DR. MICKI PISTORIUS

Powerful Princesses and Policial Poisonings

Where the motive of the 17th-century Spana Prosecution poisoners was to rid themselves of their abusive husbands, there exists another class of poisoners – those who use poison for political advancement. Long before the Renaissance trio of Thofiania d’Adamo, Giullia Tofana and Gironima Spana concocted the arsenic-based Aqua Tofana, Rome’s most famous poisoner was Locusta, […]

A Renegade Gang of Roman Renaissance Female Serial Killers?

Ironically the word ‘arsenic’ originates from Greek folk etymology as ‘arsenikon’, a neuter form of the Greek adjective ‘arsenikos’ meaning “male”, or “virile” and over centuries it was arsenic that women have been using to eliminate the males in their lives. In the mid 1600’s a trio of Renaissance Italian woman with a keen sense […]

The Sisterhood of Arsenic and Old Lace – Lethal Old Ladies

A champion for children’s rights and an activist for socio-economic reform, whose own father was committed to a debtor’s prison, was Victorian era author and literary genius, Charles John Huffam Dickens. In one of his lesser-known novels, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, Dickens raises the theme of an elderly man, Old Martin, employing […]

Angels of Death- Tipping the Scales of Themis

Themis is the Greek goddess of justice, divine order, law, and custom and her symbol is the Scales of Justice. Her Roman equivalent is Justitia. She personifies divine law – “that which is put in place”. Judges were often referred to as “themistopóloi” – the servants of Themis. Many defence lawyers in Angel-of-Death nursing […]

Mask of Tragedy – Munchausen by Proxy

Baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Freiherr von Münchhausen would entertain the 18th-century Germain aristocrats with stories about his escapades during the1735-1739 Russian-Turkish War, exaggerating to such an extent in 1785 it inspired the German author Rudolf Erich Raspe to write a book, titled Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, with a […]

Unmasking Aficionados Posing as Experts on Serial Killers

Aug 29 2024

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Unmasking Aficionados Posing as Experts on Serial Killers

The sensational reporting of Jack the Ripper terrorising Whitechapel London in the late 19th century, can serve as an archetypical portrayal of the dichotomous troubling relationship between the press and serial killers. The public craved all the details of the murders of the prostitutes and the press complied with gory descriptions, accompanied by a sketch […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Condoned Cruelty: Prolonged capital punishments over the ages

Aug 21 2024

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Condoned Cruelty: Prolonged capital punishments over the ages

Capital punishment was abolished on 6 June 1995 in South Africa. Norman Simons, the Station Strangler was sentenced on 14 June 1995 to 25 years for the murder of Elroy van Rooi. It was converted to a life sentence by an Appeal court in 1998. In December 2008, Magistrate Marelize Rolle found prima facie evidence […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

The Darker side of the Dark Tetrad: Sadism versus Violence

Aug 17 2024

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The Darker side of the Dark Tetrad: Sadism versus Violence

In 1886, the sexologist Kraft-Ebbing treated the Marquis de Sade’s work as a compendium of sexual pathologies and gave the term ‘sadism’ its clinical definition. The Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (1740 – 1814) was an 18th century French nobleman and author, who wrote several books when he was imprisoned for […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Alleged Nairobi Serial Killer Confesses to killing more than 40 women – Questions Asked

Aug 9 2024

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Alleged Nairobi Serial Killer Confesses to killing more than 40 women – Questions Asked

On 26 June 2024, 26-year-old Josephine Owino, a hairdresser from Mukuru Kwa Njenga, in Nairobi the capital of Kenya, went missing after receiving an unexpected phone call and leaving her home at short notice to meet someone. She was never seen again. In the weeks that followed, Josephine’s younger sister, Peris Keya, visited three different […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Pistorius’ Theory on the Origin of serial killers: Part III

Aug 1 2024

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Pistorius’ Theory on the Origin of serial killers: Part III

In the previous two articles of this trilogy I explained how serial killers’ fixations in Freud’s psychosexual developmental phases led to the acting out of their fantasies on crime scenes. Yet the serial killers are not unique in developing subconscious sexual and aggressive fantasies, as Melanie Klein theorizes that all children could have them. Childhood […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Pistorius’ Theory on the Origin of Serial Killers (Part 2)

Jul 25 2024

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Pistorius’ Theory on the Origin of Serial Killers (Part 2)

This article is the second of a trilogy series on my signature theory on the origin of serial killers. In brief, in the first part I discussed how fixations in one or more or Freud’s psychosexual developmental phases plant the seeds of sexual and aggressive fantasies in a serial killer, which are then acted out […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Pistorius’ Theory on the Origin of Serial Killers (Part 1)

Jul 22 2024

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Pistorius’ Theory on the Origin of Serial Killers (Part 1)

Attending a murder scene, a detective usually asks the question: Who had the means, motive and opportunity to commit this crime and once that is figured out, it narrows down the suspect list, usually to a single suspect, or no more than a few. The motive could be greed, lust, revenge, or rage and is […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Evolution on the Origin of Serial Killers

Jul 12 2024

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Evolution on the Origin of Serial Killers

During the Middle Ages, the gruesome discovery of sporadic mutilated corpses of villagers, and the telltale footprints of a hound on the scene, raised the spectre of a werewolf at large. No-one in the village would ever have suspected that it could have been the cobbler’s son – an as yet unidentified serial killer – […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius