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Frequencies of Various Aspects in the Horoscopes of Murderers

and Serial Killers vs. Those of Randomly Generated Control

Groups. Part One

Acknowledgements:

First and foremost, I would like to thank Lois Rodden. Without her tireless efforts in collecting thousands of timed birth

charts, this research would not have been possible. ]

Thanks are also due to Mark Mc Donahue who put it all on the Astrodatabank CD, and Mark Pottinger who wrote the CCRSresearch program. Yes, it's a DOS program from a decade ago, but it still does almost everything (except Windows).

Thanks also to the New York City chapter of the National Council for Geocosmic Research (NCGR) for a $200 research

grant. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank Diane Cramer, who ran most of the controls.

Background:

A horoscope is like a two-dimensional "snapshot" of planetary positions at a given moment. It should be noted that thesecharts are 100% objective since they are calculated with Astronomical data based on good old reliable Newtonian

mechanics. It is the claim made by astrologers that horoscopes are related to actions taken by people here on Earth that

skeptics have questioned, not the objective fact of planetary location.

The way to settle the skepticism about alleged connections between horoscopes and human actions is clear. Find a group

of people who have performed some specific action, obtain their birth information (birth date, birth time, and birth location),

and see if any objective horoscope features occur in this group by more than random chance in comparison to a control

group. There are several problems here:

Most astrologers either don't know how to do research or have no interest in it.

Those who are interested usually have neither the time nor money. And there are few, very few, research grants available for

astrological research, and those that are available are small.

Most scientists simply dismiss astrology or have no interest in doing a study.

The few scientists who do research studies know nothing about astrology. As a result, they test assertions that no

astrologer ever made and thereby commit the "strawman fallacy."

Still, this research must be done. Anecdotal evidence is insufficient as proof and the responsibility of demonstrating thatastrology is valid belongs to astrologers. In other words, the people who listen to what you say don't have to prove that it is

true. That's your job.

Caveat:

I am not claiming that the following paper is "proof" of astrology. It clearly is not. It is, however, a logical first step in the

testing process. Hypothesis hunting (explained below) is a legitimate procedure for finding factors which may be testedfurther on new batches of data.

Test Proposal:

The test proposed here is as follows: we will examine the timed horoscopes of people who have performed a specific act,

in this case murder, and see if angular separation between certain points on the horoscope wheel occur by more than

random chance. But there are several questions that have to be answered first.

Who is a murderer?

Do we include soldiers and police officers who kill in the line of duty? How about someone who kills out of negligence,

such as a drunk driver? How about an otherwise peaceful person who kills in self-defense? The problem here is one of

motivation. Killing done deliberately (murder in the 1st or 2nd degree, or manslaughter, where there is an intent to injure) is

different from that done accidentally (negligence) or where there is no other choice (self-defense or in time of war). This

study will be limited to those who deliberately kill or who kill while intending to otherwise cause harm.

But even here, there are differences. Can someone who gets angry one day and kills their spouse be classified with a

serial killer or with the "quiet person" who suddenly goes berserk and kills many people at once? For this reason, themurderers are separated into three groups:
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1. Single murderers. Those who killed only one person.

2. Serial killers. Those who killed several people one after another.

3. Mass murderers. Those who killed several people at one time.

There are still problems here. Suppose someone comes home one day and finds their spouse in bed with someone else.

If they take a gun and kill either the spouse or the lover, they are a single murderer. But what if they kill both? Do we classifythem as a multiple murderer? Is their motivation that different from the person who kills just one?

And then there are "spree killers" likeAndrew Cunanin. They kill people one after the other, but not all at once. Unlike serial

killers, they don't try to cover up. And they kill during a relatively short span of time. They fall in between mass murderers and

serial killers.

Even among serial killers there are differences. Some, like Ted Bundy and John Gacy, kill during sexual encounters.

Others, like David Berkowitz, the "son of Sam" killer, simply kill. Richard Ramirez, the "night stalker", claimed to kill for Satan.

Kenneth Kimes and Dorthea Montalvo killed for money. Jeffery Dahmercooked and ate his victims. Still, the main motivation

for all of them would seem to be the act of murder itself, so, initially at least, killers as diverse as these could be grouped

together.

Setting Up the Groups:

In this study, murderers were divided into three groups: single murderers (M), serial killers (S), and mass murderers (MM).

Each group was then divided into sub-groups of twenty each. There were less than 20 mass murderers, so they were put

aside until data on more cases could be obtained.

Setting Up the Control Groups:

The control groups were computer generated with the "Jigsaw" research program. One group of control horoscopes was

generated for each batch of murder horoscopes. Each control chart was set up for the same year and same location as thecorresponding chart of a murderer. Controls were labeled with the letter "C." For instance, the control group for the first

group of single murderers (M1) was labeled CM1 the control group for the first group of serial killers (S1) was labeled CS1

etc.

Why Use Computer generated Horoscopes?

Wouldn't it be better to use horoscopes of actual people taken from the general population? First of all, it would be

extremely difficult to make a control group of people born the same year and in the same place as each murderer. More

importantly, what would be the difference statistically between a group of computer generated horoscopes and those taken

randomly from the general population? None whatsoever. A computer generated control group should yield the samestatistical result as a random group taken from the general population.

Specifics of the Test Itself:

The objective feature of the horoscopes that will be analyzed is the angular separation between planets and the angular

separation between planets and certain points in the charts that astrologers claim to be significant. In addition, the

particular degrees of the zodiac will be examined to see if any appear by more than random chance.

Back in 1998, I had lunch with Michael Shermer, the editor of Skeptic magazine. He said he had never heard of angular

separation being used in astrology before and asked when astrologers started doing it. "Over 2,000 years ago" I replied.

"The technique goes back at least to Claudius Ptolemy." It would be helpful if skeptics learned something about astrologyand astrological techniques before reaching conclusions about its validity. But, as I mentioned above, it is the responsibility

of astrologers to provide the evidence.

The astrological term for angular separation is "aspects." There are several aspects referred to as "Major." These are

angles of 0, 60, 90, 120, and 180 degrees. The 60 and 120 degree (called the sextile and trine respectively) aspects are

said to have a "soft" effect and are alleged to be beneficial. The angles of 0, 90, and 180 degrees are called "hard" aspects

and are claimed to be associated with problems and dysfunctions in the life. Since we are examining the horoscopes of

murderers, a dysfunctional act to say the least, the obvious place to start would be with the hard aspects.

Aspects don't have to be exact. Astrologers allow an "orb of influence" of a few degrees on either side. How much?

Regrettably, there has been no statistical research in this area. Orb size can vary with circumstances, and even with theastrologer. There are those who allow orbs of up to eight degrees. To be safe, the orbs used in this study have been set on

the smaller side of the range. The orb size for the conjunction (the 0 degree aspect) and the opposition (the 180 degree

aspect) were set for + or - 5 degrees. The orb for the square (the 90 degree aspect) was set at + or - 4 degrees.
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Now what is the chance of any two planets making a "hard" aspect if we use the above orbs? Well, picture a stationary point

on a circle. If there is a second point moving around the circle at a uniform rate, what are the chances of that second point

making a hard aspect with the first?

That second point will make a hard aspect with the first if it lands in any of the zones around the aspect points. In other

words, if it lands within 5 degrees of the first point, it will make a conjunction. If it lands within five degrees of the opposite

point, it will make an opposition. And if it lands within four degrees of either square point (there are two possible ways to

have a 90 degree aspect to the left or to the right of the first point) it will make a square. Adding up all of these zones (5+5) +

(5+5) + (4+ 4) + (4 + 4) = 36

we get that there are 36 possible degrees on that circle where the second point can land and make a hard aspect with the

first. Since there are 360 degrees in a circle, the odds of the second point making an hard aspect with the first point is36/360 or 0.1 which is 10%.

But planetary motion is not uniform. Won't that throw the calculations off? Not if we take birth dates over a long enough timespan. The fluctuations even out in the long haul. Even for a planet like Neptune, which takes over 160 years to make one

orbit? In that case, Neptune is moving so slowly that it can be considered stationary compared to the faster moving planets.

But how about aspects that the outer planets make to each other? They stay in force for so long that they appear in the

horoscopes of entire generations. Neptune and Pluto, for example, made an aspect of approximately 60 degrees for

decades after 1943. For this reason, aspects outer planets make with each other will not be covered in this study.

Since everyone has a 10% chance of having any one aspect, it should be obvious that no one aspect could be the only

factor in cases of murder. However, if there is an astrological effect, there should be some aspects that would increase the

tendency towards murderous behavior. That tendency should be detectable by statistical techniques. Those who have

committed murder should have certain aspects occurring in their natal horoscopes by more than would be expected byrandom chance.

Could there be a difference between individual angles? In other words, even though the angles of 0, 90, and 180 degrees

are alleged to have similar effects, could one of them predominate in some cases? That is something that would also have

to be checked. The odds of having either a conjunction or opposition occur by random chance would be 1/36. For the 90

degree angle (the square) the odds would be 16/360 (remember that there are always two possible 90 degree angles,

clockwise and counterclockwise) or 2/45.

How about other factors? Could certain degrees of the zodiac, for instance, play a role? The odds of any planet or other

point in a horoscope appearing in one particular degree of the zodiac are 1/360. Using an orb of + or - one degree, this

becomes 1/180. It must be remembered that every planet or point must appear somewhere in the chart. What we have tolook for are repeats, one planet or point appearing in a particular degree by more than the theoretical odds of 1/180. Once

again, it is possible for the three outer planets to stay in a particular degree for months. For this reason, caution must be

exercised when examining outer planet degree placement.

According to Astrology, What Aspects Would We Expect to Find?

Aspects to Mars, of course. Mars is said to be the planet of action and aggression. Negatively, that would be an indicator of

violence. Pluto intensifies whatever it touches and it is supposed to be the ruler of death. Early upbringing could be a factor,

and, in the horoscope, that would be influenced by the placement of the Moon. But has there been any previous work done

on this topic?

Previous Studies of Murder in the Astrological Literature:

The first source here is "Astropsychiatry" by Harry Darling, M.D., and Ruth Hale Oliver, CSA Press, 1973. They claimed to

have found the following aspects in the horoscopes of murderers:

"I believe that the midpoint of Mars with Saturn, Uranus or Neptune, when occupied by a natal planet, gives a tendency to

violence, that is, to commit violence or to be its recipient. The midpoint of Mars/Saturn coarsens and makes cruel, the

midpoint of Mars/Uranus excites and makes erratic and aggressive, and that of Mars/Neptune creates hysteria,

sensationalism and sometimes fanaticism, as well as aggression." (Pg.145).

Also mentioned were the midpoints of Venus with either Saturn or Uranus.

Less than 10 cases of the horoscopes of murderers were listed. No mention was made of control groups or of aspects that

were tested and gave negative results.

The second source is "Destined for Murder: Profiles of Six Serial Killers" by Sandra Harrison Young and Edna Rowland,

Llewellyn Publications, 1995. While the cases were discussed in detail, the number examined was nowhere near

statistically significant, and, once again, there were no control groups. It should be stated that until recently, obtaining


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accurate birth data for a statistically significant number of cases was extremely difficult and time consuming. For

astrologers, it was either do anecdotal research or none at all.

At the end of the book, possible astrological factors in the horoscopes of murderers were mentioned.

"Planetary aspects and placements, and the rulers of the following houses, should also be examined carefully: the 8th

house (which rules death and sexual preferences) the 4th house (which rules our family heritage and endings, including

the end of life) and the 12th house. (The 12th house rules imprisonment or incarceration in any institution where we may

be deprived of our freedom. This is sometimes referred to as 'the house of self-undoing.')" (Destined For Murder: Pg.179).

"In the examination of the charts of criminals or mass murderers such as those described in this book, we can't overlookthe importance of midpoints. Although all midpoints are vitally important, the following can be classified as key in cases of

murder or crime: the Mars/Saturn midpoint (death) Mars/Pluto (murder) Saturn/Pluto (cruelty or violent assault) and the

Mars/Uranus midpoint (accident proneness). The Sun/Pluto or Mars midpoints are equally important in indicating apotential for violence, and the Moon/Saturn midpoint should be also noted, since it often indicates an unnatural dependency

on one of the parents beginning in early childhood. Occupied midpoints should be given special attention, as well as those

aspecting chart angles or cusps of angular houses." (Pg.180).

Hypothesis Hunting:

No previous study cited "negative" outcomes, horoscope features that gave a result no greater than random chance or,

alternately, that showed no difference from a control group. Nor did any previous study claim to be complete. Could there be

other aspects out there that give positive results? The only way to do a thorough job is to do some "hypothesis hunting",

checking everything in the initial sample to see what is there.Now it is common sense that this procedure has to give some result, and it is possible for one sample to have oneparticular aspect give a very high result by random chance alone. The key, however, is reproducibility. As long as enough

cases are held in reserve to so that the initial results can be retested and verified (or falsified), hypothesis hunting is a valid

procedure.

Now how is the test itself to be run?

Test Parameters:

As mentioned above, the cases were divided into groups of 20. An individual group of this size is too small to run

meaningful statistical tests. For this reason, the results from several groups were totaled. The tests were run initially on the

totals from four groups. A minimum standard was set arbitrarily. An aspect had to appear at least 50% above random

chance to be considered significant.

For example, the random chance result is 10%. For 80 cases, that means 8 "hits." To be considered significant, a particular

aspect would have to appear at least 12 times out of 80 cases.

Test Results, Phase One:

Aspects were run for the following groups: M1, M2, M3, and S1. This initial phase involved some "hypothesis hunting" as

well as examination of combinations that would be "expected" to give positive results. In Phase Two, the same tests were to

be run on group S2 and the results totaled. In Phase Three, the same tests would be run on group S3 and the totals

tabulated.

The following results were obtained for Phase One :


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[ Appendix: All Tables & Charts used to perform this research ]

There were no stress aspects between the Sun and any planet. There were two "hits" to midpoints. The Moon had eight

"hits." Astrologers allege that the Sun has to do with "ego", outward personality, and relations with the father and male

authority figures, while the Moon indicates one's feelings, habits, "instincts", early nurturing, and relations with the mother.

A stress aspect between the Moon and Mars is not surprising. Mars is allegedly aggression and violence and a stress

aspect to the Moon would show anger directed towards women, starting with the mother. Mass murderer Richard Speck, for

example, who killed eight student nurses, had the Moon square Mars. (His chart is not included here as he was neither a

single murderer nor a serial killer). Once again, let me emphasize that these aspects will be possessed by 10% of the

general population. What we are looking for are those aspects which occur at least 50% above the number predicted byrandom chance. If there is to be an "astrological effect" at all, it will be statistical and not a one-to-one correspondence. And

there would be several aspects involved, not just one.

Stress aspects from the Moon to Venus are more of a surprise. After all, in astrology Venus allegedly affects pleasure and

comfort. However, our first experiences of these come from our relationship with our mothers. Any problems at that early

stage could indicate trouble later in life.

In astrology, Mercury is said to rule conscious thought and the ability to communicate. There were no aspects of Mercury

that gave positive results.

Venus gave two more hits (besides its aspect to the Moon, already covered). One was to Mars (violence). Stress aspects

between Venus and Mars allegedly are associated with difficulties in expressing affection and passion. The other is astress aspect between Venus and the planet that rules the first house (it made no difference which planet happened to rule

the first house). Again, this could indicate difficulty in both giving and receiving pleasure and affection.

Since early nurturing is known to have a strong effect on subsequent behavior, the next question to ask is: are there other

things in the horoscope that are supposed to affect it? In astrology, the Moon is not the only alleged indicator of nurturing.

The asteroid Ceres is also claimed to have an effect. Ceres aspects would be the next place to look. Ceres stress aspects

gave positive results with Jupiter and the Mars/Saturn midpoint. The connection with that midpoint is not surprising, since

Mars/Saturn has a reputation for brutality. Jupiter, however, expands things. Too much nurturing? Perhaps too much of the

wrong kind of nurturing, since we are looking at stressful aspects here. Or could it indicate an excessive need for nurturing?

Further study is certainly indicated here.

The Venus/Ceres midpoint also gave results. Venus/Ceres would allegedly show pleasurable nurturing, or one's ability to

experience pleasure from nurturing. That midpoint gave strong positive results when configured with Mars (violence),

Jupiter (excess) and Saturn (deprivation).

Mars/Jupiter stress aspects are supposed to give a volatile temper. This also gave results. No surprise here. The

Moon/Mars connection was already mentioned. Mars configured with the Moon's Nodes showed positive results as well.

The nodes are the points where an orbit crosses the plane of the Earth's orbit.

The asteroid Juno gave a result for the Pluto/Node midpoint. Demetra George in her book "Asteroid Goddesses, claims that

Juno "represents our capacity for meaningful relationship" and that its horoscope placement "describes the ways inwhich we face the issues of compatibility, receptivity to others, mutual sharing, trust, jealousy, possessiveness, and power

struggles"(pg.168). Pluto, however, is the planet of both extremes and death. It too has a connection with power struggles.

And the Moon's Node does have a connection with emotion. Murder is, after all, about power.

Jupiter gave no results with Saturn or Chiron, or the outer planets. However, there were positives for the following

midpoints: Venus/Ceres (mentioned earlier), Venus/Uranus, Venus/Neptune, Mars/Uranus, Saturn/Pluto, and Pluto/Node.

Venus/Uranus and Mars/Uranus are two of the midpoints mentioned by Darling and Oliver in "Astropsychiatry."Venus/Uranus has to do with sudden surges of amorous feeling as well as affection expressed in an unusual or bizarre

fashion. It is also associated with rapid changes in the level of blood sugar. The negative effect of Mars/Uranus is claimed

to be associated with sudden outbursts of temper. The alleged effect of Jupiter is to "expand" whatever it contacts. Thesecombinations in the horoscopes of murderers are no surprise.

Neither are the stressful aspects of Jupiter to Saturn/Pluto or Pluto/Node. Pluto is known (anecdotally) to act like sort of a

super Mars, but is more internal and brooding. This would mean that, potentially at least, Saturn/Pluto could have

similarities to Saturn/Mars, a point of brutality. The (alleged) effect of Jupiter to expand things could bring out the negative

side of Saturn/Pluto. As for Pluto/Node, we have already seen it give a positive result with Mars (action) so it is not

unexpected for the (alleged) effect of Jupiter to expand things to have similar results.

There seems to be a lot of activity for Saturn with various midpoints of Venus. In several cases, the results were over the
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50% minimum. For instance, Saturn gave a strong positive with the Venus/Chiron midpoint. Venus/Chiron is one of the

places where we can have trouble experiencing pleasure. This would be a problem that would tend to linger. Saturn also

shows positive results when in aspect to Venus/Ceres (pleasure received from nurturing). According to astrology, Saturn

restricts and inhibits things. This does not necessarily mean that there was no pleasure from early nurturing. It could alsoindicate a lessened ability to accept nurturing. In any event, if the child did not perceive sufficient nurturing, there could easily

be repercussions later in life.

Astrology alleges that the effect of Uranus is to excite, to make restless, to cause us to desire change, and increase our

attraction to anything unusual or bizarre. Uranus gave positive results with the Moon/Mars midpoint (Moon=emotions,

Mars=anger), and also with the Venus/Neptune midpoint (which is associated with sexual fantasies). Both gave strong

results in three out of four groups. Uranus gave another strong result in stress aspect to the Moon's Node.

The Special Case of Oppositions:

The sixty horoscopes of the serial killers were inspected visually. It was noticed that there seemed to be an above average

number of certain planets forming opposition aspects to the cusp (beginning) 8th house (death) and/or the 12th house

(psychological problems). The odds of an opposition occurring by random chance alone are, of course, less than the

combined odds for all of the so-called stressful aspects. Since we are allowing an orb of influence of plus or minus 5

degrees, a planet can land in any one of 10 degrees of the zodiac circle and form the opposition. 10 degrees divided by the

360 degrees of the full circle yields 1/36, or 2.8%.

A striking example was the planet Saturn opposite the 12th house cusp. This happened in 6 out of the 60 horoscopes of the

serial killers, or 10%. This is 3.6 times what would be predicted by random chance. Granted that the sample size is small,

however this does indicate a subject for further research.

To be released on November 6th, 2003 - Part Two of this Article

The Claim being made for this Study:

This is a work still in progress so no claim is being made (or can be made) as to whether or not there is any validity to

astrology. The claim I do make is that this method (comparing objectively observable horoscope features, such as angles

between planets and midpoints, with objectively observable phenomena in the lives of people, e.g. murder) is a valid way to

put astrology to the test. Further results will be reported as obtained.

Appendix:

The Supporting Data used for this Study. This section exhibits the astrological charts and the tables used to perform thisresearch.

uencies of Various Aspects in the Horoscopes of

Murderers and Serial Killers vs. Those in a Control Group,

Part Two

Acknowledgements:

This study would not have been possible without the accurate data collected by the late Lois Rodden and made available

through the Astrodatabank program, which was put together by Mark Mc Donough. Thanks also to Alphie La Voie and his

Astroinvestigator program, which can perform a great number of tests at once. And of course, thanks to Diane Cramer who

did many of the computer runs and the table.

A Detailed Analysis of the Horoscopes of Sixty Serial Killers. Are there are any Overall Patterns of Aspects?

I've said this before in Part One of this study, but it bears repeating. In fact, it bears frequent repetition in order to avoidmisunderstandings. I am NOTclaiming that the research presented here is proof of astrology. But I am claiming that the

model used here provides the best way so far to put astrology to the test. Please note that I am also NOTclaiming that the

factors found here will predict who will be a serial killer with 100% certainty. However, we have to remember that the studies

which showed smoking causes cancer did not show exactly who would get this disease with 100% accuracy either. Woody

Allen's father started smoking at eighteen and he smoked two packs a day for the rest of his life. He was 100 when he died

(from a heart attack). What is being looked for here is a statistical correlation between objectively observable factors in the

horoscopes of serial killers and their objectively verifiable behavior. If it can be shown that certain astrological features

(aspects or sign and house positions) occur consistently by considerably more than random chance, then the case for an"astrological force" can begin to be made.

In Part One of this study, the horoscopes of sixty serial killers and sixty single murderers were examined to see if the

angular separation between planets and between planets and midpoints of various planetary pairs occurred with a
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frequency greater than one would expect from random chance alone. In astrology, certain angles (which astrologers call

aspects) are said to be "stressful" and these are the aspects that were examined (these are angles of 0, 90, and 180

degrees). An arbitrary standard was set. To qualify as a "hit", stressful aspects between planets (as well as between

planets and certain points) had to occur at least 50% more than one would expect by random chance. For the full details onthe model, please see Part One of this study. In this paper, we will examine a host of new factors and see if there are any

combinations of them that are common to several of the horoscopes.

A more powerful research program recently became available, the Astroinvestigator (from AIR software). This program can

perform dozens of tests at once with one mouse click. One of the things found was the increased frequency of placements

in certain astrological signs and houses.

Before we examine those results, we have to ask what are the odds of the Sun, Moon, or one of the faster moving planets

being in any particular astrological "sign"? Since there are twelve signs of equal size (thirty degrees each) the odds would

obviously be one out of twelve. Since our sample consists of sixty cases, we would expect any particular placement to occurin five charts (60 x 1/12 = 5). We will continue to use the arbitrarily set standard from Part I of 50% above random chance.

That means a "hit rate" of at least 8 cases out of our 60 charts. The results are shown in the following tables.

NOTE: Ten computer-generated controls were run for each chart in the sample. The Range of results is listed in the far right

column. The number on the left of the dash shows the Least number of "hits" in a control, while the number to the right of

the dash shows the Most number of hits in a control. The column immediately to the left of this shows the average number

of hits for the controls.

The outer planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) move very slowly and, as a result, tended to concentrate in a few signs over

long periods of time. Because of this, the numbers would be skewed. For this reason, the sign positions of Uranus,

Neptune, and Pluto were excluded.

The above average placements for the signs of Gemini, Sagittarius, and Capricorn are interesting. For one thing (according

to astrological tradition) Gemini and Sagittarius are "mental" signs. They have to do with our ability to think and

communicate. There was also increased activity in houses three and nine, the houses that correspond to Gemini and

Sagittarius. Of course at this early stage of the research, no definitive conclusions can be drawn. However, to an astrologer,

the increased placements in both mental signs and houses is an indication that something could be up and that further

research should be focused on this area.

The Sun, Moon, and Ascendant are alleged by astrologers to affect one's "personality. All have "hits" in the sign ofSagittarius at least 50% above random chance. The Sun was found to be in the opposite sign, Gemini, in 11 cases, more

than twice the random amount. The corresponding houses also showed an increased hit rate. The Sun and Moon had

above random placements in the 9th house (the house that corresponds to Sagittarius, the 9th sign). In addition, the Moon

had a higher than random hit rate for the 3rd house.

The Node of the Moon showed a similar effect. It was found to be in the sign of Gemini in 11 cases, and it also occurred in

the 3rd house (which corresponds to Gemini, the 3rd sign) 8 times.

There were also above normal placements of the Sun and Moon in the sign of Capricorn. In astrology, Capricorn allegedly

shows the area of the life where we have an above average need for "control." Of course, this study is only preliminary.

However, the fact that the same signs show up repeatedly for several factors does attract notice.

Patterns: the Search for Combinations of Aspects

In Part One, another finding was the apparent increased presence of opposition aspects (an angle of 180 degrees) to the

cusps (beginnings) of both the 12th and 8th houses (sectors) of the horoscopes. The 12th house is alleged to deal with

"restriction," including self-destructive behavior and all forms of psychological problems. The 8th house supposedly rules

death. Serial killers tend to have "stressful" aspects (the conjunction, square, and opposition) to the cusps of one or both ofthese houses, and, in particular, the opposition.

Let's do a brief review. Given any point on the horoscope wheel, what are the odds of another point being opposite within an

orb (range) of + or - five degrees? That would be 10 degrees (5 + 5) divided by the 360 degrees of a circle, or 1/36. This was

noticed first with the opposition of Saturn to the 12th house cusp. Out of 60 charts of serial killers, 7 had this aspect (7/60).

That is 4.2 times what would be predicted by random chance. The controls yielded only two "hits," which is within the range

of random results.
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A rate 50% above random chance may be evidence if the results are consistent and the sample large enough, but we are

dealing with serial killers here, and they are (mercifully) only a small, very small portion of the population. Even if there is an

"astrological force", no one aspect can possibly account for this. We would have to have combinations of aspects, signplacements, and house positions where the odds of occurrence are much smaller. Fortunately, the data used here was

from the Astrodatabank program, which has a research function called the "filter" that enables a sample to be screened for

multiple factors. This was the procedure:

First, the 23,103 charts in the Astrodatabank database were screened for those where the data was rated B or better. These

were then filtered for serial killers to yield 83 cases. This group was examined to remove political figures (e.g. Ivan the

Terrible, Nazi officials, members of the Red Brigade, etc.) and military figures. Those were removed because of thepossibility that the motivation for their murders were different from that of the "ordinary, everyday" serial killers. The serial

killers that were left were largely those who killed for sexual reasons (e.g. Ted Bundy) or simply killed for no apparent

reason (e.g. David Berkowitz) or for "Satan" (Richard Ramirez). This was the latest version of the Astrodatabank program(version 2.01). Part One of this study was done with an older edition that yielded only sixty cases. For consistency, Part Two

was limited to the same cases. The few extra cases were set aside for future work.

The first screen was for an aspect, in this case the Moon's North Node making a "stress" aspect (0, 90, or 180 degrees)

with the cusp (beginning) of the 12th House. The orb was + or - five degrees. The number of charts expected by random

chance from a sample of 60 is six. The number we are looking for in order to have a rate at least 50% better than random

chance is nine. The number found was eleven. The charts that passed this screen were

1. Bob Berdella

2. Ian Brady (the Monster of the Moors)

3. Clarence Carvalho

4. Dean Corll (the Candy Man Killer)

5. Thomas Dillon6. Neville Heath

7. Ed Kemper

8. Dennis Nilsen

9. Pietro Pacciani (the Monster of Florence)

10. Arthur Shawcross

11. Randall Woodfield

* Note: Click on name to view charts

The next screen was for the Sun in one of the following signs: Gemini, Sagittarius, or Capricorn. The odds of the Sun beingin any one sign are approximately 1/12. The odds of it being in three possible signs out of 12 are 3/12 or 1/4. Eight out of the

above eleven passed the test: charts numbered 2,4,6,7,8,9,10,and 11. The odds of passing both screens are 1/10 x or1/40. With a sample of 60 charts to start with, the random result would be 60/40 or 1.5 charts selected. The actual number

of 8 charts is 8/1.5 or 5.33 times random chance.

The next screen was for any one of the following being found in the 12th House: Mars, Saturn, Neptune, or Pluto. The odds

of finding any one planet in a particular house are 1/12. The odds of finding one out of four possible planets in that house

are 4/12 or 1/3. The random chance result should give us 1/3 of the eight charts. The actual result was that seven charts

passed the screen out of the eight we started with. They were chart numbers 2,4,6,7,8,10, and 11. The odds of this

happening by random chance are:

1/10 x 1/4 x 1/3 or 1/120.

We actually got 7 out of 60. 120 x 7/60 is 14 times the random chance result.

Controls

With over 23,000 birth charts in its database, the Astrodatabank program makes it easy to run other groups as controls

against a test group. Click on "Filter", select Rodden Rating of B or better, and pick artists (fine art). 257 charts are chosen.

One of them, however, is John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer in our test sample who also happened to paint! His chart was

eliminated as a control. This left 256 cases. Now we apply the same tests that showed above average results for serial

killers. The first screen was for the Moon's North Node making a stress aspect to the 12th house cusp. 15 out of 256 charts

passed, or 5.9%. This compares with the 11 charts out of 60 that passed for the test group (18.3%). The percentagepredicted by random chance is 10.0%. The second screen was for the Sun in any one of three signs, Gemini, Sagittarius, or

Capricorn. This reduced the number of artist's charts to three. The percentages are100 x 3/256 = 1.2% vs. 100 x 8/60 or

13.3% for the serial killers. The last screen, having Mars or Saturn or Neptune or Pluto in the 12th house, left only one chart
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for the artists vs. 7 out of 60 for the serial killers. The final percentages for this series of screens are 100 x 1/256 = 0.39%

vs. 100 x 7/60 = 11.7%. The serial killers rate is 30 times that of the artists.

The one artist remaining out of the initial 256 control cases was Anne Marie Rasmussen, who first achieved fame as thepoor housemaid who married one of the Rockefellers. During the 1970's, she suffered from extreme bouts of depression

and had three nervous breakdowns. Lithium treatments eventually stabilized her condition.

The second control group consisted of 403 fiction writers. The 1st screen (Node in stress aspect to the 12th house cusp)

reduced this to 34, or 8.4%. The second screen (Sun in Gemini, Sagittarius, or Capricorn) lowered the number to 8, or

2.0%. The last screen (Mars or Saturn or Neptune or Pluto in the 12th house) gives us a final number of 3, or 0.74%. The

11.7% scored by the serial killers is 15.8 times the result for the writers.

The writers who passed this test were the anti-Semitic French writer, "Celine", who wrote a book titled "Death on the

Installment Plan, Umberto Ecco, whose "Name of the Rose" is a Medieval murder mystery, and Whitley Strieber, whosebooks include "Wolfen" and "The Hunger." Strieber also claims to have been abducted by a UFO on several occasions.

Another Combination With Node in Stressful Aspect to the 12th House as the First Screen.

Another screen applied to the original 11 charts that passed the first test is the placement of the Moon's North Node in

either house 3 or house 9. The odds of finding the any particular placement in one house are 1/12. The odds of finding it in

either of two particular houses are 1/6. Five charts passed this test: 3,4,7,8,and 9. Adding the Sun in Gemini, Sagittarius, or

Capricorn screen from above eliminates another horoscope and leaves us with the charts numbered 4, 7, 8, and 9. The

odds are

1/10 x 1/6 x 1/4 = 1/240.

Since we found 4 out of 60, we have (240 x 4)/60 or 16 times the random chance result.

Another screen is Uranus in either house number 8 or 9 or 10. The odds are 1/4. Applying that to the above case still leaves

us with same four charts: #4, 7, 8, and 9. However, the odds now rise to

1/10 x 1/6 x 1/4 x 1/6 or 1/960.

Since there were four charts out of 60 charts passing the test, we have (960 x 3)/60 or 48 times the number predicted by

random chance. Now we are starting to get some serious numbers (but once again, let us remember that this is still notproof). So one combination of factors to look for in future studies would be charts that have the following: The North Node of

the Moon making angles of 0 or 90 or 180 degrees with the 12th house cusp (5 degree orb), that same Node in either the

3rd or 9th house, the Sun in Gemini or Sagittarius or Capricorn, and Uranus in either the 8th, 9th or 10th house.

The artist control group yielded the following results: 4 passed the 2nd screen (Node in house 3 or 9), 1 passed the 3rd

screen, and that chart also passed the last screen. It belonged to Canadian artist Harold Town. One chart out of 256 is a

success rate of 0.4% vs. 100 x (4/60) or 6.7% for the serial killers.

The fiction writer control group had 10 pass the 2nd screen, 2 passed the 3rd screen, and one pass the last screen,

Umberto Ecco.

Other potential combinations of factors to be searched for in future tests:

1. Node in stress aspect to the 12th house cusp, plus Sun in Gemini or

Sagittarius or Capricorn, plus Jupiter in the 2nd or 7th or 10th houses,

plus Saturn in the 1st or 6th or 12th houses. The odds are 1/10 x 1/ 4 x 1/4

x 1/4 = 1/640. There were 3 hits (charts 2, 6, and 9) out of 60. This is 48times the random chance result. The artist control gave a final result of

Zero. The fiction writer control also gave a final result of Zero.2)

2. Saturn opposite the 12th house cusp (5 degree orb), plus Mercury in the

signs of Scorpio or Sagittarius, plus Neptune in the 2nd or 7th or 12th

house. The odds are 1/36 x 1/6 x 1/4 = 1/864. Three charts were found

here: Angelo Buono (one of the Hillside Stranglers), Clarence Carvalho,

and William Heirens. This is 43.2 times random chance. The percentage

is 100 x (3/60) = 5.0%

The artists control had 7 charts pass the first screen. Two made it past

the second screen. Zero passed the third screen.

The fiction writer control group had two pass all screens. The first was

Deepak Chopra, a doctor and writer on holistic health who also published


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a novel. The second was French novelist Gustave Flaubert, author of

Madame Bovary. The percentage result for the fiction writers is 100 x

(2/403) = 0.5%, or one-tenth the result for the serial killers.

3. The Moon making a "stress" aspect to Venus (5 degree orb) combined

with Mars or Saturn or Neptune or Pluto in the 12th house, and the Moon

in Sagittarius or Capricorn or Pisces, and Jupiter in the 7th or 10th house.

The odds are 1/10 x 1/3 x 1/4 x 1/6 = 1/720. Four charts were selected:

Henri Girard, Neville Heath, William Heirens, and Herbert Mullin. This is

48 times random chance. The hit rate is 100 x (4/60) = 6.7%.

The artists control had one chart out of 256 pass these tests,singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell (who also paints). The percentage is 100 x

(1/256) = 0.4%. The fiction writer control had Zero hits.

4. The Moon making a "stressful" aspect with the Ascendant (5 degree orb)

and the North Node of the Moon in either house 3 or 9, plus Venus in the

6th house. The odds are 1/10 x 1/6 x 1/12 = 1/720. Three charts passed:David Berkowitz (the Son of Sam Killer), Arthur Goode, and Pietro

Pacciani. This is 36 times random chance. That's 100 x 3/60) =5.0%.

The artists control had one pass these screens. No name given.

Identified only as Mensan 7769. The 3/60 for the serial killers is 12.8times the 1/256 result for the artist controls. The hit rate percentage is 100

x (1/256) = 0.4%.

The fiction writer control had Zero pass.

5. Uranus making a "stressful" aspect with the 8th house cusp (5 degree

orb) and the Sun in Gemini or Sagittarius or Capricorn, plus Saturn inhouse 1 or 6 or 12, plus Neptune in house 2 or 7 or 12. The odds are 1/10

x 1/4 x 1/4 x1/4 = 1/640. The three charts selected were Ted Bundy, Ed

Kemper, and Peter Kurten. This is 32 times random chance. The hit rate

percentage is 100 x (3/60) = 5.0%. The only artist to pass was singer

Donna Summer. As in example number 4 above, the 3/60 result for the

serial killers is 12.8 times the 1/256 for the artist control group. The hit

rate percentage is 100 x (1/256) = 0.4%. None of the 403 fiction writerspassed this test.

Two Objections to This Procedure.

The first is the "Royal Flush" objection. The odds of getting a royal flush are enormous, but they are the same as getting any

other hand. The only reason we notice the royal flush is because we assign it a value. In any sample of horoscopes, there

will most likely be some aspect combinations that will show up even though the odds against it are very high.

The second objection is that the procedure of searching for single features that appear 50% or more above chance andthen checking for combinations of these factors is "stacking the deck." Since these aspects and positions start with higher

than normal occurrence, it is to be expected that their combinations should also appear more often as well.

I totally agree with both of these objections! That is why there is no claim being made that these results constitute "proof"

of astrology in any way shape, or form. Then what exactly is being claimed? That the results obtained here give us a target

to aim for with future samples. If these results are repeated consistently, then that will be evidence that there is an

"astrological force." That will be the white crow that proves all crows are not black. This study is a work in progress. With this

in mind, let's take a look at combinations that have considerably lower probabilities of occurring by random chance alone.

The First chart belongs to Angelo Buono, one of the infamous "Hillside Stranglers." He and his cousin, Ken Bianchi,terrorized L.A. Buono had Saturn opposing the 12th house cusp and the aspect is less than two degrees from exact. He

also had the Sun making an opposition aspect to the cusp of his 8th house. Other "indicators" (or rather what we are

tentatively terming "indicators") in Buono's horoscope are: Mercury in Scorpio, Saturn in the 6th house, Uranus in the 8th

house, Pluto in the 11th house, Mars in the 12th house, and Neptune in the 12th house (total: seven indicators).

The next example is Clarence Carvalho, a serial killer from Hawaii who killed two men. The third time he tried to kill, the

victim survived and identified him. Once again Saturn is opposite the 12th house cusp. Other tentative indicators in

Carvalho's horoscope are: Sun in conjunction aspect with Pluto, Mars in conjunction aspect with the Moon's North Node,

Saturn in the 6th house, Jupiter in the 8th house, and Uranus in the 10th house (total: six indicators).

Let's pause to review the odds of this happening by random chance alone. Saturn opposite the 12th cusp: the odds are1/36. The Sun opposite the 8th cusp: again, 1/36. Mars making a stressful aspect to Saturn: 1/10. Odds of all three things

happening together in one horoscope: 1/36 x 1/36 x 1/10 = 1/12,960 or 0.0000772. In other words, if there were a completely

random distribution, we would need to look at 12,960 horoscopes in order to get one with all three of these aspects. We


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found two such charts in a sample of 60, so we have (2 x 12,960)/60 = 432 or 432 times as many charts as would be

expected by random chance alone. 100 x (2/60) = 3.3%.

None of the 256 charts in the artist control passed. In Fact, none passed the first two screens (Sun and Saturn opposite thehouse cusps).

The 403-member fiction writer control group had one chart pass. It belonged to Teuvo Saavalainen, a Finnish novelist. 100 x

(1/403) = 0.25%.

Of course, as any statistician will tell you, this is not proof of a causal connection. The planets have to be somewhere in the

wheel, and you can always get a highly improbable combination occurring one in any sample. These results do, however,provide things to look out for in future research. There were a total of six horoscopes with Saturn opposite the 12th house

cusp. The others were

Paul Bernardo who was convicted in 1995 of torturing, killing, and dismembering several teenage girls in Canada. He has

the telltale Saturn opposite the 12th house cusp. Other tentative indicators are Saturn in the 6th house, the Moon in the 8th

house, the North Node of the Moon in Gemini, Pluto in the 12th house, and the ruling planet of the 8th house (Mars in this

case) making a stress aspect to the cusp of the 8th house (total: 6 indicators).

Pietro Pacciani, the "Monster of Florence," (who specialized in killing tourists) also had Saturn opposite the 12th house

cusp. Other tentative indicators in his chart are the Sun in Capricorn, Mercury in Sagittarius, Mars in Aries, Venus in the 6th

house, Jupiter in the 7th house, Saturn in the 6th house, Uranus in the 10th house, and the North Node of the Moon in the

3rd house (total: 9 indicators).

William Heirens, the "Lipstick Killer," is next. He used to write "Stop me before I kill again" at the crime scene with thevictim's lipstick. It turned out that this was not a cry for help. Heirens was taunting the police. Other tentative indicators are

the Moon is in the sign of Capricorn, Mercury in Scorpio, the North Node of the Moon in Gemini, Mercury in the 4th house,

Venus in the 6th house, Mars in the 12th house, Jupiter in the 10th house, Neptune in the 2nd house, and Pluto in the 12th

house (total: 10 indicators).

The last horoscope with Saturn opposite the 12th house cusp belongs to Richard Eberling, who was convicted of killing two

elderly women. It is believed (but not proved) that he was also the killer of Marilyn Sheppard. Sam Sheppard, the husband,

spent 10 years in jail until a young lawyer named F. Lee Bailey got him acquitted at a retrial. Other indicators are the Sun in

Sagittarius, the Moon in Pisces, Mercury in Sagittarius, the Moon in the 8th house, Neptune in the 2nd house, Pluto in the

12th house, and the Moon making a stress aspect to Mars (total: 8 indicators).

Now we consider cases where the odds are considerably greater than one out of thirty six. There are three cases out of the

sixty charts where the Moon is making a conjunction aspect with the same fixed star. Traditionally, the orb given for aconjunction to a fixed star is only plus or minus one degree. This means that the odds of having this aspect are 1/180.

Three out of the sixty cases had the Moon within one degree of Scheat, a star that has had a nasty reputation among

astrologers for centuries (alright, it's anecdotal). 3 out of 60 is 1/20. This is nine times what is expected by random chance

for this one aspect alone.

Let's take a look at the horoscope of John Wayne Gacy. Gacy tortured and murdered over thirty young men, most of whom

he buried in the crawl space under his house. While he was in prison awaiting execution, he started a 900 number andsold his paintings and other memorabilia. His Ascendant was in the sign of Sagittarius and both his Sun and Moon in the

sign of Pisces. His Moon, as was just mentioned, is making a conjunction with the fixed star Scheat. Fixed stars have a very

narrow orb of influence, only plus or minus one degree. Other tentative indicators in Gacy's horoscope are a Sagittarius

Ascendant, Saturn in the 6th house, Jupiter in the 7th house, the North Node of the Moon in Virgo, and the North Node of the

Moon in the 9th house, and either the Moon in the 3rd house or Mars in the 7th house (total: seven indicators).

Why the uncertainty? There is some question about the time zone in effect at the time of Gacy's birth. Wartime was in effect,

but there seems to have been a law in Illinois to the effect that all birth times had to be reported in Standard Time. Some

hospitals followed the law, but not all. In this case, Sagittarius is the Rising Sign for both possible birth times. Standard

Time gives the Moon in the 3rd house. Wartime gives Mars in the 7th house. In either case, the number of indicators

remains constant at seven.

In addition to Gacy, the horoscopes of Ricardo Ramirez, the infamous "Night Stalker" of Los Angeles, and Eugen

Weidmann, a German serial killer, also have the Moon within one degree of Scheat.

Ramirez terrorized Los Angeles in 1985. His victims, who were apparently chosen at random, ranged in age from 6 to 84.

They were beaten, shot, stabbed, raped. Five of the rape victims had their throats cut. He has both the Sun and Moon in

Pisces and the Ascendant in Sagittarius, the same sign placements as Gacy. After his capture, Ramirez claimed to be a

Satan worshiper. Other tentative indicators in his horoscope are the Ascendant in Sagittarius, the North Node of the Moon in


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Virgo, the Moon in the 3rd house, Saturn in the 1st house, Uranus in the 8th house, and the North Node of the Moon in the

9th house.

Perhaps you might have noticed that several of these indicators were also present in Gacy's chart. What are the odds here?Well, there is the same Moon Sign 1/12), same Ascendant Sign (1/12), same Sun Sign (1/12), Same Node Sign (1/12), and

same house placement for the Node (1/12). The odds of having all these identical are

1/12 x 1/12 x 1/12 x 1/12 x 1/12 = 1/248,832!

Since we have 2 cases out of 60 here (or 1/30), we have a situation that is 8,294.4 times what we would expect by random

chance alone. Of course, if we replace the 1/12 odds of having the Moon in Pisces with the 1/180 odds of having it withinone degree of Scheat. The odds become

1/180 x 1/12 x 1/12 x 1/12 x 1/12 = 1/3,732,480!

That's 124,416 times the predicted random result.

The artist control group gave a result of Zero.

The fiction writer control group gave a result of Zero for just the first three steps (Sun and Moon in Pisces, Ascendant in

Sagittarius).

And then, there is Eugen Weidmann.

Weidmann was estimated to have killed 86 people, some for the small change they had in their pockets. He was executedby guillotine in France in 1939. Other tentative indicators in this horoscope are Mars in Aries, the Sun in the 9th house,

Uranus in the 8th house, Neptune in the 2nd house, the Moon making a stress aspect with Saturn, and Mars making a

stress aspect with the North Node of the Moon (total: 7 indicators).

Another degree where the Moon showed up frequently was the 25th degree of Capricorn (between 24 degrees 1 minute of

arc and 24 degrees and 59 minutes of arc). Four horoscopes out of the sixty had the Moon here. What are the odds of that

happening by random chance alone? 60 x (1/360 x 1/360 x 1/360 x 1/360) or 1 out of 279,936,000! Of course, with only one

sample, even odds this magnitude may still be only a coincidence. However, this does give something to look for in future

research. Let's take a look at these horoscopes.

The first one belongs to Arthur Goode, a homicidal, schizophrenic pedophile. He killed two young boys and was stopped

before he could kill a third. Goode was executed in Florida on April 4, 1984. Other tentative indicators in his chart are the

Moon in the 3rd house, Venus in the 6th house, Saturn in the 1st house, Neptune in the 12th house, Pluto in the 10thhouse, the North Node of the Moon in the 3rd house, the Moon in stress aspect with Venus, and Uranus in stress aspect

with the North Node of the Moon (total: 9 indicators).

Fredrick West also has the Moon in the 25th degree of Capricorn. He was accused of killing 11 young women, including his

own daughter and stepdaughter. Most of the victims were tortured first. After his arrest, West killed himself in prison on New

Year's Day, 1995. Other tentative indicators in this chart are Mercury in Scorpio, Venus in Scorpio, Mars in Aries, the North

Node of the Moon in Virgo, the Moon in the 3rd house, Mars in the 7th house, Uranus in the 8th house, Pluto in the 10thhouse, the Moon in stress aspect to Mars, and the Ruling Planet of the 8th house (Venus in this case) making a stress

aspect to the 8th house cusp (total: eleven indicators).

Henri Girard made history by being the first "scientific killer." He was a bon vivant who moved in high social circles. Like

many sociopaths, he had lots of charm, enabling him to attract victims. What set him apart was his collection of germ

cultures. Girard's first victim was Louis Pernotte, whom he insured for 300,000 francs and killed by gradually feeding him

the germs. He tried to kill a couple with poisoned mushrooms, but failed.

The next victim was a war widow, whom he insured and poisoned. They caught him because he killed her too soon afterhaving her insured. Before he could be tried, Girard killed himself in May 1921 by swallowing a germ culture. Other tentative

indicators are the Ascendant in Sagittarius, Jupiter in Scorpio, Mars in the 12th house, Uranus in the 8th house, The Moon

in stress aspect with Venus, and the Ruling Planet of the 8th house (the Moon in this case) making a stress aspect to the

cusp of the 8th house (total: seven indicators).

Richard Lee Tingler killed at least seven people. He was on the FBI's ten most wanted list in 1968 and 1969. He shot four

people through the head on September 16, 1968, and two more the following month. In April 1969, he killed a man and

stole his car. Tingler was arrested the following month. Other tentative indicators in Tingler's chart are the Sun in

Sagittarius, Mercury in Scorpio, Venus in Scorpio, Mercury in the 9th house, and Neptune in the 7th house (total: six

indicators).


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One artist had had this Moon placement: Pierre Soulages, an abstract artist. That's a rate of 100 x (1/256) = 0.4%. None of

the 403 fiction writers had the Moon in this degree of Capricorn.

Postscript:

AfterPart One was published, information was obtained on another serial killer. John Muhammad made headlines with his

sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C. area. This is a good test case of the factors that were found in our original

sample. The following factors were found: Sagittarius on the Ascendant, the Sun in Capricorn, the North Node of the Moon

in Virgo, Mars in the 7th house, Saturn in the 1st house, Uranus in the 8th house, and the Moon making a stress aspect to

the Ascendant (total: seven indicators).

The work is continuing....

Frequencies of Various Aspects and House and Sign Positions

in the

Horoscopes of Murderers, Serial Killers, and Mass Murderers

as Compared

to Control Groups, Part III

In Part I, an initial examination was made of single factors the horoscopes of sixty killers and sixty single murderers (those

who killed only one victim). In Part II, combinations of factors were examined for the serial killer group alone. In both papers,the results were compared against control groups. Recently, birth data became available on 38 additional serial killers.

This article reports on the next step: comparison of the previous results against data from the new group to see if anyfactors are replicated.

Research Criteria:

With one exception, these are the same as in the first two papers. An arbitrary standard was set. Only results 50% or

greater above those expected by random chance would be considered significant. A slight change has been made for the

aspects. Research was originally done with

the CCRS program, which had the ability to set orbs for each aspect individually. The other programs used (Astrodatabank,

v.3 and the Astroinvestigator) set orb size the same for all aspects. The orbs were originally set as follows: + or 5 degreesfor the conjunction (0 degrees) and opposition (180 degrees) aspects, and + or 4 degrees for the square aspect (90

degrees). In order to simplify matters, the orb for the square was reset for + or 5 degrees. This changed the result expected

by random chance alone from 10% to 11.1%. The results from the

first two papers (both from the samples and the controls) have been recalculated to reflect this.

The Members of the Second Group

Beverly Allitt, British nurse who murdered patients. Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, who killed, cooked, and ate at least eight

young boys.

Willie Bosket killed at least two men. Prison guards referredto him as Hanibal Lechter because of his wild, violent behavior.

Robert Buell, serial rapist and killer of two young girls. Leonarda Cianciulli who killed people as a magical sacrifice to

keep her son safe in the army.

David R. Clark, killer of at least two people.

Marc Dutroux, Belgian serial killer of children.

Alfred Gaynor killed at least two women and suspected of threemore murders.

Edward Gein, who was the model for the Buffalo Bill characterin the film Silence of the Lambs.

Kristen Gilbert, a nurse at a veterans hospital who killed atleast four patients with lethal injections.

Judy Goodyear, the black widow, who killed two husbands and ason.

Arthur Jackson, killed two people in Scotland and attempted tomurder an American movie actress.

John Joubert, killed at least four people. Executed. John Kalhauser, killed two people and suspected in the
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disappearance of his wife.

Patrick Kearney, the California trash bag killer of at least 15men and boys.

Kenneth Kimes, Jr., one half of the mother and son grifterscase. Only one body was recovered.

Henri Landru, the French bluebeard. Married and murdered 10women. No bodies were ever recovered.

Claude Lastennet, a serial killer of old women. On at least oneoccasion, he tasted the victims blood.

Emile Louis raped and murdered young women in France. Charles Manson who ordered his followers to commit the Tate and

La Bianca murderers

Jean-Thiery Mathurin who, with his partner Thierry Paulin (seebelow) killed at least 31 elderly people.

Dorthea Montalvo killed elderly boarders in her rooming house,buried them, and continued to receive their Social Security checks.

Hera Myrtel killed several lovers and husbands.

Thierry Paulin was the accomplice of Jean-Thiery Mathurin(above).

Michele Profeta killed a real estate agent and a cab driver. Carlos Puch killed at least 14 people in Argentina. Pascal Raffin, arsonist responsible for at least three deaths. Jean-Claude Romand, a swindler who first killed his wife and

two children, and then killed his parents.

Ferdinand Schoerner, a Nazi general who had many of his owntroops executed for the slightest infraction.

Edgar Smith killed at least two people. Charles Sobhraj, known as The Serpent, was an Asian serial

killer who specialized in backpacking tourists.

Cary Stayner, murdered several women in Yellowstone NationalPark.

Gianfranco Stevanin, the Monster of Terrazzo, killed at leastsix women.

Maria Swanenbrug, a care provider known as Good Natured Mie,insured her charges and attempted 102 murders. She killed 27.

Pat Taylor, serial poisoner. Patrick Tissier, rapist and killer.

Joseph Vacher, killed at least seven women and four youths. Jean-Baptiste Troppmann, killed a man and his son, and then

later killed the widow and the remaining children.

Comparison of Results for Serial Killer Groups I and II

Sign Positions: The odds of a particular planet being in any particular house or sign by random chance alone is

approximately 1/12. Sign positions of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were not used, as their lengthy orbital periods

would tend to give skewed results. For the first group of sixty cases, the random chance result would be 5 out of the sixty.

For the second group of thirty-eight cases, the random chance result would be 3.17. To get a result 50% higher would

require 7.5 in the first case (rounded off to 8) and 4.755 in the second case (rounded off to 5). For the combined results of

all 99 cases, the random result is 8.17 and 50% higher than that is 12.25 (rounded off to

13).

The second group of serial killers gave low results in several cases. However, for some of these, the combined total of both

groups was at 50% (or better) above chance. These were counted as hits. In some cases, the first sample gave results

below the 50% criterion, but the second group gave results far enough above to push the total above the mark. These were

also counted as hits.

The Sun in Gemini or Capricorn, and the Moon in Capricorn made the cut again with 13 cases each. Sun in Sagittarius gave

only 12 hits, as did the Moon in either Sagittarius of Pisces. This is a borderline result, and while it cannot be counted here,

it is very close and (IMO) should still be tested for when future samples become available.

The surprise was Mercury in Scorpio. The smaller second group gave a larger result than the first group. 10 out of 39 had

Mercury placed here (which is 25.6%, over two and a half times the result expected by random chance) as opposed to 9 out

of 60 for the first group.

Mars in Aries, which showed up in the first group, did not make the cut here. Mars in Leo replaced it with 13 hits for the


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combined group. Jupiter in Scorpio hung on with 13 hits.

Of course, no conclusions can be drawn at this preliminary stage, but these results are interesting because astrologers

have tended to classify Mercury and Jupiter as mental planets. They are alleged to affect ones thinking. Mercury is alleged

to show a persons ability to deal with details, while Jupiter is supposed to indicate ones ability to deal in principles, to get

the big picture. In these samples, they both give above average results when they are found in the sign that astrologers

claim is associated with death.

Full results for sign placements are in Table I.


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House Positions:

The Sun, Moon, and Mercury showed no results by house. Venus no longer gave above random results for the 6th house

but now did for the 11th house. The outer planets were more consistent.

The following gave results equal to or greater than the cutoff point of 50% above random:

Mars in the 7th house. Jupiter in the 10th house. Saturn in the 1st house (gave above average results for both

groups).

Saturn in the 6th house (gave above average results for bothgroups).

Uranus in the 8th house. Neptune in the 7th house (gave above average results for both groups). Neptune in the 12th house (gave above average results for both groups). Pluto in the 10th house. Pluto in the 11th house.

All told, fourteen of the original sign and house indicators still showed positive results for the combined group.

Full results for house placements are in Table II.


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Aspects:

The numbers change here. The random result would be 1 out of 9, not 1 out of 12 as with the signs and houses. To get a

result that is at least 50% higher than chance would require at least 10 hits for the first group and 6.3 for the second. The

aspects that passed this test

for the first group were tested against the second. However, other aspects were also run. On several occasions, the second

group yielded results that were high enough for the combined total to be 50% above chance (15 hits out of a total of 98

cases) and these were also listed.

The following results were obtained:

In 31 cases, both groups yielded results that met our criterion of 50% or more above random.

In 20 cases, one group yielded below random results, but the total met the 50% or more criterion. In 17 of those cases, the

first group yielded results that were enough above the 50% mark to bring the total to at least 50%. In the remaining three

cases, it was the second group

that did so. A total of 51 aspects met the criterion of 50% or more above chance.

In 10 cases, the total for the two control groups reached the 50% or better mark.

Some of the aspects were:

Sun in stress aspect to Pluto. Pluto is alleged by astrologersto rule death.

Sun in conjunction with the Venus/Mars midpoint. Moon (emotions) in stress aspect to Mars. According to the astrological literature (which is anecdotal) this can give

a shortened temper.

Moon in stress aspect to the Ascendant.

Mercury to Mars. Mercury to Chiron. Mars to the Moons North Node. Mars to the Sun/Uranus midpoint. Mars to the Neptune/Pluto midpoint. Jupiter to the Venus/Ceres midpoint. Jupiter to the Ceres/Pluto midpoint.

Saturn to Chiron. Saturn to the 12th house cusp. Chiron to the Mars/Pluto midpoint. Chiron to the Venus/Neptune midpoint. Uranus to the Ceres/Chiron midpoint. Uranus to the Pluto/Vertex midpoint. Neptune to the Mars/Vertex midpoint.

Neptune to the Mars/Ceres midpoint. Neptune to the Mars/Pluto midpoint. Pluto to the Moon/Venus midpoint. Pluto to the Uranus/Vertex midpoint.

The full results are in Table III.


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Conclusions:

This is still a work in progress. While it is true that several of the results from the first two papers were duplicated in the

second group and the test groups gave five times as many hits as the control groups, it is still possible that the results are

nothing but a fluke. However, with results from two separate groups of the horoscopes of serial killers, we now have 6 sign

placements, 9 house placements, and 22 aspects that can be tested for in future studies.


Article Four: Common Factors in the Horoscopes of Serial

Killers and Mass Murderers.

In previous articles, the horoscopes of 99 serial killers were examined for factors that occurred with a frequency at least

50% higher than predicted by chance. The next question is, do any of these aspects occur at the same 50% or better rate in

the horoscopes of other types of murderers?

In other words, are there astrological signatures for murder in general?

In this article, we are going to compare the results from the 99 serial killers with a group of 35 mass murderers. Massmurderers are those who kill only once, but kill more than one person at the time. The factors examined are sign

placements, house placements, and aspects. Aspects to midpoints are also examined.

For the full details of the test procedure, click here to review the first article.

The mass murderers are:

Stephanie Bohain, who in November 1992, shot his wife, two baby daughters, and his wifes parents. Erminio Criscione, in February 1992, he killed five people in Switzerland.

Ronald DeFeo, Jr., the Amityville Horror killer, who murdered his family. Harry DeLaRoche, killed his mother, father, and two brothers in November 1976. Diane Downs tried to kill all of her children on May 19, 1983. Albert Dyer, a school crossing guard who, on July 26, 1937,lured three girls to the woods and strangled them.

Corrado Ferioli, Italian drug addict who killed his parents. Gary Gilmore killed two men in Provo, Utah, July 19-20, 1976. Todd Gorsuch, shot his 11-year-old sister and her girlfriend to death, October 3, 1970.

Thomas Hamilton went to the local primary school on March 13,1996 and killed 16 children and their teacher. Eric Harris, the Columbine High School killer. He and his friend killed 15 before committing suicide. Homicide 1180, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, killed his mother, father, and a brother with a shotgun. Homicide-Suicide killed her three children and then hung herself. Jeffery MacDonald, the Green Beret murderer, killed his wife and two children. Archie McCaffery claimed he heard voices at his childs gravesite that said the baby would come back to life if he

killed seven people he killed three before being caught.

Eric Menendez, with his brother Lyle, killed their parents. Lyle Menendez, Erics brother (see above). Roland Menzies entered a backyard in Florida and killed two small children.

Thomas Odle, on November 8, 1985, killed his parents and three siblings. Jean Roussel, shot seven people to death in a hotel, August 5, 1983. Sylvia Seegrist shot nine people in a mall, killing two, on October 30, 1985. Walter Shaw cut his mothers and sisters throats on March 30, 1892. Annie Soudin killed her two children and buried them with the help of her husband on June 3, 1983. Richard Speck. Killed eight student nurses on July 14, 1966. Brenda Spencer, on January 29, 1979, killed a custodian, a principal, and wounded eight children and a

policeman.

Robert Strack, the Beast of Cologne, raped and murdered two eleven-year-old girls on October 13, 1965. Larry Swartz, shot and killed his adoptive parents on January 17, 1984. Harry Tracy killed four prison guards during an escape, June 9, 1902.

Howard Unruh, on September 6, 1949, he killed 13 men, women, and children in Camden New Jersey judged not
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fit to stand trial.

Alain Vareille shot his two children and his pregnant wife on September 12, 1987. Daniel White. Killed the mayor of San Francisco, then ran down the hall and killed Harvey Milk, November 27, 1978. Charles Whitman. The Texas Tower Killer, August 1, 1966. Killed his wife and mother, then went to the top of the

tower at the University of Texas and began shooting people. He killed thirty.

Jeanne Wright, on December 4, 1983, she threw her four children into the river. Lysian Bonnafous, a French psychiatrist who, on May 13, 1992, shot and killed his wife and two teenage

daughters, then himself.

James Huberty killed 21 people at a McDonalds on July 18, 1984.

The only two sign placements that gave results at least 50% above random were the Sun in Sagittarius (5 hits out of 35cases) and Venus in Aquarius (7 out of 35). In the third article, Sun in Sagittarius missed making the cut by just one case. It

is now back on list.

The house placements that gave results at least 50% above random for all three groups were:

Uranus in the 9th house (5 out of 35 for the mass murderers 20 out of 134 for all three groups. Pluto in the 11th house (5 out of 35 for mass murderers 18 out of 34 for the total of all three groups).

The Moons North Node in the 11th house (5 hits out of 35 for the mass murderers 17 out of 134 for the total of allthree groups).

The following aspects which gave results 50% or more above chance for the serial killers, also gave results for the mass

murderers:

Sun in stress aspect to the Venus/Mars midpoint.

Sun in conjunction with the Venus/Mars midpoint. Moon in stress aspect with Mars. Mercury in stress aspect with the Vertex. Mars in stress aspect with the Sun/Uranus midpoint. Juno in stress aspect with the Uranus/Ascendant midpoint. Uranus in stress aspect with the Jupiter/Vertex midpoint. Neptune in stress aspect with the Mars/Ceres midpoint.

Pluto in stress aspect with the Moon/Venus midpoint. Pluto in stress aspect with the Uranus/Vertex midpoint. The Ascendant in stress aspect with the North Node of Mars The Mid-Heaven in stress aspect with the Neptune/Ascendant midpoint.

First of all, I would like to emphasize again that the results of this study do not constitute proof of anything. They certainly do

not do not prove that astrology works (whatever that means). The purpose of this series of papers is to see if there arecorrelations between objective astronomical factors in a horoscope and objectively observable specific events in the lives of

people. This is the first step in the scientific process of validation or falsification of any hypothesis.

In the astrological literature, it is claimed (anecdotally) that the Moon influences ones emotions. Mars is alleged to govern

energy, anger, and aggression. A stressful aspect (angles of 0, 90, and 180 degrees) between the Moon and Mars is

supposed to increase the chance of emotional outbursts. It is no surprise to an astrologer to find this type of aspectoccurring in the horoscopes of serial killers and mass murderers at a rate of 50% or more above chance. Nor is it

surprising to find the planet Mars making a stress aspect to the midpoint of the Sun and the planet Uranus. Combinations

involving Mars and Uranus are alleged by astrologers to increase the chance of sudden angry outbursts, so the

appearance of Mars aspecting the Sun/Uranus midpoint is no surprise either.

The North Node of Mars in stress aspect to the Ascendant is a bit unusual. There is very little about planetary nodes in the

astrological literature. While it has been suggested that planetary nodes may have an influence similar to that of their

planets, there has been no evidence provided to demonstrate that this is so. Indeed, very little statistical evidence has beenpresented by astrologers to show that the planets themselves have any effect! Fortunately, with the advent of databases and

the software to analyze them, that situation is changing.

In this paper, it was found that there were 17 different factors that showed up with a rate of at least 50% above chance, two

sign placements, three house placements, and 12 aspects. These results provide a focus for future research.


Bob Marks, Astrologer


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