Profile of Female Killers
We hear more about male serial killers in the media because their crimes are much more horrific. They brutally kill their victims and desecrate the bodies. When committing their crimes, mens methods include: firearms mainly (41%), suffocation (37%), stabbing (34%), bludgeoning (26%), firearms only (19%), poison (11%), drowning (3%), and other (2%) . These men usually seek attention for their crimes and do not try to hide them. Often, the crime scenes are manipulated to provide clues for authorities and to entice the media. More often than not, the body count of a male serial killer is higher than that of most women serial killers. Some killers have murdered over three hundred victims. Women, on the other hand, are less visible and use methods such as poisoning in order to be discrete and keep under the radar. This accounts for eighty percent of the methods used to kill their victims. Women can be termed gentle killers; however, their methods are still gruesome, just less graphic in nature . Other methods used by women include: shootings (20%), bludgeoning (16%), suffocation (16%), stabbing (11%), and drowning (5%) .
Criminologists report that female serial killers are more efficient than male serial killers. Murderesses are quiet killers with low visibility – which gives them the opportunity to kill more often.Females are responsible for about 14% of all violent crime, and 28% of property crime. Since 1970, female crimes have risen by 40%, and that trend is consistently increasing.Female serial killers kill more often. Kelleher and Kelleher studied 100 female serial killers, and found that it takes 8 years catch a Black Widow or Angel of Death. This is twice as long as it takes to catch a male serial killer.Female serial killers are twice as likely as male killers to have killed someone close to them, such as a partner or child.
The Motives of Female Serial Killers
-Money (74%)
-Control (13%)
-Enjoyment (11%)
-Sex (10%)
-Drugs, cult involvement, cover up, or feelings of inadequacy (24%)
The Weapons Female Serial Killers Choose
-Poison (80%)
-Shooting (20%)
-Bludgeoning (16%)
-Suffocation (16%)
-Stabbing (11%)
-Drowning (5%)
