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JOURNAL. OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / September 1986 strategically waited for an opportunity when he did not have the gun (he had to drop the gun to tie her wrists) and foughtat the point when her wrists were being ticd. ‘The gun was a straightforward death threat, yet being immobilized increased the woman's vulnerability. ‘Thus she risked fighting despite the gun. ‘The assailant’s preconceived strategies were based on his under- standing of a victim's response to a violent death threat. This assailant had three prior victims whom he murdered. His first victim was contacted after he answered an ad ina lonely hearts column, in the second and third cases he posed as a photographer needing a model and went through an agency. He claimed to have raped all three women and then transported them to another location where he strangled them. The bodies were left in a desert; until the man was apprehended for the attempted murder, the bodies remained missing. The murderer showed most of the characteristics of an organized sexual killer. The murders were carefully planned. The killer used ropes as restraints and raped the women prior to killing them. He also took photographs of his victims before he killed them; their faces showed great fear. The man's car was used to transport the victims to their deaths. The offender's IQ was in the superior range, and he had recently lost his job and moved from the Midwest to the West Coast. He followed newspaper accounts of his crimes. However, in this case, this victim did not respond as his other victims. Asa victim she did not acquiesce to his multiple threats and gun. She fought him. He continued his pursuit of dominance and intent to kill her. He shot her. From his view, the rules suddenly changed. He had a choice. He did not stop his action and say to himself, “This is not fitting in with my scheme,” and leave the scene. Instead, he persisted in fitting her into his mode of escalation. When apprehended by police, the assailant tried the same manipu- lative ploy with the officer. He claimed that he did not know if he would have raped the woman. The police officer disbelieved this statement (i.e., he believed the assailant had intended to kill) and the assailant was taken into custody. Victim statement of disorganized murderer. According to the account of the surviving victim, a 2l-year-old woman, she and some friends returned to a girlfriend's apartment after dining at a restau- rant. After continued conversation and television viewing, everyone left except one of the men. The victim’s girlfriend retired to her room 77