Spree killer
A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders in a short time, often in multiple locations. There are different opinions about what durations of time a killing spree may take place in. The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics has spoken of "almost no time break between murders", but some academics consider that a killing spree may last weeks or months, e.g. the case of Andrew Cunanan, who murdered five people over three months.
Definition
[edit]How to distinguish a spree killer from a mass murderer, or a serial killer, is subject to considerable debate, and the terms are not consistently applied even within the academic literature.
The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics has defined a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders".[1][2]
In CoIn Serial Murder, Ronald M. Holmes and Stephen T. Holmes defines spreBeltway Snipers as examples of spree killers.[3] They define serial murder as "the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period between the killings."[4] Under this definition, Andrew Cunanan would be categorized as a serial killer and not a spree killer.
In Sexual Homicide, Ressler, Burgess and Douglas gave more emphasis to killings being at more than one location, and less precision about the time span, saying that a single event can last a short or long time, citing Christopher Wilder's seven-week "murder event" or "killing spree".[5]
Douglas wrote that the identity of serial killers is generally unknown until they are caught, and a mass murderer's identity is learned only after they have committed the crime. The identity of the spree killer, on the other hand, usually becomes known by police while the spree is still in progress.[6][why?]
The term rampage killer has also been used sometimes to describe spree killers,[7] especially when a single individual perpetrator:
See also
[edit]- Active shooter
- Going postal
- Gun Violence Archive
- List of rampage killers
- Mass shooting
- Massacre
- Running amok
- Thrill killing
References
[edit]- ^ Zawitz, Marianne W., ed. (1988). Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice (PDF) (2nd ed.). Bureau of Justice Statistics. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Charalambous, Nick; Dillman, Meryl (December 17, 2006). "No evidence of spree killer yet, police say". The Anderson Independent-Mail. Anderson, South Carolina. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
- ^ Holmes, R. M, & Holmes, S. T.: Serial Murder; SAGE Publications, 2010. pp. 36.
- ^ Holmes, R. M, & Holmes, S. T.: Serial Murder; SAGE Publications, 2010. pp. 6.
- ^ Ressler, Robert K.; Burgess, Ann W.; Douglas, John E. (1988). Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives. Free Press.
- ^ Douglas, p. 192.
- ^ Sward, Susan (July 18, 1997). "Motive Mystery / Debate Over What Kind of Killer is at Work". SFGATE.
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