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Thanks in no small part to the billion dollar movie industries in different parts of the world that release tonnes of serial-killer-themed movies on a yearly basis and writers and authors who publish thousands of novels and story books that portray the lives of fictional serial killers; we have become accustomed to the phrase “serial killers”. A common idiom says that “familiarity breeds contempt”; this idiom is largely true and it is fact reflected in the way we associate criminals with the phrase “serial killers”. It is not uncommon to see a toddler or perhaps, even a teenager who has spent hours watching a movie series centered around the life of a serial killer begin to associate just about every criminal activity he hears on the news with serial killing. Consequently, statements like “Dad, I heard the FBI finally apprehended the man who fatally shot aunt Serena at the park… the man must be a serial killer.” The reasons for this apparent common misinterpretation of serial killing or perhaps more appropriately, serial killer is not exactly farfetched. Just as there seems to be a form of chaos regarding the use of the phrase “serial killer”, there also seem to be a form of “disorderliness” regarding the origin of serial killer; even though it must be said that there appears to be a consensus in the case of the latter, especially of recent. It is widely believed that the phrase was first used in an English Language book titled The Complete Detective; the book written by Richard Hughes was published in 1950. However, recent research credits the first use of the phrase albeit in German to Ernst August Ferdinand Gennat, the Director of the Berlin Criminal Police, around 20 years before The Complete Detective was published (1931 to be precise). In the new age however, FBI Special Agent, Robert Ressler, who was one of the founding members of the Bureau's elite Behavioral Science Unit receives a larger chunk of the recognition for inventing the phrase “serial killer”. According to Robert Ressler, he fell in love with the phrase when the FBI where attempting to solve the case of the notorious serial killer “Son of Sam” (who coincidentally we are going to look at) in the 1970s. Before we begin to explore the lives of Son of Sam and other infamous serial killers this country has ever had I think it's only fair that we fully comprehend what makes an indivual a serial killer. Just like other knock-on themes surrounding serial killer(s), the definition of what constitutes of a serial killer still generates debate even up until today. The main area of the definition of serial killer which springs up debate is the number of murder victims a serial killer should have. While the FBI puts it as a series of two or more murders committed by an individual other experts like psychologists and related professionals are of the opinion that the murder victims of serial killer should be a minimum of three. Despite this difference in the number of murder victims of a serial killer, the consensus is that uncharacteristic psychological satisfaction, financial rewards, physical and sexual delight, and aberrant search for ecstasy are often times the deciding factor in the heinous behavior of serial killers. Another critical part of serial killing is that the murder events must have taken place at different times; this break between events is often called the “cooling off period”. Despite the apparent disparity in the “numerical victim-composition” of a serial killer, one thing is certain: they largely murder people at unprecedented rate and nobody wants to be friends with a serial killer, well, except he or she is also a serial killer or a related criminal.
