Although serial killers are well known today, they originated as far back as ancient Rome. Serial killing first started when the Roman Emperor Caligula tested torture and perversion on his prisoners. Most people believed that first modern era serial killer was Jack the Ripper, a man who killed five London prostitutes. Serial killing did not become

Many people wonder what causes the disturbing behavior of serial killers. Most criminologists believe the theory that traumatic childhood experiences lead directly to the behavior of serial killers. The “Homicide Triad”, which is the traits of a serial killer when they are a child, is the key factor in the development of serial killers. The “Homicide Triad” that includes bed-wetting, arson and animal torture as a child, is one of the most common traits of a serial killer (Newton, 2000, 101).

The triad is made up of fire starting, bed-wetting, and sadistic behavior. One of the important and most common parts of the “homicide triad” is arson. John E. Douglas, a psychological profiler, believes that the future serial killers are arsonists because of a “fascination due to their fondness of spectacular destruction” (Schechter and Everitt, 282). He concludes that a serial killer’s fascination for destruction increases as they get older and they turn to murder to satisfy their need for destruction. Sadistic activity, bed-wetting, and fire starting are common threads among serial killers that support the theory that childhood experiences relate to psychopathic behavior. Besides the three symptoms of the “Homicide Triad,” another common denominator in the childhood of a serial killer is sadistic daydreaming (Newton, 2000, 101).

Many studies have shown that more than 82% of serial killers have had a problem with excessive daydreaming as children (Horse, 2001, 2). Their sadistic daydreaming as children influenced them as adults to act out their fantasies. Serial killer Ted Bundy carried knives around with him at the age of three due to his fantasies of controlling people with knives (Mukherjee, 1998, 1). He used knives on at least fifty women when he was older and each victim was a substitute for his mother whom he daydreamed about killing numerously but could never follow through with it. Although sadistic daydreaming as a child can lead to serial killer behavior, the most common denominator of serial killers is abuse as a child.

and Everitt, 293). John Bartsch who was exposed to sexually and psychological abuse was also exposed to physical abuse. Bartsch tells psychologist Paul Moor, “She’s broken more than one wooden cloth’s hangar across my back.” Bartsch traumatic childhood experiences prove how abuse as a child leads to serial killer behavior later in life.

Some topics in this essay:
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