Title: The Unique Motives of Female Serial Killers | Psychology Today
Headings: The Unique Motives of Female Serial Killers
Scott A. Bonn Ph.D.
The Unique Motives of Female Serial Killers
Women kill for very different reasons than men.

Content: The lack of public awareness of female serial killers prior to Aileen Wuornos was due to the virtual absence of female serial killers in the news and entertainment media. Until Wuornos, the mass media almost always depicted a serial perpetrator as a deranged man, due to the erroneous and paternalistic societal notion that women could not commit such crimes. Unlike the obscure and rarely discussed Black Widow killers throughout history, Wuornos became a popular culture icon because she defied stereotypes and did not kill "demurely," as societal norms dictate that a woman should. Interestingly, the most prolific serial killer in all of history may have been female—Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, who was born on August 17, 1560. Elizabeth was a countess from the renowned Báthory family in Hungary. Following her husband's death, the countess and four collaborators allegedly tortured, sexually assaulted, and killed hundreds of girls and young women. Incredibly, Elizabeth was never tried or convicted of any crimes herself. Nevertheless, to pacify the public in 1610, the countess was placed under house arrest in the Csejte Castle, where she remained bricked in a set of rooms until her death four years later in 1614. References
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