The three key factors are the time period, number of victims, and the fact that it is methodical and systematic. Each of these three parts is important because without any one of them, a different label would be attached to the perpetrator. Without the methodical premeditation, simply slaying three or more over a period of time is considered a spree killer because there is no cool-down' process for the planning to occur. Without the timeframe component, the assailant who kills three or more methodically is labeled a mass murderer due to the relatively large number of victims over a short period of time. Without the specific number accounted for, the crime is labeled simply as homicide. Serial murder, as a phenomenon, encompasses an extremely small portion of the criminal category of murder. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that only four percent of all homicides committed in 1998 involved multiple victims, with the percentage of crimes falling rapidly for three or more victims: 0.5% involved 3 victims, 0.1% involved 4 victims and 0.05% involved 5 or more victims (U.S. Department of Justice). These numbers illustrate the true rarity of the crime, the victimization and number of offenders, in contrast to what the media presents. Viewers are led to believe that serial killing is a common type of homicide due to the increased number of media presentations (Fox and Levin, 1999) The media puts forth and perpetuates the notion of the need to be in constant fear because any stranger could cause harm, where as in reality strangers were identified as offenders in only thirteen percent of murders in 1998 (FBI- Department of Justice).
Although argued by many scholars, serial murder is nowhere near epidemic proportions. Regrettably, it is virtually impossible to measure with any degree of certainty the scope of the problem simply because many crimes committed by serial murderers are unknown to authorities.
