

When serial killers operate as a pair, one member ordinarily assumes the dominant role while the other member assumes the submissive role. Most serial killers work alone, although in 10% to 37% of cases serial killers work in pairs. The research that has been conducted on serial murder has been largely descriptive in nature. Whereas the victims of single-incident murder are often family members, friends, and acquaintances, the victims of serial murder are nearly always strangers. There are also single-serial differences in the victim-perpetrator relationship.

According to recent estimates, females are more likely to be victimized by a serial killer than males, a pattern that runs counter to what has traditionally been observed in single-incident homicide, where male victims predominate. Some serial killers prefer male victims, others prefer female victims, and still others have no gender preference. Young adults are the most common targets of serial murder, but victims could be anywhere from their early childhood to late adulthood. The victims of serial murder are just as likely to differ from the victims of single-incident homicide as the perpetrators of serial murder differ from the perpetrators of single-incident homicide.
MISSION ORIENTED SERIAL KILLER EXAMPLES SERIES
Single-incident murders are normally committed by individuals in their early to mid-20s, while the initial murder in a series is normally committed by an individual in his or her late 20s to early 30s.

In the United States, as many Blacks as Whites commit single-incident murder the ratio of White to Black serial killers, on the other hand, is 5:1, which is roughly comparable with each group’s representation in the general population. Although rare, female serial killers do exist and are more likely to work in pairs than male serial killers. The ratio of male to female criminals, including those who commit single-incident homicides, is 9:1 the ratio of males to females who commit serial murder is somewhere in the neighborhood of 19:1. An even greater percentage of men engage in serial murder. Men are responsible for the vast majority of crimes committed worldwide.
MISSION ORIENTED SERIAL KILLER EXAMPLES PROFESSIONAL
Finally, to differentiate serial killers from professional hit men, political terrorists, and military combatants, most definitions of serial murder omit individuals who kill exclusively for financial, political, or military gain. In contrast, in serial murder, there is a cooling off period of several days, weeks, months, or years. Whereas mass murderers have multiple victims in a single episode and spree killers have multiple victims in several separate but related episodes, in neither case is there an emotional cooling off period between murders. The time element in serial murder is designed to distinguish serial killers from mass murderers and spree killers. The minimum number of victims listed in various definitions of serial murder proposed in recent years range from 2 to 10, with a modal value of 3. Most murderers have only one victim serial killers, by definition, have multiple victims. Serial murder is defined by three key elements: number, time, and motivation. This entry reviews the definition of serial killing, demographics of serial murder, results of research on serial killers and their motivations, and typologies that have been used to classify serial killers. Thus, our current level of knowledge on serial murder is, at best, sketchy, and this knowledge may not stand up to more rigorous empirical testing. However, current knowledge on serial killers is based almost exclusively on a small number of case studies and a handful of moderately sized archival investigations. Many of these accounts leave the impression that serial killers are distinct from other types of criminals and from the public at large. Books, newspapers, television shows, and movies recount the destructive paths of those who kill repeatedly. People are fascinated by violent crime, and serial murder may be the most fascinating crime of all.
