I’m sure this has been answered, but what is the difference between a serial killer and a mass murderer?
Serial killer --several events, usually one person at a time (or only a small group of people murdered)
mass murderer --kills a large group of people in a single incident. If incidents of this kind are repeated, however, someone could be called a serial mass murderer.
Make sense?
i’m pretty sure a serial killer has a set pattern for murder, as in similar victims, reasons for murdering them, how he/she kills the person, etc., with the victims being killed one by one over time. on the other hand, a mass murderer is someone who kills multiple people at one time or kills multiple people without any unifying factors. just my take on it though.
Let me clarify the serial killer statement–several events, usually one person or a small group murdered per event.
damn simul-posts
alright, that’s just really strange…two on the same thread, two minutes apart without any other interruptions…(check the times of the posts if you don’t understand)
I’ve always understood it to be that a serial killer (i.e. Ted Bundy), plans and seeks out a victim, repeating the process several times. They also generally kill one person at a time. A mass murderer is more spontaneous (i.e. James Huberty - who killed all the people at the McDonalds here in San Diego, or Charles Whitman who killed all the people from the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin), and kills a wide variety of people, generally all at once. I would actually say that drive by gang shootings combine the best aspects of both…singling out the victim (rival gang member) while shooting indescriminantly into the crowd where the rival gang member is standing…
ata66…
You can read my thoughts!
Must…kill…brainstealer…
Nore–serial killers are driven by deviant, violent sexual impulses.
Rape is also very common in these cases, as is necrophiliac abuse of the body.
Often, they ejaculate upon killing the victim.
Note–serial killers are driven by deviant, violent sexual impulses.
Rape is also very common in these cases, as is necrophiliac abuse of the body.
Often, they ejaculate upon killing the victim.
Poysyn - It’s also worth nothing that crime folk use these terms to discuss people who kill for the sake of killing. Someone who, for instance, killed 15 convenience store clerks in the course of robbing convenience stores wouldn’t be a serial killer. Someone who bombing a bank, killing everyone in it, in order to get to the vault would not be a mass murderer.
Sometimes crime folk get their panties in a bunch about these terms, but I think that’s a reaction to TV shows, book, and movies that they imagine glorify and glamorize crime and criminals.
Having an MO (Modus operandi) is generally considered the unique thing for a serial killer.
He (generally a white, middle class male) will have a certain pattern of killing, abuse, torture or ‘presentation’ of the victim which will set the crime out from a random ‘garden variety’ murder.
This distinctive deviant behaviour will be evident in all the attributable murders.
A serial killer will also be strongly compelled to continue until either caught or killed. Very rarely can a serial killer decide to stop their spree and walk away. Sooner or later the compulsion will make them attempt to kill again.
There are also “Spree Killers” who combine the characteristics of the two. They go on rampages, killing a few people, moving on, killing a few more people, etc. etc. until they are caught. “Mass murder” is a single event, “serial killing” is a planned sequence and often they are not caught.
The most famous spree killer was Charles Starkweather.