A spree killer is a “killer on the run,” moving on from one assault or murder location to another to avoid apprehension. Andrew Cunanan (28) traveled across the U.S. in 1997 in a five- person killing spree that included the murder of fashion designer Gianni.

Elias Abuelazam (33) was recently arrested in Atlanta and is considered the primary suspect in the recent string of assaults and murders in and around Flint, Michigan, Leesburg, Virginia, and perhaps other places. This murderous, nonstop series of assaults saw upwards of 20 men stabbed and slashed, five of whom died of their wounds, all in a string of attacks that authorities believe first began in May 2010. As information is developed concerning Abuelazam, he may well be identified as a logical suspect in other similar crimes on a multi-state and even an international basis. We are learning the proverbial “who, what, when and where,” but the question that continues to haunt and allude us is the “why” of these crimes.

While some saw Abuelazam, an Arab/Israeli citizen living in America, as a gentle giant, others saw a far more dark and violent side to him, one recently driven by the thought that others were talking, perhaps conspiring against him. One or more psychiatrists are likely to spend dozens of hours with Abuelazam, this in order to form an opinion as to if his suggested depression, paranoia and his possible delusional belief system is evidence of a psychosis, an ongoing, diagnosable mental disorder. If such a diagnosis is eventually offered, it could be his psychosis that affected both his thought processes and his behavior in a way so terrible as to give him reason to commit the crimes of which he is currently suspect. A finding or temporary insanity, according to some, would need include the fact that the subject did not know that his crimes were wrong and, therefore, that he made no attempt to escape responsibility for his offences.

In the case of Abuelazam, he is believed to have traveled from Michigan (perhaps to Toledo, Ohio where another assault occurred) to Virginia in his suspected crime spree before returning to Michigan. It was there he is believed to have stashed his distinctive green Chevy Blazer before obtaining $3,000 from an uncle that he used to fly to Kentucky and then on to Georgia in an attempt to board a Delta flight to his native Israel. Such actions would suggest to most that he knew what he had done was wrong and was trying to flee America so as not to be held responsible for his many suspected assaults and murders, his one-man crime spree for the past three months.

Many, including law enforcement officials, have stated with some confidence their belief that Abuelazam’s alleged crimes were racially motivated. After all, they conclude, the vast majority of his victims were African American men. Investigation, however, has revealed that he had a number of black co-workers and semi-friends and none of them had ever encountered any type of racially motivated prejudice on his part. Some believe the race of his victims was more related to their being in his path as well as vulnerable and alone at night as opposed to specifically being targeted due to their skin color. One of his surviving victims tells of being lured to help Abuelazam with his car and then being attacked from behind. Other than asking for help with his car, Abuelazam apparently did not make any type of racially charged statement to his victim. Hopefully interviews with him will clear this up once and for all.

While many express shock at his alleged murderous acts, others are not so surprised. Abuelazam was married at least twice, the first to Dawn Costello of Virginia that ended in divorce in 2002. His last marriage ended in 2007 when his believed second wife left and divorced him. His ex-father-in-law said there was abuse in that second marriage. Abuelazam lived in Michigan, Virginia and briefly in Florida this year, but moved back to Flint, MI in May, this at about the time the horrific crime spree began. He gained work in a local liquor store during July where he was viewed as quiet, but not otherwise challenged. He is not without a history of violence though. In 2008 he allegedly assaulted his brother-in-law in Leesburg, VA, punching him in the nose for no apparent reason. He has also been implicated in a recent stabbing incident in Israel in which he allegedly stabbed a close associate in the face with a screwdriver, again for no apparent reason. Investigators in Israel will likely request his DNA and fingerprints to compare to any similar assaults or murders in that country, this while their U.S. counterparts do the same.

Some suggest he should have had some insight into his possible mental challenges, this due to his work until 2008 at the Piedmont Behavioral Health Care Center in Leesburg, VA. Piedmont Behavioral Health is a facility that deals with mentally challenged teenagers and similarly aged sex offenders. It was at this place of employment that he allegedly became convinced his supervisors were watching him and talking about him behind his back. This could, of course, be true, or in his challenged mind he could have come to believe this, with perception trumping reality once again. Family members in Israel say he had grown unhappy with his personal life in recent months, appearing tense, confused, unhappy and unsure as to where his life was going. He even expressed the desire to marry a local woman.

Motive

But even if we concede that Abuelazam’s life and his mental condition appeared to be on a downward spiral in recent months, his reason for initiating the deadly spree attacks is still unknown. Although he is suspected in the deaths of five men, he is believed to have left three times as many of his stabbing victims alive; therefore, murder may not have been his ultimate goal in his assaults.

And while many so-called crime experts speculate as to the “why” of his actions, in the end only Abuelazam himself may know “why” he began his murderous flight across the country, “why” he chose his victims from the many equally vulnerable people that he could have encountered over the past three months, and “why” now. Some serial offenders have certain target groups or individuals that they pursue, like, for example a serial killer that targets prostitutes or working women in a certain section of a town, this while others may simply attack victims of opportunity. Such may be the case with Abuelazam should he be positively identified as the assailant in all of these (and likely other) similar crimes. And while the “why’ of his attacks continues to be investigated, we may find out that there were other victims in his path whose assault or murder was never linked to Abuelazam, at least not until his killing methods finally became known to all.

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