How to spot a serial killer according to former Scotland Yard detective

Steve Gaskin moved to the outskirts of Norwich in 2002 having been a detective chief inspector at the Metropolitan police and Scotland Yard.

The Paddington-born man was involved with the Levi Bellfield case in the early noughties.

The criminal was convicted of killing three young women in south-west London and Surrey.

Mr Gaskin will now be hosting a Mindhunter and Manhunter event with his former colleague Colin Sutton - who also lives near Norwich - at The Forum this autumn.

As well as talking about his past experience and giving the inside track on the psychology behind serial killers, Mr Gaskin will invite the audience to test whether they have any psychopathic tendencies themselves.

Levi Bellfield (Image: Press Association Images)

The criminal-catching guru said: "With psychopaths you have to ask questions on what can turn someone like that.

"Is it upbringing? Is it the environment? Is it nature or nurture?"

"Freud said a number of years ago that anyone has the potential to kill a person on the planet and I agree with that.

"If someone is stimulated enough to kill it can happen.

"This could be the weather or a poor woman who has been beaten by their husband and on the receiving end of domestic abuse - who has then flipped," he added.

Reasons behind why people kill have been placed into four categories by Mr Gaskin.

These are:

• Visionary. He explained: "They are on a mission to do it. They may be suffering from a mental illness and have a vision from some sort of deity to kill. Jack the Ripper for example was mentally ill. There is no doubt about it."
• Missionary: "It is seen as a crusade to kill or a mission to kill," the detective continued.
• Hedonistic: "They like killing and want to kill. Fred and Rose West fall under this category," he added.
• Power and control: "Ted Bundy raped and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s in America. He thought there was no better experience than having someone's life in his hands," Mr Gaskin explained.

Some of these categories can overlap.

Mr Gaskin is drawing on personal experiences having come face-to-face with cold-hearted killers.

But he rejects what he described as "the misnomer" that serial killers are more intelligent than most people.

He added untangling a murder case can be a lengthy process with numerous documents to sift through.

Detectives can issue appeals through the press or through door knocking in communities to aid investigations.

But there is no quick solution for complex murder cases.

Mr Gaskin said: "From an operational point of view you do need to have a lot of special lines of enquiry.

"In this country it normally takes about three years to detect a serial killer. In the US it is about seven years.

"As an investigation officer I would not be able to cope with seven years. That would blow my mind and patience.

"With the Bellfield case, there were hundreds of hours of surveillance, using CCTV and some very gutsy decisions.

Mrs Silver's murder on the front page of the Ham&High in October 1990 (Image: Archant)

"It does take a huge amount of patience. It can be demoralising at stages but also euphoric at times as well."

Having spent many years chasing criminals, Mr Gaskin provided support to prisoners as head of education at HMP Norwich after moving to the county.

Although he is retired as a detective, Mr Gaskin is currently assisting with four unsolved murders in London.

Some of his work has been adapted for a show on Sky TV which will be aired at a later date.

Mindhunter and Manhunter is taking place from 6pm to 9.30pm on Thursday, October 27 at The Forum.

There will be collections for the University of Law and the Big C on the night.

For tickets, search Mindhunter and Manhunter on Eventbrite.