might have suffered. There is no set of characteristics that make up a serial killer. All serial killers kill because of different reasons. Each and every individual serial killer has his/her motive behind the murders they commit. Serial killers are very sick and distraught compared to others, this is greatly contributed to their awful mental psychology and their desire to inflict physical harm to other human beings.
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Serial killers have been around for centuries. Accounts of killing rampages can be dated back to the seventeenth century. However, back then the killings were not known as serial killings (Holmes and Deburger, 28). Through the decades, serial killers have increased in number. It is estimated that about four hundred serial murderers live in society today (Schechter and Everitt 120). Serial killings account for 5,000 deaths a year in the United States (Hickey 2). Speculation has taken place about the general appearance of a serial killer. In 1911, Cesare Lombrosco (an Italian criminologist) began to put together ideas about the physical characteristics of what a serial killer looks like or should look like. He stated that, "murderers as a group [are] biologically degenerate [with] bloodshot eyes, aquiline noses, curly black hair, strong jaws, big ears, thin lips, and menacing grins" (Lunde 84). Today researchers do not agree with Lunde's personal opinion as to what a se!.
rial killer looks like, but they are starting to put a specific classification with the types of people that may commit multiple murders. Researchers agree that most of the serial killers are male, but there have been documented accounts of women serial killers. One female serial killer was Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary. She was accountable for more than 80 female victims between 1580 and 1610. It is noted that there have been an estimated 183 female serial killers. Most serial killers are white and between 25-34 years old.