Lonely Hearts Killer

The phrase lonely hearts killer, sometimes also want-ad killer, or matrimonial bureau murderer, is a journalistic term of art that refers to a person who commits murder by contacting a victim who has either posted advertisements to, or answered advertisements via newspaper classified ads and personal or lonely hearts club ads.^[1](got information on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonely_hearts_killer) (got image on http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/1059/044491_12.jpg)

The actual motivations of these criminals are varied. By definition, a killing will have taken place in order for the suspected, accused, or convicted perpetrator to be dubbed a want-ad or lonely hearts club killer. However, the crime may have involved a simple robbery gone wrong, an elaborate insurance fraud scheme, sexual violence, or any of several other ritualized pathological impulses (e.g. necrophilia, mutilation, cannibalism, etc.). Sometimes murder is not the (original) intent, but becomes a by-product of rape or other struggle; in some cases, murder is committed simply to cover up the original crime. Some, on the other hand, are serial killers who utilize this method of targeting victims, either exclusively, or when it suits them.^[2]