Serial murder in England 1940-1985

Recent American work on serial murder has begun to move away from exclusive reliance on case-studies to broader and more quantitative accounts of the total phenomenon as it involves both offenders and victims. This article discusses the phenomenon of serial murder over a long period by focusing on England, where homicide of this sort is sufficiently rare to have been studied in detail. A comprehensive list of offenders also was easily constructed. Offender characteristics are discussed, to show a sharp division between serial killers whose violence was apparent in early childhood and others who seemed relatively normal until well into adulthood. The article also considers the relative success of English police and courts in handling the special problems posed by serial homicide.

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