A serial killer is conventionally defined as a person who murders three or more people in a period of over a month, with a “cooling down” time between murders. For a serial killer, the murders must be separate events, which are most often driven by a psychological thrill or pleasure.
Serial killers often lack empathy and guilt, and most often become egocentric individuals; these characteristics classify certain serial killers as psychopaths. Serial killers often employ a “mask of sanity” to hide their true psychopathic tendencies and appear normal, even charming.
Crime Museum
The phenomenon of serial killings has been recognized since a man dubbed “Jack the Ripper” murdered seven London prostitutes in 1888. The FBI terms serial killings as serial murders and as the killing of several victims in three or more separate events. These may occur several days, weeks, or years apart, and reveal similarities of pattern, such as where the murders occurred, the type of victim, or the method of killing.
We work with Member States to support investigators from national authorities.. If a serial killer committed a series of murders across Europe, we could help the countries concerned, if we were requested to do so.
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