Motivations - Compulsion

Florida Death Row inmate Wade Wilson is a convicted killer. Wade Wilson became one of America’s most widely discussed modern killers after murdering two women in Cape Coral, Florida, in 2019. The brutality of the crimes, combined with Wilson’s heavily tattooed appearance, courtroom behavior and extensive online fascination, transformed the case into a major true crime phenomenon across TikTok, YouTube and social media platforms. Wilson’s case generated enormous controversy because large online communities began obsessing over his appearance and personality despite the horrific nature of the murders. The viral attention surrounding the case reignited debates about “true crime fandom,” social media glorification of violent offenders and the ethics of internet-driven celebrity surrounding murder trials.

Paul Kenneth Bernardo became one of Canada's most infamous serial killers after committing a series of violent sexual assaults and the murders of three young women between 1987 and 1992. Before his arrest, Bernardo was responsible for numerous unsolved sexual assaults in the Toronto area, earning the nickname the "Scarborough Rapist." Alongside his wife, Karla Homolka, he murdered Tammy Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy, and Kristen French. His conviction remains one of the most significant criminal cases in Canadian history.

Paul Charles Denyer became one of Australia's most infamous serial killers after murdering three young women in Melbourne's bayside suburb of Frankston between June and July 1993. His crimes created widespread fear throughout Victoria, leading to one of the state's largest homicide investigations. Following his arrest, Denyer pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period. He remains incarcerated and is one of Australia's most notorious convicted serial killers.

Thayne Ormsby is an American man convicted of a 2010 triple homicide in Maine. At the age of 20, he carried out a violent attack resulting in multiple deaths within a single incident. He was later arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Elliot Rodger was an American mass murderer responsible for the 2014 Isla Vista killings in California. He carried out a planned multi-location attack targeting individuals in a university community. He killed six people and injured others before dying by suicide at the scene.

Darren Vickers is a British man convicted of the 1997 murder of eight-year-old Jamie Lavis in Greater Manchester, England. At the time, he worked as a bus driver, a role that placed him in a position of routine contact with the public, including children. The case gained significant attention due to the abuse of that position and the circumstances of the child’s disappearance. Vickers was later arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Herbert William Mullin became one of California's most infamous serial killers after murdering 13 people in and around Santa Cruz between October 1972 and February 1973. Mullin later claimed he believed the killings were necessary to prevent catastrophic earthquakes, a delusion linked to severe mental illness. His short but deadly murder spree ended with his arrest in February 1973, and his case remains one of the most widely studied examples of psychosis and serial homicide in the United States.