Case Study - Mr. Cruel PDF

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Summary

For this assignment you are expected to prepare a detailed account of three core aspects of criminal psychology we have studied in this course, in relation to a specific criminal event, the crimes of Mr Cruel, outlined in section 4.

Please have a sub-heading for each on your assignment....

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INTRODUCTION/DETAILS OF THE CRIME

In August of 1987, a man wearing a balaclava broke into a suburban home in Melbourne, blindfolding, gagging and tying a six-year-old boy to his bed (Mallett, 2019). His parents were tied, gagged, and forced into a wardrobe at gunpoint (Mallett, 2019). The man told the family that he wanted money. He then targeted the eleven-year-old girl, telling her to brush her teeth and then sexually assaulted her (Mallett, 2019). Sixteen months later, at 5:30 in the morning, the same perpetrator broke into another Melbourne home, the parents’ hands tied together with copper wire, again at gunpoint (Mallett, 2019). He told them he wanted all the money in the house, and then continued to gag them (Mallett, 2019). He then went into the children’s bedroom, binding and gagging a ten-year-old girl and abducting her. Eighteen hours later, the young girl was found outside a high school (Mallett, 2019). The girl was able to provide a wealth of information, including the lengths at which the assaulter went to keep them both clean (Mallett, 2019). The third incident occurred eighteen months later (Mallett, 2019). Seventeen kilometers west of his last attack, the perpetrator broke into a house at 11:40 at night, where two young girls were home alone, sleeping (Mallett, 2019). He woke them up and told them that he would hurt them should they not do what he told them (Mallett, 2019). He tied up the eldest sister and told her to inform her father that he wanted $25,000 for the younger sister’s safety (Mallett, 2019). He forced the youngest sister to change clothes, then left with her (Mallett, 2019). The attacker kept her for fifty hours before releasing her six kilometers from the abduction site (Mallett, 2019). The abducted girl was unable to tell the police much information on the perpetrator, aside from the meticulous cleaning both her and her abductor had gone through throughout the ordeal (Mallett, 2019). The last suspected attack occurred nine months later, eleven kilometers from the last abduction site (Mallett, 2019). At nine at night, three siblings were alone in their home, and the perpetrator forced two of the three sisters to get into a wardrobe at knifepoint. He abducted Karmein, the third sister, who was never seen alive again (Mallett, 2019). Four days before the first anniversary of Karmein’s abduction, her decomposed body was found in a shallow grave, sixteen kilometers from her home (Mallett, 2019).

The serial sexual assaults received massive media attention, and the perpetrator was dubbed “Mr. Cruel” (Mallett, 2019). In this case study, the crimes of Mr Cruel will be analysed to create a detailed profile. The aspects analysed will include biological, psychological, and environmental factors, as well as the victimology surrounding the case. Finally, this information will be collated to provide a detailed offender profile.

BIOLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Over the years, it has been debated whether the source of behaviour is environmental or biological (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). However, it has been primarily agreed both contribute, but to what extent is still argued (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). In the case of Mr Cruel, it is essential to analyse both aspects to create a profile. Factors such as genetics, intelligence, empathy, self-control, and maturity will be discussed and linked to possible catalysts within brain function and development.

Heredity factors in crime have been a subject of investigation for many years (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). Experiments such as Richard Dugdale’s (1877,1970) analysis of the Juke family and the twin studies by Lange (1929) concluded that criminal behaviour might be hereditary (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). It is crucial to consider Mr Cruel’s genetics and familial criminal background when analysing his crimes. It is possible that a contributing factor to that the nature of his crimes stems from a biological need for sexual pleasure, dominance, paedophilia, and crime, caused by heritability. It is important to note that those who commit violent crimes and lack empathy, such as Mr Cruel, generally have a smaller, lower functioning prefrontal cortex (Adams, 2013). However, Mr Cruel’s crimes demonstrate an average or above-average level of intelligence, due to his level of self-control, placement of red-herrings and forensic awareness. Another factor in Mr Cruel’s crimes is the presence of paedophilia. Clinically, pedophiliac disorder is a strong, recurrent sexual attraction to preadolescent children (Seto, 2018). Mr Cruel was probably a paedophile or hebephile, which is the sexual attraction to children in early adolescence, having begun puberty, but are not fully sexually developed (Stephens & Seto, 2016). During this paper, paedophilia will be used as an umbrella term for both disorders.

According to Seto (2018), sexual attraction to children can stem from one of two places. The first explains paedophilia as a neurodevelopment disorder, beginning either prenatally, or shortly after birth and is proven by differences in the physical structuring in the brain (Seto, 2018). The second explains paedophilia to be a behavioural disorder which is related to sexual and social development and stems from environmental factors such as childhood sexual abuse (Seto, 2018). However, it should be noted that these are only theories, and neither determines the development of paedophilia (Seto, 2018). With these statements in mind, it is possible that Mr Cruel suffered sexual abuse as a child, or was exposed to sex at a young age. It is also possible that Mr Cruel suffers a neurological or neurodevelopment disorder that affects his ability to empathise, control his compulsions and rationalise. It is also possible that these differences in his cognitive function are a contributing factor to his sexual attraction to children.

VICTIMOLOGY Victimology is the study of victim psychology, victim-offender relationships, interactions between victims and the justice system and victim typology (Troshynski, 2019). However, when referencing Mr Cruel’s crimes, only the latter will be discussed. It is through the use of victimology that several questions are raised: Why were these particular victims chosen? What do the victims have in common? Were the victims randomly or specifically chosen? Doerner and Lab (2017) cite Hans von Hentig’s (1941) table of victim typology to understand further the types of victims and why they are victimised. There are thirteen victim types within this table; however, the two that are significant to this case are ‘the young’ and ‘the female’. This theory suggests that being young or female, such as Mr Cruel’s victims, may contribute to victimisation (Doerner & Lab, 2017).

There are several theories similar to Hentig’s (1941), such as Schafer’s victim precipitation typology (1968). This theory includes a relevant hypothesis for the choosing of Mr Cruel’s victims: the biologically weak victims, who are aged, young or appealing targets due to their physicality (Schafer, 1968 and cited by Doerner & Lab, 2017). These two theories explain that these victims were chosen because of their biology, being young and female, and perhaps the fact that children are ‘easy targets’ due to their lack of maturity and physical strength.

One fact of Mr Cruel’s victims was that they were all young girls, with a specific level of development (Mallett, 2019). While the victims varied slightly in age, they all had a similar body type and were at the same stages of puberty (Mallett, 2019). This statement would imply that Mr Cruel was specifically targeting girls of this developmental stage and body type, supporting the claim that Mr Cruel was a paedophile, as stated previously. Further to this, all of Mr Cruel’s victims lived within proximity to one another (Mallett, 2019). This is most likely due to convenience and security; most criminals choose locations not too far from home, in an area that they are familiar with (Johnson, 2014). Mr Cruel’s crimes, including abduction points, release points and the burial site of Karmein cover less than 170 square kilometres (Scott, 2020).

Maddy Scott – Map Made on Google Earth to Highlight Key Points of Interest – 2020 Key: Yellow Pins – Abduction/attack sites

Yellow Lines – Abduction/attack area

Dark Blue Pins – Release sites Dark

Blue Line – Distance between release sites

Light Blue Pin – Karmein’s burial site

Green Lines – Area of all criminal activity

Grey Pins – Nearby airports

Black lines – possible air traffic as per direction of runways

According to Doerner and Lab (2017), those crimes committed in one area with similar or the same victim typology can be explained by two theories. The first, risk heterogeneity, hypothesises that previous criminal acts distinguish a specific type of victim or location as an adequate place to commit further crimes (Doerner & Lab, 2017). The second theory, event dependency, involves one perpetrator committing multiple crimes against similar victims or in the same location based on the successful crimes committed by themselves previously (Doerner & Lab, 2017). These theories may explain why Mr. Cruel chose to victimise specific individuals in a specific area.

Several factors led to the victimisation of these young girls. The victim’s ages and gender, which not only appealed to Mr Cruel sexually, but made them easy to target, as children lack the cognitive development to rationalise in dangerous situations, and lack the physical strength to allow them to attack, fight or escape a criminal. In addition to this, all victims lived in an area that Mr Cruel was familiar with, allowing him to plan and execute his attacks meticulously.

OFFENDER PROFILE Mr Cruel is said to be between 170 and 180 centimetres tall, Caucasian, with an average build and a protruding stomach (Mallett, 2019). According to the victims, he spoke with an Australian accent and used colloquial language such as “worry wart”, “bozo” and “missy” (Mallett, 2019). He may have had sandy blonde hair at the time of the crimes, and alternated between having a cleanly shaven face, and facial hair (Mallett, 2019). Mr Cruel likely lived in an area close to his crimes. One of the victims said that she was able to hear aircraft overhead during her abduction (Mallett, 2019), which means that he either lived near an airport or under a flight path. These facts, once mapped, point to suburbs surrounding the areas such as Thomastown or Footscray (Scott, 2020). Mr Cruel probably suffered some kind of sexual abuse as a child or was exposed to sex at a young age. These environmental factors can lead to neurodevelopment disorders such as those that Mr Cruel most likely suffered.

Mr Cruel was able to logically think and prepare for the ways to commit his crimes successfully, which implies a certain level of intelligence. However, the fact that he was willing to act on his illicit and deviant compulsions implies mental disorders or challenges such as anti-social disorder. In saying this, Mr Cruel always kept his victims well fed and hydrated, which indicates a distorted view of empathy. It is most probable that Mr Cruel wanted to fulfil his compulsions while doing the ‘minimum’ amount of harm. This links to the murder of Karmein Chan. It is difficult to believe that Mr Cruel killed out of malice. He did what he felt was necessary to satisfy his ‘needs’ but never went further. This evidence suggests that he killed Karmein out of the same necessity. She likely tried to fight or escape Mr Cruel, ‘forcing’ him to kill her.

Mr Cruel was a logical man, able to be patient and organised when it came to getting what he wanted. However, this is a man who has mental challenges. His particular level of cleanliness implies an anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder. These anxieties most likely carried over into his day to day life. Another implication towards his unstable mental health was the presence of paedophilia in his crimes, which is a clinical mental disorder. Further to this, for one to be able to commit these types of crimes, one must be anti-social and lacking in empathy. Others likely viewed Mr Cruel as a clean, quiet man who preferred to keep to himself.

Bibliography Adams, T., 2013. How to spot a murderer's brain. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/may/12/how-to-spot-a-murderersbrain [Accessed 29 June 2020]. Andrews, D. A. & Bonta, J., 2010. Biological, Personal and Social Origins of the Major Risk/Need Factors and Personal Strengths. In: The psychology of criminal conduct. s.l.:Matthew Bender & Company, pp. 159-191. Doerner, W. G. & Lab, S. P., 2017. Victimology. 8th ed. s.l.:Routlegde. Johnson, S. D., 2014. How do offenders choose where to offend? Perspectives from animal foraging. Legal and Criminological Psychology, pp. 193-210. Mallett, X., 2019. Mr Cruel - The Careful Predator. In: Cold Case Investigations. Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd, pp. 115-140. Scott, M., 2020. Google Map Created Based on Location of Criminal Activity. s.l.:s.n. Seto, M. C., 2018. Defining Pedophilia. In: Pedophilia and Sexual Offending Against Children, Theory, Assessment and Intervention. s.l.:American Psychological Association , pp. 9-30. Stephens, S. & Seto, M. C., 2016. Hebephilic Sexual Offending. In: Sexual Offending: Predisposing Antecedents, Assessments and Management. New York: Springer Science+Business Media, pp. 29-41. Troshynski, E. I., 2019. Victimology. In: Salem Press Encyclopaedia . s.l.:Salem Press....