Kind of related to previous threads in the last week, but I was wondering if any serial killers used martial arts (e.g. judo chokes) to incapacitate victims instead of the usual hammers/drugs.
What a great question.
That would be very hard to determine, as serial killers rarely publish their findings regarding procedural techniques in acredited journals.
I don’t know about real life. You can see this in a couple episodes of Dexter.
You have to admit, it would be one interesting as hell peer-reviewed journal…:eek:
Having read the author’s article and pointed out the flaws in his research methodology, it is this reviewer’s opinion that he be exsanguinated.
It’s hard to say, of course, because some serial killers aren’t caught, and probably a few more kill without anyone ever identifying a pattern. Any serial killer who uses force to overwhelm his victims is presumably a capable fighter or he (or she, I suppose) wouldn’t be able to overcome the victims. But I think you’re asking about formal training, not simply street fighting or brawling experience.
I’m curious what makes you say “the usual hammers/drugs”? I don’t know that those are, in fact, usual.
I have trained and taught martial arts, and it’s been my experience that instructors as a whole are pretty good at weeding out the real weirdos.
There’s the overexcited LOTR kid who wants to learn how to look good swinging a staff and asking about hurricane kicks every single class, and insists on trying to tell you why one style is superior to another based on the six martial arts movies they’ve seen. Those guys are fine.
Then there’s the crazy eye guy who wants to train with edged weapons from the first day and is way too eager to spar with the women. Also tends to stay after class to regale you with tales of his pain endurance and then lowers his voice to a whisper and offers to show you some of the ‘death touch’ moves he’s figured out on local stray cats. Red flag.
So my guess is if serial killers incorporate osoto gari into their initial attack, they learned it on youtube. That said, it’s entirely possible they can TRY to learn it that way, but without real practice and full power training, nobody’s likely to pull it off with a resistant opponent all chock full of adrenaline. I’d think if you were a respectable serial killer, you wouldn’t want to risk an escape or a groin pull by being flashy and pulling off a perfect hip throw when a punch to the back of the skull pretty much would work every time.
Just watched a documentary on Richard Ramirez, “the Night Stalker”. As a teenager, he spent lots of time with his psychopath cousin who was a decorated Vietnam vet (and a rapist/ murderer of VC women). The cousin taught Ramirez at least some stalking and killing techniques. I guess that counts.
Executed killer Spencer Corey Goodman, an alleged martial arts enthusiast, told police that he “used martial arts and broke the lady’s neck” when describing the murder of the woman who picked him up while hitchiking, but it’s not exactly clear what the supposed martial arts move was.
Serial killer Roland Steele, now on death row in Pennsylvania, was a martial arts instructor who enjoyed testing out the efficacy of his karate strikes by beating elderly women to death.
Gerard Schaefer was a sheriff’s deputy in Florida. So, he had training in taking down resistant suspects. Don’t know if he used it on his victims.
It was reported in the news media at the time that Charles Ng was advanced in martial arts. His Wiki entry does not mention it…
I’m sorry, but I will leave further research into his methods to others who have the stomach for it.
I just wanted to say “thank you” to those that replied (seriously).
Ninja bump!!!
It is important to note that Goodman and Steele do not actually fit the definition of “serial killer”…Goodman was convicted of one murder during the commission of a robbery and there is no evidence he was involved in any others…Steele murdered three old ladies at one time during a robbery and there is no evidence he was involved with any others prior to that incident, which makes him a “mass” murderer or mutiple murderer and not a serial killer.
Ng, on the other hand, is most definitely a serial killer…however, other than basic hand to hand combat training during his one year as a marine; records indicate he did not take the AITB course in martial arts…his MOS indicated he was a machine gunner.
Ng and Goodman did not hold any belts in any martial art…Steele, according to newspapers at the time, had a belt but I could not determine in what form or where he was tested for it…as a matter of fact, his records seem to be non-existent but that doesn’t mean he did not train for it…perhaps it was never awarded…he definitely was not an accredited instructor according to the national associations that record that information and they are very diligent.
I may be biased but I have a theory that no true martial artist could ever be a “serial killer” by virtue of the corresponding philosophy of the martial arts alone…of course I accept that while technique alone can be perverted for evil purposes; technique does not make a martial artist…as well, the technique cannot become integrated in the person without the understanding of what it really means to be able to end, or save, a life.
John Allen Muhammed, the DC sniper, ran a martial arts school for a while (cite). It would be nice if martial arts made you into a saint, but they don’t.
Regards,
Shodan
Actually, Felix Strozier was the accredited martial artist at their very short lived school…Muhammad provided the financing as well as doing the bookkeeping and promised students from the local muslim community (these never materialized)…he also asked Strozier when he first met him to train Malvo (his murder cohort) this seems odd if he in fact, if he could have trained Malvo himself…apparently he and Strozier parted on less than friendly terms when Muhammad stole 500 dollars and disappeared…there is actually no information pertaining to his martial arts skills anywhere that i could find…“running” a school, if in fact, that is what he actually did, is not the same as teaching at a school, as you know.
no, I do not think that martial arts will make a person a saint but I also think that a psychopathic mentality would certainly be a hindrance in absorbing the psychology of any martial art…in my experience, psychopaths do not train well and definitely have a problem with attaining the appropriate mental discipline.
Again, Muhammad does not fit the definition of a serial killer, but of a spree killer
http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_2_otbie-homicide-studies.html
This is a story about a man who was pursuing a doctorate in homicide studies. During his studies he killed and ate three woman. He hasn’t published his theses yet, according to the story.