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Suicide in serial killers.

David Lester1, John White

  • 1Psychology Program, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Jimmie Leeds Road, Pomona, NJ 08240-0195, USA. lesterd@stockton.edu

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Serial killers who died by suicide were similar in sex, race, and motive to those who were arrested. This finding applies to 248 serial killers in America between 1900 and 2005.

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Area of Science:

  • Criminology
  • Forensic Psychology
  • Sociology

Background:

  • Serial homicide is a complex phenomenon with varying offender outcomes.
  • Understanding the characteristics of serial killers who complete suicide versus those apprehended is crucial for profiling and prevention.
  • Previous research has explored offender demographics and motivations, but direct comparisons of suicide completers and arrested individuals are less common.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the demographic characteristics (sex, race) and killing motives of serial killers who completed suicide with those who were arrested.
  • To identify any significant differences or similarities between these two groups of offenders.

Main Methods:

  • Data was collected from Newton's (2006) encyclopedia of serial killers.
  • The sample comprised 248 serial killers who committed at least two homicides in America between 1900 and 2005.
  • Statistical comparison of sex, race, and motive was conducted between the subgroup of killers who completed suicide and the subgroup who were arrested.

Main Results:

  • No significant differences were found in sex between serial killers who completed suicide and those who were arrested.
  • No significant differences were found in race between serial killers who completed suicide and those who were arrested.
  • The motives for killing did not significantly differ between serial killers who completed suicide and those who were arrested.

Conclusions:

  • The findings suggest that serial killers who die by suicide do not differ demographically or motivationally from those who are apprehended.
  • This implies that suicide completion may not be a distinguishing factor in the profile of serial offenders.
  • Further research could explore other potential differentiating factors, such as the timing or nature of the homicides.