Running Head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

What Makes a Killer?

Samantha Pozzobon
English 4
Albion Central School
December 22, 2017
Running Head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2

Aileen Wuornos. (2017, April 28). Retrieved December 20, 2017, from
https://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792
In this article the reader learns about the serial killer named Aileen Wuornos and her life. As a

child things were rough for Wuornos. Her father committed suicide when serving a sentence for

child molestation and her mother abandoned her and her older brother Keith. She and her brother

Keith were then taken in by their grandparents. Life was still rough for Wuornos her

grandmother was an alcoholic and her grandfather had sexually abused her as well as her brother.

As a teenager Wuornos became pregnant was forced to give the child up and was forced out of

her home. She began hitchhiking and prostituting down florida's highways. In late 1989 to 1990

it was discovered that Wuornos killed at least 6 men and confessed in late january 1991 being

found guilty of murdered nearly a year later she was sentenced to the death penalty. On october

9, 2002 nearly a decade after being sentence Aileen Wuornos was executed by lethal injection.

Early Signs of Serial Killers. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2017, from
https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/serial-killers/early-signs/
In this article the reader learns the most common early signs of serial killers. Although many

serial killers lead double lives and keep their psychopathic tendencies a secret and many don't

notice they can still show signs of being a killer. Many killers at a young age show signs of

possibly developing psychopathic tendencies. This is a highly relevant article to use when you

are writing a paper about serial killers. In order to understand serial killers better you need to

know the early signs of developing psychopathic tendencies. Tendencies such as: some sort of an

antisocial disorder or behavior problem, the adolescent shows no remorse or guilt, has a tendency

to lie, shows extreme aggressiveness, fails to conform to social normalities, shows

irresponsiblity, pyromania(love of setting fires), and extreme abuse or killing of animals.

Running Head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 3

Jenkins, J. P. (2017, November 10). Ed Gein. Retrieved December 20, 2017, from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ed-Gein
In this article the reader learn about the killer Edward Theodore Gein or more commonly known

as Ed Gein, his life and his childhood. In childhood Gein experienced many hardships. Gein’s

father was an alcoholic and his mother was verbally abusive. Gein idolized his mother despite

the abuse which was concerning to his older brother. When Gein was 38 his brother Henry had

died in a mysterious fire many believed to be set by Gein himself. After the death of Gein’s

mother in 1945 he became a hermit. He built a shrine to the mother he had once idolized. That's

when the real killing began. Gein killed the local hardware shop owner and two other women

claiming they looked like his mother. Gein also graverobber body parts from a nearby cemetery

using the parts to build himself a “new” mother. In 1957 he was was deemed unfit for trial and

lived his life out in various psychiatric institutions until his death in 1984.

H.H. Holmes. (2017, October 16). Retrieved December 20, 2017, from
https://www.biography.com/people/hh-holmes-307622
In this article the reader learns about the serial killer Herman Webster or H. H. Holmes as he

was more commonly known as. The reader learns how a boy born into an affluent family who

lived a privileged childhood grew up and became a wealthy man who owned a hotel and killed

for fun. Holmes lived a life of crime making false insurance claims, stole corpses, and torturing.

Holmes was rumoured to have killed to get what he wanted. He is rumoured to have killed the

original owner of the pharmacy he worked at so he could become the owner. He opened a hotel

near the pharmacy where he would lure visitors in and many did not come back out alive. Dr.

Holmes’s hotel has become known as the “murder castle”, having trapdoors and chutes to the

basement to help him move the bodies. When Holmes was finally apprehended in november

1894 he had admitted to 27 murder but many believe that there had been more.

John Wayne Gacy. (2017, December 15). Retrieved December 19, 2017, from
https://www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544
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In this article the reader learns about the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. A serial killer who is

most well known as the killer clown. Gacy would use his side job as a clown performer to scout

for little boys. He would kidnap boys rape them and eventually kill them, most times by

strangling them with a rope. This article explains what kind of childhood he had and early life.

The most important information needed when trying to understand a killer. The article explain

Gacy’s rough relationship with his alcoholic abusive father. How his father saw his sexuality as a

great turmoil for the whole family.

Brogaard, B. (2012, December 07). The Making of a Serial Killer. Retrieved December 19,
2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/the-making-
serial-killer
In this article the reader learns how scientist believe psychopathy may be up to 60% heritable.

The reader also learns that although one may be a psychopath not all psychopaths become

criminals. The features that most psychopaths posses does not always lead to criminal activity.

Features such as: being manipulative, aggressive, and impulsive. Many psychopaths have

reduced connectivity to their connective system causing them not to feel remorse or guilt. This

reduced connectivity could be caused by a dysfunction of the brain neurotransmitters. Although

not all serial killers experience a traumatic childhood but it does certainly contribute to one's

psychopathy. The reader also learns that not all serial killers are psychopaths but may be

psychotic. Psychosis and psychopathy are two different mental disorder. Where psychopathy is a

personality disorder psychosis is the complete loss of one's sense of reality.