Hickey Serial Murderers 7e ch02 PDF

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CHAPTER TWO: Cultural Development of Monsters, Demons, and Evil ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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To examine the historical connections of myth construction and murder To explore intersections between murder, cults, and evil To understand how culture contributes to the perpetuation of myths involving murderers and their victims To examine case studies of cult murder exemplifying evil ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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In the past, explanations for mass and serial murders were often derived from demonology or the belief that life events were controlled by external forces or spirits.

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David Richard Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” or “44-Caliber Killer,” who hunted 13 victims over a period of 13 months in New York City, first claimed he did the killings because his neighbor’s demonically possessed dogs commanded him to do so. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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Some cultures also believed that a person could be “invaded” by more than one spirit at a time. Multiple personalities has been used as a defense by serial killers. Kenneth Bianchi, one of the “Hillside Stranglers” in California and Washington, claimed he was involved in killing 12 women because he was controlled by multiple personalities. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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The belief in “lycanthropy,” or the transformation of people into wolves, can be traced back to at least 600 B.C., when King Nebuchadnezzar believed he suffered from such an affliction. In many legends and much folklore, wolves are singled out as being the most likely animal to have dealings with the devil. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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A person able to command such a metamorphosis became known as a werewolf (were was an Old English term for man). In the 16th century, Paracelsus wrote that violent, wicked men may return after death as an animal, usually a wolf. The purpose of this human-to-wolf transformation was the inevitable killing of humans, particularly children, in order to eat their flesh. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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Recurrent throughout werewolf literature is the theme of anthropophagy, or the enjoyment of eating human flesh. Jean Grenier, a 17th-century Frenchman, claimed to be a werewolf and confessed that he had devoured the flesh of many young girls.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Consider the story of the Sawney Beane family (pg. 46) and how their behavior may have reinforced the belief in werewolves and other similar monsters.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) was modeled on the 15th-century Wallachian nobleman Vlad Tepes, also known as “Vlad the Impaler” and “Drakul” (Dragon). Vampires usually had but one goal—to drink human blood—whereas werewolves mutilated and cannibalized. •

Vampires were also believed to be sexually involved with their victims.

One British “vampire” who in 1949 murdered nine victims, drank blood from each of them. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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In Jewish medieval legend a golem was a robot, or an artificial person (golem means a “clay figure supernaturally brought to life”). A golem is one who can orchestrate the destruction of another human being and have no remorse, no feeling for his or her victim or external need to defend his or her actions.

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These were the infamous German SS mobile killing units employed by the Nazis inside occupied Soviet Union to hunt down and exterminate those racially or politically opposed to the mission of the Third Reich. Considered to be the first step in Hitler’s “Final Solution” the murdered victims included Jews, communists, Roma (gypsies) and persons who were mentally or physically disabled.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Consider Viktor Frankl’s book, Mans Search for Meaning. Frankel spent three years as a prisoner in the Holocaust death camps. A psychiatrist by profession he noted the varied responses to extreme human indignity, suffering and death. Suffering, he noted, brought out the very best and very worst in those confined within its gates. Some willingly laid down their lives to protect fellow inmates while others collaborated with their guards, selling out their own people, in order to survive.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Men and women who commit such atrocities , are they possessed by evil or do they make conscious evil choices just as others choose good? Does evil even exist? (See the Gerard Schaefer Jr. case). ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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Anton LaVey, author of The Complete Witch, The Satanic Rituals, and The Satanic Bible., founded the Church of Satan on the witches’ feast day of Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht), April 30,1966. Members worship the trinity of the devil—Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil.

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Indulgence, instead of abstinence Vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams Undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical selfdeceit Kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates Vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek

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Responsibility, instead of concern for the psychic vampires Man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse, than those who walk on all fours, who because of his divine and intellectual development has become the most vicious of all

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All of the so-called sins, as they lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification

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The best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years (LaVey, 1969, p. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 25)

In 2000 in the small Louisiana town of Ponchatoula a Christian church became divided in leadership. A woman, Lois Mowbray, claimed to be a prophet. Some members left the church uncomfortable with its new directions. In 2005 Louis David Lamonica, the pastor of the church, confessed to authorities that he was a member of a cult at his own church. Part of the building was dedicated to Christian beliefs and another part to Satan worship. At the core of the satanic worship he claimed was the sacrificing of animals and having sex with children. He admitted to having sex with two of his sons. Seven other people, including his wife and Mowbray, were eventually indicted and two offenders, including Lamonica, were convicted. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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In the late 1980s a voodoo cult in Matamoros, Mexico, heavily involved in drug smuggling into the United States, was believed to have killed 15 to 20 victims, executing them with machetes, guns, and knives.

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The group had come to believe that through certain forms of witchcraft the drug smugglers could gain protection from police, bullets, and other threats to their drug trade.

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Secret charms and hoaxes of voodoo were practiced to meet the “special” needs of the smugglers. The group, led by a “godfather” and a female witch, killed and mutilated their victims. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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Most serial murderers who are involved in cultrelated homicides do not appear to be particularly advanced in Satan worship. Most appear to be self-styled Satanists who dabble in the occult. See the Robin Gecht, Edward Spreitzer, and Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis cases

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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Manhunter (The Red Dragon)

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Seven

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The Grey Zone

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Schindler’s List

Fictional story of a man who believes that with each successive murder he becomes more powerful. Fictional story of a serial killer on a Biblical mission. Story of Jews selected to work in the crematoriums during the WWII Holocaust. True story of a man who saved hundreds of Jews from being murdered in the Death Camps during WWII. ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

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Fortean Times: In Search of Sawney Beane: www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/129/in _search_of_sawney_bean.html

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The Anton Szandor LaVey Memorial: www.antonlavey.org

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CharlieManson.com www.charliemanson.com ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved....