The Radford/FGCU Annual Report on Serial Killer Statistics

[EndtheMadnessNow]

The purpose of this annual report is to provide the most accurate statistics possible about serial killers and their victims. The source of this information is the Radford/FGCU Serial Killer Database which is described in detail in the next section of the report.

For many years, the report consisted of a series of tables with little commentary. In this version (2023) of the report, we have included a description of the Database as well as commentary for most of the tables.  In each subsequent year, we will continue to add commentary to selected topics until the report contains results and commentary for all topics.  In subsequent years we also plan on including infographics that will help “spice up” the information in the tables as well as including tests of statistical significance for all relevant comparisons.

It is not the purpose of this report to delve into the mind of the serial killer. There are already excellent text books (e.g., Fox, Levin, & Fridel, 2023; Hickey, 2016) and other books that do a thorough job of doing this.

One of our goals is to increase collaboration among serial homicide researchers. Toward that end, if any researchers are interested in adopting” a current topic or proposing a new topic to provide annual updates and commentary, we would love to partner with you.

Although information has been collected on such topics as the presence of triad behaviors and head injuries, we will not publish summaries of fields such as these until we have collected enough information that will lead to reliable interpretations.

The recommended citation for this report is:

Aamodt, M. G., Leary, T., & Girimurugan, S. (2023).  Radford/FGCU Annual Report on Serial Killer Statistics: 2023  Radford, VA: Radford University.
Michael G. Aamodt, Ph.D. (Mike)
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
Radford University
Radford, Virginia
maamodt@radford.edu

Has the Racial Composition of Serial Killers Changed Over Time?

As shown in Tables 6.01 through 6.03,

- The percentage of Black serial killers in the United States has steadily increased across the decades from a low of 17% in the 1920s to over 57% in the 2010s.

The percentage of Hispanic serial killers has also increased in the past few decades but has remained at or below the Hispanic representation in the U.S. population.

Data Notes and Interpretation Cautions

• The analyses in this section only cover the United States
  
• The race of the serial killer came from a variety of sources such as on-line prison records, ancestry.com (e.g., birth records, Census records, death records), and media/Internet reports.
  

Interpretation Cautions

The information on offender behaviors (Table 6.07) is still in a very preliminary stage.

What is the Racial Composition of Serial Killers in the United States?

As shown in Tables 6.01 through 6.03,

• Across all time periods, approximately half of serial killers have been White, 41% Black, 7% Hispanic, 1% Asian, and 1% Native American.
  
• Since 1990, the majority of serial killers were Black (50.9%) followed by White (36.3%), Hispanic (10.6%), Asian (1.9%), and Native American (.4%). 
  
• The percentages for White and Black serial killers change only slightly – about 2% - when serial killers who killed as part of an organization (i.e., gang, organized crime, or a cult) are removed from the analysis.
  
• In all decades, the percentage of Black serial killers exceeds the percentage of Black citizens in the United States population.
  

Radford/FGCU Annual Report on Serial Killer Statistics: 2023


Grok has spoken!




These are "White" criminals according to Pennsylvania State Police:



Hundreds more labeled "white" from around the Country - @Unbiased Crime Report (may be thousands as I couldn't find the bottom of the thread)

A source from 33 years ago:


Hunting Humans: An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers

[Snarl]

These are "White" criminals according to Pennsylvania State Police:





Hundreds more labeled "white" from around the Country - @Unbiased Crime Report (may be thousands as I couldn't find the bottom of the thread)

 

Do you have any idea how bad a gut-twist hurts after three Coronas?

I don't forgive you yet, because I can't.