Understanding to Find: The Classification of Serial Killers

Forty years ago, Andrei Chikatilo began his bloody path, committing 52 proven murders over 12 years. Gennady Mikhasevich strangled women for fourteen years. For twenty-one years, Anatoly Slivko, a pioneer leader, ran his theater of death. The police spent enormous time searching for and capturing these monsters, and it wasn’t just due to internal missteps or the cunning of serial killers. For a long time, authorities simply didn’t know how to catch “serials”—serial killers were rare, almost a “one-off” phenomenon. There was no dedicated science for studying such types in Russia until the 1990s. Alexander Bukhanovsky, who opened a center in Rostov-on-Don for studying serial killers and preventing antisocial behavior, can be called the pioneer of Russian “serial killer studies.”

In the United States, the situation was drastically different. Serial killers were a familiar problem. Of the 200 most notorious and brutal serial killers in the world, three-quarters are American citizens. Every year, about a hundred new killers of this category are registered there. Because of this, a lot of effort and resources were devoted to studying the bloody phenomenon, and the FBI established a national center for the analysis of violent crimes, where behaviorists meticulously study the details of crimes and the “stuffing” inside killers’ heads. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

Understanding to Find

The person who turned the study of serial killers into a science was Robert Ressler, the most famous and successful profiler. Over his career, he solved the crimes of 36 serial killers, carefully studying and classifying them. Among his “victories” are Manson, Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, Berkowitz, and many others. In the 1970s, he identified two main types of serial killers and introduced the concept of serial murder.

Today, the picture has changed somewhat. Unmotivated murders are happening more often, crimes have become more brutal, and serial killers are no longer just an American phenomenon. Nevertheless, when it comes to studying “serials,” the FBI is still ahead of the rest of the world, and their textbooks and manuals are so engaging that you could read them for leisure.

The first thing specialists began to study was how serial killers differ from ordinary murderers. By comparing different murders, the “feds” learned to spot differences in crime scenes. Today, the following types of murders are distinguished in America: single, double, triple, mass, spree, and family murders.

Serial Murders: A Distinct Category

Serial murders stand apart, with a key difference: the “cooling-off” period of the perpetrator. This means that a “Chikatilo” type doesn’t go hunting every day. After satisfying his urge, he goes underground for a while—weeks, months, sometimes years. Then, the euphoria fades, and the hunger drives the killer to seek a new victim.

The Melody of Desire: Motives of Serial Killers

Serial killers are driven by different desires. The motives that push them to kill have also been classified. Based on this, serial killers are divided into four main groups: hedonists, power-seekers, missionaries, and visionaries.

Hedonists

The motives of hedonists align well with the deadly sins:

1. Gluttony. These are killers who murder for food. Like bears who have tasted human flesh, they can’t stop. Pure cannibals are rare; for most, cannibalism is a “feature” accompanying sexual disorders. A vivid example is Fritz Haarmann, the “Vampire of Hanover,” who killed 27 boys and young men between 1918 and 1924, choosing his victims among vagrants at the train station. After strangling his victims, Haarmann bit through their throats and drank their blood. In 1919, he met Hans Grans, who became his lover and accomplice. Grans came up with the idea of selling human flesh as beef to local cafes and restaurants. Sometimes, the pair killed for material gain, such as a piece of clothing. Eventually, one victim resisted, raised the alarm, and reminded the police of the missing vagrants. During a search, the remains of 27 victims were found in Haarmann’s home. Grans was caught while butchering a corpse. On December 19, 1924, Haarmann was sentenced to death by guillotine. He met his fate with a smile, claiming that vampires are immortal. Grans received 12 years in prison.
2. Lust. Sexual pleasure is the most popular motive among serial killers. They achieve orgasm in various ways: the victim may be alive or dead, and sexual acts may be replaced by weapon manipulation. Rape is common but not required. Chikatilo, for example, used a knife instead of his penis due to impotence. Such acts often went hand-in-hand with cannibalism and other perversions. Russian experts divide sexual killers into two categories: attackers and imitators. Attackers want to satisfy their needs as quickly as possible upon seeing a victim (e.g., Eduard Shemyakov). Imitators gain the victim’s trust and are aroused by the game with an unsuspecting person, killing at the most unexpected moment (e.g., Pavel Shuvalov, a senior sergeant in the St. Petersburg subway police).
3. Greed. Sometimes, the motive for serial murder is simple greed. For example, Vladimir Ionessian, known as “Mosgaz,” didn’t make much money from his crimes. Henry Howard Holmes, the first officially registered serial killer in the US, is another example. After making money from insurance fraud, Holmes built a luxurious mansion in Chicago in 1890, equipped it with a gas chamber, and began killing people long before the Third Reich. He dissected the bodies and sold them as teaching aids to local medical schools. No one questioned where he got the skeletons and body parts. Holmes was eventually caught after trying to pass off a murder victim’s body as someone else’s to collect insurance. He confessed to 27 murders and was hanged on May 7, 1896.
4. Wrath. “Destroyers” derive pleasure from watching their victims suffer. These monsters often record their crimes on video. This is the most terrifying type of serial killer. While others try to kill quickly, these killers torture their victims for weeks, enjoying their agony. Their fantasies are so dark and repulsive that they’re not worth describing here. If you’re curious, look them up yourself. Clifford Olson is an example of this type.

Power-Seekers

Unlike hedonists, power-seekers are driven by the desire to dominate. They often commit sexual crimes, but it’s not about lust—it’s about controlling another’s will. Sergey “Fisher” Golovkin, who killed 11 boys over six years, is an example. In September 1992, Golovkin raped and killed three schoolboys at once. “I established the order, telling the children who would die next. I dismembered Sh. in front of E., showing the internal organs and giving anatomical explanations. The boy endured it calmly, sometimes just turning away,” Golovkin later recounted during a crime scene reenactment. The last boy, the calm one, was tortured and raped for 12 hours before being hanged.

Missionaries

Missionaries pursue a higher goal, killing for an ideal. Sergey Ryakhovsky, for example, “fought prostitutes and homosexuals by killing them and then reincarnating them.” He “reincarnated” 19 people; six survived. It took five years to catch this gerontophile-necrophile. He died in prison from tuberculosis seven years ago.

Visionaries

Visionaries are driven to kill by voices, God, or the devil—it varies. Their methods of communicating with higher powers also differ. Some, like Onoprienko, heard voices in their heads; others found intermediaries. For example, with Berkowitz, the devil communicated through a neighbor’s dog.

Thrill-Seekers

Recently, experts have identified another type of serial killer: thrill-seekers. Killing for the sake of killing—or more precisely, for the adrenaline rush—is becoming increasingly popular among North American teenagers. While they are not yet officially classified as a separate type, if the trend continues, “extremists” will get their own chapter in textbooks.

The Mask of Normalcy

For years, serial killers commit their bloody deeds right under their neighbors’ noses. After their arrest, neighbors often say things like, “He was such a nice, well-mannered person,” and employers send positive references. Why does no one recognize them as brutal murderers? It’s all about the mask of normalcy—a phenomenon uncovered by the aforementioned Ressler. But that’s a topic for our next article.