Lecture 2 - Profile Analysis PDF

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Profile Analysis & Terminology...

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Slide 1: Profile Analysis

What differentiates serial killing to murders is that in the former, the victim is usually unknown to the killer. This makes it more difficult to link cases together to suggest the series of crimes might have been committed by one individual. History: Agencies like the FBI or RCMP tried to find a way to link (linkage) these different crimes to one another. Some agents came up with the idea that maybe we would be able to look at the behaviours of serial killers and the end result of their crimes and try to see if it is possible to link their crimes together: finding sufficient commonalities between two crime scenes in order to conclude that they were committed by the same individual. Serial killers usually don’t stand out. This, again, makes them difficult to identify. For a long time, the idea that a woman could be a serial killer was offensive. How could a potential mother, a giver of life, take a series of lives? Although they are not as common, as far as we know, they are a reality. Crime Scene: Deciding if the crime scene is an actual crime scene, where the person was actually killed. Was the person moved? Peculiarities: Signs on the body that should not be there. Why would this person do that? What does this sign tell us about the person? Profiling: Putting yourself in a situation, facing 5 different murders and not having a clue as to who is committing the crimes. Looking at the crime scene with what we know and come up with a description of a potential suspect. What are the series of behaviours that lead to the murder and do these behaviours point towards a certain type of person? From a series of behaviours to imagining what type of person exhibits these behaviours in that way.

Slide 2: The goals of profiling Criminal profiles are used for a variety of purposes: ● ● ● ● ●

To prioritize suspects To develop new lines of enquiry To flush out offenders To determine risk To provide interrogation advice

The goal of profiling is never to identify someone: it is to prioritize suspects and flush out those who do not meet the criteria/picture. You never really target one person, you eliminate the rest so that the investigation can proceed more rapidly and efficiently. Then you will be faced with a suspect and check if this person fits the profile that was built.

Slides 2 & 3: Types of Forensic Profiles

Approaches: 1. Inductive Approach: Research. The basic assumption is that whichever behaviour or motivation we look at can be predicted from the study of individuals who share similar behaviours. Psych tries to describe the general tendency in people, this is the same basis for the actuarial approach. Studying people that we already know to have committed similar crimes would help in building the profile. Note: Serial killers usually do not stay at the same place and kill people they do not know, which makes the multitude of crimes and crime scenes very difficult to link. 2.

Deductive approach: Case by case working, with the assumption which is a reverse of the 1st case: each individual is unique, meaning that they will demonstrate a unique set and pattern of behaviour.

One approach. believes at looking at the group to find general lines of investigation while the other looks at special cases one by one. From here come the notions of: M.O. & Signature. Slide 5 & 13: The profiler’s Dictionary

Modus Operandi: All that can be identified that was done in order to conduct the crime efficiently. This can vary between offenders AND between crimes committed by the same offender.

Serial Killers are usually quite intelligent. An M.O. shows that they plan what they are about to do. This is the big difference with one-time murder, which usually happen through emotion and the heat of the moment. Signature: Individual. May vary, but will usually be much more stable. It implicates the specific emotions of fantasies that the serial killer has. The core of the signature should be found in each case in which the particular suspect is.. suspected. Since it is usually thematic and satisfies a certain need in the offender, the signature usually remains stable. Contrary to the M.O. a signature is something that does not need to happen in order to commit the crime. It’s an additional touch from the murderer. Staging: Disguising a crime scene to make it look like a suicide OR using the victim as a canvas, like a painter, and positioning the body, doing certain things to the body, in order to produce shock-value when the body is discovered. Bondage: Can also be an M.O. Immobilizing the victim can be necessary. Note: we often assume all serial killers are psychopaths, when most of them will not score as a psychopath after evaluation. Slide 6: Crime-Scene Caracteristics

Bundy Examples: Method of approach: Van Method of control: Asking for help from young women. Would have a cast and ask to help him into his van. Slide 7: Offender Activity

Precautionary Acts: Part of the M.O. They want to commit the crime but they do not want to get caught. Taken Items: Can be part of the M.O.: taking evidence, for example. It can also be part of a signature: when the person is taking things as trophies or souvenirs. Trophies: Jeffrey Dahmer had, on his mantelpiece, a head, a penis and a hand.

Slides 8, 9 & 10: MO, Signature & Motivation

Slides 11 & 12: Example of MO and Signature • An unknown subject rapes a woman in her home, using a rope garrote to control her while he rapes her, causing little or no other physical damage. The offense takes 10 or 15 minutes and then the offender leaves through the back door of the residence which shows signs of forced entry. • Over the next two months, two more rapes are committed by the same rapist with roughly the same MO, each taking about ten to fifteen minutes. Investigators are able to make the connections right away because of DNA evidence collected at the various scenes. During rape number three, it is noted, the victim struggled a great deal and very heavy ligature furrows are observed on her neck. • A week later, a fourth victim emerges. The fourth victim explains in her statement how the offender brought her in and out of consciousness intentionally using a rope garrote, and how the offender spent almost an hour with her. DNA evidence is unavailable for this fourth rape: is victim number four related? • All else being equal, this is the same offender. • What has occurred is that the offender, over time, has eroticized the use of the garrote. During the first rapes, the garrote was a means to acquire and maintain control of the victim (MO Oriented). • Over time and experience, the offender developed a sexual desire to strangle his victims while raping them (Fantasy Oriented). • This is not surprising given the strong association of the garrote with the act of rape during the first few attacks. • The presence of an object or behavior during sex can quite easily lead to it's eroticization and inclusion in fantasy and subsequently fantasy behavior.

Organised vs Disorganized. Organized: people are too dumb to associate with, they are just good for manipulation. They are nonsocial because they decide not to socialize, people are not worth it.

Pickerism: After death, using an instrument to pierce or lacerate the body after death. No swelling, no blood. Disorganized: Will be the one with more serious mental health problems. They are asocial not by choice, people stay away from them because they are strange.

ACT-FOCUSED Visionary: Hallucinations. Usually something that happens quickly. They have to act quickly as to not anger the voices. Ex: They see a Red Head. And get a message that they are daughters of satan, and they have to be eliminated. The offender will take care of this as they see the victim. No plan. Missionary: These people have a mission that they must accomplish. Hunting. With a mission, they don’t have time. They don’t necessarily enjoy killing, it’s something they have to do. Ex: All Red Heads must be eliminated, and they take this into their own hands. PROCESS-FOCUSED Comfort-Oriented Hedonist: Outdated. Was dedicated to women. We have more categories for women now. Lust-Oriented Hedonist: Sexual pleasure is out of killing. Ex: Magnotta. Creating in the person that sees this a kind of emotion of dejection. He took a video and pretended to penetrate various parts of the body and cuts made with a knife. Why pretend? For the reaction from the public, not the act itself. Thrill-Oriented Hedonist: The moment they seek is when the victim shows that they have quit, given up, and accept that they are going to die, letting go....