Serial Murderers and their Victims Quotes

“Serial murders are a bit like natural disasters: in the scheme of things they are quite rare, but when they happen they demand our attention. They interest us for several reasons, but especially because they are so dramatically threatening, and they profoundly challenge our sense of our own everyday safety.

[Todd R. Clear, Foreword]”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims

“Some parents cannot distinguish between punishment and discipline. Anyone can punish a child and many parents do it out of frustration. Discipline requires time, patience, and love and may include some punishment. To punish children without discipline usually involves a parent who is frustrated and has turned to anger.”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims

“Psychopaths are generally viewed as aggressive, insensitive, charismatic, irresponsible, intelligent, dangerous, hedonistic, narcissistic and antisocial. These are persons who can masterfully explain another person's problems and what must be done to overcome them, but who appear to have little or no insight into their own lives or how to correct their own problems. Those psychopaths who can articulate solutions for their own personal problems usually fail to follow them through. Psychopaths are perceived as exceptional manipulators capable of feigning emotions in order to carry out their personal agendas. Without remorse for the plight of their victims, they are adept at rationalization, projection, and other psychological defense mechanisms. The veneer of stability, friendliness, and normality belies a deeply disturbed personality. Outwardly there appears to be nothing abnormal about their personalities, even their behavior. They are careful to maintain social distance and share intimacy only with those whom they can psychologically control. They are noted for their inability to maintain long-term commitments to people or programs.”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims

“The mass murderer and the serial killer are quantitatively and qualitatively different, and disagreement continues about their characteristics just as it does about the types of mass and serial offenders that appear to have emerged in recent years. Researchers have distinguished spree murders from mass and serial murder as being three or more victims killed by a single perpetrator within a period of hours or days in different locations. They often act in a frenzy, make little effort to avoid detection, and kill in several sequences. Offenders may kill more than one victim in one location and travel to another location. There appears to be no cooling-off period even though the murders occur at different places (Greswell & Hollin, 1994).”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims

“Some mass murderers, so deeply depressed, become schizophrenic or psychotic. Others suffer with severe anxiety and personality disorders. These are not rational people at the time of the murders even when their behaviors are calculated and decisive. Many of them are not legally insane but suffer from severe psychological dysfunctioning as a result of both chronic and acute stress.”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims

“According to a 2000 New York Times study of 100 "rampage" mass murders, where 425 people were killed and 510 injured, the killers:

1. Often have serious mental health issues
2. Are not usually motivated by exposure to videos, movies, or television
3. Are not using alcohol or other drugs at the time of the attacks
4. Are often unemployed
5. Are sometimes female
6. Are not usually Satanists or racists
7. Are most often white males although a few are Asian or African American
8. Sometimes have college degrees or some years of college
9. Often have military experience
10. Give lots of pre-attack warning signals
11. Often carry semiautomatic weapons obtained legally
12. Often do no attempt escape
13. Half commit suicide or are killed by others
14. Most have a death wish (Fessenden, 2000)”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims

“LaVey’s bible (1969), members worship the trinity of the devil—Lucifer,
Satan, and the Devil—including nine pronouncements of the devil that Satan
represents:
1. indulgence, instead of abstinence,
2. vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams,
3. undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit,
4. kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates,
5. vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek,
6. responsibility, instead of concern for the psychic vampires,
7. man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse, than
those who walk on all fours, who because of his divine and intellectual
development has become the most vicious of all,
8. all of the so-called sins, as they lead to physical, mental, or emotional
gratification,
9. the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these
years (LaVey, 1969, p. 25).
Holmes (1990), who interviewed two”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims

“The social impact of mass murders tends to be restricted to the communities in which they occurred, Increased security at schools, office buildings, and shopping malls is the usual response, including improved social services to better identify potentially dangerous individuals. However, the track record in predicting criminal behavior thus far has been dismal. Recognizing potential mass murderers is usually a matter of hindsight; we are quick to attach motivating factors and personality defects to offenders once they have vented themselves on their victims.”
― Eric W. Hickey, Serial Murderers and their Victims