Chapter 12 - Our Understanding of Serial Killers Evolves

Summary

The author concludes the book by discussing how we must detect female serial killers (FSKs), due to the typical covert nature of their crimes, but we catch male serial killers (MSKs), attending to the overt evidence they leave behind. She presents the case study of FSK Reta Mays, a nurse’s aide who murdered disabled veterans. At Mays’ sentencing, Judge Thomas Kleeh told Mays, “You’re the monster no one sees coming,” perfectly capturing the notion that FSKs may go undetected because they are typically individuals, such as nurses, nurse’s aides, or caregivers, whom no one would suspect of committing heinous crimes against vulnerable individuals. The author ends by challenging contemporary legal notions of sanity and stressing the need for greater mental health understanding, intervention, and treatment to promote wellness and, perhaps, prevent murder.