Encyclopedia of Death and Dying

[Tiger Pinko]

Considering the (typical) psychological profile of most serial killers, how come Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer just stopped?

For most serial killers (who are male) it is for a kind of sexual satisfaction that never gets satisfied.
And yet... they just stopped and disappeared into the mist.

Theories?

[stanislarr]

I find that a lot of people are really interested in serial killers. I love reading about them and trying to figure out why they do what they do. It seems that nobody cares about killers unless they kill a lot.

Why are serial killers so interesting?

Which serial killer interests you the most?

Which serial killer scares you the most?

[fishnuts]

One theory that I have read about extensively and is widely believed, is that Jack the Ripper stopped killing because he was only killing for hire.
many people believe that he was actually the Queens physician(sir William Gull), who wanted him to get rid of the prostitutes in whitechapple because they thought that an illegitimate heir to the throne was concieved between prince Edward and a hooker. Prince Edward also had contracted syphilis. The last prostitute killed in whitechapple was named mary kelly and she had been pregnant at the time of the murder. Her uterus as well as the fetus were taken with other organs as trophies, since as far as he led on Jack was a cannibal.

Sometimes serial killers stop killing because they are getting to close to being caught, they die or go to prison for other reasons. And sometimes they are killing for a purpose and when the finish, they can stop.