The Serial Killer Files

There are many myths about serial killers: that they are all dysfunctional loners; all white males; only motivated by sex; that they all travel and operate across a wide area; cannot stop killing; are all insane, or evil geniuses; and that they all want to get caught.

Of course, there are some serial killers who fit into these categories, but the married Green River Killer was not a dysfunctional loner; there are plenty of female and non-Caucasian serial killers; Dr Harold Shipman was certainly not motivated by sex; many serial killings (such as the Ipswich prostitute murders carried out by Steve Wright) happen within a confined area; the ''BTK Killer'', Dennis Rader, stopped killing in 1991, but wasn''t caught until fourteen years later. Many serial killers may have a low animal cunning, or be ''street smart'', but few of them are Mensa-level geniuses.

Each of the thirty cases covered here is unusual in some respect, perhaps in the way in which the killer carried o