Education
Northeastern University – Criminal Justice, Psychology
Professional Experience
Executive Member at Large, International Society for the Study of Serial Murder
Founder, Atypical Homicide Research Group
Founder, Serial Homicide Expertise and Information Sharing Collaborative
Director, Murder Accountability Project
Additional Research Experience
Case Manager, The Forensic Panel
Research Associate, Serial Murderers and Their Victims, Fresno CA
Reviewer and Contributor, Radford Serial Killer Database
Founder, Multidisciplinary Collaborative on Sexual Crime and Violence
Research Assistant, Extreme Killing, Boston MA
Research Assistant, FBI Investigative Training Unit, Quantico, VA
Book
Killer Data: Modern Perspectives on Serial Murder. Routledge.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
April Chai, Kim Rossmo, Julien Chopin, & Enzo Yaksic. (2024). The Math of Serial Murder: Understanding Victim Numbers and Series Duration. In press, Journal of Criminal Justice.
Michael Aamodt, James Alan Fox, Eric Hickey, Ronald Hinch, Brigadier Gérard Labuschagne, Jack Levin, Janet McClellan, Bryan Nelson, Michael Newton, Kenna Quinet, Cloyd Steiger, John White, & Enzo Yaksic (2024). Consolidated Serial Homicide Offender Database. Harvard Dataverse.
Wade C. Myers, Mark Safarik, Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan, & Enzo Yaksic. (2023). Serial sexual murder by juveniles and the role of sexual sadism: An international study. Behavioral Sciences and the Law. 41(5):262-279.
Daniel Salafranca Barreda, & Enzo Yaksic (2023). Evaluating the Dispersion Strategies Used to Locate Serial Homicide Offenders. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. 38(1):55-71.
Egor Denisov, Aleksandr Vecherin, & Enzo Yaksic (2022). Hierarchical cluster analysis of the behavioral patterns of serial violent offenders. Proceedings of Voronezh State University. Series: Law. 3(50):300–321.
April Chai, Enzo Yaksic, & Julien Chopin (2022). One ‘two’ many: An examination of solo perpetrator vs. team perpetrator serial homicides. Homicide Studies. 26(2):176-198.
April Chai, Enzo Yaksic* (co-first author), Julien Chopin, Ashley Hewitt, & Francis Fortin (2022). Time after time: Factors predicting murder series’ duration. Journal of Criminal Justice. In press.
Gian Campedelli, & Enzo Yaksic (2021). Survival of the Recidivistic? Revealing Factors Associated to the Length of Multiple Homicide Offenders' Criminal Careers. Homicide Studies. 26(3):244-268.
Enzo Yaksic, Marissa Harrison, Daniel Konikoff, Robyn Mooney, Clare Allely, Raneesha De Silva, Brenna Matykiewicz, Melissa Inglis, Steven Giannangelo, Steven Daniels, & Christine Sarteschi (2021). A heuristic study of the similarities and differences in offender characteristics across potential and successful serial sexual homicide offenders. Behavioral Sciences and the Law. 39(4):428-449.
Enzo Yaksic, Mikhail Simkin, & Vwani Roychowdhury. (2021). Statistical Study of Time Intervals Between Murders for Serial Killers. Journal of Criminal Justice. 73.
Enzo Yaksic, Tara Bulut Allred, Christa Drakulic, Robyn Mooney, Raneesha De Silva, Penny Geyer, Angelica Wills, Caroline Comerford & Rebekah Ranger. (2021). How Much Damage Do Serial Homicide Offenders Wrought While the Innocent Rot in Prison? A Tabulation of Preventable Deaths as Outcomes of Sentinel Events. Psychology, Crime & Law. 27(1):76-88.
Enzo Yaksic. (2020). Evaluating the Use of Data-based Offender Profiling by Researchers, Practitioners and Investigative Journalists to Address Unresolved Serial Homicides. Journal of Criminal Psychology. 10(2):123-144.
Abbie Marono, Sasha Reid, Enzo Yaksic, & David Keatley. A Behaviour Sequence Analysis of Serial Killers’ Lives: From Childhood Abuse to Methods of Murder. (2020). Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. 27:126-137.
Enzo Yaksic, Clare Allely, Raneesha De Silva, Melissa Smith-Inglis, Daniel Konikoff, Kori Ryan, Dan Gordon, Egor Denisov, & David A. Keatley. (2019). Detecting a Decline in Serial Homicide: Have We Banished the Devil from the Details? Cogent Social Sciences. 5(1):1-23.
Enzo Yaksic. (2019). Moving Past Sporadic Eruptions, Discursive Killing, and Running Amok: Recognizing the Convergence of the Serial and Spree Killer. Journal of Criminal Psychology. 9(3):138-146.
Enzo Yaksic. (2018). The Folly of Counting Bodies: Using regression to transgress the state of serial murder classification systems. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 43:26-32
David Keatley, Hayley Golightly, Rebecca Shephard, Enzo Yaksic, & Sasha Reid. (2018). Using Behavior Sequence Analysis to Map Serial Killers’ Life Histories. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-21.
Clare Allely, Philip Wilson, Helen Minnis, Lucy Thompson, Enzo Yaksic, & Christopher Gillberg. (2017). Violence is Rare in Autism: When it Does Occur, is it Sometimes Extreme? The Journal of Psychology, 151(1):49-68.
Enzo Yaksic. (2015). Addressing the Challenges and Limitations of Utilizing Data to Study Serial Homicide. Crime Psychology Review, 1(1):108-134.
Manuscripts in Preparation
Unraveling Escalation: Examining Increasing Patterns of Violence in Serial Murders
Deadly Pathways: Comparing Serial Murderers and Serial Murderer/Mass Murderers
What Inputs Are Required to Build a Serial Homicide Phenotype?
Invited Book Reviews
Mass Murder and Serial Murder: An Integrative Look. Criminal Justice Review
Book Chapters
The Serial Murder Phenomenon Half a Century On. Routledge Handbook of Homicide Studies
To Know and Cage the Devil: Policing Serial Murder in the Attention Age. Routledge Handbook of European Serial Killing
The Profile of the Modern US-Based Serial Murderer, Monsters in the Mirror
Serial Murder, The Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences
The Perpetual Influence of Dark Traits on Alienists: Dissecting the Use of Transgressive Behavior and Antagonistic Schemes to Obtain Esteem by Inhibiting Social Cohesion and Altering Functional Norms. Routledge International Handbook of Psychopathy and Crime
Novel Techniques to Detect the Multiple-event Murderer: An Exploration of a Researcher’s Field Notes. Violent Offenders: Theory, Research, Public Policy and Practice 3, 337-350.
Dictionary Entries
Serial Murder, SAGE Dictionary of Criminology
Mass Murder, SAGE Dictionary of Criminology
Featured:
Halber, D. Boston Magazine. Profiler 2.0
Best Evidence blog
CJ Update Newsletter: Serial Homicide Collaborative Brings Research Data Together
Podcasts:
Websleuths Radio with Tricia Griffith
The Fall Line - Killer Data: Serial Killers in the Modern Age
Television Appearance:
Boston University’s On That Point
Use of Modified Delphi Panel: Organized panel to come to consensus on serial killer definition
Presentations and Conference Attendance
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Serial Sexual Murder by Juveniles and the Role of Sexual Sadism
Society of Police and Criminal Psychology. Unraveling Escalation: Examining Violence in Serial Murders
CrimCon: Survival of the Recidivistic? Revealing Factors Associated with the Length of Multiple Homicide Offenders' Criminal Careers
American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting. Chair of Serial Homicide Patterns and Factors
28th Annual Markle Symposium, CT: Serial Murder: The Crime and the Investigation
Boston College Homicide Forum, MA: Featured Speaker
Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, CA: Detecting an Observable Decline in Serial Homicide
Conference of the International Academy of Investigative Psychology, NY. Issues with Serial Killer Data
Confronting Homicide in a Changing World, WI: Applications of Serial Homicide Data: Killers in Pairs
Justice Clearinghouse Webinar: Serial Murder - Separating Fact from Fiction
Homicide Research Working Group Meeting, FL: Future Directions, Status of Homicide Research
Unresolved Homicides and Unidentified Human Remains, MA: Forensics Panel
Can a Demographic Make you Psychopathic? Northeastern University Research, Innovation and Scholarship Expo
Other Writings
Serial Killer Suspect Not Tech Savvy (Letter to the Editor, Long Island Press)
Gilgo Killings Suspect Atypical of Modern-Day Serial Murderers (Medium)
A Call for Accountability in True Crime (Medium)
The Clinical’s Inventory of the Everyday Extreme and Outrageous and the Depravity Standard: Instituting Scales to Quantify Evil and Categorize the Wantonly Dangerous Among Us
Who is Culpable in the Promulgation of Serial Killer Myths and Stereotypes? (Medium)
Accounting for Murder: A New Tool for Homicide Investigators (white paper)
Book Review of Why We Love Serial Killers (GoodReads)
True Crime Diary blog post Pulling Back the Veil of a Serial Murder Suspect
Special Dedication to Leonard Morgenbesser in Serial Murderers and Their Victims
Reclassify gang members as serial killers opinion in USAToday
Breaking the Stereotype of a Serial Killer (Op-Ed, Clarion Ledger)
Invited Talks
Texas A&M - Brittney Hood
Boston College - Ann Burgess
Quincy College - Jason Paynich
Mentorship:
Andrew Harris – PhD student, Serial Murder Myths
Nacho Marin – Student, Factors in Development of Serial Murderer
Evelin Csabai – Research Assistant for Killer Data
Madelyn Castro – Student, The Frequency of Brutality Among Serial Murderers
Dan Gordon – Intern at Atypical Homicide Research Group
Jodie Ng – Student, Northeastern University
David Cavanagh – Cambridge Massachusetts serial murders
Expertise/Outreach
Kettler, S. A&E Blog. Serial Killers: 6 Top Misconceptions
Griffith, K. The Daily Mail. Was Idaho suspect planning the perfect murder?
Muldowney, D. Daily Beast. Could This Profile Help Catch California Serial Killer?
Lin, S. Los Angeles Times. Victims of suspected Northern California serial killer identified
Heffernan, E. St. Louis Dispatch. How rare are the suspected St. Louis, Kansas 'serial' killings? Experts weigh in.
Heffernan, E. St. Louis Dispatch. St. Louis area serial murder cases in the last decade
Silver, J. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Brutal Secrets: Police press for final confessions from Pennsylvania’s dreaded serial killer
Sim, W. The Straits Times. ‘You’ll regret this’: Yakuza gang boss threatens judge in Japan over death sentence
Rice, G. Kansas City Star. Kansas City police fail to solve most crimes. It’s one reason some want more city control
Muscavage, N. Bridgewater Courier News. Expert: Roy Den Hollander would have killed again
Sim, W. The Straits Times. ALS patient's death ignites assisted suicide debate in Japan
Burlew, J. USA Today. Aaron Glee has been charged with murders of Oluwatoyin Salau and Vicki Sims in Florida. He 'would have killed again,' experts say
St. John, P. & Money, L. Los Angeles Times. Golden State Killer pleads guilty to murders and other crimes that terrorized California
Nobile, T., Martin, J., & Maag, C. NorthJersey.com. Serial killer Khalil Wheeler-Weaver guilty of murdering three women in 2016
Martin, J. NorthJersey.com. NJ man on trial ‘doesn’t look like’ a serial killer, but expert says he fits the profile
Sewell, D., & Rubinkam, M. Associated Press. Serial killer’s victim portraits could help crack cold cases
Garrett, A. Akron Beacon Journal. Wave of cold cases involving accused serial killers hits Northeast Ohio
Griffith, K. The Daily Mail. Police investigate possible serial killer three women shot dead near St Louis
Tarm, M. Associated Press. ‘Wannabe serial killer’ Googled murder instructions before Chinese scholar disappeared: Brendt Christensen claimed he killed 13 victims, but an expert categorized him as “wannabe serial killer”
Vargas, R. A. and Matt Sledge, M. The New Orleans Advocate. Suspected Metairie killer called himself 'the devil' in bizarre incident weeks before shootings
Hunter, G. The Detroit News. Serial killer experts say kneeling corpses are symbolic
Sim, W. The Straits Times. Attacker was troubled man with short fuse
Ramirez, D & Manna, N. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dallas man accused of killing 12 elderly women maintains he’s innocent, attorney says
Warren, D. Associated Press. FBI: Man confessed to 90 killings in effort to move prisons
Phillips, K. The Washington Post. Suspect in six Arizona shootings attacked victims tied to his divorce, police say
Burkitt, B. AZ Central. 'Systematic, deliberate and intentional': Scottsdale shooting update
Meyer, M. PHOENIX magazine. The Cray Divorcé
Shenfeld, H. A&E Real Crime Blog. The Blue-Collar Jobs of Serial Killers
Montero, D. Los Angeles Times. Technology helps catch serial bombers, but ego is their biggest vulnerability
McGaughy, L. The Dallas Morning News. Who is Mark Conditt? What we know about the Austin bombing suspect
Sedensky, M. AP. Texas bomber's change in tactics could hint at future plans
Hernandez, N. The Austin Chronicle. Package Bombings: More Questions Than Answers
Cassidy, M. The Republic. As murder rate rises in Phoenix, the number of unsolved cases is growing, too
Szklarski, C. The Canadian Press. Discovery of remains, police belief of serial killer at work has experts musing
Harris, T. The Star. Alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur ‘undoubtedly believed he had outsmarted everyone’
Braun, L. Toronto Sun. Criminal behaviour research group digs inside the heads of serial killers
Moon, J. The Star. LGBTQ community wonders why arrest took so long
Griffith, K. The Daily Mail. Suspected serial killer accused of murdering nine people in three weeks
Wilkinson, A. The New Yorker. The Serial Killer Detector
Sim, W. The Straits Times. How Japan's Black Widow baited and killed her prey
Sim, W. The Straits Times. Japan vows to clamp down on suicide sites
Clarke, T. The West Australian. Is glorified murder to blame for new breed of killer?
Sampson, Z. Tampa Bay Times. Experts have some theories on who's carrying out Seminole Heights killings
Sanders, K. NBC News. Grieving Dad: Find Shooter Stalking Tampa Residents
Montgomery, R. The Kansas City Star. After four slayings, anxiety stalks trails in south Kansas City
Whiffen, G. The Telegram. No indication St. Anthony missing-person cases linked: expert
Dissell, R. Cleveland Plain Dealer. Could an algorithm help detect serial killers in Cleveland?
Gutowski, C. Chicago Tribune. Lorry killer Ann Borowski will go out early?
Specker, L. AL.com. Serial killer or wannabe? Expert skeptical in Mobile case
Holstege, S. Phoenix New Times. Hot Nights, Cold Cases, Part 2: Detective Can Be 'Loneliest Job in the World'
Kennedy, E. Pensacola News Journal. Mary Rice: victim or murder accomplice?
Mustian, J. The Advocate. How to explain Baton Rouge's troubling history of serial killers?
Gross, D. GoUpstate.com. Families, experts believe Kohlhepp may have more victims
Apel, T. Clarion Ledger. Jessica Chambers suspect tied to Louisiana homicide
Smith, T. USA Today. S.C. murders: The psychology of a suspected serial killer
Smith, T. Greenville News. Experts: Luck, normalcy aid serial killers in avoiding detection
Valencia, M. Boston Globe. Sampson may seek mercy from jury that decides his sentence
Baum, K. The Globe and Mail. Prime target: How serial killers prey on indigenous women
Mitchell, J. Clarion Ledger. GONE: Vail goes into hiding as families start talking
Mitchell, J. Clarion Ledger. Most serial killers a far cry from Hollywood’s Hannibal Lecter
Mitchell, J. Clarion Ledger. Vail's ex-wife raises more questions about suspected killer
Mitchell, J. USA Today. 50 years later, man arrested in wife's death
Stewardship and Service
Referee: Behavioral Sciences and the Law, Journal of Criminal Justice, Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Criminal Psychology, Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, Homicide Studies, Deviant Behavior, International Journal of Police Science and Management, The Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, Journal of Forensic Psychiatry Research and Practice, Forensic Sciences, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Routledge, Cambridge University Press
Organizer, Consolidated Serial Homicide Offender Database Dataverse
Member, Researchers in Behavior Sequence Analysis
Member, International Network for Research into Violence Against Older Women
Technical Advisor, A&E’s ‘The Killing Season’
Advocate, The Depravity Standard
Participant, Ohio Rape Kit Survey Project
Signed letter calling for the media to stop using mass murderers' pictures and names
Recognized for Significant Professional Performance on the Radford Serial Killer Database
Established relationship with FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit 5
Established relationship with Homicide Investigation Tracking System/Washington State Attorney General's Office
Contributed entire dataset to the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime’s Serial Killer Collection (SKC) Project
Petitioned Governor John Edwards to rescind parole of suspected serial killer Samuel Galbraith
Engaged in similar process to replicate that success with Ripper Crew Member Thomas Kokoraleis
Contributed serial homicide data to Open Data Science
Supporter of Criminology Open
Membership
American Society of Criminology
Homicide Research Working Group
Society for Police and Criminal Psychology
Awards
Wiley Top Cited Article 2021 - 2022 Behavioral Sciences and the Law. A heuristic study of the similarities and differences in offender characteristics across potential and successful serial sexual homicide offenders
Voted one of the five best books for understanding female serial killers at Shepherd.com
MA Association of Criminal Justice Education’s Award for Innovation in Criminal Justice
Leonard S. Adelman Memorial Award
Special Dedication
Yaksic, E. To Leonard Morgenbesser in Serial Murderers and Their Victims
Consultations
Mark Safarik on Billy Chemirmir case
MIT science journalist Deborah Blum for upcoming book on female serial murderers
Reporter Andy Newman on the Rex Heuermann serial murders
Reporter Jeremy Kryt on Bryan Kohberger, Valentina Trespalacios assessments
Stockton CA serial murderer Wesley Brownlee offender profile
UC Davis student Carlos Dominguez offender profile
Reporter Andrew Hay on the Muhammad and Shaheen Syed serial murders
Reporter Stacey Cameron on the Shreveport Transgender Killings
Reporter Kaitlin Durbin on serial killer fear in Toledo
Robert Gross analysis for reporter Ian Cummings
Threat Assessment for Steve Silverman Law Firm
Austin Bombings Offender Profile
Seminole Heights Serial Homicide Offender Profile
Working with Jeremy Kryt on the Lost Girls of Panama cases
Assisted with the pursuit and capture of serial killer Felix Vail
Lindsey Wade Cold Case Homicides, Washington State
Media Projects Passed Over Due to Disagreeable Content
Justin Sudds, Right Angle Entertainment, The Psychology of Serial Killers Game Show
Annette Freeman, Left Right Productions, Murder She Rewrote; Sundance Television
Laura Zaboras, Category 6 Media Group, Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America
Bill Kerr, Lone Wolf Media, The Lesson is Murder, Hulu/ABC News
Alicia Arnold, Magilla Entertainment, Unnamed Zodiac Show
Jessica Everleth, Rebel Content Group
Sara Ely Hulse, 48 Hours
Michelle Katz, Espiritus Productions
Colleen McGraw, Sirens Media
Sacha Thorpe, Atlantic Productions
Evan Paszamant, Glass Entertainment Group
Megan Davis, Barcroft Productions
Elizabeth Kanter, Beyond Productions
Book proposals with Esmond Harmsworth, Elaine Spencer, and Matthew Valentinas
Mike King; Profiling Evil podcast
M William Phelps; Crossing the Line podcast
Christopher Duett, Criminal Perspective podcast
Brian Turnof, The Mind’s Eye podcast
Acknowledgments
The Forensic Panel's Growth Spurt on the Cutting Edge
Work summarized in Peter Vronsky’s Sons of Cain
Thanked in David Keatley’s book for “Big Data: Serial Homicide Database”
Aided reporter Ricardo Torres-Cortez on the Joshua Emmanuel Castellon case
Aided reporter Melissa Hanson on the Stewart Weldon case
Aided Sarah Tehan on Cooling Off Period Survey
Supplied Data to:
Simon Mariani, author of Profiling Serial Killers Using Multiple Supervised Machine Learning Approaches
Jolene Vincent and Chief Nelson Andreu, PhD dissertations
Dawn Wilcox of Women Count USA: Femicide Accountability Project
Teaching Experience
Serial Homicide Seminar, Northeastern University
Cited in
Perpetrator profiling: a useful method of forensic psychology?
Karl Brandt: Application of Serial Murder and Mass Murder Models to a Genocidal Actor
Meher Sharma’s Masters Theses The Development of Serial Killers: A Grounded Theory Study
Preprint of Statistical study of time intervals between murders for serial killers
For more information please visit my ResearchGate profile, Google Scholar page, or blog
