Serial killers: Dexter, Chikatilo and Dyer

The Sleuth

Jamie binged the entire show "Dexter" since we last recorded and was excited to talk about serial killers.

We start off by talking about who is not a serial killer. Often time mass murderers are mistaken for serial killers. The FBI defines mass murder as murdering four or more people during an even with no "cooling off period" between the murders. They typically happen at a single location where one or more people kill several people. An example would be a school shooter.

There is also a spree murder. Usually defined as killings that take place at two or more locations with almost no break between the murders.

What is a serial killer? A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people usually in service of abnormal, psychological gratification with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them.

What makes someone a serial killer? Short answer: we don't know, but there are some tools that people use to identify serial killers. Some have been disproved, but others remain useful tools to this day.

We discussed the lead crime hypothesis: the hypothesis is the proposed link between elevated blood lead levels in children and increased rates of crime, delinquency, and recidivism later in life. Check out the article by Kevin Drum "Lead: America's real criminal element."

We unpack the real-life stories and details of actual serials. Andrei Chikatilo's story is shared by Jamie. He was from Ukraine. His upbringing was rough.

And Candice unpacks the story of Amelia Dyer the notorious baby farmer and serial killer.