The Perfect Serial Killer

Serial killers make use of ingenious ways to select, torture, kill, and conceal their victims. As it is, history is awash with stories regarding famous serial killers such as John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy among others who made headlines concerning their torture strategies. However, these killers did not always succeed in their quest as at times they ended up leaving loose ends, which eventually helped the police to catch up with them. In essence, these serial killers lacked and still lack the one factor that makes one a perfect serial killer who will go on a killing spree and yet evade the law enforcers dragnet. Nonetheless, it is possible to come up with that perfect serial killer who avoids the common pitfalls, which the other serial killers have missed. This serial killer can cover up his tracks so well that he puts off the law enforcers from his trail. Moreover, the serial killer is careful not to attract attention by being discreet, inconsistent, unpredictable and ahead of the law enforcement units. As it is no one is born a serial killer, but it takes much effort and learning to perfect the art of being one and leaving behind an unmatched legacy as in the case of John Spencer, the perfect serial killer.

Personal Factors of the Killer’s Background

As established, no one is born a serial killer, but a person develops killer instincts as he or she grows up. In essence, various factors are at interplay while it comes to determining whether a person will become a serial factor or not. As it is, the main factors, which determine the probability of a person becoming a serial killer, are social and psychological. When it comes to social and psychological factors, a person upbringing and interactions with the society play a major role in shaping a person to become a serial killer. An individual who has had a difficult upbringing where there is hostility may encounter skewed growth pattern, which may come in the way of interacting with others. For example, an individual may develop resentment toward his father or mother due to what he witnessed growing up and end up transferring the resentment to similar individuals. In the case of John, he targets pregnant women simply because his mother put him under so much pressure every time she got pregnant which was once in two years. Being the firstborn of his five siblings, John would be forced to take care of his siblings. The increased responsibility meant that John had limited time to play with his childhood friends. John was at one point forced to stay at home for almost a year, as his mother who worked at casual jobs required his help in taking care of his siblings. Sadly, his friends taunted him, and they referred to him as ‘small nanny' something that made him sad and dejected. Every time his mother became pregnant, John became more dejected as he knew that his life would continually become hard. However, he tried so hard to maintain his cool, yet he was emotionally disturbed. He could not understand why his mother ended up becoming pregnant yet she was unmarried. At one point, John hated children and pregnant women, and he would not bother to play with young children in his neighborhood. In essence, John had come to resent young children as he saw them as the cause of his misery. Nonetheless, John managed to proceed with his education to become a renowned businessman in his community where he got involved in numerous charity organizations to help street children.

Current Aspects of the John Spencer’s Life

Serial killers have certain aspects, which define them. According to Piel (2015), a serial killer’s aspects refer to those traits and characteristics which a killer has. These traits are usually pointers to the kind of a person the killer is and what kind of murders he is likely to commit. John Spencer is a renowned businessperson who owns numerous transport companies. He has hired almost 10,000 employees who work in contractual terms. Moreover, John is keen on setting up small business enterprises to help single mothers who struggle to raise their children him being a product of a single parent family. In essence, John has created a cooperative society which issues business loans to these women who pay back with a minimal interest so that they can be independent. Furthermore, John is involved in philanthropic endeavors where he has initiated several charity organizations, which help children from poor families to access education. John is a strong believer in giving children proper education so that they can transform their community. When it comes to marriage and family life, John is divorced with two adult children. Rumors have that John divorced his wife after his wife insisted on getting more children, which John did not support. John felt that two children were enough considering that he considers himself a father to all the children he supports. His wife could hear none of this and decided to walk out of the marriage rather than have her dreams of having a large family cut short. She later remarried and had two more children to the dislike of John who feels that it is not a prerequisite to a happy life. John still supports his siblings and has in fact hired three of them who hold senior positions in his company. Sadly, John’s mother died four years ago as she was giving birth to her seventh child something that rekindled John’s resentment. He could not understand why his mother still insisted on having children at that age. Following the death of his mother, John assumed the role of tending to the needs of his siblings making him an outstanding citizen. John Spencer has constantly been on the wrong side of the law mainly because of his business ventures. It is believed that his current success is not genuine and he is under investigation. The police feel that he has occasionally flaunted importation policies by importing contraband vehicles and auto spares, which have not been cleared at the customs. However, John Spencer is a very influential person, and he has point men in almost every state and federal official. These connections make it hard to investigate John as these point men are always one step ahead of the investigators. These kind of people are at the forefront of perpetuating corruption since they derail the fight against this vice by corroborating evidence. Moreover, John is a quiet man who leads a solitary life when he is not working. His children confess that he spends most of his time in his study where one will find him reading and studying on end. This peculiar studying habit has denied his children ample time with their father as they only get to see him in the morning during breakfast. According to the children, John became absorbed in this studying habit right after the divorce, and they think that it is a way of fighting off the loneliness.

FBI Classification and Holmes Typology of the Killer

John Spencer appears friendly and amiable person and can pass for an angel. However, unbeknownst to many, John is a serial killer who targets pregnant women. In the last fourteen years, the FBI has struggled to put a face to the numerous murders of pregnant women in various states across America. The murders of the pregnant women are consistent with a serial killer since they seem planned, coordinated, and carried out by an individual who is keen on passing a particular message to the authorities (Messori, 2016). The FBI has classified the serial killer as a transitory serial killer since it is usually hard to associate these crimes to a single perpetrator. Moreover, a transitory killer is seen to be making conscious efforts aimed at making the authorities guessing as he changes his modus operandi depending on the victim (Aken, 2015). As it is, John Spencer has killed 17 pregnant women across ten states in fourteen years. John Spencer can be classified as a serial killer who makes use of deductive approaches in his killing. The reason for this is the fact that one can establish that the reason for killing pregnant women is the fact that he hates young children or pregnant mothers. In essence, the serial killer relies on his socio-psychological factors to motivate him to kill the women. Moreover, the FBI feels that this serial killer is very organized as he carefully conceals the bodies of the women. Furthermore, upon investigation, it was realized that the killer carefully removed the fetuses after killing the women and the fetuses were never found. Such an organization in committing these crimes points to a serial killer who is intelligent and leading an orderly life. Additionally, the FBI has typified the serial killer as someone who is socially competent and who is likely to work in skilled employment considering his preciseness in committing the murders (Baber, 2014). His choice of victims is done at random considering that the murders are far apart which derails the investigating officers. As it is the law enforcement officers cannot predict who the next victim will be which makes John remain elusive. This then means that he will continue to murder the pregnant women for as long as he remains organized.

Targets

Serial killers tend to target a certain category of victims depending on their motives or drive to kill. According to Bartol and Bartol (2012), serial killers do not just kill anyone but have a particular pattern which guides their selection of victims. As it is, a serial killer can be viewed as an individual who relies on several factors before deciding to kill certain victims. In essence, some serial killers target women, males, children, teenagers among other categories depending on the motives. Moreover, serial killers may rely on racial and ethnic factors before deciding on the kind of victims they will kill to make a statement (Dogra et al., 2012). John Spencer targets pregnant Caucasian women and unborn children across the United States. So far, John has killed 17 pregnant women in 10 states in the last fourteen years. Consequently, John accomplishes his killings by marking his targets and following them until they get into a secluded place. Once there John approaches them by pretending that he is a concerned citizen who works with an organization related to maternal health. The women who buy into his lies end up dead as this is Spencer’s ways of luring the unsuspecting pregnant women. The reason for targeting pregnant women is the fact that he felt that pregnancy tends to steal way the love of the mother for the older children. In essence, mothers tend to show more love and attention to the younger children while ignoring, the older children. Sadly, the older children are forced to mature very fast so that they can help take care of the younger children. Spencer has taken it upon himself to become the ambassador of older children who feel threatened by the fact that their mothers are expectant. By cutting short the lives of the unborn children and their mothers, Spencer feels that he can liberate the older children from untold suffering. Spencer has an untold hatred for babies in spite of him having two children of his own. As it is, Spencer does not care for his children as a normal father would do but only pretend to love them for the sake of his business ventures. If given a chance, Spencer would have killed them as he considers them a threat to humanity and unnecessary beings. This belief explains why he opted for a divorce when his wife pointed to the fact that he wanted more children. Spencer was not ready to witness his child-life replay itself all over again as it would trigger some disturbing memories which made him mad and lonely.  The women that Spencer has killed so far belong to the child-bearing age and are aged between 21 and 40 years. Police reports indicate that these women had two or three children prior to their death and thus left behind children without mothers. Moreover, police profile revealed that the women that the serial killer targeted were in their third trimester. Thus they were nearing their time of delivery. From such profiling, it is true to say that Spencer targets women whose bellies have already shown and he cannot stand to see such women give birth. In one case, the serial killer is believed to have killed a woman who had already gone into labor by pretending to be an ambulance driver who had been sent to fetch her. The body of the woman was found two months later buried in a cemetery in an unmarked grave without the fetus. On close investigation, the law enforcement officers made a connection between these bodies with other two that had been found in the neighboring state. The other bodies too had missing fetuses, and on a closer look, it was determined that the other women were right in their third trimester.

Method of Killing

Serial killers make use of several methods of killing such as strangulation, torture, suffocation, stabbing, burying their victims alive, and burning among others. According to Edelstein (2016), these are crude methods which in turn give the serial killers immense pleasure especially when their victims beg for mercy. Moreover, these methods of killing emasculate the killers as they feel that they can control their victims and thus satisfy their egos. Spencer, who is transitory serial killers, is highly unpredictable as he makes use of several methods of killing (Allely et al., 2014). Spencer uses strangulation, suffocation, and stabbing killing methods. Of the 17 victims, Spencer suffocated seven, strangled six, and stabbed four. However, Spencer has a signature method when it comes to removing the fetus. From the investigations, it was noted that he severed the fetus from limb to limb, as the investigators found small bits of fetus baby parts alongside the mother’s bodies.  While Spencer uses these crude methods to kill his victims, it is evident that Spencer first tortures his victims to conduct rigorous exercises, which are torturous to pregnant women. In one case, the investigating officers noted that the victim might have been subjected to lift heavy weights as evidenced by heavy breathing and sweating. In another instance, the investigating officers found a lump of soil in the victims' abdomen, which indicated that she might have been forced to swallow the soil before being killed. Moreover, Spencer must use a sharp object to slit open the bellies to remove the fetus. Once, the fetuses are removed, Spencer sews up the bellies of the victims possibly to fulfill a childhood ambition to become a physician. One would think that Spencer is readying himself to give his victims a decent sendoff to reduce his guilt. Overall, Spencer is not predictable as he can time use more than one method to kill his victims, which point to a struggle between him and the victims. Nonetheless, it is easy to presume that such brute force is uncalled for considering that his victims are helpless and present little or no resistance.

Post-mortem Behaviors

Serial killers often indulge in postmortem behaviors, which are aimed at finalizing their murders or leaving their signature at the crime scene. According to Miller (2014), post-mortem behaviors can be repetitive to signal a certain serial killer’s practice and design. Additionally, serial killers may inscribe their signature either on the crime scene or on the victim’s body to tell the world that the particular murder is theirs. This signaling compares to an autograph, which is signed by artists to their adoring fans (Lubaszka, Shon, and Hinch, 2014). John Spencer, just like other serial killers has his signature postmortem behaviors, which have helped the police make a connection between the 17 murders. For starters, Spencer always places a bit of fetus’ body part near its mother. Spencer does this by binding the body part to the mother's torso. Some of the body parts that have been found include tongues, thumbs, and ears. One would think that Spencer is trying to ensure that the children and their mothers remain bonded forever. Spencer does not stop at tying pieces of fetuses to their mothers’ torsos but goes ahead to perform other rituals on the victims’ bodies. One of the most outstanding on the ritual is where Spencer inscribes the word ‘I got you’ on the victims head probably to reveal his deep-seated resentment towards pregnant women. Moreover, Spencer goes ahead to shave off his victim's hair which perhaps he keeps as a token to remind him of his accomplishment like many other serial killers (Haynes, 2017). So far, the law enforcement officers have uncovered 15 bodies, which are hairless pointing to the fact that they are victims of one killer. Spencer as if driven by guilt, usually sews back his victims after removing the fetuses before burying them in muslin bags a few meters from the crime scene. Spencer usually buries the bodies in secluded spots, which are usually in thickets, bushes, and forests. In this way, he usually has ample time to perform his post-mortem behaviors without risking arrest. After burying his victims, Spencer usually takes a bath to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to him considering is standing in the society. In conclusion, John Spencer has perfected the art of killing pregnant women and getting away with it since he is an amiable and likable person in his community. Spencer, who is renowned businessperson comes to his community as a person who cares about young children as he is involved in charity work. Moreover, he offers over 10,000 people employed in his various companies spread across the US. As such, no one can link him to being a serial killer who targets pregnant women and their unborn fetuses. In essence, Spencer is careful not to draw any unnecessary attention unto him by concealing his murderous thoughts from everyone else. In as much as he hates children, he is able to resist the urge to commit crimes in his hometown. Instead, he travels to other states in the name of overseeing his business ventures. Once there, he lures unsuspecting women who become his victims of choice. The law enforcement officers have tried to seize him in vain, as he is an organized transitory serial killer who knows to cover his tracks so that no evidence leads the police to him. As it is, it is likely that Spencer will remain elusive as long as he maintains his amiable and friendly character to those around him.

References

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