Hickey’s research reveals that 88 per cent of serial killers are male and 85 per cent are Caucasian. The average age when they claim their first victim is 28.5 years. The majority (62 per cent) of the killers target strangers exclusively and 71 per cent operate in a specific location or area, a “comfort zone.”
Jack Levin, a professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University, agrees: “I can think of mass murderers in the armed forces but can’t think of a serial killer.” Serial killers have an excessive need for power, usually because they’ve grown up feeling powerless, says Levin. “He gains a sense of importance by torturing and then killing his victims.” Often, serial killers who torture also collect “souvenirs” or “trophies” commemorating the crime—photographs, jewellery, underwear, even body parts.
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A diagnosis as a primary psychopath may help explain how someone would be able to keep such crimes under wraps for so long, Hickey says. It’s a pathology that allows someone to fit in wherever he goes, to be able to repress his anti-social tendency and to function at a high level of social skills. “So he can carry on with his life and no one would ever suspect because of his education, his intelligence and his position,” Hickey says.
The incidence of psychopaths in the military is no higher than in the general population, where it’s pegged around one per cent. But just like any other profession that offers authority it can be ripe for abuse, says Levin, because people trust them, and because they are seen as heroic figures. “Many times the crime of rape isn’t reported,” he says.
Police are still investigating that possibility. In the meantime, Williams has another court date scheduled for later this month. And the last of his alleged victims, Jessica Lloyd, will be laid to rest on Feb. 13.
