Psychology of Homicide Unit V Lecture

1. Psychology of HomicideUnit V Lecture Mass Murder and Signature of Serial Killers

2. The F.B.I. defines mass murder as-the killing four or more persons at one time. • Over ½ of mass murders or attempted mass murder in the United States involves domestic homicide. • Other cases involve offenders killing persons at; schools, work places, shopping malls, restaurants or government agencies. Mass Murder

3. Family slayer-a person who kills his family and then commits suicide • Murder for profit-a person who kills to gain materially • Murder for sex-primary goal is to sexually torture, rape and murder victims, a rare typology • Pseudo-commando-a person with an obsession for guns and fantasy for murder • Set-and-run-a person who plans an escape route following the killing aftermath. Time delayed events (bombs, poisons, fire) • Psychotic killer-a person suffering from acute or chronic psychosis (legally insane) Mass Murder-Typologies

4. Disgruntled employees-a person who seeks revenge for real or imagined wrongs at the hands of employer/coworkers • Disciple type-a person who commits murder at the behest of a charismatic leader • Ideological-a person, especially a cult leader, who is able to persuade others to kill themselves or each other • Institutional-a person who commits mas murder as a crime of obedience when ordered by his/her leader (genocide) Mass Murder-Typologies continued

5. Jared L. Loughner, a 22 year-old pot-smoking army and college reject, was considered by police to be angry and mentally unstable when he entered a shopping center in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011 and shot twenty people, killing six. His primary target was congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was also critically wounded. Recent Examples

6. Dr. Amy Bishop, a Harvard trained neurobiologist, shot six faculty members in a department meeting at the University of Alabama in 2010, killing three of them. She had been denied tenure. Dr. Amy Bishop

7. Dr. Nidal M. Hasan, a psychiatrist and major in the military, shot over 40 military personnel, killing 13, at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. He had become a radicalized Muslim who viewed the United States as an aggressor nation. Dr. NidalHasan

8. Omar Thornton, 2010 shot and killed eight coworkers and himself at a beer distribution company in Manchester, Connecticut. He had just been terminated for stealing beer from the company. Omar Thornton

9. Often have serious mental health issues • Are not usually motivated by exposure to videos, movies, or television • Are not using alcohol or other drugs at the time of the attacks • Are often unemployed • Are sometimes female • Are not usually Satanists or racists • Are most often white males • Sometimes have college degrees or some years of college • Often have military experience • Give pre-attack warnings • Often carry semiautomatic weapons obtained legally • Often do not attempt escape • Half commit suicide or are killed by others • Most have a death wish Variables associated with mass murder offenders

10. Most mass murders occur at one location, such as school, an office or workplace. In some mass murder cases an offender begins his/her murders in one location and then moves to another building or location to continue the killing. The bifurcation of mass murder

11. The largest sub-category of serial killers is signature killers. The signature of this type killer is his/her psychological “calling card” or “personal stamp” at the crime scene. This personal expression is primal psychologically compelled to leave in order to satisfy him sexually. Signature of Serial Killers

12. Different killers leave different signatures, these may fall into sexual sadism-control, humiliations, progression, posing, torture, overkill, necrophilia and cannibalism. The signature does not answer what the killer does but instead what he wants, seeks and drives him psychologically. Bundy says “it’s what the killer gets his rocks off on.” Signature of Serial Killers (continued)

13. The method used to control the victim. • The type of wounds inflicted. • Any postmortem activity with the victim’s body. • The method of disposing of the body The Signature Includes:

14. Anger-retaliatory killer-most victims are strong women who they perceive as being responsible for the problems in their lives. The most common victim is the prostitute. • Anger-excitation killer-these killers do not see their deeds as crimes but instead only administering revenge. Two Basic Types of Signature Killers

15. The nature of the signature is the person’s violent fantasies. The signature elements do not change over time; they just become more fully developed. Serial killers have been living with these violent fantasies years before they first start offending. The Nature of the Signature

16. A killer’s method of operation or modus operandi (MO) is simply the way the offender operates. This includes type of crime, property involved, victim type, time, place, tools, props, disguises, associates, distinguishing trademarks left, and when they like to operate. M.O. can and does change over time because the offenders learn from their mistakes. M.O.-Modus Operandi

17. This is a technique used by offenders to confound investigations because “they have read our books.” Crime Scene Management

18. Anger that is totally abnormal • Anger that is constant, not situational • Anger that the child and then adults perceives as beyond their control • Anger that increases as the child matures into adulthood • Anger that can only be satisfied by deviant violent acts which only temporarily release anger Model of Criminally Deviant Homicidal Personality

19. Anger drives first the initial deviant act of violence and then this violence turns into violent sexual behavior • Anger progressively gets worse which may begin with violent sexual crimes but my morph into violent murders • Anger incites predatory behavior to surrogate people of that group • Even when anger is at a low ebb, use of drugs, alcohol or pornography is used • Anger becomes imprinted psychologically in the child, then the adult-this in turn develops into the signature behavior through the rest of his life and performed in his dreams and behavior Model of Criminally Deviant Homicidal Personality (continued)

20. Little or very low self-esteem • The diphasic personality formation, split into two phases; • Normal life-real world • Fantasy world-safe, complete control • *Anger develops because of stress in maintaining this diphasic personality • Diphasic personality tend not to fit in • During adolescents anger maturates into newly found sexual urges Why Signature Killers Kill

21. Anger and revenge are one form of control • The killer then acts out, usually knows the victim, but the victim does not know the killer • Diphasic personalities retreat to a world of fantasy and develop a camouflage personality • Diphasic killers move back and forth from the real world to the fantasy world, and with time and practice, can do this with more ease, sometimes bringing back mental and physical trophies from their fantasy lives. Why Signature Killers Kill (continued)

22. To help the solvability of murder Dr. Keppel examined over 1300 murder cases from 1981-1986 in Washington State. Five components were examined in the model: Time and Distance Relationships in Homicide Investigation

23. The location where the victim was last seen • The point of contract between the offender and the victim • The initial assault on the victim by the offender • The actual death producing injuries or murder site • The location where the body was discovered • If these locations are separated by more than 50 miles, the probability of solvability is reduced to less than 5%. Time and Distance (continued)

24. Serial signature killers can’t be rehabilitated and can’t be cured, they are habitual killers. They gain extreme sexual pleasure by humiliating, defiling, and ultimately destroying their victims. Rehabilitation of Serial Killers

25. Bondage-the ritualized practice of compression and incapacitation of a person with the use of ropes, chains, handcuffs, suffocation, drowning, and a number of improvised methods conditional only to the limits of the killer’s imagination. • Picquerism-jabbing, stabbing, cutting and gouging through the use of a knife or other sharp pointed instrument for the purpose of sexual gratification. Knives are both a sexual weapon psychologically as well as weapons of combat. Definitions of Wounds Inflicted

26. Understanding the signature of serial killers will not only help capture these human hunters hopefully reducing the number of victims they create but also sheds light on the psychological motivations and behaviors of these offenders. Conclusion

27. We have traveled up a river of blood into the very heart of darkness, the deep-frozen center of a signature killer’s soul. We must travel to this soul to fully understand and recreate the last few hours of his victims life in order to stop this human hunt. A Final Thought

28. Thanks you! Questions