Whoever fights monsters...

Building a Profile

Profilers use information from the crime scene to put together a psychological profile of the offender. 

It is important to distinguish organized and disorganizedcharacteristics at the crime scene:

• If the crime scene suggests the murder was carefully planned and executed, then the killer may be a man of average to high intelligence who has a stable social network. He may be married with a family. He may also be employed. Living a “normal” life on the surface requires a degree of self-control, which manifests itself in the way the crime is carried out. Sometimes, though, the organized offender does lose control in the actual attack when the fantasy motivation takes over. In such cases, a violent or frenzied attack may occur, yet there may also be careful attempts to conceal or destroy evidence.

• The disorganized offender leaves a mess at the crime scene. He may use any weapon that is available to strike out and makes little effort to cover his tracks. This lack of planning and control often suggests low intelligence. He is likely to be unemployed and may be a bit of a loner with few friends. The attack may be marked by excessive violence and could also include sexual contact with the victim after death. The disorganized serial killer often turns out to have a history of mental illness.

A number of other factors can be added to the profile. Many serial killers are young adults in their twenties or thirties. Some crimes show a high level of experience and skill, and this could mean the killer is older and has had practice.

It used to be thought that serial killers were mostly white and that serial killers picked victims of their own race. We are currently noticing that more and more often, racial lines are being crossed.

Many start out killing close to their home or work, ie. in their comfort zone, an area they know well. Organized killers are likely to start to move farther away, and may be highly mobile, which can make the logistics of catching them difficult. Disorganized killers are more likely to stay close to home.

Of particular interest to those investigating serial killers is what is taken from the scene or from the victim. In most crimes, the perpetrator will take items of monetary value, like cash or jewelry. They may also take evidence, such as a weapon. The serial killer often takes something known as a trophy or souvenir, of no obvious value except to him in his fantasy world. The item is known as a trophy if it is seen as a symbol of achievement and a souvenir if it is to remind the killer of the crime.

Victimology, the study of the victim, can be crucial in tracking down a serial killer. The investigators need to know what it was about that particular person that attracted the killer. Was the victim truly chosen at random or had the person been stalked previously? The killer may have been searching for the one person who fit his fantasy and, if a common link can be found between the victims, this may be very revealing. For instance, nearly all of the victims of serial killer Ted Bundy had dark hair parted in the center.

The location of the serial killer’s crimes is also of significance. Geographical profiling is based on the premise that the killer will operate in a zone where he feels comfortable. This may be near home or, alternatively, far away from it, depending on his psychological make-up. Location is not just where the crime was committed, but is also where the victim was abducted and where the body was taken and left after the crime. Establishing a geographical profile can be challenging if the victim was a prostitute, for instance, or someone who might not be missed by relatives or co-workers for a while.

Source: World of Forensic Science, ©2006 Gale Cengage

(photo AND don’t even complain to me that Charles Manson is not a serial killer! It is still a cool montage!)

Psychological Linkage Analysis: Joseph Vacher, “The French Ripper”

An important aspect of profiling is that the profiler can often use the behavioral-psychological clues an offender leaves behind at a crime scene to link crimes together that are committed by the same offender. Sometimes it’s fairly obvious, and sometimes the clues are much more discreet.

A series of sexual homicides began in France in 1894. They were not immediately connected to one offender because of the distance between the incidents. Some people have offered that the offender was Jack the Ripper, having fled England to continue his crimes in France.

Most of these assaults occurred in rural areas. The victims were young men or women who were walking alone or tending to their sheep.

After the murder of a 17-year old girl in his district, a French magistrate, Louis-Albert Fonfrede began gathering information about reports of similar murders throughout France. He postulated that it was not a single offender responsible for the crimes (because of distance between the murders), but rather, it was a new crime epidemic.

Another French magistrate, Emile Fourquet, was passionately interested in police work. Fourquet heard about one of the murders, and then learned that Fonfrede had gathered information on multiple murders. Fourquet saw a connection between the crimes: the victims had been young shepherds, and all had been mutilated with a razor or knife and sodomized antemortem. A series of “hacking” type neck wounds was present on the victims, indicating that the killer had blitz-attacked the victim from behind. Witnesses from two scenes reported a vagrant with a twisted lip and droopy eye, but this man eluded police.

Fourquet organized the files, dividing them into two charts; one keeping track of information about victimology and Modus Operandi. He analyzed autopsy reports and police reports. Using this method, he determined that there were 8 connected murders, with the bodies being disposed of in the same way, the same type of weapon being used, the same wound patterns on the victims, and the presence of mutilation and a sexual attack. To him, the distance between crime scenes did not matter, the similarities were too many for there to be more than one killer.

Fourquet’s second chart contained his ‘profile’ of the killer. He based this information on eyewitness reports after interviewing as many witnesses as he could find. He extracted the common elements from the accounts to make a list of behavioral patterns, which he called the killer’s signature.

The attacks continued until one potential victim, a young woman, fought off the attacker and her husband was able to detain him until police arrived. The man’s name was Joseph Vacher. He was 29 years old and he apparently fit Fourquet’s profile, who arrived to interview Vacher  - and who was able to obtain a confession.

Vacher was apparently a former soldier who was discharged from the military due to “psychic disturbances.’ He admitted to all the crimes that Fourquet attributed to him - as well as a few more. Vacher reported that he had experienced these homicidal urges since he was a young teenager. He offered an excuse - that his blood was poisoned by a rapid dog bite he received as a child.

Vacher became known as the French Ripper, and was executed.

The Vacher crimes also prompted criminologist Alexandre Lacassagne to advance the field of forensic science by using evidence gathered at the crime scenes (such as molds of foot prints, using bone growth and teeth to determine the age of victims, and blood spatter analysis) to help convict Vacher.

“The First Profile”: Jack the Ripper

Dr. Thomas Bond, a surgeon who participated in the autopsies of some of Jack the Ripper’s victims is often credited with creating the first profile of an unknown offender.

Five victims are attributed to Jack the Ripper, though there is debate about there possibly being more victims. Jack was famous for eviscerating his victims - an aspect of his crimes which readily connected his string of murders.

On November 10, 1888 (two days after the last known Ripper murder, and after the famous “From Hell” note) Dr. Thomas Bond provided his assessment of who could have committed these crimes. He wrote:

“In each case the mutilation was inflicted by a person who had no scientific nor anatomical knowledge…the murderer must have been a man of physical strength, and great coolness and daring. There is no evidence that he had an accomplice. He must, in my opinion, be a man subject to periodic attacks of homicidal and erotic mania…the murderer in external appearance is quite likely to be a quiet, inoffensive looking man, probably middle-aged, and neatly and respectably dressed…he would probably be solitary and eccentric in his habits, also he is most likely to be a man without regular occupation.”

Dr. Bond also believed that the Ripper was responsible for the 1889 murder of Alice McKenzie.

Unfortunately, the killer was never caught, so we cannot know how accurate Dr. Bond’s assessment was or was not.

The Profiling Process

The profiling process is defined by the FBI as an investigative technique by which to identify the major personality and behavioral characteristics of the offender based upon an analysis of the crime(s) he or she has committed. The process generally involves seven steps.

• Evaluation of the criminal act itself
• Comprehensive evaluation of the specifics of the crime scene(s)
• Comprehensive analysis of the victim
• Evaluation of preliminary police reports
• Evaluation of the medical examiner’s autopsy protocol
• Development of profile with critical offender characteristics
• Investigative suggestions predicated on construction of the profile

The process used by the person preparing a criminal personality profile is quite similar to that used by clinicians to make a diagnosis and treatment plan: Data is collected and assessed, the situation reconstructed, hypotheses are formulated, a profile developed and tested, and the results reported back. Criminal personality profiling has been used by law enforcement with success in many areas and is viewed as a way in which the investigating officer can narrow the scope of an investigation. Profiling unfortunately does not provide the identity of the offender, but it does indicate the type of person most likely to have committed a crime having certain unique characteristics.

(from the paper Criminal Profiling: A Viable Investigative Tool Against Violent Crime by Douglas&Warren)

There are four common typologies of serial killers:

1. Visionary Killer: This killer feels compelled to kill because of ‘voices’ in their heads or visions that tell them to do so. For example, Herbert Williams Mullin claimed to hear voices that told him a disastrous earthquake was imminent, but he could save California through murder. Mullin killed thirteen people in an effort to ‘save California’. It was later determined that Mullin suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

2. Mission Oriented Killer: These individuals feel that it is their duty or mission to kill certain kinds of people. For example, Ted Kaczynski, commonly refered to as the Unabomber, started a bombing campaign in an effort to save the environment, which he felt was being destroyed around him. He targeted places that were creating ‘high technology’ such as universities and airlines. Kaczynski’s bombs killed three people and injured twenty-three.

3. Power-Control Killers: These killers seek complete control over their victims. Seuxal activity is almost always involved in these cases. John Wayne Gacy,“The Clown Killer”, would fall into this category. Gacy murdered and raped 33 teenage boys, burying 26 of them in the crawl space of his home.

4. Hedonistic Serial Killers: This is the most common type of serial killer. These individuals kill for the thrill and enjoyment they get from the act of killing. There are three subtypes of hedonistic killers:

• Hedonistic comfort killers: Killing victims provides the killer with some sort of comfort; usually money. Dorthea Puente ran a boarding house in California where she killed her elderly tenants and buried them in the backyard so she could claim their social insurance checks.
• Hedonistic lust killers: The serial sexual predator; fantasy plays a large role and their satisfaction depends on the amount of torture and mutilation they inflict on their victims. Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the best-known hedonistic lust killers. He searched for a beautiful, submissive, and eternal lover. Dahmer killed 17 men and boys in this search for his perfect lover; his murders involved rape, torture, dismemberment, necrophilia, and cannibalism (so that a part of his victims would stay with him forever).
• Hedonistic thrill killers: Their primary thrill is to create fear and death. The act is usually not sexual and is not drawn out over period of time, they are solely interested in the kill. Hedonistic thrill killers often work in teams. The notorious “Zodiac Killer” claimed to be responsible for 37 murders but investigators have only been able to pinpoint 7 victims, two of which survived. The Zodiac killer sent taunting letters to the police, and was never caught or identified.

Ritualistic (Signature) Behavior of sexual murderers

Many sexual murderers, particularly serial murderers, exhibit repetitive ritualistic behavior at the crime scene that goes beyond what is necessary to carry out the homicide. Thus, the offender injects an aspect of his personality by leaving his own unique “signature,” or “calling card,” or psychological imprint (Keppel, 1995, 1997). Unlike an offenders modus operandi (MO), which can change and develop as he learns and perfects techniques to carry out an abduction, rape, or murder, the signature - or, at least, its underlying theme - remains relatively constant (Douglas, Burgess, Burgess & Ressler, 1992; Keppel, 2000). In such cases, committing a murder is not enough to satisfy the offender’s psychosexual needs: such murderers “must often act out fantasies in some manner over and beyond inflicting death-producing injuries” (Keppel, 1995). For example, Krafft-Ebing (1886) noted that one offender was compelled “to pull the hairpins out of the hair of my victims” (p. 67); another, to press the hands of victims together; and yet another, to fill the mouth of victims with dirt. Other examples of signature behavior include:  

• mutilation of the body
• overkill
• carving on the body
• leaving messages
• rearranging or positioning the body
• engaging in postmortem activity
• or making the victim respond verbally in a specified manner (Douglas, et al., 1992). 

(an excerpt from Potential Sex  Murderer, Ominous Sings, Risk Assessment by Louis B. Schlesinger, 2001)

Victimology

An important aspect of investigating a violent crime is an understanding of the victim and the relation that their lifestyle or personality characteristics may have contributed to the offender choosing them as a victim.  Please do not misunderstand the previous statement.  In no way are victims being blamed for becoming a victim of a violent crime.  Even high risk victims (to be described shortly) have the right to live how they wish without becoming a victim of the type of offenses described on this site.  Yet the fact remains, that to understand the offender, one must first understand the victim.

Victims are classified during an investigation in three general categories that describe the level of risk their lifestyle represents in relation to the violent crime that has been committed.  The importance of understanding this in an investigation is directly related back to the level of risk to the offender during the commission of the crime.  This information is important to the investigation to better understand the sophistication or possible pathology of the offender.

High Risk Victims - Victims in this group have a lifestyle that makes them a higher risk for being a victim of a violent crime.  The most obvious high risk victim is the prostitute.  Prostitutes place themselves at risk every single time they go to work.  Prostitutes are high risk because they will get into a stranger’s car, go to secluded areas with strangers, and for the most part attempt to conceal their actions for legal reasons.  Offenders often rely on all these factors and specifically target prostitutes because it lowers their chances of becoming a suspect in the crime.  Therefore, in this example, the prostitute is a high risk victim creating a lower risk to the offender.

Moderate Risk Victims - Victims that fall into this category are lower risk victims, but for some reason were in a situation that placed them in a greater level of risk.  A person that is stranded on a dark, secluded highway due to a flat tire, that accepts a ride from a stranger and is then victimized would be a good example of this type of victim level risk. 

Low Risk Victims - The lifestyle of these individuals would normally not place them in any degree of risk for becoming a victim of a violent crime.  These individuals stay out of trouble, do not have peers that are criminal, are aware of their surroundings and attempt to take precautions to not become a victim.  They lock the doors, do not use drugs, and do not go into areas that are dark and secluded.

After all the information has been gathered, a timeline of events leading up to the crime should be created in order to better understand how this specific individual became a victim of a violent crime.

Disorganized crime scenes exhibit the following characteristics:

• contain lots of evidence
• exhibit a frenzied attack
• involve single or clustered scenes
• indicate the victim was not a stranger
• indicate spontaneous attack
• assault and disposal site of the body of the same
• contain weapon of opportunity
• postmortem sexual activity
• include symbolic positioning of the body

The disorganized crime scene corresponds to the disorganized offender:

• below average intelligence
• socially immature
• poor work history
• sexually incompetent
• anxious and confused

Serial Rape - a study by FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood

The research concerning serial rapists’ behavior during and following the commission of the crimes has determined that:

• The majority of the rapes were premeditated
• The “con” approach was used most often in initiating contact with the victim
• A threatening presence and verbal threats were used to maintain control over the victim
• Minimal or no force was used in the majority of instances
• The victims physically, passively or verbally resisted the rapists in slightly over 50% of the offenses
• The most common offender reaction to resistance was to verbally threaten the victim
• Slightly over one-third of the offenders experienced a sexual dysfunction, and the preferred sexual acts were vaginal rape and forced fellatio
• Low levels of pleasure were reported by the rapists from the sexual acts
• The rapists tended not to be concerned with precautionary measures to protect their identities
• Approximately one-third of the rapists had consumed alcohol prior to the crime and slightly less reported using some other drug.

The most common post-offense behavior reported by the rapists were feelings of remorse and guilt, following the case in the media and an increase in alcohol and drug consumption. These characteristics, although not generally applicable to every rapist, can be helpful in learning more about offenders, their behaviors and the heinnous crime of rape

(photo: Douglas Junco, serial rapist)

Gerard John Schaefer, “The Sex Beast”

(as described by FBI profiler, Roy Hazelwood)

“We believe that he would arrest his victims and then take them out to the swamps. We think he fed them Ex-lax and made them drink beer, because he liked to watch them defecate and urinate. Then he would have them mount a ladder and he’d hang them. When they were dead, he’d bury them, and then he would come back and have sex with the bodies.

Here’s the frightening part. When he couldn’t get a victim, he would play the role of a victim himself. He’d cross-dress and hang himself, and he took pictures of it.”

Schaefer had been a Florida police officer and was suspected of 29 murders.

Building a psychological profile: 

Necessary items for a psychological profile include:

1) Complete photographs of the crime scene, including photographs of the victim if it is a homicide. Also helpful is some means of determining the angle from which the photographs were taken and a general description of the immediate area. One enterprising police officer developed the excellent technique of photocopying his crime scene sketch, attaching one copy to each photo, and then outlining in red the area which was included in the photograph.

2) The completed autopsy protocol including, if possible, any results of lab tests which were done on the victim.

3) A complete report of the incident to include such standard details as date and time of offense, location (by town as well as by actual site of incident), weapon used (if known), investigative officers’ reconstruction of the sequence of events (if any), and a detailed interview of any surviving victims or witnesses. These items are usually a part of all investigations and do not generally require extra report writing or extra written material. Also included in most investigative reports is background information on the victim(s). Yet, this seems to be the area where the least amount of information is available to the profiler. Usually, this is because the investigative officer cannot possibly write down all of the many details concerning the victim which he collects while investigating the crime.

When the investigator provides information concerning a victim to a profiler, some items which the officer should include are:

1) Occupation (former and present).

2) Residence (former and present).

3) Reputation, at work and in his neighborhood.

4) Physical description, including dress at the time of the incident.

5) Marital status, including children and close family members.

6) Educational level.

7) Financial status, past and present.

8) Information and background of victim’s family and parents, including victim’s relationship with parent.

9) Medical history, both physical and mental.

10) Fears.

11)Personal habits.

12) Social habits.

13) Use of alcohol and drugs.

14) Hobbies.

15) Friends and enemies.

16) Recent changes in lifestyle.

17) Recent court action.

The primary psychological evidence which the profiler is looking for is motive.

(From: A Psychological Assessment of Criminal Profiling; Ault&Reese)

Investigating Serial Murder

Serial killers, those who kill more than once, pose a special problem for crime investigators because their motives are often far less obvious than those of the person who commits a single homicide.

The serial killer tends to prey upon people at random. Usually, the attacker does not know the victims personally. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Behavioral Science Unit developed the concept of psychological profiling in the 1960s to aid in the pursuit of serial killers and to let police know what kind of offender is instigating the crimes.

Despite attempts by authorities to profile and find serial killers, some killers can continue killing and elude authorities for years. The so-called Green River Killer murdered at least 48 victims over a span of 16 years, from 1982 to 1998. The confessed murderer, Gary Leon Ridgway (now serving a life sentence), claimed that strangling young women was his “career.”

Despite all the work that has been done on the psychology of the serial killer, forensic psychologists and psychiatrists are still far from understanding such people. Although it may be easier to comprehend someone who kills out of greed or revenge, the work of a serial killer is so far removed from normal behavior that most people have little understanding of his motives.

As the homicides mount, it becomes increasingly urgent for police to track down the killer. Also, as the killings mount, so too does the evidence, no matter how clever the killer may consider himself to be. As he continues, he may become careless or complacent, and the chances of his capture increase.

The profiler or forensic psychiatrist uses evidence from the crime scene to build a psychological profile (also called a criminal profile) of the serial killer.