Reader Ad Slot
Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.
Criminal Profiling — Part 2
Page 5
5 / 20
Douglas et al.: Criminal Profiling from Crime Scene Analysis
strangulation. There were post-mortem bite marks on the victim’s thighs, as well
as contusions, hemorrhages, and lacerations to the body. The killer also defecated
on the roof landing and covered it with the victim's clothing.
The following discussion of this case in the context of the six stages of the
criminal-profile-generating process illustrates how this process works.
Profiling Inputs
In terms of crime scene evidence, everything the offender used at the crime
scene belonged to the victim. Even the comb and the felt-tip pen used to write
on her body came from her purse. The offender apparently did not plan this
crime; he had no gun, ropes, or tape for the victim’s mouth. He probably did
not even plan to encounter her that morning at that location. The crime scene
indicated a spontaneous event, in other words, the killer did not stalk or wait
for the victim. The crime scene differs from the death scene. The initial abduction
was on the stairwell; then the victim was taken to a more remote area.
Investigation of the victim revealed that the 26-year-old, 90-pound, 4’1 1” white
female awoke around 6:30 a.m. She dressed, had a breakfast of coffee and juice,
and left her apartment for work at a nearby day care center, where she was
employed as a group teacher for handicapped children. She resided with her
mother and father. When she would leave for work in the morning, she would
take the elevator or walk down the stairs, depending on her mood. The victim
was a quiet young woman who had a slight curvature of the spine (kyhoscoliosis).
The forensic information in the medical examiner's report was important in
determining the extent of the wounds, as well as how the victim was assaulted
and whether evidence of sexual assault was present or absent. No semen was
noted in the vagina, but semen was found on the body. It appeared that the
murderer stood directly over the victim and masturbated. There were visible bite
marks on the victim’s thighs and knee area. He cut off her nipples with a knife
after she was dead and wrote on the body. Cause of death was strangulation,
first manual, then ligature, with the strap of her purse. The fact that the murderer
used a weapon of opportunity indicates that he did not prepare to commit this
crime. He probably used his fist to render her unconscious, which may be the
reason no one heard any screams. There were no deep stab wounds and the knife
used to mutilate the victim's breast apparently was not big, probably a penknife
that the offender normally carried. The killer used the victim’s belts to tie her
right arm and right leg, but he apparently untied them in order to position the
body before he left.
The preliminary police report revealed that another resident of the apartment
building, a white male, aged 15, discovered the victim’s wallet in a stairwell
between the third and fourth floors at approximately 8:20 a.m. He retained the
wallet until he returned home from school for lunch that afternoon. At that time,
he gave the wallet to his father, a white male, aged 40. The father went to the
victim’s apartment at 2:50 p.m. and gave the wallet to the victim’s mother.
When the mother called the day care center to inform her daughter about the
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW
Bede
22
Community corrections
No user corrections yet.
Comments
No comments on this document yet.
Bottom Reader Ad Slot
Bottom Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.
Continue Exploring
Agency Collection
Explore This Archive Cluster
Broad Topic Hub
Topic Hub
letter
bureau
Related subtopics
Subtopic
Subtopic
Subtopic
Subtopic
Subtopic
Subtopic