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Modus Operandi of Serial Killers


distortedpandy

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Modus Operandi is Latin for "mode of operation". I studied quite a bit of criminal profiling while in college and on my own - and thought I would like to share the MO of most killers. :)

For all their widely varied motives, regardless of race or gender, serial killers generally stalk and kill their human prey in one of three ways, referred to hereafter as nomadic, territorial, or stationary methods. On rare occasions, most particularly when at risk of capture, a killer may change his or her technique, but such deviations are rare and never seem to last for long.

Nomadic killers are the travelers, moving frequently - often compulsively - from one location to another, killing as they go. Examples of this would be - Henry Lucas and Ottis Toole who killed in several states -- "The Serpent" Charles Sobhraj - who killed in several different countries.

Territorial killers are the most common. They stalk out a particular hunting ground that varies in size from one case to the next. Examples are - David Berkowitz "Son of Sam" who would stalk a particular city or neighborhood. Others range farther afield, as when the "Green River Killer" trolled for victims on the highway between Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Others are strictly localized like Lester Harrison, He committed all of his murders in close proximity to Chicago's Grant Park. In theory - these killers should be easier to catch, but others remain at large for years - or escape entirely -- Jack the Ripper.

Stationary killers are the rarest of all - claiming most if not all of their victims in one location. These people are divided between those who kill at home and those who kill at work. *snickers*...anyway - Home killers include the Black Widows who prey on their own family and John Gacy who brought strangers back to their lair and often hide the corpses on the premises. Killers in the work place are often Doctors and Nurses responsible for medical murders in rest homes and hospitals or even Calvin Jackson, a janitor, who raped and killed nine women in a hotel he was hired to clean. -- Stationary Killers may be forced to move from time to time for reason unrelated to his/her crimes but he or she will normally maintain established hunting patterns.

:ph34r:

sorry for the typos :lol:

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fascinating!

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That is well thought out, and truly intriguing to read. though i must ask, why is it stationary killers seem to go the longest without capture? in theory their mo always involves a 'lair' like murdering ground (according to your accurate description that is) should it not be easiest to discover this connection amongst those who are killed by such a serial killer?

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Ted Bundy was a nomadic killer, Jeffrey Dahmer was more into his local geography. He killed a lot of his victims at home (sometimes putting bleach into their skulls).

It is however, theorized that Jack the Ripper changed his MO. And this may be a reason he was not caught. Then again, the Yard were not as sophisticated then as they are now.

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  • 4 months later...

Very interesting reading thanks, on one of my favourite subjects. Also interesting to note the different types of killers and their MO's. Of course MO's are completely different to signatures and signaures are extremely interesting to me, providing a little insight into the warped mind of the killers.

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Ted Bundy was a nomadic killer, Jeffrey Dahmer was more into his local geography. He killed a lot of his victims at home (sometimes putting bleach into their skulls).

It is however, theorized that Jack the Ripper changed his MO. And this may be a reason he was not caught. Then again, the Yard were not as sophisticated then as they are now.

True - they didn't have DNA & forensic science then like they do now. It's awfully difficult for a serial killer to get away completely anymore. Jeffrey Dahmer hid the bodies in his house, boiling the remains and such, so if the police hadn't had a couple of lucky breaks with him, he might well still be killing today. Same goes for John Wayne Gacy, hiding his dead under the crawlspaces in his home. I think the smell was what gave him away.

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Re the smell at Gacy's place - you are right Maelstrom but what truly amazed me was how long it took theneighboours to notice it - and how could his wife have lived there with it and not known anything? I believe she knew he was up to no good but didn't want to face it.

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  • 2 months later...
Re the smell at Gacy's place - you are right Maelstrom but what truly amazed me was how long it took theneighboours to notice it - and how could his wife have lived there with it and not known anything? I believe she knew he was up to no good but didn't want to face it.

Gacy had both his neighbors and his wife convinced that the odors were from a plumbing problem, difficult to repair due to the house having only a sub-floor crawl space and not a basement.

P. S. I just recently watched the DVD of the police excavating under the house.

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....i must ask, why is it stationary killers seem to go the longest without capture? in theory their mo always involves a 'lair' like murdering ground....should it not be easiest to discover this connection amongst those who are killed by such a serial killer?

I think there's a natural tendency to look first and even longest for the drifter or for the known psycho than for the successful, settled businessman and community/political leader who's active in his church and well-liked by his friends and neighbors alike.

Thus both John Wayne Gacy and Dennis Rader.

If there's a serial killer active in Grogansville, the police are going to look first at the drifter who's just taken a job down at the gas station over at the edge of town. Throckmorton Z. Grogan, owner of the city hotel and president of the local bank, may NEVER come under suspicion, even if he's the perp.

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