Gary Ridgeway

Gary Ridgway is the most prolific serial killer in America, he has the highest death count out of all of America's murderers. Ridgway has 49 confirmed murders, and 14 others that he was suspected of but not charged for. Gary was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1949. His home life was troubled, it is said that he witnessed many violent arguments between his parents. Until the age of 14, Gary would wet the bed and when his mother found out about the accidents, she would have him walk into the bathroom naked. Once in the bathroom, she would bathe him. This embarrassed Ridgway and enabled both sexual and violent fantasies about his mother.

When he was 16 years old, Gary lured a six-year-old boy into the woods and stabbed him through the ribs into his liver. He went on to graduate high school and marry his 19-year-old girlfriend, Claudia Kraig. Ridgway joined the Army and was sent to Vietnam, there he took advantage of many prostitutes, he contracted gonorrhea but still went on using prostitutes. While he was abroad, Kraig committed adultery and their marriage ended within a year. Gary remarried and became quite religious during his second marriage, crying as sermons and bible verses were read. Despite his new found Christianity, he still had sexual intercourse with prostitutes. Many of Ridgeway's ex-wives and ex-girlfriends stated that he would demand sexual actions from them multiple times a day and in public places.


He would pick up prostitutes and young girls, usually runaways. After taking them he would strangle them using his hands, sometimes using a ligature. Then he would dump their bodies in forested and overgrown areas of King County, often returning to the bodies to commit necrophilia. On November 30, 2001, Ridgway was arrested for the murders of four women whose cases were linked to him through DNA evidence. To avoid the death penalty, part of his plea bargain was to disclose the locations of still-missing women, he was spared the death penalty and recieved a life imprisonment without parole.

Gary Ridgway was diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder. Because of APD, he was able to kill prostitutes after fulling his sexual desires with no guilt or remorse. There isn't much documentation on his psychological evaluation(s). It is possible that this information isn't released due to the fact that he is still living.

Coutresy of criminalminds.wikia.com

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John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy was a U.S. serial killer who was found guilty of killing 33 boys and young men. He was also known as "Pogo the Clown", John Gacy, Jack Hanson, and the Killer Clown. Gacy was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1942 to a helpless mother and an abusive father who showed no mercy in punishment. Gacy was also excluded at school due to a heart condition inflected on him by his father. He later realized his attraction to men and was in great turmoil over his sexuality.

John Wayne Gacy was first convicted and given a 10-year prison term in 1968 for the involvement of a sexual assault of two teenage boys. He was released on parole in 1970, and just a year later was arrested again. Gacy was convicted of another sexual assault of a teenage boy but charges were dropped after the boy did not appear for trial. In 1975, two more young men accused Gacy of rape, and he would be questioned about the disappearances of other boys and young men.

On January 2, 1972, Gacy committed his first known murder. Fifteen year old Timothy Jack McCoy was lured from a Greyhound bus terminal to Gacy's home as an invitation to stay the night and be dropped back at the bus terminal in the morning. Gacy stated that when he woke in the morning McCoy was standing in his doorway holding a knife, Gacy leaped toward him and in a struggle McCoy accidentally cut his arm. Gacy, enraged, took the knife and stabbed McCoy repeatedly. Gacy then entered the kitchen to find a table set for two and eggs and bacon prepared for the two of them.  

Between 1972 and 1980, Gacy killed approximately 30 more boys and young men. Gacy would lure his victims with the promise of giving them construction work, and upon arrival at his home he wouldn't allow them to leave. He sexually assaulted and eventually strangled most of them with rope. He would sometimes dress as his alter ego "Pogo the Clown" to commit the killings.

At a young age, Gacy was sent to have a psychiatric evaluation where he was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. During trial he tried to plead not fit to stand trial due to a mental disorder. After extensive psychiatric evaluations Gacy was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic with multiple personality’s disorder. After his death, Gacy's brain was removed and examined by Dr. Helen Morrison; she discovered that there were no abnormalities, although he showed similar traits of violent serial killers. 

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Ted Bundy

I'm sure many of you have heard of Ted Bundy, some may know him as 'The Campus Killer' or 'The Lady Killer'. Ted Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1946 to a middle class family and was raised to be a gentleman and scholar. Ted went on to attend the University of Washington, which turned into his "hunting grounds".

He was accused of kidnap as early as age 14 which he denied repeatedly, and again in 1969 for a kidnapping in New Jersey. It wasn't until 1974 that Ted starting killing in Seattle, WA. His first victim, Karen Sparks of University of Washington, was sleeping in her basement when Bundy broke in and assaulted her with a metal rod and sexually assaulted her. She suffered from severe brain damage but survived. Less than a month later he struck again, in the same sense, killing a University of Washington undergrad named Lynda Ann Healy, he beat her unconscious, dressed her and took her. These acts continued at about one victim per month. Local authorities didn't have the technology or evidence to solve the case.

 Bundy was arrested in August of 1975, when he failed to pull over for a routine traffic stop. By this time police had been given a description of his Volkswagen Bug with the passenger seat pulled out, 

Utah Highway Patrol officer searched his vehicle and found a ski mask, a pantyhose fashioned mask, a crowbar, handcuffs, trash bags, a coil of rope, an ice pick and other items used for burglary. Bundy escaped and was again arrested multiple times.

After meeting with psychologists, he revealed a horrible past life. In his early childhood Ted was introduced to violent pornography and was socially rejected by his school mates. It is believed that because of these experiences, Ted felt the need to hurt women and by assaulting them, he filled his sexual and physical needs that he didn't get as a teenager. His murders were an attempt to fit in. Psychologists classified Ted Bundy as a High Factor 1 Psychopath. Bundy was Unusually organized, and lacked sense of remorse, empathy and failed to accept responsibility for his actions. Bundy used his extensive knowledge of law enforcement to elude identification and capture for years. On January 23, 1989 Ted was executed by electric chair.

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Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to my blog, I know some of you might be thinking, "Why would someone want to write about serial killers?!". I've decided to focus on the minds of serial killers for my Passion Project because it fascinates me knowing the different neurological reasons for one to commit murder. There are several different types of killers, and I'm here to elaborate on their psychological traits. This topic is important to me because learning more about the psychology of serial killers as I write this blog will help encourage my desire to work in criminal justice. My goal for this project is to educate the readers of famous serial killers and their psychological classification. I'd like to warn that this blog may not be suitable for viewers under the age of 13. Thanks!

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