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U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureauof Investigation

National Center "' 1

For The
AnalysisViolent
of Crime
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NCAVC

CRITICAL INCIDENT RESPONSEGROUP

FBI Academy
Quantico, Virginia
JUNE 1998
FBIIDOJ
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The Critical
Incident Response Group
2?
CIRG!

The Critical
Incident Response
Group CIRG!is anFBI eldentity located
at theFBI
Academy Quantico,
in Virginia.
EstablishedMay
in 1994, the CIRG
was designed provide
to
rapid assistance
incidentsof
to a crisis nature.
It furnishes
emergency response
terrorist
to
activities, hostage
barricaded
situations, subjects,
other critical incidents.
and

The CIRGcomposedof
is diverse units that
provide operational
support and
training and
conduct research
related areas. Expertise
in is furnished
in involving
cases abduction or
mysterious disappearance
of children,
crime scene
analysis, pro ling,
management,
crisis
hostage negotiations,
and special
weapons and
tactics.

The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime

NCAVC!

The NationalCenter
for the Analysisof
Violent Crime NCAVC!, one of
the major
components the CIRG, combines
of investigative/operationalfunctions,
support research,
and
s training in
order to
provide assistance,
without charge,
to Federal,
state, local,
and foreign
law
§
enforcement agencies
investigating unusual,
bizarre,or
repetitive violent crimes.

4 In vestigative/Operational
Assistance
3 The experienced
FBI Special
Agents and
other professionals
who comprise
the NCAVC
3 staff provide
advice and
support the
in general
areas
CrimesAgainst Children;
of Crimes Against
Adults; and
Threat Assessment,
Corruption, and
Property Crimes.
Typical cases
received for
services include
child abductions
or mysterious
disappearancechildren,
of murders,
serial single
homicides, serial
rapes, extortions,
threats, kidnappings,
product tampering,
arsons and
bombings, weapons
of mass
destruction, public
corruption, and
domestic and
international
terrorism.

The NCAVC staff reviewscrimes fromboth behavioraland investigativeperspectives.

r
This criminal
investigative analysis
process serves
a tool
as for client law
enforcement agencies
i by providing
them with
an analysis
of thecrime as
well asunderstanding
an of criminal
motivation and
behavioral descriptions
the offender. Services
of providedto
law enforcement
agencies through
this process
includethe
following:

i
 _.._. .

Crime Analysis:
The NCAVC staff member reviewsthe initial crime scene
information
and preliminaryinvestigative effortsand offerssuggestions that
may helpdirect the
course ofthe investigation. V

Investigative Suggestions:
Certain investigativesuggestions andmay
strategies be
offered based
on areview of theentirecase,
focusing particularly onevaluation of the
an
crime scene and an assessment ofthe likely offender.

Pro les of
Unknown O enders: By analyzing the details by which acrime was
committed, NCAVCstaff memberscan oftenidentify importantpersonality and
behavioral characteristics of an offender. Certain crime scenes
may reveal behavioral
characteristics that
give cluesabout anoffender&#39;s personality
or
lifestyle and allow
investigators topredict futureactivity.

Threat Analysis:Communicatedthreats
are evaluated todetermine whether
the authoror
caller has the intent, knowledge, or
means to carry out any stated or
implied threat. A
behavioral descriptionof theunknown offendermay beprovided toassist in
identi cation and apprehension. Knownoffenders whomakethreatsor who appear to
pose adanger maybe assessed for potentialdangerousness, given
appropriate and
sufficient background data.

Critical Incident Evaluations: NCAVC staff

serve as aresource to CIRG s crisis
management, tactical,
and on-scene
commanders during
crisis
situations by offering
overall behavioral
assessmentcritical
of incidents,
crime scenes,
and potentially
dangerous individuals.

Interview Strategies:The NCAVC staff canmake suggestions about interviewstrategies

of subjects,suspects, orwitnesses, based
on a general
assessment of the person andan
analysis ofthe crime s!and behaviorexhibited. Suggestionsmay relateto
the most
appropriate typeof interviewer,desirable approach,
and thebest environmentin which to
conduct the interview.

Major CaseManagement: TheNCAVC staff can provideguidance andresources to

manage andorganize amajor multiagencyinvestigation, suchas thosethat occurin child
abduction or serial murder cases. Particularly helpful to those investigating the abduction
or
mysterious disappearance of
achild is theChild AbductionResponse Plan
prepared by
NCAVC staff with the assistance ofand advice from FBI and police investigators who
have extensiveexperience workingchild abductioncases.

Search Warrant Assistance: Research and experiencehave shown that certain behavior
and personality traits are commonly possessedby speci c types of offenders. This
information can be particularly beneficial to support affidavits for search warrants.

2
*

Prosecutive
Trial
Strategies:
and At the
request
theofinvestigating
agency
or
prosecuting
theattorney,
NCAVC
staff make
may recommendations
regarding poss
cross-examination
for offenders
techniques
or witnesses,
overall prosecutive
theme
development,
or
suggestions
for jury
selection.
Expert Testimony:
NCAVC members
have quali
to testify
ed
experts
as in the
areas of
Kcriminal
investigative
crime
analysis,
scene
criminal
analys
and
vio
assessment ofdangerousness.

Violent Criminal
Apprehension VIC/1P!:
Program is
VICAP
abehaviorally-base
crime
analysis
that
tool
been
has signiredesigned
cantlystructured
and
address
to violen
crime problems
affecting
enforcement
law Theagencies.
system
new of
consists
a
revised VICAP
Crime Analysis
Reporta and
user-friendly
computerdesigned
system to
enhanceanalysis
crime speci
for c violent
crimes, including
solved unsolved
or
homicides,persons,
missing
unidenti
and ed persons.
deadis available
It free
of charge
to any
agency towilling
become
apartthiseffective of
of network
crimeanalysis.
ln addition
to the
above services,
the NCAVC
staff can
coordinateobtain
and other
resources
apply
atogiven
toinvestigation.
NCAVC Themaintains
areference
le for
experts i
various forensic
disciplines
as odontology,
suchanthropology,or pathology.
entomology,
Staff
members
coordinate
can acquisition
special
of tracking
aircraft,
or
cadaver
dogs,use
of
or
the
FBl s Evidence
Response TheTeam.
NCAVC
also works
closelythe
with
National
Center
for
Missing
Exploited
and in
Children
child
abductions
other
and
victimization
child cases

Research

The NCAVC
also conducts
researchviolent
into crime
from
alawenforcement
perspective.
primaryOftointerest
researchers
ishow
the offenders
inthe
study
committed
their
crimes
and how they
avoided detection,
identi cation, apprehension,
and conviction.
The
research
designed
is gaintoinsight
into
criminal
thought processes,
motivations,
behavior.
and
Insightsthrough
gained
research
there ned
are innovative
into investigativeand
techni
applied
improve
to enforcement
law against
s effectiveness
violent
the criminal.
College
undergraduates
graduateand
working
students
interns
as
the inNCAVC
provide assista
to the
staff inmanyof
the research efforts.
Results
theof
research
are shared
with law
the enforcement
and academic
world throu
5 publications,
*5. presentations,
training,
asand
wellthrough
as application
theknowledge
of
the
§ investigative
1
and
incorporate
operational
crime
functions
prevention
the
intoprograms.
Center.
Some
of
andPast
are
ndings
planned
useful
also
researchstudies
to
includes
sexuaof
homicide,
child
serial
rape, molestation
abduction,
and arson,
bombing,
using
actsweapo
of
mass destruction,
threatening communications,
and serial
murder.

3
Training

The NCAVC
staff participates
in numerous
training functions
throughout year.
the The
NCAVCrepresented
is at
majorlaw enforcement
conferencesas
such
the
International
Association
Chiefs of
of Police and National
Sheriffs Association.
Staff members
take
part as
attendees speakers
and atsymposiasponsoredsuch
by organizations
the American
as
Professional Society
on the
Abuse
Children,Academy
of ForensicSciences, International
of
Homicide Investigators
Association, American
Bar Association,
and the
AcademyCriminal
of
Justice Science.

Requeststraining
for presentations
or the by
NCAVC
shouldmade
be through
the local
FBI eld of ce.

NCAVC toll-free number: 800-634-4097

4
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of Vlolent
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NCAVCFBI ACADEMYQuan co,

Va.
NATIONALCENTERFOR-TIIE OF VIOLENTCRIME
 * * * * *

FOREWORD

This booklet
is acompilation
of articles
written by
membersthe
of Behavioral
Science
Units, National
Center the
for Analysis
of Violent
Crime,the
at FBI
Academy. Topics
covered
in this booklet are:

Criminal Investigative
Analysis Pro ling!

Sexual Homicide

Criminal InvestigativeAnalysis
Special Agents
assigned
thetoCriminal
Investigative Analysis
Program CIAP!
of the
National Center
for theAnalysis Violent
of Crime
provide operational
and investigative
sup-
port FBI
to eld
of ces and
law enforcement
agencies investigating
violent crimes.
The terms
"psychologicaland
pro"criminal
le" personality are
pro no
le"
longer used
in describing
the
work done
by the
analysts. Although
the "pro or
le"
description
of the
type of
who
person
would be
likely to
have committed
thecrime
or analyzed is
crimes part of theservice pro-
vided,is
secondary
it to the
overall
analysis. The analysts
crime provide suggestions for
also
investigative strategy,
interviewinginvestigative
and techniques,
search warrant
information,
and prosecutive
strategy.some
In cases,
the Agents
may testify
in court
as expert
witnesses
about the
process of
criminal investigative
analysis.

The articles
included this
in section
describe criminal
investigative analysis
in general.
Some articles
that deal
with analysis
in particular
crimes such
homicide
as rapeare included
or
in books or
sections dealing with that crime.

Sexual Homicide
The FBI Behavioral
s Science
Units conducted
research into
sexual homicide.
The pro-
ject involved
the interview
of 36
convicted, incarcerated
killers, many
of whom
were serial
killers. Thearticles in
this section
describe results
of thatresearch.
 _

>i=*>l<*>l<

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Criminal Investigative
Analysis
*CriminalPro ling: AViable Investigative
Tool
Against Violent
Crime
*Criminal Pro ling from
Crime SceneAnalysis
* OffenderPro les: AMultidisciplinary Approach
*A Psychological Assessment
of Crime:
Pro ling

Sexual Homicide

*Sexual Homicide: AMotivational Model

*Sexual Killers andTheir Victims:
Identifying Pattems
Through Crime
Scene Analysis
*Murderers Who Rapeand Mutilate
*The Men Who Murdered
* The Split Reality
of Murder
*ClassifyingSexual Homicide
Crime Scenes:
Interrater Reliability
*Crime Scene and
Pro le Characteristics
of Organized
and Disorganized
Murderers
*Interviewing
TechniquesHomicide
for Investigations
*The Lust Murderer
*Rapeand Rape-Murder:
One Offender
and Twelve
Victims
 >l<*>I<****

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE
ANALYSIS

Criminal Pro ling:

A Viable
InvestigativeAgainst
Tool Violent
Crime
Criminal Pro ling
from Crime
Scene Analysis
Offender Pro les:
A Multidisciplinary
Approach
A Psychological
Assessment
Crime:
of Pro ling

>l<>l<>I<*>l<*>!<
 Criminal Profiling
AViable Investigative Tool
Against ViolentCrime
Quickly apprehending
a perpetrator 1! Evaluation
of thecriminal
ofaviolentcrime rape, homicide,
child act itself,
BY
abduction- isamajor goal ofall lawen- 2! Comprehensive
evaluation
forcement agencies. Unlike other of the specifics ofthe crime JOHN E. DOUGLAS, M.S.
disciplines concernedwith human scenels!, Special Agent/Program
Manager
violence, lawenforcement doesnot, as 3! Comprehensive
analysisof Profiling andConsultation Program
aprimaryobjective, seek
to explain
the the victim, Behavioral Science
actions of
aviolentoffender. Instead,
its 4! Evaluation
of preliminary Investigative SupportUnit
task isto
ascertain the identityof theof- National Centerfor the Analysis
police reports,
fender based
on whatis knownof his 5! Evaluation
of themedical
of Violent Crime
actions. Described
by oneauthoras
an FBI
Academy Quantico,VA
examiner s autopsyprotocol,
emitter signals
of during
commission of 6! Development
of profilewith
and
acrime, the criminal must be iden- E.
ALAN BURGESS, M.Ed.
critical offender characteristics,
tifiedas
quickly as
possible to prevent
further violence.While studiesexplain- and Special Agent/Unit
Chief
7! Investigative
suggestions Behavioral Science
ing why certain individuals
commit
violent crimes may aid them in their predicated on
constructionthe
of Investigative SupportUnit
and

must adaptthe studyfindings tosuit profile.

search, lawenforcement investigators
National Centerfor the Analysis
Deputy Administrator
their own
particular needs.
Criminal pro-
filingisatool law enforcement The
&#39;may use process
byused
the
person FBI Academy Quantico, VA
of Violent Crime
preparing
combine the resultsof studiesin other
to acriminalpersonality profile
disciplines with techni- is quitesimilar to
more traditional that used
by clinicians
quesinan effort tocombat violentto make adiagnosisand treatment plan:
Cl&#39;l "l8. is
Data collected and assessed, the
situation reconstructed,
hypotheses are
The ProfilingProcess formulated,aprofile developed and
The profiling defined by tested, andthe resultsreported back.
process is
the FBlas aninvestigative technique
by Criminal personalityprofiling has
which to identify themajor personality been usedby lawenforcement with suc-
and behavioralcharacteristics ofthe cess inmany areas
and isviewed as a
offender basedupon ananalysis ofthe way inwhich theinvestigating officer
crimels! he The can narrowthe scopeof an investiga-
or shehas committed.
process generally steps. tion. Profiling unfortunately doesnot
involves seven
provide the
identity of
the offender,
but
it does indicate the type of person most
likely to
have committed
acrimehaving
certain uniquecharacteristics.

Published
the Federal
byBureau Investigation,
of Department
U.S.Justice!
of
Reprinted
thefrom
FBI
Law Enforcement
Bulletin, December
198 6.
f

a
tobuild oftheoffender.5
profile The
Profile Applications theory
behind that
thisapproach
is
which criminal
Oneareain pro- behavior
sexual,
physical,
verbal!
filing
personality been reflects
assessment!
has personality,
andbyexamining
useful Law
isinhostage
negotiation? thebehavior
oftherapist
during
the
enforcement
officers
needtolearnas assault, may
theinvestigator beableto
aboutthehostagedetermine
muchaspossible what typeof person is
takerin
ordertoprotect
thelives
ofthe responsible
fortheoffense.
Common
hostages. be abletoassess characteristics
Theymust ofarsonists
havebeen
thesubject
interms
ofhisprobablederived
from
ananalysis
oftheUniform
course
of action
andhisreactions
to CrimeFteports.° of thear-
Knowledge
various
stimuli.
lnsuch cases,policesonisfs
psychodynamics
canaidthein-
Special
AgentDouglas obtain
information
about
theoffendervestigator
in identifying
possible
through
verbal
contactwith
thehostagesuspects,
predicting ofsubse-
location
taker
and possibly
throughaccess
tohis quent
arsons,
anddeveloping
techni-
familyandassociates. ques
andstrategies
forinterviewing
Criminal have
profiling
techniques suspects.
also been used in identifying Criminal
profiling
hasbeenuseful
anonymous
letter3
writers
andpersonsin investigating sexualhomicides
whomakewrittenorspokenthreats
of because
many of thesecrimesappear
violence.ln casesof the latter, motivelessandthusofferfewobvious
psycholinguistic
techniques
have
beencluesaboutthe killer identity.
s ln
used a threat
tocompose dictionary,"
murdersthatresultfromjealousy
or
whereby every
wordin
a messageis a family
quarrel,
ortakeplace
during
assigned,
bycomputer,toa specific
commission
of a felony,
thereadily
Words
category. theyareused
as inthe identifiable
motive
generally
provides
messagearethencompared tothosevitalinformationaboutthe identity
wordsas theyare usedin ordinaryof thekiller.
many
Because sexual
speech
orwritings,
and thevocabularyhomicidesfailtu provideinfor-
this
a particular
usage
of author
orspeaker look
mation,investigators
must to
may yield
words to
signature unique methods
thatsupplement
conventional
thatindividual.way, police
Inthis may investigative
techniques
toidentify
the
be
notonly ableto determine
that
Special
AgentBurgess several
letters bythesame perpetrator.
werewritten
individual
butalsolearnabout
the Case in Point
background
andpsychology
of the Criminalprofilinguses the
offender. behavioral
characteristics
of the of-
Flapists
andarsonists
alsolend fenderasitsbasis.Sexual
homicides,
themselvestocriminal
profiling
techni-forexample,yieldmuchinformation
ques.
Through
careful ofthe about
interview mind andmotivation
the ofthe
rapeabout therapist
victim behavior,
s A
killer. newdimension to
isprovided
may
lawenforcement beable theinvestigator
personnel viatheprofiling
techni-
que,particularly
where the
incases
underlying
motivation
forthecrimemay
besuddenly
hidden
fromeven more-
the

2
 Criminal profiling uses the behavioral characteristics of the
offender its
as basis.

sea. ,

occasion, NCAVC prolilers

On major case
or
specialists willconduct on-siteconsultations.
Pictured fromleft are Special AgentsRobert
Hazelwood, Ray Phelps, JamesWright kneeling!,
Robert Ressler,and AlanBurgess.

detective The following nations, background of the victim, and her panties were pulled
down to her
illustrate this oint previously reported neighborhood knees. The murder weapon hammer!
the fall of1982 an urban crimes, etc., was still pending, the belonging to the victim
was in
found kit-
Olice
de aitment detective detective was that
advised a profile chen sink,
and it appeared that the vic-
contacted the FBl&#39;s
could not be provided at that
time. After tim&#39;s
blood
had been washed off the
Science Unit at the FBI approximately 1 week, the detective for- hammer by the subject. Crime scene
for some assistance warded the necessary information to the photographs further revealed that the
described in detail the local
FBI office
field criminal profile subject opened dresser drawers and
of a25- ear old white coordinator. After reviewing the case for closet doors. investigative reports in-
The detective advised completeness, the profile coordinator dicated the victim&#39;s husband advised
where the victim was forwarded materials
the to the that jewelry to
belonging victim was
ransacked but they Behavioral Science Investigative Sup- missing.
etermine at that time port Unit at the
FBI Academy for The victim and her husband had
by the killer In analysis. lived in the apartment for approxi-
many leads
were Color 8 x 10 crime scene photo- 6
mately months, and neighbors and
and information con graphs re-created the crime
and re- associates reported they were friendly
laboratory exami vealed that
the victim was killed in her and quiet
and kept to
themselves. The
living room, with no evidence of
any medical examiner concluded in his
struggle or defense attempts by her.
The victim was lying face up on the liv-
room
ing floor. Her dress
was raised up
over her hips exposing her genital area,

3
 ,

Profiling
. . .doesnot provide
the identity
t_heof-
of
fender, but- it does indicate
- -
the type- of
person
-
most likely
--
to have
committed a crime having certain unique characteristics.

"sign,

Profilers in Think tank"

session. Seated:
SAs /V TY :
James Wright,Patricia Kirby,and Ronald we 1% &#39;4
Walker. Standing: Lt. ThomasCronin, Chicago
PD, PoliceFellow left!and SA
R. Stephen Mar- &#39;s§¥§z "
digian right!

protocol that there was no apparent in- returned to the living room where
he The detective was coached regard-
dication that the victim was sexually confronted the victim face to face and ing suggested reinteniiew techniques of
assaulted. Laboratory reports indicated repeatedly struck victim about her head the victim s husband. In addition, the
that the victim had been drinking at the and face.
After killing her, the offender detective was further advised that if the
time of the assault, and there
was no realized that the police would surely im- victim&#39;s husband were given a
evidence of
semen present inor the
on plicate him as the obvious murderer. He polygraph examination, he in all prob-
victim orher clothing. then washed blood
from his hands in the ability would
react strongly
more to the
From the above information, the kitchen sink and also cleaned blood and fact
known that he was soiled by his
criminal profiler advised the detective fingerprints from the hammer.
He roll- wife&#39;s
than
blood to questions concern-
that he had already interviewed the ed the victim over in aface-up position ing his wife s murder. The detective was
killer. The surprised detective was and "staged" the crime to appear the to
told have the polygraph examiner
presented with the following probable way he felt asexually motivated crime direct questions at the husband,
crime
scenario. should look.
He conducted the staging acknowledging the fact that he got
The victim was drinking with the by making it appear that the offender his
blood on hands
and washed them
offender prior
to her death.An argument searched for
money or personal proper- with
off along the hammer in the kitchen
ensued, reaching athreshold where
the ty in
the apartment. sink.
offender could not take it any longer. Upon hearing this analysis of
the About 5 days later, the detective
Angered, he obtained aweapon of crime, the detective exclaimed, You the
called criminal profiler to advise
opportunity" from akitchen cabinet and just told
me the husband did it. thatthe
victim s husband was
charged
with murder. According to the detective,
the husband failed the polygraph and
subsequently admitted his guilt
to the
polygraph examiner.

4
 Criminal profiling is
available to where the detective has another in-
The Profiling and vestigative weaponavailable tohim in
Consultation Program State,
local, Federal, and foreign law
enforcement agencies or departments. solving aviolent crime. The offender, on
The FBl s profiling program has the other hand, has an added worry
that
it should be noted
that not every violent
grown considerably
since 1970&#39;s
thelate crime matter itself
lends to the profiling in time he will be identified, indicted,
from informalanalysis andprofiling successfully prosecuted, sen-
and
during criminal
psychology classes at process. The criminal profile coor- tenced for his crime.
dinators in the FBI field offices deter-
the FBI Academy to the present for-
during
mine review ofthe casewhether
malized program.Currently, the pro-
it can be profiled. However, whileacase
gramconsists
of one programmanager
and seven
criminal profilers andcrime may not be suitable for profiling, the
coordinator may still submit it to the
These
analysts. Agents were selected Behavioral Science Unit for other
types
primarilyfor their
investigative ex-
of services. Criminal profilers at the FBI
perience, expertise,
and educational
Behavioral ScienceAcademy mayassist the law enforce-
backgrounds. The Footnotes
investigative SupportUnit has found ment community by providing inter- M. Willmer, Crime and information
Theory Edin-
burgh, England The UniversityEdinburgh.i970!.
seeking transferinto this viewlinterrogation techniques, in- of
anyone
that 2M Fieiser, Crime-specific Psychological Consulta-
vestigative suggestions
highly specialized program must establish probable cause and techniques, lion," The Police Chief,March 1982,pp. 53-56.
for search 3M Casey-Owens, AnonymousThe Letter
above
possess other attributes and
all Writer-A Psychological Profile? Journal
of Forensic
warrants as aresult of National Center S&#39;
cience,0|v. 29. 1984
816,pp. - 819.
accomplishments
astrong investigative M. S. Miron andJohn
E Douglas, "Threat
background that includes participatingfor theAnalysisof
Violent Crime violent Analysis: The Psycholinguistic Profile,"
Enforcement Bulletin, vol. 4B,
FBI Law
No. 9.September 1979,
offender research findings, assist pros-
in, supervising, and managing major pp.5-9
ecutors relative prosecutive
to 5 Fl.Pl. Hazelwood, The Behavior-oriented
inter-
case assignments. view ofRape Victims: The Key to Profiling,"
FBI Law
During 1985,the CriminalProfiling strategies, and possibly provide Enforcement Bulletin, vol. 52,No. 9.September 1983.
testimony as awitness for the prosecu- pp. B~15.
and Consultation Program received 5A. O. Flider,The Firesetter-A Psychological Pro-
tion or
as an expert witness during the
over 600 requests for profiling file, FBlLaw Enforcement Bulletin, vol.
49, No.B. June
assistance. it is anticipated that once sentence phase of the trial.
All cases pp.
1980. 4- ll.
must be submitted to the local FBI field &#39;
VernonJ. Geberth, Practical HomicideInvestiga-
the FBl s Violent Criminal Apprehension tion: Tactics, Procedures andForensic Techniques New
office for
review and administrative York: Elsevier, 1983!,p399
Program 92/ICAP!
fully operational, the
is
number ofprofiling requestswill nearly handling by that criminal profile
coordinator.
double annually.
One keylink to the successof the Lt. Commdr. Vernon J.
Geberth of
FBl s Criminal Profiling Program is its the New York City Police Department
wrote in his book, Practical Homicide In-
criminal profile coordinators whoare
located atevery oneofthe FBl s 59field vestigation: Tactics, Procedures and
offices. These highly trained and Forensic Techniques, This programhas
selected Agents are responsible for proven tobe beneficialto law enforce-
screening cases
and providing
for ment and has provided homicide detec-
tives with aviable investigative
preliminary investigative
suggestionsto
investigators. While the field coor- tool. . ..
Criminal profiling will
never take the
dinators do not
have the authority to pro-
vide profilesto requestinglaw enforce- placeof athorough and well-planned in-
ment agencies,they are authorizedto vestigation norwill it ever eliminate
the
rough draft"pro- seasoned, highly trained, and skilled
prepare preliminary
detective. Criminal profiling has,
files which are reviewed by the profiling
however, developeditself to alevel
at
staff the FBIAcademypriorto
being
"lisseminated to the requesting agency.

5
 Criminal Pro ling from
Crime Scene Analysis

John E. Douglas.
Robert K. Ressler
Ann W. Burgess. R.N.
Carol R. Hartman, R.N.

Since the
I970s,investigative proat
the
lersFBI Behavioral
s Science
Unit
now part
of the
National
Center
forthe
Analysisof
ViolentCrime! have
been
assisting
state, and federal
local, agenciesnarrowing
in investigations
pro-
by
viding criminal
personality pro
Anles.
attempt
is now
being
made to
describe
this criminal-pro le-generating
process.
Aseriesof veoverlapping stages
to the
lead sixth stage, the
or goal
of apprehension
theofoffender:
I! pro ling
inputs, decision-process
! !models,
assessment,! thecriminal
crime
pro le, investigation,
! ! and
apprehension.
Two key
feedback lters
in
processare: a!
the achieving congruence
with the
evidence, decision
with
models, and
investigation recommendations,b!and
with theaddition new
of
evidence.

"You wanted
to mock
yourself
at
me! . . . Youdid not
know your
Hercule
Poirot." Hethrust outhis chestand twirledhis moustache.
I looked
at himand grinned
.. ."All right then."
I said.Give us
the answer
to theproblems- if youknow it."
"But of course I know it.

John Douglas,
E. M.S.,
is Supervisory
Special Agent.
Federal Bureau
of Investigation
and
Program Manager.
Pro ling and
Consultation Program,
National Center
for the
Analysis of
Violent Crime,
FBI Academy,
Quantico. Robert
VA; Ressler,
K. M.S.,
is Supervisory
Special
Agent. Federal
BureauInvestigation
of Program
and Manager,
Violent Criminal
Apprehension
Program. National
Center the
for Analysis
of Violent
Crime, FBI
Academy, Quantico,
VA;
Ann W.Burgess. R.N.,
D.N.Sc., vanis Ameringen
Professor Psychiatric
of Mental
Health
Nursing. University
of Pennsylvania
SchoolNursing,
of Philadelphia,
PA; andCarol Hart-
R.
man. R.N.,
D.N.Sc.,Associate
is Professor
and Coordinator
of theGraduate Program
in
Psychiatric Mental
Health Nursing,
Boston College
SchoolNursing,
of Chestnut
Hill, MA.
Preparation
this of
manuscript
was supported
an Of ce Juvenile
by of Justice
and Delinquency
Prevention84-IN-K010!.
grant authors
The to wish
acknowledge
Allen G.
Burgess, Cynthia
J.
Lent. and
Marieanne Clark
L. for
contributionsthistomanuscript.
Correspondencereprint
and
requests
be addressed
should Johnto:Douglas.
E. Academy.
FBI Quantico.
VA Z2135.
Behavioral Sciences
&the Law, Vol 4. No.-4. pp.40]-421 I986!
© I986
John Wiley
& Sons,
Inc. 0735-3936/86/040401-21504.00
CCC
 l!Uu_92_&#39;lJ92
al kflllllllalProfiling
er from
CFIITIL Scene
Analysis

Hardcastlc stared
at hinil 92.TCClul0u.92l_92
. ."Excuseme. Monsieur
Poirot.
you claim
that you
know who
killed three
people. why
And. ?
. .Allyou
mean isthat you have ahunch "
l willnot quarrel
with you
over
aword. . .Come
now. Inspector.
l know
really know
. . .l perceiveare
youstill
sceptic. first
But let
me say
this.
To be
sure means
that when
the right
solutionreached.
is e92erything
falls
into place
You perceive
that no
in other
way could
things have
happened."
tChristie. 1%}.pp. 227-223!

The ability
of Hercule
Poirotsolvea crime
to by describing
the perpetrator
isaskill shared the
by expert
investigative proliler.
Evidence speaks
its own
language
pattems
of sequences
and canthat
reveal
the offender
behavioral
s
characteristics.
Poirot.
Like the
pro ler can
say. "lknow who
he mustbe."
This article
focusesthe
ondeveloping
technique criminal
of pro ling.
Special
Agents
the
atFBI
Academydemonstrated
have inexpertise
crime
scene analysis
of various
violent crimes.
particularly those
involving sexual
homicide. This
article discusses
the history
of pro ling
and the
criminal-pro le~generating pro-
cess and
providescase
a example
to illustrate
the technique.

INTRODUCTION: HISTORY
OF CRIMINAL
PROFILING
Criminal prohas
lingbeen
used successfully
by law
enforcement
several
in
and isavalued
areas meanswhich
by narrow
to the
eld of
investigation. Pro ling
does not
provide speci
the c identity
of the
offender. Rather.
it indicates
the
kind of
person most
likely to
have committed
acrimeby focusing
on certain
behavioral and
personality characteristics.
Pro ling techniques
have been
usedvarious
in settings.
suchhostage
as taking
Reiser. l982!.
Law enforcement
officers need
to leam
as much
as
possible
about
the hostage
taker in
order to
protect the
lives of
the hostages.
In such
eases.
police aided
areby
verbalcontact although
often limited!
with the
offender.
and possibly
by access
to his
family and
friends. They
must able
be assess
to
the subject
in tenns
of what
courseaction
of is helikely
to take
and what
his
reactionsto
various stimuli might
be.
Pro ling been
has used
also identifying
in anonymous
letter writers
Casey-
Owens V984!
and persons
who make
wri ten
or spoken
threatsviolence
of Miron
&Douglasl979!. cases
In the
of latter.
psycholinguistic techniques
have been
used compose
to threat
a dictionary."
whereby every
word in
amessage is
assigned.computer.
by aspeci
to category.
c Words
as they
are used
in the
threat message
are then
comparedthosewith words
as they
are used
in ordinary
speech
writings.
or vocabulary
The inusage
the
message
yield
maysignature
words unique
to
the offender.this
ln way.
police may
not only
be able
to
determine that
several letters
were written
by thesame individual.
but also
to
leam about
the background
and psychology
of theoffender.
Rapists arsonists
and lend
alsothemselves
to pro ling
techniques. Through
BEHAVlOFlAL SCIENCES
& THELAW

~ 4 I _
Douglasal
et.CrinuntilProfiling from
Crime Scene
Anal92&#39;~|~

careful interview
of therape victim
about the
rapist&#39;s behavior.
law enforcement
personnel begin
to buildapro le of theoffender Hazelwood.
I983!. The
ra-
tionale behind
this approach
is thatbehavior re ects
personality, and
by ex-
amining behavior
the investigator
may beable to
determine what
type ofperson
responsible
is for the
offense. For
example. common
characteristics
arsonists
of
have been
derived froman analysisof the data fromthe FBI sCrime inthe
United States
Rider. 1980!.
Knowledge of
these characteristics
can aidthe
investigatoridentifying
in possible
suspects and
in developingtechniques and
strategiesinterviewing
for them.
However, studies
in thisarea have
focused on
speci c categories
of offenders
and are
not yetgeneralizablealltooffenders.
Criminal pro ling
has been
found be
to ofparticular usefulness
in crimes
such
as serial
sexual homicides.
These crimes
createagreatdeal offear because
of
their apparently
random and
motiveless nature.
and they
are also
given high
publicity. Consequently.
law enforcement
personnelunder
are great
public pres-
sure to
apprehendperpetrator
the quickly
as as
possible.
the same time,
At these
crimes may
be themost dif cultto solve,precisely because
of theirapparent
randomness.
While itis notcompletely accurate
to saythat these
crimes are
motiveless,
the motive
may all
too often
be one
understood by
only
the
perpetrator. Lunde
976! demonstrates
this issuein terms
of the victims
chosen by
aparticular
offender. As
Lunde points
out, although
the serial
murderer may
not know his
victims. theirselection isnot random.Rather. itis basedon the murderers
perception
certain
of characteristics
of hisvictims that
are of
symbolic signi -
cance to
him. Ananalysis of
the similarities
and differences
among victims
of
aparticular
serial murderer
provides important
information conceming
the mo-
tive" inan apparently
motiveless crime.
This. inturn. mayyield information
about the
perpetrator himself.
For example.
the murder
may be
the result
of a
sadistic fantasy
in themind ofthe murderer
andaparticularvictim maybe
targeted because
of asymbolic
aspect the
of fantasy
Ressleral.,
et 1985!.
In suchcases. the
investigating of cer
facesacompletelydifferent situation
from theone inwhich amurder occurs
as theresult ofjealousy or
afamily
quarrel, during
or the
commissionanother
of felony.
In those
cases,readily
a
identi able motive
may providevital cluesabout the
identity of
the perpetrator. i
In thecase of the apparently
motiveless crime,law enforcement may needto
look toother methods in addition
to conventionalinvestigative techniques,
in
its efforts
to identify
the perpetrator.
In thiscontext, criminal
pro ling has
been
productive, particularly
in those
crimes where
the offender
has demonstrated
repeated patterns
at the crime scene. A
l
s
THE PROFILING OF MURDERERS rt
l
E
Traditionally. two
very different
disciplines have
used the
technique pro-
of
ling murderers;
mental health
clinicians who
seek to
explain the
personality
and actions
of acriminal through psychiatric
concepts, and
law enforcement
&

VOL 4. NO 4 -1986 é

9 .2
é
 Douglas al.:
et Criminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Al1 I_92Sl92

agents whose
task isto determine
the behavioral
pattems of
asuspectthrough
investigative concepts.

Psychological Pro ling

In I957,
the identi cation
of George
Metesky. arsonist
the inNew York Citv&#39;s
Mad Bomber
case which
spanned I6
years!. was
aidedby
psychia-
trist criminologist James
A. Brussels
staccato-style pro le:
Look for
aheavyman. Middle-aged.
Foreign bom.
Roman Catholic.
Sin-
gle. Liveswithabrotheror sister.
When yound him.chances are
he&#39;ll
be wearing
adouble-breasted
suit. Butioned."

Indeed. the
portrait was
extraordinarythat
in theonly variation
was that
Metesky lived
two single sisters.
with Brussel.adiscussion
in about the
psy-
chiatrist acting
as Sherlock
Holmes. explains
thatapsychiatrist
usually studies
apersonand makessome reasonable
predictions about
how thatperson may
react to
aspeci csituation and
about what
he orshe may
doin
the future. What
is done
pro ling.according
in Brussel.
to toisreverse
this process.
Instead. by
studying indi92
an idual&#39;s
one deduces
deeds
what kind
ofaperson
the individual
might be Brussel. I968!.

The idea
of constructing
averbalpicture of
amurderer using psychological
terms not
is new.
In I960. Palmer
published results
of athree-year
study of
5]
murderers who
were serving
sentences New
in England.
Palmer s typical
mur-
derer was
23 years
old when
he committed
murder. Using
agun,this typical
killer murdered
amale stranger during
argument.He came
an from alow social
class and
achieved little
terms of education
in or occupation.
He had
awell-
meaningmaladjusted
but mother.
and he
experienced physical
abuse and
psy-
chological frustrations
during hischildhood.
Similarly. Rizzo
I982! studied
3] accused
murderers during
the courseof
routine referrals
for psychiatric
examinationacourt
at clinic. His
pro le ofthe
average murderer
listed the
offendera26-year~old
as male who
mostlikely
knew
his victim.
with monetary
gain the
most probable
motivation for
the crime.

Criminal Pro ling

Through the
techniques used
today, law
enforcement seeks
to domore than
describetypical
the murderer,
if infact there
ever was
suchperson.
a Investigative
pro."lers na yze
aIt onnation
in
&#39; f gathered from
the crime
scene for
what itmay
reveal about
the typeof personwho committed
the crime.
Law enforcement
has had
some outstanding
investigators; however.
skills.
their
knowledge.thought
and processes
have rarely
been captured
in the
professional
literature. These
people were
the expertsthe
truly of law
enforcement and
eld,
their skills
have been
so admired
that many
ctional characters
Sergeant Cuff,

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES&THE LAW

10
Douglas
al.: ct
Criminal
Pro lingCrime
from Scene
Analysis 405
Sherlock Holmes,
Hercule Poirot,
Mike Hammer,
and
CharlieChan! have
been
modeled Although
on
them. Lunde l976!
has stated
that the
murdersction
of
bear
resemblance
no to the
murders
reality,
of aconnection
between ctional
detective techniques
and modern
criminal promethods
ling indeed
may exist.
For example,
it isattention
detail
to that
is the
hallmark
famous
of ctional
detectives;
smallest
the atitem
a
crime scene
does escape
not
their attention. As
stated
Sergeant
by Cuff
in Wilkie Collins"
The Moonstone,
widely acknowledged
as therst full-lengthdetective study:
At one
end of
the inquiry
there was
amurder,
andat
the other end
there
was
aspotof ink
onatablecloth
that nobody
could account
for. In
all my
experience
.. .l have never
met with
suchathingasatri e yet.
However, unlike
detective ction,
real cases
are not
solved one
by tiny
clue
but theanalysis ofall cluesand crimepattems.
Criminal pro
has
ling
been
described
acollection
as of leads
Rossi, 1982!,
as an
educated attempt
to
provide
speci c information
about
acertain
type of
suspect Geberth,
l98l!, and
as biographical
a ofsketch
behavioral
pattems,
trends, tendencies
and Vorpagel,
I982!. Geberth
981! has
also described
the
pro ling process
as particularly
useful when
the criminal
has demonstrated
some
form psychopathology.
of used the
As
by FBI
pro lers,criminal-pro
the le
generatingisprocess
de ned
asatechnique
for identifying
the major
personality
and behavioral
characteristics
an individual
of based upon an analysis
of the
crimesorhehas committed.pro
she The
ler s skill
isin
recognizing
the crime
scene
dynamics that link
various criminal
personalitywho
types
commit
similar
crimes.
The process
usedan byinvestigative
pro ler
developing
in acriminal
pro le
is quitesimilarthat
to used
by clinicians
to make
adiagnosis
and treatment
plan:
data are
collectedassessed,
and situation
the reconstructed,
hypotheses formu-
lated,
apro le
developed tested,
and the andresults
reported Investigators
back.
traditionallylearned
have pro through
ling brainstorming,
intuition,edu-
and
guesswork.
cated Their expertise
isthe
resultof years
of accumulated
wisdom,
extensive experience
in the
eld, and
familiarityalarge
withnumber cases.
of
A pro brings
ler theto investigation
the ability
to make
hypothetical for-
mulations on
based
his
or her
previous experience.
A fomtulation
is de ned
here
as concept
a organizes,
that explains,
or makes
investigative
outsense
of
in-
formation, that
and
in uencesthe pro hypotheses.
le formulations are
These
basedclusters
on information
of emerging
from the
crime
scene
data and from
the investigator&#39;s
experience
understanding
in criminal
actions.
A basic
premisecriminal
of pro
is that
ling
the way
a person
thinks his
i.e.,
or her
pattemsthinking!
of directs
the person&#39;s
behavior.when
Thus,in-
the
vestigativeanalyzes
pro ler
acrimescenenotes
and certain
critical factors,
he
or she
may able
be determine
to motive
the type
andperson
of committed
who
the crime.

VOL 4, NO 4 -1986

ll
 &#39; A

Douglas eta|.: Criminal Pro ling from Crime SceneAnalysis

THE CRIMINAL-PROFILE-GENERATING PROCESS

Investigative pro lers

at theFBl s Behavioral
Science Unitnow panof the
National Centerfor the Analysis of Violent Crime [NCAVC]! have been ana-
lyzing crimescenes and
generating criminal
pro les sincethe |970s.Our de-
scription of the constructionof pro les represents theoff-site procedureas itis
conducted at the NCAVC. as contrasted with an on-site procedure Ressler et
al., I985!. The criminal-pro le-generatingprocess isdescribedas
having ve
main stages.with asixth stage
or the
goalbeing apprehension ofasuspect see
Fig. I!.

1. Pro ling Inputs Stage

The pro ling inputsstage
begins the criminal-pro le-generating
process. Com-
prehensive case
materials are
essential for
accurate pro ling.
In homicide
cases,
the requiredinformation includesacomplete synopsis of the crime and a de-
scription ofthe crimescene, encompassing
factors indigenous
to thatarea
to the
time of the incident such as weather conditions and the political and social
environment.
Complete backgroundinformation on the victim is also vital in homicide
pro les. Theshould
data cover domestic
setting, employment,
reputation, habits.
fears. physical condition, personality, criminal history, family relationships,
hobbies, and social conduct.
Forensic informationpertaining to the crime is also critical to the pro ling
process, includingan
autopsy report with toxicology/serology results,autopsy
photographs, andphotographs ofthe cleansedwounds. Thereport should also
contain the medical examiner s ndings and impressions regardingestimated
time and causeofdeath, type of weapon. andsuspected sequence of delivery
wounds.
of
In addition toautopsy photographs, aerialphotographs ifavailable andap-
propriate! and8X I0 color pictures ofthe crimescene areneeded. Alsouseful
are crime scene sketchesshowing distances,directions, and scale, aswell as
maps ofthe area which may cross law enforcement jurisdictionboundaries!.
The pro ler studies ailthis backgroundand evidenceinformation, aswell as
all initial police repons. The data and photographscan revealsuch signi cant
elements asthe level of risk of the victim,
the degree ofcontrol exhibitedby
the offender,the offender semotional state,and hiscriminal sophistication.
Information the pro ler does not want included in the case materials is that
dealing withpossible suspects.
Such informationmay subconsciously
prejudice
the pro ler and cause him or her to prepare a pro le matching the suspect.

2. Decision Process Models Stage

The decision
process begins
the organizing
and arranging
of theinputsinto
meaningful pattems.Seven key decision points, or models, differentiate and

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES&THE LAW

12

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 I

Douglas et
aI.: CriminalPro ling fromCrime
Scene Analysis

organize the
information from
Stageand
I form
an underlying
decisional structure
for pro ling.

Homicide Type and Style

As notedin TableI, homicidesare classi edby type and style.Asingle
homicideis
one victim, one homicidal event;double homicideis
two victims,
one event,and inone location;
andatriple homicide has three victimsin one
location during
one event.Anything beyond three victimsis
classi ed a mass
murder; thatis, four or more victims in one location,and within one event.
There are
two types
of mass
murder: classic and family. Aclassic mass
murder
involves one
person operating
in onelocation atone periodof time._
That period
of time could be minutes or hours andmight
even be days. The classicmass
murderer usually
is described
as amentally disordered
individual whose
problems
have increased
to
the point thathe actsagainst groupsof peopleunrelated to
problems. He unleashes
these his hostility
through shootings
or stabbings.
One
classic mass
murderer was Charles Whitman, the man who armed himself with
boxes of
ammunition, weapons,
ropes, radio,
a and
food; barricaded
himselfon
atower in Austin,Texas; andre
opened for 90minutes, killingI6 peopleand
wounding over
30 others.
He wasstopped only
when he
was killed
during an
assault on
the tower.James Huberty
was another
classic mass murderer. With
amachinegun, heentered fast
a foodrestaurant and
killed andwounded many
people. He
also waskilled atthe siteby responding
police. More
recently,
Pennsylvania mass
murderer Sylvia
Seegrist nicknamed
Ms. Rambofor her
military style
clothing! was
sentencedlife
to imprisonment
for opening
re with
ari e at shoppers
in amall in OctoberI985, killingthree andwounding seven.
The second
type ofmass murder is familymember murder. If morethan three
family membersare killedand theperpetrator takes
his ownlife, it is classi ed
as amass murder/suicide. Without the suicide and with four or more victims,
the murder
is calledafamily killing. Examples include John List, aninsurance
salesman whokilled hisentire familyon November 9, 1972,
in West eld, New
Jersey. The
bodies ofList s wifeand three children ages I6, 15, and I3!were
discovered in
their frontroom,lying
side by sideon topof sleepingbagsas if

TABLE I Homicide Classi cationby Style and Type

Style Single Double Triple Mass Spree Serial

Number of I 23 4 +2 +3 +
Victims
Number of I l II l3 +
Events
Number of I l II 2 +3 +
Locations
Cool-Off N/A N/A N/A N/A No Yes
Period

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES&THE LAW

14
Douglasal.:
et Cnminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis

in amortuary. Their
faces were
covered and
their arms
were folded
their
across
bodies. Each
had been
shotonce
behind the leftear, except
son
one who had
been shot
multiple times.
A further
search the
of residence
discoveredbody
the
of List&#39;s
motherina third oorcloset. She
had also
been shot
behind
once the
left ear.
List disappeared
after the
crime and
his carwas found
at anairport
parking lot.
anotherfamily killing
In William
case, Bradford Bishop
beat to
death his
wife, mother,
and three
children in
the family Bethesda,
s Maryland,
residence
in March
1976. He
then transported
them to
North Carolina
in thefamily station
wagon where
their bodies,
along with
the family
dog&#39;s,
buried
were
ainshallow
grave. Bishop
wasunder
psychiatric care and
had been
prescribed antidepressant
medication. No
motive was
determined. Bishop
wasapromisingmid-level dip-
lomat who
had served
in many
overseas jobs
and wasscheduled higher
for level
of ce inthe U.S.
DepartmentState.
of Bishop,
like List,
is aFederal fugitive.
is
There strong indication
both crimes
carefully planned and
were it is
uncertain
whetheror not
the men havecommitted suicide.
Two additional
types of
multiple murder
are spree
and serial.
A spree
murder
involves killings
at twoor more locations with
no emotional
cooling-off time
period between
murders. Thekillings are
all theresult of
a single
event, which
can be
of short
or longduration. OnSeptember1949,6, Camden, New Jersey,
spree murderer
Howard Unruh took loaded
a German
luger with
ammunition
extra
and randomly
red thehandgun while walking through
his neighborhood,
killing
l3 people
and wounding 3 in
about 20 minutes. Even though
Unruh s killings
took such
ashort amount of
time, theyare notclassi edas
a mass murder
because he moved to different locations.
Serial murderers
are involved
in threeor moreseparate events
with anemo-
tional cooling-off
period between
homicides. This
type killer
usually premeditates
his crimes,
often fantasizing
and planning
the murder
ever, aspect with
in the
possible exception
of the
speci c victim.
Then, when
the time
isright
for him
and heis cooledoff fromhis lasthomicide, he
selects his
next victimand
proceeds his
withplan.
The cool-off
period can
be days,
weeks,months,
or and
is themain element
that separates
the serial
killer fromother multiple
killers.
However, there
areother
differences between the murderers. The
classic mass
murderer and the spree
murderer not
are concerned
with who
their victims
are;
they willkill anyone
who comes in
contactwith
them. In contrast, aserial
murderer usuallyselects
atype of victim.He thinks
he willnever be
caught,
and sometimes
he isright. Aserial murderer
controls the
events, whereas
aspree
murderer, who
oftentimes has been identi ed
and isbeing closely
pursued by
law enforcement,
may barely control what
will happennext. The
serial killer
is
planning, picking
and choosing,
and sometimes
stoppingact
themurder.
of
A serialmurderer may commitaspree of murders.In 1984,Christopher
Wilder, an
Australian-bom businessman
and race
car driver,
traveled across
the
United States
killing youngwomen. Hewould target
victims at
shopping malls
or wouldabduct them after meeting
them throughabeautycontest setting
or
dating service.
Whileafugitiveas aserial murderer,
Wilder was
investigated,

VOL 4, NO 4 -1986

15
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Douglas al.:
et Criminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis

identi ed, and

tracked by
the FBland almost
police
every departmentthe
in
country. then
He went
onalong-tenn
killingspree
throughoutthe
countryand
eventually was
killed during
ashoot-outwith police.
Wilder&#39;s classi changed
cation from
serialtospree
because of themultiple
murders and
the lackof acooling-offperiod during
his elongated
murder event
lasting nearly
seven weeks.
This transition
has been
noted in
other serial/spree
murder cases.
The tensiondueto
his fugitivestatus
and the highvisibility of
his crimes
the murderer
gives asense
of desperation.
His acts
are now
open and
public and
the increased
pressure usually
means cooling-off
no period.
He knows
he willbe caught,
and the
coming confrontation
with police
becomes element
an
in hiscrimes. He
mayplace
himself in asituationwhere he forces the
police to
kill him.
It isimportantto classify
homicides correctly.
For example,
asinglehomicide
iscommitted
inacity; aweeklater
asecond
single homicide
is committed;
and
the thirdweek.athird single homicide.
Three seemingly
unrelated homicides
are reported,
but bythe time
there is
afourth, there is
atie-in through forensic
evidence and
analyses of
the crime
scenes. These three
single homicides
now
point to
one serial
offender.isItnot
mass murder
becausethe
of multiple
locations
and thecooling-off periods.
The correct classi cation assists
in pro lingand
directs the
investigation serial
as homicides.
Similarly, pro ling
of asingle
murder may indicate the
offender hadkilled before
or wouldrepeat thecrime
in the future.

Primary Intent of the Murderer

ln somecases, murdermay bean ancillary
action and
not itselfthe primary
intent of
the offender.
The killerprimary
s intent
be:
could l! criminalenterprise,
! emotional,sel sh, orcause-speci c,!or
sexual.The killermay be acting
on his own or as partof agroup.
When the
primary intent
is criminal
enterprise,killer
the may
be involved
in
the business
of crimeas hislivelihood. Sometimes
murder becomes
part ofthis
business even
though there
is nopersonal malice
toward the
victim. The
primary
motive money.
is In
the l950s, man
a young placedabombin hismother s
suitcase that
was loaded
aboard
acommercialaircraft. The
aircraft exploded,
killing 44
people. The
young man
motive
s had
been collect
to money
from the
tave] insurance he
had taken
out onhis mother
prior
to the ight.Criminal
enterprise killings
involving
agroupinclude contract
murders,
gang
murders,
competition murders,
andpolitical murders.
When the
primaryinvolves emotional, selorsh,
intent cause-speci
reasons,
c
the murderer
may killin self-defense
or
compassionmercy killings
where life
support systems
are disconnected!.
Family disputes
or
violencemay liebehind
infanticide, matricide,
patricide, and
spouse and
sibling killings.
Paranoid re-
actions may
also result
in murder
as inthe previously
described Whitman
case.
The mentally
disordered murderer
may commit
a symbolic
crime orhavea
psychotic outburst.
Assassinations,as
such
those
committed Sirhan
by Sirhan
and Mark
Chapman, also
fall intothe emotional
intent category.
Murders this
in

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES&THE LAW

16
 .,.
am:
=:=_==z
=4
V },55E5:5ElEi§Y"
92?
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,~
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? Douglas et
al.: CriminalPro ling fromCrime Scene
Analysis
é
y category involving
groups are
committedavariety
for of reasons:
religious Jim
/ Jones and
the Jonestown,
Guyana, case!,
cult Charles
Manson!, and
fanatical
organizations as
such
the Ku KluxKlan and
the Black
Panther Party
of the
19705. _
Finally, the
murderer mayhave sexual
motives forkilling. Individuals
may
kill asaresultof orto engage
in sexual
activity, dismembemient,
mutilation,
eviseration, other
or activities
that have
sexual meaning
only forthe offender.
Occasionally,ortwo
more
murderers commit
homicides togetherinasthe
these
1984-1985 case
in Calaveras
County, Califomia,
where Leonard
Lake and
Charles
Ng aresuspectedas
ofmany
as sex-tortureslayings.
25

Victim Risk
The concept
of thevictim s risk
is involved
at several
stages of
the pro ling
process provides
and information
about the
suspectterms
in how
of he
or she
operates. Risk
is detemiined
using such factors as
age, occupation,
lifestyle,
physical stature,
resistance ability,
and locationof thevictim, and
is classi ed
as high,
moderate, low. Killers seek
or high-risk victims
locationswhere
at
people may
be vulnerable,
suchas
bus depots isolatedareas. bow-risk
or types
include those
whose occupations
and daily
lifestyles do
not lead
them tobeing
targetedvictims.
as The
infomation on
victim risk
helps to
generateimage
an
of thetype ofperpetrator being
sought.

O ender Risk
Dataon
victim risk integrates
with infonnationoffender risk, orthe risk
on
the offender
was takingto commit
the crime.For example, abductingavictim
atnoon
from abusy street is
high risk.Thus, alow-risk victim
snatched under
high-risk circumstances
generates ideas
about the
offender, such
personal
as
stresses is
heoperating
under, his
beliefs that
he willnot beapprehended, or
the excitement
he needs
in the commission
of thecrime, orhis emotional
ma-
turity.

Escalation
lnforrnation about
escalation derived
is froman analysis
of factsand pattems
from the
prior decision
process models.
Investigative pro are
lers able
to deduce
the sequence
of acts
committed during
the crime.From this
deduction, they
may
be ableto makedeterminations about
the potentialof thecriminal notonly to
escalate his
crimes e.g.,
from peeping
to fondling
to assault
rape to murder!,
to
butto
repeathis crimes
in serial
fashion. One
case example
is David
Berkowitz,
the Sonof Samkiller, whostarted his
criminal actswith thenonfatal stabbing
of ateenagegirl andwho escalated
to thesubsequent .44-caliber
killings.

Time Factors
There are
several time
factors that
need be considered
to generating
in a
criminal proThese
le. factors
include the
length time
of required:
! to kill the

VOL. 4, NO. 4 &#39;

1986

17
 Douglas
al.:etCriminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis
victim,to! commit
additional with
acts
body,
the and! todispose theof
body.time
Theday of night
or that
the crimecommitted
was also important,
is $4
2.3 .
asmay
it provide
information
the lifestyle
onand occupation
of the
suspect
and
also relates
to the
offenderfactor!.
risk example,
For longer
the offender
an
stays his
withvictim,
the more
likelyisithe
will be
apprehended
the crime
at
scene.
theincase
of the
New York
murderKitty
of Genovese,
the killer
carried
on his
murderousto the
assault
point where
many people
heardwitnessed
or the
crime, leading
to his
eventual prosecution.
A killer
who intends
to spend
time
with his
victim therefore
must alocation
select preclude
to observation,
oneor
with which he is familiar.

Location Factors
lnforrnationlocation-
about where
victim
thewas
rst approached,
where the
crime occurred,
andthe
if crime
and death
scenes differ-provide
yet additional
data about
the offender.
For example,
such information
provides details
about
whethermurderer
the avehicle
usedto
transport
the victim
from the
death scene
or if the victim
died ather point
of abduction.

3. Crime Assessment Stage

The Crime
Assessment
in generating
Stage criminal
a pro
involves
le the
reconstruction
the sequence
of of events
and the
behavior
both
of the
offender
and victim.
Basedthe
on various
decisions
the
ofprevious
stage, this
recon-
stnrction
how
of things
happened,
people
how behaved,
how they planned
and
and organized
the encounter
provides information
about speci
characteristics
c
to be
generated
thefor
criminal
pro le. Assessments
are made
aboutclas-
the
si cationtheofcrime,
its organized/disorganized
aspects,
offender&#39;s
the selection
of avictim, strategies
usedcontrol
to victim,
the sequence
the crime,
of the
staging
not!orthe
of crime,
the offender&#39;s
motivation
the for
crime,
and crime
scene dynamics.
The classi cation
of thecrime is
determined through
the decision
process
outlined
the rst decision
in process model.
The classi cation
of acrime
as
organized
disorganized,
or introduced
rstclassi
ascation
Lust of
murder
Ha-
zelwood Douglas,
& 1980!,
but since
broadly expanded,
includes factors
such
as victim
selection, strategies
control
to the victim,
and sequence
of the
crime.
An organized
murderer
isonewho appears
to plan
his murders,
targetvictims,
his
display control
at the
crime scene,
and out
actviolent
a fantasy
againstvictim
the
sex, dismemberment,
torture!.example,
For Bundy Ted s planning
was noted
throughsuccessful
his abduction
of young
women highly
from visible
areas
beaches,campuses,
e.g., askilodge!.selected
He victims
who were
young,
attractive,similar
and appearance.
in control
His the
of victim
was initially
through clever
manipulation later
andphysical
These dynamics were
force.
importanttheindevelopment
ofadesired
fantasy victim.
ln contrast,
the disorganized
murdererless
is apt
to plan
his crime
in detail,
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
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Douglas
al.;etCriminal
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obtains victims
by chance.
and behaves
haphazardly
theduring
crime.
For ex-
ample, Herben
Mullin
Santa
of Cruz, California.
who killed
I4 people
varying
of
typesg.,e.
an
elderlyaman.
young
a priest!aover
girl, four-month
period.
did not
displayspeci
any c planning
targeting
or of victims;
rather,victims
the
people
were who happenedhis path,their
tocross and killings
were based
on
psychotic impulses
as well
ason
fantasy.
The determination
of whether
notthe crime
or wasi.e., ifthesubject
staged
was truly
careless
disorganized.
or orifhemadecrime
the appear
that way
to
distract
mislead
or the police!
helps direct
the investigative
pro lerthe
to killer&#39;s
motivation.
oneIncase.
a I6-year-old
high junior livingainsmall
school town
to retum home
failed school.Police, responding
from to the
father&#39;s
of report
his missing
daughter,their
began
investigation
and located
the victim&#39;s
scattered
clothing
aremote
in area outside
the town.
A crude
map also
was found
the
at
scene which
seemingly aimplied
premeditated
plan
kidnaping.
of The police
followedmapthe
toalocation
which indicated
abodymay have
been disposed
in a nearby
of river. Written
and telephoned
extortion demands
were to
sent
the
father.
bank
a executive,
for the
sum$80,000,
of indicatinga that
kidnap
was
thebasis
the abduction.demands
of The wamed
policedetailnot to
in use
electronic monitoring
devices during
investigativeefforts.
their
Was this
crime staged?
The question
was answered
in two
ways. details
The
in one
aspect
thecrime scattered
of clothingtire
tracks!
and indicated that
subjectpurposely
was acrime
staging
whiledetails
the theinother
extortion!
led the
pro lers
speculate
to thewho
subject
was; specithatcally
had
helaw
a
enforcement background
and therefore
had knowledge
of police
procedures con-
ceming crimes
kidnaping,
of hidingprimary
the intent
ofsexualassault and
possibleWith
murder.
information,
this investigative
the recommended
pro lers
that communication
continue between
the suspect
and the
police, with
the hy-
pothesis
thethat
behavior
would escalate
and subject
the become
bolder.
While further
communicationsthe family
with
were being
monitored, pro lers
the FBl s Behavioral
from Sciencetheorized
Unit the
that
subject
the case
of
waswhite
male
a was single,
who his late 20&#39;s
in to early
30 s, unemployed,
and who
had been
employeda law
asenforcementwithin
of certhe
past year.
He would
be amacho
outdoors type personwho drove
a late
well
model,
maintained vehicle
withaCBradio. The
car would
have the
overall appearance
a police vehicle.
of
As the
pro le was
developed.
FBIthe
continued
to monitor
the extortion
telephonemade
calls
thefamilythe
to by subject.
The investigation,
based on
the pro
narrowed
le, two men,
to both
local whom
of were former
police of cers.
One suspect
was eliminated,
but the
FBIbecame
very interested
the other
in
sincethe
the
general previously
pro le developed.
This individual
was placed
under surveillance.
Hetumed
out to beasingle,
white male
who was
previously
employedaslocally
police
a ofHe
cer.
was
now unemployed
and drove
a car
consistent
the FBI proHe
with le. was
observed making
acallfrom
atelephone
booth, after
and
hangingup, he
taped
anoteunder
the telephone. call
The
was
traced
theresidence
to theof
victim&#39;s
family. caller
The hadgiven instructions
VOL. 4 NO 4 -1986

19
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Douglas et
al.: CriminalPro ling fromCrimeScene
Analysis

for thefamily toproceed the

to phone
booth the
suspect had
been observed
in.
The instructions
will be taped there,stated the
caller.
The body
of thevictim was
actually found
aconsiderable
distance from
the
"staged" crime
scene, and
the extortion
calls were
adiversionto intentionally
lead the
police investigation
away fromthe sexuallymotivatedof
crime rape-
murder. The
subject never
intended collect
to the
ransom money,
but hefeltthat
diversion wouldthrow
the the police off and takehim from the focusof the
rape-murder inquiry.
The subject
was subsequently
arrested and
convicted of
this crime.

Motivation
Motivation isadif cult factor tojudge because it requiresdealing withthe
thoughts and behavior
inner of theoffender. Motivation is moreeasily determined
in theorganized offender who premeditates,plans, andhas theability tocarry
out aplan ofaction thatis logicaland complete.On theother
hand, the disor-
ganized offendercarries outhis crimesby motivationsthat frequentlyare derived
from mentalillnesses and accompanying distortedthinking resulting from de-
lusions and hallucinations!. Drugs and alcohol, as well as panic
and stress
resulting from
disruptions during
the execution
of thecrime, arefactors which
must be considered in the overall assessment of the crime scene.

Crime Scene Dynamics

Crimescene
dynamics are thenumerous elements to
common every crime
which
scene must beinterpreted by investigating of cers and areat
times easily
misunderstood. Examples include location
of crimescene,cause
of death, method
of killing, positioning ofbody, excessivetrauma, and location ofwounds.
The investigative pro ler readsthe dynamics of acrime scene and interprets
them based on hisexperience with similar caseswhere theoutcome isknown.
Extensive research by theBehavioral Science Unit atthe FBIAcademy and in-
depth interviews
with incarcerated
felons who
have committed
such crimes
have
providedavast body ofknowledge ofcommon threadsthat link crimescene
dynamics speci c criminal personality
to pattems. For
example,acommonerror
of somepolice investigators
is to assess
aparticularlybrutal lust-mutilation
murder asthe work of asex end and to direct the investigationtoward known
sexoenders
ff when such
crimes are
commonly perpetrated
by youthfulindivid-
uals with no
criminal record.

4. Criminal Pro le Stage

The fourth
stage in
generating
acriminalpro le deals
with the
type ofperson
who committed the crime and that individual s behavioral organization with
relation tothe crime.Once thisdescription is
generated, the
strategy ofinves-
tigation can
be formulated,
as thisstrategy requires
abasic understanding of
how anindividual willrespond to a varietyof investigative
efforts.
Included inthe criminalpro le arebackground information demographics!,

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES8- THE LAW

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Douglas
al.:etCriminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis
physical characteristics,
habits, beliefs
and values,
pre offense behavior
leading
to the
crime, and
post-offense behavior.
It may
also include
investigative rec»
ommendations interrogating
for or interviewing,
identifying, apprehending
and
the offender.
This fourth
has an
stage importantmeansvalidating
of criminal
the pro le
Feedbackl.No.
Thepro le must
t withthe earlier
reconstruction
crime,
the of
with the
evidence, with
and the
key decision
process models.
In addition,
the
investigative procedure
developedthe
from
recommendations
must make
sense
in terms
of the
expected response
pattemsthe
of offender.
If there
is a lack
of
congruence,
investigative
the pro
review
lersavailable
all data.
As Hercule
Poirot observed,
To know
isto
haveall ofthe evidence
and facts
t intoplace."
5. Investigation Stage
Oncecongruence
the of the
criminal pro
is le
determined,
awrittenreport is
provided
therequesting agency
to andto its ongoing
added investigative efforts.
The investigative
recommendations generated
in Stage
4 are
applied, and
suspects
matchingpro
thele are
evaluated.
identi
If cation, apprehension,
and
aconfes-
sion result,
the goal
of the
pro le effort
has been
met. new
If evidence
generated
is
e.g., by
another murder!
and/or there
is no
identi cation
asuspect,
of reeval-
uation occurs
via Feedback
No. 2.The information
is reexamined
and the
pro le
revalidated.

6. ApprehensionStage
Onceasuspectis apprehended,
the agreement
between
outcomeand the
the
various stages
in thepro le-generating-process
examined.
are
an appre-
When
hended suspect
admits guilt,
it isimportantconduct
to adetailed
interview to
check the
total pro ling
process for
validity.

CASE EXAMPLE
A young
woman s body
nudewas
discovered
3:00
atp.m.
on the
roof landing
of the
apartment building
where lived.
she She
had been
badly beaten
about the
face and
strangled the
withstrap
of her
purse. Hernipples had
been cut
off after
death and
placed her chest. Scrawled
on in inkon the
inside her
of thigh
was,
You can&#39;t
stop me."
The wordsFuck you" were scrawled
on herabdomen.
A pendant
in theform of
aJewish Chai!, which she
sign usually wore
asa
good luck
piece around
her neck,
was missing
and presumed
taken the
by
murderer.underpants
Her been
hadpulled
over her
face; her
nylons were
removed
and very
loosely around
tied wrists
her and
ankles near
arailing.
The murderer
placedsymmetrically
had eitherside the
on of victimhead
s the
pierced earrings
-she had
been wearing.
An umbrella
and inkpen
had been
forced into
the vagina
andahaircomb was
placedher
in pubic
hair. The
woman s and
jaw nose
had
been broken
and her
molars loosened.
She suffered
multiple face
fractures caused
byabluntforce. Cause
ofdeath
was asphyxialigature
by pocketbook
strap!
VOL 4. NO 4 -1956

21
 Douglas al.;
et Criminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis

strangulation.were
There
post-mortem
bite marks
on the
victim&#39;s
as well
thighs,
as contusions,
hemorrhages,
lacerations
and thetobody.
The killer
also defecated
on the
roof landing
and covered
it withthe victim&#39;s
clothing.
The following
discussion
this
of case
in the
contextthe
of six
stagesthe
of
criminal-pro le-generating
illustrates
processthis
howprocess
works. s
.5
Pro ling Inputs $2
we
In terms
of crime
scene evidence,
everything offender
the used
at thecrime is
Sc.
belonged to the
scene victim. Even
the comb
and thefelt-tip pen
used write
to &#39;1
ii:
on her
body camefrom her
purse. Theoffender apparently
did not
plan this iiz:
crime;had no gun,
he ropes, tape
or forthe victim&#39;s
mouth. Heprobably did *5
not even
plan to
encounterthat
moming
her that location. The
at crime scene Z.
indicated
aspontaneous
event; other
in words,
the killer
did notor wait
stalk
for the
victim. The
crime scene
differs from
the death
scene. The
initial abduction 2%
wason
the stairwell; then
the victimwas taken
to amore remote area. t
Investigation
victim
the of revealedthe
that26-year-old,
90-pound,l" 4&#39;1
white
female awoke
around 6:30
a.m. She
dressed, ahad
breakfast
of coffee
and juice,
and left
her apartment
for workat anearbyday care
center, where
she was xii
employed
agroup
as teacherhandicapped
for children.
She resided
with her
mother and
father. When
she would
leave for
work inthe morning,
she would
take the
elevatorwalk down the
or stairs, depending
on hermood.
The victim
was young woman who
aquiet hadaslightcurvature
the
ofspine
kyhoscoliosis!.
The forensic
informationtheinmedical
examiner&#39;s
was important in
report
determining
extent
the the
of wounds,
as well
as how
the victim
was assaulted
and whether
evidencesexual
of assault
was present
absent.No semen
or was
noted the
in vagina,
but semen
was found
on the
body. appeared
It the
that
murdererdirectly over the
stood victim and
masturbated.were
There visible
bite
marks the
on victim&#39;s
thighs and
knee area.
He cut
off her
nipples with
aknife
after she
was deadand wrote
on thebody. Cause
of death
was strangulation.
rst manual,
then ligature,
with the
of her purse.
strap The fact
that the
murderer
used
aweaponof opportunity
indicateshe
did
thatnot prepare
to commit
this
crime. probably
He his
usedstto render
her unconscious,
which may
be the
reasonone
no heard
any screams.
There were
no deep
stab wounds
and theknife
to mutilate victim&#39;s
used the apparently
breast not
was
big,
probably
apenknife
that the
offender nonnally
carried. The
killer used
the victim&#39;s
beltstie her
to
right arm
and right
leg, but
apparently
he untied them
in order
to position
the
body before
he left.
The preliminary
police report
revealed another
that resident
of the
apartment
building,
awhitemale, aged
l5, discovered
the victim&#39;s
wallet ainstairwell
between third
the and
fourth oors
approximately
at 8:20 a.m.
He retained
the
wallet until
retumedhome from
he school for
lunch that
aftemoon.that
At time,
he gave
the wallet
his father,
to awhitemale, aged
40. The
father went
to the
victim s apartment
2:50p.m.
at and gave the
wallet the
to victim&#39;s
mother.
When the
mother called
the day
care center
to ll&#39;lf0
her daughter
Tl about the

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
& THELAW

and.. -

22
Douglas
al.:etCriminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis
she leamedher
wallet, thatdaughter
had not
for work that
appeared moming.
The mother,
the victim&#39;s
sister, aand
neighbor
began
asearch
of the
building
and discovered
the body.
The neighbor
called police.
the Police
at the
scene
found who
nowitnessessaw victim
the aftershe left
her apartment
that morning.

Decision Process

This crime
style
s ais
singlehomicide the
withmurderer&#39;s
primary intent
makingasexually
it motivated of type
crime.
There awas
degree
of planning
indicated
theby
organization
and sophistication
of the
crime scene.
The idea
of
murderprobably
had occupied
the killer
foralongperiodtime.
of The
sexual
fantasieshave
maystarted
through usetheand
collecting
sadistic
of pomography
depicting torture
and violent
sexual acts.
Victim risk
assessmentthat revealed
the
victim was
knownbeto very
self-
consciousherabout
physical
handicapsize andand
she was
aplain-looking
womandid whonot
date. She
ledareclusive
life and
was not
the type
of victim
that would
or couldght an
assailantscream
or yell.
She
and wouldeasily
be
dominatedcontrolled,
and particularly
in view
of her
small stature.
Based the
uponinformation
on occupation
and lifestyle,
we havealow-risk
victim living
in an
area that
was low
at risk
for violent crimes.
The apartment
buildingpart
wasaof
23-building
public housing
projectwhich
in racial
the
mixtureresidents
of 50%
was
40% white, and
black, 10% Hispanic.
lt was
located
theinconofnesmajor
a police
precinct. had
Therebeen
othersimilar
no
crimes reported
in the
victim&#39;s
nearoyorcomplexes.
The crime
was considered
very high
risk for
the offender.
He committed
the
crimebroad
in daylight,
and there
waspossibility
a other
that people
who were
up early
mighthim.
see There
wasset
no pattem
of the
victim taking
the stairway
or the elevator.
appeared
It that
the victim happened the path the
tocross of
offender.
There nowasescalation
factor present
in this
scene. The time
crime for the
crime considerable.
was amount
Thetime
of the
murdererwithspenthis
victim
increased risk
hisof
being apprehended.
All his
activities the
withvictim-
removing
earrings,
her off
cutting
her
nipples, masturbating
over her atook
substantial amount
of time.
The location
of the
crime suggested
that the
offendercomfortable
felt the in
area.had
He been
here before,
and felt
he that
no onewould interrupt
the murder.

Crime Assessment

The crime
scene indicated
the murder
was oneevent, not
one of
aseries
of
events.also
It appeared
be arst-time
to killing, and
the subject
was nota
typical organized
offender.were
There
elements
of both
disorganization and
organization;
offender
the might
fall into
amixedcategory.
A reconstruction
of the
crime/deathprovides
scene overall
an picture
of the

VOL. 4,
NO 4 ~19B6

23
 Q

Douglas
al.: Criminal Pro ling
er from Crime
Analysis
Scene
3%-§
2: ms
crime. To
begin with,
thevictim
was not necessarily
stalked but
instead con- b»»>~
fronted.What
was her reaction?
Did sherecognize her
assailant, ght
him off, ta.

or tryto getaway? The

subject had
to killher tocarry out
his sexually
violent
fantasies. The
was
murderer on knownterritory andthus hadareason to be
there at
6:30 inthe moming:
either he
resided there
or hewas employed
at this
particular complex.
The killer&#39;s
control ofthe victimwas through the useof bluntforce
trauma,
with theblow toher facethe rst indication ofhis intention.It is probable the
victim was
selected because
she posed
little orno threat
the offender. Because
to
she didn&#39;t
ght,run,or
scream,it appears
that she
did not
perceive abductor
her
asathreat. Either she
knew him,had seen
him before,or helooked nonthrea-
tening ,i.c.
hewas dressed
as janitor,
a apostman,
or businessman!
and therefore
his presence
in theapartment would
not alarm
his victim.
In thesequencethe
of crime,
the killerrst rendered
the victim
unconscious
and possibly
dead; he
could easily
pick her up because
of hersmall size.
He
her up tothe roof
took landing and
had time to manipulate
her bodywhile she
was unconscious.
He positioned
the body,undressed her,
acted outcertain
fantasies which
led tomasturbation. The
killer tookhis timeat thescene, and
he probably
knew one would come
no
that to the
roof and
disturb him
in the
early moming
since he
was familiar
with theand had been
area there many
times
in the past.
The crime
scene was
not staged.
Sadistic ritualistic
fantasy generated
the sexual
motivation formurder. The
murderer displayed
total domination
of thevictim.
ln addition,
he placed
the victim
in adegrading
posture, which re ected
his lack
i of remorseabout thekilling.
Thecrime
scene dynamics the
of covering
of thekiller&#39;s
and
feces
hisposi-
tioning the
of body
are incongruent
and need
to be
interpreted. First,
as previously
described, crime
the was
opportunistic. The
crime scene
portrayed the
intricacies
i
2
of along-standing murderous
fantasy. Once
the killer
had victim,
a he
had set
a
plan about
killing and
abusing the
body. However,
within the
context of
the
E crime, thepro lers note
a paradox:
the covered
feces. Defecation
wasnot
part
of theritual fantasy
and thus
it wascovered. The
presence the
of fecesalso
i supports the
length of
time taken
for thecrime, the
control the
murderer had
over thevictim herunconscious state!,
and theknowledge he
would notbe
l interrupted.
The positioning
of the
victim suggested
the offender
was acting
out something
3
X he had
seen before,
perhaps ain
fantasyor
in asado-masochistic
pomographic
magazine. Because
the victim
was unconscious,
the killer
did notneed to
tie
her hands.
Yet hecontinued to
tie herneck andstrangle her.
He positioned
her
earrings in
aritualisticmanner, and
he wroteher body. This
on re ects some
sort ofimagery thathe probably
had repeated
over andin
over his mind.He
took her
necklace aassouvenir;
perhaps carry
to aroundin hispocket. The
investigative pronoted
that
lers the body
was positioned
in theform ofthe
woman s missing
Jewish symbol.

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES&THE LAW

24
 I _ j

Douglas
al.:Criminal Pro
et fromling
Crime
Scene Analysis
Criminal Pro le
Based
theon
information
derivedthe
during
previous
stages,
acriminal
pro le
of the
murderer
generated.
was a physical
First,
description
the suspect
of
stated
thatwould
he awhite
bemale, between
25 and
35, the
or same
general
asage
the victim,
andaverage
of appearance.
The murderer
wouldlook
notof
out
context
theinarea.
He would
be average
of intelligence
and would
beahigh-
school
college
or dropout.
He would
not have
amilitary
historymay
andbe
unemployed.
occupation
Hisbe would
blue-collar
skilled.
or Alcohol
drugs
or
did not
assume
amajor
role,the
asoccurred
crime in the
morning.
early
The suspect
would dif
have
culty maintaining
any kind
of personal
relation-
shipswomen.
with he dated,
Ifhe would
date women
younger
himself,
than as
he would
havebeabledominate
to to control
andtheinrelationships.
He would
be sexually
inexperienced,
inadequate,
sexually
neverand
married.
He would
have pomography
a The
collection.
subject
wouldsadistic
have ten-
dencies;
umbrella
the theand
masturbation
act clearly
are ofacts
sexual
substi-
tution.sexual
The showed
acts controlled
aggression,
ragehatred
but
or women
of 1

was obviously
present.
murderer
The notwas
reacting
to rejection
from women
as much morbid curiosity.
asto
In addressing
the habits
of the
murderer,
pro the
le revealed
there would
be
ea reason
thefor
killer
to be
at the
crime at
scene
6:30
in the
morning.
could
He
be employed
in the
apartmentbecomplex,
the
in complex
on business,
or reside
Although
offender
the have
in the complex.
might
preferred
his victim
conscious,
had
tohe
renderunconscious
her hebecause
did
not want
getcaught.
to didHe
not
want
the woman
screaming for
help.
The murderer
in ictionsexual,
s of sadistic
actsan
oninanimate
body suggests
he was
disorganized.
probably
Hebe
would
very
a confused
person, possibly
with previous
mental problems.
If he
had carried
out such
on aliving
acts victim,
he would have adifferent
typepersonality.
of factThe
that
he in icted
acts on
adead or unconscious
person indicated
his inability
to function
withlive
a or
The crime scene rethat
conscious person.
ected
killer
the justi
felt ed hisinactions
and that
he felt no remorse. He was
not subtle.
He left
the victim
inaprovocative,
humiliatingexactly
position,
waythe
wanted
he to beher
found.
challenged
He
the police
in his
message onwritten
the
victim;messages
the indicated
also the
subject might
well killagain.

Investigation
The crime
receivedcoverage
intensethe by
local
media because
it was
such
an extraordinary
homicide.local
Thepolice
responded
a radio
call
to a of
homicide.
in They
tum
noti eddetective
the which
bureau,noti
theedforensic
crime scene
unit, medical
examiner&#39;s
and county
theof ce,
district
attomey s

VOL. 4, NO. 4 -1986

25
 Douglas al.:
et Criminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis

of ce. Atask force

was immediately
assembledapproximately
of detectives
26
and supervisors.
An intensive
investigation resulted,
which included
speaking to,
and inter-
viewing, over
2,000 people.
Records checks
of known
sex offenders
in thearea
proved fruitless.
Hand writing
samples were
taken of
possible suspects
com-
to
pare with
the writing
on the
body. Mental
hospitalsthe
inarea
were checked
for people
who might
fit thepro le ofthis type
killer.
The FBl sBehavioral Science
Unit wascontacted to
compileapro le. In the
pro le, the
investigation recommendation
included that
the offender
knew that
the police
soonerlater would contact
or him because he either
worked or lived
the building. The
in killer would
somehow injecthimself into
the investigation,
and althoughhe mightappear cooperative
to theextreme, would
he really
be
seeking information.
addition,he might
ln try tocontact the
victim s family.

Apprehension
The outcome
of the investigation was
apprehension
of asuspect l3 months
following the
discoverythe
of victim&#39;s
After receiving criminal
body. the pro le,
police reviewed
their les
22 suspects they
of had interviewed.
One manstood
out. Thissuspect s father
down the hallin
lived the same apartmentbuildingas
the victim.
Police originally
had interviewed
his father,
who toldthem hisson
wasapatientat thelocal psychiatric
hospital. Police
leamed later
that the
son
had been
absent without
permission from
the hospital
the day
and evening
prior
to the murder.
They also
learned he
was anunemployed actor
wholived
alone; his mother
had diedof astroke when hewas 19years oldl lyears previous!. He
had had
academic problems
repeatinga grade
of and dropped outschool. He wasa
of
white, 30-year-old,
never-married male
who wasan onlychild. Hisfather was
ablue-collar worker whoalso wasan ex-prizeghter. Thesuspect reportedly
had his amt in acast at the time of the crime. A searchof his room revealeda
pomography collection.
He hadnever been in themilitary, had
girlfriends,
no
and wasdescribedbeing
as insecurewith women. The man suffered fromdepres-
sion and
was receiving
psychiatric treatment
and hospitalization.
He hadahistory
of repeated
suicidal attempts
hanging/asphyxiation!before
both and after the
offense.
The suspect
was tried,
guilty,
found and isserving sentence
a from
years
25
to life for this mutilation murder. He deniescommitting themurder andstates
he didnot knowthe victim.Police proved
that security
was laxat thepsychiatric
hospital in
which the
suspect was
con ned and
that heliterally
could come and
goas
he pleased. However,
the most
conclusive evidence
against him
at histrial
were histeeth impressions.
Three separate
forensic dentists,
prominent intheir
eld, conducted
independent
and all agreed
tests that the
suspect s teeth
impres-
sions matched the bite marks found on
the victim s body.

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES8- THE LAW

26
 Douglas
al.:etCriminal
Pro ling from
Crime Scene
Analysis
CONCLUSION
Criminal personality
pro lingproven
has beato
useful
tool law
to enforcement
in solving
violent, apparently
motivelessThe
crimes.
process
has aided
signif-
icantlythe
in solution
manycases the
of overpast
decade.
Itis believed that
throughresearch
the efforts
personnel
of in the
National
FBI s Centerthe for
Analysis
ofViolentCrimeprofessionals
and otherinthe
eld,proprocess
ling
will continue
to be
re ned and
beaviable
investigative
to law
aid
enforcement.

REFERENCES
Brussel. J.
S. I968!
. Casebook
ofacrimeprvchirurirr
_. New
York"
. . Grove
Casey-Owens.
I984!.anonymous
M.
The letter-writer
psychological
Journal
a pro
Forensic
le?
of Sciences.
29, BI6-819.
Christie.
A.I963!.The clock:
pp. 227-228!.
New York:
Pocket Books.
Geberth.
J. V.
I981.
September!. Psychological
pro ling.and
LawOrder.
pp.46-49.
Hazelwood,
R.R.I983.
September!.
behavior-oriented
The rape
of victims:
interview
key
&#39;I&#39;he
pro
to ling. FBI
Law Enforcement
Bulletin. pp.
I-Iazlewood.
R.R. I.E.I-8.
8i Douglas. I980. April!.
The murderer.
lust LawFBI
Enforcement
Bulletin.
Lunde.T.D.I976!.
Murdermadness.
and Francisco,
San San CA:
Francisco
Book Co.
Miron.S..
M. Douglas.
8: J. E.I979. September!.
Threat analysis:
The psycltolinguistic
approach.
LawFBI
Enforcement Bulletin.
pp. 5-9.
Palmer. S.I960!
. AStudy ofmurder
..New York"
Thomas Crowell
.
Reiser.I982.
M. March!.
Crime-speci c psychological
consultation.
Police
&#39; The
&#39; hChief.
pp. 53-56.
on homicide
Ressler.
K.. Burgess.
R. W.. Douglas.
A. E..&Depue.
J. R.
L. I985!. Cnminal
pro ling rescue .
AW
In Burgess
EdRape
! sexual
and Aassault:
research
handbook
343-349!.
pp. York:
New Garland.
is Rider. A. 0.9
mo. June!.
rm m=s=it=r=
A psychological
pro le. I.pan
FBI
Law Enforcement
Blllltllll, pp.
6-I3.
Rizzo.
D.N.I982!.
Murder
Boston:
in andKillers
their
victims. liueriiarional
Journal
O eiider
of and
Therapy
Comparative Criniinolagy.
Z6 I!. 36-42.
Rossi I982.
D. January!.
Crime scene
behavioralAnother
analysis:
fortool
the
law enforcement
investigator.
Df ciE.proceedings
Vorpagel.
R. I982.the88th
of Annual IACP Conference.
Painting
January!. proTheles:
Police
Chief.
psychological I52-I55.
pp. anew
Charlatanism.
charisma. science
or ?
Of cial proceedings
the88th
of Annual IACP Conference.
The Police
Chief.I56-I59.
pp.

VOL. 4, NO. 4 -198$

27
i*

WW;

t il
~c»2z£~%s>;:.
>~/12;; i!k&#39;r<&#39;"/

The questionremained asto E; >./=

~: mi.v m "»
whether incarcerated
offenders would
cooperatesuch research.order
in In to
determine the
feasibility
the intend-
of
ed study,
a pilotproiect was
undertak-
en. Crimeswhich the FBIeither has
in
primary jurisdiction
or hastraditionally
assisted localagencies byproviding
technical assistance
pertise, such
and specialex-
as hostage/terrorism,
skyjacking, extortionlkidnaping,
assas-
s
a
sination, andmass/multiple murder,
were targetedfor study. Guidelines
were formulatedconjunctionwith the
in
Legal Instruction
Unitof
the FBI Acad-
emy.
Eight convictedoffenders were During the
then approached
and askedifthey
1.979 Fiesta
Tex.,
ParadeSan Antonio.
in
asniper,who was
aformermental patient,
would be willing to be interviewed killed2personsand injured
51 others,
including
e
13 children
about theircrimes. Theywere long- shooting and6policemen.Photos depict
scene
and arsenal
used bythe
term incarceratedfelons lodgedin var- sniper. Insight
into the
psychological
ious Stateand Federalpenitentiaries behavior persons
of involved
such crimes is
in
the overall
of
goal this research
program.
and wereselected for
the gravityof
their violent crimes. The results were
very encouraging.
Based onthis re-
sponse, plans
were developed
for an
l

30
 /as

Dr. Grorh Special AgentHess/er

DI. Burgess

with alarge number ofcases. No for- This instrument provided not only
extended, ongoing systematic studyof guidelines for
interviewing subjects
but
convicted offendersin order to better mal data bank, however, has been de-
also asystem of recordingand coding
veloped against which new cases can
understand thepatterns anddynamics
of criminalbehavior. Sexualhomicide systematically becompared. Also, relevantdata
to permit computeranal-
was selectedas the initial area
of pri- is
there little or
no followup once an ysis andretrieval. This
protocol which
offender has been successfully appre- continues to undergo revision and re-
mary focusand concentrationbecause finement! is divided into five sections:
it isalethal type ofcrime thatattractsa hended and convicted. Consequently,
there is very little subsequent inputof ! Physical characteristics of
the of-
deal
great of publicattention. fender, ! background development,
information which would serve to
sharpen andrefine theexisting bodyof ! offense data, ! victim data, and
Background of FBI Profiling
knowledge. ! crime scene data.lt encompasses
For the past few years, effortsat the offender&#39;s
physical description,
Given the opportunity to interview
developing psychologicalprofiles of medicall psychiatric
history, earlyhome
suspects for
individual
of
cases sexual identified offenders and realizing the
need to develop a protocol to insurelife and upbringing, schooling,military
assaultl homicide have been undertak-
en by members ofthe BehavioralSci- systematic retrieval of pertinentdata, service, occupation/vocational history,
the TrainingDivision engaged the serv- sexual developmentand maritalhisto-
ence Unit. These cases werereferred
ices of Dr. A. Nicholas Groth and Dr. ry, recreationalinterests, criminalhisto-
to the unit bylocal
police departments. ry, the characteristics of
his offense,
From the available evidence and infor- Ann Wolbert Burgess, two experts in
the field of sexual assault who had modus operandi, victim selection,and
mation, unit members developed a the scene of his crime.
psychological compositeof the sus- been conducting specialized police
schoolson
rape and child molestation Once the assessment schedule
pect. The approach is one of brain-
for law enforcement agents at the FBI had been designed, it was adminis-
storming, intuition, and educated
guesswork. The product wasthe result Academy. Thisprofessional affiliation tered to three groupsof sexualoffend-
of years
of accumulated investigative provided amultidisciplinary approach ers sex murderers, rapists and child
experience inthe field and familiarity to the study ofthe sex murderer, com- molesters, and sex offenders confined
bining contributionsfrom both law en- to a mental health facility. During the
forcement and the behavioral first year 979! of the study,interviews
sciences. with 26 men who were convicted of a
From areview of the pertinent
literature and from the direct, firsthand
field experienceand prior
work of the
researchers, this team proceeded to
developadata schedule forinvestiga-
tive inquiry and offender assessment.

31
 v

ti;
Special AgentDoug/as Edmund E.Kemper, amass murderer,
is
interviewed bySA Doug/as.

sex-related homicide and were incar-

Interestingly, institution officials
cerated in various institutions
the countrywere completed.The sec-
across
have been supportive of the research -=95 Q
ond group rapists and childmolesters investigation efforts,and theoffenders
incarcerated in a maximum security themselves have been very receptive
prison consisted of approximately our
to solicitation for their help
and
125 adult
male offenders who were participation inthis study. Although a
administered the interview schedule. few have denied or minimized their
subjects
These were equally
divided culpability, themajority haveprovided
between those
who sexually
had as- information consistent with the known
saulted adults
and those who had sex- of
facts the case.
assaulted
ually children. Sex
offenders What promptsconvicted offenders
committed to a security treatment cooperate
to with law enforcement Selected inmates of the Oregon StalePeni-
tentiary participated
in the research program.
mental health! facility following con- agents? Avarietyof
reasons exist. For
viction but prior to
disposition com- those troubled by what they have
prised thethird group.Approximatelydone, cooperation may be an effort to
1O0 men were interviewed, again gain some perspective and under-
equally dividedbetween rapistsand standingof
their behavior oran effort
molesters.
child to compensateand makesome typeof
Computer programs were then restitution. Others, especially if they
written to
process the data. lt is antici- feel
forgotten or ignored,may respond
pated that as this body of data accu- to the fact that someone is paying
mulates, it will
provide information attention and showing some interest in
about anumber of
issues pertaining to them. A selected number multiple
of
the sexual offender. murderers appear to be fascinated with
law enforcement, as evidenced by their
attempts to become identified with the
profession, i.e.,
posing aslaw enforce-
ment officers, holding
positions such
as security guards or auxiliary police,
etc. These offenders welcome an op-
portunity to again
associate them-
selves with investigative efforts. Some
may expectthat cooperationwill result
in favors or benefits; others may feel

32
 study, which
addresses sexual
assault,
nothing tolose, sinceall profiles will
be developed
identifiable behaviors,
based onis unique
traits, and
in that
it represents the
char- bined approaches
com-
app83lS been have exhausted acteristics. profiles,
The turn,
in will aid ment/criminal justice of law enforce-
realistic hope for paroleor local lawenforcement agencies in the
and bQh3VlOf8l
exists. Finally,
others may par- investigation theofcrime
and the science/mental
iden- as well health
professionals,
in the study because it pro- tification and
apprehensionoffend-
of as active participation di-
and
an opportunity to dwell on and ers. in addition, such rect contribution from convicted
profiles and combatthis majortype ofserious felons,
the fantasies,memories, and will sen/eto im- to
related information
feelings ofthe original
Whatever their reasons, nobleprove interrogation
techniquesin- andcrime. FBI
terviewing skills
and toidentify those
healthy pathological,
or each
techniques whichwill bemost produc- Footnote
own way contributes something tive with
each type
of offender.
Fiichard Ault,
L. Jr. and James
Psychological Assessment
Crime:
of
T. Fieese.
A
Profiling."Law
FBI
understanding variety
the and Knowledge gleaned from thisre- Enforcement Bulletin,
vol. 49,
No. 3,1980, pp.
March
of thiscategoryofcrime.
search will
have importantimplications22-25.
Procedure
The reliability
and thevalidity of . . . an extended,
data retrieved
from thestudy of ongoing systematic
offenders will
ultimately be
test-
by the with predec-study of convicted
accuracy which
derived from offenders [was
offender profiles!
this data lt from initiated] in order
are fulfilled. is
pool to
these data
that various
typesoffend- better understand the
of
er profiles
are beginning
to emerge.
Althoughtwo
no offenders patterns and
are exactly dynamics
alike, and
there is
awide range of criminal
of behavior
individual differences
found among
of-
fenders who
commit similar
offenses,for crime
prevention by
identifying im-
they also
share some
similarities portant
or biopsychosocial
factors
an
of
common traits.
it will be boththese offender. ltwill assistby attempting
to
important differences
and theimpor-provide answers
to such
questions as:
tant similarities
that servedifferenti-
to 1! Whatleadsapersonto become
ate and identify differentkinds or asexual offender andwhat arethe
specific types
offenderswithin theearly warning
of signals?
same offense category. 2! What sen/es to
encouragetoor
inhibit the
commissionhis
of offense?
Goals andPurposes of
Program 3! Whattypes ofresponse or
cop-
personality researching strategies
This criminal by anintended victim
are
programdesignedto contribute
is to successful with
what typeof sexual
advancesthe
in studyof sexual homi- offender avoiding
in victimization ?
cide a subjectabout which
little de- 4! What
are the
implicationshis
for
is currently dangerousness, prognosis,
pendable information disposition,
available -by establishing
anational and modeof treatment?
data bankfrom whichreliable informa- Current emphasis is on the rape-
tion canbe retrieved.From
the data murderer, sincethe TrainingDivision
derived fromthis research, offender receives annuallyclose to 100 un-
solved, sex-related
homicides forre-
view and analysis. Thisresearch
programenvisioned
is ultimately
as ex-
pandingencompass
to abroader
vari-
ety of felony crimesto include
hostagetaking and
techniques to
im-
prove hostage
negotiation.
further
A
benefit willbe the improvement of
techniques ofinterviewing, interroga-
tion, and
informant targeting
in criminal
and espionage
matters. The
present

33
 2Teelblmicgmes

A Psychological
Assessment of Crime
PRO FILING
Special Agents
Behavioral Science Unit
Editor&#39;sAsNote:
adjunct to its
an _ FBlAcademy, Ouantico, Va.
programs in By RICHARD
abnormal ~- L. AULT, JR. and JAMESREESE
T.
the Behavioral
Science
the
During summer of 1979, a
Academy, Ouantico, Va.,
FBI has woman
in The incidentreports, togetherwith
asuburban city on the east transcripts
to assist the /aw of interviews withthe vic-
coast reported to the police thatshe tims, wereforwarded to
enforcement community in the the FBITrain-
of psychological pro les in had been raped. Afterlearning the ing Divisionwith arequest from the
unsolved criminalcases. A of
facts this case,the investigatingoffi-
cer realizedthat thiswas theseventh police department that apsychological
Psychological Assessment of Crime." rape within pro le of
the past2years wherein provided. Afterthe suspect or suspectsbe
Profiling"the
is introductory article in
a
three-part seriesof reports on theuse the samemodus operandi was used. the submitted materialsexamination
careful of
by the FBI
There were no investigativeleads re-
at psychological criminal analysis as Academy s Behavioral Science Unit,a
maining any
in ofthese incidents.
The
an investigative
technique. Subsequent thus farhad psychological profile
investigation conducted was constructed
articles will
feature thespeci c and provided
to therequesting agency.
application of to lust yielded nosuspect.
this technique The BehavioralScience Unit advised
murderer andarson-for-profit that these rapes were probably com-
mitted bythe sameperson andde-
investigations. lmu! W -.... scribed himas awhite male, 25to 35
years ofage most
likely late
20&#39;s or

»I

,/-..

A-i..
Published
thebyFederal
Bureau
Investigation,
of Department
U.S.. Justice!
of
Dr92rvr92in?DI"
theFrnm
FRI Law Enforcement
Bulletin, March,1980
¥

early 30 s!, divorced or separated, As the crime rate grows in this biography briefly outlining the most
working at marginal employment la- country and the criminals become outstanding characteristics of the sub.
more sophisticated,the investigative ject. The goal the
of profiler isto
borer, etc.!, high school education, provide enoughinformation tolnvesti.
poor self-image,living inthe immediate tools of
the police officer must also
become moresophisticated. Onesuch gators toenable them
to limitor better
area of the rapes, and being involved
sophisticated tooldoes exist and may direct their
investigations. For example,
in crimes of voyeurism peeping tom!.
It was likely that the police had talked help answer the question commonly
in one case, aprofile provided enough
information that officers recalled an in.
to therapist inthe pastdue tohis being voiced by police and others at the
of
scene aviolent crime, Who would dividual whom they had already ques.
on the streets in the neighborhood in
do a thing
like this?" This tool is the tioned that fit the profile description.
the early morning hours. When they returned to the individual
Three days after receiving the pro- psychological assessment
of crime-
he confessed.
file provided to them, the requesting profiling. The officer must bear in mind that ,.,.
Q,,".;
agency developed
approximately 40 The solution of crimes is the most .=,=-vzm
$1
the profileis
not an exact science and
suspects inthe neighborhoodwho met difficult task for the police. The officer a suspect who fits the descriptionis
additional infor-must arrive at the scene of a crime,
the agecriteria. Using not automatically guilty. The use of
mation in the profile, they narrowed work backward in an effort to recon- profiling does
not replace
sound inves---= it
their investigationto oneindividual and struct that crime, formulate ahypoth- =5?,1
focused their investigation on him. He what
esis of occurred, and then launch tigative procedures.
Profiling is not anew concept. Q8
was arrested within aweek. This case an orderlyand logical investigation to &#39;§
During WorldWar ll,the Officeof
Stra-
demonstrates how psychological profil- determine theidentity of the criminal. tegic ServicesOSS! employed apsy- $1
ing can be of
assistance. During thisprocess, itemsofevidence
chiatrist, William Langer, to profile
The role of the police officer in are carefully collected, identified,ini- ss,
Adolf Hitler.Langer assembledall that §.92
American society has never been ac- tialed, logged,and packagedfor later
was known about Hitler at the time,
curately defined.Daily, itseems, police examination, perhaps under laboratory and based upon the information he
are burdened with new responsibilities conditions.
The purpose of
this article is to received, attemptedalong-range di-
and are required to be experts in re-
sponsibilities alreadyassigned to acquaint the with thefact agnosis," as
police officer as
well some predictions2.
that there
are about how
certain clues
at Hitler would
acrime react to 2*
them. There has, in recent years,
scene which,by their very nature, do defeat.
been an increase in the public s aware-
not lend themselves to being collected Police officers are often carefully
ness of the nature of
police work. This
trained in the techniques of crime
additional insight has been provided or examined, and to familiarize the offi-
cer with the concepts of profiling. searches.
scene Forensic scientists
primarily throughthe useof the media
Clues left at acrime scene may be of constantly provide law enforcement
TV, books, newspapers!; however, personnel with
the resultsof research
this awareness is largely focused upon inestimable value in leading to the so-
lution of the crime; however, they are which enable officers to maintain and
the police function of investigating
crimes. Studies have indicated that not necessarilyitems of
physical evi- update skills
in gathering
physical evi-
dence. For example, how does apolice dence. The concept of profiling works
criminal investigations actually occupy
less than 15 percentof the police de- officer collect
rage, hatred, fear,love, in harmony
with thesearch for
physical
evidence. Behavioral scientists are
partment&#39;sThe ironyof this is irrationality, or other intangibles?
time.
busy intheir attempts
to researchand
that the function of investigating and These aspects may bepresent atthe
catalog nonphysical
items ofevidence,
solving crimesis extremely important crime scene
but the untrained officer
such as rage, hatred, fear, and love.
to the public at large and is a major will miss them. Nothing can take the
of a well-executedinvestigation; However, these attempts are usually
by
gage which departments are rated place oriented toward therapy rather than fo-
by city officials whoprovide funding. however, the use ofpsychology to as-
rensic applications?Nonetheless, the
This is especially truewhen acrime is sist in the assessment of
a crime is an
committed which is so bizarre and additional tool which the police officer results maybe appliedto teach police
officers to recognize theexistence of
shocking to the community that the should use in solving crimes.
public demandsswift and positive The purposeof the psychological these emotions and other personality
assessment of acrime scene is
to traits in a crime scene. Once recog-
action.
produceaprofile; that is, to identify nized, policemay thenconstructapro-
and interpretcertain itemsof
evidence file of
the type of person who might
at the crime scene
which would be possess these emotions and/or per-
indicative of the personality type of the sonality traits.
individual or individuals committing the
crime. The
term profile is
defined in
Webster&#39;s Dictionary
of the American
Language U968!as a short, vivid

36
 A crime scene
is usually confined The entire basis for a good profile
The basis for profiling is nothing
than theunderstanding of current to the area in which the crime was is agood crime
scene examination
and
of behavioral sciences, such committed. For the purposes of
this adequate inten/iews
victims and wit-
of
nesses. When officers find individuals
criminology,article, the
psychology, sociology, term crime scene includes
political science. the following:The sceneof the crime; who are willing to
attempt psychologi-
the victim of the
crime, in
as the case cal evaluations of crime scenes, they
Behaviorial scienceis, at best, an
science. ltis often referred to of rape;andallother
locations involved often ask the profiler what materials
should be sent to Necessary
him.
as an art form."6However, itsuse inthe crime, including such areas as
for
items apsychological profile
validity inlaw enforcement.the recovery site when ahomicide is
does have
include:
Human behavioris much too complex committed in one location and the
1! Complete photographs of the
to classify, yet attempts are often body depositedin another.
The victim is one of the most im- scene,
crime including photographs of
made to do sowith thehopethat
such
the victim if it is a homicide. Also help-
avastly complicated system can be portant aspectsof the psychologicalful is some means of determining the
brought into some control.The Diag- profile. lncases involvingasurviving
nostic andStatistic Manualof Mental victim, particularly arape victim, the from
angle which the photographs
perpetrators exact conversation withwere taken and ageneral description
Disorders DSM ll!, used by mental
is oneexampleof the victim is of
health professionals, utmost importance and of the immediate area. One enterpris-
this attempt. While attemptsto neatly can play avery role
large in the con- ing policeofficer developed the excel-
classify behavior are mostly unsuc- struction of an accurate profile. lent technique photocopying
of his
cessful, onemust remember why these The profileis not all inclusiveand crime scene sketch, attaching one
attempts are made. There
are many does not always providethe same in- copy toeach photo, and thenoutlining
in red the area which was included in
types ofnormal and"abnormal" be- formation from one profile to another. It
havior. Many of these
behaviors may is based on what was or was not left at the photograph.
have a label
attached to them
by be- the crime scene. Since the amount of 2! The completed autopsy proto-
psychological evidence
havioral scientists. It is most important varies, asdoes col including,if possible,any resultsof
to bear in mind thatsuch physical evidence,
alabel is the profilemay also lab tests
which were done
on the
vary. The profile information may victim.
merely anabbreviated wayto describe
a behavior pattern. lt is nothing more include: 3! A complete report of the inci-
1! The perpetrator s race, dent to include such standard details
than a convenience by which profes-
sionals communicate. The important 2! Sex, date
as and time of offense, location
aspect isthe specificcharacteristics or 3! Age range, by townas wellas by actual siteof
symptoms ofeach person.The symp- 4! Marital status, incident!, weaponused if known!, in-
toms are revealed in the way the indi- 5! General employment, vestigative officersreconstruction of
vidual acts out" and in the
responses 6! Fteaction to questioning by the sequenceof events if any!, and a
which the individual may make to the police, detailed interview of any surviving vic-
7! Degree of sexual maturity, tims or witnesses. These items are
professional. The labels may differ
from doctor to doctor because they are 8! Whether the individual might usuallyapart of all investigations and
simply eachdoctor s interpretationof strike again, do not generally requireextra report
9! The possibility that he/she has writing or extra written material. Also
the symptom.
committed a similar offense in the past, included in most investigative reports is
A symptom, then, is the visible
evidence a
of disease or disturb- and background information on the vic-
ance,"° and a crime, particularly abi- 10! Possible police record. tim s!. Yet, this seems to be the area
zarre crime, is as much asymptom as These profilesare notthe resultof the
where least amount of information
magical incantationsand are not al- is available to the profiler. Usually, this
any other type
of acting out by an
individual. A crime may reflect the ways accurate.ltis the applicationof is because the investigative officer
personality characteristics of
the per- behavioral science and
theory cannot possiblywrite down all of the
re-
petrator inmuch the same fashionas search to the profiler s knowledge of many details concerning the victim
patterns which may be present at var- which he collects while investigating
the way we keep and decorate our
reflects
homes something about our ious crime
scenes. lt is
important that the crime.
personality. ° the profiler have wide exposure to
crime scenes so that he may see that
these patterns may exist. lt is also
important thatthe individualattempting
to profilecrime sceneshave someex-
posure to those criminals who have
committed similar crimes.

37
 When the investigator provides in- Profiling is avaluable investigative ples, and all logical leads must be
formation concerning avictim to apro- tool but is not amagical process. exhausted before requesting this Serv.
filer, some items which the officer Police officers do agreat deal of pro- ice. This technique is usually confined
should include are: filing during the course of
their work homicides,
to rapes, etc., in which
1! Occupation former and pres- days. They constantly build mental available evidence possible
indicates
ent!, images or profiles based upon crime mental deficiency or aberration on the
2! Residence former and pres- scenes and then use these profiles in part of the perpetrator. Cases will be
ent!, attempt
an limit
to the scope of their profiled on atime available basis,
3! Reputation, at work and in his investigations. These profiles are with the more severe cases being
neighborhood, based upon the officer s extensive given priority. It should also be under-
4! Physical description, including knowledge of the type of crime he is that
stood analysis isfor lead value
dress atthe time of the incident, investigating. When acrime so bizarre only, and
clinical opinions will not be
5! Marital status, including children that it is out of the scope of the offered. Cases
which, in the opinion of
and close family members, officer&#39;s experience
occurs, there are the Training Division, fail to meet these
6! Educational level, behavioral scientists available who can criteria will be returned to the request-
7! Financial status, past and pres- assist by providing these types of pro- ing agency. Under no circumstances
ent, files. The FBI provides limited service should physical evidence be trans-
8! Information and background of in the area of profiling and these limita- mitted to
the Federal Bureau Investi-
of
victim&#39;s familyand parents, including tions are based
on the amount of time gation, since the possibility exists that
victim s relationship with parent, and manpower available to conduct information received may not
be re-
9! Medical history, both physical such profiles. turned to the agency.
and mental, Instruction is the primary purpose An agency requesting apsycho-
10! Fears, of the
Behavioral Science Unit of the logical profile should contact the
11! Personal habits, FBl Training Division. Courses in ap- Federal Bureau of Investigation field
12! Social habits, plied criminology, abnormal psy- office located within the territory of the
13! Use of alcohol and drugs, chology, sociology, hostage negotia- department and provide to them the
14! Hobbies, tions, interpersonal violence, and other information as requested herein. The
15! Friends and enemies, behavioral science-related areas are agency should make it known to the
16! Recent changes life-
in taught at the Academy to FBI Agents field office that they are requesting a
style, and and police officers. ln the past, as an psychological profile from the Behav-
17! Recent court action. adjunct to its instructional programs, ioral Science Unit, Training Division.
The primary psychological evi- the Training Division has attempted to FBI
Footnotes
which
dence the profiler is looking for law
assist enforcement agencies with JamesQ.Wilson, Varieties Police Behavior Cam-
0!
is motive. After a survey of the evi- the preparation of psychological pro- bridge, Mass.:Harvard University Press, 1968!,
p. 30.
George G. Killinger andPaul F. Cromwell, IssuesLaw
in
dence, the profiler applies an age-old files. During the initial stages of the Enforcement Boston: l-lolbrook Press,
1975!, p.
212.
rule known as ockhams razor" which, FBl s involvement in profiling, these Webster&#39;s
New World Dictionary the
of AmericanLan-
guage New York: The World Publishing Company, 1978!,
originally stated, is "what can be done profiles were limited to students at- p. 1163.
with fewer assumptions is done in vain tending the FBl National Academy. Walter C. Langer, The Mind of Adolph Hitler
New York:
Basic Books, lnc., 1972!,
with more. 2 This 14th century During the past year, how- James C. Coleman, Abnormal Psychology andModern
philosophy has, in investigative circles, ever, over 100 unsolved cases have Lile Glenview, Scott, Foresman and
lll.: Company, 1980!.
Son olSam: Implications Psychiatry
for letter!,
Ameri-
generally come tomean that given a been received by the Training Division can Journal of Psychiatry,135 !: 131. Jan. 1978.
Diagnosticand StatisticalManual Mental
of Disorders,
2d
problem with several alternative solu- from law enforcement officers nation- ed., Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association,
tions, the most obvious answer is wide. Due increased
to instructional 1966!
Coleman, 3-23,
pp.
usually correct. An aid to the applica- and research commitments, it was J. V.
McConnell,Understanding Human Behavior New
tion of
ockhams razor is the intangible necessary to
implement guidelines and York: Holt,Flinehart, andWilson, lnc.,1974!, p.
25.
° Sherrill
Whiton, Elements of interior
Design andDecora-
evidence that the observer gathers control measures to manage and moni- tion New York; J.B. Lippincott Company, 1963!, p.
751.
from the crime scene to tell him such tor effectively this investigative " R.Brittain, The Sadistic Murderer,
Medical Scienceand
the Law.Vol. 10,1970, pp.198-204; Donald Lunde,
things as whether the crime appears to technique. Murder and Madness San Francisco: SanFrancisco Book
be planned or whether it is the result of ltis most important that this inves- Company, lnc., 1976!.
" TheEncyclopediaPhilosophy
of New
York: Macmillan
an irrational thought process. tigative technique be confined chiefly Company, 1967!, Vol. 8,p. 307.
crimes against the person where the
to
motive is lacking and where there is
sufficient data to recognize the pres-
ence ofpsychopathology at the crime
scene. Psychological analysis is not a
substitute for basic investigative princi-

38
 &#39;=|<*>|<>z<**>i=

SEXUAL HOMICIDE

Sexual Homicide:
A Motivational
Model
Sexual Killers
and Their
Victims:
IdentifyingThrough
Patterns
Scene
CrimeAnalysis
MurderersRape
Who and
Mutilate
AThe Men Murdered
The Split
Who
Reality Murder
of &#39; S
9
Classifying Sexual
Homicide Crime cenes:
Interrater Reliability
Crime Scene
and ProCharacteristics
le
of
Organized
Disorganized
and Murderers
Interviewing for
Techniques
Homicide
Investigations
The Lust Murderer
e-Murder: Offender
One Twelve
and Victims
RapeandRap

>!<*>i< *=!< >l< >!<

 ,» 92
Q
THE FORUM
iii.
L
6
e:
The Forum
presents major
reviewsempirical
of research,
theoretical conceptual
$2
CI formulations,manuscripts
or major
of significance
to theeld.
=22
¢921
~:?°~*:1&#39;¢X&#39;;;;
9"
zizewi?
The findings
from this
exploratory
are reported
study terms
in the
of descriptive
Zr bacItgroundcharacteristics
36 sexual
ofmurderers,behaviors
their experiences
and in
,a connection their
with developmental
stages, the
andcentral
roleAof
sadistic
h
&#39;
fantasy
and
motiva-
1? critical cognitive
structuressupport
that act
the of
sexual murder.
five-p ase
tional model
is presented:
I! ineffective
SOCltll environment,
! formative
events, !
critical personal
traits and
cognitive mapping
process,
action
! toward
others and
self, and! feedbackfilter.
Aw
Sexual Homicide
AMotivational Model
%Z~
W.
ANN BURGESS
University ofPennsylvania
R.
CAROL HARTMAN
32 Boston College
K.
ROBERT RESSLER
IOHN E. DOUGLAS
1 FBI Academy
MCCORMACK
ARLENE
University of Lowell

For many
years, motiveless
murder baffled
has enforcement
law officials
and
mental health
professionals Satten,
Menninger, Rosen,
8c Mayman,1960!.
Motiveless killings,
usually serial
in nature
carried by
out
asingleindividual
over
aperiod
of time!,
virtually no clues
leave about the
murderer s motive
or
Authors Note"
Preparation
this
ofarticle
was supported
by Department
of justice d
grants: Office
of -juvenile
justice and
Delinquency Prevention
#84-_]N-K010! an
National Institute
of justice#82-CX-0065!.
wish
Wetoacknowledge gratefully
Allen Burgess,
G. Marieanne
L. Clark,
and Mary
Francis for
]ettcontributions
to this
article.

JOURNALINTERPERSONAL
OF VIOLENCE,
Vol.No.
l September
3, 251-272
I986
6l986 Sage Publications,
lnc.

39
 JOURNAL OF
INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
/September
I986 Z :-t an

identity. Althoughkind of crimehas existed

this throughout history
Lunde,
1977!, the
number ofsuch murders
hasneverbeen
as high Ressler et al.,I985!. 6
&#39
-=-
According tothe
1984 FBI UniformCrime
Report, 22.1% of
murders com- =.r
mittedinthe reporting year
had anunknown motive as analyzedlaw
by
enforcement. Thisfigure takeson addedmeaning whenitis comparedto =2:
earlier reporting
figures. In1976, murders
with anunknown motive
repre- ii;
.¬E?
E2»
sented 8.5%of
all murders, l7.8% in 198], and 22.1%in I984 or an increase of
160%inan 8-year period.
Such seeminglymotiveless murders were firstcovered extensively
by the Z3
news mediawhen NewYork City&#39;s Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz
stalked victims,apparently chosenat
random, and killed them with a .44
caliber pistol.
Since then
there has
been considerable
to
attention these types
of murders.Peoplefear
becoming the nextrandom victimof these
violent,
often grisly crimes. %?>
Sexual homicide results from one personkilling another in the context of
1%:
power, control,
sexuality, and
aggressive brutality.
The psychiatric
diagnosis
of sexualsadism, sometimes appliedto
the victimizer, statesthe essential
that g?»
featureof this
deviant behavior i.e.,paraphilia! isthe in iction of physical %:
or psychological suffering on another personin order
to achieve sexual
excitement.
It hasbeen difficultto
gather dependable statistics
on thenumber ofsexual 2:
homicide victims
for several
reasons: the
! victim
is officially reported
asa
homicide statisticand notasarape assault Brownmiller,1975; MacDonald, §<
1971!, ! thereisafailure to recognize

! those agenciesthat
any underlyingsexual dynamics
seemingly "ordinary" murder Cormier 8: Simons,I969; Revitch,1965!,
investigate, apprehend, and the
assess
in a

murderer often
E
fail to share theirfindings, curtailingthe collective
pool of
knowledge on the
subject Ressler,
Douglas, Groth,
8: Burgess,
I980!, and! conventional
evidence of the crime s sexual nature
may be absent. ,
When law enforcement officials cannot
readily determine amotive for
murder, theyexamine its
behavioral aspects.
In developing
techniques for
profiling murderers,
FBI agents
have foundthat they
need to
understand the
thought patterns
of
murderersin orderto
make sense crime
of scene
evidence
and victim
information. Characteristics of evidence and victims can reveal
much about
the murderer&#39;s intensity
of planning,
preparation, and follow-
through. From
these observations,
the agents
begin to
uncover the
murderer s
motivation, recognizinghow dependentmotivation is to thekiller&#39;s domi-
nant thinking pattems. Inmany instances,
ahidden, sexual motive emerges,
a motive that has its origins infantasy.
The roleof fantasyin themotive andbehavior ofsuspects important
isan
factor inviolent crimes,especially sexual
murders Ressler
al., in press!.In
et
the last20 years,
the roleof
sadistic fantasyhas
been explored inseveral
studies Brittain,
I970; Reinhardt,1957; Revitch,
1965, 1980;
West, Roy,
8c

4O
 ?cl:&#39;2i?Zi
&#39;
I <a2z&#39;a:;,
li:&#39;;&#39;::,/:1"/
sf
iFZC
/"
Burgess
al.et
/SEXUAL
HOMICIDE

I5
2%: Nicholas, with
l978!,MacCulloch
and colleagues
I983! suggesting
that
sadisticand
actsfantasy
are linked
and fantasydrivessadistic
that the be-
havior. Current
realization
cognitive
of structures,
which help
maintain
45 behavior patterns
Beck, 1976!,
combineinvestigation
with sadisticof fan-
§; tasies Brittain,
MacCulloch,
l970; Snowden,8:Wood,
Mills,
1983; Ressler
aé et al.,
l985!, criminal
reasoning Yochelson
8: Saminow,
Saminow,
1977;
1984!,Uiminal
and fantasy
Schlesinger
Kutash,
8: and
l98l!,serve
as pri-
foundations
mary for our
conceptualization
amotivational
ofmodel of
I3 sexual murder.
4.
?;&#39;.&#39;
THE STUDY

z Many people
speculated
have on variousaspects
of murder:
epidemiolog-
ical studies
on demographic
report concerning
data victimsperpetrators
and
Constantino,
Perper,
Kuller,
Cypress,
8:1977!
and patterns
homicide
of
Rushforth,Hirsch,
Ford, Rushforth,
8: Adelson,
l977; Wolfgang,
1958!;
murderers
been
havecategorized
in terms
of motive
Revitch, intent
1965!,
Kahn,!,1971
number
of victims
Frazier,and
l974!
of
type
victim
Oormier 8:
Simons, Our
1969!.
of S6
studysexual
killers not
wasdesigned
to
examine
motivation, ouryet
research
yieldeddescriptive
rich what
datamoved
about
these mento
kill.
The basis for the
Patterns
Homicide
of Scene
Crime Project,
from which
this article
isderived,has been
reported elsewhere
in this
joumal Ressler,
Burgess, Douglas, Hartman,
D&#39;Agostino,
8: issue!.project
Thethisbecan
tracedthe to early
1970s, agents
whentheofFBI
Behavioral
s Unit
Science
BSU! began,
on
aninformaltobasis,
deduce
certain offender
characteristics
by examining
crime information.
scene aresult,
aAs
preliminary
framework
for crime
scene analysis
and criminal
profiling formulated.
was Concurrent
with development
the the criminal
ofprofiling project,
astudy
was proposed
analyze
to scenepatterns.case
crime Using record
review,observation,
direct
and first-hand
investigative interviews,
thewould examine convicted,
study
incarcerated offenders.
This law
enforcement
focused
studyanalyzing
on scene
crime evidence
in
orderidentify
to murderer.
the collection,
Data took
which
place
in various
U.S. prisons
between and
1979
1983,
was performed
by special
agents
theof
FBI. The
data for
seteach
murderer consisted
of the
best available
from
data
two types
of sources:
official records
Ipsychiatric
and criminal
records, pre-
trial records,
transcripts,
court and/prison
or records!
and interviews
with the
offenders.
majority
The offenders
of provided
written consent
to be
inter-
viewed. Interviews
were conducted
all prisons
in the
withcooperation
of
officials the
at various
correctional institutions.

41
 ]OURNAL OF
INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
/September
I986
II #1

Standard
collection forms were
data used. The
forms not
only provided
guidelinesinterviewing
for subjects
but also
established
of a recording
system 5%,
ii;
and coding
relevant data
to permit
computer analysis
and retrieval.
Informa-
tion was
requested about
the offenderand hisbackground, about
the offense,
about thevictim, and
about the crime scene.
Subjects were
asked questions
about childhood,adolescent, adult
and behaviors or experiences
that might
be related violence.In thisarticle, we
to present
amotivationalmodel of
sexual homicide based onI! quantitative
analysis background
of and
data,
! qualitativeanalysis interview
of data
from murderers. .
This wasan exploratory
descriptive study
ofasmalLa_vailab_le
sample of
36
sexual murderers.Becauseof
the limitations the
of study design, we
present
critical variables
notfor
generalizationpurposes, but
as hypotheses
for exam- ;2.
ination in
subsequent research
of sexual
and motivelessmurders. We
have 2".
no data
on acomparable control
group; thus
these findings
should not
be Lt:
interpretedshowing
as predictive
a role
for certain
childhood adolescent
or 31
experiences. Instead,
we use
the data
in developing
amotivational
matrix for .
sexual murder.
3;.
§¢
FINDINGS $5
5
The Murderers

The 36men inthe study

began their
lives withcertain advantages.
Most of
them grew
up inthe 1940s
and 1950s,
a period
when attitudes
in theUnited
States favored
oldest, white
male children;
all subjects
were male,
the major-
ity 3! were white,
and many were eldest
sons were only children, and4
were adopted!.
Theywere
of good intelligence,
with 29%classified the
in
average range,
36% in
the bright
normal andsuperior range,
and 15% in the
very superior
range. These
attributes fostered
in theoffenderscertain
a sense
of privilegeand entitlement.
Initially, the
majority of
the men
began life
in two-parent
homes. Half
of
the motherswere homemakers;
three-quarters ofthe fathersearned stable
salaries. Over
80% of
the offenders
described their
family socioeconomic
levels
as average
self-sufficient!better.
or Thus
mothers were
in thehome raising
the children;
fathers were
earning stable
incomes; poverty
was not
afactor in
the financial status of families.
Although thefamilies initiallyappeared
to
be functional withboth par-
ents present,
problems were
noted within
the parents
backgrounds. Families
had criminal0.0%!, psychiatric
3.3%!, alcohol abuse 9.0%!, drug abuse
3.3%!, orsexual 6.2%!
problems in their histories.
It appears
that parents
of thesemen wereoften absorbed in their own problems.Thus, while
being offered
little guidance
becausetheir
of parents
preoccupation with

2
42
 Burgess
al. /SEXUAL
et HOMICIDE

their troubles, the murderers

as youngboyswitness
were these to deviant
it .
role patterns ofcriminalbehavior, abuse,
substance
poor andinterpersonal
ln 47%ofcases,
relationships. the father thelefthome
before subject
thel2;43%
was
in of
Ia
the
reaching
cases
at least
one
l8. Thisage
loss
parent
was absent
at
some time
thefather required
of many
to
prior
the
subject&#39;s
theofoffenders
to
&#39;2 adjust a
Instabilitynew
to
male caretaker
the family
in during
residence childhood
and
also was in adolescent
noted
manyyears.
casesIn 8%!.
Z?
addition,
Locations of the
subjects
40%
foster outside
included
state lived
homes, familythe
detention
homes, before
home l8. age
andcenters,
mental
hospitals.
todevelop
historiesThe
frequent
positiverelationships
of reduced
outside
moving
boys the
mightcompensated
that
have
opportunities
for
"2
Examination
family instability. performance
of of subjects
the
behaviors that
revealed
despite
<
their
employment, intelligence
and potential
militaryin
and
often many
areas,
wasOnly performance
in
poor.one-third academics,
did average
or
better
majority school,in
not did 68% with
finish receiving
high school.a fair
to poor
Thus, although academic
these were The rating.
menintellec-
tually
There bright,
they not
did perform
confirming
was to
oftheirabilities.
evidence
abuse
in the
childhood ofhistories
the
36 murderers. Physical 3/31!,
abuse psychological
abuse and 3/51!,
sex-
ual
some abuse
l2/
of type were
28!
childhoodThis
noted.
abuse. reveals
that
isnoteworthy of
many
It thatof25 the
men
36
thehad experienced
mensome
typepsychiatric
of orassessment
confinement
as achild
or adolescent.
Behavioral Indicators
Our analysis
examined results
athe
checklist
ofof symptoms
and behav-
ioral experiences
seel!.Table
This
checklistderived
was
astandard
from
list
of self-report
indicators,
in research
used
onawidevariety
psychosocial
of
studies,also
behaviors
and
from
included
indicators
derived
FBIthe
thinkingof criminal
profilers&#39;
understanding
daydreams!
patternsof
and
behavior.
However, should
readers
in keep
mind
that many
of these
behavioral symp-
tomsno have
consistent
definitions
ways measurement.
orof example, For
there
isnomethod
measuring
of a pattern
oflying
or masturbation.
Childhood.
analysis
24
An checklist
ofitems indicates
that 50%
overtheof
murderers
masturbationthereported
following
present
isolation
82%!, childhood:
chronic in
l%!, 1%!, daydreaming
82%!,
lyingenuresis
8%!,
rebelliousness
nightmares7%!,
destruction
7%!,
property
offire-
8%!,
settingcruelty
6%!,
children
to and
4%!,
body
poor image
2%!.
Adolescence.
analysis
24Anchecklist
ofitems indicates
that 50%
over of
murderers
thereported
following
behaviors:to assaultive
adults
84%!, rebel-

43
 M
&#39;
Q 11
IOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE/September 1986

.§
liousness 84%!,
masturbation 82%!,
stealing 81%!,
daydreaming 81%!,
iso-
lation 7%!,chronic lying5%!, nightmares
8%!, poorbody image3%!,
cruelty tochildren 4%!,destroying of
property 2%!,enuresis 0%!,
and
firesetting 2%!. 2%
X141?:

Adulthood. An analysis of24

checklist items indicatesthat over50% of
murderers reported
that during adulthood, the following behaviors were
present: assaultive
to adults86%!, daydreaming
81%!, masturbation
81%!,
isolation 3%!, rebelliousness 2%!,
chronic lying 8%!, poor body image
2%!, stealing 6%!, and nightmares 2%!.
For descriptive
purposes, we
use theinternal
terms behaviors and
external
behaviors. Internalbehaviors includethinking pattems and experiences
within or unique tothe individual;external behaviors
arethose
overt actions
can
that be observedby others.The internal behaviors mostconsistently
reported over developmental periods are
thethree daydreaming, compulsive
masturbation, and isolation. The external behaviors most consistently
reported includechronic lying,rebelliousness, stealing,
cruelty tochildren,
and assault on adults. 5

OF
ROLE FANTASY
2

The central role of daydreaming and fantasy in the lives of the 36 mur-
derers is critical to what motivated them to kill. Daydreaming has been
defined asany cognitiveactivity representing
ashift of attentionaway froma
task Singer,I966!. Afantasy, aswe defineit, is an
elaborate thought with
great preoccupation,anchored withemotion and having origins in day-
dreams. Afantasy isgenerally experienced as thoughts,although the indi-
vidual maybeaware
of images, feelings,
and internaldialogue. Some people
may beconscious onlyof thoughts, whereas others are consciousonly of
feelings. Fantasyis anormal way foradults aswell aschildren toobtain and
maintain control of an
imagined situation.
However, thelevel of fantasy developmentmay differ among people and is
generally based on the individual&#39;s ability
to identify certain thoughtsas
daydreams, to articulate theircontent, andretrospectively to
recall thiscon-
tent. Singer l966! observedthat 96%of adults report that they daydream
several timesaday, and Beres961! noted that fantasymay eithersubstitute
or preparefor action.For variousgroups ofpeople, fantasies may besadistic
MacCulloch etal., 1983!.It isnot known how many peopleactivate their
sadistic fantasies and in what context this may occur, but Schlesinger 8:
Revitch 980! caution thatonce the fantasy builds to apoint where inner
stress isunbearable, the way for action is
prepared.
Whereas psychological
motives forviolent behaviorare usuallyconcep-
tualized in the literature as having roots beginning with trauma, insult,

44
 Burgess
al.et
/SEXUAL
HOMICIDE

TABLE 1
2322112: .
:;;&#39;:&#39;-/.-
- Frequency
Reported
of Behavior
Indicators
in
Childhood, Adolescence,
and Adulthood
for Sexual Murders
I Frequency
Childhood Adolescence Adulthood
Behavior n&#39;76!
n96! n%!
Daydreaming 28 82 27 81 27 81
Compulsive masturbation
28 82 28 82 27 81
Isolation 28 71 26 77 26 73
Chronic lying 28 71 28 75 28 68
Enuresis 22 68 20 60 20
15
Rebellious 27 25
57 25
84 72
24 67 22 68 21 52
Destroying property
Nightmares 26 58 26 52 23 35
Fire setting 25 55 25 52 25 28
Stealing 27 27
56 81 25 55
Cnleltychildren
to 28 54 28 64 27 44
Poor imagebody 27 52 27 63 .26
Temper tantrums27 48 26 50 25 62 44
Sleep problems 23 48 22 50 22 50
Assaultive adults
to 25 38 25 84- 28 86
Phobias 24 23
88 4-3 24 50
away
Running 36
28 26 46 26 ll
Cruelty anirnals
to 28 36 26 4-6 25 36
Accident prone 24 29 22 32 22
27
Headaches 21 29 21 33 22 45
Destroying
25
possessions 23
28 35 28 35
Eating problems26 27 25 36 26 35
Convulsions 26 19 24 21 23 13
Self-mutilation 26 19 24 21 25 32
NOTE:n= number of
subjects with
data.

and/
overstimulation
or in early
childhood,thesis
our
different.
is hypoth-
We
esizethese
that are
menmotivated
to murder
by their
waythinking.
of Over
time, their
thinking patterns
emerged orfrom
were
in uencedearly
by life
experiences.
example,
achild
For
abusedan adult
by
caretakerto begins
think
about being
hit every
timeadult
an comes
near him,
dwelling
theonhitting.
He may
imagine fantasize!
about someone
coming help
toby
himbeating
up
the adult.
This thinking
pattern bring
may relief,
because someone
has
protected
in his
fantasy.
him addition,
In being
whileabused
the child
may
psychologically
himself
remove
the
from
pain.
He may
pride himself
on his
controlpain
overthe
in face
of abuse;
for example,
while being
beatendoes
he
not inch
or blink.
This thinking
pattern the
gives
child
a sense
of control
and,aresult,
as tensionrelieved.
is child
Theincrease
can decrease
or terror

45
 JOURNAL
INTERPERSONAL
OF VIOLENCE
/September
1986

with different
levelsarousal
of through
fantasy. Development
of this
type of
thinking pattern
does not
necessarilyachild
meanwill grow
up to
bean
abuser; example
our illustrates
the role
fantasy
of and its
development.
In analyzing
thedata
we obtained through
interviewsthe
with
murderers,
we attempted
to link
our quantifiable
findings indications
with the
from
murderers themselves
long-standing,
of aggressive thoughts
and fantasies
directed toward
sexualized death.
The findings
suggest these
that thought
patternsestablished
were andearly existed
inacontext
of social
isolation.
Murderers consciously
were aware
the central role
of fantasyin their
of
lives and
their preferencefantasy
of over
for reality. Even
men unaware
those
thisreportedtheir
of that thoughts
became retaliatory
or vengeful
when they
perceived themselves
as being
slighted, rejected,
frustrated,
betrayed.
or Such
thinking becomes
an important
component
the in
maintenance
of sexually
aggressive violent
behavior.
The central
role that
fantasy plays
in the
thinking patterns
ofthese
men is
notedone
in the
of subject
statements:
s my"All
life
Iknew
Iwas
goingend
to
killing."It also
up was observed
in the
statement
a parent
ofwho, after
her
son was
convicted
fetishrobberies, feared
of the outcome
of her
son s moodi-
ness and
isolation would
be something
really terrible
and tragic."

Early FantasyDevelopment
It isimportant
keepin mind
to that not
all children
respond
their
to
environmentviolent
with fantasies
and not
all children
who fantasize
vio-
lence act
out these
fantasies. Nevertheless,
our interviews with
from the
murderers our
in study,
thehigh
degree of egocentricity
in the
murderer s
negative, aggressive,
sexualized fantasy
and play
is revealed.
As children,
the murderers
often thought
otherchildren and
of family
membersextensions
as their inner worlds.
of The revealed
intermittent
awareness
the impact
of their early childhood
of behaviorothers.
on They
were not
influenced thebyresponse
othersto their
of behavior.continued
It
and repeated
itself. They
recounted
up a smaller
tying child and
scaring him
or
destroying
another child&#39;s
A man who
toy. eventually beheaded
his victims
did not
associateaction
that with
his early
childhood activities
that involved
the systematic
decapitation
his sister&#39;s
of He saw
dolls.
his actions
as a
responsehis to
annoyance
with his
sister,to
not
his
desiredominate,
to bully,
and hurt.
Ritualistic play
of tying
and scaring
up ayounger
was not
child
associatedone
to murderer
ass a child.His playwasareenactment.
abuse
Murderers recounting
violent and
sadistic behavior
as adolescents
were more
aware ofthe intentionalityof
their acts.
The interviews
with the
offendersremarkable
are the
in absence
any
of
accounts
positive
of childhood
fantasies. However,
itis
unclear
whether such
fantasies were
actually nonexistent
or whether
early positive
fantasies were

46
 Burgess
al.et
/SEXUAL
HOMICIDE

lost later
in negative
perspectives
behaviors.
andfollowing
The example
illustratespervasive
the ofnature
the
child&#39;s daydreaming:
negative
lbuilt
felt
guilty
lots
having
for thoughts
uphostility
of
those
then
and
got
family]
[toward
it into
submerged
and
off fantasy.
. . They
and them
should have
noticed
at school,
it so excessive
wasdaydreaming
my it was
always
thatmyin
report .cards.
. was
I dreaming
about wiping
out whole
the school.
Early Sexualization
of Fantasy
The childhood
onsetsexual
of interests
fetish noted
was
thesubjects.
in
z Several described
subjectsinterest
strong
attraction
andat
approximately
the
ageoffive high
to heeled
shoes, female
underwear,
rope.
andThe
men were
aware
the
ofcarryover
of sexualized
fantasiesthese
aboutinto
items adoles-
and adulthood.
cence the
When
subjects
began
murder,
to itemstheseon
took
at. importance
ritualized
in aspects
of their
murders.
31. Evi &#39;d
e
nce childhood
of sexualized
play the
in lives
of the
murderers was
also
revealedby parents
and caretakers.
Some parents
provided information
about preschool
sexual fantasies.
In one
case,
amotherrecalled dhei
finding
3-Y ear-old
son with
..
one of
end
astring
tied
..
his
to penis
.
and other
the f
oen
the string
shut
!
a bureau drawer,
in leaning backward
exert
to apulling
tion his
on penisThe boy&#39;s
behavior suggested
he had
engaged
such in
gt.
activity
sensa
.
earlier.
It is
most likely
that behavior
this introduced
was by initially
¢
an older
person; evidence
suggests
boy&#39;s
the wasbabysitter
responsible.
¢
Aggressive Components
of Early
Fantasy
4»
Whnmurderers
e were asked
to describe
their early
favoriteactivities,
play
some revealed
a repetitive
actingof
out
acore
aggressiveThese
fantasy.
childhood fantasies
weredominant
so they
thatbecame
persistent in
themes
lay with
other children
or alone.
In some
cases,
original
an violation
or
P
assault
was expressed.
For example,
one subject
at age
l5 took
youngerboys
into the
bathroom
hisof
residential
facility forced
and andoralanal
sex on
them, reenacting
his own
victimization
agebut
at
l0 reversing
his role
from
ictim
V. victimizer
to However,
he did
not consciously
connect
behavior
this
with his
own earlier
assaults.assaultive
The rituals
were his
attempts at
mastery and
control over
people and
situations.
Another offender
as an
adolescentmasturbated
openly his home,
in espe-
cially
front
in of his
sisters,their
using
underwear
hismasturbation rituals.
in
He appeared
oblivious
thetoinappropriate
naturehisofacts,
and was
offended
his by
family&#39;s
response,that
feeling
family
members
rejecting,
were
intolerant,
unfair.
andis
speculated
It that his
behavior represented
a hyper-
arousal derived
state a from
repressed
memory childhood.
from
Aggressiveincontent
the
formdeath
of themes
was also
notedthose
for .
murderers
described
who early
theirfantasies.
Deathanisexample
of 1u
ti-

4&#39;7
 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE /September I986
x
El
mate control. When directed toward oneself in childhood, it can be a counter- :§
reaction to overwhelming fear, and its dominance in thought and play reveals 55%
the child&#39;s
troubled state of
mind.
In one case, the12-year-old subjectrepeatedly played"gas chamber" with
his sister. This game required his sister to tie him up in achair, throw an ii?
imaginary switch, and when "gas" was introduced, the subject would grasp
at his throat, drop to the floor, writhe convulsively, and "die." This game
combined a sexual theme compression of the carotid arteries for asexual
sensation! and theme
death fantasy.

31>?
Early Expressions of Sexual
and AggressiveFantasy ;=
Early fantasies often give rise to behavior tryouts that are precursors to
criminal behavior MacCulloch, 1983!. These precursor behaviors havethe
2%
capacity to move the child into pain-inflicting acts and to break through in
subtle, as well as overt, ways. They may emerge as play-engagement be- %
haviors with others i.e., bullying younger children or putting pins in the rug
for a sister to
walk on! or actions involving only themselves i.e., tying ropes
z
Ex.
around their necks or cutting parts of their bodies!. Such behavior was noted
in the reported cruelty to other children by the offendersas youthsas well as gs»
in the offender&#39;s earliestencounters with law enforcement. Although such E
encounters areoften dismissed as adolescentadjustment problems, they may
be evidenceof an escalation in aggressiveacts toward others.
Especially illustrative of such escalation of fantasy expressionis the pre-
viously cited example of the S-year-old boy who was observed byhis mother is
with his penis tied to abureau drawer. Asa young adolescent,he was found by
§§/
his parents in the bathtub practicing autoerotic asphyxia with his penis and
4
neck tied to the cross-bar of the faucets. At age 14 his parents took him to a ?;
psychiatrist after noticing rope burnson his neck. At age l7 this samesubject
abducted agirl at knife-point, took her to adeserted area wherehe kepther all
night, and released herin the morning. The adolescent wasapprehended and 4
then released;the charge on his record was "girl trouble." Of importance is e
the offender&#39;s
shift in the object of aggression from himself to awoman. Not X
until late adolescence, whenthe offender began following women, confront-
:
ing them with a knife, binding them, and fondling them was theoffender sent
to prison.After release
from prison,his crimesescalated to
the murderof three
young women
by asphyxia.
The early expressions ofaggressive fantasieswere oftenpainful memories
for the offenders to reveal and the ones, for various reasons, that were never
discussed. They may have realized that they could have controlled their
actions and that they were aware that they had crossed the line between
fantasy and reality. In cases wherethe men were not apprehended for their 2
early crimes, they learned they werenot controlled by authority and that they

48 A
 $5 Burgess al.
et /SEXUAL HOMICIDE
J
a

could act
violently and
kill with
impunity.the
Of 36,
murdered
10 as juve-
niles, thus
realizingthey had the
that life.
power
over
1
am,
MOTIVATIONAL
OF
MODEL SEXUAL HOMICIDE
§~ :~»
,

Krvl To illustrate
our hypothesis
ofthe
variousfactors that
in uenced36
the
v sexual murderers
to
kill, we present
amotivational
modelunderstanding
for
§, >1 , sexually oriented
and sadistic violence.
murder In addition
to thedata
we
collected, interviews
the with
the murderers
serve
asabasisortis
&#39;
fh&#39; model.
The murderers
early development
ofan
active,aggressive fantasy
life day-
dreams! combined
with later
sexual reinforcement
compulsive masturba-
tion! and
increasing detachment
from social
rulesconduct
of isolation!
social
provide
aframework
that reinforces
his subsequent
violent behavior.
The model
has five
interacting components
emphasizing interre
anon-
h&#39; nl! the
sips amo g
murderer&#39;ssocial
ineffective
environment,
! child
and
adolescent formative
events,patterned
! responses
to these
events,resul-
!
tant actions
toward others,
and the
! killer&#39;s
reactions,
amental
via feed-
back filter,"
to hismurderous acts
see Figure
l!.

l! IneffectiveSocial Environment
It isoften
suggested
by child
and family
theoriststhe
thatstructure
and
f fil
quality oam and social
interaction, especially
in theway the
child
perceivesymembers family their andinteraction
with himand with
each
th reapo im rtantfactorsachild
oer, in sdevelopment.children
For growing
up, the qualitytheirattachments
of parents
totoand
other
members the of
familymost
is important
in how
these children
lateradults
as relate
to and
value other
memberssociety.
of Essentially,
these early
attachments
life
sometimes"bond.ing"!
called translate
intoablueprint
of how
t ec i wi
h h&#39;ld &#39;ll
&#39; ituations
perceive s outsidethe
of family.
Thus one
of the
primary
_ functions
of family
life to
is develop
achild
who has
apositive
bondinghis
with
social
environment.
In ourpopulation murderers,
of social
this bonding
fails or becomes
narrow and
selective. Caretakers
either ignore,
rationalize,norma
or 1. ize
various behaviors
in
the developingor,boy through
their, own problems
e.g.,. .criminal
behavior
..
substance
or support
abuse!,child
theseved
oping
I.

distorti ons and

p rojections was"I framed"!.
People significant
to the
boy do
not provide nurture protection;
and rather,
they imposeadult expectations
on the boy Boysshould strongand take
be carethemselves"!.
of are Adults
nonprotective rioninten/ening
and behalf on
the
of boy.
The boy may be
punisheda for specific
antisocial
but actthe
social restriction
does regis-
not
ter in an experiential
and cognitive
way; that is, the
boy reprimanded
is or
brought court
to but
normalizes
he the behavior
as, oys get "All b into

49
 _| !URNAL OF
INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
/September
I986

at
&#39; EIVIRUIIEII
lllEFFEETlllE SUCK El&#39;
PATTERIED
1
RESPONSES
Ion-lntervenlnq
lqnore Behavior &#39; %-
CRITIEAL PERSONAL
TRAITS

Support
Distortions §0 ll| isolation
Prelerenoe lor iUt0erOt|i attrvrtles
hon rotectivr
Fetishes
__-_ l#_ . Rebellious W
<z
FOIIAIIVE EVENTS Aggressive
Child/Adolescent Lyrnq
l Entitlenent I
l 69222 l
C05hl1lVE HAPPINS
l
I PIUCESSIIE
la
Ye
1 Physical
1 5e|ua| Persistent and
repetitive if

1P£!!l9!!£!!!1-!!!l!!!
Negative sacral
emotional
Diminished
attachlent
response
itzeetuis
lgtgrgersonal failure
Daydreans ?
g
Q
y inconsistent
care and
contact
Deviant garental
lodels Fantasies 7
as
Thoughts strong
with visual 2
conoonent 5
@>
1?:
FEEDBACK FILTER lrqhtlares
lustllres acts %T
Sorts outerrors lQ!!!!!l.!t!l9l!!
Discovers increased
arousal states
Strong,
lrertrnq presuppositions Q

Discovers rncreesedareas re: cause.ellect. probability

Deals lhahsolutes
ol oonrnancerpower,
control Generalizations
Knows hon to continue
ants withoutdetection Iheess
or punishlent Dominance Poverlcontrol
Revenge Death
Violence lortore
Rape/nolestation lutilation
lnlllctinq painon others/sell §
¥
*1 .
Qbilineel
liueethetLs-ereusel_1e:e1§ 5Q2
Crueltyto
l lllli
Cruelty tochildren
Prruarrly
aroused
levels
by
hiqh ol
J0yle55| hostile, aggressive, aggressive experience 2.
ao
repetitive playpatterns
Disreqaro lor others
Firesettinq
Stealing
Destroying prooerty 5
l equireshigh
levels of stimulation

hCil0lS TOIARDS
UTHERS/SELF

tdelesseossltdult
Assaultive
behaviors
lurqllry
Arson
Abduction
Rape
Hurder lnon-seruall
Se:-oriented ourder
rape
torture/lutllatron
necrophilia
|_
Figure 1: Sexual Homicide: Motivational Model
 Burgessa1.
et /SEXUAL HOMICIDE

trouble."ineffective
The environment
social from
expands
caretakers
to
individuals
a community
in work
whose
brings
themcontact
into the with
young person
e.g.,
counselors,
teachers, ministers, police!.
! Formative Events
are three factors
There that contribute
to the
formativecomponent
events
of our
model.first
The is trauma,
ofthese theinform
of physical
sexual
or
abuse.developing
The encounters
childavariety
of life
events,
some norma-
tive
eventse.g.,
illness,
the and
death!
inmurderer
sample others
nonnormative.
direct
includetraumanonnormative
physicalorThose
sexual
and/
5
Max:211:
abuse! indirect
and witnessed
trauma violence!.
familytheWithin
context
of
the child&#39;s
ineffective environment,
social child&#39;s
thecaused the
distress
by
is neglected.
trauma child
The
neither
is protected
nor assisted
in recovery
fromabusive
the overwhelming
and the events;
external
environment does
not address
the negative
consequences
the events.
of
F?
One assumption
regarding traumatic
early isevents
that
the child&#39;s
memoriesfrightening
of and upsetting
life experiences
shapechild&#39;s
the
develop
thought
ng patterns.
typeThe
thinking
of that emerges
develops
structured,
.-ernedp behaviors
thatturn
in help
generate and
daydreams
3 /-11""
fantasies.
literature
The
children
on traumatized
sexual
by
physical
and
is abusebyand witnessing
violencethe reports
occurrence
dreams,
of night-
wen
mares, disturbing
and memories
thetrauma 8c
of Burgess
Holmstrom,
1974,
.. .1; 1979; 1984;
Conte,8: Pynoos
Eth,
1985!.studies
Otherdocumented
have these
children engaging
in painful,
repetitive acting-out
of the
traumas Axline,
1?.
1969; Gardner,
1971;1979, Terr, 1981a,
1981b,Play1983!.
emotionally
of
disturbed troubled
and children
often contains
conflicted
obsessive
and.
themes, contrasting
with creative
the flexible
and noted
themes
nondis-
in
turbed children.
We believethe traumatized
child&#39;s
remains play
onfixed
thoughts associated
with traumatic
the and
event
held
is separate
or encap-
é
sulated Hartman
8c Burgess,
inpress!
ratherintegrated
than play in activities
or in
art expression
through
press!. Successful
resolution
of drawings
Wood,
traumatic Burgess,
Sc
eventsinresults
theMcCormack,
in
child able
being
to talk
about
resolution
theevent
the theinpast
trauma tense
ofunderscores with
and equanimity.
victim&#39;s
the Unsuccessful
with
oftenhelplessness
the
a emergence
aggressive
of aimed
fantasies
achieving
at dominance
the and
¢
control from
absent reality
Burgess,McCausland,
Hartman,
8:Powers,
1984;
MacCu1loch
a1.,et1983;
PynoosEth,
8c 1985!.
A second
assumptionearly regarding
traumatic
events
thatismanifesta-
z tionsthe
of impact
of distressing
events,
assuch
direct
sexualphysical
and
abuse,influential
arethe child&#39;s
in
$042131 BUTQCSS
development
31., 1984;
Ct
Come,Pynoos
1984;Eth,Sc
1985!.
Concurrent
the with
abusive
event, the
child experience
may
this asustained
Whensustained emotional/physiological
interacts
arousal
level repetitive
with level.
theaboutarousal
thoughts

52.»
.2.

51
 _lOURNAL OF
INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
/SeptemberI986

trauma, the
child&#39;s perceptions
and patterns
of interpersonal
relationships
may be
altered. example,
For child
the may
show hyperaggressive
behavior by
striking out
at parents
or repeatedly
assaulting
afavoritepet.
The second factor contributing
to theformative events
component
of
our
model developmental
is failure.
For somereason the
child does
not readily
attachhis
to adult
caretaker.isThis
the
child who
does not
listen respond
or
to any
limit setting
and who
often described
is aloof,
as cold,
and uncaring.
As -1%,
aresult of thisnegative social
attachment bonding!,
the taretalter
has no
influence initially
over the
child and
later over
the adolescent.
In cases
where
the child
has been
psychologically deprived
or neglected,
he may
feela
diminished emotionalresponse.
Interpersonal failure,
the third
factorin
this model component,
is the
failure the
of caretaking
adult to
serveaas
role
model for
the developing We"as
child. There
are various
reasons
this
forfailure
includingcaretaker
the being -, §
absentserving
or an
asinadequate
role
model e. g.,
aparentwith problems
of ..,.
If .,
§&#39
Z92»t
substance abuse
or
an abusive parent!.
The child
may experience
a violent e. :~
home environment
where sees
he aggression
drunken fights!
associated with
sexual behavior of adults. st:

! Pattemed Responses
The patterned
responses component
of
the motivational model
includes is ..
two subcategories:
I! critical
personal traits,
and cognitive
! mapping
and
processing. These
subcategories interact
with each
other to
generate fantasies. 5&#39;
i
g;
Critical Personal Traits §.§§ 37

In the
normal growth
and development
ofachild,positive personality
uaits
of
warmth,
and security establish
trust, help child&#39;s
the relationships
with others.
These critical
traits, in
combination with
an effective
social
environment,
allow
the child
to develop competence
and autonomy.
In the
murderer group,
there was
apropensity
for themen to develop
36
negative rather
positive personal traits.
than These negative
personal traits 3
interfere the
withformation
of social
relationships
the
and
development
of an in
emotional capacity
within the
context
of
humanencounters. Increased
social W
isolation encourages
arelianceon fantasy
asasubstitute
for humanen-
counter.turn,
In individualpersonality development
becomes dependent
on
the fantasy
life and
its dominant
themes, rather
than on
social interaction.
Without
encountersand negotiations,
human therefailure
is develop
to the
correspondingvalues,
social such
as respect
for others
lives and
property.
The personal
traits critical
to thedevelopment theofmurderers
in our
study include
asense
of
socialisolation, preferences
for autoerotic
activities
and fetishes,
rebelliousness, aggression,
chronic lying,
and sense
a entitle-
of
ment.offenders chronic lying
The underscoreslacktheir
oftrust and com-
mitmentaworld
to of rules
and negotiation.
Rather, distrust
andasense
of
4..
ac
/v
3.
é.
52 36.
5:.
z
 Burgess al.
et /SEXUAL HOMICIDE

E4;
Pf; entitlement to
whatever they
can get
dominate their
perceptions. Their
social
I.;./i isolation and
aggression interact,
restricting sexual
development basedon
2
caring, pleasure,
and companionship. Because theyare so
isolated, the
men
.. have little
opportunity interpersonal
for experiences
that might
modify their
misconceptions about
themselves others.
and Their
personal affective
lives
become dependenton fantasyfor development.
ln tum,fantasy becomesthe
primary source
of emotional
arousal and that emotiona confused mixture
is
M
of sex and aggression.
/
is
£5». Cognitive Mapping
and Processing
Cognitive mapping
refers to
the structure
and development
of thinking
$2: patterns that
give both
control and
development
one&#39;s
to life
intemal
e.g.,
one&#39;sofsense
selfand beliefsabout theworld! andlink the individual to the
aw
-»1.
social environment e.g., one&#39;s
interpretation others!.
of Theprocess of
5Z~: cognitive mapping generates meaning
the events
of for
an individual
and
mediates sensory arousal pattems.
Additionally,is
itafiltering system that
>1
allovsfor interpretationnew
of informatione.g., l&#39;m
always beingsingled
Z out", It " -nylife and
l canlive itmy ownway !. Cognitive mapping and
23 processinglmed
are self-preservation
at equilibrium
and through
the reduc-
Q: tion ofthe negative
affects helplessness,
of terror,
and pervasive
anxiety.
3: In themurderers, the
mapping is
repetitive and
lacking socially
enhancing
$ cognitions, moving
the individual
toan
antisocialposition and
view of
the
world. What
emergesaisprimary
sense entitlement
of express
to oneself
sv . regardlessitsofimpact
on others.
The thought
and action
are justified
Q7. through the
cognitive mapping
of themurderer. The
individual does
not
%
2:.
experience
apositiveimpact with
the social
environment. This
occurs
3&#39; because his
fantasies and
thinking patterns
areasubstitutefor social
relation-
1; ships. They
are designed
to stimulate
andreduce
tension. A sense of self
is
/ developed bolstered
and the
by fantasies.
The self-image
is terrifying
to
ii imagined others
and contributes
to
further social isolation.
The process
7
continues and
becomesprimary
the source
of energy
for the
psychological life
of theindividual. Imagined
outcomes control
of and dominance over
others
2
becomesubstitute
a for
asenseof mastery
of internaland external
experience.
4 Parallel with
the repetition
of ideation
of cognitivemappingis
the neuro-
/ hormonal influence
on sensory
arousal levels.
The neurohorrnonal
basis of
,1
v
the pleasure
associatedaggressive
with fantasy
activityunknown.
is There
is,
however, substantial
evidence that
stressors elicit
acentral nervous system
CNS! opiod
responses both
in animals
stress-induced analgesia!
and human
,< beings vander Kolk,
Greenberg, Boyd,
8c Krystal,
1984!. Elevated
plasma
? levels of
endogenous opiates
have been
documentedmarathon
in runners
Colt, Wardlaw,
Frantz,1981!, individuals
8: who have undergone surgery
J Cohen, l982!,
and patients
who engage
in self-mutilation
Coid, l983!.
This
suggests the
that
source
of the stressor
may beexternalinternal.
or also
It has
1
a
 a2

_= ;:z
JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / September I986

been reported that removal of the stressor may be associated with opiate
withdrawal-like symptoms: anxiety and irritability Backland, 1970; vander
Kolk et
al., I984!. In arecent analysis of the psychobiology of posttraumatic
stress PTS!, van der Kolk et al. 1984! have suggestedthat the stress-approach
behavior consistently displayed by individuals who suffer from PTS disorders
may involve aconditioned CNS opiod response followed by withdrawal
hyperreactivity. By analogy, compulsive aggressive fantasyactivity may also
involve such apsychobiological mechanism. In case
this individuals re- =:=:,E :
expose themselves to traumatic situations through fantasy activity. The
internally induced stressor elicits the opiod
response, which brings relief
and/or pleasure aswell as avoidance of the noxious symptoms of opiate
withdrawal.
Structures of cognitive mapping and processing include daydreams,
nightmares, fantasies, and thoughts with strong visual components. There is
1
internal dialogue of limiting beliefs regarding cause, effect,and probability. s
The subjects deal in absolutes and generalizations. The themes of their Q
fantasies include dominance, revenge, violence, rape, molestation, power,
control, torture, mutilation, inflicting pain on self/others, and death. High zsxx
3.,W
,~W
*1 :2:
sensory arousallevels becomethe preferredstate. The preoccupation with the iii :3:
aggressive themes,the detailed cognitive activity, and elevated kinesthetic
arousal state eventually move the person into actions. >= ta4

! Actions Toward Others lg.

.w<.~
1*?
9% & i
Childhood actions are basedon the child&#39;s regard
and caring for others as .
well as on self-respect and flexibility. In other words, behavior patterns reflect :1
the private, internal world of the child.
Interviews with the murderers in our study revealed that their internal
world is often preoccupied with troublesome, joyless thoughts of dominance
over others. These thoughts are expressedthrough awide range of actions
toward others. In childhood, these
include cruelty toward animals, abuse of
other children, negative play patterns, disregard for others, firesetting, steal-
and
ing, destroying property. In adolescence and adulthood, the murderer&#39;s 9
actions become more violent: assaultive behaviors, burglary, arson, abduc-
tion, rape, nonsexual murder, and finally sexual murder involving rape, .1
Z
torture, mutilation, and necrophilia. 2
The early expression of cruelty toward both animals and humans when
not intervened and stopped, we believe, sets thestage for the future abusing &#39
behavior in two ways.
First, the early violent acts are reinforced, as the 4
murderers either
are ableto express
rage withoutexperiencing negative
con~ 2
sequences orare impassiveto any prohibitions against these actions.Second, s
impulsive and erratic behavior discourages friendships. The failure to make /
friends leads
to isolationand interferes
with theability to resolve conflicts,
to
ex.
2::
mi
4»
Q.
;.
54
ea
$2.

3%
£2,
£2
 Burgess
al /SEXUAL
et HOMICIDE

developempathy,
positive
challenge
their to towere
that control
beliefs and
impulses Furthermore,
they entitled
to act there
the they
way nois
The
do Alth h
etherchildren
as or adolescents
feel estranged
from people
oug
that not
men i
does mean
that superficially
they cannot
relate
people,
todoesit
indicate
in terms
that
of socially
effectivethey
learning,
mayor
have deficits
Theyloners,
are arethey
self-preoccupied
Eitherdaydreaming
by fan- or
tasies,become
they absorbed
in their
own thoughts.
h.r=¬t>:.::
?? .¬>¢* ! Feedback
Filter
~: .¢ <,.,,
Given detailed
therepetitive
and patternsthinking
these ofmurderers,
itis
:=:i7§i5:. not surprising
to learn
thatmurderer
the to and evaluates
reactsactions his
towa rd others
and toward
himself. reactions
These evaluations
and influence
1,..
I 11; ?
~ :Z his future We actions.
this
termreacting
the feedback
filter, because
it both
,r:?%§:::
43%... feeds intoback
killer&#39;s
the responses patterned
filters
earlier
his andactions
,. <<,.
..:~z,.,;
&#39;~¢, §4:
We/ Z.:
Through
into
errors feedback
acontinued
way of
sorted
re and the the
thinking.
out, filter,
murderer
corrections
are earlier
made
to preserve are
andactions
s protect
justified,
the
::+»g»:;::
gétaisx , &#39;
t na
Thethe
ment.
ln Cl
fai
mui
A.
yworld to and
avoid
experiences restrictions
.-rer ofFeelingsarousal the extemal
from
increasedenviron-
viastates
fantasy
varia-
tions onviolent
actions. dominance,
power,
&#39;
ceased The murderer
developsknowledge increasedhowand
control
of are
avoid
to
and detection. this All
feeds
backthe intopatterned
responses
Punishment
ll ! I .

and enhances detailsthe

theof
fantasy
life.example,
For oi murderers
the
one
reported
women he in
sat
how
prison
dismembering ruminating
and bodies. his
time
As theirfantasies
wenthe regarding
on on,muchkilling
became
more by
excited
law enforcementthoughts
his this
agents. disposing
In ofthe victims
peculiar
evolution of
bodies
events,oftricking
now and
he
experi-
enced himself
more
as involved
theinsocial
worl
d.

Model Summary
d&#39;
Wh d lescentadult
and criminalsiein&#39;
are stu d terms
the contri-
of
butionpast
of events
to their
en a0
criminality,previously
emphasis
beenhas
on
the event
itself than
rather
thesub3ect&#39;s
on and reaction
to
the
response
event.
In part,
psychological
of motivation
models ..
sexual for
ed
have
murder
focus
on models
of displacement
ofrage
andfrustration primary
fromin caretakers
the lives
of sexual
murderers.
. these
. Although
. symbolic
artifacts
. operate,
.b may
amore
direct understanding
of the
potentialviolence
forcriminal
and e-
havior in
A contextresides
the
fantasy
of justifyingand life
cognitive
basic
socially abhorrent of
operations
acts provides murderers.
support thefor
murderersviolent
aggressive,
fantasies.
This structure,
limited
its to
sensory
arousalcapacities,
and maintains
perpetuates
the destructive
acts.

55
 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE/September I986

Our motivationalmodel suggests

that traumaticand earlydamaging
experiences tothe murderersas childrenset intomotion pattemsof cogni-
tion. Although there maybe initial attempts towork through the trouble-
some effects
of theexperience, attempts
to doso become
pattems for
limiting
choices suchaggression being theonly methodfor dealingwith con ict. In
as
addition, a structure of thinking that
motivates and sustainsdeviant behavior
through developmental and interpersonalfailure andthrough theallianceof
distorted perceptions
andaffect
begins to emerge. Of particularimportanceis
the activation
of
aggression
and its
link withsexual expression.
The laclt
of
attachment to others givesarandomness to the sexual crimes;however,
scrutiny of the thinking patterns of the offenders indicates that there
is
planning ofthecrimes
whether they relyon chance
encounters with
any
victim or whether they are planned to snare
victims.

IMPLICATIONS

are
There clinical implications from this study. Understandingthe rein-
forcing quality of actions,be theyin fantasy,play, or acting outbehaviors,
may leadto different
notions regarding notonly motivationbut alsobehavior
change. Exploratory efforts
by clinicians are needed formethods to alter the
structure of these
fantasies. For example, the offender might be forced to
relate tothe victimposition in the fantasyasaway to
stimulate compassion
for rather than violence to the victim.
This study raisesconcern
about how to deal therapeuticallywith the
notion of fantasy in the criminal population. We note
that some levels of
dwelling on
fantasies has the capacity to escalate rather than diminish the
power ofthe fantasy.Unless one
alters thestructure ofthe fantasy
that moves
toward the aggressive acts,the power can be increased.
This exploratory study suggests avenues for further
research. Basic re-
searchinbiological and psychosocialfactors is necessary toexplore the
biochemical hormonal sensory levels associated with deviant fantasies of
both youth and adults.We knowthat pessimisticcognitions areassociated
with lowered epinephrine levelsin endogenousdepression; whatmight
research suggestregarding violent sexualized fantasies?
Basic researchon thesensory arousal levels ofpeople duringfantasy might s
the
answer question: Isthere abasisof
hormonal release addicting theperson 1
to violent fantasy andviolent acts?And doesthe structureof fantasydiffer
between various groups of
deviant offenders?
Research
on alongitudinal basisof
children&#39;s
response and
to recovery
from sexual and physical/psychological abuse and research on
the social
context inwhich thechild survivesand recovers
from abuse
are importantto
any understanding
of motivational
factors. Inthis context,
acontrol group

56
 Burgess
al.et
/SEXUAL
HOMICIDE

abused
of males dowhocommit
not acts
criminal
essential
istoidentify
the
factors
help
that
Our workthe victim
recover
andresearch
theof survive
others and
Prentkyabuse.
et the
typologymurderers
of
essential aal.,
investigate
to is for 1985! that
variety
of suggest
reasons.a
First,
any
at understanding
of typology
persuading
certain theto enhance
offenders
turn mayenforcement
themselves
in
and at law both efforts
more
narrowly
focusing investigative
efforts.aSecond,
sionalsto violentclassification
curtail
working forsystem
abehavior
focus givewill
interventionprofes-
efforts
that address
the to
need
characteristics. monitor,
evaluate,
of these change
characteristics
Measurements and personality
methodssalient
evalu-
of and
ating
violent positive
change essential
repeating
criminals are
prevent
to
crimes. the
their tragic
reality
of
released
aclassification
Third, system would
facilitate
and would between
dialogue
encourage various
the
intoresearch disciplines
working
profiling
ofsuspects
from offenders
with
scene
crime
evidence,
atechnique
currently
progress
inthe National
atCenter thefor
Analysis
ofViolent
esearch by Crime
efforts
enforcement
law Douglas,
preparation!.
in are Further,
important
agencies
to behavioral
develop-
their
ment
"additional
scene skillreading
in motivational
Understanding
eviuence. seemingly
thebehavioral
characteristics
the inert
crime
andof of
thematrix
offenderlaw increases
enforcement
utilization
thesconnection
of between
patternsthinking
of behavior.
and

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 .?
,7...
.5
ghcxié
/ <ii
52:1; ,.
36%
.aw.
,....

gm

z
7

»s Burgess
al./et
SEXUAL
HOMICIDE

% Samenow,
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Astudy
New York: Books.
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_]., Rosen, Time
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&#39; .S violencecrime.
B., &#39;
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]., R.
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221-250.
22,
Z.
.-3;: :
/ ixi.
der
van Kolk, Greenberg,
t..,
neurotransmitters, Boyd,
addition Krystal,
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andH.,].
Towardof p0st-trau-shock,
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1?<
D.
West,]., Roy, 8: L.20,978!.
C.,Nicholas, 314-S25.
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Wollgang,
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§¢
Yochelson,
8cS.,
Samenow, Teh&#39;minal
S. 977!. cri New Aronson.
].
 JOURNAL OF
INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
/SeptemberI936

john E.Douglas, M.S.,

isSuperuisovy Special
Federal Bureau Investigation
Agent, of
and Program
Manager, Criminal
Erofiling and
CrimeScene
Assessment Program,
Notional Center
for theAnalysis of
Violent Crime,
FBI Academy,
Quantico, VA.

Arlene McCorm¢ck
is Assistant
Professor Sociology,
0/ University
of Lowell,
Lowell, MA.

60
 mampatterns
ofsexual
The
study scene
ofcrimeprofiling
&#39;e&#39;l&#39;h..
orts
elicits
&#39;two
elaw impi
enlorz
t&#39;1!|C7ll
tritegories
havebeen
il 5 organiud
and
dimrganizeil. rt I iteii]texual
murders.
The
study
rlerwrrl
from
mur er .
eviilrnrr
and
r. ml fiattrrm
IIIruiilrritr
ll.92atttr.stothr
relatmmhifr two
tategories.
&#39;
Inpartic-
d tiue
then
explores
inttiminformattmi
a nder
I terms
olnoresistance
an ac
resistance
to
the
ular,
weassault.
We
found
that
exploredregardless
victim oftype
of
response
d.
When
we resistance,
tnthe
n e
examined
nine active
or
victims
whopassive,
survived. - .. d
and
category der
wasnot
ofo ender,
thecategory
death
ofo en
the
predictor,
ensue rather,
"chance
happenings
preserve
life.

Sexual Killers
and Their Victims
Identifying
Patterns
Through
CrimeScene
Analysis
ROBERT
K.RESSLER
FBI Academy
»: EZ¢¥e
-1
&#39;
ANNW.BURGEQS
University
ofPennsylvania
&#39;1
1t$ JOHN
E.DOUGLAS
FBI Academy
5121213113,
5 7;?
1l:¢;&#39;.=<=;%i<2.
=v
2£3 zz :/=,;:
4.iii? CAROL
R.HARTMAN
eé.>£?*>=:22;§
BostonCollege
Aiéia
>¢:2<¢1~ RALPH
B.D AGOSTlNO
BostonUniversity
rants" &#39;de
range
ofhuman
behaviors
of
i+>4
III 4
iii!
#i ¢:;,:a~ Interpersonal
&#39;violencespans
a eofthe
witerminal
disruptions
inthe
equi-
ta»
=1 whichmurder&#39;on d
represents r anditsirrevocable
effect
2?
-t2§z
4? libriuma society.
of The tragedy
&#39; ofmure
&#39; e lected
&#39; in thefocusonthemur-
onvictims
andfamilies
isoften
ng
6Z1
92? Authors
Note:
Preparation
grants:
Office this
of
juvenile
of article
justice
and was
supported
by
Department
Delinquency
______&#39;__,- Justice
of
Prevention
#84-]N-AX-K0l0!
and
er
3,.
3;,
]OURNAL
INTERPERSONAL
OF
VIOLENCE,
Vol.
lN0.
3,September
I985
288-$03
Ol98553g?
Publications,
lnc.

61
$1,
 ;.

Resslei et ;|l. / IRIMI2 S jl&#39;.Nl-. AN/92|.YSlS

tlerers. This
interactional component
between victim
and murderer
and itssocial impact
needs to
be addressed
constantly there
if is
to bea
balance inthe understandingsuch violence.
of
The voluminous
scholarly and
professional literature
on murder
traditionally focused
has the
on murderer
and has
presented
avariety
of ways
to classify
murderers Lester,
1973; Wolfgang,
I958!. Simon
I977! emphasizes
that identifying
personality profile
types crucial
is
to thetask of
offender treatment
and prediction
of dangerousnessfor 3.2.
the prevention
of murder.
Wolfgang andFerracuti I967!
identify two /0%
.
basic behaviors
murderers:I! premeditated,
of intentional, felonious,
t -. >~: ii
planned, and
rational murder;
and !killing inthe heat
of passion
or
slayingasaresultofintent to
do harm,
but without
aspecificintent to V/9292
w,
kill. Theyobserve, Many authors fail
to
distinguish between two
basic types
murderers and clarifythat theirconcentration
of on the
is
. ,.:
second type,
the "passionate"
killer. In contrast, theof
type killer
frequently profiled
by agents
at thel"lll&#39;s Behavioral
Science Unit,
who investigateunsolved urdeisat
in the
requestof local
law enforce
merit officials,
are those
who notonly plantheir murdersbut who é
repeat their crimes.
*
The professional literature regarding
murder victimshas been
relatively silent.
When the interpersonal aspects
of murderhave been i 123
considered, victims
are conceptualized
in limited
ways. One ofthe 2
most pervasive
waysof
analyzing victims has been throughthe
concept of
victim
precipitation and victim participation,
aconcept §b§§i%
3..122137
explored by
sociologists and
criminologists such
as
von I-Ientig
I940!, Mendelsohn I963!, Wolfgang
I958!, andSchafer 968!. ~§~
The victimis oneof thecauses of
a crime,suggests Hans
von
I-Ientig. In
I948 he
stated, In
asense
the victim shapes
and molds
the 11?.
criminal.. .To
know one we
mustbe
acquainted
with the
comple- .,.
mentary partner."
Mendelsohn I963,pp. 239-24]!,
in writingof the 7 ,
biopsychosocial personality
of theaccused and
of thevictim, elabo- s~
rated on
the doctrine
victimologywhile preparing
of for the
trial of
a
man who,had itnot been
for "theperversityhis
of formerwife,"
would never
have been
found guilty
of murdering
her and
her lover.
Wolfgang 958!has utilized
the concept
of victim
precipitation in
his well-known
studies
criminal homicide, applying
of it to those
caseswhich
the
in role of
the victim
is characterized
by his
having 2?;
ii.
National Institute
0f]ustice #82-CX-0065!.
We wish
acknowledge
to gratefully Pierce sé
Brooks and
Marieanne
Clark for contributions
L. to earlier
drafts of
this article.
{$7
:3"
it.
62

<33.
i
2?
g.
 _| !llRN/92l
lN&#39;l&#39;l".RPF.RS
. !l~&#39; Vl !l .l".N !N/92l.
/ll~I
St-ptt&#39;|ii|!ri
VIN:

been the
first inthe homicide
drama to
use physical
force directe
d

againstsubsequent
his slayer"
p. 252!.
An example
is the
husband
who attackedhis wifewith amilk bottle,
abrick, andapieceof
concrete block
while she
was making breakfast. Having
abutcher
knife inher hand,
she stabbed
him. Wolfgang958! found victim-
preciptated homicides
represented
of a26%
total 588
of homicides
.h.
studied through.
police .
reports
in . .
Philadelphia.
Adding totis con_
cept, Schafer
968, p.
152! concluded
it is far
that from true
that
all crimes
happen
to
be committed; often
the victim&#39;s
negligence,
precipitative action,
provocation
or contributes
to
the genesis or
performance
of acrime."
In contrast
to thisview, FBI
profilers, their
in work analyzing
of
crime scenesfor cluesleading
toasuspect in anunsolved homicide,
too kadifferent
approach . They
did notfind ithelpful to
perceive the
victim as
provoking murder.
the Rather,
the agents
tried to
be aware
of howthe offender
thought and,
subsequently, how
he would
respond
key characteristics
to avictim.
of For example,
avictim
wearing
areddress
and shoes perceived
was thebyoffender
as asking
for it. Such
a victim can
not communicate
because offender
the
selects and
interprets communication
cues of
which the
victim is
totally unaware.
The agents
understoodoffender
the s habitual
rea-
soning pattern
that selects
out characteristics
of the
victim, building
a
strong justification
for violating
her. The
offender may
retrospec-
tively think
he went
"a bit
too far,"
but will
hold to
his justifications.
If avictimis passive,
this is
reasonattack;
for theif victim
struggles,
this is
reason for the attack, and so
it goes.
Thus the
agents regarded
all victim
and crime
scene information
as
critical data
in theirinvestigations.
aresult
As of their
insights into
understanding
motivation
the ofthe offender, agents
at the
Behavioral
Sciences Unit
the FBI Academy
of initiated
astudyof sexual
homicide
lK ==@&#39;¢>.@=&#39; crime scenes
and patterns
of criminal
behavior. Data
obtainedthe
in
study were
examined from
the perspectives
crimescene analysis
of
and of
victim-murderer interaction.
3;.
P
$2"
Q
ti STUDY

Z For several
years, FBI
agents, profiling
in sexual
murderers by
ii analyzing crime
scenes, have
typed sexual
murderersthe
andcrime
, scene terms
in of
an organized/
disorganized dichotomy.
The premise
%
e

63
 ll:-sslrrct ;tl. / JRIMF. S Zl&#39;INF.
/92Nl92l.YSl. i

for this ditltotomyis that facetsof the t;riminal&#39;s

personalityare
l.ilu~
evident in his offense. crime
a lingerprint, the used
scenecan be
to aid in identifyingthe murderer.An organizedmurdererisone who
appearsto plan his murdersand who displayscontrol e.g., absenceof
clues! at the
crime is
scene.The disorganized
murderer lessapt to
plan, and hiscrimesceneshaphazard
display e.g., presenceofcluesat
crime scene! behavior.
one.
Our study was an exploratory major
lts were
objectives as
follows: ! to test,
using statisticalinferential procedures,if there are
crime
significant behavioral differencesat the scenesbetween the
by
crimescommitted and thosecommittedby
organizedoffenders
disorganized murderers,and ! to identifyvariablesthat may be
useful in profilingmurderers which theorganizedand dis-
andon
organizedmurderersdiffer.
For the study to achieve its objectives,the agents first had to
36
classifythe participatingmurderers
into theorganized/disorgzr
nizctl dichotomy.The dichotomywasas follows: 24 organized with
with
97 victims!;l2disorganizetl 2] victims!.The methodfor classifi-
cation is publishedelsewhereRessleret al., I985!.

Data Set

study comprised
The datasetfor the 36 convictedsexualmurderers.
Data werecollectedon lI8 victimsof thesemurderers.Of the victims,
9 survived the assaults; thus those
9 assaults were classified as at-
temptedmurders.
Eachmurderer whoprovidedconsent wasinterviewed extensively
by FBI agents.
The offenderwasaskedquestionsregardinghisback-
ground,hisbehaviorat thecrimescene,
andhispostoffense behavior.
In addition,FBIagentsreviewed
criminalrecords
of all participating
offenders. The data set for each murderer consisted of the best avail-
able data compiledfrom thesetwo sources.
Due to the complexitiesof obtaining thesedata and the confiden-
tiality issuesinvolved,therewere"no response" answers to certain
questionsby someoffenders. Althoughthe missingdataappearto
havelittle effecton theunivariateanalysis,
anyinterpretationof the
results should consider this situation.
Thedataforthisarticlewerecomputerized
andstored
in separate
files, which are described below.

! Background
Informationon offender!.This file contains134
variablespertaining to the murderer. Variables within this file are

64
 ] !URNAl.
INTERPERSONAI.
OF /September
VlOl.F.NCf&#39;I
1986

tlassified eight
into categories:
demographics, appearance,
physical
lift-style, structure,
family ssubject
earlybackgroundfamily history
prnblelns,ssubjvit
llS &#39;l]!llllf
and subject
/2ll!ll5
ssexualhistory.
&#39;
! !f]en.v-
I ono]]c1i.w-!.
lilr &#39;l&#39;liis
tnntaiiis
variables ubtaini-ll
front the
offt-risesthe
i-.g.,
crime
snriit-s!. are
&#39;l&#39;ht-re
I19
variables in
this file,
which umtains
information each
for separate
crime. Vari-
ables
in this fileare classified
into four
categories:to leading
the
&#39; 7 offense as such
frame
of mind,
premeditation
crime,ofprecipi-
and
2 Mg: tating events!;
offenderand
dress
residence
variables to
relating
the
offender
theattime
of offense;
action during
offense variables
such
as
8% 1»; conversationbehavior
and toward
victim, weapons,
and substance
.;¢%.».. abuse!; postoffense
variablesas
keeping
suchnews clippings
and
%. visiting crime
scene and
site victim
grave!.
s
W...
2/gziggi.
! Victim 2onoffense!.file
This
contains
57 variables
and is
divided two
into
§%%:92.sex, height, subsets:
!
l victim
characteristics
as victim
such
age,
¢ weight, physique,
race, complexion,
attractiveness, mari-
5
9 r=s>~&#39;>&#39;
tal status,
residence, socioeconomic
and offender&#39;s
!
status,actions
and behavior
and during
actions
offense!;
duringoffense
the assuch
victim mode
of death,
body position,
sexual
.. before
acts
.. . after
andf
death, postmortem
acts,
postmortem
mutilation,disposition
and o
the body!.
?
2 ! Crime
Scene on offense!.
This contains
file 47
variables
and is
I¬.. dividedfour
intocategories:
! vehicle
variables relating
to the
mode
of transportation
of the
offender
the
anddescription
of his
vehicle;
! use
of vehicle
variable describing
how
avehicle
was used
in the
5 crime;variables
! concerning
physical evidence
weapon, finger-
prints,so
and
on,
left the
at crime
scene!;! distance
and variables
»<
7
measuring
distance
the the
from
crime
scene
the
tovictim
home,
s to
the offender home,
s andso on.
&#39;6
Data Analysis
3? Basically,
analysis
the directed
wastesting
at statistically
for signif-
t$v icant differences
betweenorganized
the disorganized
and murderers.
For variables
in the
Background Information
data file,
the unit
of
analysis
thewas
murderer.
The maximum
samplewere
sizes
for24the
9 organized
of offenders
group 12and
for
the disorganized
group. For
4
2* variables
theinother
data files,
the maximum sample were
sizes 97
y victims the
for organized
and 21
&#39;
&#39;
victims the
for disorganized
&#39; &#39;
o ene
&#39; ffd rs.
 Z
;

9. .,
__.. ¬

é
.5
="=&#

=; .1:

Rl 92.92lf l1&#39;lJll
/ IRlMi&#39;.
.&#39;*i I|&#39;.Nl . /92N/92l.Y.&#39;~ilS
333
The major statistical anzilysisprocedure einployedlot" thevariables
>i>
was thetwo lIl l |!l Il lt&#39;lIl
sainple ttest l!&#39;/&#39;92gostino,
I97], I972;l.un~ a
ney, I970!.For these
variables, the
F testfor equalityof variancewas
employedtoaid in selectingthe appropriate standard error for the
denominator of the ttest and the appropriate degrees of freedom.
Variables significantat the.05 levelof significanceby thettest were
identified. The full description of statistical tests employedis
reported elsewhere
D&#39;Agostino,The
1985!.
majorfindingsof
differ-
ences betweencrime scenevariables andprofile variables for organized &#3
and disorganized
offenders are
reported as
follows. See
Table I.! @;a

Crime Scene Differences Between

Organized andDisorganized Murderers
We first established that basedon
data available at the crime scene, -= :*&
there aresignificant differences
between the
organized and
disorga- 1
nized offender. However, there are no situations where the organized
and tlisorgaiiizetl
offemletsaie mutually
exclusive. That
is, holhtypes
of rnurderels are iapahleof all types ol behavior. Forexarnple, an
organized murderer
might notuseavehit le oradisorganizedmur- 4
derer mightuse restraints.
Summary resultsare listedbelow. See 2i
Table 2.!
Organized offenders are more apt to
0 plan, .
Iuse restraints, .
0 commit sexual acts with live victims, s
O showor displaycontrol of
victim i.e., manipulative,threatening, want
victim to
show fear!, and If
O use avehicle. .ii
5
Disorganized offenders are more apt to
:35.
Ileave weapon at the scene, is
,.
O position dead body, t
I perform sexual actson dead body,
0 keep dead body,
O try to depersonalize
the body,and 151
*2»
0 not use avehicle.

In meeting the study sfirst objective,we demonstratedthat there

are in fact consistencies
and patternsin crime scenes that
are objec-
tively quantifiableand thatdistinguish organizedfrom disorganized ée
gt

66

gr:

&#3
=2
 ii

|ll l1l|&#39;
N/921 IN/92l .VI .l".N
lN&#39;l&#39;l&#39;
Rl&#39;l".R. 1.S4&#39;plr||||n&#39;|
llwl HIHII
2,

pVnlucsun Jriinc
lurL-Tcs! Sccnc
and
Profile
Variables:
1; Orgunizw.mdDisurganizcd
Dichotomy
0&#39; M
"#1 01&#39;
M12 A ProfileVariable 1
Q,;z¢&#39; . rim¢&#39;
Variable
Scum: I-T st

"3
?
s
-4,,....¢..
strategy
l
achvscx
restrain
e
1

wcapnlft

¢
scxoff
.1
;§
.5
sadism .003
002
masochism 0001
unusual&#39;Z 0001
?;

ei
umwl
muv2
034
2
¬
umv 5 34
.0001
1ullVlI
5 1nnv .002
001
:2 mnvfl .0 IU
53 react ! .0001
>2; iucraggr .03 !
Q, .04. :
alcohol .0001
$1 .005

fl; position
sb4death .014
safdcath
if pmact
.002
Z pmact7
Z pmact8
Z torture
 R1-ssler ¢-t
al. /CRIME SCI-INF. ANALYSIS

&#39;1&#39;/92Bl.E 2
Irime Scrn:- V;ll&#39;l;lIll fr1 l!il&#39;l&#39;¢-r.-iitiutirlg
&#39;g;.1ni&#39;/.rt
l!isurg;1niv.1:1l
l ziml M11r1l<:1cr.s
S1-x11;1l

I I&#39;rr en mgr:
ACTIONS l!URlN ; Ol- HELNSI-L Urganizml I!i_mrganizer1
Offense I Data
Set
Strategy] versus
Planned Sudden;
Organized more likely to have planned
Achvsex/ Violent act done to achieve sexual as

Restrain/
relations; Organized less likely
Restraints used;
81!
Organized more likely 2s
Weapo nlft/ Weapon left at scene of crime;
Organized lesslikely 8! x
Sexoff/ Sexual acts committed;
Organized more likely to commit 49 1 I
sexual acts 97!
Sadism/ Surlistir Committed;
acts Z7
19 "62.
!r1.1;||1iz¢~1llrss likely
M;|s<>1l1s1n/ Mnsm liislir; .14ts 1urnmillrcl; 7!
Swnllnw l~11|1¢-1lv|1l||1|lnrluxu;
Illll
lllll
76
Uligairiivvll may,lll.92&#39;ll|&#39;KiIlllI.I&#39;II

~.¢-|111-|1/ !|y,.n1i/.I&#39;¢l
may,¢l|sn|p4!||1iu&#39;1lrlnl nnl 85!
Urgzrni/.1-clshowsrnu1v 1u11lm| n1.1y In
usrliil lur casesin
which v . §,;:c,.
32 :1 1&
Conversation with victim aspects shown!
Manipulative 97! 44 4
Threatening I5 8! ;;:f%"i

Inquisitive 11! as E!
Polite
ll! !
Threatens family
Obtains name 10
7!
1! -&#39
&#3
Reactions desired by offender
Fcar/ Wants victim to show fear; 51
as
Organized more likely 6!
Lie still} Wants victim to lie still; 54 46
Organized more likely
lncraggrl Things done toincrease aggression;
45 3! i
Organized more likely 43
Alcohol] Alcohol use associated
with offense; 43 1!
Organized havegreater use 4 U r
Z |!
Victim 2Data Set 41
U
Position] Victim&#39;sbody positioned; 97! Z1!
Organized lessapt to position body
ictim lives!
39
9! 14
2
29 25 é,

5! 1o 1?;
62 19 ii .
I_

5! 0 ?

56 0 y.
 CE /Se tember I986
JOURNAL
INTERPERSONAL
OF pVIOLEN
&#39;IABLh
2Luntinued
Pr rcentage
Organi Duurgam ed
!~ii&#39;xuaI
dearth
.u.tslutI&#39;ur1-
I&#39;vi1Ii&#39;iii&#39;i:
l
~
87!
Sliiilralli] at scene!;
! rga
iiized mnre &#39;
IIRUIY
H
54
Si-xual ans
after death
-viili:ni~r at 3! 9!
Safdeatlil scene!; Organized
less like-ly

Pmactl
Pustmonen ae.23
Victim 2Data Se! cuiilinued!
tivity with budy&#39; 88! 52
I!
Irganin-d less
liltely &#39; 029
IIIsertsfureign objectsintn _virtim
_anus
. ,s 58
I&#39;mact8I
Pmact7/
foreign
Inserts
iiiln
objects
VICIIITI
svagina
IO .

VI".lII ZI.IQ IN
CRIME
.YfIIIl&#39; Simruf
Data Si ! &#39;
&#39; " &#39; &#39; with
or actiun avehicle
is It
Ilisorganizcd less lieyIin anythingindicating planning
do 62
Vehicle]
involved in crime;
Vehicle B5
93! I!
"
Organized&#39;
ismorelikely to use aear
d isu
&#39;
Disurganize
iilikely todothe following:
. .. . . _.dc
Offer victim
ande give victim
or 4rt
victim
Force into car
Disable victim&#39;s
ear
victim :
Bump car
Run victim ear
; offruad
Pretendtohave an accident
Expose himselffromcar
Assault victim in car
Park ca!
and follow
victimonfoot
Transport victim
from encounter
site scene
tocrime
site or
disposal lite
Tort] mst ortem
Po _ mutilation
27 76
&#39;
&#39; mutt &#39;l
a deadte 88!
Organized less
likelyto 2l!
victim

45
6
Tortll Facialmutiliation disfigurement!
I5
Tort2I Genital mutilation
Tort$/ Breast
mutilation
&#39;I&#39;ort4I I2
Disembowelment
2
&#39;I&#39;ort5I AmputationI7
Tort9I Vampirism
drink blood! 0
Keepbody/&#39;
keeps Offender
corpse; I4

as
Organizedlikelyless88!
Depersonl Offender
tries
depersonalize
to victim 8
blindfoldirig. eradication
features!:
of 88!
Organizedless
is likely
VICTIM CHARACTERISTICS

29
Victim 2Data Set _ X= 23
Agevicl" Age of
the victim;
Organized
younger
has victims 93!

43
 4.
<
5
1

l&#39;l nl.
Rcsslcr / CRIME S Il&#39;lNli
ANALYSIS

s
TABLE 2 Continued
_ Percentage
Organized Disorganized a
Ki
Attract] Physical ofthevictim; = l.6
attractiveness 2.0 3
Organized
hasmore
attractive 84! 0!
victims to 4 scale!
§
AT
EVIDENCE SCENE
Crime SceneData Set
Footpsl Evidence
of footprints; 5 29
Organized
less
likelytoleavefootprints 97! 1!
Weapon] Weapon
left canbeusedasevidence
!; 18 51
Organized
less
likelyto leave
weapon 97! 1!
for evidence
NOTE: n = numbers
in parentheses.
isp= 0.09;notp= 0.05.
Levelofsigni cance
isp =0.06; notp= 0.05.
"Levelofsignificance

sexual
murderers.
&#39;l&#39;hc
labelsorganizt~tl"
and lisurgar|izt&#39;d"
arenot
onlyconvenient
l! ? &#39;2lUI$
of theirvisual
? connotations
to thecrime
scene
butalsohaveanobjectivity
to them.

ProfileCharacteristic
Differences
Between
OrganizedandDisorganized Murderers E
Afterestablishing
crime
scene
differences
weidentified
those <
be used
characteristics
thatcould By
ina criminal
profile. profile
characteristics,
wemeanthose
characteristics
that
identify
the
subject
asanindividual.
Thiscontrasts
withcrime
scene
characteristics,
the 3*
tangible
clues
leftormissing!
atthecrime
scene
wherebody is
the ll s
found.
Profile
variables
canbegrouped
into
four
areas:
background
variables;
variables
describing
thesituation
ofthecriminal
before
the IééJ
~
crime
precrime
state!;
variables
relating
toresidence,
vehicle
use,
and lg 1
...
distance
tocrime
scene;
andpostoffense
behavior
variables. °
Based
onouranalysis,
there
aredifferent
characteristics
forthe .2§ 3
organized
anddisorganized
murderers prove useful
thatmay in
developing
criminal
profiles.
Thestatistically
significant
variables 2%l
aresummarized
below.SeeTable3.! .
Organizedoffendersare more . 2
.
O intelligent,
1
0 skilledin occupation,
1??C
5
é
is
70 é
><
1
l
s
n
as
lr.
 - l ldri nm l _

| !lIRN/92l.
l&#39;IRi&#39;|".RS
!l- lN&#39;l Srpu-lnln-I
!N/92l.Vl
lllllli !I.I".N Zl*&#39;. /
Ag? &#39;2
:;,;&#39;*§&#39;:/. &#39;l&#39;l92Bl.l". 3
vi
4 Profile Chui
92Ci.CflSllCS Differentiating
Organizediisorganized
ant Murderers
Sexual
Percentage
Organized Disorganized
%¢ : ,
BACKGROUND
Background Data
Set
Demographic ___ X= 5.0 4.2
lntellige
lntelll Organized
ec; intelligent
more 2!
l2!
Oeeupation;
Occup]
Lifestyle
Organized
skilled
more4! 50 l0l!
l rsf0u;/ Preferred
occupation
skillediswork;
74 38
Organi/.ed
more
is likelywant
lo to 9! 8!
skilled
do work

lhrllumll lli
llunnlri;
l ;|mily $l|un Inn-
X2. ! L3
is:;;:4~,;/XV. !||.;.||ii/ml
.| liiiglin
h.|vr
lmlh null ! Ill! I2!
» §?§?c1::, l&#39;.92lhs|.|/
wmk iuimlaihlr;
was I-.|lhr|&#39;~i
!rg.ini"/.r¢lxlnlvlr
mun:
&#39;7. I2
4.nnslzihlr
IIi!
: U |!
&#39;z:¢:"-
l!is|i|1linc[/92buxr llislory
31
v lluslilel 592llJ_!li92Ll
received hostile
disciplim: as
§, &Mw
a child;
Disorganized treated
with more
hostility
l >< Sexpref] Sexual
preference
Sex Acts/Preferenceheterosexual
% 74 100=
35.* » heterosexual versus
All other!;
disorganized
were heterosexual
3! 1!
l Disorganized
more inhibited
and
is likely
morebeato
compulsive
masturbator.
go
1?<
l Disorganized
more ignorant
is
of sex
Sexual Concerns
andmore
has sexual
aversions.
Scxprob2/ problems;
Sexual
Disorganized
more to
likely
ishave
12
had 7! 62
8!
2:
sexual problems
:5 PRECRIMF. STATE
leadingoffense!
to
Framelf Angry
frame
mind;
of X
OffenseJData Set
= 2.0 3.3
Organized
angry
more7! 0!
4
l to 5 scale:
1= predominant;
5 Frame4/ 5Nervous;
=not at all!
=3,5
__
2,6
Organized
nervous
less = 3! 20!
<s Frame6/ Organized
less frightened
i&#39;
=
= 4.14.4 5.0
3.0
Frame7/ Organizedless confused
 ts

9H-. =_==-

R1-.~.92I<~r
.|l. <-|
/ IRIMF. . ~5 ll-".NE ANALYSIS
tr;
61
92/
@5
&#39;l&#39;Alll.1:l
tjontinucd3
Percentage
Organized Disorganized
l* ram<:l&#39;l/ Organized
more depressed = 3.4 4.3
1"ramc !/ Organized calmer. murcrelaxed if = 3.1 4.3
Prccipilating Events/Precipitating Stress
Organized more likely to have events/stresses
due to financial, marital, females, _¢.»
employment before the murder.
.:. >/;;:
&#3
RESIDENCE/VEHICLE DISTANCE ;,>5?%
Offense IData Set
Relat/ Offender who
knows victim is; % know 47
14
Organized is less likely
to know 93! 7!
who victim is
Livewithl Offender lives alone; 33 62
5
Organized is less likely to live alone 97! 1! x.
Crime SceneData Set e
[!istvres/ Distance crime sceneto victim&#39;shouse; 5
Z
.2
Organized more apt to have scenefarther
away from victim&#39;s home than 5.
disorganized 2
llisturesl Distance crime sceneto offender&#39;s home; 2
1!isorgani&#39;/.1-d
nearer
lives to crime scene i
=§1
than dues 0rg:|ni7.l-H]
l!istowrk/ Distance crime scene to offender&#39;swork;
Disorganized works nearer to crime scene
than dues organized
Trans] Usual transportation isby
driving; 70 45
Organized more apt to drive 97! 1! 2
Vecond/ Condition of the vehicle;
Organized more apt to have better 2! 1!
conditioned vehicle

POSTOFFENSE BEHAVIOR
Offense IData Set g:
Behav3/ Follows in media; 51 24
Organized more
in media
to
likely follow 97! 1! is
r
Behav1l/ Change jobs; 80 1%
Organized may
change jobs, 97! 1!
disorganized did
not
Behavl 2/ Leave town; ll0
Organized may
leave town, 97! 1!
disorganized did not §
NOTE: n =numbers in parentheses.

72
§é

1
2
= 2-,:§ =

.oz 1:
.. _!OURNAI.
INTERPERSONAI.
ll-&#39; VIOLENCE
/September
I985
&#39;
&#39;
3.3:?!2&#39;
. ,.,,,,
I likely to thinkout andplan
the crime,
i 0 likely
to be
angry and
depressed
theattime
of the
murder,
4I wt
1-v I/4 0 likely
haveaprecipitating
to stress financial,
marital, female,
job!
O likelyto havea carin decent
condition,
0 likelytn followcrime events
in media,
and
a. ::<.,= 0 likely to changejobs
or leave town.
_,-32. .
2
-vgg iz Disorganized offenders
are more
likely to
i>Z>?%Zn&#39;2:; 0 be low birth order children,
O comefromahomewith unstable work forthe father,
i2:;:$z&#39;"
0 havebeen treated
with hostility
asachild,
Ibesexually inhibited
and sexually
ignorant,to
and
havesexual aversions,
0 have
parents with
histories
sexualproblems,
of
0 have
been frightened
and confused
at the
time of
the crime,
Iknow who the victim is,
O live alone, and
Ihave committed the
crime closer
to home/work.
analysisestablished
The existence
the variables
of that
may be
useful ain
criminal
profile and
for whichthe organized
and disorga-
nized sexual
murderers and
differthus
met the
study&#39;s
objective.
second

VICTIMS OF ORGANIZED AND

DISORGANIZED SEXUAL
MURDER-HRS
§
The organized/
disorganized dichotomy
provided
anew context
i
l
for analyzing
the victim-murderer
interaction. Rather
than using
the
traditional view
victimfocused
of the conceptprecipitation
on of and
it provocation
interpreted
as criminologists
by police
fromreports
ofa
murder, we
examined data
ourof
murdered
victimsthe percep-
from
E tions the
of offenders
who had
killed them.
Thus our
view on
is victim
responsetype
byoffender
of analyzed
throughscene evidence.
crime
Data were
obtained for
l 18victims,of
whom
9 survived murder
attempts.
majority of
The victimsin the sample were
white 93%!,
.,. female 82%!,
and not
married 80%!.
Ages lfor
13
victims ranged
from
Z? 6to73 ages
were unavailable
for5victims!.
Of the
victims,or
12%,
I4,
H wereyears
old
I4 or younger;83, 73%,
or were
between and
l5 years
28
e: old; and
16,or
14%,were years
30 older.
or Thus
the majority
of
E
victims 3%!
were between
ages
15 and 28,
which
matches theage
range forrape victims
in general.
é
r

< 73
1 t

Re.~.:,it~| J1.
rt /CRIME *. Ll".N1&#39; /92N/921.Y. $|-S

The majorityof victims81% or 89! were strangers the

to offender;
19%, or21, wereknown tothe murderer. Nearlyhall
7%! of the
victims were
closely related
in ageto theoffender. Overone-third ol
the cases7%! involvedayoun_t;er
Vl limthan offender,and in15% of
the cases,
the victimwas olderthan theoffender. More
thanhalf
of the
victims came
from average or advantaged socioeconomic levels
2%!,
30% had marginal incomes,and 9% had less than marginal
incomes
In overone-thirdof
the cases, the
victim hadacompanion i.e., was
not alone!
at thetime ofthe assault;
63% were
alone at
the time
the
of
murder.

Victim Responseto Assailant

Any cause-effect
determination in
victim resistance
reports needs
to
include thetotal series
of interactionsbetweenavictim and assailant,
including the
dynamic sequencing
of victimresistance and
offender
attack. Offenders
were asked
to reporton
their victims resistance
in
terms ofwhether they
tried tonegotiate verbally,
verbally refuse,
scream, flee,
fight. The offender
or was then
asked to
report hisown
responsethe
to victimbehavior.
s islt important
to keep
in mind
that thedata represent
only theoffender&#39;s perceptions
of theviettm~
offender interttrtioni
ln the 83 cases
with victim response data,
23 victims 8%! a<:qui
escedoroffered no
resistant e as perceived bythe offender.As one
organized murderer
said, She
was compliant.
I showed
her the
gun
She droppedher purseand kindof wobbledasecondand gother
balance and
said, A11
right; I mnot goingto say
anything. justdon&#39;t
hurt me. " A total of 26 1%! victims triedverbal negotiation;6 %!
tried torefuse verbally;
8 0%!screamed; %!
4 tried to escape;
and
16 9%! tried to fight the offender.
Offender reaction to thevictim&#39;s resistance
ranged fromno
reaction
in 31cases 4%!
to violence
in 24 5%! cases.
In 14instances 5%!,
offenders threatened
the victim verbally inresponse to victim resis-
tance; in23 cases
5%! offenders
increased their
aggression. Thus
in
two-thirds of
the cases assailantscountered victim resistance; often
0%! it was metwith increasedforce andaggression. In
9 cases
the offender both verbally threatened thevictim and increased his
aggression.!
Our analysisof cases,
in termsof anorganized/disorganized di-
chotomy, foundthat ofthe 83cases with
data onvictim response
to

74
 I

j !llRN/92l. !l*&#39; /lNTl*

Slrptetnb
.RPl-ZR.
I985 l s !N/92l.Vl !l.l
aissai
thelant,
organized
offender
shad
67 victims
anddisorganized
the
had Of
l6.the
l6
nonforceful vicfms
of the
disorganized
acquiescence
resistancr l0were
used
offenders,
verbal resistance!
or
and
killed.the
Withorganized
offender,
forceful and Inout
resistance
well.
died
as of
6745
victimsnon-
total,
55 of 83 used
out
victims used
fl resistance
nonforce u . dataThesuggest
that nonforceful
resistance
s not
adeterrent
with either
of these
offender types.
&#39; e is
wa
The interpretation
of what
is considered
forceful resistanc
important
clarify.
forceful! identified
to Wespecifically
because
reactions and
screaming
fleeing
as physical
offenders
those
responses
the reason
forastheir
useincreased
of Withacited
victim
aggression.
ma&#39;ority
J
the nonforceful!
and offenders
or forceful interviewed,
of physical
resistance
apart
in both
verbal
playedgand
trigg ertn a

An almost
equal number
reaction by of victims
the offenders.in our
sample said
were
have
to
resisted physically
5! aswereto said
have
madeattempt
no at
resistance
Both3!. of
typesvictim
actions in resulted
death.
Theagents
FBI interviewed
the murderers
about deterrence
to kill.
This information
was analyzed
dichotomy.murderers, terms
in
Organized of
had the
organized/
aconscious
who disorganized
intent based
on motive
to kill,
saidfactors
that as witnesses
suchand location
did
not matter
because
everything murder
controlled
was the
always was
fantasy
well
so
"Iinkilled
my rehearsed
that
and there
home,
werewitnesses"!.
no as one murderer
Orsaid,The victimnot did
Pi
t?
have
choice.
a
murderer was
thewithKilling
of
detailedpart
fantasymy
fantasy."
to the Also,
organized
killeither believed
he
that
E. wouldbe never
caught
or that hewouldhave
to be killed
to be
%
2
stopped.
theof
consciously
On
other
hand,
theirintent
aware
disorganized
kill,
offenders,
towere
werewho
ableidentify
to
not
factors
that might
deterkilling.
their stated
Theydeterrence
such as factors
being
apopulated
in location,witnesses
havingthe area,
or
in coop-
if erationfrom
the victim.

F Surviving Victims
F
The surviving
about victims
of
murderers
in
victim-murderer the
interactions
thestudy
theprovide
context
of
in insights
organized
2.
and disorganized
classification.
whoVictims
survived
murder at-
tempts
these
of used
killers
following
the hiding
strategies:
the
from
assailant,out
jumping
aof
car,
feigningescaping
death,area,
the

is

75

y
 ¢ ?§

E;

Ressleral.
et/CRIMESCENE ANALYSIS
§

knockingweapon
the ofout
the
assailant sand
hand,
screaming
for
assistartct-.
following two cases
The illustrate victim-murderer
dynamics
well
as as
the crime
and profile characteristics
scene for -=1
each type of murderer.
g
Victim ofrmorganized murderer.
Driving home
front work
at lO:3O 2=
at night,
:1 ltigltway
patrol officer
passed
acarpulled off
the road.
He
noticedcar&#39;s
the light dome
was
on and
the right
front door
was open; tiII?
V
he then
saw two
peopleain
scuffle
betweencar
theand
thewoods.
As .&#

he turned
aroundinvestigate,
to headlights
his picked
up a
woman
lying on
the ground,
fighting violently
with man
a on
top of
her.
When police
the officer
approachedthethem,
man
droppedgun
the it
he had
been holding
and held
up his
hands.woman
The picked
up tt
the gunand ranto the
officer screaming,
He&#39;sto kill
trying
me! I
The assailant
was handcuffed.
He stated,
"I just
wanted scare
to her. I
just wanted
to tie
her up.
I donknow
t Iifwould
have raped
her or t_-I
not, but
I might
have. Ijust met her tonight. *4?
AT
The victim
related she
that worked
part-timea as
photographer&#39;s &#39
model and
that she
had been
told by
an agency
thatamanwould take
her his
to studio
to take
photographs.
theyAs
were
driving along
the
freeway,man
the pulled
over, saying
he thought
he had
aflattire. He 33
then pulled
a gunand said,
"Do as
I say
andwon&#39;t
I you."hurt
The
victim reported,
<
I said
I would
do what
he said
if he
didn&#39;t
me. hurt
He
told me
to turn V!mW
.. a
and put
my hands
behind back,
my which and he proceeded
Idid, to
tie
my wrist.
Whenwenthe tie
to my
hands together,
I began
to struggle
becausegunthewas
not in
his hand.
During the
struggleman
the &#3
began choking
andsaid,am
me "I losing
my patience
with
you. With 2
my record
I would
just as
soon kill
you and
go
the the gas
chamber." ¢
He pulled
the gun
and pointed
it at
me. Igrabbed
thegun, screamed,
at
and beat
on the
windowthe
of car,
but no
oneiwouldWe
stop.
kept Q
struggling,the
and
gun
was discharged
with the
bullet
going
through
my skirt
and grazing
my outer
right leg.
I decided
if Igot out
of the
car,
someone would
see me
and stop.
I gotthe door
open and
we fell
out on
the ground
and we
wrestled. Then
the officer
arrived.
case example underscores
This the organized
murderer s premedi-
tated approach
to the
victim and
his planned
intent to
kill. Inthis
case, when
the assailant
to bargain with
tried her by
saying would
she
not be
hurtshe
if cooperated,
the victim
did not
believeAlthough
him.
the victim
tried negotiating
not to
be harmed
by the
assailant, she
 ]OllRNAl.
lNTi&#39;lRf
Of" /l".l
September
S l986
!N1 92L VlOl,F.NCl-&#
strategicallyforopportunity
an
waited he didnot
when have
the gun
heto
her drop
had the to
wrists
were gun
her
tiegun
tied.
being wrists!
Theand
awasfoughtat
the when
point
straightforward
death
threat,
beingyet inunobilived
inrreasetl
woman&#39;s
the vulnerability
Thus
Theshe
risked fighting
despitegun.
assailant&#39;s
preconceived thewerestrategies
on
basedhis
under-
standing
avictim&#39;s
of
responseaviolent
death
to This threat.
assailant
had three
prior
contacted victims
whom
he answered
after
an in murdered.
he
adlonely
a first His
victim
column;
hearts was
thein
3%
.9 .
second thirdand he
cases
posedas
aphotographer amodel needing
1 ~
55}:
and
women went
through
then agency.
an claimed
andtransported He have
themanother
to to all
rapedthree
location
he
where
strangled The them.
bodies
wereinleft
adesert;
until man
the was
1:/as:
apprehendedthe
The murderer
showed
attempted
murder,
for
the
of most
bodies
the missing.
characteristics
remained
an organized
of
sexualThe killer.murders
were carefully
planned. killer
The used
r
ropes
took
restraints
asof raped
photographs
his
women
and
victims
the
he
tokilled
prior
killing
before
them.
them;
also
faces
He
their
showed fear.
great
man&#39;s
Thewas to used
transport
carthe victims
to
their deaths.
The offender&#39;s
IQ was
in the
superior andrange,
hadhe
recentlyhislost
and
job movedthe Midwest
from the toWest
Coast.
He followed
newspaper accounts
his crimes.
of
However, this in
case,
this victim
did not
respond his as other
victims.avictim
As
shenot didacquiesce
to
hismultipleand threats
"é
gun.
intent
fought
She
killhad
He him.
her.choice.
shot
continued
his pursuit
of dominance
and
to
changed. al-le did
He From
her.
He view,
not hisaction
stop rules
histhesay suddenly
and
to
himself,is This not
fittingwithin scheme,"
my leave theand scene.
Instead, persisted
hein
fitting her into
his mode
of escalation.
When apprehendedby police,
the assailant
triedsame
the manipu-
lativewithployofficer.
the
He claimed hethat
did
not know if he
wouldraped havewoman. the policeThedisbelieved
officer this
statement hebelieved
i.e.,
the assailant
had intended
to kill!
and the
assailant was
taken
into custody.
Victim statement
of disorganized
murderer. According
to the
counttheof surviving
victim,a21-year-old
woman,she and
some
ac
friends
returned agirlfriend&#39;s
to apartment dining
afterarestau-
at
Af ntinued conversation television
and viewing,
everyone
left except
onethe
rant. ter co
of men.
The victim&#39;s
girlfriendtoretiredher
room

i 77
 =55==

>1

Ressler et
al. /&#39;
CRIME SCENI-&#39;.
ANAl.Y§lS

as she
had to
work the
next day;
the victim
stayed with
the man,
whom
she knew,
hoping he
would gelthehint
and It-ave." While
they wen-
watching television,
slIt&#39;
asleep
fell lying
lll&#39;l
on sideon
the tom It.
When sheawoke, shewas "fer-ling
funny" andlyingonher bat k.
Ashadowor afigure at
the edge
ol thecouch
was moving toward the
bedroom. As
the victimstarted to
stand
up, she saw her girlfriend
standing between
the bedroomand theliving room
with the man
holding her
by the
wrist. Her
friend was
screaming.about
At this
time, thevictim realized
her pants
were partly
down around
her
thighs, and
as she
reached down
to pullthem up,
she discovered
she
was covered
with blood.
Her face
and abdomen
had
been slashed. The
victim ran
outside atoneighbor,
holding her
stomach she
as ran.
The
neighborher
let in
and
called the police.
After the
victim was
rushed
to
the hospital, she
was found
to have
suffered multiple
cuts and
lacerations to
her throatand faceand extensive
abdominal lacera-
tions. The
assailant had
attempteddisembowel
to her.
H:-t girlfriend
was found lying nudein
her bedroom with
fatal multipleknife
wounds inthe abdomen,
throat, andarms. Aknife withaten-inch
blade subsequently
identifiedthe
as murder
weapon! was
lying near
the victim.
The disorganized
murderer often
kills quickly
to maintain
control.
ln thiscase, control
was achieved
by themurderer s attack
on sleeping
women. The
bodies were
depersonalized through
extensive cuttings
and stab
wounds and
the weapon
was leftat thecrime
scene. The
murderer knew
his victims
and had
ahistory of masochistic
behavior,
evidencedby autoerotic
as asphyxial practices
as anadolescent and
adult. The
premeditated aspect
of thecrime was
revealed abyletter,
found inthe murderercar s and dated five
days before
the murder,that
stated that
the killerintendedto
force one ofthe victimsto eviscerate
and emasculate
him andthat she
was tobefound
innocent of the
CIIYUCS.
One might
speculate the
thatdisorganization
of the
crime escalated
when the
offender&#39;sdid
fantasy
notmatch the
realityof
the situation.
In hisevisceration fantasy,
the assailantrehearsed disembowel-
the
ment both by assuming the role
of victimand ofvictimizer. There
is
similarity inintent atthe crimescene with the presenceof two
women. Theassailant tries
out theevisceration fantasy
on thefirst
victim andthen attacks
his fantasy
object.We
speculate that between
the firstand second
victim heexperienced tension
relief fromtrying
out ofthe fantasy
and he
escalates murder
the behavior
to asecond
target.

78
 l

j !URN/92l.INTERIWLRSONAI.
OF VIOLENCE
/September
l986

The actounts
of survivingvictims ofan organized
andadis
organized offender
highlight their
levelsawareness
of regarding
the
tlangerousness
lht oflemler.
of Both women independently
acted in
responseasituation
to they perceivedas life
threatening,swift
and
police and
int-dicul intervention
combined with
their efforts
to save
their
lives. The killers
were remarkable
in theirintent and
assurance
that they
could successfully
carry outcrimes. These men,
their at least
in their
own minds, had
already rehearsed
how they
would kill
and
escape capture.
The killing
was integral
an part
oftheir
fantasy.The
;
murderers,this
in sense,
had consciously
planned their
murders-
é. one, setting
about to
target
avictimfor hisplan,and
the other
$7 utilizing achance encounter.
2"

% DISCUSSION

,. This article
reports
onanewtypology sexually
of oriented
mur-
2 derers based
on crime
scene evidence
and victim
resistance strategies
. and outcome
in terms
of this
new classification.
This new
typology
$ providesopportunity
an expand
to and
advancepsychosocial
the
la framework studying
for murderers
that is
sometimes criticized
for its
X!
s2
unproved theories,
obscure interpretive
level, and
lack attention
of to
cultural factors
WolfgangFerraruti,
Sc I963!
to include
measurable,
behavioral indicators
from analysis
of crimescene e..g.,
presence or
absenceaweapon;
of injury to
victim!.
law enforcement typol-
This
ogy based
is discrete,
on verifiable
conceptsbehavior.
and does
It not
rest solely
on controversial
statements motivation
of derived
from
%> acomplextheory subconscious
of motivation.
Consequently, the
typology the
haspotential
for verifiable
classification
acts
of and
visual evidence,
enhancing investigation
the study
andof
murderers.
For example,
to hypothesize
thataserialmurderer killed
ayoung
ii woman destroy
to internal
his female
identification with
his sister
is
e: cumbersome cannot
and be
substantiated
analysis of crime
by scene
ii evidenceother
or dataavailable before
his capture
and evaluation.
/ What clear
is is
the pattern killing
of of
young womenof acertain age
v range ain
repeated
and particular
systematic Analysis
style. these
of
data from
the crime
scene may
be useful
in understanding
the psycho-
social nature
of themurderer and
lead itis hoped!
to hiscapture.
Additionally, study
we victim responsethe
to offender
in terms
of
active versus
passive response.
We found
that regardless
of type
of
resistance active
or passive!
or category
of offender
organized versus

79
 ti;.

Resslerrtal. / lRlMF..SCl&#39;lNE
ANALYSIS

llS !fg;.tHlI. tl!,ensued.

death When
we examined
9 victims
who sur-
vived, thecategoryoffender
of was
not the
predictor, rather,
chance
happenings" preserved
life. 1

REFERENCES

Cox, D.
R. 970!.
Analysis
binary data.
of London: Methuen.
D&#39;Agostin0,
B.l97l !. Asecond
R. at
look
analysis
of variance
on dichotomous
data.
Journal of
Ed. Mea.s., 8,327-333. §
D&#39;Agostino,
B. I972!.
Relation
R. between
the chi
squared ANOVA
and tests
for
testing the
equalitykindependent
of dichotomous populations.
American Statis-
tician, pp. 30-32. F
D&#39;Agostin0,
B. 985!.
Statistical
R. inference
procedures
crime
scene
for patterns and i
profile characteristics
organized
of and disorganized
offenders.
Final
In Report
to
National Institute
of Justice
#82 CX-0065!, Washington,
DC
Lester,I973!.
D. Murder:
A review.
Corrective
Social
and Psychiatry
and journal
of
Applied Behavior
Therapy, 19
!, 40-50.
l.unney,H. C. 970!.
Using analysis
of variance
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variable: An empirical study.
journalof
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Mi-ndelsohn, l963!.
B. origin
The the of doctrine
of victimology.
Excerpta Crimino-
logica, 3, 239-244.
Ressler,
Sh&#39;
K.,R.
le S. I&#39;
etal.
985!. Violent
crimes.
&#39; &#39;
FBILaw
&#39; &#39;
EnforcementBulletin,
l-33. 51 8!,
c ar, 968!.
The victim
and his
criminal:
Astudyin functional
responsibility.
New York: Random House.
Simon,I.R.977!.
Type AB,
A, murderers:
B relationship
Their thetovictims
and to
the triminal
justice
the Law, 5!,
344-352.
system.
Bulletin
theAmerican Academy
of Psychiatry
of and
vun Heniig,
H. 940!.Remarks theon
interaction
of perpetrator
and victim.
journal
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of 303-309.
von Hentig,
Press.
H. 948!.
The criminal
and victim.
his Haven,
New Yale
CT: University
Wolfgang, M.
E. 958!.
Patterns criminal
in horn
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University of
Pennsylvania.
Wolfgang,
Tavistock.
E.,
M.8:
Ferracuti,l967!.
F. The
subsculture
violence.
of Great Britain:

5.
Robert Ressler,
K. S.,
M.is
Supervisory Special
Agent, Federal
Bureau ofr|vestiga-
I
lion, and
Program Manager,
Violent Criminal
Apprehension Program
National
Centerthe
for Analysis
ViolentCrime,
of Academy,
FBI Quantico, VA. .3
t;
Ann W.
R.N., D.N.Sc.,
Burgess, vanAmeringen Professor
is Prychiatric
of Mental t
Health Nursing,
University
Pennsylvania,
of
Nursing Research,
Philadelphia,
Boston City
Associate
and ofDirector
Hospital, Boston.

80 -z
in
 @s

j !URNAl.. !F lN&#39;l&#39;ERPl&#39;lRS
VIOLENCE
September
/ I986 !NAL
johnDouglas,
E.M
.S.,
is&#39;
Supervisory
&#39;Special
&#39; &#39; Federal
dC ime Agent,
Scene of Bureau
Investigation,
Assessment Program,
and Program
Manager, Cflmt
Projalmg
l an
r
&#39;
National for theAnal&#39;
Center of Violent
ysis FBI Academy,
Crime, Quanttco,
VA.
Carol R.
Hartman,
&#39;iate
D.N.Sc., I3 ssoc
R.N.,
A Prolessor
and Coordinator
of the
Graduatein
Psychiatric
Program
MentalNursing,
HealthCollege,
BostonChestnut
Hill, MA.
cs Boston
University, Boston.
RalphD&#39;Agostino
B. isProfessor
of Mathemati
,

7
W341.
:;
»,s~Z;%"
"2*:=-

N./..,.
.* ¢zs::;:
:L:?7:l&#39;

Bl
In comparing sexual murderers with a history of sex abuse n = I2! with murderers
without such a history n = I6!, findings that approach a level of significance between
early sexualabuse andsexual deviations include zoophilia .06! andsexual sadism .07!
with the ultimate expression of the murderer&#39;s perversionbeing the mutilation of the
victim. Murderers with sexual abuse historiesreport fantasizing about rape earlier than
murderers without sexual abuse histories .05! and report aversion to peer sex in
adolescence andadulthood .05!. Significant differences in behavioral indicators com-
paring across developmental levelsof childhood include cruelty to animals .05!, and
differences approaching significance include isolation .09!, convulsions .09!, cruelty
to children .09! and assaultive to adults .09!. Significant differences in adolescence
between murdererswith child sexual abusehistory versusnonhistory include running
away .01!, sleep problemst .05!,
daydreams .05!, rebellious .05!, assaultive to adults
.05!, and indicators approaching significance include temper tantrums .09! and
self mutilation .09!.

Murderers Who Rape

and Mutilate

ROBERT K. RESSLER
FBI Academy
ANN W. BURGESS
University of Pennsylvania
CAROL R. HARTMAN
Boston College
IOHN E. DOUGLAS
FBI Academy
ARLENE McCORMACK
University of Lowell

The origins and significance of sexualized acts in the commission

of asexual crime havebeen implicit themes in the professional
literature. Deviant sexual behaviors of offenders have
been reported
in terms of sexual dysfunction Groth 8c Burgess, 1977!, sexual

Authors Note: Preparation of this article was supported byDepartment of Justice

grants: Office of juvenile justice and Delinquency Prevention #84-]N-AX-K010! and

JOURNAL OFINTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE,

Vol. I No. 3,
September 1986 273-287
DI986 Sage Publications,
Inc.

82
 JOURNAL
INTERPERSONAL
OF /September
VIOLENCE
1986

arousal Abel,
1982!, sadistic
fantasies Brittain,
1970; MacCulloch,
Snowden, Wood,
8: Mills,
1983!, childhood
and sexual
abuse Groth,
1979; Seghorn,
Boucher,Prentky,
8c press!.
in
In areportaBritish
of study16
male
of patients diagnosed
with
psychopathic and disorders
hospitalized
inapsychiatric
facility,
the crucial
linkbetween
sadistic fantasy behavior
and discussed
is
MacCullochal., l983!.
etThe authors
the following question:
raise
If sadistic
fantasyahas
in the genesis
role and maintenance
of sadistic
behavior, factors
what some
lead individuals
to act-out
their
fantasies?
~<3:J
Although they
state
that they believe
anyanswer
would include
1;;
/72, multiple factors,
the authors
speculate
factors
that observed
their
in
Afét subpopulation
13 sadistic
of fantasizers childhood
include abuse
cz 2
szggg
<>
,
being
tied
up and anal
assault!
or adolescent
and/ experiences
sexual
s
¢Z;j§E; MacCullochet
al., 1983!.
if The linking
of childhood
sexual abuse
to subsequent
problems
. liéi
9 and behavior
is not
anewidea.
in 1895 believed
Freud that hysterical
51
symptoms
hisfemale patients
of be traced
could anearly
to traumatic
experience thatand
the
traumaalways
was related
tothepatient s
sexual The
life. trauma
manifested
itselfrevived later, usually
when
after puberty,
asamemory.However,later reversed
Freud belief
his in
1905 and
said that
the sexual
seductions patients
his reported
were not
4/T. all reports
of realevents,fantasies
but created
by theindividual
~¢%;;:;. Masson,This 1984!.
reversal
created
amajorshift the
in priorities
of
/
psychological investigation.
The external,
realistic trauma
was re-
,
placedimportance
in infantile
by sexual
wishesfantasies.
and
In the
past decade
clinicians Herman,
1981! feminists
and Rush,
1980! have
challenged perspective
this areand
now
proposing that
sexual abuse
inchildhood
may have base inawiderange
acommon
of social
problems.propositions
The based
areobservations
on of
the prevalence
earlychild
of abuse found
sexual in populations
runaways
of Janus, Scanlon,
8: Price,
1984!, juvenile
delinquents
Garbarino Plantz,
8: 1984!,
prostitutes 8cJames
Meyerding,
1977;
SilbertPines,
8: 1981!,
psychiatric patients
Carmen, Rieker,
8c Mills,
1984!, substance
abusers Densen-Gerber,
1975!, sex
and offenders
Groth, l979;
Seghornal.,
et inpress!.
Although these
studies have
lookedvarious
at populations,
none
has examined
sexual murderers.
Inan
attempt
to address
the question
National Institute
of justice
#82-CX-0065!.
wishWe
to
acknowledge gratefully
Marieanne
Clark
L. for
contributions
earlier
to drafts
of this
article.

83
 Ressler
et
al. /MURDERERSWHO RAPE
AND MUTILATE

raised by
MacCull0ch colleagues
and about
acting out
sadistic fan- l
tasies, this
article discusses
results an
of assessment
of therelation-
ship between
sexual abuse
in childhood
or adolescence
and sexual
interests, activities,
and deviations
in convicted
sexually oriented
killers.

METHOD

Apprehensionacrime
of suspect the job oflaw enforcement.
is
In many
crimes, this
task is
fairly straightforward
whenamotive
robbery, revenge!been
e.g., has identified.
However,
many
in crimes
the motive
is notreadily apparent.
FBI agents
became involved
in
assisting local
law enforcement
agenciestheir
in profiling
of un-
solved homicide
cases the
in early
1970s. These
crimes, often
referred
to asmotiveless, were
analyzedthe
byagents
to includesexual
a
component. agents,
The sensitive
to crime
scene information,
began
their ownefforts atclassifying characteristics
of themurderer by
virtue ofevidence found
at thecrime scene.
From thisevidence they
devisedanew typology thatcharacterized crime
scene patterns
as
being organized
or disorganized.
This typology
inferred
amotiva-
tional framework
included expectations, planning,
that and justi-
fication for the criminalaction as
well as hunches regarding
postcrime behaviors.
Asaresult,particular emphasis
was placed
on
the thinking
patterns dominating
the murderer&#39;s
actions indicating
differencesacts
in committed
against the
victim and
suggesting sub-
categories motivational
of constructs.
The selection
of subjectsand methodology
used todevelop the
organized/disorganized typology
are reported
elsewhere Ressler
al., 1985!. Briefly,
et FBI special
agents collected
data in
variousU.S.
prisons between
1979 and
1983. The
data set
for each
murderer con-
sisted of
the best
available data
from twotypesof
sources:official
records and interviews with the offenders.
To qualify
for the
study,
amurderhad to
be classified
through
crime scene
observations and
evidence
asasexual homicide.These
observations included
the following:
victimattire
or lack ofattire;
exposure
sexual
of parts
of the
victim&#39;s
sexual
body;
positioning
of
victim&#39;s
insertion
body;foreign
of objects
into victim&#39;s
body cavities;
or evidence
of
sexual intercourse. Primary
analysis was
conducted on
information about
the crime scenes 36
of sexually
oriented murderers.

84
 JOURNAL
INTERPERSONAL
OF /September
VIOLENCE
l986
Identifying murderers
who had
earlier sexually
been was abused
accomplished
using interview
by
or official
record information
about
whether
subject
the been
had sexually
abused
a child, adolescent,
as or
adult. Information
symptoms
about and criminal
behaviors was
obtainedasimilar
in manner.
A"yes"response confirma-
required
tion through
offender disclosure
and background
record;
answer
an
recorded
"suspected"
as was based
on the
offender&#39;s
For recollection.
this aspect
of the
research, answers
bothcodedwere"yes."
as We
acknowledge limitations
the
ofthisvariable,could
which either
be
underreported to memory
due
loss over
theor incorrect because
years
offender
of errormemory
in reconstruction.
In addition,
the increased
public attention
sexual
to victimizationhavemay influenced
offend-
ersgive
topositive
a response.
It is
importantkeep
to in mind
that all
subjects thisinstudy
were convicted
ofsexually
oriented murder.
This reportbased
is on our
analysisconvicted,
of incarcerated,
sexual
murderers whom for were
there available
data early on sexual
abuse
in their
life histories;
theirsexual/ aggressive
on interests, fantasies,
and practices;
and theircriminal behaviors.
on At thetimedata
of
collection,
men
these
represented
a group
sexually
of oriented mur-
dererswere
whoavailable
for research
purposes
is, whose
that
appeal
process
complete!,
was whoandalso
wereto
able
participate
in the
in-depth interview
conducted
the agents.
by
Murderers
excluded
were
from sample
the they if were
actutely mentally
disordered and
unable
respond
to interview
to questions
=2!.They
N selected
were a for
ro&#39;ect
investigate
toenforcement
law techniques
profiling Ressler
et al.,
PJ
1985!;addition,
in they
not represent
do ranaom
dam
s p
le.

FINDINGS

d about
prior sexual abuse,
&#39;
When questione
12, or
43%,
those
of
d
murderers responding &#39;
8! indicate such abusein childhood
age
l-12!;
32%,
or 9,were abused
in adolescence
age 13-18!;
andor10,
37%,
as adultsoverage
18!.
Symptoms and &#39;
behaviorm 2. d&#39;cators
The comparisonof sexual
toms and behaviors
abuse in
c 1 h&#39;ldhood
adolescence
and by
symp
&#39;
&#39;
presentchildhood,
in eand
, adulthood for
adolescenc murderers who
d is resented in
Tablel
an d d who had
not been
sexually abuse
p &#39; &#39;
l dica-
For the
ha
overwhelming of
majority
symptomsand behaviora
in

85
 Ressler et
al. /MURDERERS WHO RAPEAND MUTILATE

tors, the
higher incidenceis inthe directionof those
offenders who
sexually abused. Those
were sexually abusedin childhoodare signif-
icantly more
likely than nonabused offendersto report
the following
symptoms childhood:
in cruelty
animals, isolation, convulsions,
to
cruelty to
children, and assaultiveadults.
to Inaddition,those
men
sexually abused in childhoodare morelikely toreport experiencing
the followingsymptoms inadolescence: sleep
problems, isolation,
running away,
self-mutilation, temper
tantrums, rebelliousness,
and
assaultive adults.
to Inadulthood, differences
are noted
in theareas
of
poor body
image, sleep
problems, isolation,
self-mutilation, and
temper tantrums.
Those sexually
abused inadolescence are
more likelythan non-
abused offenders
to reportthe followingsymptoms in
adolescence:
running away,
fire setting,
and cruelty
to animals.
In adulthood,
differences forsexually
those abused as
an adolescent
include the
behavioral indicators
of nightmares,
daydreams, rebelliousness,
and
cruelty to children. SeeTable 2.!
Sexual issues.
Our analysis
of thetotal murderer
samplefoundthat
over 50%
the murderers report
of concern withvarious sexual
issues.
include
These sexual conflicts 9%!, sexual incompetencies 9%!,
sexual inhibitions1%!, sexual
ignorance 9%!,
and sexual
dysfunc-
tion 6%!.
Regarding sexual
activities, over
50% all murderers report
of inter-
ests inpornography 81%!,
fetishism stealing,
wearing, ormastur-
batingwith
women&#39;s undergarments; attraction
specific body
to
parts, articles,
or inanimateobjects! 2%!,
and voyeurism 1%!.
A totalof 39%
report interests
in bondage
sex S8cM!,
and 25%indicate
involvement inindecent exposure.
Lessthan
one-fourth disclose
interest insexual contact
with animals3%!, obscene
telephone calls
2%!, rubbingothers
against 8%!, cross-dressing
17%!, prostitution
1%!, and coprophilia %!.
An analysis
of therelationship between
prior sexual
abuse in
childhood
adolescence
or and sexual
issues shows
that the
sexually
abused offenders
are morelikely to report sexualconflicts 92%
versus
40%; =p .01!,
sexual dysfunction
9%versus
50%!, and sexual
incom-
petence 7%
versus 60%!.
is
There littleor
no differencesexual
in
ignorance between
the twogroups.
An analysis
of therelationship between
sexual abuse
in childhood
and adolescence
and participation
in certainsexual activities
indi-

86
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 Ressler et
al. /MURDERERS WHO RAPEAND MUTILATE

2
TABLE
Behaviors with Significant Differences Between
Sexually Abusedand Non-Sexually
Abused Murderers

Sexually Abused as
S ymptoms
Symptoms Sexually as as a Child
Abused an Adolescent
as aChild an Adolescent Symptoms
asanAdult an Adolescent Symptoms
asanAdult
Convulsions
IsolationIsolation
Sleep problems

Cruelty to Running away Poor body image

children lsolation
Self-mutilation
Cruelty to
animals
Assaultive
Temper tantrums
Running away
Sleep problems
Sel mutilation Nightmares
to adults Rebellious
Assaultive
to adults
Temper
tantrums Daydreams
Rebellious 2
§
Cruelty to
children

cates that
the sexuallyabused murderers
are morelikely toengage in
sexual contactwith animals 0% versus8%; pS .06!,bondage sex
5% versus23%!,
fetishism 83% versus
57%!, obscene calls
phone
6% versus15%!, indecentexposure 6% versus 21%!,
pornography
92% versus 79%!, frottage
7% versus15%!, and
cross-dressing 8%
versus 7%!.There is little
difference or no difference noted in the area
of voyeurism.
Prostitution and
coprophilia were
dropped from
this
analysis dueto an inadequate numberof responses.
Rape fantasies.For 19of the 56 murdererswho responded to a
question about at whatage theybegan tofantasize about rape, the
range from 5to 25
ages years old. Theresults ofatest of meanage
differences showsthat sexually
abused murderers1! beganto fanta-
size at
an earlierage thandid thosenot abused8!,or
ages 11.6 years
versus 15.3years t = 1.99,p= 0.05!.
First consensual sex. For19 murderers,
the ageof firstsignificant,
consensual sexual experience ranged
from llto 35 years of age.The
results ofatest of meanage differenceshows thatsexually abused
killers report an earlierage for this activity than do murderers not
sexually abused14.7years versus 16.2 years!.However, thisdifference
was notstatistically significant t = 1.12,p= 0.14!.
Aversion to sexual activity.It was clear to the interviewersthat
some ofthe murderers
could not answer thequestion ofage of
consensual sex
because they
had never
hadsuch
an experience. Thus
.5;- .W"
.
it&#39; JOURNAL
INTERPERFIONAL
OF /September
VIOLENCE
l9S6
E
~21?
..,2 mi
/;V&#39;4r
aversion
inhibition
or sexual
:0 activity
with peers,
the affirmative
, ,; §%t response 26 offend vs
of is notsurprising.
Of these 26, ere
ll w sexually abused
as children
and 15
were not
1
e;¢=:1;,&#39;;,-Q
2. <3».
see Table
3!. Results
indicatethere
thatnoisdifference
in aversion
to
,s~*1}? ;&#39;
%t92..
. &#39; sexual activity
in childhood
for sexually
versus nonsexually
abused
murderers
versus
9% Murderers
7%!.
"&#39;
who
h &#39;
were
sexually abused
in
nonabused counterparts to
childhood aremore likelythan_t err
report aversion
to sex
in adolescence
3% versus
27%! in
and
adult-
hood 3%versus 33%;
p =0.05!.
Mutilation
murder
of victim. The
results
assessing
of the relation-
ship between
sexual in
abuse
childhood
and mutilation
the of murder
victims after
death show
apositive
relationshipTable
seeMutila-
4!.
tion is
definedthe
as deliberate
cutting, usually
after death,
the
of
sexual thebody breasts,
areas
of genitals, abdomen!.
Sexually abused
murderersmore
are likely
to mutilate
victims than
are those
offenders
not sexually
abusedversus7% We 44%!.
also
seepositive
a relation-
shi
P
between
adolescent victimization
sexual theand
mutilation
of
the murder
victim 8%
versus 42%;
p =.07!.
1?
E5
lz DISCUSSION

XE/IL Sexual Interests

and Behaviors
In our
examination
sexual
of interests
and behaviors
we find
some
association
ourinpopulation
between early
sexual abuse
and the
E development
deviations
of
sexual or psychosexual
disordersIII,
DSM
I980!. described
As theby
DSM
III 980!,
the essential
feature of
rt psychosexual disorders
thatunusual
is or bizarre imagery
oracts
are
;s necessarysexual
for excitement.
Additionally,acts
the tend
to be
K involuntarily repetitive
and the
imagery necessary
for sexual
arousal
li m-ustincluded
be in masturbatory
fantasies.the
Inmurderer
sample,
those sexually
abused offenders
were more
likely to
have the
para-
philia
zoophilia
of and begin
to to
experience
rape fantasies
earlier
than the
nonabused
The
group. complexity bizarreness
and theof
5 offender s fantasy
life needed
to obtain
and sustain
emotional arousal
x suggestthe
that
ultimate
expression
his perversion
of is in
the mutila-
t of
tion the victim.
There are
many significant
differences
behavioral
of indicators
comparing across
developmentalof
childhood,
levels adolescence,
 z

av

it

Ressler ctal. /&#39;

MURDERERS WHO RAPE AND MUTILATE

TABLE 3
Inhibition or Aversion to Sexual Activity of
Sexually Abused and Nonabused Murderers
in percentages!
Sexual Abuse
As a Child
As an Adolescent
Aversion to Yes Nu Ye: N0
SexualActivity _ ]I! __ 5! 8! I8!
In childhood 97
In adolescence 73 27 63 39
In adulthood 73 33 63 4-4
I
NOTE: n I numbers in parentheses. I
*p <0.05
2 1H

TABLE 4 I
Mutilation of Murder Victims and SexualVictimization of Offender .; H
X
Mutilation of
Victims W
Yes N0 W
Victimization %
% N Z
.2
In childhood
Yes 67 33 12
No 44 56 16
.4
In adolescence a
Yes 78 22 9
No 42 S8 19

*p = 0.07.

and adulthood for abused and nonabused murderers. We note the z

consistently reported behavior of isolation as an outcome of child-
hood sexualabuse
with varied symptomclusters ofsleep problems,
nightmares, daydreams, poor bodyimage, andconvulsions; behaviors
of self»mutilation,running away, temper tantrums,rebelliousness,
lire setting, actions of cruelty to
children and animals, and assaultof
adults. Someof the symptoms suggestinternalized undisclosed sexual
abuse i.e.,sleep
problems, running away,sell-mutilation, andpoor 4
body image!
whereas other
symptoms suggest
externalized aggression.
Although it would not be
expected to see differences between
murderers whowere sexuallymolested in childhood reporting a
greater peer sex aversion than the nonmolested as a child, those

90
 JOURNAL
INTERPERSONAL
OF /September
VIOLENCE
l986

molestedchildhood
in have
domore
aversionof peer
sex adoles-
in
1%; cence those
and molested
in adolescence
also have
ahighreport rate
of
&#39;5 ,
aversionthis
at time.
This findingsuggests
there isacomplex
that
interaction between
basic developmental
issues sexuality
of that
interact with
molestation
&#39;
different
at
&#39;
&#39; &#39;
times
the development
in
&#39; f
te 0
h

tgil
j /tr: child and
are linked
with avoidance
of peer
experiences
adoles-
in
,rlti
I°&#39;¢
§* :<&#39; nce
ce . It
is speculated
that this
aversion
only
not ]¬Op3I&#39;d1Z¬S the
,4;;g/<3 development
constructive
of normative
and and
sexual
interpersonal
experiences
alsobut
increases
social isolation
and fosters
areliance
on
7 fantasy for
impulse development
discharge.
and
at. Hypersexuality
the or
sexualization
relationships
of is an
impor-
&#39; >1 indicator of sexually
tant abused children,
and children
can be
1.»; ,
.-55 expressive verbally
both behaviorally
and sex.
aboutOften
when this
sexuality
expressed
is aggressively
toward others,
it reflects
directly on
the aggressive
and exploitive
naturethe
of initial
abuse Burgess
et al.,
1984!. rather
Sex, than
linking these
men abused and nonabused!
xix»
with their
peers, somehow
impedesconnection.
the speculation
One
.:f?i%%;
is that
the adult
roleof
the abuserthein original
childhood victimi-
.:57?
, zation maintained
is the
in repeated
fantasy and
thus the
preferred
sexual relationship
isachild/adult pairing.
In addition,
relationships
1%?
with younger
children, adults are marked
peers,
and by aggression.
l %"~, Murder Behavior
W3?»
3355:
i
One finding
of our
analysiscrime
of scene
evidence approached
a
levelsignificance
of sexual
with abuse.
There was
astriking
difference
in the of sexual assaults
style victimsbetween sexually
on abused
offenders those
and offenders
who did
notreport
abuse: Those who
were sexually
abused childhood
in tended tomutilatethe bodyafter
killing, as
contrastedmurderers
with raped
who and killed
then
p 0.07!.
= speculate
We undisclosed
that and
unresolved
early sexual
abuse may
beacontributing
factor in
the stimulation
of bizarre,
sexual, sadistic
behavior characterized
in asubclassification
of
mutilators.
Although do
wenot have systematic
data collected
on the
inten-
tions of
the mutilations,
some murderers
volunteered information.
One murderer
said the
mutilation a
was
wayof
disposingthe body,
of
implyinghad
he
apragmatic
reasonthe
formutilation.
However, the
autopsy report
revealedinthat
addition
to cutting
the body, he
up
alsopulled
out the victim
fingernails
s death,
after something
he

91
 umanu. 92
92 -my rr-mm...
m .._ . ._..-.. ._ . .,

Ressleret
al. /MURDERERS WHO RAPE AND MUTILATE

claimed not remember.

to This man went to
prison for the first
killing. When he was released heknew he would kill again. He
revealedthat
he sought the high level of emotional arousal not in the
killing, but in the successful dismembermentof his victims and the
disposal ofthe partswithout detection an act thattook thoughtand
planning.
MacCulloch and colleagues 983! observed in their sample of sex
offenders with sadistic fantasies that
from an early age, the men had
difficulties in both social and sexualrelationships. They suggest that
this failure in social/ sexual approach might be partly responsible for
the development of afeeling of inadequacy and lack of assertiveness.
This inabilityto control
events in
thereal
world moves the
man intoa 3
fantasy worldwhere hecan controlhis inner world. This fantasy of
control and dominance isbound to berepeated becauseof the relief it
provides from apervasive sense
of failure. MacCulloch and colleagues
983! suggest that when sexual arousal isinvolved in the sadistic
fantasy, thefurther shapingand contentof thefantasy maybe viewed
on aclassical conditioning model; the strong tendencyto progression
of sadistic fantasies maythen be understood in terms
of habituation.
Eysenck 968! argues theacting out of
elements of the deviant
fantasies is arelatively short step in those whose personalities pre-
dispose torepeated thinkingincubation. In thesecases the
or fantasies
would theoretically
at leastform partofaconditional stimu/lusclass
and possibly become anecessary conditionfor sexual arousal. Thus a
conditioning model, writes MacCulloch and colleagues 983!, may
explain not only the strength and permanenceof
sadistic fantasies in
these abnormal
personalities buttheir progressionto
nonsexual and
sexual crimes. This model provides an explanation for what Rein-
hardt 957! called the forward thrust of sexual fantasies in sadistic
murderers." Our last example of amutilator murderer underscores
the reality-orienting fantasy of successful disposalof the body as the
cognitive set, driving repeated murders.
Although all murders inour studycontainedasexual element,it ¬
was apparentthat motives differed. Somevictims were raped andthen
murdered; were
others murdered and then sexually mutilated.
Rapists who murder, according to Rada 978!, rarely report any
sexual satisfaction from the murder nor perform sexual actspost-
, mortem. In contrast, the sadisticmurderer Brittain, 1970!, sometimes
called lust-murderer Hazelwood 8cDouglas, 1980!, kills prior to or 3
simultaneously in carrying out aritualized sadistic fantasy.

92 S
 JOURNAL INTERPERSONAL
OF VIOLENCE
/September
l986

Evidence from
this study
suggests
the murderer with
that asexual
abuse history
will firstkill thevictim to
achieve control
before he
makes any
sexual expression. The murderer
may not
necessarily have
any orgastic
experiences the withbody,
but rather
may masturbate
on
or beside
the body.
The release
of tension
may also
occur through
substitute action
such as
mutilation ofthe body,
or perhaps
using, as
noted with Brittain&#39;s study
970!, aphallus substitute.
Consistent with
our study
are othersBrittain,1970;
MacCulloch
al., 1983! that
et underscore
afeeling of reliefand pseudonormal
behavior following
the murder.
Many ofthe murderersrecount going
homeand
sleeping deeplyafter
a murder.After
several days, they
would reflect on the murder in
great detail.
24?"
§£/
L,
W2 ;

Q51? IMPLICATIONS
if? /&#39;"¥*¥?t
ngazz; The analysis
of dataspecific to
the variables
of childhood
sexual
:62
abuse andsubsequent
and
symptoms criminal behaviors
suggests
vac! r.
that several
variables e.g.,
daydreams, isolation,
cruelty to
children
and animals!
play animportantpart
in thesubgroups
i.e., rape-
murder andmurder-mutilate! ofsexual murderers.
There isevery
indicationthat
the motivation formurder isa»-complex develop-
mental process
is based on
that needs for
sexual dominance
at the
destructive expense
of thevictim. Itappears fromexploratory
this
study of
convicted killers
there is animportant difference
that in the
symptom constellation
those
among withahistoryof sexual
abuse
and thosewithout sucha history.Although itis
not clear whether
thereisadifferencein
psychological motivation forsexual
murder,
what is
apparentan
is early
onset specific
of behaviors
that are
noted
in thesubgroup ofmurderers who mutilate.
The association
of thespecificimpact
of sexual molestationin the
lives ofthese
offenders and subsequent mutilation oftheir
victims
requires further
investigation. speculate
To aon
possible
link be-
tween theadolescents who
were sexuallyabused andwho
those
mutilate thebody suggests
apremeditated
pattern where
acts of
self-mutilation are
then transferred
and carried
out onothers.
Our exploratory
study raises
far morequestions
thanitanswers.
Current understanding
of disclosed
childhood sexual
has
abuse fo-
cusedon
the initial treatmentBurgess al.,
et 1978;
Conte, 1984;
Sgroi,
1982!, legal
process Buckley,
1981!, sequelae
BrowneFinkelhor,
8c

93
 Q
4

it

>
.,.i,
5,.

Ressleral.
et MURDERERS WHO
AND
RAPE MUTILATE
5
2é

1984!, and
prevention efforts
Conte, 1984;
Swift, l977!.
Yet our 1
understanding
undisclosed
of childhood sexual
abuse its
andlong-
term effects
is limitedin regard
to gender
differences and
behavioral
outcomes.becomes
It even
more imperative,
given our
findings on
behavioral differences,
that we
not only
learn howdetectcases
to of
child sexual
abuse early
but alsodelve further
into behavioral
out-
comes particularlyin noncriminal abused adults. &#39;
For the
men who repeat sexual
murder, their
internal processing *2
and cognitive
operations appear
to sustain
and perpetuate
fantasies
of sexually
violent actions.
Asaresult,clinicians are
urged to
take
careful note
of patients
reporting sadistic
as wellas criminal
fantasies
and record
a systematic
history on
the content,
duration, progression, E
and affect
triggered the
by fantasy.
For law
enforcement, minder
that
appears to
be motiveless that
is, thevictimisastrangerand there
is
noprofitto
be gained from
the death
the victim suggests that
of the z
victim and
offense must
be seen
as having
symbolic meaning
the
to
offender reflectingviolent sadisticfantasies.

REFERENCES

Beck,
T.
A. 976!. Cognitive
therapy and
the emotional
disorders. New
York: Inter-
national University Press.
Brittain, P.
R. 970!.
The sadistic
murderer. Medical
Sciencethe
andLaw,
I0, 198-207.
Browne,8c
A.,Finkelhor,
D. I984!.
The impact
of child
sexual abuse:A
reviewthe
of
research. Unpublished
manuscript!
Buckley,981!.
_]. Child
sexual abuse
and the
law. Washington,
DC: National
Legal
Resource Center
for Child
Advocacy and
Protection, American
Bar Assodation.
Burgess,
W., Hartman,R.,
A. C. McCausland,
M. P.,
8: Powers,
P.984!. Response
patternschildren
in and
adolescents exploited
through rings
sex and
pomography.
American journal
0] Psychiatry,
I41 !, 656-662.
Burgess,
W., Hartman,
A. R.,C.Ressler,
R. K.,
Douglas,
E.,].McCormack,
8c A.986!.
Sexual homicide:
A motivational
model. journal
oflnterpersonal Violence,
I !.
Carmen,H.,
E. Rieker,
P., Kc Mills,
P. T. I984!.
Victimsviolence
of psychiatric
and
illness. American
journal ofPsychiatry, 141
!, 378-383.
Conte, R.
]. I984!.
Progresstreating
in the
sexual abuse
in children.
Social Work,
258-263.
Densen-Gerber,
8c Benward,
]., ]. I976!.
Incest aas
causative
[actor in
antisocial
behavior. NewYork: Odyssey
Institute.
Eysenck,J.H.968!.
A theory
of the
incubation
anxiety/fear
of response. Behaviour
Research and
Therapy, 6,309-321.
Freud, S.
895!. Totem
and taboo.
New York:
New Republic
Edition.
Garbarino,
8c_].,
Plantz,
M. C.984!. Child
maltreatmentjuvenile
and delinquency."
What are
the links?
Pennsylvania University,
State unpublished
tnanustript.
 JOURNAL
INTERPERSONAL
OF VIOLENCE
/September
1986

gs.
ggw ..~;;>§
Groth,N.
A. 979!.
Sexual trauma
is the
life histories
of rapists
and child
molesters.
112..
".22 mi Victirnology,4!, 10-I6.
Groth,N.,
A.
Burgess,
8: A. W.977!. Sexual
dysfunctionrape.
during
England
New
:§~*1;¢" journal ofMedicine, I4,
764-766.
Hazelwood,
R.,8c
Douglas,
R. ]. E.I980!. The
lust-murderer.
Law FBI
Enforcement
Bulletin, 49
!, l-5.
Herman,
982!.
]. Father-daughter
incest. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard
University
Press.
C .; . james,8:].,Meyerding
977!. Early
sexual experience
and prostitution.
American
Q. ]ournal of
Psychiatry,
2!, l38l-I385.
134
5
]anus,D.,M.Scanlon,
B., Price,
8c 984!.V. Youth
prostitution.
Child
In pomeg-
raphy and
sex rings.
Lexington,Lexington
MA: Books.
MacCulloch,
]., Snowden,
M. P. R.,Wood, P._].W.,
8c Mills,
H. E.983!. Sadistic
fantasy, sadistic
behaviour
offending.
and journal
BritishPsychiatry,
of I43,
20-29.
Masson,
M. ].984!.
The assault
truth:Freud&#39;s
on of the
suppression
seduction theory.
New York:Farrar, Straus,
and Giroux.
Rada,T.R.l978!. Psychological in factors
rapist
behavior.
Clinical
In aspects
of the
A rapist pp. 51-52!
. New
York"
.. Grune
llc Stratton
Reinhardt, M. J.l957!.
Sex perversions
and. . crimes:
sex psychocultural
A .. . Cexamination
of the
causes, nature
and criminal
manifestations
sex perversions.
of Police scienc
S pri&#39;ngiield,
&#39;
Series. . Charles
IL" Thomas.
C
Ressler,
K. R.985,
August!. Violent
crimes.LawFBI Enforcement
Bulletin.
&#39; B.
&#39;
Ressler,
K.,R.
Burgess,
A.W.,
Douglas,_]. E.,
Hartman, R.,C.D
8cAgostmo, R.
in press!.
Sexual killers
and their
victims: Identifying
patterns through
scene
crime
analysis.
Revitch, l965!.
E. Sex
murder the
andpotential
sex murderer.
Diseases
theofNervous
System, 26,
640-648.
Rush, 980!.
F. Thebest kept
secret. Englewood
Cliffs, N]:
Prentice-Hall.
Saminow,
984!.
S. Inside
the criminal
mind. New
York: New
York Times
Book C0.
Seghorn,
l ., Boucher,
T. R. ].,
8c Prentky,
R. A.
in press!.
Childhoodabuse
sexualin
the lives
Sgroi,M.ofS.sexually
982!.aggressive offenders.
Handbook clinical
of intervention
in child
sexual Lexing-
abuse.
ton, MA: Lexington Books.
Silbert,H.,M.Pines,
8: M.A. 981!.Sexual abusechild an
antecedent
as to prostitu-
Child
tion. Abuse andNeglect, 5,407-41 l.
Swift, C.l97&#39;l!.
victimization
Sexualchildren: of urban
mental
An health center
survey. Victirnology,
2!, 322-326.

RobertRessler,
K. .S.,MSupervisory
is Agent,
Special
Federal
Bureau 0/Investigation,
Pms
and Program
Manager, Violent rogra , National Center
&#39;
Criminal Apprehension
for the
Analysis
Violent
of Crime,
FBI Academy,
Quantico, VA.
Ann W.
Burgess,D.N.Sc.,
R.N.,vanisAmeringen
Professor
Psychiatric
of Mental
Health Nursing,
University
Pennsylvania,
of Philadelphia,
Associate
and Director
of
Nursing Research,
Boston City
Hospital, Boston.

95
 4
====&2az
11%
. :&#39

>¢;, ::§;1=

1
1

Resslerct
al. /MURDERERS WHO RAPE AND MUTILATE
;
Carol R. Hartman, R.N., D.N.Sc., is Associate Professorand Coordinator of Graduate
Programs in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. e

john E. Douglas, M .S., isSupervisory Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation,

andPro ramM
g anager, C&#39;
nmm&#39; al &#39;
&#39;
PTO_fIll7lg &#39;
and Crime Scene Assessment Program, FBI
- 15;-
2
Academy, Quantico, VA.
»==;-a-
Arlene M cCormack is Assistant Professorof Sociology, University 0] Lowell, Lowell, :~
MA. : 5&
:-

1fig,5

2%.
.3
- Ts

1
ii
xv
ai
,;~

1ma
-Zm
~:e¥

96
 I7ieMn
0
Mudred

tr fer}; ikt-t
spective.includes
lt initial
an appraisal
To address this problem, law en-
Statistics from the FBl s Uniform of aprofiling process and interviews
the alarming forcement isstudying techniques
Reports document to
of incarcerated
murderers conducted
number_of victims of sexually aid in apprehending serial
violent These offenders.by FBI Special Agents.The interviews
One of the disturbing patterns
techniques require anindepth contain specificquestions answered
inherent inthese
statistics is that of knowledge the of criminalpersonality,from compiled sources pluslengthy,
an area that, until recently, was re- open-ended interviews with themur-
the serialor repetitivecriminal. Law
enforcement officials have questionedsearched
cians who
primarily
by forensicclini- derers themselves.
interviewed criminals from sexual murderers
A subsample of 36
whetherasmall percentage ofcrimi- was selectedfor
nals may be responsible for alarge a psychological frameworkbyorcrimi-analysisdevelop to further
information
number of crimes, that is, a core
nologists who
studied crime trends for profilingthese murders.Here, we
group ofhabitual serious and violentand statistics.
basewere
Missing from
critical aspects
relevant
the data present what we learned
to 36 men.lt is important to
about these
offenders.has This beendocumented law enforcement recognize
investigation. Fle-that we are makinggeneral state-
in onestudy on juvenile delinquents, searchers have
now begun to study
and otherstudies have reported simi- the criminal from law enforcement ments about these offenders. Not all
lar results?with average estimates of perspectives, a with statements
shift in focusto although they are
true for offenders,
all
from 6 to 8 percent of delinquents the investigative process
may be
of crime the 36men orfor mostof
true formost of
comprising the core ofthe delinquen- the offend-
scene inquiry and victimology.
Cy problem. Our research is the rst studyof ers from
sponses
whom we
were
not
obtained data.
availablefrom
Fie-
all
sexual homicide and crime scene pat-
terns from alaw enforcement per- offenders forall questions.

Published
the Federal
byBureau
Investigation,
of Department
U.S.
Justice!
of
dfthe FBI Law
Reprinte rom Enforcement Bulletin,
August, 1985.
97
 Law enforcement officials have questioned whether a
percentage
small of criminals may be responsible for a
large number of crimes

Background Characteristics the Child

perceives the family mem- Over&#39;4O percent
of the men livedout-
Although their birth years ranged bers and their interaction with him and side the family home before
age 18 in
from 1904 to 1958, the
most of 36 of- with each other. For children growing places such as
foster homes, State
fenders all male! grew in
up the up, the quality of their
attachments to detention
homes, centers, or mental
1940&#39;s and
1950&#39;s. They
were pre- parents and members
other of the hospitals. Twenty-five of the men for
dominantly white and were usually family is important in how these chil- data
whom were available had histo-
eldest sons first or second born!, dren become adults and relate to, and ries of early psychiatric difficulties,
which gave them adistinct advantage, value, other members of society. Es- thereby minimizing their opportunity to
given the dominant-male attitudesin sentially, these
early attachments
life establish positive relationships within
the country at that time. sometimes called bonding! translate the family. ln addition, the families
Most of these men,
as adults, into amap how
of the child will per- had minimal attachment to a commu-
ceive situations outside of the family. nity, reducing the child s opportunities >. .
had pleasant general appearances, ~:;
suggesting that asboys they were
not Because of this, we were especially to develop positive, stable relation- . Y~<a
unattractive. Their heights and interested in specific factors within ships outside the family that might
weights were
within norms,
the and family relationships that best show
the compensate family
for instability.
few had distinguishing handicaps or offenders levels attachment
of to As stated earlier, both parents :£ i
physical defectsto set them apartin a
group of
boys or men. The majority of
people.
The family histories of these men
were present in over
cases, with the father
half 0!
absent
being
the
of
in ::%
the men were of average or above-av- revealed that multiple problems exist- 10 cases, the mother being absent in
erage intelligence, with one-third ed in the family structure. Half of the 3 cases, and both parents being
offenders families had members with absent in However,
2 cases. of impor-
having superior intelligence.
The majority initially began life
in criminal histories; over half of the fam- tance isthat in 17 cases, the biologi-
two-parent homes, and half of the
mothers were homemakers. Although
had
ilies psychiatric problems.
suggests insufficient contact between
This cal father left home
reached 12
before
of
years
the boy
age. This ab-
2
majority
the of fathers worked at un- some family members and the offend- sence was due to avariety of rea-
skilled jobs, they were steadily em- as
er achild, as well as the possibility sons, including separation and di- as
ployed; only five men reported the of inadequate patterns of relating. vorce. It is not surprising, then, that
substandard economic Nearly 70 percent of
family living at the families had the dominant parent of the offender
levels. histories of alcohol abuse, one-third of the
during phase
rearing of his life
Thus, poverty was not asignificant the families had histories of drug was the mother for 21 cases!. Only
factor in the socioeconomic status of abuse, and sexual problems among nine offenders said the father was the
families; mothers were in the home; family members were either present dominant parent, and two said both
fathers were earning stable incomes; suspected
or in almost half of
the re- parents shared the parenting roles.
the subjects were intelligent, white, ported cases. Thus, it is unlikely that Perhaps the most interesting fact
eldest sons. With such
positive per- most of the offenders experienced a revealed was that most offenders said
sonal characteristics and social fac- quality
good life or
of positive interac- they did not have a satisfactory rela-
tors, the question is: What went tions with family members. tionship with their father, and their re-
wrong? ls there any evidence of what When examining the patterns de- lationship with their mother was highly
may have turned these men into sex- scribed by the murderers regarding ambivalent in emotional quality. Six-
ually oriented murderers? own
their families, one is impressed teen of the men reported cold or un-
by the high degree of instability in caring relationships with their moth-
Family Background homelife and by the poor
quality of at- and
ers, 26 reported such relation-
It is often argued that the struc- tachment family
among members. ships with fathers.
their
and
ture quality of
family interaction is Only one-third of the men reported Twenty of the offenders had no
an important factor in develop-
the growing up in one location. The ma- and
older brothers 17 had no older
ment of achild, especially in the way iority 7! said they experienced occa- sisters. In terms of having astrong
sional instability, and six reported model
role during formative years,
chronic instability or frequent moving.

98
 l
l
l

,,- -~ 4

ltaearsthat
experienced
PP
childhood
the by
these and
physical
offenders
was sexual
abuse
manifested
in their
preferencefantasy
for life.
child awayfrom reality
and intohis
Individual Developmentown privateworld of
violence where
these men lacked older
an siblingWhen looking at individual
devel-the child can exert
control. Thecon-
who might make forup parental
defi-opmentthe of offenders,
two factors
trol of
the fantasy
becomes crucial
ciencies Instead,
they hadto com-stand
out-the dominance a fanta-
of firstto the child and
later to
the man.
with younger siblings
pete in anemo-sy lifeandahistoryof personal These not fantasies
are to
ofescape
tionally deficient
environment. something better,
one
as sees
often
Compounding offenderslimit- abuse.Many
the the murderers were
of able in children
recovering sexual
from as-
-he <1. ed opportunities
for positive
attach- describe
to ofafanta- saults and
the importance abusive treatment.
These
ments weretheir perceptions
of pa-sy lifein their early men did
development. not overcompensate
for the
rental discipline.
Frequently,men
the These
fantasies were primarily violentstimulationaggression
and idyllic
by
reported discipline
as unfair,
hostile,
and sadistic
in nature. thinkingcreative
Twenty offend- or interests.
Rather,
inconsistent,abusive.
and These
men age 18, their energies
were funneled
into fan-
3% ?
re/~
tgi x".. believedwere
not fairlyershad
they dealt with rape fantasies
before
their and seven
of these
men acted out tasies of
aggression mastery
and over
vb»
wk/4 by adultsthroughoutformative these fantasies
within
ayearof be-other people,
suggesting
aprojected
them. repetition their
of own and
abuse
V
years. coming consciously
awareof
; ,;&#39;%
This quote
fromaserialmurderer There was
evidenceabuse
of inidentificationthe
with
aggressor.
As
illustratesbeliefs:
these the childhood
histories these
of
men. one murderer
stated, Nobody
both-
may; "See, ifl hadmy way,
you guys
Physical abuse
3/31!, psychological
ered to find out
what my
problem was
would never have grown
up or
abuse 3/31!,
and childhood
sexual
and nobody knew about
the fantasy
;.
nr
%;. become FBI
agents.wanted
l the abuse 2/31!were noted.
whole world
to kick
off when
l was When the
world."
offenders were
asked
about 9
or 10.l didn&#39;t
want my to ranktheir sexual
interests,high-
the Performance
family tobreak up;
l lovedthem est rankingactivity was
pornography Examination performancebe-
of
both. Therewasalot of fighting 81 percent!, followed compulsive
by havior of
these murderers
revealed
and that hadme
crying watching itmasturbationpercent!,
9 fetishism
another paradox.
Despite intelligenc
night.They divorced.
at l ve got
two 2 percent!, and voyeurism
1 per-and potential in manyareas, perform
sisters and
my mothertreatedme cent!. is
It interesting
to note the
likeathirddaughter telling
me what seemingly solitary of ance
pattern these sexual
inacademics, employm
relationships,
and military
serv-
a rottenfatherhave.
l&#39;m
l supposed ice was often poor.
In allof these
to be identifyingmy withdad
and l sexual expressions.
lt appears that thechildhood areas, performance did not
match po-
never
l got an
did. sister that
older physical sexual
and abuse
experi-
beats up
on mea lot- fiveyears tential.
older.got
l a that liesenced
younger sister in
fested
by
offenders was mani- Although
these
their preference ligence
for fantasy
men had the
these
perform
to
intel-
well school,
in aca-
on both
of us
and gets
us punished.
life. lnaddition, when
questioned
demic failure
was seen
in their
having
l hadthe instinct
to feel
like l&#39;m
about the
murders themselves
and to
repeatelementary grades.
The ma-
gettingrotten
a deal. their preparations
for the
murders,iority
the not
did finish
high school.
ln ad-
The data
have suggested
that men identified
the importance
fan-r dition,school failure
of was frequent
most the
of 36 0 tasyto the
murderers, grow-
while rapes murders.
and Afte
mentioned the
by men, suggesting
ing up,
had weak
attachments
t the first
murder,
men found them-
the that theyrelated this
early failure
to
ll ".
family members.
They uninvolved
felt selves deeply
preoccupiedsome-
and theirsense
of inadequacy.
with their
fathers, ambivalent
toward
0 times stimulated. their
by.memories
of The men
had the intelligence
also
E their mothers,
and little
attachmentethe t act, all
of which
O
contributed
t needed performskilled jobs;
to how-
younger siblings.
The parents
wer fantasiessubsequent
for ever, most
murders. offenderspoor had work
preoccupied their
withown
problemsOne begins to understandhow anhistories
unskilled
in and
jobs,
only
20
i. substance
of abuse, criminality,
or ab
Fl earlypattern used
to cope un percentever
with an had held
steady jobs
sexual behaviorwere
errant and oftesatisfactory family
life might
turna About half
of theoffenders en
arguing.appears
lt while
that parent
S
tered the
military. Only
4of the14
little guidance,were
offered theyrole
models for
deviant patterns.

99
;¢I;:
X.
».<
>§§iZ
;¢s:;;.
is r
253*
Z373
KI"

f3

who were
in military
service received
honorable discharges, function, the
and 1of the4 dominance historyof
abuse, the Auroerotic Preference
had acriminal history
in theservice. fantasy,
of the
preference
Two men received general dis- for solo
sex, andthe performance
fail- The men reported fewattach-
charges, three
were dishonorably
dis- ure these
of men, thedata suggest ments to persons outside of the
charged, three dis- the emergence
had undesirable of certain
attitudes. family. Rather,
they admitted
to an
charges, andtwo received
medicalDeva/uarionPeople autoerotic preference
masturbation!
of that combined
with fantasies
of ag-
discharges.
The sexualperformance of
the the study experi-gression and
The menin the realities
of theabuse
offenders was at auto-enced low
generally an social attachment,
de-
felt they were concurrently experiencing
erotic solo
sexual activity! level.
Al- tached from
family members
as well Their visual
interests pornography,
though 20men were
able to an
state as from
peers, anddid not
experiencefetishism, and
voyeurism! reinforced
age of first consentingsex toorgasm,the bonding through which people de-the sexand aggression.
they did notreport
an extensive, peer- sensitivity toward other
velop people.Fantasy isReality
related sexual history. Theages of The murderers frequently described
first consenting sexual experiencethemselves loners
asoras feeling dif- The offenders active participation
ranged from 11 to25.Of the 16 who ferent from
others their
age. The
re- in thesocial worldis limited,and their
did notreport an age,itwas clear to sultant attitudesinclude beliefs
that effortsperforming
at and fitting
in are
the inteniiewers that many never ex- not
do consider are
or insensitive
to frustrated. Their
need forasense of
perienced consenting "normal" sex.the needs of others. Essentially, the
adequacy and mastery of life isnoted
There was an obvious offenders not
preference for do value relationshipsin theirdevelopment-of private worlds
autoerotic activity. they areself-centered. where fantasyand delusions predomi-
The interviews with the
offenders nate. This
retreat triggers
the thoughts
World Viewed
as Unjust that dictate
criminal behavior.
revealed many
expressions of
low
self-esteem prior
to the murders. The menperceived discipline
in
Many offenders
felta sense
of and other Deviant Behaviors
failurethe home,school failures,
beginningayoung
at age. Again,we inadequate performanceas partof an The data suggest that
the deviant
on theimportance ofunjust and
can speculate unfair world. behaviors
Their resultant rape, mutilation, torture,
of
fantasy life.
It appears com- belief is
that what that other
people are
respon-and murder
have some
roots inboth
pensates for
poor performance
is the sible for their fates. the offendersbackground characteris-
fantasy,which
in the
variables can
be Authority and tics andtheir attitudes
and beliefs.
controlled. Life Viewed
as See fig. 1.! The deviant behavior
inconsistent identifiedtheat crime
scene provides
These menview authority some
and_life clues
for understanding
the type
Resultant Attitudes
and Beliefs as inconsistent, of
unpredictable, and criminal personality responsible
for
ln reviewing unstable.aAs
background charac- do the crime.
result,the offenders
teristicsthe
for offenders
asagroup,not value
or trust
authority.
Rape
apattern emerges aswe look at
issues critical
to sexual ObsessionDominance
homicide. Al- with through Rape is
sexually deviant
behavior
though the of the Aggression
personal strengths that exhibits
absolute disregard
for the
murderersintelligence,
high good
ap- The intensedesire be worth and
to strong, value of an individual.
Rape
pearance, averagesocioeconomic powerful, and
in controlbecomes an fantasies rangefrom havingpower
family status,
oldest sonor first/ obsessiondominate
to throughand control
ag- lent overavictim to morevio-
born!
second are usually
positive at-gression. This
desire results
from the sadistic
fantasies. Those who
tributes forsuccess, something to the rape beforekilling areseeking to
way theoffenders responded
which
occurs causes negative
a out-
abuse their
in families.
lt wassubse-
come for
these men.
From theper- quently manifested
in theirfantasies
ceived quality
of family
structure and
andlater
in their acts.

lOO
 ii llliii-llhlll i I i llii iilii
-uni iilmniuiii iltil ll Ill 1-iiiiu -iiii.
..-_._.,,

Figure 7
General Characteristics,
Resultant Attitudes
and Beliefs,
and Deviant
Behaviors of 36
Sexual Murderers
BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS
Background
Family individual DevelopmentPerformance
Detachment .Dominance fantasy
of School failure
2%;
7mi Sporadic work record
Criminality History of personal
abuse
dominate others,regardless of the Substance abuse
Unskilled employment
cw j consequences; thosewho sexually Poor military record
Psychiatric problems
assault after
death necrophilia!
need Sexual problems
Solo sex
the absence to have totaldomi-
of life inconsistent discipline
nation without
~< x1?*;-.- fear of
resistance and/
ti or rejection.
in bothcases, there is a
*7
;,,,. high amountof sexualdysfunction, RESULTANT ATTITUDES
AND DEVIANT BEHAVIOHS
$25 most frequently ejaculatory failure.
BEUEFS Rape
This inadequacy
is projectedonto
the
Mutilation
victim and may play a part in the es- Devaluation ofvictim andsociety
calation to murder. World viewed as unjust Torture
Authority/life viewedas inconsistent
Muti/at/on and Torture Autoerotic preference
Murder
The act of mutilation may be Obsession withdominance through
predicated onaprimary fantasy aggression
sadism! oron asecondaryfantasy Fantasy as reality
e.g., disposing
of thebody!. A
mutila-
tion fantasy includes symbolicpat-
terns to the cuttings and markingson
a body or the amputation
the
of lizing ofthe fantasy
makes them
real. low
of attachment,
social physical,
sexual partsof the body. Thisis in Acting outthe fantasylinks
the fanta- emotional, and/or sexual abuse, and
contrastto
the practical aspect
of dis- sy withreality, and the fantasybe- adominance 01 a violent, sexualized
secting abody fordisposal ortrans- comes reality. The offender believes fantasy life sets into motion the atti-
he can now control reality. tudes and beliefs that trigger the devi-
portation purposes.
Torturing avictim ispart
of asa- ant behavior of rape,
mutilation, tor-
distic fantasy.Such fantasiesinclude Conclusion ture, andmurder. Oneof the major re-
some typeof stimulusenhancing an What, then, can we glean
from an lationship deficienciesfor these mur-
autoerotic conditionand includeslic- analysisof background informationderers is in their interaction with men,
ing, cutting, out hairsand interviewswith 36 sexual murder- perhaps stemmingfrom the absent,
burning, pulling
or bodyparts, andbiting. ers? Although any speculations are cold, andunavailable father.
general in
nature and will notapply
to An understandingof some of
the
Murder killer, oursample indi-dynamics behind
every sexual sexually deviant
be-
Murder is the ultimate expression cates that child/adolescent energies havior provideslaw enforcement offi-
dominance. The offender saggres- were funneled into fantasies rather
of cials insight
some into the suspects
is
sion self-generated fromhis own than into goal-directed learning be- they aretrying toidentify andappre-
fantasies, not from anysocietal modelhavior. Excessiveinvolvement solo
in hend. Fm

I
of strengthor power.His ideaof mas- sex, notedthrough thefrequencyof
tering other emerges
people throughmasturbation and the preferencefor
his violence and aggression. For visual isolated sexual experiences, FootnotesME. Wolfgang, R.M
FigIio_ and
T. Sellin.
murderers,
these sexual interestis such as fetishes and voyeurism, may Delinquency aBirth
iri Cohort Chicago,
The University
oi
domi- Chicago
linked withviolence andexploitation have a link withthe offender&#39;s YR M
Press,
1972!.
Figlio and PE Tracy,"Chronic Recidivism
in
fantasy
rather than gentleness or pleasure. nant interest in the
world. Ahigh 1968Cohort. unpublished manuscript,
Birth
Washington, DC,
NIJJDP, 1983;Hamparian, R
D.M
Murder fantasies range from con- pornography detracts
from engagingSchuster. Dinitz,
S. and
Conrad, The Violent
JP Few
Lexington, MA:
D,C. Health
&C0,, 1978!, LWShannon,
scious deliberate planning to aspon- in realityand relationships
and further "A Longitudinal
Study oi
Delinquency and
Crime," in
taneous outburstof rage.
Although reinforces thefantasy. Excitementlies Quantitative Studies
in Criminology,
ed. CWeiiford
Beverly Hills:
Sage Publications,
1978!.
the offender&#39;s
fantasy life develops within the offender, notin his relation-
his predatory
activities, the
first actua- ships
with other people.
The roots of the murderer&#39;s ac-
tions appear
to stemfrom
their back-
ground experiences.
The combination

101
 I <~,.»-~
-_~

ii&#39;""l .

t plrf eIrly
92.

»» ll 8!
-
-an
to many
serial- killers,
. . . fantasies
of murder
f
are asreal astheir
.
actsof
murder.
what isimportant, this cal to the subsequentapprehension
article presents
r/7 J&#39;"Murder isvery real.lt s not thoughts and
beliefs articulated
by the of asuspect.
Ȣ
something you see ina movie.
You murderers themselves. First, wedis- The 36 murderers in our study,
;»>%
V have to do allthe practical
things of cuss the structure ofconscious mo- replying tothis fundamental question
4 surviving," t of
tives for murder, thekiller&#39;s long-what triggered their
first murders,
s" /
Murder is,indeed, veryreal. Yet standing fantasy
of violenceand revealed that as agroup, they were
to many
serial killers,
their fantasies
of murder. Second,
we lookat whathap- aware of their longstanding involve-
s/I
murder areas
real as their acts of pens when the fantasy is ment and preference fora very active
of murder
M!, murder. Tothem, theirexistence isplayed outthrough various
its fantasylife
phases. and they weredevoted to
1. split into
two realities:
The social
reali-By presenting
our interpretation
of the violent sexualfantasies. Mostof these
tyof
the normal world where people to the serial fantasies, prior
fantasy s importance to the first murder,fo-
do notmurder, and the psychological killer, we hope to suggest perspec-cused on killing, while fantasies that
vitality of
the fantasythat isthe impe-tives forlaw enforcement on thein- evolved afterthe rst murder oftenfo-
tus forthe killerto commit his hei-vestigation sexual homicide.
of on
cused perfecting various phases of
nous crime.
lt isasplit reality because the murder. The following illustrates
the fantasylife
is suchapreoccupa- Motive and Fantasy an earlyfantasyof
one of theserial
tion. Itbecomes an
additional reality, How does the motive for a murderers that developed following
distinguishablethe
from
other"
reali-murder evolve,
and whattriggers thethe move of his bedroom to awin-
ty ofthe day-to-day
social world. murderer to act? Many murdersdowless basement room. This fantasy
Interviews with36 convicted puzzle law
enforcement because
they
sexual murderers
have provided
in- appear lack
to the "usual" motives,
sights into
their attitudes,
beliefs, and
such as
robbery revenge.
or Motives,
justifications
their
forcrimes.
In orderhowever, needto be determined,
to interpret
the murderer&#39;s
senseof since understanding
the motive
is criti-

Published
the Federal
by
Bureau
Investigation,
of Department
U.S.
Justice!
of
Reprinted
the
from
FBI
Law Enforcement
Bulletin, August,
1985.
103
 / <
..-
W , 92
WX
llE-,
r
ca
if 1, ____ __
e

. . . many offenders reported a history of sadistic behavior

9
E/ax
toward animals, such as killing, maiming, and threatening
small animals. .. .
22%
yé
7 seemed to introduce him in a more The man would state he remembered the fantasy. What these 36 men re-
conscious way to afantasy life which having vague thoughts or was able to vealed in terms of
their first murder
occupied much of his life: remember some parts of his thinking was that something happened exter-
"l was eight years old, having but did not have this awareness clear- nally to them that moved them to act
nightmares, that&#39;s
when I went off ly structured in his mind. This re- out this fantasy.
into the morbid fantasy and that&#39;s sponse in subjects led to our belief The key person in the fantasy-
when the death trip
started. The that much of the motive and intent in the one doing the killing, maiming, or
devil was sharing my bedroom with the form of fantasies are vague and torturing is the perpetrator himself.
me, he was living in the furnace. loosely formulated until the murderers Sometimes, perpetrators fantasize
The furnace was there battling actually kill. With the reality of the self-victimization, such as ordering
away in the corner with an eerie murder, the fantasy feeds off itself their own evisceration, but most vic-
glow in the middle of
the night." and becomes more structured. As timize others in their fantasies. Their
more murders are committed, the actions are mentally rehearsed and
This man later in the interview de-
phases of the murders become more are accompanied by emotion. The
scribed aconscious awareness of his
motive to kill: organized. fantasy life is varied and has many dy-
Although we discuss the first namics that are idiosyncratic to the
I knew long before l started killing
murder, many offenders reported a murderer.
that l was going to be killing, that it
history of sadistic behavior toward ani- A variety of factors can trigger
was going
to end up like that. The
mals, such killing,
as maiming, and the offender to act on his fantasy, in-
fantasies were too strong. They
threatening small animals cats, birds, cluding certain interactions between
were going on
for too long and
fish!. In one case,
the murderer, as a the murderer and the victim. The fol-
were too elaborate."
young boy, had acquired the nick- lowing case illustrates the murderer s
Following the first murder, the fantasy name Doc," apparently from his recall of
the triggering event of the
becomes reality that requires a fondness for slitting open the stom- victim trying to escape, but not of the
change in the structure of the fantasy achs of
cats and observing how far murder:
in order to repeat the crime. The they could run before they died. Subject: "We were upstairs and I
same murderer fantasy
tells of this One murderer connected his mur- was taking my clothes off.
That s
development: derous acts to dismembering his sis- when she started back downstairs.
It was almost like ablack comedy ter&#39;s heads.
doll I used to do my sis- As a matter of fact,
that&#39;s the only
errors,
of the first killings, two ter s dolls that way when l was akid time I hit her. I caught her at
the
people, it was terrible because I .. .just yanked the head off her stairs."
made three fatal errors in the first Barbie dolls." Although this offender Agent: "What happened?"
24 hours. l should have been was able to note the connection to his Subject: She wanted to know why l
busted . . . I saw how loosel was early violent fantasies, many offend- hit her. I just told her to be quiet.
and I tightened it up and when it ers were not able
to make this link. She was complaining about what
happened again and again I got are
We not discussing in this arti- time she would get home and she
tighter and tighter and there weren t cle any motives based on childhood said her parents would worry. She
any more
slips. experiences. Instead, we are referring consented to sex . .. then I
Motivation operates on many to-a levelof motivation that later in remembered nothing else except
levels. We are referring here to the the life of the offender serves as a waking up and her dead in the
conscious or preconscious awareness basis for or triggers the murder. bed.
of the murderers, the structure of
their It is at this later level of motiva- Some murderers were aware of
fantasies, and the resultant act of tion that the offender&#39;s
fantasy life re- their fantasy to rape and their motive
murder. We use the term precon- itself
flects in his social
behavior-the
to kill. The fantasy of one juvenile
scious" since many of
the interviews line betweenfantasy andreality blurs. who was caught after his first rape de-
with the murderers this
reveal level. The offender may become isolated or picted total control over women. He
socially aloof
rather than acting on the
fantasy. This social isolation perhaps
helps in inhibiting his desire to act on

104
 Fantasies provide asense of
was infuriatedat the female judge when chastized by ateacher orboss,
control to the offender. For the serial
who sentenced him toaresidentialfa- these offenders talk to themselves
murderer, they become obsessions.
cility, and to rapewhen about it lf l ever got that son of a Efforts are
he continued made to improve the fanta-
on leave from the facility. The rape bitch l&#39;d
rip him apart; I&#39;d
smash him
sy s weak areas, and once this is ac-
fantasy escalated
include murder
to up." One offender,after
performing
when there was a threat to this power poorly inthe serviceand beingintimi- complished, theoffender movesto
gain accessto avictim. The symbolic
and control.i.e., his detection. One dated by his sergeant, went a.w.o.l. figure in the fantasyis replacedwith a
rape victimwas killedbecause she on adrinking binge. Whileout on the
real person in reality.
showed some assertiveness by run- street, he beat adrunk to death after
ning away, she hadsaid the mangrabbed athim. Theoffender
even though Phases of aMurder
she wouldn&#39;t
tell. The murderer re- felt justifiedin his actions andwas un-
of
aware the intensity of his rage or The fantasy underlying a sexually
25$- vealed
,...£I&#39;
.. his fantasy for total
control
when he said, When I think she is the impact of his blows.
He then beat oriented murder drives the offender s
,-/A,
71. .
h g/ going to
tell,l knowl haveto killher. death asecond man. Finally, he actions throughvarious phasesof that
to
murder. The act murder
of has at
four morevic- abducted afemale
He rapedand murdered acquaintance.
When he awoke
the next morning, her least four major phases, including: 1!
tims.
Some of the murderers in our dead body was beside him with a Antecedent behavior, which includes

study did not report

fantasies in a broomstick impaledin her vagina with the motives and planning orthinking
about the murder; 2! the murder itself,
conscious way. instead, they often such force
that it had penetrated her
describedstates
of dysphoria, suchas lungs. Although he believeshe killed including gainingaccess to the victim
her, he has no recollection ofthe inci- and carryingout the crime; 3!disposal
they werenot feelingwell, theywere
"1252: dent. He even helped the police look of the body; and 4! postcrime behav-
,:;z>.;. depressed, or
they hadbeen drinking.
ior, includingreaction to the discovery
her.
1%/"Z: These descriptionsoften revealedan for
underlyingstress
that may havebeen Most people are aware of their of the body.
based intheir fantasy.The followingis fantasy life in terms
of making pic-
1 Phase 1:
Antecedent Behavior
an example:
tures and carrying on dialog. When
people report hearing voices,it is Murder is abehavioral Moti-
act.
Subject: itwas thesame aswith vations for this behavior include either
the other one. lhad been drinking most often
an hallucination. it is
often
aconscious fantasy, plan, directive, or
described as either avoice from the
at the bar. l don&#39;t
even remember
reason to kill or atriggering environ-
leaving.l don t know whatmade me outside or as someone transmitting mental cue that activates an uncon-
kill her. ldon t even know why l thoughts into
their mind.Something is
raped her.l had agood looking wife in their
heads of which they are con- scious fantasy for murder. Murderers
sciously awarebut they believe it is in who operate primarily onaconscious
at home. l saw her get into her car
the control of someone else and that motivational level
usually remember
and I walked up and got in the car
they arethe passivevictim. their thoughts prior to the murder.
with her,yelled at her, tookher One of the murderers in our study de-
down therewhere l raped her. l The fantasyof the serial murderer
is aseparate, distinct reality.It is vi- scribed his entangled fantasy and per-
kept tellingher Ididn&#39;t
hurt
to want versions and said, "l had acompul-
her but ljust started chokingher." brant and vital, distinguishable from
the other reality of the social world. sion during the day and hoped it
We suspect that these offenders would settle down hoped l could
The offender believes he can move
were preoccupied withakind of inter- wipe it out drinking."It did not settle
nal dialogthat sustainedanger, dis- from one reality to the other, that down, and he acted out the fantasy
content, irritability, ordepression.
ideas generated
in fantasyare viable.
No fantasy thought is ever seen
as and murdered after leaving the bar.
Drinking or
drugs are attempts at Murderers who are triggered into
abnormal. For example, one murder-
moderating theinternal stress,yet the action by an environmentalcue often
fantasy continues. These offenders
er s fantasyinvolved anexceptionally
good sexualexperience, and when state that they cannot remember their
are unaware of how much internal
the woman sbehavior didnot match
dialog theyexperience. For
example, the fantasy, he became enraged and
killed her.

105
 es»
§" .;. »
U
,2
»= IA
Sexual homicide
is anact ofcontrol, dominance,
and
performance that
is representative
of anunderlying fantasy
embedded with violence, sexuality,and
death.
gggm
3;,
tie
Q,» precrime behavior,although they can offender feels unfairly treated, and
2a- The power the fantasy during
of
?t recall how they murdered They state this sets into motion the justification
#3:
they foundthemselves ina compro- to kill. As one murderer said, "l the murder is illustrated by one fetish
yx
mising situation,and
they reacted with couldn t perform sometimes. Some- burglar. He killed his victimsonly
é. when he was interrupted,but not be-
&#39;2 explosive rage.She was screaming fun
bodymade of meand lblew my cause he was afraid of being identi-
5 and Istrangled her."! These killers stack."
fied. He was acting out an intense
usually described a spontaneous Killing the victim moves
the of-
murder. The vagueness of the crime fantasy, andthe unexpected
interrup-
fender toanother level of thefantasy. tion made him furious. He acted on
continued with subsequent murders; At this point, the reality of murder
this rage and felt
justified in the
however, the men areaware thatthey comes
into play. The victim may not murder.
will kill again. die the way the offender planned.The
2;: offender might have to use more
vio- Phase 3:Disposing of
the Body
Phase 2:Committing theMurder lence, he may feel more frightened After committing the murder, the
Selecting avictim begins the than anticipated,or he might be star- offender must decide
what do with
to
acting-out level for the murderer with tled by the fact he feels excited. the body. If this confrontation with re-
aconscious fantasy. The offender Some murderers are exhilarated
has
ality not been anticipated, the
/ may havea listof criteriafor choosing they brokethe rules,they killed.Some murderer may
give himself up to the
a victim, and many murderers are will kill again, while others will,
in authorities. As one murderer said,
"lt
known toseek outthe rightvictim. A horror over what they did,
turn them- blew my mind
killing those people. l
delay before killing the victim often selves in to the police. wasn&#39;t ready
for that. The fantasies
implies consciousplanning and re- During this
phase, murderers are were there but Icouldn t handle the
hearsing of the fantasy. In these the
alsoconfronted
with reality of a death trip and dead bodies. lfreaked
cases, the murderer often held an
body. There isno
dead such thing
as out and
gave myself up.
elaborate fantasy,laced withviolence, killing with
impunity there is
always It is unclear whysome murderers
aggression, torture,and sexuality, some response. Some murderers re- just leave the body,
while others use
which also
included the fate of the by
spond covering thebody,washing elaborate methods
victim.
of disposing
of the
the wounds,or otherwisecaring for body. Oneoffender whodescribed his
The history and circumstancesof the body,
a response thatexhibits re- internal dialog as he confronted the
the victim are often important to the morse or concern the
for victim. body of his first
murder victim said,
l
offender&#39;s fantasy.
The victimmay be Some murderers
hide or bury the got adead body on my hands.People
symbolic of someone in the offender&#39;s
raising
body, some questions about see me come in here. Howam I going
history, as in one case where all the their motives. One reason for hiding topack this out? Am I gonna put it in
young women killed were symbolic of burying the body
or is to keep the adouble bag orsheet andcarryitout
the offender&#39;s
sister for whom he har- secret and maintain control. Other mur- of here? the
l figured smaller the
bored great jealousy. Certainactions derers openly display thecorpse ina better. lchopped it up . .. stuffed
of thevictim mayalso triggerthe fan- public area,hoping the display will some inthe refrigerator
. . . dumped
tasy. One murderer, who selected his shock andoffend society. guts in vacant lots . . . throwing
victims through
hitchhiking, said, She Some murderersneed to believe pieces here and there what ever
was playingup the role, the big beau- that
they will not show anyconcern came out of the bag first
. . . lwas
tiful smileand gettingin the car which
for thevictim. The
actual murder
goes scared."
was kind of tragic but she had adver-
beyond their fantasiesthat killing.
of In asecond the
case, murderer
to
tised get blownaway. One murderer described his
height- describedaplanned dismembering of
For the murderer withouta con- ened excitement when driving
his car the body
after killing thevictim in a
scious fantasy,acertain person or
sit- with the dead
bodies the
in trunk. car. He then carried the body in a
uation may, for example, cue in a There is confirmation and reinforce-
strong belief of
an unjust world. The ment of the fantasy and pleasure or
triumphinthe power of the kill. These
killers maytorture and then kill,
or kill
then
and mutilate the
body.
 up two flights of
stairs to the The importance of postcrime the
to worst of the fantasies that l
he sharedwith his mother, events to the overall fantasy illus-
is have."
two persons coming down the trated by one case in which the of- interviews with sexual murderers
stairs He said It took meticulous fender worked as ahospital ambu- provided information their
about fanta-
. about four hours . . . dis- driver.
lance He kidnaped his victims sies which, in turn, provide us with a
membering it, getting rid of the blood, from the parking lot of arestaurant partial answer to murders that appear
the gore, completely cleaning the and took
them another
to location, to be motiveless. These crimes are
bathroom." where he raped and murdered them. committed, in part, as aresult of the
Some murderers became in- He then anonymously telephoned the acting out of apsychological fantasy.
volved with the body through sexually police to report seeing a body,
re- fantasies
These are extremely violent
sadistic acts. This may be part of the turned to the hospital to receive the and range from rape to mutilation or
old fantasy or
development of anew ambulance call,
and then drove the torture and murder. Fantasies are an
one. While the offender who freaked ambulance with the body back to the important part of the offender s basic
out and gave himself up was in hospital. In essence, he orchestrated personality and move beyond normal
prison, he spent an enormous amount ascene that he had rehearsed nu- sexual, consenting, pleasure-based
psychic
of energy rehearsing and merous times
in his mind. daydreams to aggressive, sadistic,
mastering the body disposal phase. and destructive thoughts. These fan-
After his release, .he murdered eight Conclusion tasies become so vivid that they
pro-
more women. He stated, I got rid of Sexual homicide is an act of vide the impetus for
the offender to
that -icky feeling of messing with the
=>&#39;Z control, dominance, and performance act them
out with victims of opportunity.
274;:
&#39; dead. Only one guy that gets more that is representative of an underlying lt isimportant for law enforce-
Va: casual around abody than me . . . a fantasy embedded with violence, sex- ment officers aware
to be of the exist-
mortician or apathologist. But some uality, and death. Yet, for some killers, ence of these fantasies and of the
of my fantasies were so bizarre that it one act of murder fulfills their fantasy, types of individuals who have them.
would turn the stomach of apatholo- while others feel compelled to contin- While the crime, and therefore the
ré a ue killing.
gist." fantasy, may appear to be
bizarre to
Some murderers, while in prison, law enforcement, it is essential re-
to
Phase 4." Postcr/me Behavior attempt to determine how they failed alize that these
fantasies an
play im-
During this phase, the murderer s in the murder in order to be success- portant part in the offender&#39;s basic
fantasy becomes reality, providing a ful the next time. Their need to repeat personality. Therefore, as law en-
sense of purpose for the offender. the act of murder is connected with forcement officers become sensitive
The authorities are looking for him so their sense of control. to this phenomenon and seek out
he now focuses his energies on not Other murderers live in fear of re- clues which the
imply presence of
getting caught and perhaps even into peating the crime; their compulsion to fantasy, they will aid in
profiling and
improving his methods for the next kill is bewildering to them. They don t
murder.
apprehending offender.
the Fm
want to get caught, yet at the same
An important aspect of the post- time they are hoping they will be
crime behavior is the discovery of the caught. Several murderers wrote
Footnote
body. This discovery is sometimes in- stop me" statements in notes
to Serial murderer
convicted killing
of 10
people.
cluded in the fantasy, and the murder- police oron the wall at
the murder
er may try to maintain his level of ex- scene, while others turned themselves
citement. He may telephone write
or in to police. Yet, the fantasies contin-
to the police, or he may be in acrowd ued. One killer stated, lt is a
at the scene when the body is discov- development . . . getting tired of a
ered. The murderer may even confess certain level of
fantasy and then going
to the crime in order to accompany even farther and even more bizarre.
police to the location of
the body. Year after year [the development con-
tinued] and finally it got off in such
deep ends that
lm still not exposed

107
 92 I

Chapter 3

"ezsw
-cw...
V /av essi /ing Sexual
Homicide
Grime Scenes
1
5
J!

"»
lnterrater Reliability
>16-
E&#39;
The unsolved homicide presents style characteristics,
arrest history,lo- of correctly
classifying the crime
cation of
residence in relation to the and the crime
scene, we needed to
amajor challengeto
law enforcement establish the reproducibility of these
officers.These
unsolved cases, which scene, andcertain charactertraits. classifications. This article reports our
often include asex-related compo- The Agents responsible for pre-
investigation of
the Agents abilityto
nent, usually have no apparent paring the offender profiles have
reproduce independently
other s
each
motive. Thevictim hasbeen
sexually found it useful classify
to the type
of
and
crime the organizational structure classifications. This ability to replicate
abused, and killing
the natureof the
indicates behaviorpatterns
that the
reflect of crime scene.The crime
is clas- decisionsiscalled inlerrater reliability.
sexual deviation,specific character sified as sex-related, nonsexual, or
Study Design
unknown. Evidence of asexual com-
traits, and perhaps even psychopa- Six BSU Special Agents with
thology. Alsoreferred toas lustmur- ponent anywherewithin the crime
scene justifiessex-related classifi-
the varying levels
of experiencein profil-
ders, these
murders often include ing participated
in the reliability inves-
severe beating and multiplestabbing cation. Theorganizational structure
of
the crime scene is determined byevi- tigation. Data
from 64murder scenes,
victim, body mutilation
of the as
such
planning and covering avariety of
removal ofsexual organs!,and sexua- dence of the amount of
circumstances
both sexual and nonsexual, were se-
Iized positioningthe body after
of premeditation by
offender,
the as well
control over the lected for the study. For each crime
as of the offender&#39;s
death. scene selected,one of the participat-
Behavioral Science victim. For example, aweapon taken ing Agentswas thoroughly
The FBl&#39;s familiar
Unit BSU!has beeninvolved sinceto a crime scene and carried away
with the case. This Agent presented a
1972 in assisting city, county, and suggests planning,
as contrastedwith
short description of the crime scene
State law enforcement
agencies in aweapon used andleft at the crime
investigations of
their unsolved mur- scene, suggesting opportunity and and showed crime
scene photos.
The presentationwas restricted
ders by preparing profiles the un- spontaneity.
of to information immediately
identified offenders,after extensive ln sex-related crimes, the struc- solely
examination ofthe crimescene
data, ture of
the crime scene
provides in- available at
the crimescene; noinfor-
characteristics,
victim and autopsyre- patterns of mation from
sight intothe offender&#39;s laboratory tests or later
investigation wasdivulged. Thisre-
This
ports. profile mayinclude the behavior. For example, awell-orga- striction allowed the other
Agents to
l perpetrators age, socioeco-nized crime
race, sex, scene indicates an of-
focus on immediate data. Other de-
l. nomicand
marital status, intellectual fender witha conscious plan of action
the
after murder to avoid detection tails of the investigation,
if discussed
and educational
level, occupation,
life- by the presenter, might
have influ-
and apprehension.
Currently, the the
systematical-enced
BSUis Agents in forming their
ll ly studyingtheir profilingprocedures
ll
j. through scientific
and statistical
analy-
ses. Because of the importance
2
August 1985
t
l 109
 I.
11

551

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__ 1 111 *

. - - ~ ~ &#39; ""
 3/ i§;==;..
.
This studydemonstrated that
there isreliability the
in 2,.
Ll:

classificationcrime
of types
and scenes by BSU Agents. ,=v

i.1.2
1

__3.2

Unknown Homicide
When it is not obvious whethera
crime is sex-related, the
homicide is
classified as
unknown. For example,a ij. Mfg;
skeleton buriedor abandonedmay
not provideuseful evidence,
and a 3
partially decomposed
body may
give
confused indications,
expecially ifthe 1.
body has
been mauled
by ananimal.
Structure of the Crime Scene Case D: This case involved aseries There
tion. may be two or more oi-
After the classification of
crime homicides in which the victims,
of fenders involved in the homicide, or
type, each
Agent was
asked to
classi- were
who found in rivers, had the offender may begin the crime in
fy independently
the structure
the
of automotive parts tied
to their an organizedmanner beforehis plan. >
crime scene as
organized, disorga- bodies. Thefemale victimswere all ning deteriorates as
unanticipated
nized, mixed,or unknown.The pre- grossly mutilated
removalof events occur. inconsistencies are
senter also classified the crime breasts andfeet, pelvicdamage!. noted in the behavior of
the offender.
scenesbased
on what hebelieved The victims had been reported as Although the organized or disorga-
the scenealone indicated.
The distri- missing during
the courseof aday; nized classifications fit many cases,
bution of
the 64 murder scenes, as one never returned after shopping. not all crime scenes fit into one of
given bythe presenters,
shown in
is There were indications that they these categories. ln addition, crime
figure 2. had been kept for several days scenes may display varying degrees
before beingthrown intothe river. of organization
and disorganization.
lt
is in these instances that the mixed
3
The murdererwould
have a
needed
Figure2
car to transport themfrom where category is useful. =
Crime SceneClassification By
they werelast seenalive towhere F:
Case A 21-year-old woman&#39;s
Presenters
their bodies were discovered. partially
body, hidden from
view, $
.1
Crime Num- Per- found
was at agarbage dump. The 1%
Type
Scene ber cent Disorgan/ zed Crime
Scene body hadstab wounds
in thevagina
The disorganizedcrime scene
in- and groin,and thevictim&#39;s throat

48.4 dicates spontaneity

and amore fren-
zied assault. The scene itself is most
likely thelocationof
encounter.
had beenslashed. Inaddition, her
nipples had
been amputated
and
her face severely beaten.Her hair
had been cut and was found
&

32.8
Case E:A 16-year-oldgirl waslast
seen leavingto ride her horsein a hanging from
anearbytree branch.
favorite riding area. Police were Test resultsindicated thevictim had
notified when
she several
was been sexuallyassaulted and

14.1
*
hours late in returning home. A murdered shortlyafter leavingher K
search teamfound thegirl&#39;s body job. investigation
revealedtwo
one-half mile from the farm where brothers were involved in the
she lived. Her body was face
up, murder, oneof whom
the victim
Organized.......31
Disorganized ..
Mixed ..............9
Unknown......
.. ___lf
21 4.7 spread-eagled, jeans
and
underpants pulleddown
to the
ankles,ahooded sweatshirt draped
was livingwith atthe timeof
death.

Unknown Crime
her

Scenes
across the left breast, her bra was
pulledbelowboth
breasts, and The unknown scene pertains to
TOta|............64 100.0
of clothingwas draped thosecases
another item that cannotbe
classified
across herneck.
A 10-inch vertical on
based immediate crime scene
Organized Scene
Crime cut was present atthe baseofher data. For example,adecomposed.
neck; anothercut was
just below buried body probably would not pro-
The organizedcrime sceneindi- vide enough
information upon
which
a
planning
cates and premeditationon her rightjaw. Blunt-force
wounds
present
were on her head. Itwas classification could be
based.
the partof theoffender. For
example,
the crimemay becommitted inase- determined atthe crimescene that
cluded or isolated areaselected by she hadbeen raped,
but probably
the murderer, or the victim may be after death.
killed in one location and transported
 if

Figure3
Agreement
ofAgents
Homicide
TypeClassifications
With
PresenterClassification
s
Agent Cases Classi ed Case
Agreed Agggirgm

62
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23
The interrater reliability study
evaluated
the agreement
of Agentsin
 l l i-ii.-... l

--re;
Crime Scene
and Pro le
haraeierisfies
Organized
of and
1..
z Zr

. .5
z
2}?»
/gr.

/
Disorganized Murderers s2¬;$e
%" . .. . therewere significant
differences Q If

.a~.
in thecrime scenes
of organized
and
disorganized offenders.
.urea
re
.. When requestedby alaw en-
¥%§
forcement agencyto assistin avio-
lent crime
investigation. Agents
the at
the Behavioral
Science Unit
BSU! of
the FBIAcademy provide
abehavior-
based suspect profile.
ally Using infor-- "l<»M
mation received
from law
enforcement
about the
and crime scene,
crime the
have
Agents developed
atechnique
for classifying
murderers into
one of
two categories-organized
or disorga-
nized,
aclassification
method evolving
from years
of experience
and knowl-
edge.the serviceadvancing
ln of the
art ofprofiling, the
Agents were
anx-
know if this classification
ious to
system could
be scientifically
tested.
This article
describes the
research
study and
statistical
performed
tests 5 »,-
byahealthservices research
staff on /

data collected.

Obiectives of
the Study
Thirty-six convicted
sexual mur-
derers wereinterviewed by
FBI Crime scene
of anorgan/zed offender
investigated
Themajor
objectives of thisstudy by Pierce
Brooks1958
in while
ahomicide
detec-
Agents aforstudy
sexualhomicide
on were to test, using statistical inferen- tive sergeant
with lhe
Los Angeles
Depart-
Po/ice
crimescenes
and patterns criminal
of tial procedures,
whether are sig-
there ment.
behavior. These
study subjects
repre- nificant behavioral
differences atthe
sented 25 serial murderers the crime scenesbetween crimescommit-
murder of
separate victims,
with time ted by organized and disorganized
breaks between
victims ranging
from murderers andtoidentify variables
2daysto weeks months!and 11that maybe usefulin profilingorga-
or
sexual murderers
-who had
committed
l eitherasinglehomicide, double
homi-
l
cide. or spree
murder.
l
l Published
the the
Federal
Bureau
by
rinted fromFBI
Investigation,
ofBulletin,
Department
U.S.
Law Enforcement
of Justice!
August,
1985.
l Rep
l
l 115
éi ~~~ A-----w»--~q|~~-- ~---____&#39;_,r..._M.| __ __
 2 ~¢

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=

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5»;&#39;
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c?éZ§§}=
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;3&#39;%:r¢¬?
at
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/9?
Victims of serial murderers have been noted to share
Xcommon
§"&#39;>::;. characteristics.
§f¬5=§i
/ /~
Y
nized and disorganized murderers. In
~31.
IAP 1»
4 for
order the study to achieve its ob-
lnnwe1
/ ;£ 711.
7/
07"/3&#39; iectives, the Agents first had to classi-
l
1Profile Characteristics ofOrganized and
Disorganized Murders
,4 "ax fy the 36 murderers into the organized
or disorganized group, the breakdown HGANIZED DISORGANIZED
a; being 24 organized murderers and 12
; Average to
above-average intelligence Below-average intelligence
disorganized murderers.
Socially competent Socially inadequate
Skilled work preferred Unskilled work
Results of Analyses
, Sexually competent Sexually incompetent
The study determined that there
Low birth order status
=32} £5
" f&#39;23:i significant
were differences in the i High birth order
status
, Father&#39;s
work stable Father&#39;s work
unstable
crime scenes of organized and disor-
ganized offenders, and that certain
i Inconsistent
childhood discipline Harsh discipline as child
T Controlled mood during
crime Anxious mood during crime
background differences were also Use of alcohol with crime Minimal use of alcohol
found between them. There were four l
Precipitating situational stress Minimal situational stress
¢ aspects of the crime where dif-
Living with partner Living alone
2 ferences between organized and dis-
Mobility with car in good condition Lives/works near crime scene
organized murderers
were analyzed: Follows crime
in news media Minimal interest in news media
a ! The murderer s action during the
May change jobs or leave town Significant behavior change
drugl
offense, ! victim characteristics,
alcohol abuse, religiosity, etc.!
! use of vehicles in the crime, and
2 ! types of evidence left at the crime
scene. Table 1 provides the profile Organized Offender: Profile age IQ, he often works at
occupations
characteristics that achieved levels of Characteristics his
below abilities, yet prefers a skilled
significance between the organized Organized offenders have a high occupation. His work history is also
and disorganized murderers, while birth order, often
being the first
born sporadic.
table 2 shows the crime scene char- son in a family. The father&#39;swork his- Precipitating situational stress,
acteristics for the two groups. tory is
generally stable, and parental such as
problems with finances, mar-
perceived
discipline is inconsistent.
as riages, employment, and relationships
Although the organized offender with females, is often present prior to
has an
average or better than aver- the murder.
The organized offender is
socially adept and is usually with
living
Table 2 apartner.
The organized offender may
Crime Scene Differences Between Organized report an angry frame of mind at the
and Disorganized Murderers of
time the murder state
or he was
ORGANIZED MSORGANEED l However,
depressed. while committing
the crime, he admits being calm and
Planned offense Spontaneous offense relaxed. Alcohol may have been
con-
Victim atargeted stranger Victim/location known
sumed prior to the crime.
Personalizes victim Depersonalizes victim The organized offender is
likely to
Controlled conversation Minimal conversation
have a car that is in good condition.
Crime scene reflects overall control Crime scene
random and sloppy Evidence continued
of fantasy is
Demands submissive victim violence
Sudden to victim
present in terms of
taking remem-
Restraints used Minimal use of restraints
brances of the victim or crime
scene.
, Aggressive
acts prior
to death Sexual acts after death
Newspaper clippings of the crimes are
lBody hidden Body left in view
3 Weapon/evidence absent Evidence/weapon often present
Transports victim or body Body left at death scene

116

.4__- ..___»-------»
..... ~ -~ "
 &#39;

Fantasyritual
and dominate
with the
organized offender.
..
avoids leaving
evidence behind
and
found duringsearches ofthe victim
fenders
asapreludeto
may use
the attack. Of-often moves
impersonation
as a
the bodyfrom thedeath
residence, indicating
the of- method togain access to avictim. scene.While sexual
followed thecriminal investiga-The offender&#39;s acts arepart ofthe
demeanornot
is usual- fantasy planning
the crime, murder
of
newspaper.
in the ly suspicious.
He maybe average
or may not beaconsciousmotive until
2.,t eScene
above averagein appearance,
height, there
is a triggering
cue. This
is illus-
" The initial theatand
observation weight;
business
he maybe dressed
uniform, or
suit,
in a
neat, casual by
trated one murderer&#39;s
following
mt of
scene an organized
offender
attire. ln
the organized
style of
attack, statement:
= that some
semblance
order
of exist-
aimed atgaining theconfidence of
"l hadthought about
saying what
killing her.. .
amlgoingto dowhen
prior, during,
and after
offense. the victim,there
the is first theeffort to
jl sceneof
methodical
organization
use verbalmeans
to capture the
this isover. Amlgoingto lether go
%1;,§%|ggests
acarefully
planned crime
victim rather
than physical
force. The so shecan callthe copsand get
is aimeddeterring
at detection.
organized offender
frequently his me busted
uses took offrunning that decided
it in
again? Sowhen she
Although the crime
may be or the victim&#39;s vehicle
in the offense. my mind
»anned, the victim
is frequentlya Ftape, well
as as
murder, may
be that killing
her was
whatl
?,§§§stranger is targeted
because
and he the planned crime. Murderis alwaysa was goingto do."
she is ina particular locationpossibility following
rape; the assailantCase Example
staked outby theoffender. ln this threatens the of an
Organized
victim&#39;sandlife
bran-
éisense, the
victim becomes of
a victim dishes aweapon. Sexual control is Offender
opportunity. Victims
of serial
murder-continued past
conversation to
de- The followingcase involvesthe
ers have been noted to share mands for and murdersfive
of reactionsrapes
specific types of women
by one
2 common characteristics.
The offenderfear, passivity! iuvenile offender:
Z, often has
during the
sexual as- Victim 1: A woman in her late
apreferenceforaparticular sault. Whenthe victim&#39;s
behavior20&#39;s found
wasabout
150 yards
into a
type ofvictim, and
thus, mayspendstops being passive and
compliant,
considerable time
T521; searching forthe wooded culvertarea outsideher
<;-git
"right" victim.
As one aggression be
offender said: mayincreased
by theapartment.car
Herwas
found
inthe
offender.
l&#39;mperson. Plenty oftimes
a night Control overthe victim is also parking lot.
that l went out looking, but never noted in Recreating the scene, police
the useof
restraints,such as speculated that the victimwas ap-
came across nothing and just went arope, chain, tape, belt, clothing,
back home. l d sit waiting, and as I chemical, handcuffs, proached after
she parked hercar.
lt
gag, andblind- was known she arrived home late at
was waiting,lwas relivingall the The way weapons
fold. are used may night from work. Shewas found
in a
others."
Common characteristics
suggestasadistic
of vic- fender s plan.
element the
in of-stream after being assaulted,
The killing
is eroticized, drowned, andstrangled. Her head
tims selected by anindividual murder-as intorture where death comes in a had been
er mayinclude age, appearance, oc- held under water whileshe
slow, deliberatemanner. Thepower was beingstrangled. There was no
cupation, hairstyle, lifestyle.Target- over another
or person&#39;sisseenlife
in evidence ofsevere beating
ed victims in thissample included ad- one example the
to
in whicha murderer de- body; althoughsome defense wounds
olescent male youths, hitchhikingcol- scribed tighteningand loosening the were present,
lege coeds, nurses, women frequent-rope mutilation did
occur.
not
around the victim&#39;s
neck as he The only
item takenfrom the
ing bars,women sitting in automobiles watched thevictim slip
inand out ofa victim was
male
with companions, andsolitary conscious state. a ring of littlevalue. The
women drivingtwo-doorcars. victim was
found partially
clothed. Her
Fantasy and ritual dominate with shoes, found further down the trail,
The organized offender socially
is the organized offender; obsessive,
adept andmayengage
in conversa-compulsive traits surface inthe be- suggestedlocationthe the
of sexual
tion ora pseudo-relationship with the havior and/or crime scene patterns.
The offenderoften bringsaweapon
with himto the crime, taking
it with
him upondeparture. He
carefully

117

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assault. Footprints were present at Victim 5: The fifth victim, a Medical examination and crime
site;
this tire tracks were not. The woman in her mid~20 s, was last seen scene assessment show rape prior to
victim lived in ahighrise building with at aparty at 1:30 or 2:30 a.m. She left death, and death is sudden with mini-
many apartments, parking lots, and the party with several people and was mal mutilation, again
indicating the
cars. later found dead inthe same wooded well-planned crime by the organized
Victim 2: A woman her
in mid- culvert area
as previous victims. She antisocial criminal. The victims are
20&#39;s was found fully dressed in a was found stabbed several times in sized up" prior to the approach, and
wooded area less than
a quarter mile the chest
and had been partially the killer knows they will not resist if
the
from location of
the first victim. buried in the culvert. There was evi- he promises release after rape. He
She was not near water. She had of
dence sexual assault. has raped before the killing started,
stabbed
been to death repeatedly in Considering the dynamics and but some life trauma has triggered the
the chest. Although there was evi- pattern of the aforementioned case, taking of the life of victim #1. The of-
dence of sexual assault, there was no the following crime scene assessment fender has had past problems with
overkill to the body, no mutilation. and subsequent criminal personality law enforcement, and once he has
Again, the victim was coming home profiling would be possible. killed, he feels he
must continue to kill
late at night. Apparently she parked The offender selects victims who to avoid victims testifying against him.
her car and was abducted prior to are returning home during the late He does not value the life a
of victim
reaching her apartment. evening or early morning hours. The over the chance that she may identify
Victim 3: This victim was similar assaults generally take place near the him to the police.
in physical appearance, age, and victims homes, as they are walking In summary, the assailant in the
manner killed to the second victim. from their parked cars.
The offender five homicides is an organized, anti-
There was evidence of sexual assault; is watching the parking areas for social personality. He is ayouthful
underclothing in disarray suggested women
single returning during these white male, has good intelligence, is
she was re-dressed after death. A times. He takes the victims from the articulate and manipulative. He fits i
i
stocking was missing, although her apartment complex to wooded into the community and has lived
were
shoes on. areas close by for the assaults. He there for many years. He lives in
Victim 4: Several months later, a chooses the time and place of as- close proximity to all victims. He
similar crime occurred in the same sault. Since no scream or resistance precipitates his crimes with alcohol 1
general vicinity. A black woman, in her is evident, one must assume the as- and/or drugs, possibly is first born in 1
early 3O s, was found dead. She usu- sailant carries aweapon and instructs his family, and is sexually competent.
the victims to accompany him to the t
ally worked late and arrived home be- He probably has agirlfriend; yet had a l
tween 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Her car was secluded area. This indicates apersua- recent problem with her prior
to the l
also parked where she would have sive, articulate person who convinces first killing. Considering his age, he
entered the apartment building. Al- them no harm will come to them if they would live with a single parent and
do as he instructs." He would be 2
though discovered further away than would have car
no he
since selects t
the other victims, she was still not manipulative and have ahistory of anti- victims on foot,
sometimes using their
more than ahalt mile from where she social traits and behavior. He is youthful cars in the assault. He probably would
lived. There was evidence of sexual and aggressive, probably macho. follow the media reports of the crime
assault, and she too had been stran- Since he uses the same MO in and may be ina crowd of onlookers
gled and drowned. The method and each assault, one must assume he when the police locate the bodies.
location were similar to the first crime knows the territory well, both the trav- The police investigation in this
scene and was consistent with the eled built-up areas and the surround- case of multiple rape-murder led to a
work schedule of the victim. ing woods. He probably lives in the 17-year-old white male living very
youthful,
area, is and has grown up close to all victims who lived within a
and played in the woods as achild.
He is along-term resident.

&#39;|TD ___
,¥_____.. .. . ------mm-tr-I-»~r <
 of
or
fulof
people
and may
low birthstatus inthe awell-defined
have developed
1-mile radius
&#39; ii? in alarge city
suburb. He gence delusional system.
He
family. Also,
harsh parental
discipline
acts impulsively
under stress,
finding
5 was bright,
yetamarginalachiever in
is sometimes
reported aaschild.
The avictim usually within
his owngeo-
school, lived
with his
mother, and
did father&#39;s
history
workunstable,
is and
not ownacar. He wasknown asa the disorganized offender seemsto graphic area.
The disorganized
offenderalso
is
macho ladiesman and
acon artist" mirror this
pattern with
his ownincon- sexually incompetent,
often never
among peers.
his He
used beerand sistent and
poor work
history. Typical-
having achieved
any level
of sexual
marijuana
precipitatehis offense
to ly, this
offenderpreoccupied
is with
intimacy a
with
peer.
Although of-
the
and selected
victims an
in areaherecurring obsessional
and/or primitive
fendersthis
in sample claimedbe to
grew up
in. He
hadagirlfriend
he thoughts is
andina confused
and dis-heterosexual, there
is aclear sugges-
called "his
fiancee who
iilted himtressed frame
of mindthe time of tion that
at the disorganized
offender is
shortly before
murder #1,
when she
the crime. ignorantsex
of and
often may
have
went away
college.He followed
to the The disorganized
offender isso-
fl»
W",
crime in
the paper,
and on one occa-cially inadequate. has neversexual aversions.
Often, he
sion, watched
the police
investigator
married, lives
alone or
with aparental
from his window. had
Healengthy lu- figure, and
lives in
close proximity
to Crime Scene
venile record,
including sexual
assaultthe crimescene. This
offender fear-
is The overall
imprintof
the disorga-
5 and rape. nized crime scenethat
is thecrime is
Disorganized Offender:
Profile committed suddenly
and with
no set
if plan action
of deterring
for detecti
Characteristics
l The disorganized
offender is
likelybe of below-average
to intelli-
1
r
119

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12;;
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¢
{ts
~:"/51$

Pictured be/ow
isacrime
scene oladisorganized
offender who,
asaresultof his
paranoid psychotic
delusions, an kil/ed
entire
family and
lelt their
bod/es floating
in the
pool. His
residence, pictured
left, rel/ects
his paranoid
state mind
ol thatin the
plank bridge
leading
theshack
to was drawn
each
night protect
to him
his enemies. "
from

/ l The offender uses ablitz style oi

l The crimescene showsgreat disar-
for
attack confronting thevictim, who
There isaspontaneous,
ray. symbol-is caughtcompletely He
off guard.
/* ic, unplannedquality tothe crime either approachesthe victim from
scene. Thevictim may be known to
2 the offender,but ageand sexof
the behind, unexpectedlyoverpowering
her, or he kills
suddenly, as with a
victim donot necessarily matter.
lf the offender is selecting a The
gun. attack is
aviolentsurprise,
occurring spontaneously
and inalo-
victimby
randomly knocking on
doors
5 in aneighborhood, person to cation where
thefirst the victimis going
about
openadoor becomes the his or her usual
victim. The activities.
1 The offender depersonalizes the
£1 offender kills
instantly to
have control;victim, targeting
specific areasthe
of
Z he cannotrisk that
the will
victim get
1* bodyforextreme brutality. Overkillor
i the upperhand.
3

4
i

#1.
Mr
{ii
4
2
s

ii;

Y
 l

. .variables
existthat
do may be useful
a criminal
in
profilethat
anddifferentiate
do
disorganized sexual
organized
between
murderers.
and
No attempt
is made
to conceal
excessive to
assault
the
face often
is he body.
Fingerprintsfootprints
and
an attempt
to dehumanize t
the victim. in the first
used The
murder. dog was
Such facial
destructionindicate
may may be found,
and the
police a
have
knowledgetheofvictim
or that
the disemboweled.
Murder Four
2: days
after the
first
victim resembles
or represents
a great of evidence
to usein their
personhas whocaused
deal
investigation.
the offender Usually,
the murder slaying,
awoman,waiting afor
male
psychologicalThe distress.
offender
eaponone
is obtainedat thescene friend to
her
pick for
up a day outing
s
.2 §
may weara maskgloves,use aw
or with her
neighbor, noticed
the man s
¢
J. 1. blindfold
the victim, cover
on or
the had pulled into
car her neighbor&#39;
2. 23.
"" victim&#39;s
as heattacks.
face is and
There left there, providing
is investiga-
driveway.telephoned
would be
She
over;
right
saytoshe
however, receiv-
=fizz:minimal verbal
interaction except
for with
tors evidence.
ing no
answer, looked
she her
out
" 5:?Z{ orders and
threats. Restraints
are not
necessary,theasvictimis killedCase Exampleof aDisorganized windowto
again note the
man&#39;s car
J ii Offender was now
Becoming suspicious,
gone.
Any sexually
quickly. sadistic often
acts, in 1:
Murder A husbandreturning she went
over to
the house
and dis-
5 1l the form
of mutilation, from work
are usually
per-wife&#39;s discoveredhis coveredbodies
at 6:00
p.m. the herof male
friend,
7i in the
body
bedroomtheir
of her femaleneighbor, and
the neigh-
formeddeath. Offendersat-
after haveAn
home. autopsy revealed
she hadbor s child.
A 22-month
infant was
._%;., temptedvariety
a sexual
of acts,
been murdered in morn- missing from
sometimethe the home;however,
a
including ejaculating
into open
an stab
ing after
being confronted
by the
as- bullet hole
was foundthe pillow of
in
1?; woundthe
in victim&#39;s
abdomen. sailant
Evi- she went toempty the
gar- the child&#39;s
denceurination,
of and mas- as
defecation, along with what
crib, ap-
-1
E?
turbation
been
has foundvictimbage
on the outside.
s head
the
The victim
was shot
in pearedbe
times, and thereafter,
four This was
tobrain
and skull matter.
also found
in thehalf-filled
clothing in and
the home. Mutilation
to disemboweled a knife
with obtained
in bathtub, indicating
the child
had been
the face, genitals, and
breast, dis-
her home.Other than
slash woundskilled and
the bodywashed and
re-
embowelment, amputation,
and vampir-breasts
to and mutilation
to internal
moved from
the scene.
The female
ism may also benotedthe body. reproductive no
on organs,
evidence
of victim been severely slashed
had and
Disorganizedmight
offenders sexual assaultor molestation was mutilated.had She been
murdered in
ii
keep the body. One murderer
dead found. The
victim was
slashed
first in the bedroomwhere she
had been
dis-
killed two
&#39; W/1&#39; women kept
and their
body abdomen,
A. in his home
parts He the
for 8years. her
and the
intestines
out of
assailant pulled
the cavity.
body
emboweledbreast
internal
area.
from bone
organs,
pelvic
to
including
= gz. made from theirheads
masks andThe victim had what
was later
deter-
and
drums seat coverstheir
from spleen,
her organs,been
kidneys,
and reproductive
skins. Earlier,
he had exhumed minedto
the be animal in
feces had removedand muti-
mouth. Garbagewas strewnabout thelated. attack
No was
notedexternal
to
bodies of eight elderly
women fromhouse.yogurt
A cup
was found,and genitals.murderer
The attempted
had
their graves and performedsimilar
indications werethat themurdererto remove
an eyeand alsohad insert-
mutilative acts.
The death
scene used the
and crimevictim, cup to
collect blood
from theed aknife into
the anal
canal, cutting
scene are usually the
same in he
which
mur- Crime thendrank. the victim
severely this area.
in Defi-
2: On the same date,a nite fingerprints
with blood
were found
ders committed by the
disorganized of-bur
house lary occurred within
one the
on abdomen. shoulders,
and legs
fender, the withvictim
beingin the
left
quarter mile
of the
9
victim&#39;s ofresidence.
thisvictim. Additionally,
of
a ring
positionwhich
in orshehe
was killed.
Garbage strewn
was throughout
the was
blood found the
on floor,
indicat-
lftheoffendermutilated
has body.
the home. Evidence
indicatedburglar
the ingabucket-type
container used
was
itmaybe positioned
in aspecial way
urinatedfemale
on clothing
and also
that has
significance
the to
offender.
defecatedthe
house.
in No onewaS to collect blood.
The following
information was
ex-
at
home the time.
Crime 3:
Two days
later, thecar-
tracted from
aprofiledeveloped by
8 the BSU:
cass of
adog was found
in thesam Suspect description:
White male
neighborhood.
dog The
had
shot
been aged 25-27;
thin, undernourished
the head,and
in the bullet was
deter-
mined tohavecome
from the gun

121

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Conclusion
mal training, and have English-Ian.
appearance; single,
living alone
in a guage interface
with theusers.Expert
9. 2. location within 1 mile of the ln summary, this research study
systems, currently used in many
V.1}? abandoned station wagon owned by of differences between organized and
% 1Ii1- disorganized sexualmurderers with fields,
one of the victims. Residence will
are continually being adapted
as more
knowledge is gained through
214111..
extremely slovenly andunkempt, regard to profile characteristics
be and their use
and application. Asin these
and evidence of the crimes will be crime scene indicators provides an
other applications,expert
systems will
rY1-/1&#39;
4 found at the residence.Suspect will important foundationfor theinvestiga- never replace skilled lawenforcement
K:
>; r . mental illness and tive techniqueof
have ahistory of criminal profiling. By representatives, but are a tool that
is
,&#39;
Z 1;.
-1&#39;
., use of drugs. Suspectwill be an achieving thetwo studyobjectives, we continually being updated by the
M1. unemployedloner
who does not have established that variables do
ak? _<
-- associate with either males
or exist that may be useful in acriminal knowledge gained through use. Fm
females and will probably spend a profile andthat do differentiate be-
ta tween organized and disorganized
great dealof timein hisown
Z355 : . residence. lf he resides with sexual murderers. It is important to be
/ézzi;/11
Z?%;<>s~.~..
- v/~
.:~a~ anyone, itwill be with his parents. aware of the limitations of this study.
However, this is unlikely. Subject We do not mean to imply that all un-
5 ?/"!.:;vi will haveno priormilitary history; solved cases can be profiled success-
%3L Z ::: will be a high school or college fully. We wish to emphasize thatthis
dropout; probablysuffers fromone study wasexploratory andindicates
or more
forms of paranoid that we have identified significant vari-
psychosis. ables in crime scene analysis.
The policenarrowed their
search A second important step can now
to a 1-mile radiusof the stolen vehi- be taken that is, performing test pro-
-<> cle, seeking a man of the suspect s files usingpreviously identified varia-
it . description. A 27-year-old white
male, bles and comparing results with cases
M weighing 149 pounds, was which have already been profiled by
5&#39;11" and
located in an apartment complex BSU Agents. These test profiles
within the same block as the aban- would the
be second for
phase ad-
doned car. The man
was in posses- vancing thescientific studyof the pro-
sion ~of a gun that matched the filing process.
murder weaponin the slayings. Also refinement
Further of profile char-
&#39;
found in the apartment were numer- acteristics and deductive reasoning
ous bodyparts thoughtto be animal used by"experts" willprovide anad-
1/ i~
- and possibly man had vancement in the state of
human. The the art in
,
£247: previously beendiagnosedas apara- building an"expert knowledge-based
noid schizophrenic and had been system forlaw enforcement. Expert
committed toamental facility afterhe knowledge-based systems are a
its! was found sucking bloodfrom a dead subset the
of field of artificial intelli-
>», bird. After he had been released, he gence and are derived by using
was found in the desert bloodstained knowledge and reasoning patterns of
and wearing He toldpolice experts to create computerprograms
a loincloth.
he was sacrificing to flying saucers. which emulate these
experts. These
He was released by police; however, systems are
easy touse, require
mini-
53//5
later a child&#39;swas
body
foundinthe
same vicinity.Evidence was found in
his apartment indicating his
obsession
with blood, mutilation, and possible
1: :5 cannibalismof
humans and animals.

x
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M 122
&#39;lT__ _""&#39; &#39; &#39;WW*""""
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Homicide Investigati
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512.
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I

This articlepresents our

experi-
One goalof thestudy of
sexual ences ininterviewing convicted
serial
This article
discusses techniques
that homicide crime
scenes andcriminalsexual murdererswith
of
used
havebeen
f
&#39;
in theinterviews
0 the hope
behavior patternswas toexploreh w0 dd&#39;lawto enforcementknowl-
s
persons who
havealready
been murderers" commit their&#39;
crimes.An ing
in- aedge
convicted. Law
enforcement
0 fficers &#39; h con-
&#39; of interviewing techniques.
Al-
depth analysisof interviews wit thou hour interviews
were conducted
s hould seek
appropriate legal
advice victed murderers allowed us to re- with murderers
9
already convictedand
1 before using
these techniquesin trieve first-hand information about incarcerated, we
believe ourobserva-
attemptsobtain
to judicially
admissibletheir p atterns ofvalues and beliefs, tions provide insight torinterviewing
confessions. patternsinformation
of . . storage,
levels
. n suspects
order
in identify
to killer.
a
of recall
on thecrimes, and
admissio
$ of responsibility
for themurders.
ii
.i ent of Justice!
ll Published
the by
Federal
Bureau of&#39; .ation
Investig
Enforcement -U S-_
Depart"!
August,
Bulletin, 1935-
i dfrom the FBILaw
Reprinte
t.
l.

123
 1&

L
2

5
. .the interviewer
to be thoroughly
needs
pertinent existing
familiar any
information, including
with
crime scene r
M photographs, records,
files.
and 1i

The Murder Event Memory 12

Terms of the interview

Before beginning
the interviewerneeds
to re-establish
broke down.
any interview,gained when
to
communication itwhen
Rapport was
the investigator
mirrored,
recall of details

be thoroughlybelow thelevel of conscious aware-viewed.

specific
frequentlyders varied among the
Those
to the mur_
offenders inter-
murderers who deliber-
z
familiar with
any pertinent
formation, including
tographs, records,
existing in-ness, thesubject&#39;s and
crime scene
and files.
pho- spoken behavior.
This in-matching the
spoken
un-
ately plannedthe
fantasy generally
murder
continued
This includedber detailsabout certain
words ofthe subject,the murder.
through
remem-
to
a
aspects of
2
formation can be usednot onlyto adopting aspects
draw conclusions
focused interest
but toestablish
a speaking
in theoffender. By
of hisposture, and
asimilar
in tone and
Agents
rate ofseemed to
The subject
During
remarked
one
that
interview,
have almost
corrected the
the
the
subject
totalrecall.
Agents:
f
showing interest,
respect conveyedspeech.
is Actually, thatoverblown
s because 51
the suspect,
to initial objective
an in Eliciting Information
establishing rapport.
Although isit Once communication had been llhave
really
don&#39;t remember
shabby
everything!. - =-.
memory
on thingsl
often difficult
in cases of violent
and initiated and rapport established,
the don&#39;t remember,
to want and things
brutal crimes,
this show of respectquestioning began.ln ourstudy, the that areshocking very
or vivid,l
often allows the interviewer get to what/where/when sequencing
to and don&#39;tltrip forget.
for
onthose
thepoint
of the interview more quickly descriptionsplaces
of wherethe
since less will be spent
time by thecrime events occurred were years."
sought What the subject avoidsor re-
subjectevaluating
in interviewer.
the first. Next,the interviewing
Agentsfuses totalk
about provides informa-
To besuccessful, the questions about how
interviewerasked the victim
tion on areas where
strong emotions
needs convince
to the
subject that the was chosen. Finally, questions
about may exist. In onecase, the
murderer
interview can be beneficial
for himor thoughts, feelings,and images were began the interview stating
by he
her.ln our study, some offenders ad- posed. would not
discuss his
family.! The
mittedtheir
crimes. ln thesesituations Questions weregenerally orga- interviewer should concentrateim- on
they found value the
in interview, be- nized
around four phases of the portant aspects of theevent, such
as
lieving they were contributingto in- murder. These phases are:! The how the suspect gained
access theto
creased understanding or to clarify precrime phase, ! themurder event,victim, conversation
and behavior in-
other people sconclusions about ! thedisposalthe of body,
and ! volving the victim, transporting
the
them. Offenderswho would not admit the postcrime
phase. victim from one locationto another,
to their
crimes cooperatedorder in to Precr/ me Phase- Conscious motivewhat the murderersexuallybefore,
did
out why itwas impossible
point for for themurder was
often elicited
by during, and
after the
victim&#39;s d
the crimes.asking what
them tohave committed triggered the
murder.
methods of
torture, behaviors
after
Other offenders
consented tothe Those murderers
with conscious
intent victim&#39;s
interviewsorder
in toteach policewere able this indetail.the
to describe or
death such
amputation!,
and
mutilation
as
thoughts
and feel-
how the crimes were committed and without conscious motive
Those woulding during
motivated. Those who refusedinter- usually say
they could these
not rememberDisposalthe acts.
views hadreasons ranging from why theykilled, but
they wereableto views with of Body -Our inter-
advice ofan attorney to theirown describe the murderersmade clear
feelings priorto
their the mur- the importance
of afantasy in dispos-
psychotic states. der. Reconstructing
the scenepriorto ing the
victim&#39;s Once body.
the
act
the murder
helped interviewing
Agentswas committed,the murdererhad to
The Communication Link determine cues
the thatmoved the
Rapport was
the key offender&#39;s
communica- fantasy
murder
into
action.
tionlink
in our interviews. For example,
Once estab- offenders were
asked to
and recognized,
lished allowed
it describe their
the day prior
to themurder
interviewer
lead the interview
to and and their
thoughts
feelings before
and
encountering the
victim.

&#39;
W &#39;""""&#39;""&#39;"&#39;1r
&#39; ~- " &#39;i
 ,-

Becausethe
of importance
fantasytos
of
exual homicide,
informationa about
subject
fantasy
s becan
va|uable.
asked each
offender what
he did
right
@112?- after themurder did
he washor
£ Z I-M 47
5, change clothes,
go outwith friends,
;. /
go to
sleep,eat!;
or how
he thought
,A and felt
about whether
it; dreamt
he
about it;
whether returned
he the
to
&#39; Z crime scene,
attended the
funeral,
11; @~ read about
the murder
in thenewspa-
per; ortalked topolice. Wewere
careful include
to questions
about the
&#39;;s.,,
92/4&#39;
92 iQ recoverythe of body
did the
offender
assist police
in the
recovery,he
was
%
/
92na present when
the body
was recov-
92 l
ered, and
was hisconfession neces-
sary for
police find
to the
body!.
/
_ ,-
Specific Techniques
92_ ;/ Because of
fantasy
the importance
of
sexual homicide, informa-
to
, -aK
/
-_/ ,_ tion about
asubiect&#39;s
fantasy can
be
valuable. However,
people witha
,-
&#39;P
longstanding life
fantasy
may
not talk
& about iteasily. Often
a low-key
ap-
_
fT-=z~..4 proachsuccessful
is encouraging
in

¢ Lnz /&#39;1?
4 b
ii the discussion
the fantasy.fanta-
of A
sy isan elaborate
thought with
great
preoccupation emotion.
and The
I *{&#39; person keeps going backto the
£2/" thoughts. subiect
The may
only be
i aware images,
of feelings,
and inter-
nal dialog
at certain
heightened times.
Oneof the indications of
the
presence afantasy
of is thegreat
amount detail providedaby
of sub-
L ject, details
that provide
the best
in-
formation on
how thesubject oper-
This sketch,
and those d d9 what to
/0//ow,were drawn
that by egi do with
the body.
At ates. Formanyof
the murderers we
a convicted
rapist was who interviewed
as of
part
this
phase murderer
the rst
mayinterviewed, their
detailed planning
div
m sreseam
pmgram
as
8&#39;0
/-"aw /1 .H aw
consciously
the
Himse/fafayoungeragen,
reality
ofrealize
/< d
Our questions
his cleverness.
concentrated
..
act. control, and
on The
.
fantasy
was theirstatement superiority,
of
what was
done with
the body,
how usually provided
asense of power
the offender
left thescene, what
if and control,
well as emotional
as
anything! taken
was from the body
or stimulation.some
ln instances,the
the crime
scene, and what thoughts
fantasy appeared
to protectthem
and feelings
did the murderer experi-
from becoming
totally disorganized
or
ence during
these various
acts. psychotic. We
discovered this,
Postcrime Phase-A
series of
be- through interviews,
in their
reports of
haviors occur
afteramurder.We becoming enraged
when victims
inter-

125
-1
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4 2 . » Q
xi
z.
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rupted theirplans. Thesemurderers

wt,
I/,- -_ _
M were very sensitive to
being called
crazy ormaniacal, as
they associated .7-._ *5" _
92 &#39;
those characteristics with carrying out 1:$&#39;:4QI
-I
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acts in ways thatare stupid,foolish,
and not in control. 92ll&#39;
/lqx : Q;
iél The importanceof terminology
used inthe interviewwas illustratedin
,&#39;=&#39;§92§92
_/
one case:
/
v»:
¢~
Agent: Do
you think yourfantasy
life was out of control? /""00 iii/ ~
/
1
4
Subject: l mgoing tohave to
change yourterminology, not
because l&#39;m
banting words,
fantasy world,
but
l don&#39;titwas
no think
my
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lib ,1! &#39;
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I

92. "i, v
it,
1,. out of control, l think
my world of
/2: realism was out of control. My
&#39;1 ;
perception of
the realworld was
,1
distorted. -

44
This exchange illustrated how the
murderer feltin control of his fantasy
6% and out of control in the real world.
ln contrast to murderers who
consciously plana crime through fan-

/
7
tasy, our interviews revealedthat
some murderers acted more in re-
iii e-&#39;:»*
O

sponseexternal cues. Such

to people 92_,.
may notbe ableto relatewhy apar-
ticular act happened. Thesemurder-
ers were concerned with particular
l sitll.
l fl
acts at
certain times; suddenly,they
7
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T 4/!...
lost control.lt is
possible to talk about
the existence of the fantasies without
eliciting details
of themand to obtain
information about the serial murderer&#39;s
blockage ofcertain memories:
Agent: Didyou haveany unusual 1/
fantasies preoccupying you to
any ,// v
period oftime or that youfelt you . 92./ .
were over-involved in?
7 ,%/ t
92
//

ll K
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1; Q? air/7 I
. . .Hisfamily doing
something together
in this
case, the
family is
in arestaurant.!. . .

when confronted
with evidence.As ing indetail. Investigators
this typeof defense
detecting
and bringing
it to
Subject: Well,
I cansay
t ifI haveor one murderer
told theinterviewing
I don&#39;t.
There area lotof aspects a ents, the offender&#39;s
attention maybe suc-
9 "The police
unwrapped the cessful. In
one case,the murderer
of thiscrime can&#39;t
I an give
answer,broomhandle that
anddid
it." Several
claimed tohave committed the mur-
causeput I upamentalblock. I of the murderers interviewed
were ders because of instructions
froma
don&#39;t
to want
thinkof it.It makes unable remember
to actually
commit-centuries-oldThe
me dobad time
. I&#39;madoing
long dog.
Agents
refused
time and
I justblock itclear
out.
ting the
murder, agreed
but evi-
the to accept
this ploy.They pointed
out
The murderer confirms the
dence incriminated
Iikelihooc. On erou
them. good naturedly
that
of murderers inter- been carefully
the
murders had
=&
the fantasies are
that there; however,
gp
viewed did not admitto theircrimeswhich was planned and
executed,
additional techniques,
such ashypno- even after their convictions
for the alot to expect
fromadog.
ted the
sis or
therapy, would be needed tomurders. When with The
confronted such murderer finally accep
"credit" for
the crimes and discussed
I access theinformation. individuals, interviewer
the should
at- tem
h in detail with the interviewers.
tempt determine
to theif individual
is Even when
suspectingathat
subject
is
Continuum ofAdmission lying which
implies conscious
intent!IVI n
l.
The offendergenerally tookone or denying,
9 or the interviewer
should
if the individual
is denyingwhich try maintain
to atmosphere
an mutual
of
three positions
regarding guiIt- ad-
of
mitting the lack ofimplies
crime, admitting
&#39; h
subconscious
intent!.
the offender, lying
To an
to inves- respect.
There are
reasons whya suspect
total recall,and notadmittinget ti atorprovides aform of control.It might deny
acrime. The denial
might
Ii crime. In our study,
the majority
of may9
detour
the investigator
andwaste
&#39;
h to
serve protect the
subject from
legal
admitted
murderers crimes.
their valuable time,
as insituationswhrc
in action well as as
from the
psychologi-
I Some of the murderersturned them-incorrect names and addresses are cal impact of admitting
suchacrime.
selves toin thepolice; others
admit-given. One murderer
interviewed denied
any
ted tothe crimewhen theywere ap- One wayinvestigators identify
lies actual knowledge of committing
the
P
rehended. others admitted guilt
Still &#39;
IS o thenbasis
of theamount detail
of He stated that
crime. he was
coerced,
asubjectprovides. Fantasy
worlds orforced confess
to the
to crimes,
and
delusions usually
are very
detailed.
possibly drugged
before entering
a
However, whenasubjecttries to lea of
guilty.the
In interview
with the
feign psychosis
or delusion,
hisstory
p
usually appears
inconsistent
lack-
and

127
/

One reason a murderer may not be able to admit the crime

is that admission

gs:
would destroy his premise of justification.
Agents. he had an elaborate answer
5%;
for each piece of evidence presented.
He said friends had given
him the 100 We found that when someone
pairs of high-heeled shoesin his outright deniedthey had murdered or
ti . closet. He argued that photographs had anything to do
with the crime, the
in
found his possession were not his. use of an imaginary third
person was
because he would not be such a helpful. TheAgents wouldgo through
sloppy photographer. He presented the details the
of crime and ask the
/
extreme detail
for each piece of evi- subject why he thought this third
brought
dence against himto "prove" person would commit such an act.
2*
/ why he
could not have been the mur- This technique projected responsibility
derer. or guilt away from the subject and
also
There may be cases where onto someone Note
else. this strategy
the murderer justifies in his own mind in the following interview by the
the issue of admitting ordenying guilt. Agents with amurderer:
The following statementfrom aserial Agent: Suppose we do it thisway.
murderer illustrates position:
this Let&#39;sdivorce
just you from that
/ situation. l m sure you&#39;ve
thought
Agent: Couldthe policehave done
z anything for you in order to get a about italot. Suppose it wasn&#39;t you
confession? involved and it was someone else.
Subject: Well, at
first ldidn t admit your mind, would be the
What, in
my guilt.I wouldn&#39;t
admitto reasons for someone doing
anybody. Butl didn&#39;t
really deny something that ?
like
either. Subject: l dsay sheeither
said or
did something extremely wrong.
Agent: Likewhat, for instance? Subject: Well, it could have been

T
his
that [sexual] performance was
92, 92 _._ inadequate. She might have thought
itwas. Or he might have thought
it
was and she said
something about
i.l.t=-
it.

i ii / 4 / =
92 Q This conversation
murderer was
illustrates that
able to provide
the
a

92i Q. .-3 _g reason sexual inadequacy! for the

A .
being
crime committed and suggests

ii that the intent to kill was triggered

action through
an
ess within
the
into
internal dialog
offender.
proc-

Often someone who denies justi-

fies his her
or actions by
blaming
someone else. In our study, for exam-
ple, amurderer justified his killing
by
describing the victim as a"tramp."
One reason amurderer may not be
able to admit
the is
crime that admis-
sion would destroy his premise of jus-
tification.
Obtaining information from sus-
is
pects acritical technique for law
enforcement. Well-developed skills in
intenriewing can provide important in-
formation, which can be linked with
data.
crime scene Through the use of
various interviewing techniques, the
investigation can maximum
receive
benefit from the interview process.
1:15
t
V.-. if
2. gi.
=2 sé
it.=;s
".
;.
Grime ibiilems
é

1%
._ é.
Y.

r
Q
The
Z
Lust Murderer
. On August29, 1975,
the nude,the
it isthe authors contention
that
lust murder unique
is and
is distin-
? By ROBERT HAZELWOODmutilated body
Fl. ofa25-year-old
mother guished the sadistic homicide
from by
4 and JOHN E. DOUGLAS two was found
oi near Columbia,
S.C. the involvement
ofamutilatingattack
$~ Both breasts
hadbeen
removed, the or
Special Agents
Behavioral Science
Unit reproductive system
had been dis- displacement
the breasts, rectum,
of
or genitals.
Further, while thereare
/: FBI Academy placed, numerous
cut and
stab wounds
always exceptions,
basically two
types
i~ Ouantica, Va. were evidenced
the body, and
by there of individuals
commit the
murder.
lust
was indication
anthropophagy.
of These individuals
be labeled as
will the
This wasthe sceneof alust mur- Organized Nonsocial
and theDisor-
der, one
of themost heinous
crimes ganized Asocial
personalities.
e committed
man. While
by not acom-
mon occurrence,
it isone which
fright-The OrganizedNonsocial
ens and
arouses the
public as
does no The organized
nonsocial nonso-
other crime. cial! lustmurderer exhibits
complete
primaryconcern are
Of fac-
those indifference the interests and
to
torswhich
differentiate the lustmurderwelfare of society and
displays an
irre-
from themore commonsadistic homi- sponsible and self-centered attitude.
cide, physical
evidence presentat the While disliking
people ingeneral, he
scene may assist determining
which in does not avoid them.
Instead, heis
the responsibleindividual s!, and capabledisplaying
of amiable
an fa-
possible personality
characteristics
of cadefor
as as it takes
long manipu-
to
the murderer.
lt is not theauthors late people
toward his
own personal
contention
the material presented
that He isamethodical
goal. and cunning
is applicable suchcrimestheir
toall or individual, as
demonstratedthe
in
perpetrators,that perpetration
but the major-
rather ofhis crime. Heisfully
ity of
the crimes
and offenders cognizant
involved the
of criminality
his
of act
setforth. and its
exhibit the characteristics
will impact on
society, and
it isfor
The datapresentedhave
here not this reason
that hecommits thecrime.
but arebased uponHegenerally
been quantified, lives some distance
from
the authorsexamination
case re- the crime
of scene and
cruise, seek-
will
ports, interviews
with investigative
per- ingavictim.Dr. Robert
P. Brittain,
sonnel, and
acareful reviewof
the author ofSadistic Murderer," has
"The
literature.
variations of
Minor the terms stated, They
sadistic murderers! are
used may occur, depending
on the excited by
cruelty, whether
books or
in
source of
reference. in films,infact
or fantasy." 2

Published
the Federal
Bureau
by Investigation,
of Department
U.S.
Iustice!
oi
Reprinted
thefrom
Law
FBI Enforcement
Bulletin,1980.
April,
129
1?
if.2

?/2
ts
4.
F?

W
! ;
as
-<

xi?

=,;&#39;

Z2
.;.:.-
ii

1;ik
..t-its,
The Disorganlzed
Asocial
The disorganized
asocial asocial!
lust murderer
exhibits primary
charac-
teristics of
societal aversion.
This indi-
vidual prefers
his own
companythat
to
of othersand wouldbe typifiedas a
loner. Heexperiences difficulty
in ne-
155,, gotiating interpersonal
relationships .,.¢
% and consequently
feelsrejected
and
.11¢ lonely. He
lacks the
cunning of
the
nonsocial type
and commitscrime
the
W inamorefrenzied and
less methodical
manner. Theis
crime likely tobe
com-
in
mitted close proximity
to his resi-
5%:
é dence or
place ofemployment,
where
feels
he secure andmore at
ease.
f
The Crime
The lustmurder is premeditated in
the obsessive fantasies ofthe perpe-
trator. Yet,the killer may acton the
.-,
3-&#39;
4.
spur-of-the-moment"
the
when op-
I51portunity presents
itself. That
is tosay,
the murderer
has precisely
planned the
&,: his fantasies, but
crimein has notcon-
.= =2%§
sciously decided
to actout those
fanta-
sies untilthe moment of the crime.
1 Consequently,victim
the is
typicallyun-
M
known tothe killer,
afact borne outby
¢ the casesstudied bythe authors.
§ The locationof the victim&#39;s body
2 may beindicative the
of typeof mur-
derer involved.
Typically, the
asocial
2 type leaves
the body
at thescene
of
4 death, andwhile thelocation isnot
open tocasual observer, there
the has
been noattempt toconceal the
body.
~, Conversely,nonsocial
the type com-
; mits the inasecludedor isolated
crime
location and
may later
transport to
it an
4
*1

-1;;
~&#39;
?_.
57
finger, alock ofhair, ora partof
the
Dr.de
River comments that the body with sexual association.
The sou-
While there may beno conscious in- instrument itself may besymbolic tovenir
5 tent tobe arrested,the nonsocialtype the murderer is taken toenable themurderer to
andhemay place itin a relive thescene inlater fantasies.
The
the
wants excitement derived
from theposition near the victim.
Thisisa form killer here is acting
out his
fantasy, and
.% publicity about the body&#39;s
discoveryof pride and exhibitionistic
behaviorcomplete possession of thevictim is
and itsimpact onthe victim&#39;s
commu- and canbe sexuallygratifying him.
to
g.
/5
part of
that fantasy.
As previously
men-
The investigator
may findthat the
% nity. Thelust
rs
5» murder is committed in a
victim has
been bitten
tioned, theperpetrator may
on thebreasts, anthropophagic act
commit an
.2 brutally sadistic
manner. While the vic- and suchan act
is
tim may
be either female, thebuttocks,
male or neck,abdomen, thighs,
genitals, as
these body
or
areas haveindicative ofasocial involvement.
7»
crime ispredominantly heterosexual
sexual associations.
Limb or breast Finally, the
scene itself
will exhibit
and intraracial
in nature.
The victim samputation,
inor
some total much lessphysical evidence
instances when the
body exhibits
gross mutilation
and/or dissection, may
taken
have place. Dis- murderer isthe nonsocialtype.
As stat-
displacementthe
of breasts,
rectum, or ed, the individual categorized as the
genitals may
and have
been subjected nonsocial type
is very cunning and
to excessive
stabbing or
slashing with The lust murder is more methodicalthan theasocial type,
a sharp
instrument. victim&#39;s
The death who commitsamore frenzied assault.
typically occurs
shortly following
ab- premeditated inthe lt isinteresting to note,however, that
duction orattack, andthe mutilationobsessive fantasies of both types may becompelled toreturn
that takesplace follows
death. Dr.
J. to the scene, albeit for different rea-
de River notes
Paul in hisbook, Crime the perpetrator. sons. Whilethe asocial
type may return
and theSexual Psychoparh: to engagein further mutilation orto
after section of the victim s body, when relive the experience, thenonsocial
The lust murderer, usually,
cuts, committed
killing hisvictim, tortures, bythe nonsocialtype, may type returns
be anattempt tohinder theidentifica-
to determine
if thebody
or
maims slashes the
victim inthe has beendiscovered andto check on
regions on
or about tion ofthe victim.
the genitalia, The asocial
individual
rectum, breast approaches his
in thefemale, and victim inmuch the the progress
of theinvestigation. in-
stances haveoccurred whenthe non-
about theneck, throat and but- same wayas aninquisitive with a social type changed the body&#39;s
child
usually these partscon- new
tocks,as toy. He involveshimself in an location to insure its discovery.
exploratory examination
of thesexually
tain strong
sexual significance
to significant parts
of the body inan
at-
Of interestis the almost obsessive
him, andserveas sexual stimu- tempt todetermine how desire of the nonsocial type to assess
they functionthe policeinvestigation, even
lus. 3 to the
lf, however,
there isphysical or and appearbeneath the
surface. extent of frequenting police hang-
Occasionally, itwill be noted that
medical evidence
indicating the
victim the murderer outs" to eavesdropon discussions of
has smeared the victim&#39;s
was subiected
to torture
mutilation blood
or unsolved crimes,or in some manner,
prior death,
to this that on
factor indicates
surface on which the
himself, thevictim,or
body rests.
the inserting himself
into theinvestigation.
This ln onecase, themurderer returned
the perpetrator
was the
nonsocial rath-
activity ismore frequently
associated
to
er than the asocial type. the sceneafter it had beenexamined
Seldom will a with theasocial type
the lustmurderer use and relatesto the
by policelaboratory technicians and
firearm tokill, for he experiencestoo uncontrollable frenzy
the attack.
of
Penis penetration deposited
of thevictim is thevictim articles
of clothing worn by
little psychosexual gratification with on the dayshe died.In both
such an impersonal weapon. Most fre- not to be expectedfrom the asocial of twoother cases, the killervisited the
quently, results from
death strangula- ated withthebut
individual, is predominantly
nonsocial
associ- cemetery site of the victim andleft
type, evento articles belonging
tion, blunt
force, or the useofapointed, to thevictim onher
sharp instrument. type isthe
The asocial extentof
"necrophilia." 5These ac-
tivities onthe nonsocial part
s reflect
grave.isIt asthough he
were involved
more proneto usea weapon oppor-
of in a"game withthe authorities.
Such
tunity and
may leave the scene, his
it at desireto outragesociety andcall actions appear to furtherhis willto
while the
nonsocial type the attention
may carry to
acceptance.
his totaldisdain for
The asocial
societal power"6or desire to
type more
control.
murder weapon with himand takeit
when departingthe scene. Therefore,commonly
the body
inserts
orifaces
foreign objects
in
a probing
into
and
the murdererchoice
s of
weapon and
curiosity-motivated, brutal,
yet manner.
its proximity
the scene can
to be greatly
Evidence ofejaculation maybe found
significant the
to investigation. on or near
the victimor
her clothing.
Frequently, the
murderer will
take
a"souvenir," normally anobject or
article ofclothing belonging
to thevic-
tim, butoccasionally may
it bea more
personal reminder
of theencounter a

131

Liv &#39; " ~"IHWIP1r&#39;

~*
 The individual designated by the sadistic
These [fantasies] seem
Portrait of the Lust Murderer
authors as the organized nonsocial always to have preceded the bru-
What set of circumstances create tal act of/ust murder. These
fanta-
the individual who becomes the lust type harborssimilar feelingsof hostil-
ity, butelects notto withdrawand inter- sies take all sorts of
grotesque
murderer? The authors do not possess and cruel
forms. The pervert, on
the expertise to explain the multiple nalize his hostility. Rather, he
overtly
this level
of degeneracy, may re-
and complex associated expresses it through aggressive and
casual factors sort to pornographic pictures, gro-
with the psychological development of seemingly senseless
acts againstsoci-
ety. Typically, begins
he to demon- tesque and cruel
literary episodes,
individual
the who commits such ahei- out of which he fantasies.
weaves
nous crime. it
But, is generally ac- strate his hostility as he passes
through puberty and into adolescence. On these, his imagination dwells
cepted that
the foundation ofthe per- until he loses
all contact with reali-
sonality is formed within the first
few He would be described as atrouble-
ty, only to find himself suddenly
life. While extremestress, fre- maker and a manipulator of people,
yearsof impelled to carry
his fantasies into
quent narcotic use, or alcohol abuse concerned only for himself. He experi- world
the of actuality. This is done,
ences difficulties with family, friends,
can cause personality disorganization apparently, by drawing human ob-
in later
life, it is the early years that are into
iects the fantasy."
critical to the personality structure and The lust murder is James Russell Odom, tried
and
development. committed in abrutally convicted with James Clayton Lawson
Seldom does
the lust murderer for the brutal lust murder described at
come from an environment of love and
sadistic manner.
beginning
the of this article, stated that
understanding. It ismore likely that he and
while he Lawson were
at amental
was an abused or neglected child who and authority figures" through antiso- institution, they would express their
experienced a great
deal of conflict in cial acts which may include homicide. fantasies about women:
his early life and was unable to develop Thomas Strentz and Conrad Hassel, in
Odom! raping them and Lawson
and use adequate coping devices i.e. the June 1978 issue of Journal of P0- mutilating them .. . we had
fan-
defense mechanisms!. Had he been Science
//ce and Administration, wrote tasized so much that at times I
able to do so, he would have withstood of ayouth who had first murdered at didn&#39;t know
what was real." 9
the stresses placed on him and devel- the age of 15 and was committed to a If he acts out the fantasy commits
oped normally in early childhood. It mental institution. After
his release, he
the crime!, his goal will be to destroy
must be emphasized that many individ- murdered and dismembered eight wom- the victim and thereby become
the
uals are raised in environments not en. 7It is thenonsocial s aim toget
sole possessor.James
Lawson men-
conducive to healthy psychological de- even with society and inflict pain and
tioned above! is quoted as saying:
velopment, yet they become
produc- punishment upon others. Then I cut her throat soshe
tive citizens. These stresses, would not scream. . . .at this
The Role of Fantasy
frustrations, and subsequent anxieties, time I wanted to cut her body so
As noted, the lust murder is
along with the inability to cope with she would not look like aperson
premeditated in obsessive fantasies
them, may lead the individual to with- and destroy her so she would not
experienced by both the asocial and
draw from the society which he per- exist. I began
to cut on her body.
I
nonsocial murderers. Fantasy provides
ceives as hostile and threatening. remember cutting her breasts off.
them an avenue of escape from a
Through this
internalization proc- After this, all I remember is that I
of
world hate and rejection. Dr. James
he
ess, becomes secluded and iso- kept cutting on her body." °
J. Reinhardt in his book, Sex Perver-
lated from others and may eventually The victim may represent some-
sions and Sex Crimes, has written:
select suicide an
as alternative to alife thing he desires sexually, but is unable I
"A study of these
cases almost
of loneliness and frustration. The au- to approach. Lawson speaks again, l
invariably reveals a long struggle
have
thors designated this reaction to did not rape
the girl. I only wanted to
against what
Reik calls the for-
life as disorganized asocial. This type destroy her.
ward thrust. By fantasy the mur-
possesses apoor self-image and se-
attempts
derer to wall himself in
cretly rejects the society which he feels
against the fatal act, while at the
rejects him. Family and associates
same time gratifying the compul-
would describe him anice, quiet per-
sive psychic demands in the de-
son who keeps to himself, but who
velopment and use of fantasy.
quite
never realized his potential. Dur-
ing adolescence, he may have en-
gaged in voyeuristic activitiesor the
theft of feminine clothing. Such activi-
ties serve as asubstitute for his inabil-
ity to approach women sexually in a
mature and confident manner.

132
- - :"
f ,l
l

A profile
is based
on characteristic
The organized
nonsocial type
is theasocialpatterns
Rarely encountered factors
or uniqueness
of that
feels rejection
by andhatred the
for
type who
is capable
of normal
hetero-distinguish individuals
certain the from
societywhich
in he
lives. His
hostile
sexual relationships.
He may desiregeneral population.
the case
ln of lust
feelings manifested
are overtly,
and
but healso fearsmurder, clues
such relationships, to those factors of the lust
murder the
is final
expression
them. Dr.
Reinhardt,anoninterview are on the victim&#39;s
uniqueness found of thehatred he
feels. Thedisorgan-
wrote; b ody and
withafamouslust murderer, at the
scene and would in- ized asocial
typealso
feels rejection
. .he at
first denied at-
ever the amount location
clude and muti-of and
hatred for hisworld, but
withdraws
tempting sex any play
with girls. lation involved,type of
weapon used,and internalizes
his feelings,
living
Two dayslater with his rarecausedeath,
one of of the
andposition
of thewithinworld
a fantasy
of until
he acts
showsemotion
of said,
he looking body. The profiler searching
is for
out that
fantasy with
his victim.
much ashamed, that twice,later clues which indicate theprobable commonalitiesexist in
While the
correcting himself
to eighttimes,personality configuration
of the
respon-commission theoflust
murder, there
he hadtouched girls on the sible individual. are certain
factors which
may indicate
breasts then
and pressed on the the personality
type involved.
These
Always having done
leg. this, he The location the
of factors include
the location
of the
would immediately
burst into
tears
unable to victim s body
may be body, evidence
and beupset and
of torture
mutilation
or
indicative of having occurred
priorto
death,smear-
sleep . 12 - the type
1 ing of
the victim
blood,s evidence
of
The Psychological
Profile
of murderer
involved. penis penetration
or anthropophagy,
A psychological
profilean
is edu- ln and the availabilityphysical
of evi-
preparing
the profile,
it isprefer-dence at the scene.
cated attemptto provideinvestigativeable have to access to the
scene prior The crime is premeditated
in the
agencies specific
with information
as to itsdisturbance.most ln instances, obsessive fantasies
experienced by
thetypeindividual
to of who thisis
committed impossible. ln lieu
of beingat theboth the asocial and
the nonsocial
a certaincrime. mustlt beclearlyscene,
the profiler must be provided types, ityetisa crimeof opportunity,
statedthe at outsetthat whatcan beinvestigative reports, autopsy proto- one in
which the victimnot
is usually
done inthis area and pre-cols, detailed
is limited, photographs the of body,
known tothe murderer.
scribed investigative procedures scene, surrounding
and asarea,
well The use of psychological
profiling
should be notsuspended, altered,
or asamapdepictingvictim&#39;s the last in such crimes may of assistance in
be
replaced receipt
by aprofile.
of Rather, known location in relation
to its
present determiningpersonality
the in-
type
the material
provided should be con- location and any known information volved. is lt
asearch clues
for indicat-
sidered and employedanotheras pertaining
in- tothe victim and her ing the probable personality
vestigative Thetool.process
is anart activities. configuration the responsible
of individ-
and not
ascience, and whileit maybe There are violent crimesin which
ual s!.is ltauseful tool,
but must not
applicable manyto types
of investiga-there isan absence of uniquenes$1
alter, suspend,replace
or prescribed
tions, its
use is to therefore,
restricted primarily is not
it possibleprovide
to a
crimes ofviolence or potential &#39; &#39;
profile. this&#39;
However, likelyinvestigative procedures.
10
not&#39;
is FBI
violence. occur the
in case
ofalustmurder.
When prepared
by theFBI, the Footnotes
Anthropophagy.the
Consuming
victim&#39;s
flesh or
profile may
includeperpetrator
the s
Summary Robert
blood. Brittain,
P. Sadistic
The Murderer,"
Medical
age, race,
sex, socioeconomic
and While notacommonoccurrenc
9.
Sciencethe
and
Law,
vol. lv
970!,202.
p.
marital status, educationalarrest level,the lust
murder frightens
and arouses J. Paul
de Ftiver,
Springfield,
and
Crime
Charles
lll.:
Thomas,
the Sexual
Psychoperh
C. p.1950!,
40.
lo tionof residence
history, ca in relation the public
as does
other
no crime. The J. Paul
do River,
The Sexual
CHM/ l Spnnglield,
lll.:
to thescene, and
&#39; onality
certain pers lust murder
involvesdeath
the eandCharles
Thomas,
C. 1950!,233.
Necrophilia:
desire Ap.for thewith
relations dead.
traits.
subsequent mutilating
attack th
of
of
CalvinHall
Persona/iry,
5. and
ed. New
York;
Lindsey Gardner,
2d Wiley
JohnSons,
Theories of
and lnc.,
breasts, rectum,
and genital
areas
the victim.
The crime typically
is het- Thomas
1970!. and
Strentz
Conrad
V. Hassel,
The Socio-
erosexual intraracial
and in and Dath A Criminal
nature Enigma"
Administration,
.
June
Joumal
Po/ice
0!
1978!.
Science and
committed
is by one
of two
types of JamesReinhardt,
J. Perversions
Sex Sexand
"at Crimes Springfield,
lll.; Charles
C. Thomas,
1957!, pp.
individuals: disorganized
The asoci Statement
208 209. Odomof reported
as The
by Flecord
personality,
the organized
or nonsoci
newspaper!
7,April
1976,
l-A.
8| &#39;made
Statement
South
to Carolina
law enforcement
personality. authorities
Jamesby Clayton
LawsonSeptember
on 3,
1975.
"/bid.
"Reinhardt, pp.
221-222.

1 33

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L
3
1?,

Rape and d er
Rape-Mur :OneOffender and
Twelve Victims

Robert
K. Ressler,
M.S., Wolbert
Ann Burgess,
D.N.Sc.,
john
and
Douglas,
E- M.S.

it

X
{ta
5?
ii
1;?
.31
&#39;43
U
V;
as

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éii
1%

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z

135

Am] P:_vrbia!r!&#39;
1-H!-I. _]mmar_92~
.&#39;~}8_§
RAPE 921URDER

Rape and
Rape~Murder:Offender
One Twelve
and Victims
Robert Ressler,
K. M.S.,
Ann Wolbert
Burgess, D.-N.Sc.,
and john
E. Douglas,
M.S.

high school,
when he
was involuntarily
withdrawn
This study
analyzes data
pertainingto
12. rapes and from school
due toexcessive absenteeism
and lackof
rape-murders committed
by onemale adolescent progress.
He wasof averageintelligence andhad aspiredto
offender over
.1 4-year
period. All
offenses except
the attend college.
He was
athletically inclined
and played
rst were
committed while
the offender
wasunder league baseball. He wasoutgoing, often attended
psychiatric and
probationary supervision.
The use
or social events,and hadaclose circle offriends, both
relinqiiishment
violence
of the
by offender
wasfound male andfemale.He
saw himself as.1 leader,not .-1
to bedependent
subtle interpersonal factors.
on The follower. &#39;
authorsstress
the importance ofthe useof
crime The offender&#39;s
antisocial behavior
was first
recorded
data
scene and interviews
of patientswho have when he
was age9, whenhe and3 otherboys were
committed sex
crimes, the
role ofpsychological caught by
the school
principal writing
cusswords on
pro lesin
apprehension
of suspects,
and the the sidewalk.
The boyswere required to washthe
contribution oflaw enforcement
asadata resource.sidewalk until
the wordswere removed. His criminal
Amj Psychiatry
140136-40, 1983! record started
when he was age 12 withussaultive and
disruptive behavior
involving breakinginto anapart-
Rape-murder,
acrime
of increasing
concern
society, results
our in
from one
ment and
another in he
person killing
stealing property
wascharged with
valued at
S 100. .-92t age
13
driving withoutan operator&#39;s
the context
of power,sexuality, and license; age
brutality. .-92l- at 14 he was charged with burglary and
though the
literaturereplete
is with rape and
reports onthe committedminor
2 acts
of pettylarceny as-
murderer, itis relativelysilent onthe victim.This well asstealingacar. He readilyadmitted using
alcohol and
drugs of
all types
from his
early teen
years.
omission from
the clinicalliterature signi cantly
im-
pedes our
understanding variablesa in He
theofpossible worked
years
sporadically throughout
part
as of
aprogramwhereby
his highschool
attended
he school
rape assault
and handicaps
our progress
in victimolo-in themorning and
worked in
the afternoon.
gy. Tocontribute
the study
to of rape-murder, weThe offender was sent
out ofstate toapsychiatric
report on
12. rapes
committed aby
maleteenager over
residential facility
following the
rst felony
of rapeand
a 4-yearperiod inwhich 5of hisvictims were
mur- burglary age
at 14.
During his
18-month stay
he
following
dered the rape. received individualinsight-oriented psychotherapy,
and the
discharge recommendation
was that
he liveat
PROFILE OFTHE OFFENDER
attend
home, public school,
and continue
psychothera-
py onaweeklyoutpatient basis,
with hismother
The offender,
born 24years ago
actively involved
in histreatment. Three
in the.92/lidwest, wasreturning home
weeks after
the youngestof 3children and had an older adoptedcharged with from theresidential facility
he was
brother andnatural sister.
It is reported that attempted armed
i&#39;obbery
he wasan tended tobe rape.1t took1year for himto come in-
-an act
Rh baby and required
acompleteblood transfusion
at
suffered nomajor health before
birth. He has reportedly judge
a for
sentencingthis
that timehe hadcommitted the
on charge,and in
rst rapeand murder
problems. parents
The separated
and divorced
when but hadnot yerbeen charged for thatoffense. The
he wasage 7,and bothparents remarried shortly dispositionthe
onattempted
armed robberywas pro-
thereafter.contimied
He live
to with
his mothereven bation and
outpatient psychotherapy;
he had
served S
though her
second marriage
dissolved he was 1&#39;1.
when months when
he wasapprehended the
for5murders.
He completed
age-level workuntil hissenior year
in His psychiatric
diagnoses according
to DSM-II have
included adolescent
adjustment reaction.
character dis-
Received April
1&#39;.revised
1931; Oct.
13. 1981;
.ic:epted .92lov.
4.
without
order psychosis. and
multiple personality.
At
From the Behavioral
1931. Science Unit. Quunrico. the timeof his arrest forthe murders
FBI .92c:iderriy. the youngman
V-.i.; .1l&#39;92d
Boston CityHospital. Boston. reprint was 19
.92l.iss. Address years old,weighed kg. 65 and
was 170cm tall.
requests.921r.
to Ressler.
FBI .-92c:idemy.
Quantico. 10135.
V.-92 He was given5life sentences the
for 5rape-murders.
Supported partinby
.92&#39;.itional
of justice
lnsrirute After Zyears ofincarceration, admitted
grant CK-I!l!b5. he to6
Copynght 1933 .92rneric.in Psychiatric
.92ssuci.ition 0001-953K
additional rapesfor whichhe wasnever charged.
S3-U1-l!l 6-0S:Sl!l!.5i!.

137 Am Psychiatry140:1, janiitiry

_/ I983
 DOUGLAS
RESSLER.BURGESS..-92.92&#39;D

PRQFILE
QFTHEVIQTIM5 1. of
TABLE
Escalation
theCriminal anAdolescent
Behavior
of Bey
Boys Vic:irn&#39;s
.-92ll of
the 12 victimswerefemale.andtheyrepre- .-92ge .-92ge
years Offense -&#39;Cill. SDisposition
sented ditterentethnicgroups.They rangedin age
from17&#39;
to 34 years
andwereolderthantheotifender ll
1 to 15 years.
by Several
victims weretallerand
heavier
thantheoffender.of
Nine themweretotal ll
strangers 3
to him;heknew by sight.
of
Two 9
the 13
womenwhowerestrangers
to himrecognized
him
of
afterhiscapture.
.92i1ost of
thevictims
were middle- 14
income
status,andthemajoritylivedin theapartment l-l»
complex
where
theolfender
lived .-92ll
withhismother.
of the
victims 1
except school
high studentwere 14
employed full-time positions as
andworkedin such
teachers,postalsupervisors,
stewatdesses,
storebuyers,airline
andadministrative
assistants.of
Some 16
also
them hadpart-time
theircollege
iobsand/orwerecontinuing
of
education.
Most thevictims werenot 16 Perrylarcencv
Disrupringschool
of
havechildren.
Five
known
married;severalweredivorced.Two were
the womenweretapedand
to
16 Driving without an
operator":license
murdered;
5 weretapedonlybytheoffender;
andZ Burglaryand rape
weregangraped.
Oneescaped
fromtheoffender
could commita sexcrime.s.92ilost
beforehe of -the 16 Pettylarceny 15

victims
wereapproached
at knifepointastheyentered 17 Breakingand
theelevator
in theirapartment building.All rape- entering
murdervictimswereabducted
fromthesamelocation,
killedin different
areas,
andfoundfullyclothed.
The 13P~=i==
timespent
inlocating
to 6 weeks.
theirbodies
ranged
from1 day
13Kw 2.5
15 Probation
Burglaryand rape
codeiendanrl
19 Rape codetendanti Probation
DATA COLLECTION
19
Attempted.irn&#39;92ed
robbery
Rape
if Casecontinueduntil
lllth
his bii&#39;ti&#39;92i.lav
Data werecollectedin two ways:throughinterviews Rapeand murder $ent to state_9sv-
withtheoffender of
andcompletion guide
aninterview 19 Rapeand murder ZS
chiatriccenter
11 psy-
Sentto state
andthrough of police
theuse reports,
courtevaluation Rapeand murder
chiatriccenter
records,of
photographs crimesceneinvestigations, R-19¢
Sentto statepsv-
andmedical examiners
to theinterviews
reports.. 92n
obviouslimitation
washavingto relyon theoffender&#39;s
15 ci-iiatnccenter
Never charged
memory of
andreconstruction
wascountered
thecrimes.
Thisbias
with documentation from.prisonand 1-l Never charged
Never charged
On
courtrecords. theotherhand,theoffender&#39;s
admis-
sion of 6 additionalrapesadds to the data not ll Never charged
Probationand
available
through
official
channels.
Another
method- outpatient:her:ipv
ological
drawback
wasthattheinformation
onwhat 34 Never charged
Lire imprisonment
victims
saidanddidcamefromtheodender. 15 Lire imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Never charged
FINDINGS . 19 Rape
andmurder 17 Lireimprisonment
19 Rapeandmurder 14 Lireimprisonment
of
Theanalysis thedatasuggests
thattheoffender&#39;s
criminal
behaviorchanged ways;
in twomaiot The
sexualaggression
escalated
fromrapeto rapeand homicides-
werenotlinkedto oneottender
anddid not
murder,andtheoffenses increased_in
frequencyover appear
toinclude
rape
untilhewas
apprehended
and
time seetable&#39;1
Of special
,-. notearethefactsthat 1!
exceptthe rstwere described the offenses.
all rapeandmurderoiifenses
committedwhilehewasunderpsychiatric
supervisionRapeandIntended Rape:TheFirstT Offenses
andonprobation,
13-
the6 rapes
thatwere
notcharged
to him were also committedwhile he was under The rstrapewithwhichtheoffender
wascharged.
psychiatric on probation,
supervision
and and31the5 when he was 1-1»,
occurredin the apartmentnext to
wherehelivedwithhismother.He hadreturned
home
froma partyandhadgoneto bedbut wokeup
-.-1m
j Psychiatry
HO.-1, 138
].:n:iary
1933 fantasizing
aboutthe25-year-old
divorced
neighbor
womanwhooftenemployed
himforsmallerrands.
He
gotup.wentoutside
wearing:1skimask.
scaled
the
apartment
walllike.1 catburglar."
andentered
the
woman&#39;s
third- oorapartmentthroughthe balcony
door.Heraped
thewoman
several
times.
leftthrough
 i- l Iimllt l

[, -.
l

RAPE 92lbRDER
The offender&#39;s
useeither
of verbal
or physical
strate-
residentialHe facility.
forced
the woman point gies
atknife assert
to response.
victim&#39;s
over
control
victim
the
initial
victim
depended
Thewas
on the
who compli-
to drive
to
third and
her
apartment,
fourth rapes
hewhere
with which
raped
her.
he was
The
neverant when
he showed aweaponreceivedadditional
no
charged codefendants.
included onaweekend
Whilethreatsorders.
or Victims
who screamed
received
pass, offender
thefacility
residential stole
Zcar,
other
and
patients
the
from
a traveled
outof
verbal threats,
and those
state, were physically
who refused
to cooperate
struck.
broke
raped ahouse,
into
a stole
17-year-old guns
who 2girl
money,
and
was
in the each
house. andThe
Interaction Between
Offender and Victim

offender returned
home; however,
his mother
immedi-Reconstruction the victims
of talk and
actions as
ately him
sentback
to the
residential andfacility
heviewedthe from offender&#39;s
perspectivethatrevealed
was counseled
on his
runaway behavior.
Three months
conversation behaviorand toserved
either
neutralize
laterand
he another
patient to
wen_t
local
a swimming
pool.
12>; raped
broke
They
ayoung the
into
women
woman, her locker
covering s
and
room
or escalate
his affective
atowel. Murder victim
head
with state.
l, rapevictimThe
7. woman&#39
talk
t5/ The sixth
rape the fth forwhich was
he never She asked
which lway
wanted
it"! raised
the
f/-
¥, charged!
Committed
occurred
before
involved
andawoman
rape-murder
the
first he offender&#39;s
seenhis while
he had both
herlife
of style.
suspicion
were dressing,
Afterrape
he had
the
not decided
his
on
and
own apartment next action.
The woman&#39;s
sudden attempt
to escape
captured inbuilding.
the
her obtained
apartment Hetook
air to
an
pistol,
a triggered
elevator,
her inhimfeelings
anger
offrustration
and tha
iii? &#39; i &#39;
her hjacket,
resulted
inincreased
aggression.
stated:
He
f
storage room,
and, covering
her face
wit
er
er
is An attempted
armed robbery
raped hertwice. an act
intended She took
be tograbbedoff runningdownk.ravine.
the when That&#39;
l
at
rape! occurred
3 weeks
afterHe release
his awoman
the
from heril in
lher.
had oc Shewas bigger
an arm
&#39;
than
r. ..hshe stumbled
. . .werolled
£
;
residential treatment
facility. targeted me. l started chokinge
downhilltheand
into water.
the 1banged
her head
against
entering
donned
elevator
the the
askimask,held
and
of apartment
aknife
complex,
to her. the
She was side
ofarock and held
her head
under water.
< successful inescaping. Death determined
was be from
tostrangulation.
She broke
. . pushed
me out
of the
way and
startedMurder Z,
victim
rape
victimThe
8. woman&#3
talk
<2
goingthe
to front
of the
elevator,the
pushed
buttonconsisted
many
to whywanted of questions
She wanted
to know
open and
the started
door runto and
sheher l doto
stumbled. this;
latd have l pickeddidn
why her;t l
t
startedrunafter and
to her stumbled
over and that girl
a friend;
what my wasproblem;
whatwas l
»
point fell
the and was
knife she the
on ground going
holleringdo
to !,
which served
to annoy
The
him. wom-
andwasl on
thegroundtonext her,
scareddeath. an, talking
to .92ly while driving
the car,suddenlyon steppe
mind went blank.ran
l out thebuilding.was
of [Hethe accelerator
threatening
and attempted
drivero car
to counter
theinto
his control
.1 tree.
He turned
by
off
subsequently arrested.l
the ignition
and his
put foot
onthebrake.the and car
Rape andMurder: LastThe Offenses
6 slid sideways.
The car
stopped, the
andwomangot out
and across
ran road the screaming
for help.
He said:
The offenderselected lastthe
victims
6 random
at as
he watched cars drive
into the
apartment l go
complex into the
after
woods l see
her. run
her from
behind a l
where lived.
he Once
he targeted
avictim,
hewould tree ithat&#39;s
and
&#39;
l goafter when
From
her. on
then
knew
l
Alo and that&#39;s
when lcatch
walk behind
her, follow
her into
the apartment
eleva- hadtokill her. She
.trips
_ _ overg
_a_
tor, pull
his knife,
and her
tellwas
it aholdup.
Then up with
her and
l iust
start stabbing
er. . h

they would
leavebuilding,
the for
either
the
victim&#39;s
car for
or anarea near
the apartment
complex.oneln The victim was stabbed
H times
in the
chest.
casepattern
the reversed.
was offender wasMurder victim
Thehitch- 3, rape
victimThe 9. offender
hiking was
and given
a ride
byawomanwho was claimed hadhe decided
not he
whether
would
kill this
Z3
goingto
off ata in
parryhis
his building;apartment
complex.
he watched
her park let
her carhim
Shewoman.would
and know about
He let
the
nother
talk "The
the softer
women
more
got"!.
gotl to
l ordered
He
<, then across
ran complex,
the the
enteredwith herbe
elevator to quiet
and onturnthe
radio.described
He h
2! her, arid.
capturedthere.
herabductions
All mur-and
thinking asfollows:
it ders occurred
withinown his territory.
Thus, known
territoryadistinct
was advantage him.for"Goinglwas thinking. . . l ie
. killed
two might
l well
as kill
this
somewhere l didn&#39;t
thatknow wherethe copsone,
or ..too.
.Something&#39;
me waswanting
in kill..tol.
7?
ti patrolledget might
caught.
me knew l time
whatthetied up herwith her stockings andstarted
l walk to away
Z
cops came
by the
in morning
there."! lndeed,
he was right. One
because
l&#39;d
sitting
thereasons he
of
be. . thenl heard
around" &#39;
and
her &#39;
&#39;
making
through
the"-92woods
rnutfled
sounds. dkind rolling
of
l turned back
ngot. todo this
was caught
not afteruntil the
fth murder
was that
the and said,No, l haveto kill
&#39;
&#39; her. l&#39;ve to
police looking
were strangers
for
cious strangers-not
ateenager
living the
-especially
in area.
suspi-
preserveprotect
and myself.
 RESSLER, BURGESS,
nought;
mo

The woman
died from
21 stab to left different
wounds the reasons
Rada suggested,
than thelust-murderer. One
is that
in some
reason,
rapists there
appears to
side ofthe thoraxandupper
abdomen.
Rape victim
10. The had killtothis be
offenderdecided aprogressive
increaseaggressive
in
women thatover timemay eventually
fantasies
leadto
about
murder.
woman, but
her talking
saved her
life Shetold me The case we havereported suggests
that forsome
her father
wasdyingcancer"!.Her talk
of evidently rapists there
isaprogression
in theoffender&#39;sor intent
neutralized
aggression
his to due
his
identi cation with
the situation
l thought
of my who haddecision
own brother der_s the
making
toward killing.
offender made
With therst 3 mur-
the decision
to kill the women
cancer.
couldn&#39;t
l her. She
kill
had itbad already"!.
He during theperiod interactedwith them,
he in the
but
threw her
car keys
out ofthe windowand raninto
off last 2murders, he
decidedahead to
of time kill them.
had This casealso suggests
an additionaldimension to
the woods.
Murder victim
rape victim 11.
4, The offender motive inrape-murder. The
modern view of rape
decidedkill
to thiswoman. Her
resistance attempt
and regardsas
it an
act ofviolence expressing
power one
as
to escape
triggered his
violence. motive We
!. suggest
that the
psychological
of
motive
She scratched
me across
theface.
l got mad; power expands
she startedpower overfor the
rapist-murderer a from
need
for
to run.
l gotup
from falling down
and chased
her. She
ran one person lt wasareal turn onto
intoatree. l caughther. We over the realize thevictims weren&#39;t
wrestled, rolled reporting oridentifying
embankmentthe
into
water.
l landed
with my in me"! toaneedfor power
face the over collective
a group
lm
water.... That&#39;s
thewhere
idea
to drown
her came.
.. . too slick
for them"! thatincluded the
police, judges,
She was
ghting and
she was
strong but
l puther headpsychiatrists, and
psychologists.
under the
water and
just sat
with my hands
there on her This case
illustrates the
influence of
an individual&#39;s
neck. affective state
combined with various
when degrees of
intent tocommit
murder. A review
of theoffender&#39
The cause
of deathwas drowning. last 6 offenses suggests
that Z affective statesmay
Murder victim
5, rape
victim 12.
This woman&#39;s
talk influence thedecision tokill: Escalatingthe anger
led the
offender
realize that she
to knewhim.
This motive inthe rapistmay trigger aggressive behavior
knowledge escalated
his fear
of being
apprehended
aimed at
establishing dominance
and authority,
and
and, turn,
in led
him to
confess4previous
the murders.stimulating fear
and decreasing
the power
motive in
The decision
kill was made
to quickly. the rapist
may trigger
aggressive behavior
aimed at
We werewalking along,
through the self-preservation !.
culverts, under-
neath highway.
the That&#39;s
whenpulled
l the
out knife
and Interviewing PatientsCharged with
Crimes
without even
saying anything,
l stabbed
her ...maybe
50-100 times.
The factthat theoffender was
under psychiatric
He buriedthe victim&#39;s
body inashallowgrave. supervision he
when
committed
of his criminal
most
suggeststhat close
acts attentionpaid
be to
psychiatric
interviewing techniques.
We offerthe followingtwo
Behavior Following
the Murders
suggestions.
1. Wheninterviewingapatient who has been
Following each
murder, the
offender would
usually charged with
crimes, one
should pay
careful attention
take an
item of
jewelry from
the woman&#39;s
body for
a to thedeviant behavior
and focus
on alldimensions of
souvenir,back
go to the woman&#39;s
car and
search interactional
through her
purse formoney, drive for an the
her car it within
is
aspectsthe
agency
of crime.
policy,
one
If possible,
shouldgather
and if
supple-
extended period
of time,
park the
car several
blocks mentary dataregarding the-crime
scene; the
victim s
from his
apartment, retum
to his
apartment go
andto statements, police
interviews, oand
icial reports
and
bed, and
watch television
and newspapers
for reportstalk with staff whohave workedwith the patient.
about thediscoveryof
the body. These corroborating
data willlendaperspective
other
than the
patient s for
assessment
and
of challenge
to
the patient.
The interviewer
should maintain
ahigh
DlSCUSSlON index of
suspicion when
the patient
denies committing
or refuses
to talkabout the
crime ordeviant behavior
Psychodynamics
Rape-Murder
of and shouldconsider the
possibility that
he orshe is
concealing other
secretive and
dangerous behavior.
A
Some reports
have suggested
that rapists
rarely parallelbe
can
drawn
between
dynamics
the sexofand
murder ! but thatwhen theydo, themotives are secrecy ! and incestand treatment.
social rather
than personal;
that is,they
murder to 1. Rape
and attempted
rape behavior
should be
silence the
victim and
prevent detection
!. This viewedas
serious and chronic
and thus repetitive. The
motive differs
from lust-murder,
whereby sexuality
interviewer should
not assumethat apatient with a
and aggression
fuse into
a single
psychological experi~
historysexualassault has
of committedonly
it the
ence known
sadism !. RadaQ4! argued,
as and we number times
of
for he
which or she
is charged.
When
agree,
rapists are capable
that of murder
but for
-1 AH
 it l in.--ii, l

RAPE 92/iURDER

the patient
has been
under stress
and especially
at CONCLUSlONS
times
he or she
when has been
charged other
with
criminale.g.,
actsbreaking
and entering, Gapsexist
stealing cars, do fully
understanding
in acriminal
act
larceny!,
interviewer
the should inquire in general,
about concur- andasexual
homicide
particular,
in be-
1 assaultive
rent
supportbehavior
from rape
andorassociates
those
Grothfantasies.
Our
studyndings
each of the
of !cause various professionals
and disciplines
i involved work
with only
one part
of _the
picture.
.1?
convicted offenders
sex recommended Cooperation
for treatment. sharing
throughinformation
and col-
Those authors
reported each
thatoffender
had com-laborating
cases
on is often
not practiced
in the
w_orl<
mittedaverage
an 5 sexual
ofassaults
which he setting.
forwas undertook
We study this
address
to this gap
in
Af 51
;-
never apprehended, the transfer
and sharing
of criminal
data. Frazier
9!
encouragedresearch
theof step
developing
descriptive
;/ K5
.- 3;
Psychological Pro les patternsmurder
ofhuman
action,
as with caution
the
§:
.§ avoidsimple, reductionistic
to conclusions theabout
The fact that causes
murder.
of agree
We this
withposition
and
:;
E pro lethe ofapsychiatrist
offender
we
&#39;
wrote
have psychological
a
described thesuggests
encourage studies
across disciplines.
§ need forfurther workin t is area.
l1 The
psychological
g.
5- ,
pro leacritical
solved ln
iscrimes.
technique
acomparison of
police
inon
work
un-
thepro le the
with REFERENCES
&#39;97
~/ data obtained
from offender,
the points
twobecanl.Selkin
1: Rape.Psychology l975,
jun Today,
pp 70-71. J. 76
made.noFirst,
one
speculated
the that
murder
victims2. Podolsky
E: Sexualviolence.Digest Medical 34:64!-63.
I966
;
1 had been
taped.fact
Thethey
thatwere fully 3.Plenum
all found Groth
withBirnbaum
AN Wen H]:Rape.
Who York. New
clothedwithout
and clinical
evidence
sexual
of inter- Press,
l979, p44
&#39; i i b havior. Clinical
in
1
z course the
made
cases
seem
offender raping
admitted sexually
not
victims
the times.The
related.
4. Rada
severalThe
RT: Psychological
Aspects
factors
i Edit
the Rapist. e
of
rapist
in RT.
dby Rada e York,
New Grune dc
/
4 possibility
he had
that asexual
ejaculation--was dysfunction
considered
never
Second, -retarded
5.
8!. 6.
Groth
AN, Burgess
the
and sexuality.
Am]
Stratton. 1978
AW. Holmstrom
LL: Rape:
Psychiatry
power, anger.
134112.39-lZ43_ 1977
1
pro le report
speculated
because
that he targeted Burgess
AW, Holmstrom
adolescents: LL:
sex Sexual
trauma
pressure,
and
secrecy.children
0|
Clin
Nutsand
North
Am
;
women used
andunderwear
their to
bindthem,felt
he
hostility his
toward
mother.
lntcrview
suggested
data 7.l0:5Sl-563,
AN.l97$
Groth
rapists Longo
R. .92lcFadin
child
and B: Undetected
molesters.
Crime recidivism among
Delinquency
and 18:4
another authority
gure in
his life:
That woman
sent
judge meadiagnostic
to center. 8. Groth
AN, Burgess
That&#39;s AW: Sexual
dysfunction
4$8, l98Z
rape.
during
Engl
N
hat started
meresenting
off . authority.
.Nobody
could 1ma Z97:76-l-766, i977
9. Frazier
SH: Murder-
andsingle
multiple.
Aggression 5l:. ill
W do it.
3lZ. I974 _
tellme what
to do
or when
todo
it or how
to
=20 1Y7 q1¢,2¢.nzq
ci .5.
U GOVERNMENT
PRINTING OFFlCE.l

141
.-lm]Psychiatry 140:1, janimry
1983