NCJ Number
182171
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 45 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 500-503
Date Published
March 2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on the investigation and evidence collection in the "signature" murders of Denean Worms and Brenda Hughes in separate killings within 3 months of each other in 1984 in British Columbia, Canada.
Abstract
Terrence Wayne Burlingham was found guilty of both murders, and he appealed. The Supreme Court of Canada granted Burlingham a new trial in the Worms case, but no evidence from Burlingham's confession nor the murder weapon could be used. The Crown counsel requested an evaluation of the two murders to determine whether they were committed by the same person. The analyses of those murders revealed that they were linked by a personal "signature" of the killer. The murder cases reported here show a control-oriented signature. The killer used a .410 shotgun as his method of control and death, engaged in overkill of each victim by shooting each twice in the head, and left the victims in sexually degrading positions. Another signature feature was the absence of typical wounds to the victims that would be expected from a serial sex offender. All of these characteristics, in combination, accounted for this killer's personal expression. Facing insurmountable new evidence against him, Terrence Burlingham pled guilty to the murder of Denean Worms. 16 references