A Descriptive Study of Serial Killers and the Presence of Macdonald Triad Symptoms
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Grand Valley State University ScholarWorks@GVSU Masters Theses Graduate Research and Creative Practice 4-2021 A Descriptive Study of Serial Killers and the Presence of Macdonald Triad Symptoms Vivian A. Zuniga Grand Valley State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/theses Part of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons ScholarWorks Citation Zuniga, Vivian A., "A Descriptive Study of Serial Killers and the Presence of Macdonald Triad Symptoms" (2021). Masters Theses. 1013. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/theses/1013 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research and Creative Practice at ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Descriptive Study of Serial Killers and the Presence of Macdonald Triad Symptoms Vivian Alexis Zuniga A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice School of Criminal Justice April 2021 5/12/2021 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an increased likelihood of the presence of Macdonald Triad symptoms (animal cruelty, bedwetting, and firesetting) based on different types of abuse (physical, sexual, or psychological) among serial killers. The sample of this study was of 149 serial killers, all of whom met the requirements of being male and having killed 3 or more victims. The results support the three hypotheses that serial killers who have faced physical, sexual, or psychological abuse were more likely to display Macdonald Triad symptoms compared to those who were not abused. In addition, the study determined whether lust serial killers were more likely to display Macdonald Triad symptoms compared to other types of serial killers and found that lust killers had a greater likelihood of displaying both acts of animal cruelty and bedwetting, but not firesetting. Keywords: Serial killers, Macdonald Triad, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, lust killers 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................................................................6 Definitions and Typologies ..................................................................................................7 Literature Review.............................................................................................................................9 A Focus on the Lust Murderer .............................................................................................9 Demographics of Serial Killers ..........................................................................................13 From Victims of Abuse to Lust Killers..............................................................................14 The Macdonald Triad .........................................................................................................17 Criminal Profiling ..............................................................................................................20 Theories..............................................................................................................................22 Summary of the Literature .................................................................................................25 Methods..........................................................................................................................................27 Data and Sample ................................................................................................................27 Measures ............................................................................................................................27 Hypotheses .........................................................................................................................29 Results ............................................................................................................................................30 Univariate Descriptive Statistics ........................................................................................30 Bivariate Statistical Analyses: Hypothesis Test ................................................................31 Discussion ......................................................................................................................................37 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................41 Illustrative Examples .........................................................................................................42 Limitations .........................................................................................................................47 Policy Implementation .......................................................................................................48 4 Suggestions for Future Research .......................................................................................49 Personal Reflection ............................................................................................................50 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................52 References ......................................................................................................................................53 5 INTRODUCTION The phenomenon of serial murder has generated a great deal of interest from the media and citizens alike. It draws the attention of the people that there can be a person among them that has killed multiple victims and has gotten away with it. People begin to ask, “what type of person could do such a thing?” or “how is it possible that they haven’t gotten caught?” but what they do not realize is that the whys and hows of serial murder are extremely complex. The actions of a serial killer often may seem random, which is what garners attention, but even though these acts of killing seem random to the average person, serial murderers kill using their own twisted logic, even though it may not seem logical or justifiable to us (Warf & Waddell, 2002). Because of this, the idea that serial killers are insane often arises, but in reality, they typically cannot be classified as legally insane, meaning that they are aware of the consequences of their actions, and appreciate that they are morally wrong, even though they may be unimaginably cruel to the average person (Warf & Waddell, 2002). Serial murder is more than just killing, it is the product of deranged individuals displaying their psychological defects. The news media gains attention when they discuss cases of serial murder because they know that there is a fascination with death among people, but they rarely discuss the motives of the serial killer, or the events leading up to their reigns of terror (Hodgkinson et al., 2016; 2017). The purpose of this thesis will be to examine whether or not having been abused makes it more likely that a killer will exhibit Macdonald Triad symptoms. In addition, this project will determine if serial killers who have been sexually abused are more likely to become a specific type of serial killer known as a “lust killer”. Prior to doing the empirical analysis, this thesis will provide an overview of serial murder in general, and the more specific art and science of 6 criminal profiling, which has been widely used in the investigation of, and research about, serial killers. Definitions and Typologies Before reviewing the literature, it is important to establish some basic definitional criteria. Holmes and Holmes (2010) define serial murder as “the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period between the killings,” (p. 5-6). They designed a typology to distinguish different types of serial killers based on their motives and anticipated gains; serial killers will sometimes have ideal victim types whereby they hunt victims based on race, occupation, or even something as simple as their hair color (Holmes & Holmes, 2010). There are four categories of serial killers in this typology: visionary, mission, power/control, and hedonistic (Holmes & Holmes, 2009). Visionary killers are those who are psychotic and end up killing due to some kind of psychotic break. They usually do not have an ideal victim type and it is common that their reasoning does not make sense, except to them (Miller, 2013). As a result, the victims of visionary killers can be chosen at random (Holmes & Holmes, 2010). In contrast, mission oriented serial killers do have an ideal victim type, because they feel that it is their job to rid the world of an “unwanted” group of people: their reasoning can be due to personal opinions, and they may choose their victims because of their race or occupation (Miller, 2013). A common group of people that are targets of mission serial killers are prostitutes (Holmes & Holmes, 2010). Similar to mission-oriented killers, power/control killers also have ideal victim types, but they kill to feel powerful and in control of their victims. Usually, 7 power/control killers target a certain group of people because of the availability of victims, again, prostitutes are frequent targets (Holmes & Holmes,