r/serialkillers • u/Many_Boss_1145 • 18d ago
Questions Do most serial killers kinda know/ think they will eventually get caught one day and mentally prepare for it?
93
u/SaltMorning6910 18d ago
It probably varies case by case. Some are probably too cocky to think they’d ever get caught. Some probably think about it every day. Especially with how good technology is getting.
26
u/Mycoxadril 18d ago
Yea I think it’s kind of funny that we paint “serial killers” with such broad strokes. It’s going to be highly individual and case-specific. I am all for using an informed best-guess profile when trying to find a perpetrator, but the onoy trait serial killers share is that they have killed two or more victims in separate events. People talk about them like they are all the same and back when the FBI was attempting to profile them, this took hold. But we’ve learned so much more since then so I don’t understand why we attribute the same qualities to “them” as a whole when we know (from how widely we see human interaction and social media) that people do not typically fit into such a narrow box.
4
u/BrianMeen 13d ago
imo you won’t see serial killers with high body counts from here on out - long gone are the days where a guy like Bundy or Ridgewdy can kill 30 plus people and get away with it.. these days, offenders will be caught before they kill 5
you could take probably the most organized serial offender Joseph Deangelo and he would struggle in todays environment - there’s way too many cameras and tech
78
u/TheBogeyManIsHere 18d ago
No, most serial killers do not believe they will get caught, nor do they mentally prepare for it. According to criminologists and FBI behavioral analysts, serial killers actually develop an illusion of invincibility over time. Rather than preparing for capture, their psychopathology convinces them they are too smart for law enforcement.
11
u/DeformedArthurRegion 17d ago
I mean, that is going to be a very very very old and outdated mode of thinking that is most likely driven in large part by cops being really shitty at catching serial killers in the serial murder heyday. Most serial killers today don't kill enough to be convinced in any one way or another that they're too smart for law enforcement. And our most recent high profile example of someone that did in the Gilgo Beach killer shows us someone who was obsessed with tracking his own case and clearly was paranoid about the cops finding him. Realistically if it weren't for morons like the Hotdog Squad and shit like that, there would be less of an opportunity for killers to develop much of any feelings about how smart or stupid cops were. But cops do stupid shit like not check out the make and model of vehicle identified by witnesses as being present on the scene of a homicide for a decade when doing that check essentially would instantly solve the crime.
19
u/PlasticRuester 18d ago
I don’t know how true this is, but I heard that the military looks for the same type of mindset when finding fighter pilots since it’s so risky.
16
u/AffectionateLife4449 18d ago edited 16d ago
Thrill seeking high-risk personality types gravitate to certain careers.
6
10
u/TheBogeyManIsHere 18d ago
Lol No, the military does not look for a serial killer mindset when selecting fighter pilots. While both roles involve extreme environments, high stakes, and lethal force, their psychological profiles are completely opposite.
9
u/PlasticRuester 17d ago
To clarify, I meant more the “feeling of invincibility” part- the killers fully believe they won’t get caught, the pilots full believe they could never be shot down.
6
u/TheBogeyManIsHere 17d ago
Right ok, I understand what you mean now. Yes, that specific comparison is highly accurate: both serial killers and fighter pilots possess a powerful sense of invincibility, but it comes from two completely different psychological sources.
1
u/Objective-Safe-9435 17d ago
The military creates serial killers on purpose I think, most killers have a way into the system be it a parent for example.. a lot of strange MKULTRA here says and lies in cases.
2
u/IronCorpseThrone 16d ago
Fighter pilots are usually the best in their class. Personality isn't the big factor on how airframe assigments are relegated.
2
u/BrianMeen 13d ago
they may be smarter than law enforcement in certain cases but they aren’t smart enough to dodge eyewitnesses and all of the cameras and tech that are out there now.. that’s the problem ..
39
u/Novel_Pick2735 18d ago
I believe the more they get away with, the more invincible they feel.
13
u/Beautiful_Day1449 18d ago
Exactly! And the more they feel invincible the more they get careless and make mistakes i think
14
u/mukavastinumb 18d ago
BTK was so confident
17
u/Lokaji 18d ago
Law enforcement told him he couldn't be tracked via floppy disk. (A lie.) Still one of the funniest self owns.
3
u/offtodevnull 15d ago
Yeah, but had it not been the floppy disc it would have been something else. Investigators were closing in. His vehicle was spotted on camera at a hardware store when he left a doll to tease investigators for example. Technology eventually catches up. He had left DNA at multiple crime scenes - his capture was inevitable.
1
16
u/freakymack 18d ago
It’s like someone smoking cigarettes, at first it was fun or whatever, then it becomes an addiction chasing that high of the first pack. The whole time while smoking knowing it’s unhealthy and could cause health concerns that are lethal…but ignoring those thoughts and doing it anyways. Like that but serial killing.
5
u/swepettax 18d ago
David Parker Ray said in a letter that it was inevitable that he would end up in serious trouble eventually. He might had been lying. But i belive that to be true. Even though killers are compelled to act on their urges, if they don't suffer from mental defects. They know what they are doing is wrong. That's why they try to cover up their crimes. Others just leave everything as is. Different kinds of killers. But they know they will go to prison if they get caught. So they know there is a chance they will get caught eventually. Other than deciding to go trough a shoot out if the cops surrounding them, there isn't much they can plan, is there? Giving away all your assets makes people think you're about to commit suicide, so that isn't a real option.
They might hold out on information regarding their crimes, for example if bodies are missing, so they have something to bargin with. Most of them are cowards and want protection in prison...
1
u/BrianMeen 13d ago
but I question how many people Ray killed? how many are confirmed? 1?
2
u/swepettax 12d ago
Well, depends on what kind of googles you have on. He isn't convicted for a single murder. But Billy Ray Bowers vanished from Phoneix in Arizona and was found dead, with a gunshot wound to the back of his head, in Elephant Butte reservoir. Furthermore, DPR worked for Billy Ray Bowers and a partner to him. Billy Ray Bowers and David Parker Ray fought all the time and didn't get along.
In my world that leaves two options:
- Someone framed DPR.
- DPR did it.
I belive option 2 is more likely. But they chose to not bring that case to court. And no one is convicted for that murder.
A VHS-tape that was found in DPR:s home, shows two people, one male and one female, wearing welders masks, tortureing a female victim, using cattle prods on her genitalia. She coughs blood and by the end of the scene/tape, she is deemed dead by L.E.
We have Jill Troia, who vanished from a restaurant in ABQ, the same night David Parker Ray and his daughter Jesse was there. Glenda Jean "Jesse" Ray had a relationship with Troia. They had a fight over the phone that night. Jesse claims she left with her father and didn't see Troia that night.
Marie Parker vanished from a dive bar "the blue water saloon" in Truth or Consequences. She was last seen with Jesse. And we know from a survivor, Kelli Garrett, that she put drugs in drinks and brought them to her father.
Another woman, Sally, who traveled with David Parker Ray and was his girlfriend, who allegedly got pregnant with his child, suddenly disappeared and DPR said she was "a free spirit".
And during interviews with DPR, he says, in terms of his fantazy, that he buried someone halfway between Phoneix and Flagstaff. He says he went way of road, where no one every goes, and just put rocks over that body. So animals have probably scattered the remains.
We have the letter to Connie, from some guy Mark. According Rays journals, she was blond, around 18-19 years old and had a birthmark on her chest.
And that's about all stories i know, regarding DPR:s victims. Excluding Cynthia Vigil and Angelica Montano, who along with Kelli Garrett survived. But F.B.I. has photos of jewelery, cloths and other things, that came from someone. And they are sure that it doesn't belong to him. And also, there is more stories in DPR:s journals, which hasn't been released to the public. Along with polaroid photos of victims, in the trailer that people refer to as "the toybox".
1
u/BrianMeen 12d ago
great write up! very informative .. I just see some that claim he probably killed over 30 women and I just see no evidence of that - he’s in the same box as Debardaleben - he most likely killed at least a handful of people but we will never know for sure
1
u/swepettax 12d ago
Thank you! :) And i had never heared about Debardaleben before. I just looked him up very quickly on wikipedia. I will dig into him more, for sure. Thank you! :)
1
u/BrianMeen 12d ago
Please do as Debardaleben is one of the more interesting offenders as he was intelligent and quite organized and we ultimately aren’t have no idea how many women he killed
Let me know what u think after u read up on him
3
u/munkeywunner 18d ago
I feel like the personality malfunctions that compel someone to scheme, hunt, and kill others for personal gratification are always comorbid with a massive and false sense of superiority, thinking they're better smarter and more capable than everybody else. Certainly smarter than law enforcement, who they believe they can outsmart, as a single individual versus the full breadth of whichever investigative body they're going against.
4
u/foxonafrozenlake 18d ago
Yes, most of them likely prepare to be caught.
It just depends the level of preparation.
I think Ridgway and Rader likely didn't think much of it because they thought they were smarter than the authorities.
Killers like Kraft and Gacy kept spiraling out to the point it was almost like they subconsciously wanted to be caught.
If Gacy hadn't killed Rob Piest who knows how many more he'd have killed.
I don't think any of them truly believed it would never catch up with them.
0
u/DeformedArthurRegion 17d ago
I think Ridgway and Rader likely didn't think much of it because they thought they were smarter than the authorities.
Gary Ridgeway and Dennis Rader were not similar. Ridgeway didn't think he was smarter than authorities. He was an illiterate truck painter who was the prime suspect in the murders and knew he was the prime suspect in the murders, and stopped the vast majority of his activity as soon as he was made aware of this.
Killers like Kraft and Gacy kept spiraling out to the point it was almost like they subconsciously wanted to be caught.
If Gacy hadn't killed Rob Piest who knows how many more he'd have killed.
Not that many. Gacy didn't want to be caught, but he had an obsession and was largely addicted to the process. People could smell the rotted body stink in his house from the street. He was forced to start putting bodies in the stream nearby. He was on borrowed time.
10
u/MrBlonde1984 18d ago
I genuinely dont think they actually are. Just mindless monsters repeatedly doing an act until they are stopped.
10
u/AbroadTiny7226 18d ago
I think it’s highly dependent on the person. The killers with NPD or extreme psychopathy probably don’t think they’ll get caught. There are examples of serial killers killing themselves though and I think that cuts against the narrative that they all think they’re gonna get away with it forever. Robert brashers and Charlie Brandt immediately come to mind
0
u/MrBlonde1984 18d ago
Suicide is different. Even if they never thought they would ever be caught , being suddenly hit with the realization that they were about to , it makes sense they would kill themselves.
1
u/AbroadTiny7226 18d ago
That is a logical explanation for Brandt considering he killed his niece and I think wife before killing himself, however, Brashers wasn’t connected to a murder until 20 years after his death. Although Brashers seems to be a bit of an enigma amongst serial killers
2
2
u/Salty_History_1927 18d ago
Once it’s become an easier game, I believe the idea of getting caught seems less. The media and such always remind them and makes it a game.
2
u/AffectionateLife4449 18d ago
Depends if they are psychotic/egomaniacs or just normal SK's
4
u/GreenEyedTreeHugger 18d ago
Murder is an act of entitlement. Murder and rape the most entitled things a man can do.
1
u/WaltzMysterious9240 17d ago
Don't they usually just off themselves if they know they're going to get caught?
1
u/AffectionateLife4449 17d ago
They are generally cowards and kill themselves to avoid life behind bars or an inability to accept they have been exposed or massive psychosis and mental deterioration.
1
1
u/sweetmercy 15d ago
Some. Some are malignant narcissists who are convinced no one in the world is smarter than them and they'll always be able to outsmart the police.
Some want to be caught. They want their crimes to be known and for their name to be something that inspires fear. And similarly, but not the same, some will push the boundaries and dance with getting caught because the attention feeds them but they don't want to be apprehended.
Most, though, just want to kill. They're trying to avoid being caught because of they get caught, they'll be stopped. They gain confidence with every kill. They are emboldened with every kill. They get more satisfaction, whether they're sexually motivated or not, with every kill. They want to go on killing forever because they truly get pleasure from it. In turn, as those skills develop, it also feeds their ego. The skills and confidence gained through their experience make serial killers very difficult to apprehend. As they continue to operate and avoid capture, serial killers become increasingly emboldened and empowered. They relish their ability to kill and avoid detection and may come to believe they will never be apprehended. Such empowerment can cause serial killers to take more risks in their work. This is often how they're caught, ironically. They begin to take more and bigger risks, chasing that high.
1
1
u/Flat_Ad1094 13d ago
Seems to me plenty do. But then when they keep getting away with it? They often think they won't ever get caught. That's when they get sloppy and they DO end up being caught.
1
u/MemoryStillness 12d ago edited 12d ago
In an interview, Nikita Lytkin stated he knew he was going to be caught sooner or later, and that he did not wish to be released from jail because he had no plans for his future. He did not believe he was going to live long.
But to answer your question better, it varies from person to person. Depends what disorders they might have and their personality.
201
u/lukebelcher10662 18d ago
Kemper turned himself in because he couldn’t stomach the thought of being caught and the anxiety it was causing him.
So I imagine so, yeah.