Criminology of a Serial Killer Pedro Alonso Lopez - Essay Example

Criminology of a Serial Killer: Pedro Alonso Lopez Introduction The world of a serial killer would often be filled with horror, often starting with a dysfunctional family which netted out verbal, sexual and emotional abuse. The childhood of such a person could be filled by torment and pushes them to the limits of crime. Even though a majority of these serial killers would just look like any normal human beings, their inside lives reveal otherwise. Defining a serial killer has for a long time become elusive even as scholars seek to find a universal definition. Although not a new field in criminology, it has attracted scientific study only in the past few decades, with Biagi-Chai (2012) tracing its existence back to the end of the 1970s with the US noted to be the country with the most prolific serial killers. Generally, one would be referred to as a serial killer if that person has committed a series of at least three homicides; committed the homicides over a period exceeding one month; has time to cool off between the crimes; and is motivated by some monetary of psychological gratification (Kerr, 2011). These pointers are just a summary description of a serial killer, though other scholars could consider different scales for the same variables. Over years, the society has had numerous serial killers that have had a significant impact on the society. In fact, some became infamous because of their gruesome activities. Usually, these people would be convicted for just a few of the victims involved, but there could be the possibility that they killed even many more (Biagi-Chai, 2012). The complex nature of their operations and the discrepancies attributed to geographical locations make investigations on serial killers difficult. As noted by Kerr (2011), they live among other normal people. Their manipulative and coldly calculating nature makes them thrive in the midst of people without being noticed. Pedro Alonso Lopez Born on October 8, 1948 in Santa Isabel, Columbia, Pedro Alonzo Lopez is a Colombian serial killer. He is accused of raping and also killing over 300 girls in his native country, Ecuador and Peru, among other possible countries. Lopez could have had numerous local charges that brought him to the public limelight, but international attention was drawn to this criminal in 1980 through an interview in his Ambato prison cell, an interview conducted by a freelance photojournalist, Ron Laytner (Kerr, 2011). The interview was published in Chicago Tribune newspaper and later in the Sacramento Bee and Toronto Sun before it spread across international borders. As from the publications on this interview, 1980 was the year that Lopez earned the title, the “Monster of Andes” following his revelation of the graves of his 59 victims to the police in Ecuador. All the victims were girls aged between nine and twelve. In 1983, Lopez was found guilty of the murder of 110 girls in Ecuador. He confessed to have murdered some 240 more of the girls who were reported missing in the Colombian and Peru neighborhoods. In 1998, this serial killer was set to freedom from a psychiatric hospital after an improvement in his behaviors having been initially found to be insane. To understand the psychology of a serial killer, it would be crucial to revisit the childhood and upbringing of such a person, thus the importance of reviewing the growth path of Lopez. According to Kerr (2011), Lopez was born to a father, one of the members of the Colombian Conservative Party, who was killed on April 4, 1948. From the account of the serial killer, his mother was a prostitute and had thirteen children. In 1957 when he was just 8, Lopez was found raping his younger sister and was consequently evicted from their family home. A man then picked him up, took him to a deserted house where he repeatedly sodomized the boy before throwing him back to the streets. When he was 12, an American family took him in and enrolled him into an orphanage school. However, having been molested by one of the male teachers, he ran away. When he turned 18, he was involved in car theft, selling the cars to local chop shops for a living. He was nonetheless apprehended by authorities. This incarceration perhaps marked a critical point in the life of Lopez. While in prison, he was brutally gang-raped. He hunted down the perpetrators and killed them while still in incarceration. It was after serving the jail term that Lopez started his activities of preying on girls in Peru. In his account, Kerr (2011) says that he had killed over 100 of such young girls by the year 1978. A native tribe had caught up with him and was pursuing his execution, only for an American missionary to convince them to hand the criminal over to the state police. He was soon released by the police and had to flee to Colombia and then later to Ecuador. Here, he confessed to have killed about three girls in a week, claiming that they were more innocent, trusting and gentle. Later, in a failed abduction, Lopez was arrested by market traders. According to Kerr (2011), the serial killer confessed to more than 300 murders. The police did not believe his confessions until a flash flood unearthed a mass grave where he had buried his victims. He was arrested in 1980, but the government of Ecuador freed him on August 31, 1994, only to be re-arrested almost an hour later for being an illegal immigrant. He was deported to the Columbian police and charged with the murder of a 20-year old. A psychometric test found him insane and was thus sent to a Bogota hospital. This serial killer was upbeat in his interview from the prison cell, referring to himself as “the man of the century” (Kerr, 2011, n.p.). In 1998, Lopez was declared sane and released on a bail of $50. However, in 2002, Interpol gave an advisory for his re-arrest over a fresh murder. Little is known about his current whereabouts. Evaluation of the Serial Killer, Lopez There are many reasons that could have led Lopez into being a serial killer. As argued out by Barkan and Bryjak, childhood sexual and physical abuse contributes significantly to the making of “thrill-oriented serial killers” (2009, 52). Lopez could be a victim of his childhood abuse that led him to becoming a serial killer. Kerr (2011) captures this well when he documents the justification he gave for his crimes saying that he was stealing the innocence of the girls just as he had his stolen at the age of 8. However, there are many Americans who had an abusive childhood but did not grow up to be murderers. Whereas physical and sexual abuse in childhood is significant in turning one into a serial killer, it does not sufficiently qualify as the primary maker of a serial killer. Thus, the behavior of Lopez could be attributed to an intertwining of childhood abuse with other factors. Neuropsychiatric factors could have also contributed to Lopez being a serial killer. According to Barkan and Bryjak (2009), disorders related to the mental health of an individual could predispose the tendencies of being a serial killer. Lopez was noted to suffer from psychiatric challenges and was sent to the psychiatric wing of a hospital in Bogota. Indeed, the criminal displayed signs of psychiatric disorders when, in his interview, noted that he drew pleasure in looking into the eyes of his young victims as he strangled them to death and watch life ooze out of them (Kerr, 2011). This neuropsychiatric disorder could be what led this man into becoming a serial killer. Furthermore, environmental factors could be attributed to the criminal acts committed by Lopez. As noted by Kerr (2011), Lopez was born in a period of time in Colombia referred to as La Violencia that started with the assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a popular liberal politician. This was followed by the Civil War which saw over 200,000 lives lost over the next 10 years. The period became notable because of the horrific way in which people were killed. With the scarcity of guns, swords and knives were used instead. Then, the crime rate in Colombia was 50 times higher than it was anywhere else in the world. Thus, violence, being the way of life in Colombia then, was not strange to the young Lopez. Furthermore, her prostitute mother ruling the household of thirteen with a rod of iron could have aggravated the violence nature in Lopez. Finally, genetic factors could also have played a role. Serial killers, and indeed many other violent offenders, would have an extra Y chromosome. This extra chromosome has been noted by investigators as a predictor of masculine hostile behavior referred to as “the XYY super male” (Barkan & Bryjak, 2009, 52). This could be the reason that drove the young Lopez into raping his younger sibling. However, this would not be a sufficient enough argument as no records of genetic analysis for Lopez exist. Even though his genetic make-up could be a contribution, it would not be said with certainty that it is the case. Solution Over years, the methods used to catch serial killers have been reactive. The most popular of these methods is criminal profiling (Biagi-Chai, 2012). This involves apprehension of serial killers after the crime has been committed. The process involves narrowing down to the suspects involved in the crime by evaluating characteristics or qualities that could point out to possibility of involvement. According to Zeigler (2010), such traits borrow heavily from research and have been associated with similar perpetrators in the past. Among the traits that could be found in Lopez include violence, being inhumane and instability in life. Even though successfully used in some cases, this tool does not help law enforcers find a specific suspect but rather gives an idea of what to identify in a suspect. Even in this century, there exists limited knowledge on the mindset of a serial killer. This has made it difficult to come up with policies to address the issue. Apparently, harsh punishments would be expected to deter such crimes as noted by Zeigler (2010). In fact, should this have been the case, Lopez would have reformed when apprehended for car theft or later when caught by market traders. However, these just marked the beginning of his atrocious acts. The development of a serial killer begins with signs early enough in their lives. Biagi-Chai (2012) observes behaviors such as prolonged bedwetting, torturing animals and setting fires among signs of a potential serial killer in the making. This is what Zeigler (2010) refers to as Extreme Conduct Disorder and include aggression towards other people and animals as well. Lopez exhibited signs of a serial killer enough when he raped his younger sister. This was the point appropriate action should have been taken to deter the development of the criminal habit. Therefore, for law enforcers to develop policies that would appropriately deal with serial killers, it should seek to address the early warning signs. Preventive measures should seek to foster and understanding of why such crimes as serial killing occur. According to Zeigler (2010), this approach has been noted to be difficult because serial killers have varied pathologies in their acts. This makes if difficult to come up with a general theory on the crime. This leads to the recommendation by Biagi-Chai (2012) to equip children with self control skills through proper parenting. This would help deter serial killer tendencies, attributed to the lack of self control. Conclusion Understanding the mindset of a serial killer remains a challenge, this being a relatively new field of study in criminology. Pedro Alonso Lopez is among the internationally renowned serial killers, having murdered over 300 girls. No one reason could be attributed to the making of Lopez, the serial killer. Instead, a combination of childhood sexual and physical abuse, environmental factors, neuropsychiatric factors and probably, genetic factors could together have played a role in creating the serial killer in the Colombian-born man. Dealing with such serial killers by law enforcement authorities has proven challenging because of reliance on reactive measures, based on the flimsiness of knowledge in the field. However, if more effort would be put towards identifying the early warning signs in time, then serial killing crimes such as those perpetrated by Lopez would be brought to a minimum. This, therefore, calls for more extensive research on preventive measures that seek to understand the mindset of a serial killer. References Barkan, S. & Bryjak, G. (2009). Myths and realities of crime and justice: What every American should know. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Biagi-Chai, F. (2012). Serial killers: Psychiatry, criminology, responsibility. Oxon, OX: Routledge. Kerr, G. (2011). World serial killers. Victoria: Canary Press. Zeigler, N. (2010). Inside the mind of a serial killer. Retrieved 4 December 2014 from http://www.lycoming.edu/schemata/documents/soccriminology_fall2009issue.veryveryfinalpdf.pdf Read More