Whereas most scholars had settled on either a three-victim or four-victim minimum, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) decided a decade ago to lower the threshold down to just two murders. Objective: Despite substantial interest in the topic, there remains no consensus on the definition of serial killing, particularly in terms of the minimum victim count. Built upon Skrapec’s (2001) definition, the current paper aims to revisit several key definitional issues and to propose a more comprehensive serial murder definition with three key elements: (1) Two or more forensic linked murders with or without a revealed intention of committing additional murder, (2) the murders are committed as discrete event(s) by the same person(s) over a period of time, and (3) where the primary motive is personal gratification.

However, a review of both current research and legal definitions of serial murder revealed some discrepancies in how the term is defined.

Though the term continues to remain elusive, ambiguous and amorphous in the literature, recent efforts are suggestive of a trend towards the attainment of a standardized definition of serial murder. Endeavors aimed at achieving a consensus on the definition of serial murder have potentiated its precarious applications.

Over the years, researchers and law enforcement professionals have tried to achieve uniformity in the use of the term “serial murder,” but such efforts have rather proved futile.

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