Focusing on the alarming issue of occupational homicide, the book delves into its historical context, causes, and the profiles of perpetrators. By analyzing real incidents, the author creates a novel framework for understanding these crimes and introduces a unique categorization method. The work not only identifies characteristics of potentially violent individuals but also concludes with practical prevention strategies tailored for diverse workplace settings, aiming to enhance safety for American workers.
Exploring the intricacies of mass murder, this book delves into the often-misunderstood motivations behind such crimes, challenging common myths and media portrayals. It offers a novel framework for categorizing and analyzing both the act and the perpetrator, drawing on real case histories from America. The author provides insights that will engage criminologists and those intrigued by the sociology of crime, highlighting the evolving nature of these tragic events and the complexities of the individuals involved.
In the late sixties, a serial killer calling himself the Zodiac terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area, committing brutal, random attacks, and bragging about them in letters to the San Francisco Chronicle. In Santa Rosa, fifty miles to the north, investigators Manny Bruin and Mick Millian were asked to tail potential suspect Byron Avion, an odd, portly man admittedly obsessed with the Zodiac. He had other eccentricities as well, not the least of which was his large collection of cardboard boxes, carefully stacked and tied shut with white nylon rope. But peculiar habits do not a criminal make - that is, not until the bodies of young female hitchhikers began appearing in ditches, tied up with white nylon rope. That and a dozen other connections convinced Bruin and Millian that Avion was the Highway 101 Murderer, a Zodiac-style killer who prowled the Santa Rosa area. Despite the connections, a decade-long investigation was unable to connect Avion to the crimes, or connect Zodiac to the northern murders. Bruin and Millian eventually became so frustrated that they dubbed Avion "Suspect Zero," and hoped for something to break the case open. When that break finally came, it re-wrote the book on homicide investigations and forever changed the direction of each man's life.
Explores the warning signs and motivations for murders committed by teenagers
with no history of violence. The author asserts that understanding these
patterns of behaviour can lead to a less violent society in the future.
