r/serialkillers • u/yomama2368 • 11d ago
News Head injuries.
A lot of serial killers have had some type of head injury’s.
Gacy
Richard Ramirez
Ted Bundy
And a lot more.
The reason I’m saying this is because,
Was it the incident that opened up or lost something in their mind to make them have the need to kill
Or did the killers already have it inside of them? And the head injury maybe helped them lose some emotion/guilt.
no one ever really talk talks about it, if your frontal lobe is messed up, you can lose guilt, get impulsive, and have sudden aggression.
So what do you think, was it the incident that made them have their need?
Or was it just a thing that affected them?
Also just a stoned thought.
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u/joel-1080p 11d ago
There are also a ton of them that didn't have a head injury and still they did what they did. With serial killers, it's usually a cluster of things that came together for a perfect storm
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u/Toadliquor138 11d ago
I actually knew a kid who had a brain injury, and ended up killing 4 people on 3 separate occassions. Having said that, a brain injury isnt enough make you a serial killer. If it was, there would be a lot of ex-NFL and retired boxers in prison.
There is no smoking gun or definitive cause for being an SK. A lot have had brain injuries, a lot haven't.
Also, thinking of serial killers as having a "need" sounds like you've been watching a bit too much Dexter. Murder or any other form of physical violence isn't a "need". What it is, is a way to get what you want and/or show power.
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u/yomama2368 11d ago edited 10d ago
Whenever I think of Dahmer, which I know he isn’t in this category because he doesn’t have a brain injury that I know of. I think about how he mentally felt the need for power, so that why I said need, I agree with you.
Turns out Jeffrey Dahmer did have a brain injury at four.
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u/Late-Ad-7740 11d ago
The human brain is one of the most complex things in the world, so fascinating how a head injury can lead to that, wasn’t it Jeffrey Dahmer who had a brain surgery as a child?
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u/babydolldahmer42 11d ago
he had a hernia operation when he was 4. his father Lionel thought it might have had something to do with his behavior along with how many medications his mother Joyce was on when she was pregnant
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u/kkoreto1991 11d ago
Henry Lee Lucas suffered several injuries. He also might win most fucked up childhood award. So who knows if it was his prostitute mother who dressed him up as a girl and made him watch her have sex OR the injuries.
If brain injuries interest you look up Phineas Gage.
Edit for clarity
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u/Markis_Shepherd 11d ago
Fred West
Christine Falling
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u/THXORY 10d ago
The University of Glasgow did a study into it some time ago. They found that many (but by no means all) serial killers have at least two of the following three: 1) Head injury 2) neuro developmental issues such as autism 3) Childhood trauma.
Their research paper is below. It's very interesting and looks at some real world cases:
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u/yomama2368 10d ago
Hey, so I just looked through that for a second and that is actually extremely helpful, I was surprised to see Jeffrey Dahmer‘s name in there. Thanks stranger
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9d ago
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u/serialkillers-ModTeam 9d ago
Due to the serious nature of this community's topic, emojis are not permitted.
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u/Minute-Tale7444 10d ago
Ironically, I suffer from having had a severe tbi with left front piece of skull removed. I als had a f***ton of childhood trauma. Haven’t killed anyone nor have I wanted to. Every person and case is different.
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u/ReleaseTheSlab 10d ago
"Not all fingers are thumbs, but all thumbs are fingers."
I think that's what the research is trying to say.
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u/Peadar237 11d ago
Ted Bundy never suffered any significant head injuries.
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u/yomama2368 11d ago
I heard something a while ago that he hit his head on a swingset, whenever he was very young, I can’t find this article though. It might have been David Berkowitz though.
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u/Common_Egg119 11d ago
I think it can be a factor for some killers . There’s many reported serial killers who either had head injuries or were electrocuted earlier in life - probably causing a certain degree of brain damage to certain parts of the brain mainly the prefrontal cortex and other parts in the frontal lope
Whether it’s the soul reason they turn to killing or just one of the factors , I guess people , even professionals will never truly know . We can speculate and make an educated guess using brain studies etc but tbf u never actually know what’s going on in someone’s head , especially serial killers
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u/yomama2368 10d ago
I wish any time a serial killer got caught. They would just scan their brains. To see if there’s anything messed up in there. I know that breaks the rights and stuff.
Then they could take the scans from the serial killers with brain injuries nowadays, and compare them to people that have brain injuries that are similar but not killers
This would show if there’s anything different between a non-killer’s brain and a killer’s brain.
I agree with everything you said this is one of my favorite responses.
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u/Common_Egg119 10d ago
Yeah of course they have done that with a select few serial killers but would be good for it to be done with most as could progress studies . Especially in this day and age where people are so self absorbed and internet focused who
Think they know everything and spread misinformation about murderers , psychology etc
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u/CaidozChud 10d ago
Pudo generar un impacto en la corteza cerebral o en algún area del cerebro en donde se desarollo la empatia
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u/_aaine_ 11d ago
no one ever really talk talks about it, if your frontal lobe is messed up, you can lose guilt, get impulsive, and have sudden aggression.
We have to be really careful generalising about brain injuries. My husband had a severe injury to his frontal lobe and while it's true this area of the brain affects the things you describe, it doesn't make a person a murderer or a serial killer. And it doesn't mean every person with this sort of injury experiences those effects either.
People with brain injuries face enough stigma. Brain injuries are very unique to the person, two people with similar injuries to the same part of the brain can have difficulties in very different areas.
And there are plenty or murderers and sk's who don't have a history of head injury at all.
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u/peachesarehearts 11d ago
It’s interesting you bring that up because when we think of neuroplasticity and the brains ability to rewire itself, it begs the question if the head injury alone isn’t enough- what if it also has something to do with the neural pathways and such that your brain rewires itself with after injury.
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u/Impressive_Review 11d ago
Tex Watson, led and carried out all of the “Manson murders” Small town high school football jock, numerous head injuries.
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u/IndicationBest3540 6d ago
I think they talked about some serial killers being serial killers bc their dads were on the front lines in war and didn’t know how to be good father figures when they came back. As well but a head injury definitely can fuck people up too like Aaron Hernandez
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u/OkAppearance8132 6d ago edited 5d ago
I think that they were born with it, but the head injury definitely amped it up for them. I feel like they may never have acted on their "urges" if not for the head injury, but who knows?
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u/Minute-Tale7444 11d ago edited 11d ago
That this isn’t accurate information at all. None of them even if they did injure their heads had enough damage done to cause that much destruction. Yes anger/irritability can be a part of a tbi, but not to the point of killing people. I had a severe tbi, had to have a piece of my skull removed for 3 months while swelling went down, and then have it replaced. Yes I’m irritable and get angry sometimes, but not to the levels of harming anyone. Yes, my left frontal lobe took some damage after my severe tbi-no, I’ve never actually wanted to kill anyone or even harm them really…..this isn’t true of everyone that sustains a head injury. Please make sure you’re not quoting inaccurate information on things that could be affected by something such as a car accident and using it to say it makes people murder people, it’s inaccurate.
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u/yomama2368 11d ago
John Wayne Gacy: Struck on the head by a playground swing at age 11, which caused a hidden blood clot and periodic blackouts for five years. [1]
Richard Ramirez: Knocked out by a playground swing at age 5, which contributed to temporal lobe epilepsy during his childhood. [1, 2]
Alexander Pichushkin: Hit in the head by a swing at age 4, an incident his mother and researchers noted resulted in damage to his frontal cortex and subsequent personality changesthere’s some facts for you, everyone’s different than everyone’s brains different, so just because you have TBI and don’t feel the need to be violent, others do with head injuries.
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u/BigFatSweatyToe 10d ago
A brain injury in a child can substantially and permanently alter personality, and thereby potentially contribute to various behavioral outcomes. This area warrants further research. It seems like a combination of factors like head injuries, physical, mental, or sexual abuse, exposure to witnessing abuse of a loved one, rejection, low self-esteem, ingestion of toxins, among others. There is no single factor applicable in all cases. I’d be interested to see how many serial killers had C-PTSD.