The four types of Serial Killers

I usually believed that all serial killers were the same when thinking about serial killers. I never really thought there were four different categories where serial killers are categorized and put into 4 different categories to explain their motives. The first category the article talks about is visionary killer. They are considered insane or psychotic. They are people who kill because they believe they are being told to do so by a person or an entity. An example of a visionary killer would be David Berkowitz. He thought a demon transmitted orders through his neighbor's dog, instructing him to murder. He would go on to kill 13 people and injure 6 others. The second category the article talks about is mission-oriented killers. Unlike visionary killers, they are not insane or psychotic. They are people who kill to rid society of a specific group of people. They tend to be more organized when they kill. An example of a mission-oriented killer would be Gary Ridgway. His victims were "...alleged to be sex workers and other women in vulnerable circumstances, including underage runaways" according to Wikipedia. The third category of serial killers according to the article are hedonistic killers. They are people who kill for pleasure. This category can be broken up into 3 different sub-groups. The first is lust killers, thrill killers, and finally, comfort killers.

Lust killers are people who r*pe, mutilate and kill for their pleasure. An example of a lust killer would be John Wayne Gacy. "He r*ped, tortured, and killed at least 33 young men and boys" while posing as a clown according to Wikipedia. The second sub-group of Hedonistic killers is thrill killers. They get a thrill from killing people. The article says," Although thrill killers can appear normal and confident on the outside, they often have feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness. By carrying out such crimes, they can make themselves feel powerful". An example of a thrill serial killer would be the Zodiac Killer. He gave himself the name. He would use the name "Zodiac Killer" ...in the series of taunting letters and cards that he mailed to regional newspapers, threatening killing sprees and bombings if they were not printed. Some of the letters included cryptograms, or ciphers, in which the killer claimed that he was collecting his victims as slaves for the afterlife" says Wikipedia. The last sub-group of Hedonistic killers is comfort killers. They are people who kill for money or material gains. According to the article," The Comfort serial killer can wait a lengthy time between murders. This is because killing isn’t an impulse or something that they particularly enjoy. It is simply a tool that allows them to achieve their goals". An example of a comfort killer would be Dorthea Puente. She catered to elderly, handicapped, and mentally ill people. According to Psychology Today," Puente engaged in fraud and theft by cashing the monthly Social Security checks of her tenants and keeping all of the proceeds for herself. Tenants who complained to Puente about this practice were killed and buried in the backyard of the boarding house". 

The last group that defines what a serial killer's motives are is Power/Control killers. They are people who seek to gain power and control over their victims. According to the article," In a lot of cases, these men have feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness and are afraid of rejection. Many of them were also abused as children. Dominating their victims and taking away their lives gives them a feeling of empowerment". An example of a Power/Control killer would be Ted Bundy. According to Wikipedia," He would typically approach his victims in public places, either feigning a physical impairment such as an injury, or impersonating an authority figure, before bludgeoning them into unconsciousness and taking them to secondary locations to be raped and strangled. Bundy often revisited his victims, grooming and performing sexual acts with the corpses until decomposition and destruction by wild animals made any further interactions impossible". Although Ted Bundy is classified as a Power/Control killer, he can also be classified as a Hedonistic killer. A lot of these serial killers can be grouped into multiple categories. Reading this article was interesting because it gave me further insight into how serial killers are classified. Maybe this is why John Wayne Gacy didn't like when they compared him to Jeffrey Dahmer. He probably knew they had different motives. Even then it's still crazy that a serial killer disliked another serial killer.