Final Draft

. The final draft must be 10-12 pages with at least 10 sources cited within the text and a complete Works Cited Page.

. Consistent facility with In-text Citations and formatting of resources according to the chosen style

. Consistent facility with English grammar, syntax, vocabulary, punctuation and spelling

. WC/REF page layout, citations accuracy.

. In-text citations accuracy in accordance with the WC/REF page, clearly defined boundaries through signal phrasing, parenthetic citations.

. Balance of source material and commentary.

. Clarity of the paper and its thesis.

. Development of paper, thorough consideration of the topic and potential opposing views. 

Topic: Are killers born or made?

Pogo the clown was a well-loved entertainer for children’s birthday parties and other children-oriented events. Behind the face paint is a middle-aged man named John Wayne Gacy. He would soon be known for being the one of the most gruesome serial killers in American history. His story sparked the very question, are killers born or made? After taking a deep dive into his past, I found myself discovering the origins to his behavioral patterns. Gacy grew up in an extremely hostile environment where his father was an abusive alcoholic, and his mother was an enabler. While he had a great relationship with his mother, Gacy was his father’s scapegoat. His father would reiterate that he hated Gacy for not being manly and would often call him derogatory slurs alluding to him being gay (Soo, 7:40). This would unknowingly be the origin of his toxic stance and outlet for his sexuality. When he was in his early teens Gacy was molested by his father’s friend the friend’s truck. In fear of being beaten, as he often does, he decided to suppress this traumatic experience and move on (Soo, 9:26). As Gacy grows up he becomes quite successful and even becomes a leading member in an organization called J.C. In this time, Gacy’s first identifiable victim was Donald Vorhees. A fifteen-year-old boy that was coerced into performing oral sex on Gacy after being intoxicated by him (Soo, 27:33). Gacy was given a 17-day psychiatric evaluation after Donald Vorhees was beat up and threatened. Gacy was diagnosed with Anti-Social Personality Disorder which showed behavior that was impulsive and lacked moral codes (Soo, 36:32). In my research I plan to uncover the ins and outs of a famous killers’ crimes and prove my thesis of the conditioning/origins of killer tendencies. As I briefly did with John Wayne Gacy, I plan to explore the upbringings and patterns in other well-known killers throughout history. As I draw connections between Richard Ramirez, Aileen Wuornos, Ted Bundy, and Robert Thompson & John Venables I will answer the thought-provoking question, are killers made rather than born?

On April 10th !994, a nine-year-old girl was brutally murdered and raped by an unknown person in the basement of a San Francisco hotel. The killer would later be known as the “Night Stalker”. Behind this label was a young man named Richard Ramirez. In Ramirez’s youth he suffered from not one but two head injuries that would later result in seizures (Sarian, 3:44). He was extremely uncomfortable around his father seeing as though he was abusive towards him, his siblings, and his mother so Richard would do anything to be away from home (Cipriano,10). In an interview with Richard at the time of his prosecution, it was found that Richard would find better comfort sleeping in a local cemetery in comparison to his abusive home (Cipriano, 11). At the age of 10, Richard would escape his abusive home and surround himself with his much older cousin Miguel. Miguel was Richard’s first introduction to the glorification of violence seeing as though Miguel served in the Vietnam war previously. Miguel would tell Richard stories and fill his brain with topics and details he was too young for. Miguel would tell Richard about the rapes and killings he performed on his time at war. He showed him graphic images of women with severed heads and influenced Richard heavily (Sarian, 5:57). Richard’s haven was with Miguel, so he never knew that the information he was being given was harmful to his thought process. To add fuel to the fire, Miguel would teach Richard tactics and ways to kill and capture people. On May 4, 1973, Richard was at Miguel’s house when he was in the presence of a heated argument between Miguel and his wife. Miguel ends up shooting her in the face and Richard witnesses the whole thing (Sarian, 6:42). Richard ends up moving in with his sister and her husband Roberto. Roberto would bring Richard with him on his nightly ritual where he looks through people’s windows. They would do this often and look in the windows of neighbors and attractive women changing (Sarian, 7:58). The effect of his dysfunctional childhood begins to play out when he attempts to rape a woman at the Holiday Inn. No charges were pressed, and he gets away with it. He moves to LA where he begins a killing spree on many innocent victims. One specific occasion is on June 28th, 1984, when Richard stabbed a 79-year-old woman in her sleep (Sarian, 10:19) Most of his murders consist of killing women and stabbing them at night when they’re the most vulnerable. I’ve noticed that Richard tends to stab or shoot his victims in the facial area and his cousin, who he idolized so much did the same thing to his wife. I found it interesting that he mimicked him to a tea and that he was the one person in the world he felt good around. As far as his psychological issues, he experienced many traumatic events early on and was even prone to seizures as he was severely hit in the head at a young age.

“Americas First Female Serial Killer” was her title. While she was the epitome of a cold-blooded killer that showed no signs of remorse her awful upbringing is undeniable. Her name is Aileen Wuornos. She had a younger brother and was born to very young parents. Her father was constantly in jail or mental hospitals. He wasn’t apart of her nor her brother’s life because he did multiple sex crimes on young children including the attempted murder and rape of a 7-year-old (Sarian, 5:13). Her father killed himself in prison and her mother abandons them very early on. Aileen’s mother takes her and her brother to their grandparents and never returns (Sarian, 6:01). Her grandparents adopt her and unfortunately her already devastating life becomes more damaging. At the early age of 11, Aileen begins to do sexual acts in exchange for drugs and food. It was at this time too where Aileen and her older brother would do sexual things (Sarian, 6:28). Her grandfather was one of the many evil people in Aileen’s story that contributed to her trauma. He would sexually abuse Aileen while also inviting his friends to sexually abuse her as well. Aileen then gets pregnant by one of her grandfather’s friends at the age of 14 which she gives up for adoption. It was at this time where Aileen’s grandmother passed, and her grandfather kicked her and her brother out. Aileen was forced to work as a sex worker at the age of 15 to survive (Sarian, 6:28). Aileen’s violent tendencies began to truly spark when she married a 69-year-old man in Florida. She assaulted her husband and he put a restraining order on her (Sarian, 10:10). She then meets a woman by the name of Tyra Moore at a gay bar in January 1986. The fall deeply in love and Tyra becomes Aileen’s partner in crime. She aided Aileen when she was robbing stores by testifying against anyone and was exposed to future murderers (Sarian, 13:43). In the year of 1989, Aileen murdered seven men in the span of one year. Her first victim was a convicted rapist and wanted sexual favors from Aileen (Sarian, 16:24). This becomes a pattern in her murders where she kills only men and those that wanted her for sex. After more gruesome murders Aileen is caught at a bar called “The Last Resort” and was given the death penalty. She showed no remorse and admitted that she would do it all over again. A pattern I noticed when researching Aileen is her target. As a child she was unable to fight back from these rapists and she is killing these men to take some of her power back. She also is a Lesbian and clearly dislikes the male gender and that could also have somethings to do with her upbringing seeing as she was abused by men her whole adolescence. Her need to kill stems from the trauma she endured and resulted in her becoming a blood hungry angry individual.

While its obvious that not everyone that has come from an abusive household is bound to become a killer, we can’t deny the disproportionate rate of killers that do come from those households. Some might bring up Ted Bundy who was arguably one of the most well known and gruesome serial killers ever. He described his earlier years as “uneventful” and was even described to have a normal upbringing (Kettler, 1) While this may be true, Bundy was given life changing news when he was growing up which may have led to his future actions. He was told that his sister was actually his mother all along and that his mother was his grandmother. While this may be miniscule compared to the other backgrounds of serial killers it could have still drove him to be distant with hid family and feel untrusting of those around him. Another argument is that if killers are not born with evil intentions why do child killers exist. A notable case that explores the psyche and motives of two ten-year-old boys in Liverpool England. This case follows the two young boys who tortured and killed a toddler named James Bugler. Both Jon and Robert were also the product of broken homes. Robert grew up in a big family where both of his parents weren’t present. His dad abandoned them, and his mother was an alcoholic that dealt with mental health issues like depression (Margaritoff, 7). Venables’ parents separated and his mother was known to be ill to Jon. His father stuck around but the rumors regarding his mother’s love/relationship life (Margaritoff, 8). These two boys bonded over their broken homes and were dabbling in troublemaking. This obviously took an extreme jump when they planned the kidnapping and mutilation of a two-year-old boy. Again, it’s naïve to assume that every child that has trauma will inevitably become a killer because that’s just not the case. The take here is that there is more of a risk that might occur seeing as though anti-social behaviors and childhood trauma is linked to criminal activity later in one’s life (Guy, 4).

During research there were several connections between these killers that I wanted to touch on. One of the similarities that was prevalent in so many of the cases I researched was a head injury or seizures. For example, Richard Ramirez was hit twice in the head at an early fundamental developing stage of his life. John Wayne Gacy suffered from seizures. Other killers like Randy Kraft, Edmund Kemper, and Ed Gein all suffered from some sort of head injury (Sarian, 4:40). Not only is severe striking to the head damaging but it can also cause many disorders regarding decision making or moral codes. Having a head injury can halt a person’s ability to think rationally but can also change their whole perception of life and ethical thinking. Another connection I found interesting was the connection of odd idolization present in both Ramirez’s and Gacy’s life. Ramirez look up to his cousin Miguel and would even mimic him when he would shoot his victims in the face. Although Miguel wasn’t a good person, he was someone Richard could be himself around without fearing for his life. John Wayne Gacy’s father would physically and verbally abuse him, but it’s said that he was over the moon when his father apologized and acknowledged his success. Even though Gacy’s father would call him homophobic names and accuse him of being homosexual, Gacy still idolized him and wanted to make him proud. Finally, another connection I found interesting was the concept of sexuality and how it played into these killer’s lives. Aileen Wuornos was taken advantage of and abused by men her entire life and could only love and feel loved by a woman. It was said that Aileen was madly in love with her girlfriend Tyra, and they were inseparable (Sarian, 13:43). John Wayne Gacy was accused of being homosexual by his father and would only feel sexually satisfied by boys. He felt as if it was taboo and only admitted to being bisexual later. These connections were an insight into how killer’s go about their criminal activity, the unintentional inspiration, and physical injuries that play into the urge to kill.

This research is in no way shape or form condoning or making excuses for the horrible acts committed by these people. Instead, it’s an insight to the lives and possible reasoning for the killers’ actions. By reaching the backstories of John Wayne Gacy, Aileen Wuornos, Richard Ramirez, Ted Bundy, Jon Venables, and Richard Thompson I can look past the case and draw connections of my own. While there still may be some horrible people with great childhoods, everyone’s actions are merely just a reflection of their environment, physical wellness, or traumatic experiences. Not one person in this world was born evil and are merely just affected by the unfortunate circumstances of life that make them that way.

Sources:

Arrigo, Bruce A., and Ayanna Griffin. “Serial Murder and the Case of Aileen Wuornos: Attachment Theory, Psychopathy, and Predatory Aggression.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 15 June 2004, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bsl.583.

Berlinger, Joe. “Watch Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes: Netflix Official Site.” Watch Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes | Netflix Official Site, 24 Jan. 2019, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80226552?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C1%2C928e7a1419db92ab9b67b89475efcae17049f281%3A441067672255203d7789f07651e573a8427043e3%2C928e7a1419db92ab9b67b89475efcae17049f281%3A441067672255203d7789f07651e573a8427043e3%2Cunknown%2C%2C%2C.

Chen, Ray. “Episode 80: The 10 Year Old Killers (Case of James Bulger).” Rotten Mango, Rotten Mango, 14 July 2021, https://www.rottenmangopodcast.com/episodes/d7axln364xnx98j-jwmjj-34ygn-cw5tg-rtezr-nwk87-tfd4x-9jwk7-76a9h-xr7kj-asd9g-n7hlh.

Clay, Rebecca A. “Listening to Killers.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, Feb. 2016, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/02/killers.

Davies, Nicola. “From Abused Child to Serial Killer: Investigating Nature vs Nurture in Methods of Murder.” Psychiatry Advisor, 28 Jan. 2019, https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/violence-and-aggression/from-abused-child-to-serial-killer-investigating-nature-vs-nurture-in-methods-of-murder/.

Dorwart, Laura. “Manson, Wuornos, Ramirez: 3 Famous Killers with Exceptionally Screwed-up Childhoods.” A&E, 5 Oct. 2021, https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/manson-wuornos-ramirez-3-serial-killers-with-exceptionally-screwed-up-childhoods.

Firestone, Lisa. “The Making of a Murderer | Psychology Today.” Psychologytoday, 9 Apr. 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/compassion-matters/201504/the-making-murderer.

Guy, Fiona. “Serial Killers and Childhood Abuse: Is There a Link?” Crime Traveller, 2 July 2021, https://www.crimetraveller.org/2015/07/serial-killers-childhood-abuse/.

Kettler, Sara. “Inside Ted Bundy’s Troubled and Disturbing Childhood.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 14 July 2020, https://www.biography.com/news/ted-bundy-childhood.

Margaritoff, Marco. “Meet the 10-Year-Old Killers Who Abducted, Tortured, and Murdered a Toddler.” All That’s Interesting, All That’s Interesting, 14 Dec. 2021, https://allthatsinteresting.com/robert-thompson-and-jon-venables.

Sarian, Bailey. “A True Monster or Victim? Aileen Wuornos – YouTube.” Youtube, 13 Apr. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTsxY0mRIGs.

Sarian, Bailey. “The Night Stalker : Richard Ramirez – YouTube.” The Night Stalker: Richard Ramirez | Mystery & Makeup GRWM | Bailey Sarian, 13 Jan. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZkXDuKto_Y.

Solomon, Ed. “Watch Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer: Netflix Official Site.” Watch Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer | Netflix Official Site, 13 Jan. 2021, https://www.netflix.com/title/81025701.

Soo, Stephanie. “#6- The Killer Clown – Serial Killer (Case of John Wayne Gacy).” Spotify, Stephanie Soo & Ramble, 15 July 2020, https://open.spotify.com/episode/6rKxkVsIr0SPzG9LQkDXLd.

Wang, Jack. “Scientists Studied the Brains of More than 800 Prisoners. Here’s What They Found.” University of Chicago News, 23 July 2019, https://news.uchicago.edu/story/scientists-studied-brains-more-800-prisoners-heres-what-they-found.