When we hear the word “cannibal,” the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the Silence of the Lambs villain, Hannibal Lecter, a serial killer who would eat his victims' organs with a glass of wine. But while Lecter is a fictional character, he is based on several real-life murderers who dined on their victims after a kill.
Cannibals have always existed throughout human history, according to anthropologists: As a cure for overpopulation, a means of survival during a famine, or even a way to contend with grief, nearly every culture has consumed human beings for some reason at one point in time.
But what's not so common are murderers who kill for sport and then devour their victims. Of the estimated 2,000 active serial killers in the United States, between five and 10 are probably cannibals as well, says Dr. Eric Hickey, professor of forensic psychology at Walden University.
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