t dominate him. When he is finished he often transports the body to another location and hides it with care. So skillful are some predators, from Jack the Ripper to todays Green River Killer, who are never caught at all. Those who are captured by police often come to grief through some careless mistake or just plain dumb luck a parking ticket rather than brilliant police work.Serial killers have a driving force that motivates them to kill. They fantasize about killing for so long that eventually they must actually carry out the act of murder in order to satisfy their urges. The serial killer experiences distinct psychological benefits from murder, not the least of which is the relief from intense anxiety. This relief is not entirely dissimilar to the function of a compulsion or an addiction. Stress is often the triggering factor for most serial killers, just as stress can trigger a relapse in a heroin addict. Murdering alleviates the stress and fantasies temporarily, but when they begin to re-occur, the killer must murder again. The motives for serial killings are as varied as their victims. There are four categories of homicide with 32 subcategories and nearly all of them applicable to some case of serial murder in recent years. The first category is called criminal-enterprise homicide and category has 10 subheadings. Criminal-enterprise homicide is any murder committed for personal gain. Hit men and gang members are considered serial killers by some, though not by purists, because they usually have a private reason for their occupations other than the salary. Bluebeards and Black Widows murder as many spouses as necessary in anticipation of monetary gain. Criminal-competition homicide, product tampering and kidnap killings are a few other subcategories in the ciminal-enterprise category.Personal-cause homicide is a very broad category. Its subcategories include conflict murders, revenge killings, mercy homicides, au...
