As a result, comparing these statistics has limitations, said Labuschagne.
The database does not provide a yearly breakdown of serial murderers which takes into account different population sizes.ĭefinitions of crimes vary from country to country.
The United States (2,743) is first, followed by England (145).Īamodt told Africa Check that his latest data, yet to be published, puts South Africa in fourth place. He says the database has increased to 5,003 serial killers and spree killers, plus 14,000 victims. The database currently lists South Africa in third place for the number of serial killers since the early 1900s, with 112 serial killers identified over that time period. The information is gathered from websites, books, court documents and government agencies. The database contains information on 4,068 serial killers and 11,680 victims since the early 1900s. The Radford/Florida Gulf Coast University serial killer database was set up in 1992 by Dr Mike Aamodt, a psychology professor at Radford University in Virginia. SA: 112 serial killers listed since early 1900s
“Many of these overseas databases are using media as sources of possible cases,” he said. Labuschagne told Africa Check there is no reliable database that compares serial murder and rape on an international scale.
( Note: We will update this report should they respond. We asked the police for the most recent numbers of serial murders and rapes, but they have not yet supplied it. Their specialised investigative psychology section used to keep “a reasonably accurate list” of murder and rape series, said Labuschagne, who left the police service in 2016. The South African police use the same definition for serial murder as recommended at the FBI meeting. He used to lead the South African police service’s specialised investigative psychology section. More than 130 experts from 10 countries, including South Africa, agreed on this definition for serial murder: “The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.”Īlthough this definition is widely used, it is not compulsory, said Prof Gé r ard Labuschagne, who attended the FBI meeting. The absence of an internationally accepted definition of a “serial offence” is why the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigations hosted a serial murder symposium in 2005. “The concept of serial murder or rape is taken into consideration upon sentencing.” "f any one case is prosecuted they will be treated as individual cases of murder and rape," said De Wet.
In the legal system, offenders are charged with multiple counts of murder or rape - not “serial murders” or “serial rapes”. “There is no one unified definition of serial rape or serial murder,” Dr Jackie de Wet, criminology and psychology lecturer at Leeds Beckett University in England, told Africa Check. The next question was: When are offences counted as serial offences? ( Note: We will update this report should he do so. The first: What is meant by “worst”?ĭid it refer to the number of serial killers and rapists or the number of cases involved? Did the claim consider different population sizes of countries or were absolute numbers being compared?Īfrica Check contacted one of the journalists who wrote the article, Graeme Hosken, to find out, but he is yet to respond. This fact-check started with a lot of questions. To emphasise the scale of the problem, the article stated: "South Africa ranks among the world’s worst three countries – after the US and Russia – for serial murders and rapes.”Ī similar claim was made in a 2006 article - although the claim only referred to serial murders.ĭoes data back up this startling claim about South Africa? Africa Check delved into it. South Africa’s last forensic psychologist has resigned from the police, leaving law enforcement unable to quickly identify serial crime offenders, Sunday Times reported recently.