Talking with Psychopaths: Mass Murderers and Spree Killers


Book Description

Bestselling true-crime author Christopher Berry-Dee's latest book tackles the heavy crime of people who randomly kill large numbers of others (spree killers) and those who set out to do so in specific places or situations (mass killers). As such killings become more frequent, the ready availability and ease of obtaining firearms and weak backgrounds checks in the United States inevitably lends to many of these cases, but there have been other recent examples in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Norway, where extremely robust firearms legislation could not stop these horrific crimes. What is more difficult to establish is the motivation behind such killings. Some are occasioned by grievance, real or imagined, while others have their origins in a sense of failure or feelings of inadequacy, yet others seem to be driven by a desire for power over their fellow humans, often coupled with an overriding contempt for the lives of others. In a search for answers, Christopher Berry-Dee offers case studies in some of the most infamous mass killings of the past fifty years, from school massacres to workplace killings, hate crimes to familicides. But is the awful truth that such murderers are almost impossible to predict and therefore almost impossible to prevent? Dig in and find out.




Mass Murder in the United States


Book Description

Is mass murder a historically new phenomenon that emerged in the 1960s? How has it changed over time? And what causes a person to commit multiple murders in a matter of hours or even minutes? This book explores these questions by examining 909 mass murders that took place in the United States between 1900 and 1999. By far the largest study on the topic to date, it begins with a look at the patterns and prevalence of mass murders by presenting rates from 1900-1999 and by describing the characteristics of mass killers. Placing the phenomenon within the broader social, political, and economic context of the twentieth century, the work examines the factors that have influenced trends in the prevalence of mass murder. It also discusses more than 100 case studies within three distinct periods of mass murder activity (1900-1939, 1940-1965, and 1966-1999) to illustrate more clearly the motives of mass murderers and the circumstances surrounding their crimes. The final chapters take a look at media coverage and the role it has played in the social construction of mass murder. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.




American Mass Murderers


Book Description

American Mass Murderers collects nearly 700 pages of information about the most notorious killers in America, as well as some of the lesser-known murderers.




Mass Killers


Book Description

Can you predict killing sprees? What do mass killers have in common? Why do so many of them write manifestos online and what do these tell us? These are some of the questions David J. Krajicek seeks to answer in Mass Killings, on a topic that is becoming increasing urgent and desperate. In recent decades, mass shootings worldwide have increased in their savagery and frequency. Nearly all mass killers are male - and many of them are bound together by misogyny, misanthropy, and racism. They do not just "snap." They plan their assaults for months or years, drawing up detailed battle plans, and accumulating weaponry. They document the process in journals or videos online, understanding that they are leaving evidence which will help the marquee lights of their futile crimes burn brighter and longer. Krajicek shows the commonalities between mass shooters, and describes the psychopathic process that leads these troubled men to commit atrocities. Mass killers feed off each other's words and deeds, and it's crucial to be able to read the signals they give out to prevent future tragedies.




Extreme Killing


Book Description

Extreme Killing offers you a comprehensive overview of multiple homicide, including both serial and mass murder. Filled with classic and contemporary case studies, this fully updated Fourth Edition reflects a growing concern for specific types of multiple homicides—indiscriminate public massacres, terrorist attacks, hate crimes, and school shootings—as well as largely debated issues such as gun control and mental illness. Renowned experts and authors in the field, James Alan Fox, Jack Levin, and Emma Fridel bring their years of research and experience to create distinctions between serial and mass murders, address characteristics of both killers and their victims, and recognize the special concerns around multiple murder victims and their survivors. You will examine the latest theories of criminal behavior and apply them to mass and serial murderers from around the world, such as the mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, the Grim Sleeper in Los Angeles, the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, the shooting of nine African Americans by a white supremacist in a Charleston church, and more.




Mass Murder


Book Description

When a spate of mass murders occurs, people often get the impression that this is a modern phenomenon and, since most of the mass murders heard about have occurred in America, the popular opinion is to think that it is an American phenomenon. Both impressions are false. Mass murders have been common throughout history, and other countries have played host to them too. This book correlates the many mass murders that have taken place all over the world and attempts to explain to the reader what some of the causes and effects of these murders have on society and culture. Contents: Introduction; A Classic Case: The Man who Hated his Mother; What is Mass Murder?; Running Amok; Running Amok in America; Pseudocommandos; Family Massacres; Murder in the Workplace; The School Children; Terrorists; Criminals who Commit Mass Murder; The Role of Imitation; Madness and Mass Murder; Helping the Survivors; The Mass Murderer in Prison; Conclusions; Appendix A-B; References; Index.




Murder in America


Book Description

This revised and updated edition of Murder in America presents a pragmatic examination of both common and unusual acts of homicide in the United States.




Overkill


Book Description




Flash Point


Book Description

The crime of mass murder is surrounded by myth, false assumptions, and misinformation. It is frequently sensationalized in the press, while the complex motivations of the perpetrator are ignored or soon forgotten. The mass murderer is rarely a crazed killer who lashes out against his victims in a mindless frenzy of violence. This book examines not only the crime of mass murder, but also the complex motivations of the mass murderer, presenting a completely new method of categorizing and analyzing the crime and its perpetrator. The evolving nature of the crime is examined in the context of actual case histories of mass murder in America. Kelleher's insights will be of interest to criminologists and anyone interested in the sociology of crime.




The Serial Killer Files


Book Description

THE DEFINITIVE DOSSIER ON HISTORY’S MOST HEINOUS! Hollywood’s make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can’t hold a candle to real life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon. Rigorously researched and packed with the most terrifying, up-to-date information, this innovative and highly compelling compendium covers every aspect of multiple murderers–from psychology to cinema, fetishism to fan clubs, “trophies” to trading cards. Discover: WHO THEY ARE: Those featured include Ed Gein, the homicidal mama’s boy who inspired fiction’s most famous Psycho, Norman Bates; Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, sex-crazed killer cousins better known as the Hillside Stranglers; and the Beanes, a fifteenth-century cave-dwelling clan with an insatiable appetite for human flesh HOW THEY KILL: They shoot, stab, and strangle. Butcher, bludgeon, and burn. Drown, dismember, and devour . . . and other methods of massacre too many and monstrous to mention here. WHY THEY DO IT: For pleasure and for profit. For celebrity and for “companionship.” For the devil and for dinner. For the thrill of it, for the hell of it, and because “such men are monsters, who live . . . beyond the frontiers of madness.” PLUS: in-depth case studies, classic killers’ nicknames, definitions of every kind of deviance and derangement, and much, much more. For more than one hundred profiles of lethal loners and killer couples, Bluebeards and black widows, cannibals and copycats– this is an indispensable, spine-tingling, eye-popping investigation into the dark hearts and mad minds of that twisted breed of human whose crimes are the most frightening . . . and fascinating.