Title: Serial Killer Profiling - How Serial Killers Work | HowStuffWorks
Headings: How Serial Killers Work
How Serial Killers Work
Serial Killer Profiling
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Content: Once convicted, most serial killers either spend their lives in prison or are executed if the death penalty exists in their state. Ed Gein is one exception. At first found incompetent to stand trial, Gein was sent to a mental institution. Later his psychiatrist determined that he was competent, and a judge found him not guilty by reason of insanity. Gein died in 1984 of heart failure. Most researchers agree that there is no way to "cure" a serial killer. Some serial killers who spent time in mental institutions after committing their crimes or received psychiatric treatment were deemed "cured" and released, but they went on to kill again. Others did not improve after a number of treatment attempts. Peter Woodcock spent 35 years in a criminal psychiatric hospital in Ontario, Canada, after murdering three children. While out on a day pass, he and his security guard escort -- who was also a previously imprisoned killer -- killed another patient.