Multiple Murder: Mass Murderers & Serial Killers

Question 1

Spree Murder

Answer 1

• Least common of three types of multicide
• Spree murders involve multiple victims at multiple locations
• Occur over relatively short period of time and don’t‘ seem to have much direction or planning.
• Rampage usually stopped only when the killers are captured or killed

Question 2

Spree Killings in Canada - 2020 Nova Scotia Attacks

Answer 2

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Question 3

Spree Killings in Canada - 2019 Northern B.C. Homicide

Answer 3

Two males allegedly kill 3 people in remote B.C. over six-day period before committing suicide by firearm in the province of Manitoba

Spree killingthat took place on theAlaska HighwayandStewart–Cassiar Highwayin theCanadian provinceofBritish Columbiabetween July 14–19, 2019.Kam McLeodandBryer Schmegelskyare alleged to have killed Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese, before killing Leonard Dyck within a six-day time frame.[1]

Question 4

Spree Killings - 2018 Toronto ‘Danforth Shooting’

Answer 4

Night of July 22nd on public street, gunman kills two, wounds 13 before committing suicide during shootout with Toronto police.*

Mass shootingthat occurred onDanforth Avenuein theGreektownneighbourhood ofToronto,Ontario, Canada, on the night of July 22, 2018.[4]Faisal Hussain killed two people and wounded thirteen using aSmith & Wesson M&P.40-calibrehandgun.[2][3]He committedsuicideafter a shootout withToronto Police Service(TPS) officers.* Note doesn’t meet criteria of textbook definition

Question 5

Mass Murder - Time & Distance

Answer 5

Key defining features are time and distance

When someone kills three or more victims in one location at one general point in time
- May last over period of hours, but generally part of same emotional outburst

Can occur in variety of settings, including workplace, school or public setting
- term “going postal”

Question 6

Mass Murder - Erupts

Answer 6

Mass murder scene erupts with form of violence that paralyzes the community

• Widespread fear and sense of panic absent in other multicides
• Perception that no real protection from mass killer perhaps most alarming feature – sense of vulnerability

Question 7

Mass Murder - Majority of Mass Killings

Answer 7

Vast majority of mass killings committed by white, middle-aged men

• Often frustrated and angry individuals who tend of have history of written complaints against them and by them
• Perceive they have been wronged and suffer from sense of injustice as result
• Disconcerting aspect is availability of high-powered and semi-automatic weapons which help to facilitate lethal violence

Question 8

Mass Murder - Suicide by Cop

Answer 8

In many incidents, mass murderers end up killing themselves directly or die by “suicide by cop”

While there are multiple causes, it has been recognized that some mass killers have mental or physical problems that could have influenced their deeds.

Question 9

Mass Murder - School Shootings

Answer 9

Big issue is prevalence of guns and regulation in United States.

From a Canadian perspective, school shootings less frequent in comparison

School shootings can be divided into college, high school, and secondary school settings.

One issues that generates a great deal of debate is prevalence of guns and their regulation in United States.

Question 10

School Shootings - La Loche Community School, Sask

Answer 10

Four people were killed and two were critically wounded in a shooting in a northern Saskatchewan Dene community Jan. 22, 2016. Shots were fired at the La Loche high school building around 1 p.m.

Question 11

School Shootings - Les Racines de vie Montessory, Gatineau, Quebec

Answer 11

On April 5, 2013, two men die during a shooting at the school’s daycare. The shooter is identified as Robert Charron. Thirty-eight-year-old Neil Galliou is killed before Charron takes his own life. Charron told staff to take the 53 children to safety before he opened fire.

Question 12

School Shootings - C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute, Toronto

Answer 12

On May, 23, 2007, 15-year-old Jordan Manners is found in a hallway with single gunshot wound to the chest. He later dies in hospital. Two teens were charged with first-degree-murder and were later acquitted.

Question 13

School Shootings - Dawson College, Westmount, Quebec

Answer 13

On Sept. 13, 2006, 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa was killed and 20 others were hurt when gunman Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Gill was killed in a police gunfight.​​​​​

Question 14

Guns and Violence - Most Common Weapon in Homicides

Answer 14

Handguns

Handguns are by far the most common weapon in homicides: For example, in 2017, there were over 456,000 nonfatal incidents of nonfatal violence that included a firearm, including rapes, robberies, and assaults.

In these cases, the majority of nonfatal firearm violent crimes are also perpetrated with handguns.

In such situations, the gun may simply be brandished to intimidate the victim, it may be used as a club to pistol whip an uncooperative victim, or it may involve shooting and missing the intended target.

Question 15

Guns and Violence - Equal Risk

Answer 15

Not everyone is at equal risk of experiencing gun-related violence: A person’s vulnerability varies widely according to certain demographic characteristics.

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), approximately one in three male violent crime victims faces an armed offender, compared with one in five female victims of violence.

Question 16

Guns and Violence - Race & Ethnicity

Answer 16

Race and ethnicity are also important variables: African Americans are also more likely to be the victims of firearm-related homicides compared to other subgroups of the population.

The young are also more at risk of firearm violence, with those victims 20 years of age and younger being more likely to face an offender with a firearm compared with those 21 years of age or older.

Question 17

Guns and Violence - Household Income Vulnerabilities

Answer 17

Vulnerability to weapon violence is also related to household income.

With individuals living in households making less than $7,500 are generally more likely to face offenders with firearms compared to those with higher household incomes.

It is clear, then, that poor and minority populations are particularly vulnerable to gun violence.

Question 18

Guns and Violence - Availability of Guns

Answer 18

Availability of guns increases the likelihood that a violent interaction will result in death: When a conflict arises in the home, the availability of a gun rather than a knife increases the likelihood of death by three times.

The same pattern holds true for other crimes. Robberies and assaults in which a gun is present are three to five times more likely to result in a homicide than the same crimes committed with a knife, and are six to ten times more likely to result in a killing than when that robbery or assault is perpetrated with other weapons.

This isn’t to suggest that a knife, for example, is not potentially a deadly weapon; it is, but the difference is that it is not as easy to kill someone with a knife compared to a gun.

Question 19

Guns and Violence - Semiautomatic Weapons

Answer 19

Increased firepower offered by semiautomatic weapons also plays a significant role in both the lethality of an incident and the number of victims.

In fact, the production of handguns has increasingly moved away from revolvers to semiautomatic weapons, which can fire more rounds.

Question 20

Guns and Violence - Ammunition

Answer 20

Ammunition has also become more lethal.

For example, certain bullets are designed to expand or mushroom after hitting the target.

Others have hollowed-out tips that are filled with very soft lead that enlarges on impact, and still others are designed to tumble after they hit and can travel large distances within the body, bouncing off bones and slicing through organs, arteries and veins, and as much tissue as possible.

The availability of guns in general and semiautomatic handguns in particular is inextricably linked to the dangerousness of the violence played out on our streets and in our homes.

Question 21

Guns and Violence - Enshrined & Mythologized Guns

Answer 21

We have enshrined and mythologized guns and the role they played in our past: Bumper stickers alerting people that “This Vehicle Is Protected by a Colt 45” or “You Can Have My Gun When You Pry It From My Cold Dead Fingers” are not something you would see on automobiles in the majority of industrialized nations, yet messages like this are not uncommon on the streets of the United States.

Question 22

Guns and Violence - Americans are the Most Armed

Answer 22

Compared with other industrialized nations, Americans are the most armed: We have more guns per capita than any other nation in the world. According to the Gallup Poll in 1993, about 51% of Americans reported having a gun in their homes. By 2008, 42% reported having a gun at home and these numbers haven’t significantly changed since then, with 43% of respondents reporting a gun in the home in 2018.

Question 23

Guns and Violence

Answer 23

Majority involve handguns

Question 24

Serial Murders

Answer 24

A more comprehensive definition of serial murder was developed by Steven Egger, who identified a number of additional characteristics that typically characterize serial murders:

1. There is generally no prior relationship between the victim and the attacker.
2. Subsequent murders are at different times and have no apparent connection to the initial murder.
3. Subsequent murders are usually committed in a different geographical location.
4. The motive is usually not material gain but the murderer’s desire to have power or dominance over his victims.
5. The victims may have symbolic value for the murderer or are perceived to have little status or prestige and, in most instances, are unable to defend themselves or alert others to their situation. Individuals who are particularly at risk are those whose situations make them powerless, such as prostitutes, homeless people, missing children, and single women.

Question 25

What we know about serial killers?

Answer 25

Researcher on serial killers in USA has found that:

• Most between ages of 25 and 35
• Avg. male 27.5 years/avg. female offender 30 years
• Offenders predominately white and killings are intra-racial with few exceptions

Question 26

Characteristics of Serial Murderers - Victims of Serial Killers

Answer 26

Another distinction for serial killers, their victims:

Victims and offenders most often know each other. In contrast, serial murderers tend to kill strangers.

Targeting strangers may be a strategy designed to protect them from detection by authorities.

Killing strangers may also serve to dehumanize the victims and make it easier to kill them.

Serial killers also tend to target victims who are vulnerable, choosing vulnerable subsets of the population.

Question 27

Characteristics of Serial Murderers - Two Common Factors

Answer 27

Two other factors common to serial killers: Although there are exceptions, most kill alone, and most also have previous criminal records.

Question 28

Characteristics of Serial Murderers - Six Typologies

Answer 28

Holmes and Holmes classify serial killers into six typologies based on the explicit or implicit motives of the killer:

1. Hedonistic lust killers
2. Thrill killers
3. Comfort killers
4. Power/control killers
5. Mission killers
6. Visionary killers

Question 29

Six Typologies - Hedonistic Lust Killers

Answer 29

Hedonistic lust killers are distinguished by their effort to obtain sexual pleasure from killing. The lust killer derives direct sexual satisfaction from murdering his victims or by having sex with the corpse or by mutilating or cutting off sex organs.

Question 30

Six Typologies - Thrill Killers

Answer 30

Thrill killers also may derive sexual satisfaction from their murders, but they require a live victim for sexual satisfaction. They derive pleasure from torturing, dominating, terrorizing, and humiliating their victims.

Question 31

Six Typologies - Comfort Killers

Answer 31

Comfort killers murder for creature comforts, such as financial gain.

Question 32

Six Typologies - Power/Control Killers

Answer 32

Power/control killers murder to obtain a sense of domination and total control over their victims. Although sex is sometimes involved, the pleasure is primarily derived from the complete control the killer has over his victim.

Question 33

Six Typologies - Mission Killers

Answer 33

Mission killers are on a mission to rid the world of a group of people they perceive as unworthy or inferior in some way.

Question 34

Six Typologies - Visionary Killers

Answer 34

Visionary killers are rare because they suffer from some form of psychosis: They frequently perceive voices or images that command them to kill. However, that only a small percentage of violent offenders have mental disorders such as this, which is true for serial killers as well.

Question 35

Characteristics of Serial Murderers - James Fox & Jack Levin

Answer 35

James Fox and Jack Levin put it this way:

They know right from wrong, know exactly what they are doing, and can control their desire to kill, but choose not to. They are more cruel than crazy.

Their crimes may be sickening, but their minds are not necessarily sick. Indeed, those assailants who are deeply confused or disoriented are generally not capable of the level of planning and organization necessary to conceal their identity from the authorities and, therefore, do not amass a large number of victims.

Question 36

Common Features in Lives of Apprehended Serial Killers

Answer 36

1. As selection of victims underscores, most killers are very aware of right/wrong and know how to avoid detection;
2. While most don’t suffer psychosis, several serial killers have been diagnosed with a personality disorder;
3. In the histories of serial killers we see evidence of abuse and/or neglect as a child;
4. The homicidal triad: bed-wetting past appropriate age, cruelty to animals, and fire settings; and
5. Still important to note that there is no one causal explanation for this type of violent behaviour

Question 37

Gun Violence - Media

Answer 37

Other images of our gun culture abound in media portrayals of our past and our present. Michael Bellesiles puts it this way:

Many if not most Americans seem resigned to, or find comfort in, the notion that this violence is immutable, the product of a deeply embedded historical experience rooted in the frontier heritage. Frequent Indian wars and regular gun-battles presumably inured Americans to the necessity of violence.

Question 38

What we know about serial killers? Popular Misconceptions

Answer 38

Contrary to popular misconceptions, serial killers are not highly educated and in most cases do not hold professional jobs

Some argue ability to avoid detection due to combination of cunning/deceit/street smarts and “linkage blindness” (law enforcements inability to link homicides as serial pattern)

Question 39

What we know about serial killers? Psychopaths

Answer 39

Psychopaths – primary personality characteristics incl: lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse for those suffering from their actions, and callous disregard for feelings, rights, and welfare of others