business/purpose
Pals - any co-conspirators
Transport - what type of vehicle was used in connection with
the crime
Trademark - any unusual act committed by the suspect while
in the commission of the crime (i.e. poisoning the cat, eating at
the scene after murdering the grandmother)
Q: What are Signatures?
Signature: the murderer's psychological calling
card
Unusual characteristics of a murder that are
repeated at several crime scenes
Example: intentionally displaying victims in a
spread-eagle position.
This behavior reinforces the perpetrators
underlying psychological needs.
Q: What are Signatures?
Signatures may include:
posing the victims (post death)
concealing victims
using the same type of weapon
using the same method of killing
mutilating all the victims in the same manor
Signatures can sometimes be souvenirs
Modus Operandi or Signature?
Two murderers both burn their victims by dousing them with
gasoline.
The first murderer does
so as an angerretaliatory act.
This is a signature
behavior.
The second murderer
douses the victim with
gasoline to cover up the
crime.
This murderer does so to
evade detection.
This therefore is a
precautionary act, and as
such is a modus operandi
behavior.
Q: What is staging?
Staging: occurs when someone purposely
alters the crime scene prior to the arrival of
the police
Two reasons:
Direct the investigation away from the most
logical suspect
Protect the victim or victims family
Red Flags: inconsistencies at a staged crime
scene
Nature vs. Nurture
U4: Criminal Minds
Q: Are serialists born or made?
Three theories based on childhood
Theory One: The compulsion (need) to kill may be the
result of trauma to the brain
Theory Two: The compulsion to kill is genetic. A
mutation in the DNA happens that puts people on the
homicidal path.
Theory Three: The compulsion is a result of something
dreadful that happened to the child in childhood
Commonality: All theories believe that serial killers
begin to show signs in childhood
Q: Are serialists born or made?
One of the enduring
questions of development
involves how much peoples
behavior is due to genetics
and how much to the physical
and social environment
Nature = traits, abilities and
capacities that are inherited
from ones parents
Produced by maturation
(the predetermined
unfolding of genetic
information)
Q: Are serialists born or made?
Nurture = the environmental influences that shape behavior
Influences may be
Biological (i.e., the impact of a pregnant mothers use of cocaine
on her unborn child)
Social (i.e., the way parents discipline a child, peer pressure)
Societal factors (i.e., socioeconomic status)
Q: Are serialists born or made?
To fully understand the nurture aspect of the
debate, we have to understand some different
theories of psychological development
Your task:
View the chapter from the textbook posted on the class
website
Answer questions on worksheet
Worksheet will count as your notes
20 minutes
End
Psychological Theories of Crime
Warm Up
Friday | October 16, 2015
Define Nature
Define Nurture
What is the difference is between a serial
killers signature and modus operandi?
A serial killer stalks his victim and brings a kit
to commit his crime what type of killer is he?
Why?
Get ready to present your project
Midterm Review
Criminal Minds
Psychopath v. Sociopath
Serial, Spree and Mass
Murder
What is a serial killer?
How can we classify serial
killers?
Know major groupings and
subgroupings
Nature v. Nurture
Psychological theories of
crime
Add to your review
booklet!
Review: Choose Your Own Adventure
Make a C (69-79)
Complete review booklet sheet
Make an B(80-89)
Complete C level
Make a foldable or graphic organizer of 20 essential vocab
words/definitions
Create a 20-question test covering general topics
Make an A (90-100)
Complete C and B level
Forensic Science Bloom Ball
Female Serial Killers
Q: How Common?
Females account for only 15% of all violent crime
Female serial killers account for only 8% of American
serial killers
General Overview
Males
27.5 is average age at first kill
9 is the youngest (Clarence Hill)
72 is the oldest (Ray Copeland)
Jesse Pomeroy (Boston in the 1870s)
Killed 28 people by the age of 14
Spent 58 years in solitary confinement until he died
Females (Kelleher & Kelleher, 1998)
30 is average age at first kill
14 is youngest (Caril Ann Fugate)
55 is oldest (Marie Becker)
Angels of death, revenge killers, and team killers tend to be
younger
Q: Compare and Contrast
MALE:
Method of choice:
Stabbing
Strangulation
Shooting
Choice of victim:
FEMALE:
Method of choice:
Poison/injection (80%)
Suffocation (16%)
Drowning (5%)
Choice of victim:
Wide range, often strangers
Family members or lovers
Usually of same race as killer
Often children or the elderly
Usually adults
Gets away with it for a longer
period of time!
Q: Types of female serial killers ?
Kelleher & Kelleher 9
categories and two forms of
actions
Note: there are some female
serial killers that do not fit
neatly into typology
Warm Up
#MegaMysteryMonday | October 19, 2015
Mega mysteries!
(Pink sheets, 3 copies/lab table)
Think outside the box!
Be sure to explain your answers in full
sentences!
Warm Up
#MegaMysteryMonday | October 19, 2015
The man bought a 1-way ticket for his wife and a roundtrip for
himself.
The fireman is the only man in the room. Everyone else is
female.
The murderer took the lock hanging on the door and replaced it
with an identical one. You closed it as it did not require a key.
When you were gone, the murderer opened the lock with his
key, planted the body, and replaced the new lock with the
original one.
Bleach + ammonia = deadly combination
Pete told them to stand in a circle. All the squad was facing in at
Pete, ready to shoot. When they realized that everyone who
missed would likely shoot another squad member, no one took
the risk. Pete was set free at sundown.
