Ted Bundy And Charles Manson : The Characteristics Of Serial Killers And Mass Murderers

In today’s world, murderers aren’t a surprising thing, as long as they are fictional. Plenty of TV shows and movies have plot lines around murder, but what about real life? As Scott Bonn states in his writing, of the approximate 15,000 murders in the United States, only 1 percent are serial killings, amounting to about 150 victims per year, with between 25 and 50 serial killers active at any given time. There are plenty of statistics on serial killers. 1 in 20 had the same three characteristics as a child: bedwetting, fire setting, and torturing animals. Animal torture is a common indicator that the child will be violent in the future. Also, over 30 percent of murderers use killing as a way for their sexual arousal (Stone). A murderer

Crime occurs every day, all over the world. Most crime is unreported or is unknown to the vast majority of the populations. Over time, crime has grown to become a normal part of society and typically people are not surprised to hear that a crime has been committed. Most crimes are dealt with and forgotten, however a few crimes grab the media’s attention and are highly publicized, ultimately giving the criminal their 15 minutes of infamy. Ted Bundy was one of these criminals. Bundy was a law student in Utah and during the 1970’s, he assaulted, raped and murdered at least 30 known women with some criminologists suspecting as high as nearly 100 victims. The tactics he used along with the extent of his killings is how Bundy acquired his long lasting infamy and notoriety as one of America’s top 10 most wanted during his time. Our true focus here is explaining why these murders occurred; truly understanding the motivation behind Bundy’s actions and finding the roots of causation which could lead a person to commit such serious crimes.

“Serial killers are human black holes; they scare us because they mirror us,” spoke Shirley Lynn Scott, known author and psychologist. This stands true throughout history, as most serial killers blend in with society. Serial killing is formally defined by the FBI as “a series of three or more killings, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.” But what exactly drives someone to kill another human being? What plays as a more drastic motivator for their actions, nature or nurture?

Out of all the Infamous killers in the U.S the two well-known killers that I will be researching are Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy. These two murderers share many similarities such as their backgrounds, Crimes, and Motives. Both Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy are serial killers who’ve killed over a dozen people each. They’ve committed crimes including rape, murder, and kidnapping. In this research paper I will be comparing and contrasting the two serial killers.

Looking into Bundy's life, many of the facts and images from his early life stand in stark contrast to the vicious killings he engaged in. The young many Bundy was well behaved and "grew up an attractive teen" that was "generally liked and who performed well in school," according to Charles Montaldo writing in About.com. When he enrolled in the University of Puget Sound, he did very well in his schoolwork but he was embarrassed that he had so little money and the students around him were far wealthier, so he transferred to the University of Washington

Ted Bundy was an American born rapist, a necrophile; a serial killer and a kidnapper who assaulted and murdered several young women during the 1970’s. The criminal kept on denying the charges for more than ten years and later confessed of having committed the thirty homicide crimes in seven different states before his execution (Rule, 2009). Bundy’s handsome and charismatic appearance made it possible for him to easily win the confidence of young women who were always his targets. He broke into the dwellings of his victims at night and bludgeoned them as they slept. He also approached young women in public places where he impersonated as an authority figure or feigned injury on his victim before empowering and assaulting at a

Ted Bundy attended college at the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington. During this time, he took on various low-level jobs, such as being a busboy and a shoe clerk. Generally, he did not stay in one position for very long, which caused employers to view him as unreliable. He was always very focused on his studies and grades. In spring of 1967, he entered a life-changing relationship with his “dream woman,” a classmate of his at the University of

Based on the general idea of Ted Bundy’s background, psychological theory can be applied to his cases of murdering. Psychological theories focus on human’s mind and behavior and the assumption is problems are rooted in unconscious mind and symptoms are manifestations of hidden disturbances or conflicts. According to his childhood circumstances, Ted Bundy’s childhood trauma and abuse played an important role in his serial murders. His father disappeared before he was born and his whole started with the loss of parent. Not only he was living without his father, his mother did not take the full responsibility of him neither. Ted’s mother pretended to be his sister and let his grandparents to be their parents. Although Ted Bundy was

Mass murderers are a diverse group of people. They are a danger to society and it is important to understand the wide variability among these people. The kinds of mass murderers revolve around two central types that branch off to several subtypes. The profile of a mass murderer generally contains a specific set of traits. These people are often driven by one of a series of different motives. In order to achieve their goals, mass murderers have plenty of different methods and weapons at their disposal. Inevitably, the discussion of punishment always ensues when the subject of dangerously destructive killers arises. The study of mass murderers is one that requires analyzing and profiling all of the components that make up a killer, from

Mass murderers have many different types of planning. A mass murderer can plan their attack or it can be heat of the moment. The first type of planning is organized. In organized there can be Pseudocommando, Schizophrenic, Morbidly Jealous or Set-and-run. A example of pseudocommando is Omar Mateen. Knoll implies, “The pseudocommando is a type of mass murderer who kills in public during the daytime, plans his offense well in advance, and comes prepared with a powerful arsenal of weapons. He has no escape planned and expects to be killed during the incident” (Knoll). This means the Mateen planned his mass murder out in advance. He killed all the people in public and daytime. He thought to himself that he was going to be killed.

Throughout time many have had a fascination with serial killers and with help from the media they have become celebrities within our culture. There are many books, movies, television shows, and news coverage to introduce viewers to their lives. With all the interest behind serial killers, many wonder how they come to be this violent. The question is often asked, are serial killers born or made?

There are many people who choose to do bad things and break the law; however, there are people known as serial killers who take breaking the law and harming others to an unbelievable level. Murder is a very serious crime. Murders happen for many different reasons such as turf wars and drugs for gangs, by having an argument with another person and not being able to control your anger, or murdering because of a troubled past. Serial killers often come from a troubled past and seek some sort of revenge to what happened to them when they were younger. Serial killers are people who murder over and over again. There are many different types of serial killers. There are serial killers who choose to rape their victims, choose victims whom they know, choose victims because they are a different gender, choose their victims because of some fantasy that they have, or some even choose their victims to prevent them from going through what they had to go through as a young teen. There is no set description of what a serial killer looks like or if they are a woman or a man. Women serial killers tend to be more alluring with their crimes. Women tend to choose victims they may know but murder in a less heinous way. However, there are more male serial killers then women. The male serial killers tend to keep to the more violent and heinous murders. Although not all serial killers have something happen to them in order

The question of whether or not man is predetermined at birth to lead a life of crime is a question that has been debated for decades. Are serial killers born with the lust for murder, or are their desires developed through years of abuse and torment? Many believe it is impossible for an innocent child to be born with the capability to commit a horrible act such as murder. But at the same time, how could we have corrupted society so much as to turn an innocent child into a homicidal maniac? Forensic psychologists have picked apart the minds of serial killers to find an answer as to what forces them to commit such perverse acts. Their ultimate goal is to learn how to catch a serial killer before

Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Bernard Madoff are classified as intelligence criminals. The definition of intelligence is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” These criminals applied their knowledge in order to commit heinous crimes. Ted Bundy had an IQ of 136 and a BA in psychology as well as was accepted into law school. Jeffrey Dahmer contained an IQ of 146, and was one of the most infamous serial killers in history.

Described as “THE execution” (Lyons & Trei, 1989, p. Ia) serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was put to death by the State of Florida at 7.16 A.M. January 24, 1989. During his life he had been convicted of the 1978 rape and murder of a 12 year old, Kimberly Leach in Lack City; and the death of Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, sorority sisters at Florida State University. Just two days before his execution Bundy also admitted to killing a number of other females of various ages in Washington, Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Florida although he was never tried or convicted for those (Rule, 1989, p. 479-480). In total it is estimated that he killed between 25 and 30 women (Rule, 1989).