I believe in Panzram's case (as opposed to someone like Albert Fish who was obviously mentally ill) that he could have been a more normal person had he had a better childhood and also had he not been raped by hobos. This of course is hypothetical because you wonder why his parents sent him off to school to begin with if he had not been acting up and committing small crimes here and there. I do not believe he would have made the full transition to serial killer without first being raped. His killings were seemingly an attempt to force others to feel the helplessness, submission, and shame he felt during his own rape. I believe in repeating those actions Panzram was attempting to exorcise his own demons which he obviously did not deal with directly.