The Psychology of the Serial Killer Jerry Brudos

The making of a serial killer. Having examined the crimes of Jerry Brudos, what is the psychology behind why he killed.

Brudos was classified as a disorganised killer. He found targets when he could and had no plan of who he would murder next. It was clear that his hatred of the women he killed came from the females in his life. He started killing at twenty-nine, the average age of a serial killer being twenty-eight. This was one area of many that he fitted the classic serial killer profile. 

Many serial killers have controlling mothers and ineffective fathers; Brudos was no different in this respect.  

A Controlling Mother

The first significant incident occurred when he was five years old. He had spent the first five years of his life sitting on the floor observing his mother and her friends talk. He concluded that the high heels they wore were a sign of power. Like many serial killers, he was drawn by power in later life. At the time, though, he was an innocent boy. Without realising, and with the enthusiasm of youth, when he found a pair of high heels, he put them on. When his mother found him wearing them, her overreaction shamed the young Brudos. This was the first incident of a woman he cared for making him feel shameful and irrelevant.