Serial murder may be fading as a real-world phenomenon even as it thrives on screen. In a review of the field, researcher Enzo Yaksic reports that between 2011 and 2021 there were 381 serial murderers, a decrease from a peak of 823, and argues that the crime’s “heyday has passed.”
The chapter, “The Serial Murder Phenomenon Half a Century On,” appears in the Routledge Handbook of Homicide Studies, published on February 28, 2024.
Why the killers are fewer
Yaksic attributes the decline to changes that took away the conditions serial killers once relied on. He points to the spread of surveillance and tracking technology, better-connected police and a more vigilant public.
Killers, he writes, are now apprehended earlier thanks to investigators’ awareness and the abundance of DNA technology, cell phones and surveillance cameras. Police also have more control over circumstances that used to work in a killer’s favour, such as deleted records and dismissed charges, which he suggests are better described as lucky breaks. With fewer such breaks, would-be killers fail more often.
A field with a hype problem
The chapter is also a critique of the field itself. Yaksic says practitioners cite overblown figures to sell books and services, and that the old stereotyped profile of the serial murderer remains the standard on television programmes featuring self-proclaimed experts. He highlights tensions between academic theories, data and applied experience.
The decline has not slowed fictional retellings, he notes, but it has dampened researchers’ interest, which was once fuelled by ambitions to become criminal profilers and the pursuit of fame.
His proposed fix is concrete: researchers working on such sensitive cases should create and follow an ethical code of conduct, because putting their own advancement first leaves potential victims at a disadvantage.
Study Details:
- Title: The Serial Murder Phenomenon Half a Century On
- Authors: Enzo Yaksic
- Journal: Routledge Handbook of Homicide Studies (Routledge)
- Publication Date: February 28, 2024
- DOI: 10.4324/9781003399476-14