Serial Killing For Profit

This the first book to focus specifically on serial killers motivated by monetary gain. Serial Killing for Profit: Multiple Murder for Money addresses a gap in the existing literature by documenting one dozen of the most notorious perpetrators of commercial serial murder—murderers who kill to secure inheritances and pensions, to sell possessions or even the body itself, or as murderers-for-hire. In these pages, readers will encounter some of the nation's most infamous and disturbing criminals, including "America's first serial killer," Herman Mudgett; Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the "Honeymoon Killers;" Los Angeles's "Night Stalker," Richard Ramirez; the "black widow" Blanche Taylor Moore; and Dana Sue Gray, who killed three women for shopping money. Author Dirk Gibson gets to the twisted heart of each case, meticulously detailing the crimes, the victims, the hunt for the killers, the distinctive variations on the motive of "killing for money," and the lessons learned by investigators in each instance. Everyone from professional investigators to true crime aficionados will be riveted by these stunning accounts.

Serial Killing for Profit: Multiple Murder for Money addresses a gap in the existing literature by documenting one dozen of the most notorious perpetrators of commercial serial murder—murderers who kill to secure inheritances and pensions, to sell possessions or even the body itself, or as murderers-for-hire. In these pages, readers will encounter some of the nation's most infamous and disturbing criminals, including "America's first serial killer," Herman Mudgett; Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the "Honeymoon Killers;" Los Angeles's "Night Stalker," Richard Ramirez; the "black widow" Blanche Taylor Moore; and Dana Sue Gray, who killed three women for shopping money. Author Dirk Gibson gets to the twisted heart of each case, meticulously detailing the crimes, the victims, the hunt for the killers, the distinctive variations on the motive of "killing for money," and the lessons learned by investigators in each instance. Everyone from professional investigators to true crime aficionados will be riveted by these stunning accounts.

This the first book to focus specifically on serial killers motivated by monetary gain. Serial Killing for Profit: Multiple Murder for Money addresses a gap in the existing literature by documenting one dozen of the most notorious perpetrators of commercial serial murder--murderers who kill to secure inheritances and pensions, to sell possessions or even the body itself, or as murderers-for-hire. In these pages, readers will encounter some of the nation's most infamous and disturbing criminals, including "America's first serial killer," Herman Mudgett; Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the "Honeymoon Killers;" Los Angeles's "Night Stalker," Richard Ramirez; the "black widow" Blanche Taylor Moore; and Dana Sue Gray, who killed three women for shopping money. Author Dirk Gibson gets to the twisted heart of each case, meticulously detailing the crimes, the victims, the hunt for the killers, the distinctive variations on the motive of "killing for money," and the lessons learned by investigators in each instance. Everyone from professional investigators to true crime aficionados will be riveted by these stunning accounts.

This is another intriguing book from the author of Serial Sex Killers and Sexual Psychopaths which examines the serial killer who murders for profit. All in all, fourteen of the world's most notorious serial killers are profiled including the Body Snatchers, William Burke and William Hare; William Palmer, the Prince of Poisoners; the Black Widows, Catherine Flannagan and Margaret Higgins; French serial killer Marcel Petiot; Dorothea Puente, the Sacramento Killer; Britain's worst serial killer, Harold Shipman and Australia's worst serial killer, John Wayne Glover. The book asks the question as to whether William Palmer, Britain's most notorious poisoner, was given a fair trial or whether his trial was politically motivated. The author brings us into the curious an intriguing world of the Acid Bath Murderer, British born, John George Haigh who dissolved all his victims in vats of acid because he believed that if the police could not find a body then he could not be convicted for murder. In a hugely entertaining chapter the author discusses America's first serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes who was convicted of multiple murder in 1895 and the possibility that Holmes and Jack the Ripper may have been the same person. He sifts through the forensic evidence with many credible arguments made in favour of this sensational theory. Read about Americans Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, the Lonely Hearts Killers who were convicted in 1951. Fernandez was the Lothario who seduced and robbed single women who wrote to him in Lonely Hearts Clubs. Martha was his lover and accomplice who helped him perfect his crimes. One of the most unpleasant of all of these killers was American Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker who was convicted in 1988. Ramirez began his career as a thief and then graduated to burglary. Later, he added killing, rape and sodomy to his repertoire. An avowed Satanist, he terrorized Los Angeles and later San Francisco in the 1980s. Read about his particularly heinous crimes. They are all here, with all the arguments for and against their convictions, and up to date information about each case so that you, the reader, can decide if these notorious killers truly deserved the punishment they received for the commission of their crime - murder for profit.

In this fascinating book, Peter Vronsky exposes and investigates the phenomenon of women who kill—and the political, economic, social and sexual implications buried with each victim. How many of us are even remotely prepared to imagine our mothers, daughters, sisters or grandmothers as fiendish killers? For centuries we have been conditioned to think of serial murderers and psychopathic predators as men—with women registering low on our paranoia radar. Perhaps that’s why so many trusting husbands, lovers, family friends, and children have fallen prey to “the female monster.” From history’s earliest recorded cases of homicidal females to Irma Grese, the Nazi Beast of Belsen, from Britain’s notorious child-slayer Myra Hindley to ‘Honeymoon Killer’ Martha Beck to the sensational cult of Aileen Wournos—the first female serial killer-as-celebrity—to cult killers, homicidal missionaries, and our pop-culture fascination with the sexy femme fatale, Vronsky not only challenges our ordinary standards of good and evil but also defies our basic accepted perceptions of gender role and identity. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

In the pages of The Professional Serial Killer and the Career of Ted Bundy, you will find yourself eerily intrigued as the serial killer introduces himself to you. Say hello to your neighbor, partner, son, or daughter-whose dual identity now includes the facade of Politician, Clergyman, Lawyer, Contractor, or Compliance Officer. Your imagination will spark as you slowly but gradually become enamored to the serial killer's ingenuity, as an entrepreneur in the art of murder. Now that you are chillingly mesmerized by his charm, the serial killer takes great pleasure in his sting operation. Thrilled as he passionately and addictively perfects his art, the killer creatively refines his ruse for capturing his victims. In order to inflict the highest level of horror and pain each scene is designed to give the killer an ultimate high of sadistic pleasure. As you reel back and forth, from the disdain you feel for the killer, a sudden and unsuspecting sinking feeling erupts through your very being. The sensation that this is not a horror movie, illuminates your mind, and grasps your fascination with the question: How did this happen? A more intriguing question may be: When did this start? You may want to ask three-year old Ted Bundy.

A comprehensive examination into the frightening true crime history of serial homicide—including information on America’s most prolific serial killers such as: Jeffrey Dahmer • Ted Bundy • “Co-ed Killer” Ed Kemper • The BTK Killer • “Highway Stalker” Henry Lee Lucas • Monte Ralph Rissell • “Shoe Fetish Slayer” Jerry Brudos • “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez • “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski • Ed Gein “The Butcher of Plainfield” • “Killer Clown” John Wayne Gacy • Andrew Cunanan • And more... In this unique book, Peter Vronsky documents the psychological, investigative, and cultural aspects of serial murder, beginning with its first recorded instance in Ancient Rome through fifteenth-century France on to such notorious contemporary cases as cannibal/necrophile Ed Kemper, the BTK killer, Henry Lee Lucas, Monte Ralph Rissell, Jerry Brudos, Richard Ramirez, “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the emergence of what he classifies as the “serial rampage killer” such as Andrew Cunanan, who murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace. Vronsky not only offers sound theories on what makes a serial killer but also makes concrete suggestions on how to survive an encounter with one—from recognizing verbal warning signs to physical confrontational resistance. Exhaustively researched with transcripts of interviews with killers, and featuring up-to-date information on the apprehension and conviction of the Green River killer and the Beltway Snipers, Vronsky’s one-of-a-kind book covers every conceivable aspect of an endlessly riveting true crime phenomenon. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS