Serial Killers and Mass Murderers

Clifford Olson Jr., Serial Killer

Clifford Olson Jr confessed to the rape and murder of 11 teenagers, and it's suspected he had more than 11 victims. He was known as the "Beast of B.C." or "the Rent-a-car Killer" because of his penchant for hiring another new car for each slaying. 

Olson had a  routine to lure adolescents. He sought out those who seemed naïve, and met them in video parlors and youth hangouts or he advertised for them on the bulletin board of a church he was a member of. Olson handed out a card that identified him as a construction contractor. Under the disguise of conducting a brief informal job interview, he identified his potential victims. He'd hold out the prospect of a job, give them a ride to a fake construction site and along the way, offer them a sip of a pop or bottled cocktail spiked with chloral hydrate, a knock-out drug.
Once he overpowered the them, Olson engaged in sadistic experiments on the children.  He talked about them as science experiments and fantasized about fame under the name, "Silver Hammer Man".  Methods he often used were stabbing, hitting them with a hammer, and strangulation. 
Olson scattered their bodies from the bogs and cranberry fields of the Fraser River delta to the abandoned quarries and canyons of the Coastal Mountains. He was in trouble with the law from a young age, and had a continued use of drugs and alcohol.

Type of killer: Hedonistic Lust Killer

I think people like this are always going to exist, and there isn't much we can do to stop them besides look out for signs that these are people we shouldn't trust or be around, and recognize that they can be dangerous.

Marc Lepine, Mass Shooter at University of Montreal

Marc Lepine shot and killed 14 women and injured others. He was a misogynist and blamed feminists for everything that went wrong in his life. He claimed he was fighting feminism, and mentioned his hatred for women in his suicide letter. After he killed his last victim, he shot himself in the head. 

Lépine  was described as shy, uncommunicative, and showed little emotion. He was very organized but had problems accepting authority which lead to difficulties at school and work.

A  psychiatrist who interviewed Lépine's family and had access to his letters, suggested that he may have had a serious personality disorder, as he chose the homicide/suicide strategy (killing one’s self after killing others) that is a characteristic of this disorder. Other psychiatrists thought that Lépine was psychotic, having lost touch with reality as he tried to erase the memories of a brutal (and absent) father, at the same time identifying with a violent manhood that dominates women. Other theories were that Lépine's experiences of abuse as a child had caused brain damage or led him to feel victimized as he faced rejections in his life. 

I think what we can learn from this is that during the socialization of young people, it is important that misogyny is dealt with in a manner that will prevent events like this from happening and people from doing things like this. Also, because this event happened in the 80's, this was before Canada upgraded its laws on firearms, and therefore, it is very rare for an event to happen in Canada today.