Why are most serial killers tall?

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bigshot888
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Why are most serial killers tall?
post #1

Did a bit of noodling around online after watching a documentary about Edmund Kempner who was 6'9 and found that the majority of mass murderers with few exceptions (i.e. Charles Manson, famously listed as 5'2 but was actually a bit over 5'6) were all quite tall, as in significantly taller than average. Any idea why that might be? And isn't it interesting that us shorter men are the ones typically portrayed as being "angry men"?

Here is a quick list:

1. Edmund Kempner (American Serial Killer) - 6'9
2. David Long (Thousand Oaks Shooter) - 6'
3. Dyland Klebold (Colombine Shooter) - 6'3
4. Patrick Crusius (El Paso Walmart) - 6'
5. Randy Stair (Weis Market) - 6'2
6. Trey Sesleer ("Mr. Anime" of YouTube) - 6'6
7. Robert Gregory Bowers (Pittsburgh Synogouge) - 6'
8. Vladislav Roslyakov (Crimean High School Shooter) - 6'1
9. Jeff Weise (Red Lake Shooter) - 6'3
10. James Huberty (McDonalds Massacre, 1984) - 6'3
11. David Sonboly (Munich Mall Shooting) - 6'3
12. Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City Bomber) - 6'3
13. George Sodini (L.A. Fitness Shooter) - 6'
14. Aaron Alexis (Navy Yard Shooter) - 6'1
15. Charles Joseph Whitman (Texas Tower Sniper) - 6'
16. Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook Shooter) - 6'
17. Stephen Paddock (Vegas Shooter) - 6'1
18. Mark Orrin Barton (Atlanta Day Trading Firm Shooter) - 6'1
19. Rex Heuermann (Gilgo Beach Murderer) - 6'4
20. Kenneth McDuff (Broomstick Murders) - 6'4
21. Richard Kuklinski (American Contract Murderer) - 6'5
22. Paul Durouosseau (Mass Murder American Southeast) - 6'6
23. Sergei Vasilyevich Ryakhovsky (Moscow Killer) - 6'6
24. Elias Abuelazam (Flint Michigan Serial Slasher) - 6'5
25. Keith Hunter Jesperson (Happy Face Killer) - 6'7
26. Richard Ramirez (Los Angeles Night Stalker) - 6'1
27. Jeffrey Dahmer (Milwaukee Cannibal) - 6'1
28. Joel Rifkin ("Joel The Ripper) - 6'2
29. David Ray Parker (Toybox Killer) - 6'2
30. Dennis Nilsen (Kindly Killer) - 6'1
31. Stephen Port (Grindr Killer) - 6'3
32. Levi Bellfield (Bus Stop Killer) - 6'1
33. John Allen Muhammad (Washington Sniper) - 6'1
34. Randall Woodfield (I-5 Killer) - 6'1
35. Ian Brady (Moors Murder) - 6'
36. Paul Barnardo (Schoolgirl Killer) - 6'2
37. Glen Edward Rogers (Cross-County Killer) - 6'
38. Arthur Shawcross (Genesee River Killer) - 6'
39. Larry Eyeler - (Highway Killer) - 6'
40. Robert Black (Scottish Serial Killer) - 6'2

That is quite the extensive list. And I know there are exceptions, but the vast majority were tall or at the bare minimum, slightly above average. This list could easily hit 75 if I started at 5'10.

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CharlieHaus
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Re: Why are most serial killers tall?
post #2

That is one extensive list! Interestingly enough, I attempted to look up some of the short ones and to my surprise, most of the "short ones" were women! 

The only ones that come to mind are Charles Manson which you mentioned and. Donald Gasksins (5'4). 

But wow, taller men seem to have the monopoly on this one. 

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ant675
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Re: Why are most serial killers tall?
post #3

I was going to point out a few shorter ones but the number of them didn't match sheer number of taller ones. Charles Manson, Peter Manuel and Albert Fish were short for example, but most of them it seems are indeed taller than average.

I'm guessing that being tall is the advantage here as it's easier for them to gain interest and the trust of their victims.

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Re: Why are most serial killers tall?
post #4

Would've never guessed that there'd be this many. The way comments go on a lot of articles, whenever a shorter guy commits a crime, they immediately direct attention to his stature. The way people talk, you'd swear it was shorter guys doing these things, but it's definitely not the case it looks.