The homicide or killing of two or more victims as a result of separate murders when an individual, acting alone, or with another, commits multiple homicides during a period of time with breaks in between

• A. Serial murder
• B. Spree murder
• C. Exhumation
• D. Mass murder

Answer: (A)

The pattern being tested is serial murder. The key feature is multiple killings by the same offender (alone or with another) across a period of time, with cooling-off breaks between each murder. Those pauses distinguish serial murder from other patterns: a mass murder happens in one location at roughly one time with many victims, and a spree murder involves multiple victims in a short period without meaningful breaks. Exhumation is unrelated to the pattern of killings. So the described scenario—two or more separate murders with breaks in between—embodies serial murder.