ABSTRACT
Of the perennial questions that lecturers of introductory criminology face surely the most consistently asked regards so-called serial killers. Feminist theorists have long argued that male violence is a primary tactic for the control of women in a patriarchal society and, in particular, that the mythology of the serial killer is a powerful weapon of male control and dominance over women. The serial killer is widely understood to be a real danger and his status as a premier folk-devil virtually guarantees that police resources will be targeted at this type of crime. Its special focus is on the role of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the transnationalization of policing responses to this type of crime. Linkage blindness has been put forward as an important organizational shortcoming of the police institution in the investigation of all types of serial crime.
