Serial Murder, Criminological Profiling, and Paraphilic Disorders

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering serial murder case studies, types of multicide, paraphilic disorders, and criminal profiling concepts.

what we know about pedophiles -attraction

They experience sexual attraction to children, particularly prepubescent children.

What we know about pedophiles- Social preferences

The textbook says many prefer children’s company socially and emotionally.

What we know about pedophiles- relationships

It discusses how some may avoid relationships with adults, while others marry or have families.

What we know about pedophiles -grooming

Some build trust with children and their families over time to gain access to victims.

What we know about pedophiles- careers

Some seek jobs that give them access to children, such as teaching, coaching, or religious leadership.

What we know about pedophiles- behaviors

They range from individuals who keep their fantasies private to those who actively seek out children and commit sexual offenses.

What we know about pedophiles - violence

The textbook emphasizes that not all pedophiles are violent, although some can become extremely aggressive. 

Criminal profiling

is an investigative tool used by law enforcement to analyze crime scenes, victim characteristics, and behavioral patterns to narrow down a pool of unknown suspects.

Who did John Douglas debate with?

Malcom gladwell

John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo

Known as the D.C. Snipers, this pair carried out a series of sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia areas in 2002, targeting victims during everyday activities such as pumping gas and shopping; Muhammad served as the mentor to 17-year-old Malvo.

Wayne Williams

An offender believed to have killed 22 Black children in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1979 and 1981 in the Atlanta Child Murders case.

Christopher J. Dorner

A former LAPD officer who carried out revenge-motivated shootings in California in 2013 targeting law enforcement and others after believing he was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against; categorized by Hickey in this section despite not being a conventional serial murder case.

Chester D. Turner

A Los Angeles serial killer linked by DNA to 13 murders between 1978 and 1998 who sexually assaulted and strangled young women, resulting in convictions for 10 killings and the death of an unborn fetus.

Henry Louis Wallace

Known as 'The Charlotte Strangler,' a serial killer who murdered women in Charlotte, North Carolina, between 1992 and 1994, with approximately 9 to 20 victims listed.

Carlton Gary

Known as 'The Stocking Strangler,' a serial killer who murdered and sexually assaulted several elderly women in Columbus, Georgia, between 1977 and 1978.

Calvin Jackson

A serial killer who targeted and murdered nine women in New York between 1973 and 1974.

Samuel Little

Also known as Samuel McDowell; an offender arrested in 2013 who committed sexually motivated murders targeting women across multiple states over several decades and is associated with an exceptionally high victim count.

Lorenzo Gilyard

A Kansas City, Missouri, serial killer believed to have murdered 13 women involved in prostitution between 1977 and 1993.

John Floyd Thomas

Known as 'The West Side Rapist,' a Los Angeles sexual predator who murdered several elderly white women over a span of approximately 25 years before being captured at age 72.

Jerry Marcus

Known as 'The Tuskegee Strangler,' an African American serial killer believed to have strangled seven young Black women over a 17-year period following allegedly consensual sexual encounters.

Jake Bird

An African American serial killer who stalked and murdered numerous white women across multiple states during the 1940s, with 44 victims listed in the textbook's chart.

Anthony Sowell

Known as 'The Cleveland Strangler,' an Ohio serial killer in whose home police discovered 11 decomposing bodies in 2009 across the living room, basement, crawl space, and backyard.

The Death Angels

A group of African American men responsible for the Zebra Murders, targeting white victims in San Francisco during the early 1970s; named because investigators communicated using radio channel Z.

NCAVC

The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, an agency involved in criminal profiling.

Counterfactual Thinking

A cognitive process of imagining 'what if' scenarios where events occurred differently or visualizing alternative outcomes to past events.

Paraphilia

An intense or unusual sexual interest that may involve specific objects, activities, or situations.

Pedophilia

A paraphilic disorder characterized by sexual attraction to prepubescent children.

Necrophilia

A paraphilic disorder characterized by sexual interest involving corpses.

Sexual Sadism

A paraphilic disorder characterized by obtaining sexual gratification from the suffering of another person.

Exhibitionism

A paraphilic disorder characterized by exposing one's genitals to unsuspecting people.

Fetishism

A paraphilic disorder characterized by sexual interest focused primarily on specific non-living objects or non-genital body parts.

Mass Killer

An offender who kills multiple people in a single event.

Spree Killer

An offender who kills multiple people across different locations without an emotional cooling-off period between incidents.

Serial Killer

An offender who kills two or more people in separate incidents over time, with a cooling-off period between the murders.

Autoerotic Death

An accidental death resulting from autoerotic asphyxia, where an individual restricts oxygen flow to the brain during sexual activity to heighten sexual pleasure.

Malcolm Gladwell

The author and speaker who engaged in a debate with former FBI profiler John Douglas.

The Lipstick Killer

The moniker given to William Heirens, a serial killer who murdered three people in Chicago (Josephine Ross, Frances Brown, and Suzanne Degnan) and left a message written in lipstick at a crime scene.

Gary Heidnik

A Philadelphia serial killer who kidnapped, tortured, and held six women captive in his basement home, resulting in the deaths of two victims.

Harrison Graham

Known as the 'Philadelphia Zombie,' an American serial killer who murdered multiple women and kept their decomposing bodies in his apartment.

Nazi Youth Euthanasia Hospitals

Facilities where the Nazi regime killed individuals, including children, who had physical or mental disabilities under ideological claims of racial purity.

The Hillside Strangler

The nickname given to cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr., who murdered ten women and girls in Los Angeles in 1977 and 1978 and discarded their bodies along the city's hills.

Rape (Criminological Motivation)

An offense fundamentally driven by the assertion of power and control rather than sexual desire.

Paradigm of a Teen Serial Killer

A rare psychological and biological profile resulting from the combination of childhood trauma, a biological deficit in empathy, and an immature teenage brain incapable of impulse control.