Crime scene analysis and the escalation of violence in serial rape.

The current study examines the crime scene behavior manifest by 108 serial rapists responsible for the perpetration of 565 rapes across various cities within the US. The goal of the current study is to identify which aspects of crime scene behavior reported to law enforcement by the victim are most useful in predicting, early in a series of offenses, which rapists are most likely to escalate into higher and, at times, life threatening levels of violence. Using 58 scales that quantify the verbal, physical, and sexual behavior manifest by a rapist in his interaction with his victim during his first reported rape and 36 modal variables that summarized approach, timing, demographics, and weapon usage across the series of rapes, the study attempts to differentiate between those rapists who escalate in their use of blunt force (Increasers) from those who do not (Non-Increasers). A logistic regression indicates that rapists who are white rather than of minority status and who, at the time of their first reported rape, rape their victims for longer periods of time and use more profanity are more likely to escalate in their level of blunt force than those rapists who do not exhibit these behaviors. The relevance of this type of predictive framework for law enforcement in its attempts to prioritize particular investigations is discussed.

The sexually sadistic serial killer.

This article explores characteristics and crime scene behavior of 20 sexually sadistic serial murderers. The pairing of character pathology with paraphilic arousal to the control and degradation of others is examined as it manifests itself in their murders. Commonalities across murders and across murderers are highlighted, i.e., the execution of murders that are well-planned, the use of preselected locations, captivity, a variety of painful sexual acts, sexual bondage, intentional torture, and death by means of strangulation and stabbing.

Fatal and near-fatal autoerotic asphyxial episodes in women. Characteristic features based on a review of nine cases.

As asphyxial episodes during autoerotic activity are rarely reported in women, a review of eight fatal cases and one near-fatal case was conducted to delineate more clearly the characteristics of this syndrome in women. Six cases involved characteristic fatal autoerotic asphyxial activity. The remaining two fatal cases were atypical in that the apparatus that was used for sexual purposes was not intended to cause asphyxia in one case and did not directly cause asphyxial death in the second case. The final case was not fatal. Significantly, the majority of women did not use unusual clothing, props, or devices to augment their activity, for example, five were completely naked and only one was found with elaborate clothing and extra ligatures. Six of the fatal cases had objective evidence of sexual activity, three had used neck padding to prevent chafing, and eight had failed self-rescue mechanisms. Of note, the initial impression in four cases (44%) was homicide (two), attempted suicide (one), and accidental death during sexual activity with a partner (one). These results support the assertion that the manifestations of female autoerotic asphyxial activity reported to date may be initially misleading to investigators. Our purpose in presenting these findings, therefore, is to increase awareness of the more subtle features of this syndrome in women in an attempt to reduce the potential for underdiagnosis or confusion with nonaccidental death in future cases.

A comparison of typical death scene features in cases of fatal male and autoerotic asphyxia with a review of the literature.

Autoerotic asphyxia is an increasingly recognised syndrome in which accidental death occurs during solitary sexual activity due to failure of an apparatus that was designed to produce hypoxic augmentation of the victim's sexual response. Evidence of repetitive, secretive behaviour utilizing ropes and ligatures characterizes cases involving either males or females. Here the similarity in reported cases ends with males tending to utilize a far greater range of elaborate devices and props, often designed to cause real or simulated pain with pornographic material and evidence of cross-dressing and fetishism. Females, on the other hand, have usually been found naked with only a single ligature and no unusual or bizarre equipment. To further clarify the similarities and differences between typical cases involving males and females and to assist in the diagnosis of less obvious cases, the literature is reviewed and characteristic findings in both sexes compared and contrasted.

The sexually sadistic criminal and his offenses.

This is an uncontrolled, descriptive study of 30 sexually sadistic criminals. All were men, and all intentionally tortured their victims in order to arouse themselves. Their crimes often involved careful planning, the selection of strangers as victims, approaching the victim under a pretext, participation of a partner, beating victims, restraining victims and holding them captive, sexual bondage, anal rape, forced fellatio, vaginal rape, foreign object penetration, telling victims to speak particular words in a degrading manner, murder or serial killings (most often by strangulation), concealing victims' corpses, recording offenses, and keeping personal items belonging to victims.

Serial rapists and their victims: reenactment and repetition.

The major finding in this study of 41 serial rapists is the large numbers of reported and unreported victims. For over 1200 attempted and completed rapes, there were 200 convictions. The hidden rapes or earliest nonreported victims of these men as boys and adolescents were identified from their families, their neighborhood, and their schools. Examining the possible link between childhood sexual abuse and criminal behavior in this sample of 41 serial rapists, 56.1% were judged to have at least one forced or exploitive abuse experience in boyhood, as compared to a study of 2,972 college males reporting 7.3% experiencing boyhood sexual abuse. Looking within the abused samples, 56.1% of the rapists reported forced sex, compared to the college sample's 30.4%. Also, the rapist sample revealed higher rates of family member as abuser (48.4%), compared to 22.2% for the college sample. Retrospective reconstruction of the sexual activities and assertive behaviors of these men as boys reveals that 51% of the boys reenact the abuse as a preadolescent with their earliest victims being known to them (48% as neighborhood girls), family (25% as sisters), or girlfriend (25%). The onset of rape fantasies in midadolescence (mean age 16.9) crystalizes the earlier sexually initiated behaviors into juvenile behaviors of spying, fetish burglaries, molestations, and rapes. Repetition of these juvenile behaviors set their criminal patters on strangers--their next group of victims. To reduce victimization, serial rapists need to be identified early and stopped. This means acknowledging and reporting boy sexual abuse. This includes being sensitive to the reenactment behaviors noted in the initiated activities of abused children, which in turn need to be differentiated from peer play. Closer attention needs to be paid to families with incest behavior to insure that younger children are protected. Adolescents showing early repetitive juvenile delinquent behaviors must be assessed for physical and sexual abuse, and intervention must be planned to deal with the victimization. In the investigation and apprehension of serial rapists, law enforcement might pay closer attention to fetish burglaries and the spying, secretive behaviors that serve as the prototype for rape behavior.

Detective magazines: pornography for the sexual sadist?

The origins of detective magazines can be traced to 17th and 18th century crime pamphlets and to 19th century periodicals that Lombroso called "really criminal newspapers." Content analysis of current detective magazines shows that their covers juxtapose erotic images with images of violence, bondage, and domination; that their articles provide lurid descriptions of murder, rape, and torture; and that they publish advertisements for weapons, burglary and car theft tools, false identification, and sexual aids. Six case histories of sexual sadists illustrate the use of these magazines as a source of fantasy material. We postulate that detective magazines may contribute to the development of sexual sadism, facilitate sadistic fantasies, and serve as training manuals and equipment catalogs for criminals. We recommend that detective magazines be considered during policy debates about media violence and pornography.

Autoerotic asphyxial deaths and social network response.

A study of 132 autoerotic asphyxial deaths revealed that family members and friends, in addition to experiencing shock over the sudden aspect of the death, frequently were the ones to discover the decedent's body and were confused by the sexual nature of the death. Clinicians are urged to be alert for signs of such potentially lethal sexual activity among the young people they see, and to be prepared to assist bereaved family members.

Sexual fatalities: behavioral reconstruction in equivocal cases.

A few sexual fatalities show ambiguous or conflicting evidence of manner of death or, in cases involving partners, of the partner's intent. In such equivocal cases, postmortem behavioral analysis and reconstruction aid in understanding what happened and provide an explainable basis for expert judgment and opinion, even though some cases can never be resolved with certainty. Behavioral analysis and reconstruction are enhanced by experience with related cases that have been solved, detailed investigation of the death scene and other relevant settings, and interviews with survivors.