The higher prospect of capture may deter potential killers from acting out. In a recent high-profile example of these techniques, police used DNA samples from distant relatives to identify Joseph DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, decades after he killed 12 women between 19. One popular theory points out the growth of forensic science, and especially the advent of genetic approaches to tracking offenders. (Credit: Data from Radford University/Florida Gulf Coast University study) Adapting Justice
Similarly, everyone agrees on a subsequent fall in serial killing, and that, too, fits with a general decrease in crime. That said, no one doubts that serial killing rose for several decades, and that rise fits with a general increase in crime. Advances in police investigation (for example, the ability to link murders more effectively) and improved data collection could help explain the uptick. In reality it’s not clear whether there truly was a surge of serial killing, or at least not one as pronounced as the data suggest. Various theories attempt to explain this change. died by the hands of a serial killer in 1987, compared to 30 in 2015. In a stunning collapse, these criminals that terrorized and captivated a generation quickly dwindled. The rough estimate on the global rate appeared to show a similar drop over the same period. The sudden plummet came with the new century, when the rate fell below 400 in the aughts and, as of late 2016, just over 100 during the past decade. throughout the 1980s, and just under 670 in the ’90s, based on data compiled by Mike Aamodt of Radford University. Nearly 770 serial killers operated in the U.S. Today, however, we see far fewer twisted tales in the vein of the Zodiac Killer or John Wayne Gacy.Īfter that three-decade surge, a rapid decline followed.
From the 1970s through the ’90s, stories of serial killers like Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer - both of whom pleaded guilty to killing dozens of women - dominated headlines.