Visionary Serial Killer Examples

This type of serial killer believes they are a messenger of God, the devil, or some other powerful religious figure. Example: David Berkowitz What is a Visionary serial killer? The motives of serial killers are generally placed into four categories: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic and power or control; however, the motives of any given killer may display considerable overlap among these categories.

Last week in my blog, I talked about how serial killer characteristics can start to emerge as early as two years old. Wow, that’s a crazy thought. This week in my blog post, I will talk about the four types of serial killers; Hedonistic, mission-oriented, visionary, and power serial killers and control killers. “Warning some disturbing facts.”

Hedonistic or thrill killers are like the label suggests in it for fun or the rush they get when they kill. Often engage in rape, sex being the biggest motivation. Some of the more well-known examples of hedonistic or thrill killer included Jeffery Dahmer. Jeffery, aka “The Milwaukee Monster stalked bus stops, malls and gay bars seeking out his targets. His target was black, gay men. He ended up killing 17 of these individuals before he was caught and taken into custody. After leaving in his victim by drugging them, he would then commit acts of necrophilia (sexual intercourse with or attraction towards corpses). His thought behind this was that he was trying to turn them into a zombie by giving them a “chemical lobotomy.” And if you do not know what that is, it is a procedure where you drill a hole into someone’s head in this care his victims, and he would take it a step further and pour acid into, hoping he would reach his end goal of them being zombies.

The second type of serial killer is the visionary serial killer. In comparison, quite similar to the hedonistic or thrill killers mentioned above lay in one single difference. Those who fit this type of serial killing are generally psychotic or schizophrenic, so there is something neurologically wrong with the brain. Vision or hallucinations motivate them to kill random victims, commonly coming from God or the devil. You may have heard of Vince Li, a schizophrenia killer who believed he was being called to behead a fellow passenger on the bus as a higher calling from Jesus. This happened on July 30, 2008, near Portage la Prairie Manitoba. These individuals often time in a trial are found not criminally responsible because of insanity.

The third type of serial killer is power and control killers. These individuals are motivated by power and control. They thrive on the feeling of domination of their victims. These killings often take a considerable amount of time and have sexual components as well. Other characteristics of these serial killers are that they are highly organized, preventing them from being easily caught. They are often deemed charming and intelligent by those closest to them, sometimes even giving these people trophies from their victims. One example of this type of killer is John Wayne Gacy, who told his family the reason for the smell in their home was moisture. In actuality, it was the smell of 29 out of 33 of his victims buried within their home and property. The others were found in the nearby Des Plains River.

The fourth and final type of serial killer I am going to address is mission-oriented killers. These killers are motivated by the desire to eliminate a specific kind of person to make the world a better place. Not often psychotic, these killers are well organized and quite to jump on the prey they find undesirable. For example, the commonly known serial killer nicknamed Jack the Ripper was convicted he was doing the world right by targeting and getting rid of sex workers. By killing certain groups of people, they believe they cleanse them of whatever the “bad” is about them.

Overall serial killers fascinate me. I love to learn how they think and act. It is a fascinating topic, and I have enjoyed the last two weeks delving deeper into this content. I hope you enjoyed it as well. Thanks.

Visionary Serial Killer Examples

Visionary Serial Killers Examples

Missionary serial killers believe it is their duty to kill what they believe is an unwanted element. For example, they believe homosexuals, prostitutes, and people of different religions and ethnicities deserve to be killed to rid society of an unwanted element.

One hundred and fifteen years ago, a missionary serial killer terrorized the East End of London killing between four to nine prostitutes arguably. It is mostly accepted that there was five victims. He was only known as Jack The Ripper. His identity was never figured out; however the individual claiming the murders would leave the name Jack The Ripper. Although thirteen people were murdered in the timeframe between December 1887 and April 1891, most agreed that not all were The Rippers victims. The names of his victims were unknown until the 1960s when their photos were finally recovered. This has arguably been considered the most famous unsolved crime in history.

In May of 1998 a missionary serial killer was sentenced to life in prison. His name was Ted Kacyznski a.k.a. the “Unabomber”. Born on May 22^nd 1942 in Evergreen Park Illinois, he was an anti-technology terrorist. In 1978 Kazynski began a random series of bombing across the United States. His primary targets were universities and airlines. The first was in May at the University of Chicago. He sent a package to a professor which in turn exploded and injured a university police officer. Kazynski was originally known as the “junkyard bomber” due to his explosives being crude and primitive. Over time however, his bombs became more advanced and fatal. His identity was hidden for a length of time with only a sketch of a man wearing sunglasses and a hood. In 1994 Kazynski demanded is “Manifesto”, a 35,000 word document showing his distaste in technology. The mainstream media met this request. He was eventually arrested in April of 1996 when he was found in his one room shack just outside of Lincoln, Montana where he was living reclusively since 1971.

Yona Williams. 12/16/10. http://crime.about.com/od/history/a/ripper040721.htm

http://answers.com/topic/unabomber