Serial Killers

[Slade]

I remember a time when serial killers were big news. Crimes like those of the Boston Strangler, Zodiac, the Hillside Strangler (no "s" until they were caught), the Yorkshire Ripper, the Green River Killer, etc. were followed closely. Then somewhere along the way, such crimes seemed to become commonplace, and focus faded.

A serial killer, to be high profile, must have a moniker. And that moniker must be inspired.

Where would Jack the Ripper be without "Jack the Ripper?" That name, I'm convinced, will never be topped.

To illustrate what I mean, consider this. A number of serial killing have gone on for decades in California without me knowing. Then today, I read about the "Grim Sleeper"...and suddenly, not only do I know about the murders, but that name will instantly come to mind whenever anything connected arises in the future.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/26/gri ... index.html

The Grim Sleeper.

Now that's an inspired moniker.

Slade

[PohlSE]

Grim Sleeper is a heck of a nickname...

If a serial killer was given an unflattering, but just as memorable, one would they still become famous?

Would Danny the Diddler be as well known as Jack the Ripper?

How about Paul the Pork Poker?

Maybe insulting nicknames might lead them to screw up and get caught trying to change the public perception of them...

[Slade]

PohlSE,

Sometimes the name works because it plays against type. Baby Face Nelson...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Face_Nelson

Having an unfortunate tendency to let his temper overcome him, Nelson did not hesitate to kill lawmen and innocent bystanders alike. He was credited with killing more than a dozen law officers, and enjoyed hunting them from a list he kept of their vehicle information.

...was every bit as deadly as Machine Gun Kelly:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Gun_Kelly

I think what's important is that the name works on a subliminal level.

Jack and Jill.

Jack Sprat.

Jack the Giant Killer.

Jack and the Beanstalk.

Jack-in-the-box.

Jack-of-all-trades.

Spring Heeled Jack. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack )

Jack the Ripper.

Slade

P.S. Note the illustration of Spring Heeled Jack from 1890, and compare it to Batman.

[SickThing]

P.S. Note the illustration of Spring Heeled Jack from 1890, and compare it to Batman.

Wow, that's interesting!

[Slade]

How about the Mad Gasser of Mattoon?

I kid you not:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mad_Gasser_of_Mattoon

Slade

[Slade]

Anyone ever heard of the London Monster, 1788 to 1790?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Monster

First reports of the Monster appeared in 1788. According to the victims (most of them from wealthier families), a large man had followed them, shouted obscenities and stabbed them in the buttocks. Some reports claimed an attacker had knives fastened to his knees. Other accounts reported that he would invite prospective victims to smell a fake nosegay and then stab them in the nose with the spike hiding within the flowers.

Slade

[dreab trawets]

Sounds similar to binoculars a certain mixed up individual had.

Wasn't there a film once banned in the 70's that had a photographer had a spring knife hidden in the camera...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Made ... invilliers

The ALLIGATOR MAN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Ball

The Giggling Granny
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nannie_Doss

Servant Girl Annihilator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_Girl_Annihilator

TSUYAMA MASSACRE
A spree killing but wow...
Rural village 1938
Mutsuo Toi, a 21-year-old man, killed 30 people, including his grandmother, with a shotgun, Japanese sword, and axe, and seriously injured three others before killing himself with the shotgun. Worst there was until..

Woo Bum-kon (February 24, 1955 – April 27, 1982) was a Korean police officer who carried out the largest known incident of spree killing in modern history. After the rampage concluded, fifty-eight people (including himself) were dead and thirty-five were wounded in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.

Jack the Stripper
Jack the Stripper was the nickname given to an unknown serial killer responsible for what came to be known as the London "nude murders" between 1964 and 1965 (also known as the "Hammersmith murders" or "Hammersmith nudes" case).

His victimology - and even his nickname - was similar to Jack the Ripper's. He murdered six — possibly eight — prostitutes, whose nude bodies were discovered around London or dumped in the River Thames. The victim count is ambiguous because two of the murders attributed to him did not fit his modus operandi.

[Slade]

The Servant Girl Annihilator!

How can you tell that goes back to the early days of serial killer monikers?

The Austen Axe Murderer was more in stride.

[dreab trawets]

I give you 4 serial killers, and one celebrity cannibal, that are free today... beware...

Nikolai Dzhumagaliev
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Dzhumagaliev

Karla Leanne Homolka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Homolka

Juha Veikko Valjakkala
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juha_Valjakkala

Pedro Alonso López
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_L%C3 ... ial_killer)

Issei Sagawa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issei_Sagawa

Sweet dreams....

[The Doctor]

I posted a message earlier on another heading and let slip that my boss in the great nephew of Catherine Eddowes, a victim unfortunately of Jack, but the guy's dad was also the lawyer representing Evans (Of Christie (serial killer) / Rillington place) and friend of Stephen Ward (profumo scandal).

Other fact, whilst chauffering last year I met with John Hurt's wife.
John Hurt played Evans in the film 10, Rillington Place and also Stephen Ward in the film Scandal!

Where do I fit in with this jigsaw... (which does also happen to be the name of another notorious serial killer aka Saw!!!)

I beleieve I am destined to team up with a pseudonimed author and unleash my dry humour and expansive creativity!

You know where my email lives!

[Hydebound]

I don't know about those other miscreants, but "Grim Sleeper" sounds like the title of a Robert Bloch story. As for dramatic monikers:

Albert Fish was known as the "Moon Maniac" and the "Gray Man".

Andrei Chikatilo was called the "Rostov Ripper".

Peter Sutcliffe was the "Yorkshire Ripper".

Fritz Harmann was labeled the "Werewolf of Hanover".

Peter Kurten- the inspiration for Peter Lorre's character in M- was known as the "Vampire of Dusseldorf".

Pedro Lopez was called the "Monster of the Andes".

[marcd]

Nikolai Dzhumagaliev
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Dzhumagaliev

Ok, freaky, this one creeps me out. As does the Rostov Ripper.
Another names to add(think he had a moniker) Gein or Gacy or Bundy.
I think creating a moniker helps 'sell' the stories. It gives the name Bogeyman a rest. And in fiction, they give us a thrill- one great example(apart from the many that have came out of Slade's imagination) is Hannibal Lecter.

[Brad Smith]

I remember a time when serial killers were big news. Crimes like those of the Boston Strangler, Zodiac, the Hillside Strangler (no "s" until they were caught), the Yorkshire Ripper, the Green River Killer, etc. were followed closely. Then somewhere along the way, such crimes seemed to become commonplace, and focus faded.

A serial killer, to be high profile, must have a moniker. And that moniker must be inspired.

Where would Jack the Ripper be without "Jack the Ripper?" That name, I'm convinced, will never be topped.

To illustrate what I mean, consider this. A number of serial killing have gone on for decades in California without me knowing. Then today, I read about the "Grim Sleeper"...and suddenly, not only do I know about the murders, but that name will instantly come to mind whenever anything connected arises in the future.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/26/gri ... index.html

The Grim Sleeper.

Now that's an inspired moniker.

Slade

Here's a link to more info on the Grim Sleeper.
http://thegrimsleeper.com/

[Vcela]

I would not be surprised if there was a gentleman's agreement amongst the media and law enforcement regarding popular names for these killers. Mocking a killer in the press with a humiliating or emasculating name only to end up with punishment killings is a responsibility no one wants. That being said, the sensationalistic aspect of naming a killer in the first place is bad enough as it is.

I suppose on one hand the true sociopaths would be unaffected. Only the attention-seekers would relish it. For a particularly dormant killer who leaves few clues, perhaps providing a spotlight for him to unwittingly step into is a way of shaking the tree.

[Brad Smith]

Some thoughts . . . .

A few months ago, I was on a paranormal investigation in Portola Valley, Calif. One of our sensitives picked up on an image, a picture of an older male. Our client told us that she had seen an entity, a male that resembled one of her ancestors.

Upon hearing our sensitive's description of the picture, the client showed us a family album. She also mentioned that she had retrieved the picture from the trash; evidently, the family didn't like talking about this man who was her distant cousin.

It was a picture of Albert Fish. She didn't know about Fish's grim, bloody history until we told her.