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111-874: The Speed Freak Killers is the name given to serial killer duo Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine , together initially convicted of four murders — three jointly — and suspected in the deaths of as many as 72 people in and around San Joaquin County, California , based on a letter Shermantine wrote to a reporter in 2012. They received the "speed freak" moniker due to their habitual methamphetamine abuse. Herzog committed suicide in 2012. Shermantine remains on death row in San Quentin State Prison , in San Quentin, California . Loren Joseph Herzog (December 8, 1965 — January 16, 2012) and Wesley "Wes" Howard Shermantine Jr. (born February 24, 1966) grew up in

222-414: A serial murderer ) is a person who murders three or more people, with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separate events. Their psychological gratification is the motivation for the killings, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victims at different points during the murder process. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that

333-561: A "cooling-off period." Cases of extended bouts of sequential killings over periods of weeks or months with no apparent "cooling off period" or "return to normality" have caused some experts to suggest a hybrid category of "spree-serial killer". In Controversial Issues in Criminology , Fuller and Hickey write that "[t]he element of time involved between murderous acts is primary in the differentiation of serial, mass, and spree murderers", later elaborating that spree killers "will engage in

444-430: A ban on the imposition of the death penalty for inmates with mental illness and also case law such as Atkins v. Virginia to further this. Executions still take place for those with clear intellectual disabilities due to poor legal representation and high standards of proof. In 1933, Giuseppe Zangara attempted to kill then President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt but injured and killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak . He

555-919: A brain tumor, having spent more time on death row than any American. Brandon Astor Jones spent 36 years on death row (with a brief period in the general prison population during his re-sentencing trial) before being executed for felony murder by the state of Georgia in 2016, at the age of 72. The oldest prisoner on death row in the United States was Leroy Nash , age 94, in Arizona. He died of natural causes on February 12, 2010. ADX Florence , Fremont County , Colorado ( Timothy McVeigh , Joseph Edward Duncan , Kaboni Savage , Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ) MCFP Springfield , Missouri ( Marvin Charles Gabrion ) Notes: Nearly all European countries have abolished capital punishment. As of 2021, Belarus remains

666-747: A case of a serial murderer in the 1870s, a Frenchman named Eusebius Pieydagnelle who had a sexual obsession with blood and confessed to murdering six people. The unidentified killer Jack the Ripper , who has been called the first modern serial killer, killed at least five women , and possibly more, in London in 1888. He was the subject of a massive manhunt and investigation by the Metropolitan Police , during which many modern criminal investigation techniques were pioneered. A large team of policemen conducted house-to-house inquiries, forensic material

777-465: A crime reporter, was a career journalist who was caught after a series of articles he wrote gave clues that he had murdered people. Russell Williams was a successful and respected career Royal Canadian Air Force Colonel who was convicted of murdering two women, along with fetish burglaries and rapes. Many serial killers have faced similar problems in their childhood development. Hickey's Trauma Control Model explains how early childhood trauma can set

888-454: A focus on security and isolation. The room is typically designed to limit access and maintain strict control over the condemned individual. Furnishings and amenities in these cells are often minimal, as they are not intended for long-term incarceration but rather for the purpose of facilitating the impending execution. Typically, a condemn cell can house between one and three inmates. Bangladesh has witnessed significant controversy surrounding

999-423: A health-care facility, or at different locations within the same city or state. A notable exception to the typical characteristics of female serial killers is Aileen Wuornos , who killed outdoors instead of at home, used a gun instead of poison, and killed strangers instead of friends or family. One "analysis of 86 female serial killers from the United States found that the victims tended to be spouses, children or

1110-552: A high degree of control over the crime scene and usually have a solid knowledge of forensic science that enables them to cover their tracks, such as burying the body or weighing it down and sinking it in a river. They follow their crimes in the news media carefully and often take pride in their actions as if it were all a grand project. Often, organized killers have social and other interpersonal skills sufficient to enable them to develop both personal and romantic relationships, friends and lovers and sometimes even attract and maintain

1221-432: A hoax, as originally concluded by psychiatrist David Abrahamsen. Mission-oriented killers typically justify their acts as "ridding the world" of certain types of people perceived as undesirable, such as the homeless , ex-cons , homosexuals , drug users , prostitutes, or people of different ethnicity or religion; however, they are generally not psychotic. Some see themselves as attempting to change society, often to cure

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1332-499: A hunter they ran into while on vacation in northern Utah in 1994. Utah police confirmed that a hunter had indeed been killed, but his murder was still classified as unsolved. Herzog also said Shermantine was responsible for killing Henry Howell, 41, who was shot dead and found parked off the road on Highway 88 in Alpine County near Hope Valley with his teeth and head bashed in. Herzog said he and Shermantine passed Howell parked on

1443-744: A jury found Shermantine guilty of four murders: those of Vanderheiden, the robbery-murder of drifters Howard King, 35, and Paul Raymond Cavanaugh, 31, whose bodies were found shot to death in a car off a remote road on Roberts Island on November 27, 1984, and 16-year-old Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler, who disappeared in 1985 from Franklin High School in Stockton after telling friends she was leaving school to go with Shermantine to his family's cabin in San Andreas . During his trial, numerous witnesses testified that they had been brutalized by Shermantine. He

1554-470: A legal motion was filed by attorney Mark Geragos on behalf of a detective who was informed by a San Joaquin sheriff's deputy that a pair of Mary Jane shoes discovered in one of the Linden wells bore similarity to the shoes Garecht was last seen wearing. According to the detective, San Joaquin police refused to show him the shoes, both physically as well in photographs, and the shoes had not been examined by

1665-472: A lower mean IQ than organized serial killers, at 89.4. Mixed serial killers, with both organized and disorganized traits, have an average IQ of 100.9, but a low sample size. Some people with a pathological interest in the power of life and death tend to be attracted to medical professions or acquiring such a job. These kinds of killers are sometimes referred to as "angels of death" or angels of mercy. Medical professionals will kill their patients for money, for

1776-609: A murderer from South America, killed a minimum of 110 young girls between 1969 and 1980. However, he claims that the number is over 300. He was released from a mental facility in 1998 and his whereabouts are still unknown. He is commonly nicknamed the "Monster of the Andes". An additional non-American serial killer is Luis Garavito from Colombia. Garavito would kill and torture boys using various disguises. He murdered around 140 boys ranging in ages from 8 to 16. He would dump his victims' bodies in mass graves. The serial killing phenomenon in

1887-509: A parent has a drug or alcohol problem, the attention in the household is on the parents rather than the child. This neglect of the child leads to the lowering of their self-esteem and helps develop a fantasy world in which they are in control. Hickey's Trauma Control Model supports how parental neglect can facilitate deviant behavior, especially if the child sees substance abuse in action. This then leads to disposition (the inability to attach), which can further lead to homicidal behavior, unless

1998-594: A part of the program. Two of the victims' families (the Wheelers and Vanderheidens) did not yet know where their daughters' bodies were, and Herzog was still serving a 78-year sentence. In 2013, popular British true crime television program Born to Kill? made an episode about the pair. The story was covered on the 2015 episode “Where Evil Lies” , on the crime documentary series On the Case with Paula Zahn . The episode included updates on Herzog's release and suicide, and

2109-455: A problem that afflicts the whole society." Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Gangster (2001), explains how potential criminals are labeled by society , which can then lead to their offspring also developing in the same way through the cycle of violence . The ability for serial killers to appreciate the mental life of others is severely compromised, presumably leading to their dehumanization of others. This process may be considered an expression of

2220-529: A quarter of inmates on death row in the U.S. die of natural causes while awaiting execution. There were 2,721 people on death row in the United States on October 1, 2018. Since 1977, the states of Texas (464), Virginia (108) and Oklahoma (94) have executed the most death row inmates. As of 2010 , California (683), Florida (390), Texas (330) and Pennsylvania (218) housed more than half of all inmates pending on death row. Gary Alvord arrived on Florida's death row in 1974 and died 39 years later on May 19, 2013, from

2331-404: A random weapon available at the time, and usually do not attempt to hide the body. They are likely to be unemployed, a loner, or both, with very few friends. They often turn out to have a history of mental illness, and their modus operandi (M.O.) or lack thereof is often marked by excessive violence and sometimes necrophilia or sexual violence. Disorganized serial killers have been found to have

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2442-667: A resemblance to the composite of the person who kidnapped "that Hayward girl." Commenting on the likeness Herzog bore to Garecht's kidnapper, witness Katrina Rodriguez commented: "I thought then and I think now he could be the kidnapper...  I think there are features that look very much like the man...It seems like a strong lead." At Shermantine's direction, law enforcement began excavating an abandoned well in rural Linden, California in February 2012, where Herzog and Shermantine disposed of their victims. Thousands of bone fragments belonging to five different individuals were recovered from

2553-559: A sense of sadistic pleasure, for a belief that they are "easing" the patient's pain, or simply "because they can". Perhaps the most prolific of these was the British doctor Harold Shipman . Another such killer was nurse Jane Toppan , who admitted during her murder trial that she was sexually aroused by death . She would administer a drug mixture to patients she chose as her victims, lie in bed with them and hold them close to her body as they died. Another medical professional serial killer

2664-536: A societal ill. Death row Opponents of capital punishment claim that a prisoner's isolation and uncertainty over their fate constitute a form of psychological abuse and that especially long-time death row inmates are prone to develop a mental disorder , if they do not already suffer from such a condition. This is referred to as the death row phenomenon . Estimates reveal that five to ten percent of all inmates on death row suffer from mental illness. Some inmates may attempt suicide. There have been some calls for

2775-526: A spouse and sustain a family including children. Among serial killers, those of this type are in the event of their capture most likely to be described by acquaintances as kind and unlikely to hurt anyone. Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy are examples of organized serial killers. In general, the IQs of organized serial killers tend to be normal range, with a mean of 98.7. Disorganized serial killers are usually far more impulsive, often committing their murders with

2886-457: A variety of fields and specialties with the goal of identifying the commonalities of knowledge regarding serial murder. The group also settled on a definition of serial murder which FBI investigators widely accept as their standard: "The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s) in separate events". Serial homicide researcher Enzo Yaksic found that the FBI was justified in lowering

2997-469: A well and two other locations where the duo buried their victims. Previously, none of their victims' bodies had been found. Both men had maintained that the other did the killing in all cases and emphatically denied any culpability. In February 2010, while Shermantine waited on death row, his sister Barbara received letters from him identifying the locations of victims in an abandoned well on Flood Road near Linden, California . She turned these letters over to

3108-682: Is Genene Jones . It is believed she killed 11 to 46 infants and children while working at Bexar County Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, United States. She is currently serving a 99-year sentence for the murder of Chelsea McClellan and the attempted murder of Rolando Santos, and became eligible for parole in 2017 due to a law in Texas at the time of her sentencing to reduce prison overcrowding . A similar case occurred in Britain in 1991, where nurse Beverley Allitt killed four children at

3219-544: Is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass murderer , spree killer , or contract killer , there are overlaps between them. The English term and concept of serial killer are commonly attributed to former Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Robert Ressler , who used the term serial homicide in 1974 in a lecture at Police Staff College, in Bramshill , Hampshire , England. Author Ann Rule postulates in her 2004 book Kiss Me, Kill Me , that

3330-508: Is akin to a male serial killer's collecting of totems (souvenirs) from the victim as a way of exerting continued control over the victim and reliving it. By contrast, Hickey states that although popular perception sees "black widow" female serial killers as something of the Victorian past, in his statistical study of female serial killer cases reported in the United States since 1826, approximately 75% occurred since 1950. Elizabeth Báthory

3441-457: Is instigated to seek approval from parents, sexual partners, or others." This need for approval is what influences children to attempt to develop social relationships with their family and peers. "The quality of their attachments to parents and other members of the family is critical to how these children relate to and value other members of society." Wilson and Seaman (1990) conducted a study on incarcerated serial killers, and what they concluded

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3552-461: Is retarded because the child's emotional and social development occurs within his self-centered fantasies. A person can do no wrong in his own world and the pain of others is of no consequence when the purpose of the fantasy world is to satisfy the needs of one person" (Garrison, 1996). Boundaries between fantasy and reality are lost and fantasies turn to dominance, control, sexual conquest, and violence, eventually leading to murder. Fantasy can lead to

3663-479: Is sometimes cited as the most prolific female serial killer in all of history. Formally countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian , August 7, 1560 – August 21, 1614), she was a countess from the renowned Báthory family . Before her husband's death, Elizabeth took great pleasure in torturing the staff, by jamming pins under the servant's fingernails or stripping servants and throwing them into

3774-529: The Han Emperor Jing , was made Prince of Jidong in the sixth year of the middle period of Jing's reign (144 BC). According to the Chinese historian Sima Qian , he would "go out on marauding expeditions with 20 or 30 slaves or with young men who were in hiding from the law, murdering people and seizing their belongings for sheer sport". Although many of his subjects knew about these murders, it

3885-487: The Hungarian aristocrat Elizabeth Báthory , born into one of the wealthiest families in Transylvania , allegedly tortured and killed as many as 650 girls and young women before her arrest in 1610. Between 1564 and 1589, German farmer Peter Stumpp killed 14 children, including his own son. He also murdered two pregnant women and had an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Stumpp claimed to have been granted

3996-593: The Medicis of Renaissance Italy, or Landru , the " bluebeard " of the World War I period, who murdered numerous wives after taking their money. Vronsky states that the term serial killing first entered into broader American popular usage when published in The New York Times in early 1981, to describe Atlanta serial killer Wayne Williams . Subsequently, throughout the 1980s, the term was used again in

4107-512: The NHS ). He was considered a pillar of the local community; he even won a professional award for a children's asthma clinic and was interviewed by Granada Television 's World in Action on ITV . Dennis Nilsen was an ex-soldier turned civil servant and trade unionist who had no previous criminal record when arrested. Neither was known to have exhibited many of the tell-tale signs. Vlado Taneski ,

4218-525: The San Joaquin County countryside. They graduated from Linden High School in 1984 and took pleasure in bullying other people, drinking alcohol, and using drugs, especially methamphetamine , in their apartment in nearby Stockton, California . During this time, Herzog had a brief affair with a young woman named Kim Vanderheiden. The citizens of Linden, a small town with fewer than 2,000 people, 95 miles east of San Francisco , were long aware of

4329-639: The Vietnam War were preventing California from experiencing the Big One . As the war wound down, Mullin claimed his father instructed him via telepathy to raise the number of "human sacrifices to nature" to delay a catastrophic earthquake that would plunge California into the ocean. David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") may also be an example of a visionary serial killer, having claimed a demon transmitted orders through his neighbor's dog and instructed him to commit murder. Berkowitz later described those claims as

4440-448: The intersubjectivity associated with a cognitive deficit regarding the capability to make sharp distinctions between other people and inanimate objects. For these individuals, objects can appear to possess animistic or humanistic power while people are perceived as objects. Before he was executed, serial killer Ted Bundy stated media violence and pornography had stimulated and increased his need to commit homicide, although this statement

4551-459: The power to control the mistreatment they suffer sometimes create a new reality to which they can escape. This new reality becomes their fantasy that they have total control of and becomes part of their daily existence. In this fantasy world, their emotional development is guided and maintained. According to Garrison (1996), "the child becomes sociopathic because the normal development of the concepts of right and wrong and empathy towards others

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4662-796: The "Speed Freak Killers" case would be re-opened. The total number of mutual victims of Herzog and Shermantine remains unknown and speculative. Both were convicted in the murders of four people and are believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 19 people. Both men targeted random victims and killed for "fun and sport". They would go out "hunting," shooting individuals to death and, in some cases, kidnapping women, raping them, and stabbing them to death. Afterwards, in Calaveras County , they would dispose of their dead bodies in mine shafts, isolated hillsides, and beneath trailer parks. Prior to his arrest, Shermantine frequently told relatives and acquaintances that he had "made people disappear" around

4773-400: The 1990s include increased incarceration in the United States , the end of the crack epidemic in the United States , and decreased lead exposure in early childhood. Some commonly found characteristics of serial killers include the following: There are exceptions to these criteria, however. For example, Harold Shipman was a successful professional (a General Practitioner working for

4884-523: The Armtrout count. Herzog was given a 78-year sentence. An appeals court overturned all of Herzog's convictions in August 2004, ruling that three of Herzog's four confessions were coerced. In the case of the fourth, that of Vanderheiden, a retrial was ordered. This retrial never took place. Rather, a plea bargain was reached, and Herzog pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and furnishing amphetamine in

4995-792: The California Department of Corrections to parole him to a trailer stationed outside the front gate of the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California in Lassen County in September 2010. Herzog committed suicide in January 2012, hanging himself inside his trailer. He did so shortly after bounty hunter Leonard Padilla informed Herzog that Shermantine was planning to disclose the location of

5106-529: The English term "serial homicide" within the law in 1974, the terms serial murder and serial murderer appear in John Brophy 's book The Meaning of Murder (1966). The Washington, D.C., newspaper Evening Star , in a 1967 review of the book: There is the mass murderer, or what he [Brophy] calls the "serial" killer, who may be actuated by greed, such as insurance, or retention or growth of power, like

5217-733: The English-language credit for coining the term goes to Los Angeles Police Department detective Pierce Brooks, who created the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) system in 1985. The German term and concept were coined by criminologist Ernst Gennat , who described Peter Kürten as a Serienmörder ('serial-murderer') in his article " Die Düsseldorfer Sexualverbrechen " (1930). In his book, Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters (2004), criminal justice historian Peter Vronsky notes that while Ressler might have coined

5328-504: The FBI announced that it had ended the search for victims based on Shermantine's information. Two sites he had indicated had turned up nothing, and "other directions from him were misguided". Shermantine also claimed to know the locations in the Cow Mountain Recreation Area of bodies of victims killed by other death row inmates. Lake County sheriffs were skeptical that any bodies could be successfully recovered in

5439-518: The Hayward Police Department. In December 2020, suspected serial killer David Emery Misch was arrested for Garecht's murder after he was linked to the crimes via fingerprints left on Michaela's scooter at the abduction site. This case was featured on episode 178 of the series American Justice , "Vanished", which first aired September 4, 2002. With the episode's 2002 production date, newer details relating to this case were not

5550-559: The Islamic Calendar), "a strangler from Baghdad was apprehended. He had murdered a number of women and buried them in the house where he was living." The majority of documented serial killers were active in the United States. In one study of serial homicide in South Africa, many patterns were similar to established patterns in the U.S., with some exceptions: no offenders were female, offenders were lower educated than in

5661-536: The Netherlands, and Switzerland all called for abolition entirely. According to Amnesty International , Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran were responsible for most known executions worldwide in 2020. When the United Kingdom had capital punishment , there were generally no 'death rows'. The condemned were however separated from the general prison population in one of two 'condemned cells' located adjacent to

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5772-555: The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department followed up on the lead, but in an interview with the property owner, the owner stated that the wells in question were sealed before the victims disappeared. No further action was taken at that time. More came about in February 2012, based on bounty hunter Padilla's promise to pay Shermantine $ 30,000 for information. A map drawn by Shermantine and additional information given again led authorities to

5883-486: The U.S., and both victims and offenders were predominantly black. In the 15th century, one of the wealthiest men in Europe and a former companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc , Gilles de Rais , was alleged to have sexually assaulted and killed peasant children, mainly boys, whom he had abducted from the surrounding villages and had taken to his castle. It is estimated that his victims numbered between 140 and 800. Similarly,

5994-475: The United States since that time. The decline in serial killers has no known single cause but is attributed to a number of factors. Mike Aamodt , emeritus professor at Radford University in Virginia, attributes the decline in number of serial killings to less frequent use of parole , improved forensic technology , and people behaving more cautiously. Causes for the general reduction in violent crime following

6105-480: The United States between 1800 and 2004 (64 females from a total of 416 known offenders), or that around 15% of U.S. serial killers have been women, with a collective number of victims between 427 and 612. The authors of Lethal Ladies , Amanda L. Farrell, Robert D. Keppel, and Victoria B. Titterington, state that "the Justice Department indicated 36 female serial killers have been active over the course of

6216-517: The United States indicated that sexual activity was one of several motives in 10% of the cases, enjoyment in 11% and control in 14% and that 51% of all U.S. female serial killers murdered at least one woman and 31% murdered at least one child. In other cases, women have been involved as an accomplice with a male serial killer as a part of a serial killing team. A 2015 study published in The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology found that

6327-453: The United States received persistent criticism on its use of capital punishment during a United Nations review of its human rights record. Many allies of the United States urged that the U.S. cease executions. France urged the US halt executions, Germany suggested a federal moratorium on and eventual abolition, Austria called for immediate cessation of executions and then abolition, and Australia,

6438-434: The United States was especially prominent from 1970 to 2000, which has been described as the "golden age of serial murder". The cause of the spike in serial killings has been attributed to urbanization , which put people in close proximity and offered anonymity. The number of active serial killers in the United States peaked in 1989 and has been steadily trending downward since, coinciding with an overall decrease in crime in

6549-478: The United States, prisoners may wait many years before execution can be carried out due to the complex and time-consuming appeals procedures mandated in the jurisdiction. The time between sentencing and execution increased relatively steadily between 1977 and 2010, including a 21% jump between 1989 and 1990 and a similar jump between 2008 and 2009. In 2010, a death row inmate waited an average of 178 months (14 years and 10 months) between sentencing and execution. Nearly

6660-426: The United States. According to a 2016 study, since the year 2000, African Americans accounted for roughly 60% of all serial killers in the United States. Anthony Walsh found that the prevalence of non-white serial killers has typically been drastically underestimated in both professional research literature and the mass media. Black males were over-represented among serial killers by a factor of 2. Walsh argues that

6771-602: The Vanderheiden case and to being an accessory to murder in the Cavanaugh, King, and Howell cases. Accordingly, Herzog's sentence was reduced to 14-years, with credit for six years served. With credit off his sentence for good behavior, Herzog served 11-years in prison and was in a position to be paroled by 2010. Opposition to the inevitability of Herzog's parole was extremely vocal, especially from victims' families. That no California county wanted to take him for parole led

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6882-700: The ability to turn into a werewolf by the Devil. As punishment for his crimes, Stumpp was put on a torture wheel and executed. His head was later severed and put on a pole next to the figure of a wolf to scare other people away from claiming themselves werewolves too. Members of the Thuggee cult in India may have murdered a million people between 1740 and 1840. Thug Behram , a member of the cult, may have murdered as many as 931 victims. In his 1886 book, Psychopathia Sexualis , psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing noted

6993-540: The behavior. While juvenile serial killers are rare, the youngest felon on death row is a juvenile serial killer named Harvey Miguel Robinson who was 17 at the time of his crimes and 18 at the time of his arrest. There is a myth that most serial killers are white males. However, according to the FBI, based on percentages of the U.S. population, white males are not more likely than other races to be serial killers. White males are actually greatly under-represented among serial killers in proportion to their overall numbers in

7104-432: The case of psychological decompensation or overconfidence due to having evaded capture. Organized serial killers often plan their crimes methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing of them in another. They often lure the victims with ploys appealing to their sense of sympathy. Others specifically target prostitutes, who are likely to go voluntarily with a stranger. These killers maintain

7215-399: The categories of the black widow or team killer. Although motivations for female serial killers can include attention seeking, addiction, or the result of psychopathological behavioral factors, female serial killers are commonly categorized as murdering men for material gain, usually being emotionally close to their victims, and generally needing to have a relationship with the victim, hence

7326-448: The child finds a way to develop substantial relationships and fight the label they receive. If a child receives no support from anyone, then they are unlikely to recover from the traumatic event in a positive way. As stated by E. E. Maccoby, "the family has continued to be seen as a major—perhaps the major—arena for socialization". There have been studies looking into the possibility that an abnormality with one's chromosomes could be

7437-426: The child up for deviant behavior in adulthood; the child's environment (either their parents or society) is the dominant factor determining whether or not the child's behavior escalates into homicidal activity. Family, or lack thereof, is the most prominent part of a child's development because it is what the child can identify with on a regular basis. "The serial killer is no different from any other individual who

7548-418: The death row phenomenon emerge in countries under its jurisdiction. A condemn cell, also known as a death row cell, is a designated room within a prison where individuals who have been sentenced to death as a legal punishment are held until their execution. This specialized cell is a temporary holding area specifically designed for individuals awaiting capital punishment. Condemn cells are constructed with

7659-422: The discovery of victims’ remains, including Wheeler and Vanderheiden—with comments from Wheeler's and Vanderheiden's families. In 2022, a Parcast production titled Serial Killers chronicled the murders and lives of both Herzog and Shermantine in an episode titled "Speed Freak Killers". Serial killer Note: Varies by jurisdiction Note: Varies by jurisdiction A serial killer (also called

7770-499: The duo's reputation as methamphetamine users and also knew them as regulars at the Linden Inn bar, which was owned by Kim's father. Kim's 25-year-old sister, Cyndi Vanderheiden of Clements, California , went missing after leaving the Linden Inn with Herzog and Shermantine on November 14, 1998. Investigation into Vanderheiden's disappearance continued into 1999, Shermantine as the prime suspect. In mid-January 1999, Shermantine's car

7881-665: The early 1890s. The case was one of the first involving a serial murderer that gained widespread notoriety and publicity through sensationalized accounts in William Randolph Hearst 's newspapers. However, at the same time of the Holmes case, in France, Joseph Vacher became known as "The French Ripper" after killing and mutilating 11 women and children. He was executed in 1898 after confessing to his crimes. Another notable non-American serial killer is Pedro Lopez ,

7992-640: The elderly". Other studies indicate that since 1975, increasingly strangers are marginally the most preferred victim of female serial killers, or that only 26% of female serial killers kill for material gain only. Sources state that each killer will have her own proclivities, needs and triggers. A review of the published literature on female serial murder stated that "sexual or sadistic motives are believed to be extremely rare in female serial murderers, and psychopathic traits and histories of childhood abuse have been consistently reported in these women." A study by Eric W. Hickey (2010) of 64 female serial killers in

8103-551: The execution chamber. Sentenced inmates were given one appeal. If that appeal was found to involve an important point of law it was taken up to the House of Lords , and if the appeal was successful, at that point the sentence was changed to life imprisonment. The Home Secretary had the power to exercise the Sovereign's royal prerogative of mercy to grant a reprieve on execution and change the sentence to life imprisonment. Essentially

8214-580: The execution of murderer James Virrels had to await the prior double execution of murderers/robbers Joseph Brown and Edward Smith a day earlier, before going ahead on April 26. In some Caribbean countries that still authorize execution, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the ultimate court of appeals. It has upheld appeals by prisoners who have spent several years under sentence of death, stating that it does not desire to see

8325-418: The first step in the process of a dissociative state, which, in the words of Stephen Giannangelo, "allows the serial killer to leave the stream of consciousness for what is, to him, a better place". Criminologist Jose Sanchez reports, "The young criminal you see today is more detached from his victim, more ready to hurt or kill. The lack of empathy for their victims among young criminals is just one symptom of

8436-559: The further investigation. In 2014, the mother of a missing woman filed suit against the SJCSO for mishandling the remains found in the Linden well. In 2015, a retired FBI agent corroborated her claims, alleging that the SJCSO deliberately used a backhoe to dig up remains, mangling them to prevent identification, so that the absence of certain files would not be discovered. In 2018, the Sheriff-elect of San Joaquin County announced that

8547-548: The highway, and Shermantine stopped, grabbed Howell's shotgun, killed him, and stole what little money he had. Additionally, Herzog gave specific details about how Shermantine killed Robin Armtrout, 24, whose nude body was found stabbed nearly a dozen times on the east bank of Potter Creek near Linden. Herzog and Shermantine were arrested by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department and charged with several counts of murder each on March 17, 1999. In 2001,

8658-547: The hospital where she worked, attempted to kill three more, and injured a further six over the course of two months. A 21st-century example is Canadian nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer , who murdered elderly patients in the nursing homes where she worked. William George Davis is another hospital nurse who was sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of four patients. Female serial killers are rare compared to their male counterparts. Sources suggest that female serial killers represented less than one in every six known serial murderers in

8769-577: The information unless Leonard Padilla gave him the $ 33,000 he demanded. "I really want to believe in Leonard, but I have these doubts he'll come through, which is a shame because I've been holding the best for last," Shermantine wrote. The following is a list of their known victims and several other missing people who have been mentioned as possible victims: In August 2012, Shermantine wrote a letter to The Stockton Record after Herzog committed suicide in January 2012, in which he pointed out that Herzog bore

8880-399: The killing acts for days or weeks" while the "methods of murder and types of victims vary". Andrew Cunanan is given as an example of spree killing, while Charles Whitman is mentioned in connection with mass murder, and Jeffrey Dahmer with serial killing. In 2005, the FBI hosted a multi-disciplinary symposium in San Antonio, Texas, which brought together 135 experts on serial murder from

8991-411: The large park so no searches were conducted. Since 2012, several victims' families and elected officials have alleged that the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office (SJCSO) interfered with and deliberately hampered the continued search for additional possible victims of the "Speed Freak Killers." In 2010, Shermantine wrote a letter to California State Senator Cathleen Galgiani revealing the locations of

9102-505: The last century." According to The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology , there is evidence that 16% of all serial killers are women. Michael D. Kelleher and C. L. Kelleher created several categories to describe female serial killers. They used the classifications of black widow , angel of death , sexual predator , revenge , profit or crime , team killer , question of sanity , unexplained , and unsolved . In using these categories, they observed that most women fell into

9213-422: The midst of the wealth of London focused the media's attention on the plight of the urban poor and gained coverage worldwide. Jack the Ripper has also been called the most infamous serial killer of all time, and his legend has spawned hundreds of theories on his real identity and many works of fiction . H. H. Holmes was a serial killer in the United States, responsible for the death of at least nine victims in

9324-835: The misconceptions concerning female criminality. In the article, Perri and Lichtenwald analyze the current research regarding female psychopathy, including case studies of female psychopathic killers featuring Munchausen syndrome by proxy , cesarean section homicide, fraud detection homicide, female kill teams, and a female serial killer. Juvenile serial killers are rare. There are three main categories that juvenile serial killers can fit into: primary, maturing, and secondary killers. There have been studies done to compare and contrast these three groups and to discover similarities and differences between them. Although these types of serial killers are less common, oftentimes adult serial killers may make their debut at an early age and it can be an opportunity for researchers to study what factors brought about

9435-545: The most common motive for female serial killers was for financial gain and almost 40% of them had experienced some sort of mental illness. Peter Vronsky in Female Serial Killers (2007) maintains that female serial killers today often kill for the same reason males do: as a means of expressing rage and control. He suggests that sometimes the theft of the victims' property by the female "black widow" type serial killer appears to be for material gain, but really

9546-508: The motives of any given killer may display considerable overlap among these categories. Visionary serial killers suffer from psychotic breaks with reality, sometimes believing they are another person or are compelled to murder by entities such as the Devil or God. The two most common subgroups are "demon mandated" and "God mandated". Herbert Mullin believed the American casualties in

9657-414: The motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking , financial gain, and attention seeking , and killings may be executed as such . The victims tend to have things in common, such as demographic profile , appearance, gender, or race . As a group, serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders . Most are often not adjudicated as insane under the law. Although a serial killer

9768-406: The number of murders, they need to have been committed at different times, and are usually committed in different places. The lack of a cooling-off period (a significant break between the murders) marks the difference between a spree killer and a serial killer. The category has, however, been found to be of no real value to law enforcement, because of definitional problems relating to the concept of

9879-451: The only European country to use the death penalty. Around 70% of the world's countries have abolished capital punishment. These countries are frequently concerned with their citizens in the United States criminal system. There have even been instances of other countries citing human rights laws against the United States, or refusing to extradite incriminating material, in fear of their citizens being put on death row. On November 9, 2020,

9990-505: The outskirts of Stockton. In a confrontation with one woman he tried to rape in a trailer park, Shermantine allegedly told her after he had pushed her head to the ground: "Listen to the heartbeats of people I've buried here. Listen to the heartbeats of families I've buried here." Shermantine stated there could have been up to 72 victims in a statement he sent to a local Sacramento news station in March 2012. Yet he asserted that he would withhold

10101-408: The pages of The New York Times , one of the major national news publications of the United States, on 233 occasions. By the end of the 1990s, the use of the term had increased to 2,514 instances in the paper. When defining serial killers, researchers generally use "three or more murders" as the baseline, considering it sufficient to provide a pattern without being overly restrictive. Independent of

10212-418: The popular media ignores black serial killers because of a fear of allegations of racism, and that this may enable black serial killers to operate more effectively, as their crimes do not get the same media attention as the crimes of non-black serial killers. The motives of serial killers are generally placed into four categories: visionary , mission-oriented , hedonistic , and power or control ; however,

10323-427: The remains of additional victims. In 2012, Galgiani sponsored the use of taxpayer funds to search for additional victims of the pair and sought to simplify protocol granting incarcerated persons like Shermantine permission to participate in search excursions. Galgiani turned the letter over to law enforcement and later alleged that missing person records related to the "Speed Freak Killers" case had been deleted, hampering

10434-539: The same Linden, California well site that he had mentioned in 2010. More than 1,000 human bone fragments were recovered. The bones were tested by the California Department of Justice for DNA profiling . In March 2012, the FBI 's Evidence Recovery Team was asked to assist with the overall investigation, in part because of how the excavation of the Linden well was handled. The identity of the remains recovered in

10545-561: The snow. After her husband's death, she and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and young women, with one witness attributing to them over 600 victims, though the number for which they were convicted was 80. Elizabeth herself was neither tried nor convicted. In 1610, however, she was imprisoned in the Csejte Castle, where she remained bricked in a set of rooms until her death four years later. A 2010 article by Perri and Lichtenwald addressed some of

10656-492: The speedy process from conviction to execution, re-sentencing or reprieve meant that there were low numbers, (if any) prisoners under sentence of death at any one time and so there was no need for a 'death row'. Assistant executioner Syd Dernley used the term "death row" in his 1990 memoir The Hangman's Tale to refer to the situation at Wandsworth Prison in April 1951 where, as only up to two persons could be hanged at one time,

10767-543: The town of Linden, California , and lived on the same street. Both boys were friends with one another because there were not many other children in their neighbourhood to play with, and it appears that they did not have any other friends throughout high school and into adulthood. Shermantine's father was a successful local contractor and real estate developer who frequently "spoiled" Wesley with gifts and money throughout his life. Shermantine and Herzog were both avid hunters and fishermen who spent much of their childhood exploring

10878-403: The traditional cultural image of the "black widow". The methods that female serial killers use for murder are frequently covert or low-profile, such as murder by poison (the preferred choice for killing). Other methods used by female serial killers include shootings (used by 20%), suffocation (16%), stabbing (11%), and drowning (5%). They commit killings in specific places, such as their home or

10989-610: The trigger for serial killers. Two serial killers, Bobby Joe Long and Richard Speck , came to attention for reported chromosomal abnormalities. Long had an extra X chromosome . Speck was erroneously reported to have an extra Y chromosome ; in fact, his karyotype was performed twice and was normal each time. While attempts have been made to link the XYY karyotype to violence, including serial murder, research has consistently found little or no association between violent criminal behaviour and an extra Y chromosome. Children who do not have

11100-439: The victim threshold from three to two victims given that serial murderers from these groups share similar pathologies. Historical criminologists suggest that there have been serial killers throughout history. Some sources suggest that legends such as werewolves and vampires were inspired by medieval serial killers. In Africa, there have been periodic outbreaks of murder by leopard men . Liu Pengli of China, nephew of

11211-676: The well was announced to the public on March 30, 2012. They were those of two Stockton, California teens missing since the mid-1980s: Kimberly Ann Billy, 19, and Joann Hobson, 16. The remains of an additional victim and an unidentified fetus were found in the well. Two separate burial sites in Calaveras County, California were investigated in February 2012 based on a letter Shermantine wrote to Padilla that detailed possible locations of victims. Shermantine indicated sites near property formerly owned by Shermantine's parents. Bodies from these two sites were recovered, an unidentified body and Vanderheiden. No additional remains were discovered. Shermantine

11322-409: The well, some of which were believed to potentially belong to Garecht. However, DNA profiling completed later that year excluded Garecht as a possibility; the bones believed to have been hers were determined to be those of 19-year-old Kimberly Billy, who had disappeared in 1984. In January 2013, further excavations of abandoned wells in the area were completed, but yielded no further remains. In 2015,

11433-535: Was accused of severely raping or sodomizing five different women, including a babysitter who claimed she was attacked when she went to get money he owed her. Shermantine's sister disclosed that she had been also sexually assaulted by the two. One woman claimed that after rear-ending her car, he held her hostage with a knife when she pulled over to exchange insurance information. She leaped out of his moving vehicle and made it to safety. Shermantine's ex-wife also spoke of how he had abused her severely for years, even while she

11544-465: Was briefly released from death row into police custody in September 2012 to lead authorities to four additional abandoned wells where he stated more victim remains would be found, all near the town of Linden, done because Padilla had paid Shermantine an additional $ 28,000. In early January 2013, the FBI began excavating a well site, which they hoped would yield more victims' remains. Shermantine declined to speak further to authorities. On February 22, 2013,

11655-427: Was collected and suspects were identified and traced. Police surgeon Thomas Bond assembled one of the earliest character profiles of the offender . The Ripper murders also marked an important watershed in the treatment of crime by journalists. While not the first serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper's case was the first to create a worldwide media frenzy. The dramatic murders of financially destitute women in

11766-419: Was convicted of Cermak's murder and sentenced to death. Due to Florida law, an inmate could not be housed in a cell with an inmate who was awaiting execution so a prisoner awaiting execution was to be held in a separate waiting cell. Raiford Prison , where Zangara was being held, already had one prisoner waiting in their "death cell" so the waiting area was expanded to a row of cells, becoming a "Death Row". In

11877-553: Was made during last-ditch efforts to appeal his death sentence. In the 1970s and 1980s, FBI profilers instigated a simple division of serial killers into "organized" and "disorganized"; that is, those who plan their crimes, and those who act on impulse. The FBI's Crime Classification Manual now places serial killers into three categories: organized , disorganized , and mixed (i.e., offenders who exhibit organized and disorganized characteristics). Some killers descend from organized to disorganized as their killings continue, as in

11988-399: Was not until the 29th year of his reign that the son of one of his victims finally sent a report to the emperor. Eventually, it was discovered that he had murdered at least 100 people. The officials of the court requested that Liu Pengli be executed; however, the emperor could not bear to have his own nephew killed, so Liu Pengli was made a commoner and banished. In the 9th century (year 257 of

12099-552: Was pregnant and held their kids in her lap. Shermantine was sentenced to death and is on death row at San Quentin State Prison . Herzog was charged with five counts of murder in 1999: those of Vanderheiden, Howell, Cavanaugh, Armtrout and King. In his 2001 trial, a jury found him guilty on three murder counts (Vanderheiden, Cavanaugh, and King), the lesser charge of accessory to murder in the Howell count, and acquitted him on

12210-476: Was repossessed and subsequently searched by the San Joaquin Sheriff's Department. Cyndi Vanderheiden's blood was discovered in the car, and while DNA test results were being confirmed, the sheriff's department focused on Herzog, Shermantine's friend and suspected accomplice who was extensively questioned. Herzog ultimately divulged incriminating details such as describing how Shermantine had shot

12321-446: Was the most influential factor that contributed to their homicidal activity. Almost all of the serial killers in the study had experienced some sort of environmental problems during their childhood, such as a broken home caused by divorce, or a lack of a parental figure to discipline the child. Nearly half of the serial killers had experienced some type of physical or sexual abuse, and more of them had experienced emotional neglect. When

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