Does the Number of Victims Matter in Defining Serial Murder? An Analysis of Homicide Behavioral Characteristics in US Cases from 1985–2016

Historically, definitions of serial murder in the academic and professional literature vary, sometimes considerably, based on numbers of victims, offender intent, and presence or absence of a psychological “cooling-off period.” To date, an agreed upon definition remains elusive. This study uses a mu...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Vincent, Jolene (Author) ; Williams, D J (Author) ; Huff-Corzine, Lin (Author) ; Corzine, Jay (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
In: Victims & offenders
Year: 2024, Volume: 19, Issue: 4, Pages: 641–655
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Classification
Victimization
serial killing
serial murder
Homicide
Description
Summary:Historically, definitions of serial murder in the academic and professional literature vary, sometimes considerably, based on numbers of victims, offender intent, and presence or absence of a psychological “cooling-off period.” To date, an agreed upon definition remains elusive. This study uses a multinomial regression analysis to examine important homicidal behavioral characteristics of serial killers (N = 1,258) in the US concerning offenders who killed two victims compared to counterparts who murdered three, four or five, and six or more victims, respectively. Important case characteristics between categories are observed and discussed. Findings support definitional recommendations that include a minimum victim threshold of three.
ISSN:1556-4991
DOI:10.1080/15564886.2022.2150347