Profile of a Killer

Profile of a Killer

            A serial killer is a person who kills three or more people in a given period. Serial killers kill people on different occasions for different reasons. The killings may occur within days, months or years. Serial killers have existed since the 20th century up to date. The reasons behind why the serial killers kill their victims vary from one serial killer to another, but many serial killers kill their victims due to psychological reasons. Most serial killers are arrested and jailed for many years because of their inhuman nature. Luis Garavito is a Colombian serial killer who is suspected of having killed more than three hundred victims. Crime theories are used to analyze and explain the motives and reasons that make serial killers to murder their victims.

Luis Alfredo Garavito is a serial killer who was born on January 25, 1957, in Genova, Colombia. Luis Garavito family consists of seven brothers (Ardila,2017). In the family, Luis Garavito is the oldest son of his parents. In his testimony, Luis Garavito admitted that he suffered sexual abuse from his father while he was young. The sexual abuse suffered by Luis Garavito made him suffer physical and emotional abuse, which changed his character while he was a young boy. In his childhood, Luis Garavito attended school for several years and dropped out of school due to abuse from his father. Luis attended school for less than five years because his family was poor, and then he moved to the streets to look for a source of income. Due to low education, Luis Garavito worked as a peddler in the streets of Colombia to meet his needs. People who know Luis Gravito claims that he is a kind person but at the same time a person who is easily angered. Garavito had a girlfriend named Teresa while he was working as a peddler and they had one child. Sexual abuse that Luis Garavito received from his father while he was young greatly affected his character to later become a rapist and a serial killer.

Garavito started killing young children aged between six and sixteen years in the 1990s. Garavito victims were boys with the same social status. Most of the victims were street children who had no food to eat (Parker,2017). Garavito victims also included young boys who came from low-income families, and they lacked basic needs. Luis Garavito offered gifts and a small amount of money to the peasant boys to make friends with them. After creating a friendship with the young boys, Gravito would then take the boys for a long walk where the boys would get tired. After the boys got tired, Garavito would then rape them and torture them until death. Garavito would cut the throats of his victims and dismember their corpses. In 1999, Garavito who had a long alcohol history was arrested after being suspected of having raped a boy. Garavito used to take alcohol before murdering his victims, which made him act mercilessly on his victims. After his arrest, Garavito confessed to having killed 140 young boys where he was then jailed.

Sociological positivism is a crime theory that suggests how social factors can predispose people to crime activities (Ritzer,2017). Adolphe Quetelet came up with sociological positivism theory where he used data and statistical analysis to show the relationship between crime and social factors. The theory suggests that age, gender, education, poverty, alcohol consumption, and subculture are social factors that contribute to crime. Poverty, use of alcohol, low level of education, and poor child upbringing culture predisposes individuals to crime. For the case of Luis Garavito, the theory sociological positivism applies to him because he experienced social factors such as lack of education, poverty, alcohol consumption, and sexual abuse from his father while he was young. Research has shown that people who experience poverty in their childhood have difficulties in following the law when they become adults. Luis Garavito came from a low-income family where he could not complete his studies. Luis could not get a good job because of his low education status hence ending up in criminal activities. When Garavito was a young boy, he experienced sexual abuse from his father, which made him become a rapist later. Garavito became a rapist to experience the other side of rape. Raping his victims motivated Garavito to kill them. Sociological positivism theory applies to Garavito’s case because several social factors predisposed him to become a rapist and a serial killer.

In summary, a serial killer is a person who kills three or more people on different occasions due to psychological factors. Since the 20th century, serial killers exist, and they give various reasons for their killing lifestyle. Crime theories provide different reasons why some individuals engage in criminal activities. Sociological positivism is a crime theory that shows the relationship between social factors and crime. Luis Garavito is a Colombian rapist and serial killer who admitted to having killed 140 young boys. Garavito was exposed to sexual abuse while he was a young boy, which affected him emotionally. Also, Garavito came from a poor family, and he could not complete his studies. The social factors such as lack of education and alcohol consumption predisposed Luis Garavito to crime according to sociological positivism theory.