by Scott Bonn
Hedonist Lust Killers
The second broad category of serial killers is process-focused. Unlike their act-focused counterparts, the act of murder is not an end in itself for process-focused serial killers. Instead, they are motivated by the ritual and process of killing. A popular myth about serial killers is that they are all motivated by sex. Although sex is a motive for approximately half of all serial killers, it is typically found in conjunction with other motivations such as anger, power and control, or monetary gain. Lust killers are an exception to this rule.
For hedonist lust killers, sex is the primary motivation regardless of whether the victims are alive or dead. As such, necrophilia is a frequent aspect of lust killer homicides. Edmund Kemper, for example, returned to have sex with the abandoned and decomposing corpses of his young female victims long after killing them. For many hedonist lust killers, sexual gratification often requires mutilation of their victims, drinking their blood, and cannibalism.
As explained by Vronsky, lust killers typically need intimate skin-to-skin contact in their killings and often use a knife or strangulation.54 They are highly organized in their crimes and normally fantasize extensively about murder. They may rehearse it in their minds for years before actually killing their first victim. Over time, lust killers become addicted to rape and murder much like someone becomes addicted to drugs. Generally, as they progress, either the time between their killings decreases or the amount of sexual stimulation they require increases. Sometimes, both occur.
Jeffrey Dahmer, a classic hedonist lust killer, fantasized obsessively about his perfect lover—beautiful, submissive, and eternal—which led him to murder and cannibalize seventeen men and boys in Wisconsin and Ohio between 1978 and 1991. As his killings and sexual desires both increased, he began to experiment with drugs, alcohol, sadomasochism, and fetishism. His escalating need for exotic and morbid sexual stimulation was manifested in the dismemberment of his victims, whose heads and genitals he preserved in specimen jars, and in his attempts to create a “living zombie” by pouring acid and other chemical agents into a hole drilled into his victims’ skulls. Dahmer graphically described his motivations as a hedonist lust killer when he said:
Lust played a big part in it. Control and lust. Once it happened the first time, it just seemed like it had control of my life from there on in. The killing was just a means to an end. That was the least satisfactory part. I didn’t enjoy doing that. That’s why I tried to create living zombies with . . . acid and the drill. I wanted to see if it was possible to make—again, it sounds really gross—uh, zombies, people that would not have a will of their own, but would follow my instructions without resistance. So after that, I started using the drilling technique.55
Dahmer’s need for sexual stimulation had no limits. Like many other hedonist lust killers, Dahmer also practiced cannibalism on his victims. He sought to possess his secret lovers forever, so Dahmer took trophies from them in the form of human flesh which he ingested. By eating the flesh of his prey, Dahmer believed that his beloved victims would become internalized and everlasting. Such insatiable thirst for blood combined with an ever-increasing sexual appetite make hedonist lust killers such as Dahmer arguably the most frightening and barbaric serial killer type of all. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter is the Hollywood prototype of the hedonist lust serial killer.
Jeffrey Dahmer at his arraignment in 1991. (photo credit: Associated Press)
Hedonist Comfort/Gain Killers
Material gain or a comfortable lifestyle are the primary motives of the second sub-type of hedonistic serial killers, which are perhaps the oldest recognized and least complicated type of all serial killers. These predators primarily seek financial gain and an improved quality of life through the act of murder. As noted by Vronsky in Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, they were more common in past centuries, during times of anarchic disorder around the world, when the formal institutions of justice were weak and the value of life was lower than it is today. Pirates, bandits, black widow husband poisoners, bluebeard wife murderers, and landlady killers are vivid examples of hedonist comfort/gain killers over the centuries.
Although there are certain similarities between this type of serial killer and hired assassins (also known as professional hit men), they are separate and distinct categories. Significantly, comfort/gain killers are not professionals because they select their own targets and do not receive a salary from a third party for committing murder. Instead, they commit murder in response to an emotional need for comfort or security. In contrast, professional hit men kill because it is their job to do so. Thus, as explained in chapter 1, professional hit men are emotionally detached contract killers rather than self-serving serial killers.
Prior to becoming hedonist comfort/gain killers, such criminals are sometimes involved in (and may have previous convictions for) theft, fraud, nonpayment of debts, embezzlement, and other property crimes. Frequently, the victims of such killers are family members or close acquaintances. After the murder of a close friend or relative, a comfort/gain killer will usually wait for a period of time before killing again to allow any suspicions by those in close proximity to subside. They often use drugs or poison, and most notably arsenic, to kill their victims. Comfort/gain killers may fit into either the organized or disorganized crime category of the FBI, depending on the modus operandi of the perpetrator. For example, those who meticulously plot to poison a family member for an inheritance gain would typically fall into the organized category. Conversely, roaming bandits who kill travelers opportunistically along deserted highways for financial gain would be classified as disorganized killers.
An important criminological fact is that female serial killers are frequently hedonist comfort/gain killers. Murderous landlady Dorothea Puente provides a recent and powerful example of a female hedonist comfort/gain killer in the US. In the 1980s, Puente ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California, that catered to elderly, handicapped, and mentally ill persons. Puente engaged in fraud and theft by cashing her tenants’ monthly Social Security checks and keeping all of the proceeds for herself. Tenants who complained to Puente about this practice were killed and buried in the backyard of the boarding house. Puente was arrested in 1988 after law enforcement authorities discovered the bodies of seven people buried in her backyard. All seven, as well as two others buried elsewhere, had been Puente’s tenants. She was charged with a total of nine murders, convicted of three, and sentenced to two life terms. Dorothea Puente died in prison of natural causes in 2011 at the age of eighty-two.
The first serial killer of any type to receive broad notoriety in the US was Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, a charming and ruthless comfort/gain killer who operated in Chicago during the late nineteenth century. Dr. H. H. Holmes murdered his victims, mostly females, for life insurance policy settlements and related inheritance gains. At the time of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Holmes opened a hotel, dubbed the “Castle,” which he had designed and built specifically for the purpose of murdering his guests. The Castle featured secret dungeons, vaults, hidden passageways, torture chambers and gas chambers. After the completion of the hotel, Holmes targeted his mostly female victims from among his employees (many of whom were required to take out life insurance policies for which the premiums were paid by Holmes and he was the sole beneficiary), as well as his wealthy lovers and hotel guests. He tortured and killed many of them and disposed of their bodies in elaborate fashions.
In October 1894, after the custodian of the Castle informed law enforcement authorities that he was suspiciously not allowed to clean the upper floors of the hotel, the police began a thorough investigation that uncovered Holmes’s efficient methods of committing murder and disposing of corpses, including acid pits and a massive furnace in the basement. Upon arrest, Holmes confessed to twenty-seven murders, of which nine were confirmed, but some investigators and criminologists believe that Holmes may have actually murdered as many as 200 people. He was convicted of all
charges and executed by hanging in 1896.
The murderous exploits of H. H. Holmes are now part of US popular culture. They have been chronicled in numerous books and films. Interest in Holmes’s crimes was revived in 2003 by Erik Larson’s best-selling non-fiction book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, that juxtaposed an account of the planning and staging of the 1893 World’s Fair with Holmes’s serial murder career.
Hedonist Thrill Killers
Thrill killers, the third and final sub-type of hedonistic serial killers, derive immense satisfaction from the process of murder—that is, the acts leading up to it—rather than the killing itself. They come to crave the euphoric adrenaline rush provided by stalking and capturing their victims. Tracking their prey becomes an addiction for them much like a narcotic drug. The primary motive of thrill killers is to induce pain or terror in their victims, which provides intense stimulation and excitement, prior to killing them.
The victims of thrill killers are generally strangers, although these killers may stalk them for a period of time before the attack in order to fuel the excitement of the hunt. Normally, the attack of a thrill killer is swift and there is generally no sexual aspect to the murder. Once the victim is dead, a thrill killer typically loses interest almost immediately. Therefore, postmortem mutilation or necrophilia is rarely engaged in by this type of serial killer. This pattern represents a stark contrast to hedonist lust killers, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, who love to engage in postmortem sexual activities.
Hedonist thrill killers can abstain from murder for long periods of time and become more adept at killing as they gain experience and refine their skills. They are typically meticulous and highly organized in the planning and execution of their crimes. Thrill killers are perfectionists and often have narcissistic personalities. Such traits may drive them to pursue the goal of a perfect murder or delude them into thinking that they will never be caught.
Israel Keyes, the army veteran who stalked and killed eight people across several states prior to his capture and suicide in Alaska in December 2012, is a recent example of this type of serial predator. Another example is Robert Hansen, who murdered at least seventeen women near Anchorage, Alaska, between 1980 and his capture in 1983. A psychopath, Hansen took his captured victims to a secluded area where he would let them loose and then hunt and kill them just for the fun of it. He was in essence a twisted trophy hunter who preyed on humans. The inability of a psychopathic thrill killer to feel compassion or sympathy enables him to view the torture and killing of his victims as a sport.
Perhaps the ultimate hedonist thrill killer was the unidentified predator who called himself “Zodiac” and operated in Northern California during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Zodiac Killer terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area and aggressively tormented his pursuers throughout his crime spree. He targeted four men and three women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-nine in the San Francisco area from December 1968 until October 1969. Five of his victims died and two were injured in the attacks. He finally stopped killing for unknown reasons and his identity remains a mystery.
The killer gave himself the name Zodiac in a series of taunting letters that he sent to local newspapers in the Bay Area. His numerous letters also included four cryptograms (or ciphers), only one of which was definitively solved. The tremendous excitement that the Zodiac Killer derived from his murders is evident in the words contained in the one cipher that was solved. In it he wrote, “[Killing people] is so much fun. It’s even better than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal. To kill gives me the most thrilling experience. It is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl.” For the Zodiac Killer and other psychopathic thrill killers like him, the process leading up to the act of murder affords them the greatest satisfaction of their lives.
Power/Control Killers
The final type of serial killer—also a process-focused killer—identified by Holmes, Holmes, and De Burger and explained by Peter Vronsky is the power/control killer. They are perhaps the most common of all serial killers and classic examples of this type include Gary Ridgway, John Wayne Gacy, and Dennis Rader. The primary motivation of these serial killers is to control and dominate their victims. They enjoy torturing their prey and find it sexually arousing, but the act of murder is normally the most satisfying and final expression of their power and control over their victims. They kill their victims slowly in order to prolong their own sadistic pleasure. Such behavior is empowering because the killer gets to decide when, how, and under what circumstances his victims will die. Dennis Rader is a leading example of this type of serial killer in whose twisted mind, prolonged torture and killing are the only means to quench his otherwise insatiable thirst for power and control.
Power/control killers are frequently stone-cold psychopaths and they fall into the FBI’s organized category of predators because they are meticulous planners, unflappable, and patient. Such serial killers are frequently charming, charismatic, and intelligent. Many power/control killers sexually assault their victims but, unlike hedonist lust killers, for them rape is not motivated by lust. Instead, rape is another means of dominating and controlling their victims. Also, power/control killers do not necessarily lose interest in their victims after they are dead, as thrill killers do. Sometimes, a power/control killer will return to have sex with the decomposing corpse of a victim long after the murder in order to perpetuate his domination and control of the deceased. Because necrophilia totally eliminates the possibility of unwanted rejection, the power/control killer can return to violate the victim whenever he pleases. This affords a psychopathic serial killer with a tremendous sense of empowerment while avoiding the disturbing prospect of rejection and disappointment by a living person. Voracious postmortem sexual behavior was manifested by Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgway, for example, who were both serial killers of the power/control variety.
The Essential Role of Fantasy
The Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI has concluded that serial killers program themselves in childhood to become murderers through a progressively intensifying loop of fantasy.56 The definition of fantasy in this context is an elaborate mental fixation that is anchored in the daydreaming process.57 Fantasy can be experienced through mental images and/or feelings. Fantasy serves to relieve anxiety or fear and most people have them to one extent or another. Although some fantasy in childhood is normal, it can become a compulsive form of escapism in children who are abused, neglected, or otherwise traumatized.58 The child who lacks bonding and a sense of contact with others may internalize his fantasy and cloud the boundary between fantasy and reality.
Many serial killers have confessed to both trauma and morbid preoccupation with fantasy during childhood. For example, Ed Kemper, the “Co-ed Killer,” who was severely abused as a child by his mother has said, “I knew long before I started killing that I was going to be killing, that it was going to end up like that. The fantasies were too strong. They were going on for too long and were too elaborate.” In another example, the notorious “Acid Bath Murderer” John George Haigh said, “As I grew up I realized, though imperfectly, that I was different from other people and that the way of life in my home was different from others. . . . This stimulated me to introspection and strange mental questionings.”
When fantasies are combined with masturbation, a sexual component is added to the cognitive or mental process.59 In-depth interviews with incarcerated serial killers have revealed that the most common childhood traits among them, which extended into their adolescence and adulthood, are daydreaming and compulsive masturbation. Jeffrey Dahmer and David Berkowitz both have stated that their strange and bizarre fantasies thrived in youthful isolation, masturbation, and powerful feelings of anger and rage. Isolation and feelings of anger and resentment often become part of a cyclical process in the lives of fledgling serial killers. Fantasies of violence prompt their isolation from society which, in turn, creates
a greater reliance on fantasy for pleasure and relief from anxiety. In a disturbing example of this, John Joseph Joubert, a serial killer who murdered young boys, recalled that as an adolescent he compulsively masturbated to fantasies of strangling and stabbing boys dressed only in their underwear.60
Serial killers often fantasize about murder and sexual violence for years before claiming their first victim. Eventually, fledgling serial killers reach a point where they need to actually live out their darkest fantasies. They often obsessively ponder every minute aspect of their first murder for years leading up to the actual event. They may drift into an almost trance-like state, enraptured in fantasy, in the days immediately preceding it. The intended victim is reduced to being a hapless pawn in the serial killer’s ghoulish fantasy of sex and murder. After committing their first murder, novice serial killers generally become obsessed with the need to kill.61 Having found the key to acting out their secret desires, they continue to murder in order to experience their fantasy again and again. As explained by Peter Vronsky, some serial killers level out and begin to practice a ritualistic routine in their murders from which they try never to waiver.62 Other serial killers become bored with their original fantasy once they have actualized it, so they escalate to more elaborate or violent fantasies in an obsessive, addictive pursuit of a more orgasmic high.63
The overwhelming significance of fantasy to serial killers was expressed by Jeffrey Dahmer when he said, “I made my fantasy life more powerful than my real one.” His English counterpart in serial murder and necrophilia, Dennis Nilsen, similarly said, “I made another world, and real men would enter it and they would never really get hurt at all in the vivid, unreal laws of the dream. I caused dreams which caused death. This is my crime.” In many ways, the key to unlocking the pathological mind of a serial killer lies in the nature or content of his fantasy and how he actualizes it.