Female Serial Killers
Web Page Project by:
Jeanne Nikki Gilbert
Heather Thone
Gregory Mouton
Martin Millien
11/28/2003
The term serial killer, coined by Special Agent Robert Ressler, is defined as someone who kills 3 or more people with sufficient time intervals between each, known as a cooling off period (Lawler). Serial killers have been divided into two groups: disorganized, asocial offenders and organized, non-social offenders. There is no single precise profile for a serial killer. While the basic profile calls for a Caucasian male between the ages of eighteen and thirty-two with a history of child abuse, bed wetting, animal abuse, and arson, each serial killer has his/her own motives and personal agenda (Serial Killer Profile). While female serial killers are not very common, they do exist and are quite different from their male counterparts.
We hear more about male serial killers in the media because their crimes are much more horrific. They brutally kill their victims and desecrate the bodies. When committing their crimes, mens methods include: firearms mainly (41%), suffocation (37%), stabbing (34%), bludgeoning (26%), firearms only (19%), poison (11%), drowning (3%), and other (2%) (Profile Analysis). These men usually seek attention for their crimes and do not try to hide them. Often, the crime scenes are manipulated to provide clues for authorities and to entice the media. More often than not, the body count of a male serial killer is higher than that of most women serial killers. Some killers have murdered over three hundred victims. Women, on the other hand, are less visible and use methods such as poisoning in order to be discrete and keep under the radar. This accounts for eighty percent of the methods used to kill their victims. Women can be termed gentle killers; however, their methods are still gruesome, just less graphic in nature (Newton 237). Other methods used by women include: shootings (20%), bludgeoning (16%), suffocation (16%), stabbing (11%), and drowning (5%) (Profile Analysis).
Most male serial killers are violent even as children. They are usually sexual predators who rape their victims dead or alive. They begin by using pornographic materials that allow the killer to imagine himself or role-play in his mind (Lawler). Sexual deviance and control are the biggest motivators in their urge to kill (Profile Analysis). The Boston Strangler, DeSalvo, is a good example of a sexual predator. He raped, murdered, and arranged womens bodies in grotesque, suggestive ways (Newton 49). Other motives that men have for killing are: control, money, enjoyment, racism and hatred, mental problems, cult-inspiration, and attention. Female serial killers are a much more complex criminal with wide ranging motivations. However, money is the motivation for 74% of their killings (Nutt). Other motives include: control, enjoyment, sex, drugs, cult involvement, feelings of inadequacy, and cover-up (Profile Analysis). They are usually diagnosed with a psychological disorder called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. This illness involves the fabrication of symptoms or the infliction of injuries by the serial killer on dependent individuals, such as children, to gain attention or sympathy (Newton 164). A prime example is Mary Beth Tinning, who realized after the natural death of her first child that she received much attention from others. After that, she decided to kill her other eight children. These serial killers are commonly called Black Widows because they kill family members, friends, and anyone with whom they have created a close personal relationship.
This type of killing is common for women. They prey upon people who are dependent upon them and those with whom they are acquainted. The revenge killer is another common type of female serial killer who murders people who have wronged them out of hate and jealousy. Unlike the Black Widow, these killers do not seek attention and sympathy. They act purely for personal satisfaction. Males have a common pattern of killing strangers instead. They also tend to enjoy killing prostitutes and the filth of society. An example is Jack the Ripper who terrorized the East end of London for three months in the year of 1888, with his savage and brutal cleansing of the streets of Whitechapel, where he mutilated and dissected the bodies of five prostitutes (Lawler). One of the main categories of male serial killers is the Missionary Killer. They are cleanup killers that murder target groups such as prostitutes, homosexuals, and certain ethnic groups.
Research on female serial killers is limited; however, one of the main studies on them has produced what was named the Kelleher Typology, which divides these killers into five groups: Black Widows, Angels of Death, Sexual Predators, Revenge Killers, and Profit Killers (Female Serial Killers). There is only one member of the Sexual Predator category. Her name is Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who murdered seven men in Florida (Female Serial Killers). The Black Widows and Angels of Death are the most common type of female serial killer. Revenge Killers that are repeat offenders are rare because most are one time crimes of true passion. Profit Killers are also rare, but they are considered to be the most intelligent and resourceful. Often they are contract killers or have set up localized scam operations to cheat victims from their assets and lives (Female Serial Killers).
The Kelleher Typology for male serial killers divides them into four types: Visionaries, Missionaries, Hedonists, and Power Seekers (Male Serial Killers). Visionaries respond to psychic messages, godly commands, or alter egos commanding them to kill. Missionaries feel they have a duty to cleanup society. Hedonists are power oriented, often gaining pleasure from killing. They can be subdivided into lust killers and thrill killers (Male Serial Killer). They are the most common type of male serial killer. The last type, Power Seekers, kill for the excitement. For them, the more gruesome the crime, the more power they receive.
Many serial killers, both male and female, work as part of a team. There are four classifications of teams: male/male, male/female, female/female, and family teams. One third of all female serial killers are members of a team (Female Serial Killers). In the Encyclopedia of Serial Killers it is said that, male pairs are the most common team slayers representing 30 percent of the American total (Newton 214). Male/female teams usually commit crimes sexual in nature. The males tend to dominate their younger female accomplices. This type represents twenty-five percent of American team killers (Newton 214). Groups of males can form what is known as a wolf pack. They range from three to six members in number and represent ten percent of team killers in the U.S. (Newton 214). Female/female teams are the rarest. They tend to be active for two to four years and are usually older than other teams around the age of twenty-five (Female Serial Killers). Family teams do not last long, about a year or so. An example of a family team is the Manson family.
There are few documented cases of female serial killers; however, violence and killing by women is steadily on the rise. White women are much more likely to be a serial killer than African-American, Asian, or Hispanic men. As their numbers grow, more information is being gathered to understand this phenomenon and to help us better understand how they differ from male serial killers.
Bibliography:
Female Serial Killers. http://www.familyofmen.com/female_serial_killers.htm. 8/15/1999. 11/14/2003.
Lawler, Laura. The Psychology Behind the Serial Killer. http://www.stark.kent.edu/writing/review%202001/Lawler.htm. 11/14/2003.
Male Serial Killers. http://www.faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/428/428lect10.htm. 6/16/2003. 11/14/2003.
Newton, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. New York: Checkmark Books, 2000.
Nutt, Carrie. Black Widow the kiss of death. http://archives.thedaily.washington.edu/2000/020200/O3.CarrieforW.html. 11/14/2003.
Profile Analysis. www-psychology.concordia.ca/fac/Laurence/forensic/ProfileAnalysis1.ppt. 11/14/2003.
Serial Killer Profile. http://www.angelfire.com/weird/flash333/killers/profile.html. 11/14/2003.