Why do people insist on hating serial killers?

I think people hate because they have a hard time separating their disdain for an action or their emotional response to a situation with their understanding of that person as an individual...in this case, an individual who is very ill. I was at Virginia Tech when Cho killed 32 students before killing himself. There was a heated debate about whether or not to include his name on the memorial, since many felt pity for him and believed him to be a victim too. Others could not forgive him. My opinion is that if we harbour hate for someone who hurts us, we are only wounding ourselves. On the other hand, if we are able to hate the crime but love the person who committed it, then we become more human and feel more at peace with ourselves. However, this is very hard for people to do. Some people even feel guilty forgiving because they mistakenly feel like they are condoning the crime by doing so! I think anytime there's a lot of emotion involved, it's hard for people to look past how they feel at the moment and imagine how someone else feels. At the same time, there's a difference between forgiving a person and believing that they are not a true threat. Many serial killers are sociopaths and are good at getting people to trust them. I think it's good to forgive people, but you should still exercise caution. In this case, the guy's locked up, so you're pretty safe.