Theory and Analysis of Multiple Murder

Dan Hillyer (Student)

AU ID # 2811368
Athabasca University
CRJS 360
Jackie Scott (Tutor)
July 2, 2023
 Theory and analysis of Multiple Murder
I. Introduction
Canada is not immune to multiple murder. This essay will examine several types of multiple

murder, including spree killers, mass murderers and serial killers. Next, we will discuss the many theories

that offer explanations as to why these people commit these crimes. We will then consider the various

treatment options and review their prospective effectiveness.

II. Types of multiple Murders

First, we will discuss spree murders. Spree murders are a subset of serial murder. They are not

usually sexually motivated, and no ritual is involved. The individual kills several people with a short

cooling off period at several separate locations (Pollock, 1995). If the killing is emotionally motivated,

the victims are frequently known to the perpetrator (Gresswell and Hollin 1994). An example of this is

Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky. In the summer of 2019, they are alleged to have killed Lucas

Fowler and Chynna Deese, and Leonard Dyck in British Columbia in less than a week. The research on

this specific type of murderer is limited.

Mass murder occurs when an individual kills many people at the same location in a short duration

of time (Gresswell and Holland 1994). An example of this École Polytechnique massacre in 1989 when

Marc Lepine ruthlessly gunned down 14 women before shooting himself. There is much literature

regarding mass murderers. Duwe (2004) completed a comprehensive study of mass murderers. It was a

meta-approach covering 909 cases spanning from 1900 to 1999. His findings showed that 94% of mass

murderers were male, 76% of the victims were well known to the assailant, 69% of the time a gun was the

murder weapon and 61% of the perpetrators were white.

Serial murder according to Egger (1984) has several defining characteristics. First involves

murders with more than two people over a longer period. The murders usually take place over a larger

area as well. There is no relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. There are subcategories of

serial killers determined by their motive according to Holmes and Deburger (1985). Visionary killers
experience psychosis as their motive seems to be delusional or hallucinatory beliefs. Missionary killers

believe that their victims are part of a group of people that need to be gotten rid of. They are still capable

of rational thought and thus are not considered mentally ill. Hedonistic killers are motivated by pleasure.

This pleasure can be either sexually based or thrill based. These killers are focused on the pleasure they

derive during the process of the murder, taking time to mutilate and dismember their victims both before

and after death. An example of a serial killer is Clifford Olson Jr. Between 1980 and 1981 he killed 11

children between the ages of nine and eighteen.

III. Theories of murderers

The causal factors that lead to the creation of a multimurderer are extremely diverse and complex

(Reid et al, 2019). While the exact motivations for the murders are unique and difficult to determine,

there are many similarities that have been found amongst many perpetrators including biological,

psychological, and social factors.

Biological Factors

Multi-murderers tend to have similar neurological deficiencies. Twin studies clarify the

relationship between the nature versus nurture debate. Studies have shown a 67% correlation between

identical twins where one shows signs of psychopathy, whereas fraternal twins show a correlation of just

15% (Choi 2020). This shows a tremendous link between genetics and psychopathy. There is some

evidence that psychopathic behavior has a basis in an underdeveloped amygdala. The amygdala is

responsible for emotional response and especially initiating the ‘flight or fight’ fear response (Amunts et

al. 1995). Choi (2020) posits that this underdeveloped fear response contributes to the lack of fear of

consequences that multi-murderers have in common.

Another area of the brain that is underdeveloped in multimurderers is the ventral medial

prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). This portion of the brain. is responsible for the moral conscience, empathy,

social inhibitions, and impulse control. It also enables people to imagine what people may be feeling.

Because they are unable to experience empathy, people with an underdeveloped vmPFC treat others like
objects rather than people. They also have difficulty learning from other people’s or their own mistakes.

They are emotionally detached and experience a lack of remorse. The vmPFC is also involved in decision

making. Tuck and Glenn, (2021) found that individuals with psychopathic tendencies showed less activity

in their prefrontal cortex when showed images of people being hurt.

People that have damaged this part of their brain are known to develop psychopathic tendencies.

(Choi 2020). The well-known case study Phineas Gage damaged this portion of his brain in an accident.

Before the accident he was known to be gentle and responsible. The damage to his prefrontal cortex

resulted in a myriad of antisocial behaviours. He was subsequently reported to be a ‘man of bad and rude

ways, disrespectful to colleagues, and unable to accept advice. His plans for the future were abandoned,

and he proceeded without thinking about the consequences.’ (Teles Filho, 2020)

Psychological Factors

Macdonald (1963) is renowned for his finding of the early childhood anti-social behaviors of

enuresis, setting fires, and torturing animals to be correlated with future similar behaviors directed toward

people. Although research has now shown this analysis to be over simplistic and incomplete, it was a

good starting point to show a correlation between psychological problems and violent behaviours. He

showed one significant commonality amongst multi-murderers is a statistically significant portion of

these offenders experience extreme childhood trauma. Hickey (1997) showed that the most salient form

of childhood trauma that multimurderers experience is rejection and humiliation. More specifically, the

way they respond to the trauma seems to be the most indicative factor of future violent behaviour. He

noticed that after experiencing trauma the child, unable to form healthy bonds with a caregiver to

establish prosocial bonds, reverts to a dissociative fantasy world to escape from the painful environment.

If this pattern continues, the child begins to rely on this fantasy life to a greater extent. Their ability to

develop normal social relationships declines and they become more socially isolated. (Ainsworth et al.,

1978; Bowlby, 1973; Levy & Platt, 1999). For future multi-murderers, this pattern continues, and the

child becomes increasingly angry and cynical towards society. They feel rejected, ostracized, and
powerless and their fantasy world becomes a place where they feel empowered. They feel calloused and

develop a “genuine lack of regard for people, institutions, and the social order” and if not treated at this

point, it can develop to increasingly deviant behaviors including, “preferences for autoerotic activities,

fetishes, rebelliousness, aggression, chronic lying, and a sense of privilege or entitlement.” (Arrigo 2007).

Burgess et al. (1986) found that the fantasies grow darker and become focused on “power, control,

dominance, revenge, violence, mutilation, rape, torture, and death” The arousal the individual experiences

from these deviant fantasies becomes an escape from the daily stressors of a traumatic upbringing.

Frequently the arousal becomes sexual in nature in puberty when masturbation to orgasm is paired with

this imaginary escape. In the most dangerous cases, the individual fantasizes and rehearses a paraphilic

scene that ends in sadistic murder. Arrigo et al. (2006) saw these behaviors as evidence of the lack of

normal emotional bonds due to their traumatic upbringing. Burgess et al (1986) argued that these

behaviors were the beginning of acting on sadistic fantasies that become more horrific over time.

Although many are correlated with traumatic childhoods where they were subject to consistent sexual,

physical, and emotional abuse, Jenkins (1988) showed that half the serial killers in his study grew up in

‘respectable and normal’ childhoods and as such childhood trauma cannot be considered a ubiquitous

correlate of multi-murderous behaviour.

Choi (2018) found that mental health problems were not a major cause of violent behaviours.

According to his numbers, 4% of the population experiences severe mental health problems, and they are

responsible for only 3% of the violent crimes committed. This means that they are slightly less likely to

commit violent offences than the general population. Friedman (2018) also pointed out that though the

media place much focus on mental health as a major contributing factor to mass murder, the research

showed that a small portion of offenders were diagnosed with a mental illness.

Social Factors

Social learning theory suggests that violent behavior is learned. Bandura (1977) emphasized that

many murderers learned physical aggression directly from experience. This experience could be both by
positive (i.e., witnessing the perceived benefits of aggression) or negative (i.e., experiencing the detriment

of not acting aggressively) reinforcement. More recently, many studies have found that in today’s easy

access to media, some multi-murderers, known as copycat killers, are susceptible to being influenced by

other killers (Follman, 2019; Helfgott, 2015; Langman, 2018; Lankford & Madfis, 2018).

Castle and Hensley (2002) discuss the connection to social learning in the military and

multimurderers. Though only 0.4% of the US population are active military personnel, 7% of multiple

murderers identify with having a military background. Most people would not normally be exposed to an

environment where killing is common. The United States military trains its service members to

circumvent the innate psychological mechanisms that deter interpersonal violence. These techniques have

proven to be effective. During the American civil war, when only a small percentage of soldiers showed

an inclination to kill and thus purposefully missed their targets. In World War II this percentage was at

15-20% of servicemembers willing to kill another human being. By the Vietnam war, over 90% of

soldiers were willing to fire a fatal shot.

The process begins by causing deliberate psychological trauma. New recruits are subject to

brutalization by their superiors and immediately undergo an intense deindividualization process as well.

They are made to conform to strict dress and grooming standards and are referred to by their rank rather

than their name. This breakdown is intentional and creates an environment that is conducive to having the

recruits accept new values that foster attitudes amenable to death and violence as a normal and rewarding

way of life.

Castle and Hensley (2002) also refer to a classical conditioning technique employed by the

Japanese during WWII that was highly effective in encouraging atrocious behaviours. Servicemembers

that killed prisoners of war would be applauded and then treated to prostitutes and a delicious meal, thus

correlating killing with pleasure. Operant conditioning is also in place. Servicemembers are trained to

shoot at human shaped targets and more recently, virtual reality simulators are introducing continually

more realistic human targets. They repeat shooting at humanlike targets so frequently that it becomes a
reflexive response to shoot at a human target in an actual situation. The language used is specifically

designed to dehumanize individuals as well. Servicemembers are trained to refer to people as the enemy

or the target. Modeling also is utilized. Decorated leaders “personify violence and aggression” and

servicemembers are inclined to exemplify their role models.

These artificially designed training has many mirrors in the natural world. Fox and Levin (1994)

exhibit that serial killers frequently dehumanize their victims and many of them compartmentalize the

violent portion of their lives and can live normal lives with healthy relationships with family and friends.

Just as new military recruits are artificially traumatized and humiliated by their commanding officers,

many multi-murderers experience similar psychological abuse in their childhood. Many are brought up in

violent neighborhoods where they become desensitized to violence and aggression. They see apparent

advantages of these behaviors and witness the perceived disadvantages of non-violent and non-aggressive

behaviors in their social experience.

IV. Prevention and Treatment

Is it possible to prevent someone that shows a genetic predisposition to anti-social behaviors from

increasing violent behaviours to the point of committing multiple murders? Thankfully, an inclination

towards anti-social behaviour does not mean an inevitable life of crime and violence. In fact, many

professions are well suited for individuals that have anti-social tendencies. For instance, surgeons and

CEOs are well known to have little empathy and have highly rational and logical mindsets. Choi (2020)

discusses some key factors on what can make the difference between whether an individual with an anti-

social biological make up evolves into more psychopathic tendencies or more pro-social tendencies. Choi

references Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and notes that if the foundational physiological and safety needs

are met, then it is more likely to focus on social needs. If prosocial skills and attitudes are taught at an

early stage of development, especially if prosocial behaviours are rewarded, it prevents the likelihood of

developing deviant behaviours in adulthood.

 Is it possible to rehabilitate a multi murderer? There are many factors that determine whether a

perpetrator can be rehabilitated. As there are biological, psychological, and social factors that contribute

to the making of a multi-murderer, the treatment must be multifaceted as well.

Biological intervention

One of the most promising treatments for neurophysiological elements of psychopathy is

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This new treatment can stimulate growth in deficient areas of

the brain. The prefrontal cortex, as stated earlier, is responsible for empathy, guilt, and other social

regulating emotions. TMS has been shown to be effective in stimulating localized brain activity in

targeted areas of the brain and has been shown to treating depression, memory loss and other ailments

associated with an underdeveloped portion of the brain. TMS, when focused on the vmPFC, has shown to

increase empathic ideation by up to 15% (Choi 2018). Another emerging field is gene therapy that is in its

infancy but shows tremendous promise.

Psychological interventions

One of the most successful models that has been implemented in Canada is the Risk-Need-

Responsivity (RNR) model. The model continues to evolve and increase in effectiveness. In the first

generation of the RNR model, determining risk was left up to the professional subjective judgement of

clinical professionals. It was soon determined that actuarial, evidence-based risk assessment was found to

be more reliable than relying on professional judgement. This gave staff at correctional facilities

quantitative data that more consistently reflected the true risk and need of the offender. A third generation

was developed because the assessment tools up to this point were all static and historically based. If an

offender had a history of drug use, for instance, this historical fact could not change, so the model was

updated to include dynamic criteria that could be updated as the offender made progress, such as

developing healthy relationships or abstaining from drug and alcohol, and employment status. This

generation maintained the needed static assessment but included these dynamic aspects as well. The most
current fourth generation incorporates the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory which includes a

broader range of risk factors and personal factors that have been effective in treatment.

The risk portion of the model refers to assessing the risk the offender has to reoffend then

matching this risk with the appropriate intensity of treatment required. As stated earlier, we have come a

long way in being able to predict the likelihood of perpetrators reoffending. The assessment tools have

gone from a subjective analysis to an actuarial analysis that offers precise indications of future offence.

Pham et al (2023) very recently analysed several assessments used across Canada to determine how

accurate different assessment tools are in predicting recidivism rates in violent offenders. Her team found

that the ODARA and SARA-V2 assessments were especially accurate.

The need portion of the model addresses determining the specific criminogenic needs of the

offender. The factors that contribute to every offender are as unique as the offender themselves. The third

and fourth generations of the RNR model contributed that these needs are both static and dynamic.

According to the government of Canada’s public safety agency, most criminogenic needs fall into the

categories in the following table:

Table 1. The seven major risk/need factors

Major risk/need factor Indicators Intervention goals

Antisocial personality Impulsive, adventurous pleasure seeking, Build self-management skills, teach
pattern restlessly aggressive and irritable anger management

Rationalizations for crime, negative Counter rationalizations with prosocial

Pro-criminal attitudes attitudes towards the law attitudes; build up a prosocial identity

Replace pro-criminal friends and

Social supports for Criminal friends, isolation from prosocial associates with prosocial friends and
crime others associates

Reduce substance abuse, enhance

Substance abuse Abuse of alcohol and/or drugs alternatives to substance use

Family/marital Inappropriate parental monitoring and Teaching parenting skills, enhance

relationships disciplining, poor family relationships warmth and caring
 Enhance work/study skills, nurture
Poor performance, low levels of interpersonal relationships within the
School/work satisfactions context of work and school

Encourage participation in prosocial

Prosocial recreational Lack of involvement in prosocial recreational activities, teach prosocial
activities recreational/leisure activities hobbies and sports
It should be noted that these seven needs are based on the ‘central eight’ needs and risks (Andrews & Bonta, 2006). Criminal

history is omitted because it is a static risk and thus cannot be treated.

Now that the risk portion has determined ‘who’ should be treated and the needs portion has

determined ‘what’ should be treated, the responsivity portion deals with ‘how’ the treatment plan should

be delivered by designing a tailored treatment plan for each offender based on ‘the learning style,

motivation, abilities and strengths of the offender.’ (Public Safety Canada, 2007)

How a treatment is delivered has a tremendous effect on reducing recidivism. Andrews &

Dowden, (2006) found that there were three main principles, that if adhered to could drop recidivism rates

as much as 35%. The first principle is the need to focus with highest intensity with the offenders with the

highest risk. This can seem obvious, but in practice Andrews and Dowden (2006) found that lower risk

offenders, with the lowest criminogenic needs were frequently prioritized because ‘low risk offenders are

more cooperative and motivated to comply with treatment demands than high risk offenders.’

Surprisingly, studies have shown that providing intensive treatment to low-risk offenders increased

recidivism rate. Bonta (2007) found that low risk offenders that received the minimum of treatment had a

recidivism rate of 15% as compared to those who received the intensive treatment had a recidivism rate of

more than double that at 32%. Whereas high risk offenders without any treatment had a recidivism rate of

51%, after intensive treatment this rate dropped significantly to 32%. This shows that matching treatment

intensity with risk assessment is crucial in lowering recidivism rates.

The second principle that must be adhered to in order to reduce recidivism is to focus treatment

on criminogenic needs. This again may seem obvious but as Bonta (2006) pointed out, offenders also

have other needs that psychotherapists tend to focus on. These include low self-esteem, anxiety and
depression, and other mood disorders. Their research concluded that focusing these factors did not reduce

recidivism rates, it just made happier, more confident reoffenders.

The third principle that makes the most significant difference in reducing recidivism is to use

cognitive behavioural intervention techniques. According to Bonta (2006) adherence to this principle led

to a reduction in recidivism of 23%. They also found that treatments that did not adhere to any of these

principles could increase recidivism up to 10%.

V. Conclusion

The motivation behind multimurderers is complex and is unique to each offender. There are some

common factors that research has shown to connect many of them. There are biological factors that

consistently include underdeveloped portions of the brain that are responsible for prosocial cognition and

behaviors, psychological factors that include inability to deal with stressors and fantasizing about killing

before the act takes place, and social factors including social learning from many sources. The treatment

for rehabilitating these offenders is becoming more effective as researchers have determined effective

therapies that focus on the intensity of therapy and design a tailor-made program that fits the

criminogenic needs of each offender.

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