Welcome back to our exploration of serial killers, featuring an interview with Dr. John Fisher, coordinator and assistant professor in UT Permian Basin’s criminal justice program and author of Profiling crime: Exploring serial murder and other crime. (See part 1 here.) Read on to discover what serial killers really want, how they can live undetected among us, which serial murderer Dexter was partly based on, and what’s happening to their numbers.  

Why Serial Killers Sometimes Risk Detection 

We spent some time with Dr. Fisher discussing serial killer Dennis Rader, aka the BTK Killer, who committed numerous murders between the 1970s and 1990s before laying low for about 13 years. After a local paper ran a story on him, Rader began sending letters and evidence to local media outlets. Within a year he was apprehended, leading us to ask, “Do some serial killers want to be caught?” 

“Serial killers enjoy the attention,” Dr. Fisher explained. “It’s not so much wanting to get caught. They go out of their way not to get caught. And what was weird about BTK was that he did stop. The profile is that serial killers will not stop until they’re dead or they’ve been incarcerated on another charge. BTK broke that profile.” When Rader sent a floppy disk to a television station, it was his own undoing. Metadata on that disk revealed the document was created on a nearby church computer. Further investigation took place. “They arrested him and everything else is history. Now he’s in prison. Nobody expected that BTK was Dennis Rader.” 

Hiding Among Us 

Rader was a married man with two children, a job, a nonclerical position at his local church, and Boy Scout leader duties: an unlikely description for a serial killer. How then do some highly social serial killers manage to go undetected among society? Dr. Fisher explained:  

“You’ve seen [the TV series] Dexter? Dexter is a copy of the BTK Killer. He spent 10 to 15 years without killing anybody, just up in the logging community doing whatever he did. Your highly evolved, highly organized serial murderers like to see what they’re doing. They like to track what they’re doing in the news, but they don’t want to get caught. So, they go [to] extremes to hide what they’re doing.  

“Like Ted Bundy, they’re very social people, and nobody would ever expect that they had this ‘dark passenger,’ this bloodlust that they had to fulfill. Dennis Rader and Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, they all wanted to hide the fact that they were serial killers, but they liked the attention that they were getting. They marry, they have kids, they do everything that’s expected of them in society. Although the profile suggests that as a sociopath, they have no conscience or ability to show feelings and emotions like the rest of us, so they have to fake it.” 

Sophisticated and Organized 

Sometimes a killer’s sophistication and intellect enable an extended spree. Dr. Fisher cited Ted Bundy as an example: “He dropped out of law school. And his early spree, his early murders were extremely sophisticated. He would abduct in one place, kill in another place, and discard in a third, so you’ve got three actual crime scenes, and it makes it harder for people to find. Ted Bundy started in Washington, [then] went to Utah and Colorado. And every time people started getting close to seeing who he was, and identifying him as a serial murderer, he would move to the next location. Once he got to Florida, he completely devolved. He targeted and killed all those women in that [Florida State University] sorority. What normally catches an organized serial killer is that they devolve into a disorganized serial killer. And a disorganized serial killer makes mistakes.” 

Dubious Distinctions and a Hopeful Trend 

Perhaps the first “famous” (or infamous) serial killer, H.H. Holmes—an American who was active in the late 19th century—predates Jack the Ripper by two years. America led in number of serial killers throughout the 20th century. However, the number has dropped sharply here since the 1980s when it hit its peak, though Dr. Fisher noted that serial murderers have always been greater in notoriety than number. Broader awareness, increased vigilance, and earlier detection are some factors that may explain the decrease. Irrespective of what may happen to our pop culture preoccupation with serial killers, let’s hope the horrific real-life crime trend continues its decline. 

Greater Insight Into the Criminal Mind and Beyond  

Dr. Fisher oversees and teaches within UT Permian Basin’s criminal justice degree program. Both degrees are offered online and equip you with the knowledge to create positive change within the criminal justice system. Choose the program that matches your educational and professional experience level: 

Online Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies 

  • Provides a foundation for a variety of public service careers  
  • Offers elective courses connected to the topic of serial killers: 
  • Serial Murder (CCJS 4389) 
  • Frontier Law and Justice (CCJS 3343) 
  • Profiling (CCJS 4345)  

Online Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration 

  • Prepares you to lead an agency within the criminal justice system 
  • Can be completed in as little as one year 
  • Does not require the GRE 

If you’re interested in credentials that can propel your criminal justice career, apply to your UTPB program of choice today. And please note, if you plan to take any of our serial killer-related courses, Dr. Fisher says, “they fill pretty quickly.” Don’t miss out! 

Sources: 
https://www.newsweek.com/most-notable-serial-killers-us-history-why-they-fascinate-us-1748596
https://www.britannica.com/topic/serial-murder
https://www.yourbasin.com/news/what-makes-a-serial-killer