Professor Lunsford
PSY-310: Criminal Psychology
June 27,2022
Journal: Topic Selection
For this journal, I have selected the case study of the serial murderer. The reason for this choice
is due to the fact that I have a particular interest in what makes someone a serial murderer.
whether it be a psychological or environmental factor that causes the behavior. Along with this, I
have an interest in understanding the process of serial murderers, from their choice of victims to
their motives to start murdering. With that being said, the crime that occurred in the case file I
chose to study were the crimes that occurred at the hands of Frank Timmons. According to the
case study, Timmons had committed several robberies, rapes, and murders of females within the
area in which he lived within the span of eleven months when he was an adult, following his first
release from prison. However, it was proposed that these violent acts started when the suspect
was as young as twelve and had periodically continued since. There were several potential
motivations for Timmons to start committing these gruesome acts, such as the abuse that
occurred in his youth. However, a motivational factor that had occurred relatively close to the
start of his violent outbursts against the female community would be the death of his neglectful
mother, who was reported to allow his father to abuse Timmons, when he was merely twelve
years old.
References
Case Study Two: Frank Timmons. (n.d.). SNHU. Retrieved June 27, 2022, from http://snhu-
media.snhu.edu/files/course repository/undergraduate/psy/psy310/psy310 serial murder
er.pdf