There are many cultural connotations the term serial killer invokes. Most often, these ideas include the images of psychopaths or mad men in masks, but that …show more content…
This series of prostitute killings took place in the 1888, at the East End of London and quickly drew the attention of the newspaper. Five known women were the victims of these killings: Mary Ann Nichole, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. There are also approximately 13 alleged victims that are most likely the work of the Ripper, but do not have enough evidence to prove it (“Casebook: Jack the Ripper”). The majority of the victims were brutally mutilated. Victim Catherine Eddowes was found in a maliciously violated state, “The intestines had been pulled out and placed over the right shoulder, and a piece of the intestines about two feet long had been completely detached and placed between the body and the left arm,” (Begg 177). The gruesome details of the murders are the reason they got noticed. Articles and pictures of the violent deaths were devoured by the Londoners. Soon the whole world was looking into the heart of lower class London, watching intently for the Ripper to make his next …show more content…
The Jack the Ripper killings have pulled the idea of serial killers into the lime light. Since the late 1800s, there has been a continued interest in the minds of the disturbed. Why they do what they do, what are their motivations, and more importantly, when will they strike next; these questions were on many minds as the media continued to report more unfortunate news. Today, the Behavioral Science Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have done extensive studies on the behaviors of serial killers and what led them to those behaviors ("Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit."). In a study, the unit has concluded that serial killers “program themselves in childhood to become murderers through a progressively intensive loop of fantasy,” (Bonn 87). Fantasy in this context is “an elaborate mental fixation” that is enforced when the children daydream (Bonn 87). As they continue to daydream, the dreams get more and more concentrated. By the time they have matured, in theory, the mind is to the point of