One of the most common warning signs that potential serial killers display is a fascination with setting fires. While it may be common for young people to enjoy the sight of a fire, a psychopath's interest borders on that of being a potential arsonist. They will set anything they can on fire just to destroy it.
Psychiatrist David Puder says Bundy likely had something called the Dark Triad. Puder: “The Dark Triad is a combination of three things; psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism.” The first condition, psychopathy, is marked by low affective empathy – meaning that they can't feel the experiences of other people.
Psychopathy is considered the most malevolent of the dark triad. Individuals who score high on psychopathy show low levels of empathy and high levels of impulsivity and thrill-seeking.
The Dark Triad personality traits – narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism – can be toxic and damaging in the workplace. But be aware that someone exhibiting these traits may initially be a high achiever and potentially charming, conscientious and achievement-oriented.
Serial killers. Australians convicted of multiple murders: Catherine Birnie, rape and murder of four women in Perth in 1986. David Birnie (1951–2005) rape and murder of four women in Perth in 1986.
Eight-year-old Amarjeet Sada was all smiles when he was brought to the police station in 2007 in connection with the murder of an infant. Sada, known as the world's youngest serial killer, was held after three murders, two of which went unreported.
However, attendees did identify certain traits common to some serial murderers, including sensation seeking, a lack of remorse or guilt, impulsivity, the need for control, and predatory behavior. These traits and behaviors are consistent with the psychopathic personality disorder.
Researchers have identified certain characteristics of female serial killers, finding they tend to be white, married at least once, of at least average intelligence, and are more likely to be employed in healthcare professions.
Predatory Behavior
The most common serial killer trait is predatory behavior. While this behavior in animals is seen in the pursuit and capture of prey for foods, serial killers often stalk their victims or act on impulse when they see a potential victim.
Most serial killers demonstrate antisocial tendencies—including a lack of empathy, a disregard for laws and the rights of others, and a lack of remorse—and many meet the criteria for either psychopathy or sociopathy.
"Many experts agree that serial killers have a vision in mind of their victim. This person would be thought of as their “ideal victim” based on race, gender, physical characteristics, or some other specific quality.
Aileen Wuornos, 46, was executed by lethal injection on Oct. 9, 2002, for the deaths of six men along Central Florida highways in 1989 and 1990. She was known as America's first female serial killer. Wuornos appears in court in December 1991.
There are however some very famous serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, Richard Storlett and Paul Bernardo. These killers seem to be the nature side of the equation. Each one of these killers recall having a very loving and normal childhood. According to Ted Bundy, he had an “uneventful childhood”.
On 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Bell strangled four-year-old Martin Brown in an upstairs bedroom of a derelict house located at 85 St. Margaret's Road. She is believed to have committed this crime alone.
Kathleen Folbigg, now 55, was dubbed "Australia's worst serial killer" after being convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, and convicted of manslaughter in the death of the fourth.
Joseph Hakan Ayik, also known as Hakan Reis (born 31 January 1979) is a Turkish - Australian drug trafficker. He has an estimated net worth of 1.2 billion dollars, and was described in June 2021 as "Australia's most wanted man".
For instance, from the Big Five perspective (Costa & McCrae, 1992), psychopathy might be described as a particular profile of low scores in both agreeableness (i.e., manipulation, egocentricity, antagonism, arrogance, and lack of empathy) and conscientiousness (i.e., recklessness, disorganization, lack of purpose, and ...
The Big Five traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism: OCEAN) have been suggested to provide a meaningful taxonomy for studying the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.