murder series

A murder series is a sequence of killings committed by the same perpetrator or group of perpetrators over an extended period of time, where the killings are connected to one another through offender, motive or pattern. The term is used primarily in crime journalism and true crime, and corresponds broadly to what is also called serial murder. In cases such as the NSU case, where Beate Zschäpe and her co-conspirators were behind a long series of killings of ethnic minorities in Germany over several years, the term illustrates how separate crimes are linked into a single overall case with shared perpetrators and an ideological motive. The label likewise covers cases such as Norbert Pöhlke's killings in the 1980s, committed over a defined period by one and the same perpetrator.

A murder series differs from a single killing in that it involves repetition and a course of events over time. It differs from mass killing in that the killings do not take place simultaneously in one location, but are spread over time and often across different locations. The perpetrator typically returns to everyday life between the killings.

Under Danish criminal law, each individual killing is dealt with separately under the general provisions on homicide. There is no separate statutory category for murder series in Danish legislation — the term is therefore a descriptive and analytical label, not a legal construction with independent legal effect. When the term is used in court proceedings, it may nevertheless have practical significance for sentencing, since the courts typically impose harsher penalties for repeated killings committed by the same person, owing to the overall scope and gravity of the criminality.