The ethical and legal implications of creating content about true crime have been questioned from the late 1990s until the emergence of new media. A turning point was marked by technological discoveries in the field of forensics and public expert analysis, as well as the trials of serial killers who, through media exposure, gained fame. A chronological overview used in this paper reveals the phenomenon of media reporting on serial killers for the purpose of public warning, indicating a shift in media reporting from an emphasis on informative functions to a gradual transformation into a media function of entertainment. With the advent of new media, it becomes apparent that increased media attention towards serial killers correlates with the rise of mass murders, where serial killers emerge with a desire for fame. Beginning in the 20th century, the process of creating the archetype of the psychopath begins, transforming from a subject of mass threat into an archetype of the "individual above society," gradually entering cinematography and popular culture. The blending of entertainment and informational functions in media content about true crime raises a series of ethical and legal questions, especially when considering the correlation between media sensationalism and the rise in mass murder rates (Lankford, 2018). The paper particularly emphasizes the model of presenting true crime media content in the United States. This American model is compared with the model of presentation in Croatia, which is conditioned by a different legal framework and journalists' ethical code. The importance of the topic is evident in filling the content gap in scientific and professional works in this field, especially in Croatia and in the Croatian language. Given the importance and practical repercussions of this topic, the very modest scope of scientific and professional work is quite surprising, making this paper one of the few works on this topic in the field of communication studies. In a narrower sense, the communication perspective from which the author of the thesis approaches the topic delves into the areas of media theory, media psychology, and particularly media ethics and media education.