Koury 1

Camaron Koury

Professor Gardiakos

ENC 1102

1 November 2020

Peer Review Draft of Research Proposal

For my proposal I have a strong passion and motivation towards my

question I want to help to be answered. Since I was a little boy, I always wanted to

be a police officer, this dream has led me down many paths as far as criminals,

what they do, who they are and so on. One of my biggest questions I always had

were about serial killers. I could never understand why or how someone could

genuinely like to kill or hurt other living things. Before I get into detail what

exactly is a serial killer? Stated in Oxford Languages dictionary it states, “a person

who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically

following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern”. Serial killers aren’t your

average criminal either, these individuals are usually the most intellectual person in

the room always, they are extremely smart and can look like anyone. They never

have a specific look, most of the time these killers look like the average person

you’d walk by while walking to class or to a store. You could even have a full

conversation and never know who they actually are. I have a couple motivations

for wanting to pursue this topic as a research project. To begin with, my main

priority would be to get these killers off the streets but that’s a lot easier said than
 Koury 2

done. These individuals are ruthless blood thirsty killers who are very smart and

need to be taken off the streets and put in jail, the thing is like I said they are very

smart so it’s very hard for law enforcement to capture these criminals. What I

would want to figure out is if there’s a behavioral profile that law enforcement

would be able to use to help capture them. I don’t say physical because there’s no

profile for them because there can’t be, a serial killer can look like anyone.

Although, they clearly aren’t like everyone as far as their behavior and thought

process. I would like to see if there were tests on their personality and their brains

if forensic scientists and law enforcement could possibly see difference’s in them

and a normal citizen. Also, do these individuals show traits in their early childhood

that maybe parents or teachers are able to see and seek help before it’s too late. The

way I will conduct research is using case files on some of the biggest names of

serial killers and do a full life review from the start of their life to the end unless

their still alive. I will also add many interviews and research that was done on

these individuals. When I say interviews, I don’t only mean with reports of the law

enforcement that took it but also the interviews that were one on one with the killer

himself. I would add what their point of view of everything they did and seek the

answer of why they wanted to do it. As I move through each killer, I will add the

style of the way they would kill also. They all have a common style and that’s to

repeatedly kill, everyone knows that but each one has a specific and special way
 Koury 3

they kill. It may be how they kill their victim, if they leave something behind,

where they kill, what gender. There’re many different ways that these killers enjoy

and each one is special in their own way, but this is how a profile is made to help

catch them. I will also add a psychology report and a full background check before

their first murder to see who they were before they started their spree. Many tests

have been done on these criminals and there are some common factors in each one,

usually the most common trait is lack of remorse or guilt, predatory behavior and

sensation seeking. For example, Ted Bundy had an incredible background of being

a smart, good looking, prestigious, nice and a humble man. Like I said, this sounds

nothing like a serial killer, yet he was one of the worst of them. I would also want

to add their childhood and how they grew up. In some cases, serial killers are made

by the trauma they lived growing up from being beat to sexually abused. The

significant and contribution my study would have on the discourse community is it

would add more research and help to the topic of how to catch serial killers or why

do they become such thing. Moving on, I would also add the profiling of the minds

of serial killers to see how they think and possibly why they do what they do.

After I add all my research it will be able to be reviewed and taken into

consideration of others who have worked on the same topic, we would be able to

work together to possibly come up with a universal profile to help save lives and
 Koury 4

get these killers put behind bars. We could also try and see if there’s some sort of

pattern they all have in common after seeing all the cases to use for future cases.
 Koury 5

Annotated Bibliography

Sharma, Meher. “The Development of Serial Killers: A Grounded Theory Study.” The Keep,

2018, thekeep.eiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

referer=www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=4722&context=theses. I especially

wanted to add this source because of how in depth it goes for the psychological factors of

serial killers and try to explain why they kill and what they get out of it. Throughout the

article it goes though the stages of why serial killers kill and what leads up to the first kill.

It talks about the different types of serial killers and how they are organized. When a new

characteristic is given it breaks down to smaller characteristics about who they would

choose to kill and how they would do it based on how they act. It also goes into theories

about serial killers. Even though theories are not proven facts these theories have helped

capture killers like these. Each one has facts to back each idea. This article will help my

research project because I will be able to learn a lot on the psychological factor to add in

my text, but I will also be able to add this information to let my readers understand the

topic better. This source is very credible because every statement has some sort of evidence

to back it up and is published by Eastern Illinois University. It has a great list of all the

sources in MLA format at the end also so I can go back and do more research.

Bonn, Scott. “5 Myths about Serial Killers and Why They Persist [Excerpt].” Scientific American,

Scientific American, 24 Oct. 2014, www.scientificamerican.com/article/5-myths-about-

serial-killers-and-why-they-persist-excerpt/. I decided to add this source to make sure I can

 Koury 6

make it clear that serial killers aren’t just someone out of a TV show or movie, they are

deadly and notorious human beings. There are many myths about serial killers that people

may believe are true, so I wanted to have a section on what’s real and what’s fake to make

the “make believe” not at issue. This source talks about the most common mistakes like

“all serial killers are Caucasian” or “all serial killers are male”. Both of these statements

are completely wrong, so I want to make sure in my research project nothing is confused

involving them. This will help my research project by helping me identify the commonly

confused facts regarding serial killers and be able to set it straight with the facts. At first

this source looked unreliable but at the end it was listed with sources that were used for this

text and I was able to check everything.

Bonn, Scott. “Understanding What Drives Serial Killers.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,

15 Sept. 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201909/understanding-

what-drives-serial-killers. I am adding this source to be able to use this information

regarding the psychological factors of these individuals. Instead of a source that describes

the outside view on these killers this goes into the mind of them. I will be able to state why

these killers kill and what they get out of it. It talks about possible factors that may have

turned healthy minded people to killers such as child abuse or a freak accident that could

happen to them. It also goes into the fact that they were just born with the enjoyment of

killing and nothing specific changed them to how they are. This article will help my

research project because I will be able to go into the psychological factors of serial killers

and be able to better explain why they would do such a thing especially killing multiple

times for fun. This article Is a credible source because it is sourced back with all the
 Koury 7

information that is stated and also written my Dr. Scott Bonn who is a criminologist. He

has a great background.

Bromberg, Walter, Walter. “Serial Killer: Nature vs. Nurture How Serial Killers Are

Born.” American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, 2020,

www.aaets.org/traumatic-stress-library/serial-killer-nature-vs-nurture-how-serial-killers-

are-born. This source goes right into detail on serial killers being Natured or Nurtured.

What this means is if serial killers are either created from what happens to them or if they

are born the way they are. This source goes into gruesome details about Jeffery Dahmer

and how is life was before he started to kill. Throughout the article it talks about the

different scenarios where a killer was abused physically and mentally as a child which

turned them to kill but also it talks about the ones that grew up totally fine with an above

average life. They were completely normal, yet they had a dark secret to kill until they

finally did. It then shows reports of doctors and criminal experts talking about the topic of

nurture and nature. This will help my research project because I will be able to use these

professionals’ opinions and the evidence, they have to discuss why these people are the

way they are. This source is very much credible due to the outstanding amount of evidence

and documents throughout the text that supports the claim and the list of sources used at

the end in MLA format.

Editors, Biography. “Infamous Serial Killers.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 15 Jan.

2020, www.biography.com/people/groups/serial-killers.  I chose to add this source because

in this journal it goes into brief detail of the main serial killers I will talk about and gives a

great background on them. Instead of just describing what each one did the text goes into

great detail of their life leading up to their crimes. It talks about where they are from,
 Koury 8

family, what they liked to do so you can get a look into their life and grasp who they were

as people. This source lists over 45 killers and each one has a well-done description

starting from their birth to the day they died or to now if they’re alive. This article is

relevant to my research project because it gives a look into the killer’s life and gives

crucial details to know about them. It’s not just the crimes they committed. This source is

credible because you are able to see where the information is pulled from and it is updated

every month to make sure everything is up to date.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Samuel Little: Confessions of a Killer.” FBI, FBI, 6 Oct. 2019,

www.fbi.gov/news/stories/samuel-little-most-prolific-serial-killer-in-us-history-100619.

This source is all about the serial killer Samuel Little. He is a very recent caught killer and

is still alive in jail today. The FBI stated they believe that he has killed over 93 people

mainly females. The source has an incredible number of firsthand interviews with him,

videos talking about his killings, why he did it and much more. The evidence given about

what he did, and the testimonies lets you feel like you’re standing right in front of him

listening to everything he has to say. This source will help my research project out a whole

bunch because I will be able to add real life killers’ words and feelings throughout my

project to show how these killers really are. It also lets me be able to show my readers how

they prey on innocent citizens to be able to learn from them. This source is also very

credible because it’s from a government agency the FBI. Everything shown has evidence

to make sure it’s true and real interviews with him.

Federal Bureau Of Investigation. “Serial Murder.” FBI, FBI, 21 May 2010, www.fbi.gov/stats-

services/publications/serial-murder.  This source Is from the Federal Bureau of

Investigation on the topic of serial killers. It has every single information about the topic
 Koury 9

and the killers that this agency has. The FBI has worked on every single case that involved

serial killings and has made this document from their findings to help learn from these

criminals and capture or stop from future ones. It goes into specific details on how they act

and how they can kill. There are many different types of serial killers, but this source has

every single one with specific details. It also states how the investigation will be conducted

when a case opens up about a serial killer. This will help my research project because this

has valuable information from the FBI that I will be able to use in my project to better

describe the killers and explain how they think. The FBI also has first-hand experience

with these criminals who has the best evidence. The source is 100% reliable because it’s

from a government agency backed with hundreds of pieces of evidence

Hagerty, Barbara Bradley. “A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret.” NPR, NPR, 29 June 2010,

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976.  To go into more depth of

why serial killers kill and what makes them want to this rather than being like an average

person I chose this source to show the brain scans of a serial killer compared to a normal

person. In this article there was a finding that in serial killers sometimes their orbital cortex

is different than the average brain which could lead to law enforcement be able to se clues

before the first kill is conducted. This will help me in my research project because I will be

able to add this data to possibly show that serial killers are able to be spotted not by look

but by the brain. This source is biased due to the fact that Fallon decided to do this project

because of his family and mainly looked at his family. The research is all there though, he

is a neuroscientist and provided evidence to show what he was saying. There are many

other links listed that also has done the same study and saw the same problem in the orbital

context.
 Koury 10

Maranzani, Barbara. “8 Of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers.” History.com, A&E Television

Networks, 18 July 2017, www.history.com/news/8-of-historys-most-notorious-serial-

killers. The first couple sources I want to use is sources describing types of serial killers we

have seen through our history. In this source it goes through the top eight serial killers in

our history, all over the world. Barbara Maranzani goes through in detail about these killers

and what they have done, she gives background information also about their life and where

they came from. She goes into specifics on their murders so the reader can truly understand

these are terrible people even if they seemed like your normal folks you see around town.

This author is very credible because she has evidence to back everything up and also there

is a fact checker on the page to make sure the information is true and correct. I see no bias

in any of the text, she states all facts and provides a brief description for each killer.

Olito, Frank. “The Most Notorious Serial Killer from Each State.” Insider, Insider, 27 Oct. 2020,

www.insider.com/serial-killers-from-every-state-in-america-2018-5.  I decided to add this

source to use for me to have a variety instead of the basic serial killers the public knows or

the “famous” ones. This source lists 50 different killers in each state, it shows that these

individuals who are like this can be anywhere and everywhere and aren’t just in a specific

location. I will use these details to be able to give a brief description on whoever I decide

to choose, I do not plan on using many of these individuals but definitely a couple. I also

added this so my readers can use this to do research of their own on not the popular serial

killers so they can inform themselves better. This source doesn’t go in depth on each one as

far as their entire life but has enough factual text to be able get a good grasp on each one.

After looking though, the text I was able to confirm that it is credible because each text

was sourced back to where it came from.

 Koury 11

“Serial Killers Fast Facts.” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 Oct. 2020,

www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/us/serial-killers-fast-facts/index.html.  I added this source

because it will let readers get quick knowledge of the killers I add. This source does not go

into depth on detail about the killers like their personal and early life but has the key facts

that need to be known about them. Instead it gets right to the point of who they were, what

they did and what happened to them after. Unlike my other sources that go into specific

detail on each one this source it has the exact report from the criminal investigation of what

they did. It will help me able to give precise detail at certain parts of my projects when I

need just the facts and not to add other information. This article will help me with my

research project because I will be able to pull crucial information on what these individuals

did and add it to my writing. This source is from CNN which made me skeptical at first

using this, but all the information is backed up with links and I went through to make sure

everything was right.

“Ted Bundy Final Interview Transcript.” Serial Killers Info, 12 Oct. 2018,

serialkillersinfo.com/documents/ted-bundy-final-interview-transcript/. I decided to use this

source to be able to add real life interview with one of the most notorious serial killers.

This document is a real interview with Ted Bundy where he starts to talk about why he

kills and what he feels like before, during and after the killing. It starts off asking where he

started in life and talked about I he was ever being abused to possibly figure out why he

would do such things. The whole transcript is all of his words and his “side” of the story,

but he goes into gruesome detail on what he did to his victims. I wanted to add this to be

able to add real words of a killer and what goes on inside their heads on a day to possibly

find out what caused him to may have done such things. This will help my research project
 Koury 12

because I will be able to add a real-life interview with a serial killer and show how they

think and possibly compare to others. This source is credible because it’s a direct

conversation with Ted Bundy and a police officer word for word, it’s all written down and

able to be read exactly what was said and done. It’s firsthand testimonies.