The Differences in Serial Killers

How often do you sit down to watch one of those criminal shows that I discussed earlier and feel like you are suddenly able to detect a serial killer from your average Joe Schmo? Well, chances are you can’t. The recent Long Island murders are discussed in a TIME article by Kayla Webley. She interviews a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, Louis B. Schlesinger, discuses “to TIME about the gritty details of the Long Island killings” (Webley 1).

In the interview, Webley asks intriguing questions about distinguishing the differences between both murder and sexual murder and the differences of murder in fiction television vs. reality. Schlesinger brings up interesting facts about sexual murder that I had no idea about.

For instance, the Long Island murders have been prostitutes. Why? “The main problem that serial sexual murderers have is the act of abduction, getting the woman to go with them. That problem is eliminated with a prostitute because they'll go with anybody” (Schlesinger 1). In addition to the target, the location plays an important role in sexual murder, and murder in general. “So if you're killing in an urban area, it's because you live there and you're familiar with it. If you kill in a rural area, it's because you're familiar and comfortable in that area as well” (Schlesinger 1).

Something I was certainly unaware of was the number one way serial killers get caught. A surviving victim is the number one way a murder is caught. However, a good percent of the time, victims fear going to the police because sometimes, victims are already participating in illegal activities such as prostitution or drugs.

Finally, Schlesinger mentions the difference between the public perception or a serial killer and the reality of one. Ironically, society gives serial killers more credit than they really deserve. “The public wants its serial killers to be evil geniuses, with high IQs, who speak five languages and are connoisseurs of fine wine and literature” (Schlesinger 1). When in reality, most of them have a below average IQ. This is the difference between reality and fiction. We put serial killers on a pedestal of evil perfection, when in truth, anyone reading the news about the Long Island Killer could probably score better than them in a simple IQ test.

Read the full story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110413/us_time/08599206497000