Serial Killers - Blog Posts

Welcome to the Underground!

I'll be your host LockOfSpades but you can just call me Lock.

I post random D.C. headcanons (mostly batfam) along with random things I come up with.

But I will also be posting info on different serial killers so this account will be 16+.

Each post will have warnings on what it will/may contain.

You can send me asks and questions about any of the aforementioned items.

I myself am still in school so I will post whenever I can.

Rules: https://www.tumblr.com/lockofspades/724512657929060352/rules?source=share

I hope you have a wonderful day/night and hope to see you return to the Underground.

Not sure if this makes me weird but I just got the sudden urge to watch documentaries of Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. If you don't know who they are (you probably do, tho), they are infamous, gruesome (pretty obvious) American serial killers.

Bundy raped and murdered over 30 women. He blamed his hardcore porn for fueling his flames. He was attractive and manipulative and used that to his advantage.

Story time: A woman was headed back to her car one night when Bundy approached her. He told her that he was with the police and that someone had attempted to break into her car (I think it was) and convinced her to get in his car and go down to the police station with him. Obviously he drove right the fuck past the police station and began driving her outside of town. He stopped the car to kill her and when he tried to handcuff her, she struggled and he accidentally handcuffed himself and she managed to escape.

Fun fact: Bundy was a law student and actually worked at a suicide prevention hotline at one point.

Dahmer killed and violated the bodies of 17 men and boys and then ate many of them. He had a fascination of letting dismembered body parts dissolve in acid.

Story time: Dahmer had noticed a jogger that ran by his house most days of the week. He found the man attractive so he hid in the bushes and watched the guy run by. Eventually decided he wanted to kill the man but the day he decided he would strike, the man wasn't going out for a jog.

Fun fact: Dahmer tried to create living zombies by injecting acid into the brains of some of his victims.

Jack the Ripper: A Statistical and Typological Analysis

Introduction

Jack the Ripper was an uncaught British serial killer who operated in London from August of 1888 to November of the same year. He has five canonical victims, all of which were prostitutes. The confirmed victims include Mary Ann Nichols (31st of August), Annie Chapman (8th of September), Elizabeth Stride (30th of September), Catherine Eddowes (30th of September) and Mary Jane Kelly (9th of November).

Typology of Jack the Ripper

Serial killers can usually be organized into six typologies each with their own unique incentive, ideas, thoughts and methods of killing. The varieties of these types are the organized killer and disorganized killer and the main types are the visionary killer, the mission-oriented killer, the hedonistic killer (thrill, lust and comfort) and the power-oriented killer.

Though the killing of prostitutes may suggest a mission-oriented motive, the letters loosely suggest a thrill variety hedonistic killer (he gained obvious enjoyment of taunting of the police and the "Dear Boss" letter had a generally jovial or humorous attitude) and crime scene characteristics match the lust variety (controlled crime scene, overkill, specific victim and body mutilation after death).

The organized vs. disorganized concept is another system of criminal typology that uses crime scene analysis. Using this system we can use conjecture to determine certain personality traits (organized killers might have a higher IQ, for example). I’ll use this rating system to figure out his orientation on the O/U scale:

-Victim known: 0

-Stranger targeted: 1

-Poisoned: 0

-Chaotic scene: 0

-Controlled scene: 1

-Weapon planned: 1

-Weapon left: 0

-Body transported: 0

-Act focused: 1

The answers to this checklist suggest an organized typology by a minor amount. Though the closeness of results his organization and calmness during the course the crime suggests the result is accurate.

For personality factors we can use the OCEAN model:

-Openness: Moderate to high. Somewhat open and creative. He named himself and was one of the first serial killers to send letters. -Consciousness: Unknown. Likely moderate to low. He was organized during the course of the murders. -Extraversion: Unknown. Likely low. Considering the statistical likelihood of feelings of loneliness he'd likely have low social adequacy and social introversion. -Agreeableness: Low. Uncooperative and hostile. Partakes in crime behavior, taunting police and murder. -Neuroticism: Mid to low. Calm and unemotional. Was able to calmly avoid police and surgically remove body parts of victims precisely without anxious slip-ups.

An extra cluster will be included in the next section not discussed here. Specifically statistical analysis of prostitute homocides.

Speculation, Comparisons to Other Killers, Statistical Traits

We know that the Zodiac Killer could be profiled into both the visionary and hedonistic category based off motivation. However, what could possibly be the cause for these behaviors and what could be gleaned from these classifications?

From statistical analysis of prostitute murderers and the earlier typological analysis it's most likely he had these traits :

1. Poor academic record. [Statistics]

2. Average to high intelligence. [Statistics]

3. Highly lost in thought or a daydreamer. [Statistics]

4. Unsteady employment and holds low-level jobs. Though he was most likely employed at the time of the murders due to most of his killings taking place on weekends or holidays. [Statistics & Conjecture]

5. Chronic feelings of isolation or loneliness. [Statistics]

6. Was in his early thirties. This indicates a most likely correct witness description of Jack. [Statistics]

7. Even if he had poor academic performance he was most likely educated considering the use of a paragraph indent and correct spelling in the "Dear Boss" letter. This supports the idea has had parents with stable work. [Conjecture]

8. Has a controlled mood in general or during the crime. [Typology]

9. Follows the crime in news media. [Typology]

10. Parent's work was generally stable. [Typology]

11. If he was a lust killer he most likely gained sexual gratification from murder, killed strangers, planned the murders and was highly organized. [Typology]

12. If he was a thrill killer he likely enjoyed of the thrill of killing itself, killed strangers, created processes for murder and was highly organized. [Typology]

13. Uncooperative, calm affect, introverted, moderately hardworking/organized and somewhat creative. [OCEAN]

Outro

Even over one-hundred and thirty-three years later Jack the Ripper is still one of the most discussed Serial Killers in history. The shadowy moustached figure stalking the misty streets of London's name will most likely always be Jack, however, even now we can possibly still shed some light on who was behind the name Sources:

https://www.casebook.org/ripper_letters/

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/198117.pdf

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/jack-the-ripper

https://www.casebook.org/victims/

https://europepmc.org/article/med/30544084

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307819660_The_Traits_and_the_Thrill_of_Serial_Killers

https://www.marshall.edu/forensics/files/Baber_Seminar2014_ODcsp.pdf

(Note: I am not a psychologist, just interested in criminology)

Delphi Murderer: A Short Typological Analysis #3

Introduction

I've been interested in psychologically profiling the Delphi murderer for a while. However, this is a difficult undertaking considering the notable lack of crime scene description. So this is going to be a rather short analysis and highly speculative analysis without references to Jung nor personality typologies derived from witness description.

On February 13, 2017, Liberty German and Abigail Williams were visiting the train tracks on a day off school in Delphi, Indiana. During the course of their trek, Liberty German recorded a video using the camera of her phone of a suspicious man following them. The man recorded was a 5'6" to 5'10" heavyset male with reddish-brown hair. The man later had approached the two girls at which point an audio recording was taken where the suspect can supposedly be heard saying, "Hey guys... Down the hill". The bodies of the two girls were later found on February 14th. The case remains unsolved to this day.

Typological Analysis

Serial killers can usually be organized into six typologies each with their own unique incentive, ideas, thoughts and methods of killing. The varieties of these types are the organized killer and disorganized killer and the main types are the visionary killer, the mission-oriented killer, the hedonistic killer (thrill, lust and comfort) and the power-oriented killer.

Typology of the Delphi Killer

Typology of killers using the O/U dichotomy is near useless on its own, but it's all we really have in this scenario. The murderer was most likely of a disorganized variety with an unknown main type. It's unlikely this murder was pre-meditated because, considering the location of the crime, it'd be almost impossible to know when and where the victims would be alone in the days preceding the murder. Murderers who kill children are also more likely to have low scores across all areas of cognitive functioning, were less likely to pre-meditate their murder and were also more likely to have a history of mental illness. So, both the statistical analysis and specificities of the crime fit perfectly into the disorganized killer category.

Interestingly, a moment of insight on his main typology may come from an unexpected source. In Supt. Carter's message to the killer he stated, "we know this is about power to you", in reference to the killer's motivation. This suggests they know of a power-oriented typology. If he is power-oriented it suggests his victims fit a type, are strangers but were stalked beforehand. A power-oriented disorganized mix can be contradictory.

Sadly, we cannot speculate on his big five personality typology considering the lack of crime scene analysis and dialogue between the killer and others.

Speculation, Comparisons to Other Killers, Psychological Profile

Because of his disorganized typology, we can speculate he has a low IQ, has an impulsive personality, is odd and socially awkward, most likely lives near the location of the crime, is sexually incompetent, is highly introverted, made rituals of the bodies after, has father or mother's who's work was unstable, lives alone, was harshly disciplined as a child and is in an unskilled field of work.

From research on child murderers, we can speculate multiple traits of the killer. He most likely has low scores on all forms of cognitive functioning, has a history of mental illness, is aged nineteen to forty-two, has previous child sex abuse charges, partakes in unskilled work or is unemployed, he also most likely killed out of opportunity and actually lived in the area. The idea of him being a local in the area is interesting, considering many people believe he was a local of Delphi. This could mean he had excellent spatial memory or awareness.

Traits that carry across statistics:

-Low IQ

-Local

-Unskilled work or unemployed

From this we can assume he has extremely low conscientiousness.

Outro

The tragic case of Liberty German and Abigail Williams is one of frustration and unanswered questions. It's been four years and no closure have been provided to the family or the concerned public. All we can really do now is speculate and possibly bring to light who this criminal was in other ways.

Sources:

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/liberty-german/@@download.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307819660_The_Traits_and_the_Thrill_of_Serial_Killers

https://www.marshall.edu/forensics/files/Baber_Seminar2014_ODcsp.pdf

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170405144216.htm

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0093854817699437

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Exploring-Potential-%E2%80%98Extra-Familial%E2%80%99-Child-Homicide-Pritchard-Sayer/8352eddf79ae0f570a85d1339d96dbefc1f4a841#paper-header

https://www.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh241/files/media/document/201316.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snT740jhtw&ab_channel=WTHI-TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seWlExTA5Ns&ab_channel=ABC7Chicago

(Note: I am not a psychologist, just interested in criminology)

Audio of Zodiac killer suspect Richard Gaikowski whose voice was identified as the same as the Zodiac's by police dispatcher Nancy Slover. His voice was so similar she went as far to say "it's the same guy". https://www.zodiackiller.com/SuspectGaikowski.html

Which Zodiac Sign is Actually Most Likely to be a Serial Killer?

-Statistic-

Based on a review of 400 criminal profiles the conclusion can be reached that Scorpio is the most common star sign among serial killers, murderers, mass murderers, etc. Roughly around 10.75% of the serial killers viewed were Scorpios, followed then closely by Gemini and Capricorn. Virgo was the least likely with only 5% of the serial killers viewed being born from August 23rd to September 22nd. Interestingly, two of the serial killers viewed had the combination of a Sun in Pisces, Moon in Pisces and Ascendant in Saggitarius. This contradicts the popular belief that Sagittarius and Virgo are the most common among Serial Killers, I'd assume that this is because the most famous Serial Killers are usually either one of those signs.

This is a ranking of how common it is for a killer to be each sign:

1. Scorpio 10.75%

2. Gemini 10.25%

3. Capricorn 9.75%

4. Aries 9.25%

5. Aquarius 9.25%

6. Sagittarius 9%

7. Pisces 8.5%

8. Taurus 8.25%

9. Libra 7.75%

10. Leo 6.75%

11. Cancer 5.5%

12. Virgo 5% (Note: The number doesn't go exactly into 100% for some reason so just pretend)

(Image Cred: The Sun)

Which MBTI type is actually the most likely to be a serial killer?

-Statistic-

Based on an analysis of 150 criminal profiles on personality-database a conclusion can be reached that ISTJ is the most common type among serial killers. Roughly around 15.33% of the serial killers viewed are ISTJs and 23.33% are Si dominants (ISTJ and ISFJ). Interestingly, only 0.6% of killers are ENFJs.

This is a ranking of how common it is for a killer to be each type:

1. ISTJ 15.33%

2. ESTP 13.33%

3. ISTP 12%

4. ISFJ 8%

5. ESTJ 6.67%

6. INTP 6%

7. ISFP 6%

8. INTJ 5.33%

9. ENTJ 5.33%

10. ENTP 4.67%

11. ESFP 4%

12. ESFJ 4%

13. INFP 3.33%

14. INFJ 2.67%

15. ENFP 2.67%

16. ENFJ 0.666666666667%

-Function Breakdown-

Dom Ne - 7.34%

Dom Ni - 9%

Dom Se - 17.33%

Dom Si - 23.33%

Dom Te - 12%

Dom Ti - 18%

Dom Fe - 4.66666666667%

Dom Fi - 9.33%

-Letter Breakdown-

Extroverted: 41.34%

Introverted: 58.66%

Intuitive - 30.6666666667%

Sensing - 69.3333333333%

Thinking - 68.66%

Feeling - 31.34%

Judging - 47.9966666667%

Perceiving - 52.0033333333% (Note: for some reason the first statistic doesn't go fully into 100% so just pretend.) (Image Cred: New York Post)

The Zodiac Killer: A Jungian and Typological Analysis #1

Introduction to The Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer was a Californian serial killer who took the lives of a confirmed five victims and a speculated seven to thirty-seven victims from December 20th, 1968 to October 11th, 1969. To this day he remains unidentified.

Murder (December 20th, 1968 - Lake Herman Road): David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen are both shot at 10:15pm. 

Murder (July 4th, 1969 - Blue Rock Springs Park Grounds): Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau are both shot with a 9mm luger. Mageau survives and later recalls the suspect as a short, heavyset male with short brownish-blonde hair and a round face.

Event (August 1st, 1969): The killer, now operating under the name “The Zodiac”, sends three letters written in code to the Vallejo Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner. 

Murder (September 27, 1969 - Lake Berryessa): Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard are approached by The Zodiac who binds them with fishing line under the false pretense he was a recently escaped prison convict. Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard are then promptly stabbed a total of sixteen times before the perpetrator vanishes. Hartnell survives and later recalls the suspect as a heavyset man clad in a black, executioner style hood and cross-hair symbol drawn on his torso with greasy brown hair.

Murder (October 11th, 1969 - Geary Street): At 9:35 The Zodiac enters the cab of Paul Stine, directing him to drop him off at Cherry Street. At 9:55pm Paul Stine is shot and killed by Zodiac; at the same time the murder is witnessed by three teenagers. The teenagers and other witnesses later recall the suspect as a 35-45 year old male with reddish-brown crew-cut hair, a medium to heavy-build and who was wearing heavy rim glasses. This description is used as the basis for the police sketch.

Event (October 14th, 1969): Another letter is received by the Zodiac containing a portion of Paul Stine’s shirt and multiple threats.

Aftermath: More letters by The Zodiac were received by newspapers, most prominently the chronicle. Notable highlights of these letters include The Zodiac claiming to have taken the lives of up to 37 victims, a letter that supposedly had his name coded into it, a plan to use a technically plausible bomb, a letter claiming the murder of one Sgt. Radetich, a letter written entirely in cypher stating he believed his victims will work as his slaves in the afterlife, a custom made halloween card meant to be received by reporter Paul Avery and a letter that alluded to the idea he was the kidnapper of Kathleen Johns thus giving credence to the Lawrence Kane hypothesis. The Zodiac Killer has also been the main suspect in multiple other cases, such as Betsy Aardsma case where a college-aged girl was murdered by a stab wound to the torso.

Typological Analysis

Serial killers can usually be organized into six typologies each with their own unique incentive, ideas, thoughts and methods of killing. These types are the organized killer, the disorganized killer, the visionary killer, the mission-oriented killer, the hedonistic killer and the power-oriented killer. 

Typology of the Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer is an example of a mixture between two types, mainly a visionary and hedonistic (thrill variety) killer. The visionary killer is driven not usually by thrill or enjoyment but rather by a break from reality. In some cases, this type of killer shows the unique trait of remorse. On the other hand, the hedonistic thrill killer is driven by the thrill of murder, this type is similar to the power-oriented killer as they both commit murder out of enjoyment, however, the hedonistic killer does not derive gratification from dominating the victim.

An example of his visionary side was displayed in one of his many letters sent to the San Francisco Chronicle where he gloated that he wasn’t afraid of the gas chamber as his murders have already secured him enough slaves for paradise. From this we can assume his dominant incentive for killing was the belief that he needs a certain amount of servants for the afterlife. However, his hedonistic thrill seeker side is usually what is focused on when psychologists or people interested in the case first point out when discussing his psychology. For example, in The Vallejo Times letter he stated that killing was the most thrilling experience and was, “better than getting your rocks off with a girl”, though reasserted his belief in paradise afterward. An interesting thing to note is the Zodiac’s connection between sex and murder.

The organized vs. disorganized concept is another system of criminal typology that uses crime scene analysis. Using this system we can use conjecture to determine certain personality traits (organized killers might have a higher IQ, for example). I’ll use this rating system to figure out his orientation on the O/U scale:

-Restraints: 1

-Victim known: 0

-Stranger targeted: 1

-Poisoned: 0 

-Chaotic scene: 1

-Controlled scene: 0 

-Weapon planned: 1 

-Weapon left: 0

-Body transported: 0

-Act focused: 0

From this ranking we can determine that the Zodiac Killer was directly in between a disorganized and organized killer. However, he matches 5/11 descriptor of a disorganized killer (minimal conversation, sloppy crime scene, minimal use of restraints, body left at crime scene, body left in open) and only 4/11 descriptors of the organized variety (planned offense, victim a stranger, aggressive acts prior to death, absent weapon).

For personality factors we can use the OCEAN model:

-Openness: High. Inquisitive and creative. Created his own suit, strapped a flashlight to his gun and sent coded letters.

-Consciousness: Low. Disorganized and spontaneous. Left victims alive, allowed his face to be seen multiple times and didn’t hide victims.

-Extraversion: Unknown. Likely low. Introversion is associated with disorganized killers.

-Agreeableness: Low. Uncooperative and hostile. Crime behavior and taunted police.

-Neuroticism: Mid to low. Moderately emotional and anxious. Was possibly anxious during the course of the Mageau attack, however was perceived as calm and monotone in other murders. 

Speculation, Comparisons to Other Killers, Psychological Profiles

We know that the Zodiac Killer could be profiled into both the visionary and hedonistic category based off motivation. However, what could possibly be the cause for these behaviors and what could be gleamed from these classifications? A good method for this type of speculation is by comparing him to other serial killers with similarities in already established psychology. So here are some related speculations. 

-It’s possible that the Zodiac Killer gleamed sexual gratification from murder. Yang Xinhai, another hedonistic killer, stated he felt sexual satisfaction after killing his victims. It’s possible his specific type of victim (teenage couples) gave him the most satisfaction.

-When considering the fact he didn’t assault the victims afterward, his teasing of the police and creation of different methods of murder it could be assumed the Zodiac Killer enjoyed not killing on its own but rather the game of murder. He could’ve been hedonistic in the sense he gleamed pleasure from committing a murder, perfecting it and then getting away with it while receiving ludicrous amounts of media attention.

-It’s possible the Zodiac Killer has some form of schizophrenia, psychosis or a Cluster A personality disorder. David “Son of Hope” Berkowitz was strikingly similar to the Zodiac. Berkowitz and the Zodiac both killed couples, both killed their victims while they were in their cars, both sent letters taunting the police, both used guns to murder their victims, both didn’t assault their victims after and both had aspects of the visionary type. Berkowitz was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Berkowitz also gained sexual gratification from the murders, supporting the previous comparison.

-The Zodiac Killer likely took great pride in his public appearance. In his letter about the attack of Michael Mageau he said that he calmly left the scene as to not attract attention to himself, despite Mageau asserting he had left quickly in a panic. At the Lake Berryessa attack the Zodiac wore a specialized suit complete with a symbol on the torso. Sure this is strange on its own but the stranger part is that there’d be no need to wear the suit if he was planning on killing both victims, which indicates that he wore it because he wanted to tailor his image to his persona. The Zodiac even admitted this himself when he complained that he didn’t believe he got as much media attention as he deserved. All of this culminates with the Zodiac’s statement saying he didn’t look like the police sketch made of him, which could be his attempt to draw the public’s attention away from who he is under the façade of the notorious, mysterious and inventive Zodiac Killer.

-Another comparison could be made to Dennis “BTK’ Radar. Radar and the Zodiac both sent letters and penned their own name. Radar was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, this could very well coincide with the Zodiac’s need for admiration and recognition. 

-If he does fall in line with the “disorganized killer” typology it’s possible he did not travel far from his home to commit the crime, was secluded or asocial and generally worked in a field that didn’t require much talent.

-The female victims of the Zodiac Killer may look like a past girlfriend such as Ted Bundy or any woman associated with pain. 2/3 of his female victims were twenty-two years of age and Betty Lou Jensen and Darlene Ferrin have strikingly similar facial proportions (specifically the spacing between the nose, mouth and eyes and the size of those areas). This could also link to sexual satisfaction being taken from murder.

-He was more focused on killing women over men, evident from him failing to kill the male side of the couple in two murders. Possibly this the result of a damaged ego after rejection as if he’s trying to regain power over women. This could be a result of his introversion linked to unorganized killers. This could also possibly disprove the hedonistic killer theory in favor of the power-oriented killer theory.

From this we can assume three possible motivations: 

-Paranoid or odd beliefs

-Sexual gratification

-Misogyny 

Jungian Analysis

Carl Jung (born July 26th, 1871 - died June 6th, 1961) was an early Swiss psychoanalyst and apprentice of Freud. Many of the concepts he built upon and created are still in use today including the concepts of introversion/extraversion, archetypes, the subconscious, the unconscious and persona.

Use of Intuition 

Intuition, explained simply, is the unconscious process which allows the user to see into or perceive conditions that are not obvious through logical thought. It presents its conclusions as whole or complete in the mind of the user. It's the ability for one to perceive and expect possible motions without logical deliberation. For example, one may get a bad feeling about an apple because it subconsciously reminds them of an apple pie they hated. 

The Zodiac Killer represents the perfect picture of an extroverted intuitive killer. Instead of receding from the object to transpose his internalized view of abstracted images from the subconscious onto the environment around him, the Zodiac Killer’s intuition is in good relation to the object. He’s not oriented toward transposing his view of the abstracted image onto the object but rather interested in the object's pre-existing string of possibilities and abstracted images as if he was searching for chaos.  

We could also see use of intuition in the very concept of The Zodiac Killer. The perpetrator of these crimes comprises his self of the multiple abstracted characteristics of what the symbol of the Zodiac Killer is. He tries to inhabit a single symbol of multiple characteristics including strength, mysteriousness, intelligence, creativity, etc. Though he may or may not inhabit any of these characteristics. 

Archetypes

On the topic of personas or symbols of self, in this paragraph we’ll discuss his use of The Joker symbol. Throughout his violent escapades he takes on the form of someone rather unaffected by conventional morals, beliefs or attention to organization. He rather takes on the persona of someone humorous, who likes playing games and is free form all conventional forms of organization. It seems as if the main archetype he tries to inhabit is the Joker, even if subconsciously.

Outro

The last Zodiac Letter was received in 1974, the last murder was in 1969 and all likely suspects are now dead. Even after all that time the remaining notoriety of this case is staggering, and new suspects are still coming up today. Even more staggering yet, after all that the case is still likely to never be solved.

Sources:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307819660_The_Traits_and_the_Thrill_of_Serial_Killers

https://www.zodiacciphers.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/son-of-sam-arrested

https://www.infjs.com/articles/jung-descriptions-of-each-dichotomy-i-e-n-s-f-t-j-p.37/

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8929452#:~:text=Serial%20killer%20personality,more%20severe%20psychopathic%20personality%20disorder.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Jung

https://www.marshall.edu/forensics/files/Baber_Seminar2014_ODcsp.pdf

https://zodiackillerfacts.com/ https://www.zodiackiller.com/AllenFile.html

(Notice: I am not a psychologist, but just interested in criminology and versed in Jungian theory) 

I created three photorealistic photos of the Zodiac Killer using eyewitness testimony and police sketches. The first photo is how he was described by witnesses of the Paul Stine murder, the second is how he was described by Michael Mageau and the third is the lake Berryessa sketch (Made in artbreeder)

Ed Gein

Serial killer Ed Gein was obsessively devoted to his mother, a religious fanatic. After her death, Gein began robbing graves—keeping body parts as trophies, practicing necrophilia, and experimenting with human taxidermy. He then turned to murder, killing at least two women in 1957. Gein inspired film characters Norman Bates (Psycho), Jame Gumb (The Silence of the Lambs) and Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

Obsessively devoted to his mother until her death in 1945, Gein never  left home or dated women. After she died, he became increasingly  deranged and eventually began prowling cemeteries to unearth recently  buried female corpses. He would cut off body parts and keep them as  trophies, returning the corpses seemingly undisturbed to their graves.  In 1954, Ed Gein turned from grave robbing to murder, a task he was less   meticulous about. Police implicated him in the murders of two women in   1957. During the investigations, police learned that he had practiced   necrophilia and experimented with human taxidermy.

Gein was ultimately found guilty of murder by reason of insanity.  He was confined in various criminal psychiatric institutions, including the Central State Hospital in Wisconsin and the Mendota Mental Health Institute, where he died of respiratory and heart failure due to cancer, on July 26, 1984, at age 77. His killings live  on as the infamous inspiration for such film characters as Norman Bates (Psycho), Jame Gumb (The Silence of the Lambs) and Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre). (Source)

Albert Fish

March 30, 2023

***Trigger Warning: Lots of graphic nature and abuse of children***

Albert Fish was born Hamilton Howard Albert Fish on May 19, 1870 in Washington, D.C. to Randall and Ellen Fish. Randall was 43 years older than Albert’s mother Ellen, and was 75 years old when Albert was born. The pair had multiple children together, with Albert being the youngest. 

Albert began using the name Albert as a child, named after his dead brother so that his peers would stop calling him “Ham & Eggs” a childhood nickname he despised. 

Many of Albert’s family members suffered from different mental illnesses. Albert’s mother, Ellen, had what was known as “aural and/or visual hallucinations.” Albert’s father, Randall, had a heart attack and on October 16,1875 he died when Albert was only 5 years old. 

Ellen, being overwhelmed with her husband now gone placed Albert in the Saint John’s Orphanage where Albert was abused regularly. Albert would later begin to enjoy the pain he endured at the orphanage, the beginning of him experiencing sexual pleasure during pain or inflicting pain. 

In 1880, Ellen got a better paying job and was able to get her son back from the orphanage. In 1882, Albert had begun a relationship with a boy who introduced Albert to drinking urine and eating feces. Albert also began visiting public baths where he could watch young boys undress. 

Albert also began to write obscene letters to women who he would see their names in classified ads in the papers. 

In 1890, at the age of 20, Albert moved to New York City where he was a male sex worker and began to rape and molest boys, most of whom were under the age of 6. In 1898, Albert married a woman named Anna Mary Hoffman, who was 9 years younger than him. This was an arranged marriage Albert’s mother had set up. Albert and Anna had 6 children together: Albert, Anna, Gertrude, Eugene, John and Henry. 

In 1903 Albert was arrested for grand larceny and incarcerated in Sing Sing. Albert later said he had gone to a wax museum with a male lover once and became fascinated by the bisection of the human penis, which led to an obsession with sexual mutilation. 

In 1910, Albert met a man named Thomas Kedden. It was said that Thomas was intellectually disabled. The two began a sadomasochistic relationship, it is unclear whether Albert forced Thomas to do any of the acts. After 10 days, Albert took Thomas to an old farm house where he tortured him for two weeks, tying him up and cutting off half of his penis. 

Albert’s original plan was the kill Thomas and cut up his body. Albert feared he would be noticed if he tried to bring Thomas’ body back to his house, so he poured peroxide over the wound, wrapped it in a Vaseline-covered handkerchief, and left him $10. 

Albert never contacted or tried to contact Thomas again and does not know what happened to him after that. 

In January 1917, Albert’s wife left him for another man who had been boarding with them. Albert was then left to raise his children on his own, saying that his wife had taken almost everything they owned with her. 

Albert often began having auditory hallucinations, once wrapping himself in a carpet saying he was following instructions from John the Apostle. 

Albert began to self harm by embedding needles into his groin and abdomen areas. After he was arrested, the X-rays showed that Albert had at least 29 needles in his pelvic area. He would also hit himself with a nail studded paddle and would put wool covered in lighter fluid into his anus and light it up. 

It was never reported that Albert ever abused his own children physically, however it is said that Albert would encourage his children and their friends to hit him in the buttocks with the nail studded paddle. 

Around 1919, Albert had stabbed an intellectually disabled boy in Georgetown. Fish claimed he would go over intellectually disabled or African-American people because he did not think they would be missed. 

On July 11, 1924, Albert saw 8 year old Beatrice Kiel playing alone on her parent’s farm in Staten Island, New York. Albert offered the little girl money to come help him look for rhubarb. Beatrice was about to leave the farm when her mother chased Albert away. Albert later returned to the Kiel farm where he tried to sleep in their barn, but was discovered by Beatrice’s father. 

During 1924, Albert was suffering from psychosis and claimed God was commanding him to torture and sexually mutilate children. Three days after the Kiel’s, Albert murdered Francis McDonnell on Staten Island. 

Francis McDonnell

On July 14, 1924, 9 year old Francis McDonnell was reported missing when he did not return home from playing with friends. A search began and his body was found, hanging by a tree in a wooden area near his home. 

Francis had been sexually assaulted and then strangled with his suspenders. His left hamstring had been almost entirely stripped of flesh. Albert denied responsibility for this but did say he planned to castrate the boy but heard someone approaching so he ran off. 

Francis’ friends told police Francis had been taken by an elderly man with a grey moustache. A neighbour also claimed to have seen Francis with a similar looking man walking towards the woods. 

Anna McDonnell, Francis’ mother, said she also saw that man earlier in the day, claiming he had been coming up the street mumbling to himself and making motions with his hands. Anna said the man appeared faded and grey, this description eventually leading to “The Grey Man” nickname Albert was dubbed. 

Francis McDonnell’s murder went unsolved until Grace Budd. Albert denied the charges until March 1935, after the trial of Grace Budd’s murder, where he admitted to killing Francis and another boy, Billy Gaffney. 

Billy Gaffney

On February 11, 1927, 4 year old Billy Gaffney was playing in their apartment hallway with two other boys, ages 4 and 12. When the 12 year old left, the two smaller boys disappeared. 

The 4 year old, a boy named Billy Beaton was found on the roof of the apartments. Beaton said that the “bogeyman” had taken Billy Gaffney. Gaffney’s body was never recovered. A man named Joseph Meehan, a motorman on the Brooklyn trolley eventually recognized a picture of Albert, claiming that was the man he saw on the day Billy went missing. 

Meehan claimed the man had been trying to quiet a little boy on the trolley. The boy was not wearing a jacket and was crying for his mother. It was found that Albert had been working a few miles from the location Billy was taken at the time. 

Albert later confessed he had taken the boy, tied his hands and feet, and gagged him. He burned his clothes and left. The next day he went back with his tools and whipped Billy, cut off his ears, nose and slit his mouth from ear to ear. Albert also gouged out his eyes, and drank his blood. Albert cut off the head, arms, hands, legs and feet, and threw them in sacks with stones, throwing them into water. 

The rest of the boy Albert took home with him and ate. Billy’s mother travelled to Sing Sing to ask Albert about her son’s death but he refused to speak with her. Albert began to weep and asked to be left alone. After two hours of asking questions through his lawyer, Billy’s mother gave up and was not convinced he had killed her son. 

Grace Budd

On May 25, 1928, Albert saw an ad in the paper by a young man who wanted work. The young man was 18 year old Edward Budd, who lived at 406 West 15th Street. 

On May 28, Albert went to see the Budd family in Manhattan, claiming he wanted to hire Edward but was really planning to tie him up and mutilate him. Albert introduced himself as Frank Howard, a farmer from Farmingdale, New York. Albert told Edward he would take on him and his friend Willie, and would come back for them in a few days. 

Albert never showed up a few days later, sending a telegram that apologized to the family, setting up a new date for when he would return. 

When Albert came back, he met Edward’s little sister Grace, who was 10 years old at the time. Albert knew he immediately wanted to take Grace instead of Edward, so made up a story about going to his niece’s birthday party, asking Delia and Albert Budd if Grace could come along with him. 

Albert took Grace to an abandoned house, a house he had previously picked out for his next victim, before his plans changed and he took Grace instead. Albert murdered Grace Budd and claimed he ate her after as well.  

The police arrested a man named Charles Edward Pope on September 5, 1930 for the murder of Grace Budd after his estranged wife accused him. He spent months in jail and was his trial began on December 22, 1930. He was found not guilty. 

In November 1934, an anonymous letter was sent to the Budd family, claiming that whoever wrote the letter had murdered Grace and detailed how they had tortured her and then taken 9 days to eat her body. The letter did say that Grace had fought back, and that the writer, who was obviously “Frank Howard” had let Grace die a virgin. 

The letter eventually led police back to Albert Fish, who did not deny the murder of Grace Budd. He actually told police his original plan was to kill her brother, Edward. Albert claimed he had no intention of raping Grace, but when he was strangling her he had two involuntary ejaculations. 

This was used in trial to determine Grace’s kidnapping was sexually motivated, and it avoided the cannibalism. 

Albert’s trial for the murder of Grace Budd started on March 11, 1935. The trial lasted 10 days, where Albert pleaded insanity, claiming he heard God telling him to kill children. It was said that Albert was a “psychiatric phenomenon” and that there was no other individual in medical records who had this many sexual abnormalities. 

The jurors all believed that Albert Fish was insane, but they believed he should be executed anyway. So they found him sane and guilty and he was sentenced to death by electrocution. 

Albert Fish was executed on January 16, 1936, in the electric chair in Sing Sing. It was said that Albert had actually helped the executioner position the electrodes on his body before he died. He last words were, “I don’t even know why I’m here.” 

According to a witness, it took two jolts before Albert died, and rumours circulated that it was due to the needles that he had inserted into his body for years. These rumours turned out to be untrue, as it was claimed that many individuals in the electric chair take more than just one jolt to die. 

After Albert’s execution, his lawyer, James Dempsey said he had Albert’s final statement, which was multiple pages of hand-written notes that Albert had written hours before his death. When journalists asked Dempsey to say what Albert had written, he replied, “I will never show it to anyone. It was the most filthy string of obscenities that I have ever read.”