1. Mass Murderers. These are the supernovas of the mass killers. They burst on to the scene from out of nowhere and explode in a massive blast, taking out many objects for a good distance around them. After they blast, they often die (star death), but occasionally they are captured.
As a general rule, this tends to be a suicide mission. They are often taken out by police on the scene or else they turn the gun on themselves at some point, especially when the cops are closing in. The killer is often extremely heavily armed and almost always attacks crowded places in broad daylight. Capable of mass damage – up to 30-40 casualties in a single incident.
2. Spree killers. These are the meteors of the mass killers. They burn brightly for a few moments as they flash across the sky before they burn out into death. These are little known and are not particularly common. Charlie Starkweather, whose case was portrayed in Badlands, was a spree killer. They typically take off on a killing mission across the country.
They are expert killers. Methods include abduction followed by killing, home invasion and assassination, often in broad daylight. The killer strikes in one state and then quickly moves out of the area to a new state where after a bit, he kills again. It’s often a little while before police realize that they have a spree killer on their hands.
Lives in motels or stays with people he befriends, who are often then killed. A spree killing is almost always a suicide mission. The spree ends when the killer turns the gun on himself, often as police are closing in, or sometimes the cops blast him dead. There is sometimes a shootout with the police at the end. Often highly intelligent.
3. Serial killers. The serial killers are the comets of the mass killers. They streak across the sky for a long time until they finally fade, only to return much later to burn brightly across the sky once again.
Whereas mass murderers and spree killers are always either caught or killed at the end of the rampage, quite a few serial killers roam around at large for a long time. Some may have killed for up to 30 years without being caught. Quite a few of them die before the police realize their crimes and close the books. This is almost never a suicide mission, and none of these types ever want to get caught.
In many cases, they are brilliant master criminals as you would have to be to get away with murder repeatedly over a significant period of time. Nowadays they tend to prey on people who are on the margins of society, but in the 1970′s and 1980′s, they preyed a lot more on regular folks. Often target young women and in many cases, there is a sexual element. Rape is extremely common and often precedes or at times occurs after death. The bodies are often visited afterwards.
In quite a few cases, they insert themselves into the investigation, often leading searches for their own victims. In some cases, they have even found the bodies of their own victims. When one of their victims is found by police in a fairly public case, a crowd often gathers. In quite a few cases, the killer will be part of that crowd. They often visit the bodies after death and many of them are necrophiliacs.
At times they go to the mortuary where their victims are housed and ask to see the body. They ask to see crime scene photos of the crime. In quite a few cases, they go to the funerals of their own victims. They often collect newspaper articles about their crimes. Mementos are often taken – in the case of young females, it may be an earring. Death is often by stabbing, strangulation or blunt force trauma with a heavy object.
Victims are often tortured, and it is not uncommon for bodies to be mutilated or dismembered. Sometimes guns are used. The gun may have a silencer. Bodies may be dumped in all sorts of places, in rivers, by roads or highways, way off in wilderness areas, etc. The best serial killers have a way of making bodies disappear of the face of the Earth. In some cases, they are pillars of the community.
Frequently they are married or have been married, and often they have children. Multiple marriages, often combined with many sexual relationships, is very common. At times enlists the help of a partner or partners and sometimes their wife or girlfriend helps them on their killing missions by driving the vehicle, helping to abduct victims, etc.
Has a very active fantasy life involving rape, torture, killing, etc. They are almost always sociopaths, though there have been a scattered few non-sociopaths. Often appears as a “charming rogue” type. Often have “wild eyes.” Others are said to look “very mean.” In many cases, they are sexual sadists who obtain sexual pleasure from their mayhem. Sadistic personality disorder is also common.
Domineering at home, often beats, threatens or browbeats wives or girlfriends. In quite a few cases, the wife or girlfriend is eventually killed, ending the killing spree. In many cases, they have criminal records and quite of a few have been in and out of prisons and jails their whole lives. Poor impulse control. Displays little to no guilt. Killing often becomes an “addiction” with them or better, a compulsion. Although some stop killing, many are addicts and only stop when they are caught, killed or die.
Tends to kill at stressful periods in their lives. The ones who kill women typically harbor extreme rage and hatred towards females. Little to no remorse for their victims. Tends to have an MO that does not change much. In recent years, they often learn forensic techniques and go to great pains to conceal their crimes.
Hard to prosecute, which is why they often go free. Serial killing cases are often hard to prove. In many cases, police think they know who did the killings, but they do not have enough evidence to prosecute, so the killer walks.
Often drifters, but some run businesses, take part in community and church affairs, participate in local arts and politics and are general men about town. Typically have a highly dysfunctional childhood, and serious pathology is usually apparent before adulthood. Typical teenage crimes are rape, abduction, fighting, stealing, drug use, drunk driving and especially prowling, peeping and burglary. The crimes tend to escalate from prowling, peeping and burglary of the teen years to abduction and rape and then on to homicide.
A fascination with death, dead bodies, gore, death porn, gore porn and extremely violent S/M B/D porn. Their sex lives with their wives and girlfriends are often rough or violent and they are typically into S/M and B/D sex. It is not uncommon for them to be members of swinging or wife swapping clubs.
