NCJ Number
99114
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 54 Issue: 8 Dated: (August 1985) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
A W Burgess
Date Published
1985
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Based on interviews with 36 convicted sexual murderers, the five articles in this special issue address offender profiles, the role of psychological fantasy in serial killers' actions, schemes for classifying homicides, and interview techniques for homicide investigations.
Abstract
A profile of sexual murderers shows that their actions stem from a combination of background experiences, notably low social attachment, abuse during childhood, and the dominance of a violent, sexualized fantasy life. The next paper examines these murderers' fantasy lives in depth. It explores the conscious motives for murder, the killer's longstanding fantasy of violence and murder, and what happens when the fantasy of murder is played out through various phases. Classification schemes are the subject of the next two presentations. The first reports on a test of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit's system for classifying the crime and the crime scene. Experiments conducted with six agents who were given data from 64 murder scenes demonstrate the reliability of this scheme, with agreements of agents with respect to crime type being at least 77 percent. The second article documents the effectiveness of the technique developed by the FBI for classifying sexual murders into two types, organized and disorganized. Profiles of these types cover the killer's background, state of mind before and during the murder, appearance of the crime scene, and behavior following the murder. A discussion of the interview techniques used with the 36 convicted murderers focuses on tapping into these offenders' fantasy systems and effectively dealing with their defenses. Also covered are persuading the interviewee to cooperate, establishing rapport, and sequencing questions. Photographs, tables, and case examples are used throughout the issue.