Ipswich and Atlantic City under attack

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15835101/

With a suspect in the Ipswich Ripper case caught, here on American soil, another killer has claimed four women (the article doesn't make it clear if they were prostitutes or not, but it was Atlantic City). A recent autopsy revealed that at least one of the victims was strangled. All four bodies were found lined up behind the same motel, which could indicate a disorganized offender (the dumping ground was convenient) or a connection to that specific spot. The article points out that all the bodies were facing east, which almost sounds ritualistic. So far, there are no suspects in the Atlantic City case, but we can probably expect him to be similar to the Ipswich suspect; a loner who has had problems with women. But that could also describe many men who don't become serial killers. Dennis Rader, arrested a few years ago as Kansas' BTK killer, referred to a "factor X" that made him kill, that he could not define. Even if Rader was just looking for a justification for his crimes, he raises a valid point. What is that one factor, that one trigger, that turns an unfortunate but common event, like a divorce, or an all too common torment like child abuse into a thirst for blood and vengeance in a select few? Many criminologists indicate that it is not only genetics or only upbringing that turns someone into a killer, but a still unknown combination of the two, possibly along with an undetermined "factor X."