Motivation and emotion/Book/2021/Serial killer couples
What motivates serial killer couples and why do some stay together while others turn on each other?
Overview edit
Minimising crime and attempting to understand those who do horrible things to innocent people is essential in improving humanity. While this may not be a day-to-day issue that everyone can relate to, there are still families who have to go about their lives without their loved ones due to serial killing couples who most often use the woman to pretend to give them some false sense of safety to lure in (most of the time) young women/children (Jenkins (1990) as cited in Miller (2014); Hodgkinson, Prins & Stuart-Bennett (2017)).
When thinking about and trying to understand serial killers, we generally think of Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dhamer, John Wayne Gacy or the like, the "stereotypical" serial killer who acts alone and mostly attempts to hide their killings. There is limited research on the phenomena of serial killer couples, even though Hickey (2010) stated that around 1 in 4 serial killers have one or more partners. This chapter provides case studies of some of the worst, infamous, remorseless couples who took multiple, innocent lives, such as Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka (or the Ken and Barbie Killers), Ian Brady & Myra Hindley (or the Moors Murders), and Fred & Rosemary West and lay out their motivation.
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Focus questions:
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Serial killer couples edit
A serial killer is someone who has killed three or more individuals. Serial murders occur when the same person (or people) murder several victims (three or more) but separated in time, unlike mass or spree murder (Gavin, 2019). While there can be many different types of pairs or groups that kill together (i.e. Henry Lee Lucas & Ottis Toole or The Hillside Stranglers, who were cousins), this chapter focus two people who are in a relationship, which in this case, is most often a male and a female couple. There is a pull towards wanting to understand how someone could do such horrendous acts, and for a good reason. Understanding these people (and in this case, couples), can help us to see signs sooner or be able to catch these criminals sooner.
If we can understand what motivate these individuals, we can try and improve our rehabilitation programs to change the way they think. We can also see any warning signs, while homicide rates have dropped during 2020, domestic abuse rates increased. Out of a 15,000 person survey in Australia which was reported in July 2020, wanting to determine the increases in domestic abuse due to Covid-19 (whether that be because of spending more time together at home or increased stress and drinking) showed that almost 700 women had "reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by a current or former cohabiting partner in the three months prior to the survey. This increased to 8.8 percent when the sample was limited to women who had been in a cohabiting relationship in the previous 12 months" (AIC, 2020) Stopping this cycle can help stop those children who grow up in these homes from being subject to witnessing and even being part of this abuse (it is common for criminals to have a difficult or abusive childhood) which can improve their upbringing.
Understanding the theory edit
Jenkins (1990) as cited in Miller (2014) identified four different types of serial killer couples or groups. Dominant-submissive pairs often include one partner (usually the male in a male-female pair) who is the dominant one while the woman generally lures in the victims and may or may not take part in the murder or abuse but does it mostly for the dominant partner. The submissive partner then most commonly claims that they were forced to do these things, particularly if faced with serious legal charges and consequences (Jenkins, 1990 as cited in Miller, 2014). There is the equally dominant pairs who both enjoy and willingly commit the crimes, often taking and keeping photographs, videos or victim's personal belongings as "trophies" as reminders to "enhance their sexual activity". This pair is the most common amongst the case studies in this chapter, then once the couple has been caught, the woman generally claims to be a submissive counterpart to avoid facing serious sentences and charges. The other two types of pairs include extended family pairs or group and organised or ceremonial social groups which is often religious cults however these are not a focus when looking at serial killer couples.
Dominant-submissive pairs were also briefly explored by Hodgkinson, Prins and Stuart-Bennett (2017), who also added that society often sees women as a victim of a dominant partner or more passive as it is hard to see women in that way when they are stereotypically nurturing and caring or incapable of committing such torture. This is supported by Harrison, Hughes & Gott (2019) who found that "male serial killers more frequently act as 'hunters,' stalking and killing targeted strangers in dispersed areas, while female serial killers more frequently are 'gatherers,' killing those who are around them and familiar to them and gaining profit from their crimes". The woman is often used to lure in the victim, giving them the sense of false security and comfort. In the case of three of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley's murders, Hindley would ask the child or teenager to come to the Moors and help her look for a very sentimental, expensive glove, then they would "take them home" afterwards, which obviously, they did not.
While it seems that there are few cases where two individuals find each other and decide to become serial murderers, Hickey (2010) surveyed 431 offenders and found that 27% had at least one partner when killing, and female offenders participated in 17 of the 49 cases.
Lombroso (as cited in Hickey, 2010), who is often referred to as the "father of criminology", believed that criminals who were biologically predispositioned (or "born criminals"), were cold, remorseless, had no close friends and would most likely sell out their accomplices, however this has not yet been proven to be significant or valuable in understanding criminal behaviour. Hickey (2010) stated that female killers with accomplices used violent means to kill, which can pose the questions, would these women have killed if they hadn't found these partners who has the same "interests" or would they have simply looked for another partner or even commit the homicides alone? Pearson (1995) as cited in Hickey (2010) argued that female killers have "the best of both worlds" when in a serial killer couple, as they are able to gain power during the crimes while also satisfying her fantasies (which often include sexual fantasies), then following the homicide(s), they will go back to being a submissive compliant partner, even if they participate equally and willingly. It is interesting to note that the FBI Behavioural Science Unit only had one category for female perpetrators until 2004, which was "compliant victim" as they believed the female helping commit these homicides and torture had to have been due to compliance, fear or stupidity, not from their own accord which is still a common misconception and stereotype (Hickey, 2010).
Hickey (2010) explains that the need to have power and control over other people is a primary reason for serial murder and for some "murder must be simultaneously a participation and a spectator endeavour". The pathology of these relationships can be explained as symbiotic, as each offender helps to contribute to the other's power (Hickey, 2010). It seems that it is more common in the United States than in other countries for killers to be part of a team or have a partner, however paired killers appear to kill twice as many victims in other countries, however larger studies should be considered to further this limited research (Hickey, 2010).
Childhood edit
Childhood abuse is reported by a lot of murderers/serial killers, but it's important to note that not everyone with an abusive background grows up and tortures strangers. However, as suggested by Gavin (2019) "some may view stories of horrific abuse as a way to mitigate their crimes and gain sympathy".
As will be evident below, many of these partners started with an abusive childhood and some were born into already problematic families. Although arguably, some of these killers grow up as happy children with no apparent trauma or broken home. The Macdonald Triad is widely known in the literature of understanding serial killers and Zuniga's 2020 study does suggest that serial killers who were abused are more likely to display Macdonald Triad symptoms (enuresis (bedwetting), fire setting, and animal cruelty). It was also shown that out of the three elements, animal cruelty was the most frequently reported and is associated with child abuse in families (Zuniga, 2020).
Case studies edit
There a many brutal examples of serial killer couples who viciously took the lives of innocent people (mostly young children or teenagers). So, what motivated them? Hickey (2010) found that paired killers most likely have a motive of sexual nature which is evident in the case studies below as all contain sexual assault. It can be seen that the sexual assaults "appeared to be methods of gaining control over victims" (Hickey, 2010). According the Ramsland (2014, as cited in Leonard, 2014), serial killer couples either "felt a strong romantic attraction or quickly established an intimate familiarity that allowed them to broach the subject of violent fantasies".
Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka edit
Paul Bernardo (born 1964) was the product of an affair between his mother who was married and a past boyfriend, although her husband was put on the birth certificate (Flowers, 2012). The husband was abusive towards his wife and kids and sexually molested his own daughter, although Paul would seem like a happy, smiling, polite kid. By university, he developed dark fantasies and enjoyed humiliating women in public and physically abusing those who dated. He became known as the "Scarborough Rapist" after raping at least 3 women mid 1987, two months before meeting 17 year old Karla at age 23. Karla Homolka (born 1970) was the eldest of 3 daughters and her childhood seemed normal as she began working at a vet after graduating high school. Once dating, Bernardo asked Homolka what she would think about him being a rapist and she approved, encouraging him to continue which he did, assaulting at least 12 teenagers and young women. They both went on to brutally sexually assault, torture and murder (in addition to video taping most of it) at least three teenage girls, one of which was Homolka's 15 year old sister which they convinced police was an accident. As the trial started, in 1995, Bernardo admitted to raping and torturing the victims but insisted Homolka murdered them.
Ian Brady & Myra Hindley edit
Ian Brady (born 1938) was adopted by a married couple as his unwed birth mother was unable to support him. He developed a liking for torturing animals in his childhood which progressed onto harming youths, burglary and threatening a girlfriend with a knife in his teenage years (Flowers, 2012). Myra Hindley (1942) had an abusive, alcoholic, military father who encouraged her to punch a boy at 8 years old or he would "leather" her, so she did and she enjoyed it, calling it her "first victory" (Flowers, 2012). At 18, in 1961, she met Brady who was 22, as they began working with each other and she became obsessed with him, despite his criminal record, in one of her diaries suggesting it was due to the criminality (Flowers, 2012). They started dating and would drink wine, watch pornography and read about Nazi acts of violence. 1963 would be the first time Brady spoke up about committing a "perfect murder" and a few months later they took the life of 16 year old Pauline Reade after convincing her to help them "find" an expensive glove at Saddleworth Moors (see Figure 1). They went onto kill another 4 children between 10 and 17 years old with another two of those victims being buried at the Moors with Pauline. Brady and Hindley remained devoted to each other for the first 6 years they spent in seperate prisons, consistently writing letters to each other until Hindley told him to stop, as she had began getting close with the female prisoners (which later turned into relationships) as he had "ruined" her life (Davis, 2005). After being described as a psychopath in an article in the Guardian, in December 1995 she wrote back to them (see quote on the right).
| “ | I was wicked and evil, without me those crimes could probably not have been committed. It was I who was instrumental in procuring children, children who would have more readily accompany strangers if they were a woman and a man than they would a man on their own. |
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While interviewers (including Davis) and inmates believed Hindley had grown before she died in 2002, Brady was consistently violent and went on to be diagnosed as a psychopath (Davis, 2005). Brady wrote in his 2001 book that serial killers "chose to spend one day as a lion rather than decades as sheep", he saw murder as the "supreme pleasure" and that people should "do exactly as they wish regardless of who they hurt" which his father would tell him (Davis, 2005).
Fred & Rosemary West edit
Fred West (born 1941) was the second of six children, supposedly the product of incest by both parents (Flowers, 2012). He dropped out of school at 15, fractured his skull from a motorbike accident at 17 and at 19 he fell of a fire escape and hit his head, staying unconscious for 24 hours. Also at age 19, he was charged with molesting a 13 year old girl, although he was not sentenced. At 26, a woman 8 months pregnant with his child disappeared, it is believed that he murdered them both, after already having two children with his ex-wife her left the children to live with him (unbeknownst to her about his violent tendencies). A year later he met 15 year old Rosemary. Rosemary Letts (born 1953) was the fifth child to a severely depressed mother and schizophrenic father, she went on to struggle through school and soon her parents split up with her first living with her mother before moving in with her father who was violent and sexually abusive (Flowers, 2012). A year after meeting, Rosemary moved in with West at a caravan park and shortly after, she fell pregnant. Only two months after giving birth, West went to jail for theft for 6 months in which Rosemary was left with the children to subject them to physical abuse and eventually murder one of West's daughters from his previous marriage, Charmaine (Flowers, 2012). When her mother came to pick her up once Fred was released, her murdered her. They married when Rosemary was 19 and both went on to kidnap, torture, sexually assault and murder at least 11 females, however it is believed by many that they could be accountable for more than 30 deaths. When incarcerated and waiting for the trial in 1994, Fred begged his son to persuade Rose to write to him but she was persistent that the marriage was over and he was "wrong in the head" (Davis, 2005). He committed suicide before the trial, writing Rose a letter which said "All I have is my life. I will give it to you, my darling", she was emotionless when given the news of his suicide (Davis, 2005). At trial she said she was "completely dominated" by Fred and refused to confess to anything, but she was found guilty of 10 counts of murder (Flowers, 2012).
For better or for worse? edit
These couples come together and decide to pick the path of committing multiple homicides together, and once caught, generally (and as seen in the above case studies), they generally turn on each other. Interestingly but not surprisingly, once caught the most narcissistic individual out of the two would save themselves and allow the other person to fall, we can see this in thee case of Karla Homolka who turned on Paul Bernardo and tried to argue that she was abused and manipulated into doing this (she was abused but certainly not manipulated). The investigators made a plea deal with her which is often known as the "deal with the devil" as they found hidden tapes incriminating Homolka just as much as Bernardo, but it was too late even though they would have never needed her to give them information. Similarly to Homolka, Rosemary West argued that she was overpowered by Fred and not a willing accomplice, although her abuse towards Fred's children (even while he was not around) and her own obviously proved otherwise. However, it was slightly different with Brady and Hindly, after 6 years in prison and staying with Brady, Hindley told him to stop writing to her as she worked to try and put that part of her life behind her while serving her sentence.
Quiz edit
Conclusion edit
There is a myriad of factors that drive someone to kill another human being, there are also many reasons why serial killer couples develop and work together. Overall, it is still an underdeveloped research area and there should be further research into this topic as there are limited empirical articles. With around 1 in 4 serial killers having a partner or accomplice in their crimes, understanding what motivates these individuals can help us catch them early or even help prevent them from developing by intervening in childhood (Hickey, 2010).
When comparing these killers, they share the similarities of multiple homicides and sexual abusive for gratification, they "gain" something vital to themselves when they develop this "killing bond" (Leonard, 2014). While we have a fair understanding of the general serial killer couple, with one partner being submissive and the other being dominant, we do not have extensive enough research into the bond that the individuals develop and how this quickly turns around to protect themselves once caught (Leonardo, 2014).
As a final note, it will probably take plenty more years of extensive research to continue to try and understand these disturbing couples but it is important that it continues to be explored, as so many children are subject to traumatic childhoods, whether in the case of these killers' childhoods or these killer's children, and this needs to change. It should also be acknowledged that this chapter can definitely be expanded and include a deeper dive into the limited theory.
See also edit
- Serial killing motivation (Book chapter, 2015)
- Female killer motivation (Book chapter, 2019)
- Criminal recidivism prevention motivation (Book chapter, 2019)
- Moors Murders (Wikipedia)
- Karla Homolka (Wikipedia)
- Fred West (Wikipedia)
References edit
Davis, C. A. (2005). Couples Who Kill. Allison & Busby. https://www.scribd.com/read/353199421/Couples-Who-Kill#
Flowers, B. (2012). Serial Killer Couples: Bonded by Sexual Depravity, Abduction, and Murder. Smashwords. https://www.scribd.com/read/193706400/Serial-Killer-Couples-Bonded-by-Sexual-Depravity-Abduction-and-Murder#
Gavin, H. (2019). Criminological & Forensic Psychology (2nd ed.). Sage.
Harrison, M. A., Hughes, S. M., & Gott, A. J. (2019). Sex difference in serial killers. Evolutionary Behaviour Sciences, 13(4), 295-310. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/10.1037/ebs0000157
Hickey, E. W. (2010). Serial Murderers and Their Victims (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. https://www.counselindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Eric_W._Hickey_Serial_Murderers_and_their_VictimBookZZ.org_-2.pdf
Hodgkinson, S., Prins, H., & Stuart-Bennett, J. (2017). Monsters, madmen… and myths: A critical review of the serial killing literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 34, 282-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.11.006
Leonard, G. S. (2014). An exploratory study of paired serial killers: Pairing, motive, and criminalistic behavior [Masters Thesis, The University of Houston Clear Lake]. ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1532167633/fulltextPDF/981C4FB249EA450APQ/1?accountid=28889
Miller, L. (2014). Serial killers: I. Subtypes, patterns, and motives. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2013.11.002
Zuniga, V. A. (2021). A Descriptive Study of Serial Killers and the Presence of Macdonald Triad Symptoms [Masters Thesis, Grand Valley State University]. ScholarWorks. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/theses/1013/?utm_source=scholarworks.gvsu.edu%2Ftheses%2F1013&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
External links edit
- Exploring the mind of a killer (YouTube)
- Serial Killer Couple | The Lovers Who Killed Children (Full Documentary) (YouTube)
- Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo Serial Killers Documentary (YouTube)
- Murderous Minds: Fred & Rose West | Serial Killer Documentary (YouTube)
- ‘An almost biblical notion of evil’ – why Ian Brady haunts the British psyche (The Guardian)