Power Seeker Killers

            Power seeker serial killers have the ability to manipulate the behavior of other people to make it more in accordance to their own. They feel they have ultimate power over their victims.

            In Texas at the time of 1950, a pediatric nurse would claim the lives of at least 50 people, 16 of which were infants. Her name was Genene Jones. Her method of killing her victims was done by lethal injections. Her victims were mostly young children who were admitted to the hospital. Jones felt she was very important due to the fact that she was a primary medical caretaker for the hospital. Like her, most offenders who are power seekers gain some sort of psychological satisfaction as they feel they are being praised by the patients and their families. Genene Jones received 99 years for these crimes.

            In Georgia in 1955, a woman by the name of Martha Ann Johnson killed her own 4 children. By the time Johnson was 22 years old she had already been married 3 times. She had 4 children in this time and she killed everyone one of them one at a time. She confessed to killing 3 of the children. She would suffocate her children as they slept by rolling over on them. The motive that she gives was that every time her and her husband would get into an argument, she would kill a child. She was later executed for these crimes.

            Born in 1963, Christine Falling pled guilty to 3 murders by the year 1982. Most thought she was mentally challenged and she had a history of animal abuse. She was also on medication to treat her epilepsy. Her mother however, believes that her mental problems came from a blow to the head by a club when she was an adolescent. Falling was married the first time when she was 14. This was a short lived marriage. She eventually became a babysitter and then confessed to killing 3 children in her care. Falling was convicted and sent to prison where she is serving 3 life sentences.

Serial Murder, Ronald M. Holmes, Steven T. Holmes, http://books.google.com

Gain Killers

            Gain killers kill for the simple reason of financial or materialistic gain. In some cases, it isn’t the main motive, but most serial killers do steal from their victims for their own personal gain. It is more common that these types of serial killers are female.

            In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was a woman who would treat Barcelona residents for TB or syphilis. Her name was Enriqueta Marti. Also known as “The Vampire of Barcelona” and she was a gain serial killer. One of her other activities included prostituting young children. She would lure them into her house. Once she was done prostituting them, she would use their rendered fat, skin, muscles, bones and hair in her medicines that she sold to the people for a high price. In March of 1912, 2 young girls were able to escape from her home. They witnessed Marti killing a young boy and reported it to the police. When her property was searched, police found body parts, jars of blood, fat, and recipe books written in her handwriting. It was very specific to her ingredients she used for her medicine she sold. Marti was killed in prison by her own cellmates before her trial. Her body count was at least 12.

            In Victorian England, there were areas called baby farms. If a woman could not raise her child she gave them to the baby farmer to raise their child. In the late 1800s, Amelia Dyer a.k.a. “The Baby Farmer” placed ads that women answered to. She was a married woman in her 50s who had a Christian husband in the Thames Valley region. No one saw her husband due to them being separated. Dyer would promise to raise the babies that were left in her care. As soon as she returned to her flat however, she strangle the infant, place them in a bag, and then continue to throw them into the Thames. On March 30, 1896 a bargemen spotted a package on the river. When opened, he discovered the body of a small infant girl. On a piece of paper the police were able to make out a faint address. The police set up a sting operation to try and catch Dyer in the act. When Dyer opened up the door, the police were waiting for her. 12 dead infants were found in the river, many matching the same demise with the string around their necks. Dyer’s house was also full of baby items. Many women eventually came out stating they left their babies with her. On June 10, 1896, Dyer was sentenced to death by hanging at the Newgate Gallows. Although 12 bodies were found, it is believed she had killed up to as many as 50.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20217

http://www.angelfire.com/md/gina/page15.html

Thrill Seeker Killers

           Thrill seeking serial killers are usually fearless. They feel that punishment will not work due to them being impulsive and fearless of what may happen to them. Among the list of thrill seekers, Ted Bundy stands out.

            He was born Theodore Bundy on November 24^th, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont in a home for unwed mothers. His father still remains unknown. It is believed that his first victim was an 8 years old girl named Ann Marie Burr. Bundy was only fourteen or fifteen at the time. His earliest confirmed murder was in 1974 at the age of 27. He snuck into a bedroom of an 18 year student at the University of Washington. There he beat her with a metal rod while she slept. She was found the next morning in a coma with the object rammed deep into her vagina. She survived but had permanent brain damage. Bundy was arrested on August 16, 1975 in Salt Lake City for failure to stop for a police officer. Evidence was found in his car to suspect him of burglary. He was eventually convicted of multiple murders, which he decided to defend himself on in court.  On January 24^th, 1989 at age 42, Ted Bundy was executed by electricity. His last words were “I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.” He was pronounced dead at 7:16 a.m.

            A recent case of thrill seekers are two men by the names of Samuel Dietman and Dale Hausner who both carried out a shooting spree that killed two people and wounded multiple others. Both men described what they did as random recreational violence. They also compared themselves to the D.C. Snipers. Dietman, 31 is facing 2 murder counts and many other counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault. Hausner, 34 is accused of seven murder counts and other criminal counts. Both of these men pleaded not guilty. They would drive the streets of Phoenix, and randomly shoot at people from the window of Hausner’s car. Both men eventually were charged with 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 14 counts of aggravated assault and 16 counts of drive-by shooting. Hausner was acquitted for 2 murders. He accused Dietman of using his guns and car without his knowledge. On April 4, 2008, Dietman plead guilty to the counts of first-degree murder. This was a plea bargain for him to testify against Hausner. Hausner was eventually found guilty for 6 of the 8 murders on March 13^th, 2009. On March 27^th, 2009 Hausner was sentenced to 6 death penalties. Dietman however was sentenced to only one life sentence.

http://www.mysterycrimescene.com/ted-bundy.html

http://www.skcentral.com/news.php?readmore=2396

http://www.mahalo.com/date-hausner/