What's the difference between a serial killer & a mass murderer?

Question

I ask because someone recently posted a question here--"Who is the worst serial killer ever/in history/(something like that)? The best answer selected was "hitler" & I thought that was odd.

I know the difference, but obviously not everyone does.

Thanks to all who answered

Answer 1

A serial killer is someone who murders three or more people in three or more separate events over a period of time, with a cooling-off period between murders. they are also specifically motivated by a variety of psychological urges, primarily power and sexual compulsion, NOT anything material. His victims are very carefully selected, the serial killer will not stray from his preferred type.

A mass murderer is a person who kills a large number of people typically at the same time or over a short time span (also known as spree killings). also his victims are random, he does not care who they are. a mass murderer's aim is to kill as many people as possible, whoever they are.

The basic difference is that a serial killer will kill one victim at a time and his spree will last the whole of his life, until he is caught or killed, whilst a mass murder will wake up one morning and gun down 30 people in the same day. columbine shootings were mass murder. Ted Bundy was a serial killer.
I hope this made it very clear. Take care.

PS: Hitler was a dictator, i think mass murder is too weak of a word to describe what he did. What he did was genocide.

Answer 2

Yeah that was a wrong answer. A mass murderer is all about the multi-tasking, and getting the job done in the quickest and most efficient manner possible. A serial killer can only do one job at a time. Basically, serial killers suck at killing, but overall get much more experience with the process.

Answer 3

A mass murderer kills, usually with little regard to who is being killed, and does it on a more massive scale. Hitler would be a mass murderer. A serial killer is a criminal, usually with a specific type of victim in mind (Dennis Radar, Henry Lee Lucas).

Answer 4

a serial killer usually has one victim at a time, doing the same thing to each one as he goes....& a mass murderer kills many at once in different ways.

Answer 5

A serial killer kills in different locations, mass murderers kill in the same loction in a short amount of time.

Answer 6

serial killers kill one at a time, mass murderers pick off several at once from the bell tower?

Honestly, I don't know

Answer 7

they are both scary people to come in contact with....but I think serial is like the stalker who chooses victims and mass would be something like hitler...i think......=]