Editing Serial killer (section)

{{short description|Murderer of multiple people}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Burke Murdering Margery Campbell.jpg|thumb|right|240px|An 1829 illustration of Irish serial killer [[Burke and Hare murders|William Burke]] murdering Margery Campbell]]{{Homicide}}
A '''serial killer''' (also called a '''serial murderer''') is a person who [[murder]]s three or more people,<ref name="Most common">An offender can be anyone:
*{{harvnb|Holmes|Holmes|1998 |loc=Serial murder is the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period between the murders The baseline number of three victims appears to be most common among those who are the academic authorities in the field. The time frame also appears to be an agreed-upon component of the definition.}}
*{{harvnb|Petherick|2005|loc=p. 190 Three killings seem to be required in the most popular definition of serial killing since they are enough to provide a pattern within the killings without being overly restrictive.}}
*{{harvnb|Flowers|2012|loc=p. 195 In general, most experts on serial murder require that a minimum of three murders be committed at different times and usually different places for a person to qualify as a serial killer.}}
*{{harvnb|Schechter|2012|loc=p. 73 Most experts seem to agree, however, that to qualify as a serial killer, an individual has to slay a minimum of three unrelated victims.}}
*{{Cite web|title=Definition of Serial Murder|url=https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder#two|access-date=2024-08-20|website=[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]}} (This source only requires two people)</ref> with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separate events.<ref name="Most common" /><ref>{{harvnb|Burkhalter Chmelir|2003|p=1}}, {{harvnb|Morton|2005|pp=4, 9}}</ref> Their psychological [[gratification]] is the [[Motive (law)|motivation]] for the killings, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victims at different points during the murder process.{{sfn|Geberth|1995|p=? "The base population was 387 serial murderers, who killed (under various motivations), three or more persons over a period of time with cooling-off periods between the events. The author identified 232 male serial murderers who violated their victims sexually"}} The [[United States]] [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include [[anger]], [[thrill killing |thrill-seeking]], [[attention seeking]], and financial gain, and killings may be [[Modus operandi|executed as such]].{{sfn|Morton|2005|pp=4, 9}} The victims tend to have things in common, such as [[demographic profile]], appearance, gender, or [[Race (human categorization)|race]].<ref name="Tick" /> As a group, serial killers suffer from a variety of [[personality disorders]]. Most are often not adjudicated as insane under the law.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Serial Murder|url=https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder|access-date=2024-08-20|website=[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]}}</ref> Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a [[mass murder]]er, [[spree killer]], or [[Contract killing|contract killer]], there are overlaps between them.