how many times to you have to kill, to become a seriel killer?

Question

just curious, since they police might be dealing with one at the mo.

Answer 1

the first time you throw your oats or twinkies down the toilet, you become a serial killer.

Answer 2

I think the F.B.I. say three times, but a good detective or profiler should usually be able to tell after one killing provided the killer is ritualistic, takes a trophy or leaves a signiture. This guy in Suffolk is absolutely a serial and will attempt to kill as many poor souls as he possibly can, in as short a space of time as he can.
The average serial kills once every 6 months. This chap is killing apparently something like once every 6 days - he's off the scale and off his head. Potentential victims (At the moment prostitutes) must take every precaution because he's very effective and knows exactly what he is doing. If he is not caught soon, non-prostitutes make become victims as he is using the "immorality" of prostitutes to "justify" his pathological fury towards women and society as a whole. But he is on a roller-coaster ride and is likely to develop increasingly desperate tendancies. The good news is that the police and profilers a so organised and knowledgable about these kind of crimes that he should be caught within weeks rather than months. Not to put any pressure on them, however, because the public may well play a crucial part in his capture as well. What he has done is a terrible and unjustified waste of human life. These victims have families and friends. They may be "unfortunate" women, but every human being deserves respect and justice.

Answer 3

A serial killer is a murderer who goes on killing people one after the other. It could be only two or three killings but they are closely tied by the evidence.

A serial killer may commit a murder in year one and then not commit another for a year or two, but the pattern fits and sometimes the two are linked by place.

In the case of the Suffolk murders, we may have a serial killer on the loose. The police have not yet confirmed this. Its still early days.

Answer 4

"A serial killer is someone who commits three or more murders over an extended period of time with cooling-off periods in between. In between their crimes, they appear to be quite normal, a state which Hervey Cleckley and Robert Hare call the "mask of sanity." There is often — but not always — a sexual element to the murders. All the murders must be completed/attempted in a similar fashion or the victims must have something in common, ex. occupation, race, sex, etc.

A mass murderer, on the other hand, is an individual who commits multiple murders in a single event and in one location. The perpetrators sometimes commit suicide, therefore knowledge of their state of mind and what triggers their actions is often left to speculation.

A spree killer commits multiple murders in different locations over a period of time that may vary from a few hours to several days. Unlike serial killers, however, the spree killer does not take a long break or resume everyday life between slayings."

Answer 5

I would have thought two on separate occasions.

More important than the definition of "serial killer" is that the perpetrator of any murder the circumstances of which suggest that (s)he is a continguing threat to the life and safety of others should be arrested as quickly as possible, and then appropriately dealt with.

Answer 6

Twice in separate incidents i guess.

I stabbed up a box of cornflakes this morning though, cos they had gone off. I also burned all of my EastEnders videos. Does that make me a cereal/serial killer too?

Answer 7

At least 2 unrelated incidents whereby the murder is of an unknown victim,not revenge or the like !

Answer 8

More than one.

Answer 9

From my understanding, 3.

Answer 10

someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short interval