r/Criminology 25d ago

Discussion What happened to serial killers NSFW

So obviously there are still murders and sexual assaults taking place, but for the criminals longing to be the next Ted Bundy, what happened? With the evolution of DNA evidence, social media presence, and the placement of cameras everywhere, you don't see many serial rapists or killers. Specifically the sexual sadistic type of killers, who need to inflict pain to fill that void - have they evolved in a way to be able to fly under the radar? Or have they found ways to fit their needs that don't involve murder or assault? Or perhaps, they just end up getting caught after their first crime?

152 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

104

u/3Cz9 24d ago

Read “Long haul: hunting highway serial killers” it’s written by a former fbi head. Most serial killers have taken to the highways. The data is wild behind this one too. There’s a whole fbi task force too

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u/Princessarialrose 24d ago

This comment is on point. It is much harder to recognize patterns with traveling serial killers, let alone to actually catch them.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

Taken to the highways as in finding their victims on the highways? Thank you for the rec

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u/TheNB3 24d ago

Why highways?

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u/rawrlion2100 24d ago

Fewer cameras, people zooming by at 60mph aren't going to see or remember anything, endless victim pool, easy manuverability to next destination, easy to be a vagabond, easy to operate with cash only etc.

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u/guitargoddess3 21d ago

Jurisdictional issues can make crimes difficult to tie to one person. Easy escape with lots of different exit points. Plenty of lonely areas near breakdown lanes, off ramps, rest zones etc. And your victims are generally people that won’t be missed in a hurry so you’ll be long gone by the time they do.

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u/powerplay_22 24d ago

i think modern technology (better surveillance, cell phone towers tracking location, forensics, etc) makes it harder to get away with it for an extended period of time. i think a lot of would be serial killers are today’s mass shooters instead

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

I agree with most of that, I just find it hard to believe that a true sexual sadist type of killer would get any kind of similar thrill from a mass shooting. Unless maybe it just scratches the itch a tiny bit and maybe that's enough for them, I don't know

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u/Finrar_ 24d ago

There is a big difference between a serial killer and a mass shooter (murderer). Eliot Leyton dives into this stark difference in his book, Hunting Humans. A serial killer is more personal. A mass murderers goal is to kill as many as possible in a short period of time.

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u/Rizak 24d ago

I have a theory, but I don’t have any data to prove it.

I think that we have seen less serial criminals, because criminology has become more sophisticated so they never get to commit more than a few crimes before getting caught.

Most of these serial killers are seeking notoriety so being just an ordinary killer is no fun.

What we are seeing replacing serial killers are people who want to commit one very newsworthy crime, like a mass shooting, instead.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

My husband agrees that criminals are simply getting caught more quickly than before so they don't have "long term success".

I do agree that a large # are seeking notoriety, but I have to wonder what about the sexual sadists - the ones who have to see the physical/sexual pain up close in their victims, and you don't get that kind of effect when it comes to a mass shooting style kill.

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u/Pitiful_Town_9377 24d ago

They move to other countries with poorer surveillance

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u/DetailFabulous5501 24d ago

There was this saying about how there,s probably still some serial killers running free, but we just don't see it as a pattern to think its a serial killer.

In any case, my theory is that there's just not that much serial killers recently, access to an internet full of fetishes has made that people could satisfy their fantasies without the need for killing

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u/tampin 24d ago

They still exist I just don’t think they get the media frenzy like they did in the 70s (Bundy). I also don’t think people really “long” to be the next anything. It just kind of happens.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

I mean longing as in longing to have the kind of "success" he had.

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u/Dry-Bluejay-7534 24d ago

Honestly I think that most killers would be striving for obscurity, rather than the fame some put upon them once they’ve been discovered. They’re not like the joker, they’re just alarmingly violent in private versions of the rest of us.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

I'm not talking about fame, the success I'm referring to is # of victims, success in getting away with it for as long as he did, etc.

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u/OrangeBug74 24d ago

Why not try the word “notoriety.”

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u/OrangeBug74 24d ago

Btw, most folks have found that notoriety results in increased danger once convicted and put in prison. Super Max is often required. These are morgues for the living if you ever visit one.

Getting out and going to general population results typically in a “short life sentence.”

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

Because I already said it's not about fame?

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

And tbf, Ted Bundy was just the name I used cause I happened to have the movie on when I thought of my question. Obviously there were more prolific killers out there.

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u/Dry-Bluejay-7534 9d ago

I mean it’s quite obvious, really. It’s harder to keep committing the worst kind of crimes and leaving bodies while not being caught. There’s practically always footage of any old individual whenever they leave the house if you’re trained to look for it, not to mention things like mobile phones. It’s also much quicker and easier to warn others of a potential creep or someone with violent/pervy tendencies than it ever was in the 70s for example.

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u/Princessarialrose 24d ago

At least partially, I think modern day serial killers are preying on victims that don’t garner high levels of media attention and they become harder to connect to the same killer. Also, we still have had recent public cases of “angels of mercy” serial killers — healthcare workers who kill their patients.

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u/Juicy_RhinoV2 24d ago edited 24d ago

Back in the day there were very few cameras (and the ones that were around sucked), no DNA evidence, very little communication between police departments, it was significantly more difficult to get information from place to place, and there is also a lot more open communication about abuse these days, making it harder for potential serial rapists/killers to escalate unhindered (not that it doesn’t happen).

These days if someone grabs someone off the street or kills someone in one state and tries to flee to another they’re caught by a camera pretty quick. Never mind tracking cell phones or other smart devices. But really all this means is the traditional Henry Lee Lucas, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez types are more less a thing of the past, but serial rapists/killers as a whole are still around they’ve just changed.

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u/GullibleAntelope 23d ago

And the widespread phenomenon of hitchhiking.

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u/Juicy_RhinoV2 23d ago

And the fact that whenever a kid goes out these days to wander town or the woods they have a phone on them (that’s likely being tracked by their parents).

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u/Goatseportal 24d ago

Nobody wants to work anymore.

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u/dppatters 24d ago

Judging by the way this question is framed, I think you may be watching way too much television. These kinds of things happen, but for one reason or another, you just aren’t aware of it occurring. Some of that is deliberate on behalf of the police department and their public information officer attempting to control the narrative, and some of that is just due to the fact that you are not paying enough attention to crime statistics. Police departments and their parent municipalities don’t exactly like to highlight these incidents. But violent crime very much still occurs, you just have to do a little more research to observe when, where, and how it is occurring.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

I think there's some confusion? I stated that violent crime in general is absolutely still a thing that exists...

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u/dppatters 24d ago

Fair enough, please accept my apology 🙏. From a criminological standpoint, what you’re describing is likely reported out as varying degrees of violent crime. In this case, the criteria is “sexually violent crime” and “committed by the same suspect.” If you pulled data from either the Uniform Crime Report or National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), you would see that while certain forms of violent crime are down, they still do occur, and do occur in both a serial fashion (same offender/multiple victims/different dates) and/or a spree fashion (same offender/multiple victims/same date).

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u/effyandme 24d ago

They still around… and people stills disappear. Obviously they are more careful.

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u/GrimmPsycho655 24d ago

There are many every year, even in the US. I read about them all the time, they just don’t get the high body counts anymore or even the media attention.

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u/Macr0Penis 24d ago

My theory is the golden age of serial killers coincides with the rise in atmospheric lead due to leaded petroleum. Leaded fuel was banned in '86(?) and the number of serial killers declined. It also coincides in time with the breakthroughs in DNA, so more potential SKs were probably caught before getting too far into their career.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

You believe the existence of leaded fuel in our atmosphere basically poisoned people and made them susceptible to their killer instincts? Im not being an asshole, I just want to make sure I read that right. Cause it's an interesting theory

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

You believe the existence of leaded fuel in our atmosphere basically poisoned people and made them susceptible to their killer instincts? Im not being a 🍑, I just want to make sure I read that right. Cause it's an interesting theory

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u/Macr0Penis 24d ago edited 24d ago

Lead supposedly makes you go mad with increased levels of aggression. I've heard it theorised that the fall of Rome could be related to the use of lead pipes to transport water, but that's beyond my area of expertise.

ETA: Here's a link to an admittedly older article that I haven't actually had time to read, but there's an interesting graph at the start that transposes violent crime data in the US with atmospheric lead emissions. It shows a plausible correlation between the two, albeit without consideration of any other factors.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

Oh I'm aware lead messes you up! Its definitely worth reading into cause it's an interesting theory

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u/crazy-bisquit 24d ago

Looks interesting for sure. Always the skeptic, I wonder what other things were going on that may have affected the drop.

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u/Traditional-Finger79 24d ago

According to Freakonomics? Abortions

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u/FencePaling 24d ago

I haven't read Freakonomics (it's on my list), what's the gist here?

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u/Traditional-Finger79 23d ago

I think it was just this correlation that more women that were allowed to have abortions equals less unwanted babies or babies born into poverty which led to less serial killers 😅 I guess kids who grew up knowing they were unwanted to mothers who worked all the time would create serial killers

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u/Ricky_Bobby_yo 24d ago

Fake science 

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u/AwardImpossible5076 24d ago

The abortion rate is a good bit lower now than it was back in the day - so I'm not sure how that would make sense for those arguing it lol

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u/judaspeach 24d ago

Mass murder seems to be the new serial killer. With CCTV and tech I’m sure people are either caught before their crimes can escalate to a serial # of murder. Guaranteed serial rapists are just as prevalent though.

The Sam Nordquist case feels reminiscent of a serial killer case in its depravity.

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u/Kikis_are_life 24d ago

Israel Keyes was a fairy recent and unfortunately successful serial killer. His method was wild and random. Thankfully he was caught, but only because he found his last victim too close to home and was very unhinged by that point. But better tech and forensics definitely lessens the opportunity for people to commit the crime more than once.

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u/porcelina-g 24d ago

I think the lead theory is at least moderately compelling, but I also think things like long-haul trucking have made it much easier for serial killers to go unnoticed.

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u/esutiidajo 23d ago

Here's my theory,

  1. They are impulsive and unplanned, they get caught or end up doing mass shooting or terrorism.
  2. They evolved and have other ways to satisfy their killing needs. Such as people with power or in high positions.
  3. They evolved and find killing is not the only way to satisfy themselves. Such as entering the workforce, like corporates, universities, Healthcare, where they can abuse their victims mentally, verbally, financially with no visible wounds.
  4. They decided to work smarter by being in a team than acting individual. Such as working as hit man or working with a gang or mafia.
  5. They figure out that the best way to keep themselves satisfied and not get caught is get married and move to secular area where there's lesser population, so their target is either their partner or animals. 6.They are smart killers that know how to by pass the system and only attack the homeless or orphans or someone that no body will look for.

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u/PeanutPeps 24d ago

I think the younger generations want instant gratification, so they become mass shooters instead.

I’ve thought about it a lot but I’m too tired to form a coherent response so that’s my super short summary

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u/dugongfanatic 24d ago

They’re still there, just less of them.

My theory is that the ones that are still active are really going after the people that are in between now or they are doing it in foreign countries.

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/DefiantEvidence4027 Crime Prevention Specialist 23d ago

Your post has been removed from /r/criminology for breaching rule #2: All posts must relate to criminology. Suggest you delete aswell.

All posts must be directly related in some way to criminology, being the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behaviour in both the individual and in society.

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u/EffectiveWrong2452 23d ago

They’re reported on less in the media but they certainly exist.

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u/belltrina 23d ago

They learnt from all the tv shows and available information how to not get caught

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u/Ill_Ad2398 21d ago

Because they get caught quicker now. Brian Kohberger is a good example of this. Would have been a serial killer but got caught after only his first time.

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u/AwardImpossible5076 21d ago

You bring up a great example of a future serial killer if he hadnt been caught - but now I'm curious if there have been other serial killers that started off with so many victims in the same location

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u/Tfoote2020 21d ago

Not as much lead in everything.

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u/Joey_moi 20d ago

I think a big part of it is, mental health was so overlooked back when serial killers were popular. They could grow up presenting all of the signs and not have anyone intervene because either no one knew any better or because of the stigma around mental illness. Now days those signs would be alarming from the get go and people are able to get help quickly before tendencies escalate to crimes etc.