Serial Killers : An American Serial Killer

Statistically, the average serial killer is a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background, usually in his twenties or thirties. Many were physically or emotionally abused by parents. Some were adopted. As children, fledgling serial killers often set fires, torture animals, and wet their beds (these red-flag behaviors are known as the “triad” of symptoms.) Brain injuries are common. Some are very intelligent and have shown great promise as successful professionals. They are also fascinated with the police and authority in general (Scott).

Albert fish also known as Hamilton Fish was born on May 19, 1870. He is known as an American Serial killer and sadomasochistic cannibal. Many know him as the werewolf of Wisteria. He was one of the most wicked pedophiles and killer of his time. His name “Albert” came from a dead sibling. His family had a history of mental illness. Albert’s father died in 1875, which led to his mother putting him into an orphanage. They whipped and beat him but he learned to enjoy the physical pain. The beatings gave him erections and many of the orphans teased him for it. In 1882, he began drinking urine and coprophagia. He visited public baths where he would watch boys undress and became a male prostitute. Albert raped many young boys mostly under the age

Although serial killers come in all shapes and sizes, there is a general profile that criminologists go by when trying to profile a criminal. The typical serial killer is a white male in his late 20s to early 30s, kills within his own race, his targeted victims share specific characteristics, and his method of murder is “hands on” in means of strangulation. The types of serial killers include visionaries, missionaries, lust killers, thrill killers, gain killers, and power seekers. Depending on the type of serial killer, their profile may change; for example, certain clues from missionary-type killers can help decide their religious affiliation. Also, certain types of serial killers may generally have different age groups. Most serial

Serial killers have been around for numerous amounts of years, and while they aren’t as popular today as they once were the history of them remain very popular. In many cases, a serial killer suffers from some sort of mental illness or insanity. This is no different for the case of Albert Fish, an American serial killer who is known as one of the most vile pedophiles and killers of all time. (Montaldo, 2014) Albert Fish committed some of the most gruesome crimes I have ever read about, but he was one of the least suspecting people you would ever imagine to commit such crimes; he appeared to be a very kind older man, but deep down he was a true monster with horrific intentions.

A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break which can also be called a "cooling off period” between them. There are different types of serial killers. Some are mission oriented serial killers; others are visionary killers. There are equally power and control killers and thrill or hedonistic killers. There are many serial killers in the world at large with different motives for killing. Some people are serial killers on their own while others kill as a couple. In this case, we will talk about serial killers as a couple. We have the Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo who have a mix of hedonistic killers and power and control killers. We equally have Ray and Faye Copeland which also falls under power and control killers. The paper will focus on the background, victims, and trail of Ray and Faye Copeland and Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo.

Hamilton “Albert” Fish was one of the most infamous serial killers in the late 1900’s. He claims to have killed 6-15 children, eaten one, and molested more than 400 children over a 20 year time period. He was later tried and convicted of his crimes and sentenced to death. There are several theories that attempt to explain the reason behind Fish’s heinous crimes. Some say that his childhood doomed him for madness, Fish himself attributes his childhood to his unstable mental state. Others speculate that it was his wife leaving him with six children to raise. His development played a major role in his mental state, as it does with most people. The interesting thing about Fish, is that his tendencies and derangement did not come forth until he was well past his younger years. Whatever the case may be, Fish committed some of the most horrific crimes that have ever been witnessed in America, he shed light on the psyche of a killer.

For the most part the domain of serial homicide is ruled by men. There is however some females that has and can be serial killers. According to Bartol & Bartol (2005) there have been at thirty six female serial killers throughout the United States. In general society we do not like to believe that women are capable of committing such acts, but as we continue to alter our views, moral, and beliefs of women’s equality and feminism there is room for women to be just as likely to become serial killers. As long as the conditions and environment that facilitate such behavior allows for it. Women who become serial killers usually kill for different reasons than their male counterparts. Their overall motives vary from each female serial killer, but generally they kill for “…purpose of comfort…” like money, insurance, etc… (Holmes &Holmes, 1991). Female serial killers usually end up killing known individuals that have some type of relationship that is not to say that female serial killer won’t kill strangers. One third of female serial killers kill strangers (Holmes & Holmes, 1991). Although not as well-known there are infamous female serial killers throughout our history and will likely be more in the future.

Albert Fish is a well-known serial killer who was charged for molesting individuals, torturing individuals and eventually cannibalism (Montaldo, 2017). Prior to Albert Fishes’ life of crime, he was a young man who resided in an orphanage for a portion of his life with a family tree that consisted of numerous mental illnesses (Montaldo, 2017). Eventually, Fish became married, but once his wife eventually had an affair and left him, his troubles began (Montaldo, 2017). Though Fish committed multiple crimes, his most well-known crime was against the Budd family. Fish became knowledgeable of the family when he came across and ad written by a young man who was looking for work to support his family, Fish then replied under the fake name, Frank

Albert was also known as “The Lying Cannibal” (Castleden, C) as a result of him being a pathological liar. Definition being that he can not fully grasp reality and is lying in an attempt to restore self-esteem. He had a hard time considering that what he was doing was bad and socially incorrect. This gave him more moral support when conducting his murders. This shows how nature was a part of Albert Fish becoming a serial

Hamilton “Albert”  Fish was a cannibalistic serial killer that lived from 1870 to 1936. He was the youngest of four children and lived with his parents until the age of five. His father died when he was five so his mother brought him to an orphanage so she could find work. This is where it is believed that his masochistic behavior began.

Suzie is infuriated. How could the people on her facebook feed–people she had thought to be her friends–be so, incredibly wrong? She sits steaming at her computer. Do they not know that these ridiculous proposed regulations would infringe on her rights? And anyway, they claim to care about kids, but they do nothing to stop the murders happening right under their noses.

Some can say killing is a form of art. For serial killer, that’s how they see it. They plan the kill and how the event will unfold. Serial killers always have some type of childhood trauma that takes over their mind sets. The mind set a killer is unstable, meaning they don’t have full control of themselves. In my essay, I'll further exam the act of a serial killer.

What is a serial killer? Albert Fish was a dangerous serial killer who murdered and mutilated the bodies of his victims. He committed murder and molested children. He was also a cannibal whereby he tortured, killed and cut the bodies of his victims, roasted the pieces and ate. He targeted children because they were the easy target. His experiences in the early childhood at the orphanage are believed to have facilitated the development of his sadistic behavior. Three of his known victims that he murdered and mutilated their bodies include Grace Budd, Francis MacDonald, and Billy Gaffney. Other murders that he was suspected to have committed include Yetta Abramowitz, Mary Ellen O 'Connor, and Benjamin Collings. He also attempted to lure Beatrice Kiel and kill her but Beatrice’s Parents noticed him and sent him away. The letter Fish wrote to Grace’s mother was used by the police to track him down thus leading to his arrest and execution.

The doors and the windows and all of the openings were boarded up, like they had been for so long. No natural daylight came into our home. It lured in the mosquitoes, after all, not to mention all of the other foul creatures. Other precautions had been taken long ago, and we drank milk instead of water. Many said that the milk didn’t lure in mosquitoes, and the rats were (usually) easily dealt with.

“The serial killer ‘is an entirely different criminal,’ ”The term serial killer is misleading on the ground that each murder is intended to be the last.” We see them as a figure of “the dark side of human potential,” but they believe they’re “on a heroic quest for the biggest score possible” They believe they are “the archetypal figure of impurity, the representative of a world which needs cleansing.” However, society knows that serial killers are not heroes, and they’re not cleansing the world. “The figure of the serial killer is violent impurity personified, and it is a construction that necessitates figures of violent purity to confront it.” While it can be argued whether having mental disorders should prevent a serial killer from being capitally punished, it is proven that many serial killers suffer from “paranoid schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, or psychopathology.” It’s even said that “this crime is actually a form of disease. Its carriers are serial killers who suffer from a variety of crippling and eventually fatal symptoms, and its immediate victims are the people struck down seemingly at random by the disease carriers.” Serial killers usually have a stressor in their life that makes them start killing, and when they do “homicidal mania becomes ‘a necessity… linked to the very existence of a psychiatry which had made itself autonomous but needed thereafter to secure a basis for its intervention by gaining recognition as a component of public