Why Do People Kill?

In the wake of the Mickey Shunick disappearance, the new developments in the Lisa Pate case and the recent shootings in Aurora, Colorado, I woke up this morning thinking to myself, "Why Do People Kill?"

Let's face it, we have all gotten angry enough to have bad thoughts about someone in the heat of the moment.  You may have even said out loud, "I'm gonna kill him/her".  But did you really mean it?  The answer most people would give is, "No".

What about the small population of people in the world who take joy in harming others?  Why?  What makes them different?

People kill for numerous amounts of reasons.  One motive may be revenge.  Usually, when someone kills out of vengeance, they do not think clearly, resulting in the instant decision to kill based on anger.  Though most vengeful killings are not thought through or premeditated, some killings are.  These killers are generally filled with jealousy, anger, hatred.  Although revenge may be one of the main reasons people kill, it is certainly not the only one.

Dedicated murderers, serial killers, or those who are clinically insane murder people as a living.  These killers think of it as a way of life.  It's almost natural to them.  Just as you and I eat when we get hungry, killing to them is just a simple fulfillment.  Many of theses killers have sick minds that fabricate convoluted thoughts of torture, mutilation, rape, and any other horrible thing their mind can think of to carry out on their victims.

These sick men and women become ill from a number of reasons.  They may be born with mental illness, or more complex and scarring situations in which the killer was abused or molested as a child.  Any cause can lead to the psychological damage of someone, thus producing an insane serial killer, but no matter the reason for someone being clinically insane and unstable, the consequences remain the same.

I was watching the news last night and the television station did an interview with a woman who said Brandon Scott Lavergne has been stalking her for years.  Even going so far as to move near her.  Her face was not on television, but you could hear the fright in her voice.  She said to the reporter, that when she was younger Brandon Scott Lavernge, "Put his hand in an ant pile, grabbed a handful of ants and shoved them in my mouth."  She has lived in fear of this man for years.

Do killers living amongst us give us clues that they are bad people?  Sometimes they do and sometime they don't.  Please tell your children and your loved ones to always pay attention to their environment and those in it.

[Via:  Answerbag]