Definition
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the general definition of spree killer is a person (or more than one person) who commits two or more murders without a cooling-off period; the lack of a cooling-off period marking the difference between a spree killer and a serial killer. The category has, however, been found to be of no real value to law enforcement, because of definitional problems relating to the concept of a "cooling-off period". Serial killers are different in that the murders are clearly separate events, happening at different times, while the attacks of mass murderers are defined by one incident, with no distinctive time period between the murders.
How to distinguish a spree killer from a mass murderer, or even serial killer is subject to a lot of controversy and often there doesn't seem to be any coherence in the application of the term. The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, e.g. lists five different categories of spree killers and cites Mark O. Barton as an example for the second one, even though he is also mentioned in a row with other mass murderers like Patrick Sherrill in the respective entry about mass murder. In "The Anatomy Of Motive" John E. Douglas cites Charles Starkweather and Andrew Cunanan as examples of spree killers, while Jack Levin calls Cunanan a serial killerand Starkweather a mass murderer.
In "Controversial issues in criminology" it is stated that "he element of time involved between murderous acts is primary in the differentiation of serial, mass, and spree murderers", later elaborating that spree killers "will engage in the killing acts for days or weeks" while the "methods of murder and types of victims vary". Andrew Cunanan is again given as an example for spree killing, while Charles Whitman is mentioned in connection with mass murder, and Jeffrey Dahmer with serial killing.
Douglas explains that the identity of a serial killer is generally unknown until he is caught, while the mass murderer's identity is only learned after he has committed his crime. The identity of the spree killer, on the other hand, is usually known by police, even while his spree continues, and he is sought as a fugitive.
Another term, rampage killer, has sometimes been used to describe spree killers, but it does not differentiate between mass murderers and spree killers.
Read more about this topic: Spree Killer
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