How do you catch a serial killer?

Answer 1

Every killer is different and requires different techniques in order to catch them. For the killers that fall into the disorganied catagory, they usually make mistakes, leave traces of evidence and quite often have short careers as serial killers.

On the other hand, organized killers can be very difficult to apprehend. Typically they will have a higher IQ than those that fall into the disorganized group. They are big on planning the crimes, make far less mistakes, leave almost no evidence that can lead police back to them, and can continue to kill for decades without apprehension. Ted Bundy is the perfect example of the organized killer. Intelligent, college educated, handsome and charming, Bundy had little trouble finding pretty young co-eds with which to carry out his deviant behaviour. It took years for police to finally catch up to Bundy and then recapture him twice as he escaped from local jail cells and holding rooms. Bundy finally began to mentally come apart toward the end of his murdering career which resulted in his being arrested for the final time in Florida. This type of 'unravelling' mentally is not uncommon for this type of killer. This is where Bundy made mistakes and left a trail of evidence that led directly to him. This is how many organized killers are caught. Their crimes escalate as they begin to have a mental 'meltdown'. Bundy's last crimes were committed while he was in a murderous frenzy.

It has become harder in recent times for serial killers, even the organized type, to get away with murder. Improvements in forensics, computer hard and software, information-sharing with such programs as the FBI's VICAP and criminal and DNA profiling have made great strides in the fight against serial murder.