If there is a genre of entertainment that has emerged strongly in recent years, that is certainly True Crime. There are series, podcasts and even documentaries made with AI On real crimes. Many of them deal with the stories of dreaded serial killers; Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy… They all have their series. However, although serial killers have become a cultural phenomenon, the figures show that their activity was concentrated in a very specific period of time and in a special country. Why are there no serial murderers?
An American phenomenon
Number of serial murderers per country. Source: Radford University
He FBI defined the serial killer as the one who has killed more than two people on two different occasions. According to him Annual series murderers report and victims of the University of Radford of 2020, 67.7% of registered cases came from the United States. There are countries that have registered more than a hundred cases such as Japan, India, South Africa, Canada or England with almost 200 cases. However, we talk that the United States has 3,690 documented cases, while the rest of the countries in the combined list reaches 1,168 cases, the difference is abysmal.
Because There are more serial murderers in the United States? A reason is that there is More records and statistics that in other countries, so the real percentage could be biased. The media impact and glorification From some of these murderers it would also have been a determining factor for others to act as imitators. In addition, the ease of geographical mobility within the country facilitated that these profiles could act without being detected.
Three decades of “fashion”
The graph represents the moment in which the murderers began to kill and we see how most of the most notorious cases They are concentrated in a period of three decades. Here the crimes of Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, David Alan Gore or Tommy Lynn Sells occurred, to name a few examples.
The wave began to rise in the late 50s, when the criminal records were improving, rose radically in the 70s and reached its peak in the 80s. According to IFL Sciencein the 80s there were 254 active serial killers, with its maximum peak in 1987 where there were more than 400 victims. In the 90s the figure dropped to 227 active murderers. The trend was falling pronounced and in the 2010 only 66 cases were recorded.
Why there are no serial murderers
Researchers blame the decline of serial murderers to several factors, especially related to Advances in criminal investigation. Police records are more exhaustive and communication between the different security forces is better. This allows to find similarities in cases and facilitate the identification of possible serial profiles.
Research methods are more sophisticated. The DNA test It began to be used in cases of murders In the mid -80sbut the first techniques were more rudimentary, the analysis took a long time and there was not a wide database to compare.
Technological advances are another determining factor. The presence of Security cameras In shops and public places he has helped resolve countless crimes worldwide. For example This study He concluded that the British transport police could increase its crime resolution rate from 23 to 48% thanks to the security cameras material.
The Internet searches They have also been decisive in many cases, such as Brian Walshethat when his wife disappeared he looked on Google “how much time passes until a body begins to smell” and “10 ways to get rid of a corpse.” This, together with images of the suspect buying cleaning material and an ax in Home Depot, led to their arrest for murder.
But perhaps everyone’s greatest advance has been mobile telephony. In addition to the images of the cameras, the triangulation of the signal of mobile phones It allows to locate both the suspects and the victims, being able to reconstruct their movements. Mobiles are key tools in many investigations and we have seen it in notable cases such as Asunta Basterrahe Urban Guard Crime or that of Diana Quer.
The decline of serial killers coincides with a Generalized fall of violence since the 90sbut without a doubt all advances in research and technology have made it easier for today to catch the culprits. In potential serial murderers, in many cases They do not commit a second crime.
Cover image | Netflix
In Xataka | A person has made Media Spain hook the most horrendous crimes: Clara Tiscar and ‘Criminopathy’
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings