The Eyeball Killer: Serial Killings with Postmortem Globe Enucleation

Although serial killings are relatively rare, they can be the cause of a great deal of anxiety while the killer remains at‐large. Despite the fact that the motivations for serial killings are typically quite complex, the psychological analysis of a serial killer can provide valuable insight into how and why certain individuals become serial killers. Such knowledge may be instrumental in preventing future serial killings or in solving ongoing cases. In certain serial killings, the various incidents have a variety of similar features. Identification of similarities between separate homicidal incidents is necessary to recognize that a serial killer may be actively killing. In this report, the authors present a group of serial killings involving three prostitutes who were shot to death over a 3‐month period. Scene and autopsy findings, including the unusual finding of postmortem enucleation of the eyes, led investigators to recognize the serial nature of the homicides.     

The contract murderer: patterns, characteristics, and dynamics

A case of an independent professional contract murderer, who killed over 100 people, is reported. After eluding law enforcement for 30 years, the subject killed several associates who he believed could implicate him in various crimes. These homicides eventually led to his arrest, since the victims were individuals who could be linked to him. This hit man had a background of poverty and childhood abuse but, as an adult, had pursued a middle-class lifestyle and kept his family totally separate from his criminal career. In addition, he had a number of characteristics that helped him carry out his crimes in a highly planned, methodical, and organized manner: he had adept social judgment; personality traits of orderliness, control, and paranoid vigilance; useful defense mechanisms of rationalization and reframing; and an exceptional ability to encapsulate emotions. This case is discussed within the context of contract murder, a crime that occurs relatively frequently and is probably increasing; yet it often goes undetected, the arrest rate is low, and the offender is rarely studied.     

A psychodynamic-behaviourist investigation of Russian sexual serial killer Andrei Chikatilo

This paper looks briefly at the case study of Russian sexual serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. Whilst serial homicide has received wide ranging attention more broadly in the literature, Chikatilo’s criminality and sexually deviant behaviour have thus far lacked any in-depth psychological explanation, with his crimes attributed tentatively to dysfunction upbringing and innate deviance. However, based on theoretical arguments presented in the present investigation, a more detailed account of what may have contributed to the development of such extreme sexual violence and cognitive distortions is discussed. Consideration of psychodynamic and behaviourist perspectives lead to the conclusion that a complex interaction of biological, psychological and sociological factors may account for the onset and continuation of his homicidal behaviour.     

Prison population growth and crime reduction

The impact of state prison populations on crime is typically estimated by applying the lambda, the individual crime rate, of prisoners or arrestees. We outline the problems with this approach, attempt to reanalyze the widely divergent lambdas derived in past research, and make adjustments necessary to use lambdas for estimating the incapacitation impact. The result is an uncertain estimate of 16 to 25 index crimes averted per year per each additional prisoner. We argue that regression analysis can provide a better estimate of the impact of prison population growth. Applying the Granger test to pooled state data over 19 years, we found that prison population growth leads to lower crime rates but that crime rate changes have little or no short-term impact on prison population growth. Next we regressed crime rates on prison population and conclude that, on average, at least 17 index crimes are averted per additional prisoner. The impact is limited mainly to property crime.     

Maternal Separations During the Reentry Years for 100 Infants Raised in a Prison Nursery

Prison nurseries prevent maternal separations related to incarceration for the small subset of children whose pregnant mothers are incarcerated in states with such programs. For a cohort of 100 children accepted by corrections into one prison nursery, subsequent separation patterns are analyzed. The largest numbers are caused by corrections' removal of infants from the nursery and infants reaching a one-year age limit. Criminal recidivism and substance abuse relapse threaten continued mothering during reentry. Focused and coordinated services are needed during prison stay and reentry years to sustain mothering for women and children accepted into prison nursery programs.     

监狱警察职务犯罪针对性预防机制探究

尽管理论及实务界已就预防监狱警察职务犯罪提出诸多的建议机制,但监狱警察职务犯罪现象仍此起彼伏,究其原因是因为没有结合监狱警察职务犯罪的独特特点而提出针对性的预防机制;相比较于其他司法行政系统工作人员的职务犯罪,监狱警察职务犯罪具有身份特殊、犯罪主体明确等特点;监狱警察职务犯罪的发生原因也与监狱这一特殊工作环境以及监狱警察职权范围特殊密切相关;应该构建监狱警察权力监控机制以及检察院、监狱之间的联席会议等针对性预防机制,以防范监狱警察职务犯罪现象的发生。     

Corpse Dismemberment and a Necrofetishist

A case of postmortem dismemberment and evisceration is presented. Over a 5‐year period, a serial killer murdered twelve men, with a necrophilic intent, so he could mimic relationship behaviors with the corpses of those he killed. Analysis of the methods he chose to dispose of his victims reveals a stark contrast to the motive for perpetrating the homicides, methods which are suggestive of anger toward the victim when they could no longer fulfill their role in the necrophile's fantasy.     

Cannibalistically intended homicide following a media report

Inspired by media reports on the cannibalistically motivated homicide in Rotenburg (German state of Hesse), a man in Berlin with homosexual tendencies decided to realize his longstanding fantasies of slaughtering someone. He killed another homosexual man and dismembered his victim, while the motive changed from an offensive and necrophile to a defensive dismemberment of the body. The parallels between the two homicides are presented and discussed.     

SPECIFIC DETERRENCE IN A SAMPLE OF OFFENDERS CONVICTED OF WHITE COLLAR CRIMES*

It is generally argued that white-collar criminals will be particularly influenced by punishment policies. White-collar crime is seen as a highly rational form of criminality, in which the risks and rewards are carefully evaluated by potential offenders, and white-collar criminals are assumed to have much more to lose through sanctions than more common law violators. In this article we examine the impact of sanctions on the criminal careers of 742 offenders convicted of white-collar crimes in seven US. district courts between fiscal years 1976 and 1978. Utilizing data on court-imposed sanctions originally compiled by Wheeler et al. (1988b), as well as information on subsequent criminal behavior provided by the Identification Bureau of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we assess the effect of imprisonment upon the oficial criminal records of people convicted of white-collar crimes. Comparing prison and no-prison groups that were matched in terms of factors that led to their receipt of a prison sanction, we find that prison does not have a specific deterrent impact upon the likelihood of rearrest over a 126-month follow-up period.     

The Application of Learning Theory to Serial Murderor “You Too Can Learn to be a Serial Killer”

Popular ideas concerning serial murder see these killings as an act committed by a deranged or irrational individual. This article contends that this is not the case, but that the killer is behaving in a manner which makes sense and is logical to the killer and is a response to some perceived wrong. The process through which this reponse occurs is detailed. The conclusion suggests that if serial murder is indeed a learned response then this response can be “unlearned” and the serial murderer can be restored to again function within society.     

THE IMPACT OF ENHANCED PRISON TERMS FOR FELONIES COMMITTED WITH GUNS*

Legislation mandating minimum sentences or additions to sentences for crimes committed with guns is a frequent response to gun problems. We compiled these state laws and estimated their impact on state prison populations, prison admissions, UCR crime rates, and gun use in homicides, assaults and robberies. We employed a multiple time series research design, with data for nearly all states over the past 16 to 24 years, such that for any one state the remaining states operated as controls. Several small-scale studies have suggested that the laws might reduce some types of gun crime. We found that the laws produced such an impact in no more than a few states and that there is little evidence that the laws generally reduce crime or increase prison populations.     

Case based reasoning in criminal intelligence using forensic case data.

A model that is based on the knowledge of experienced investigators in the analysis of serial crime is suggested to bridge a gap between technology and methodology. Its purpose is to provide a solid methodology for the analysis of serial crimes that supports decision making in the deployment of resources, either by guiding proactive policing operations or helping the investigative process. Formalisation has helped to derive a computerised system that efficiently supports the reasoning processes in the analysis of serial crime. This novel approach fully integrates forensic science data.     

Paths to destruction: the lives and crimes of two serial killers

Although research into the phenomenon of serial murder has revealed that serial killers frequently do not fit the initially described paradigm in terms of their physical and psychological profiles, backgrounds, and motives to kill, the media continues to sensationalize the figures of such killers and the investigators who attempt to analyze them on the basis of aspects of their crimes. Although the so-called "typical" profile of the serial murderer has proven accurate in some instances, in many other cases the demographics and behaviors of these killers have deviated widely from the generalized assumptions. This report details two unusual cases in which five and eight murders were committed in upstate New York. The lives and crimes of these offenders illustrate the wide spectrum of variations in the backgrounds, demographics, motivations, and actions witnessed among serial murderers, and highlight the limitations and dangers of profiling based on generalities.     

Examining the relationship between religiosity and self-control as predictors of prison deviance

The relationship between religiosity and crime has been the subject of much empirical debate and testing over the past 40 years. Some investigators have argued that observed relationships between religion and crime may be spurious because of self-control, arousal, or social control factors. The present study offers the first investigation of religiosity, self-control, and deviant behavior in the prison context. We use survey data from a sample of 208 recently paroled male inmates to test the impact of religiosity and self-control on prison deviance. The results indicate that two of the three measures of religiosity may be spurious predictors of prison deviance after accounting for self-control. Participation in religious services is the only measure of religiosity to significantly reduce the incidence of prison deviance when controlling for demographic factors, criminal history, and self-control. We conclude with implications for future studies of religiosity, self-control, and deviance in the prison context.     

Hidden corporate profits in the U.S. prison system: the unorthodox policy-making of the American Legislative Exchange Council

Using a leaked document trove containing 800 model bills, we analyze the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) hidden corporate profit making in the prison–industrial complex. We find that ALEC seeks to expand the private prison industry in three ways: (1) promoting greater use of private prisons, goods, and services, (2) promoting greater use of prison labor, and (3) increasing the size of the prison population. ALEC’s efforts to increase the prison population by expanding definitions of existing crime, creating new crimes, enhancing enforcement of existing crimes, amending the trial process to increase the likelihood of incarceration, and lengthening prison sentences for crimes pose a threat to civil liberties. ALEC’s unorthodox policy approach exemplifies John Gaventa’s theory that powerful interests maintain their power by creating conditions in which citizens are not able to identify and advocate on behalf of their interests.     

Signature murders: a report of the 1984 Cranbrook, British Columbia cases

Two females, Denean Worms and Brenda Hughes, were murdered in separate events in Cranbrook, British Columbia in 1984 within three months of each other. Terrence Wayne Burlingham was found guilty of both murders and he appealed. The Supreme Court of Canada granted Burlingham a new trial in the Worms case, but no evidence from Burlingham's confession nor the murder weapon could be used. The Crown counsel requested an evaluation of the two murders to determine if they were committed by the same person. The analyses of those murders revealed that they were linked by a personal "signature" of the killer. The murder cases reported here demonstrate a control-oriented signature. The killer used a .410 shotgun as his method of control and death, engaged in overkill of each victim by shooting them twice in the head, and left the victims in sexually degrading positions. Another signature feature was the absence of typical wounds to the victims which would be expected from a serial sex offender. All of these characteristics, in combination, accounted for this killer's personal expression.     

A media violence-inspired juvenile sexual homicide offender 13 years later

No follow-up studies exist on how minors who commit sexual homicides adjust once released back into the community. This is an important question given the extreme nature of their crimes, lack of recidivism data, and the expectation that one-half of them will be freed from prison by mid-life. Likewise, no studies exist on the role our culture's pervasive media violence plays in these offenses. This report describes a 13-year-old boy who committed a witnessed media violence-inspired sexual homicide. Follow-up information is provided on his community adjustment as an adult four years after release from prison. He had multiple indicators of brain dysfunction, and watched a "slasher" film just before committing the blitz style crime upon a female neighbor. Media violence literature is reviewed--against a backdrop of developmental abnormalities, neuropsychiatric vulnerabilities, family dysfunction, and mental illness. This case illustrates how the confluence of such variables, combined with the tinder of erotic screen violence, may lead to sexual murder.     

呼市越狱案的定性探讨

四名重刑犯杀害监狱警察,从监狱大门越狱脱逃,引起了社会各界的关注。中央领导高度重视,公安部发出通缉令,警方立即展开搜捕行动,并调动了一架小型飞机在空中搜索。经过67小时的搜捕将越狱罪犯捕获。本案非常典型、复杂,在预备、实施既遂、后续逃跑过程中,四名越狱罪犯犯下了累累罪行。笔者认为,以本案脱逃越狱的性质为切入点,立足于本案共同犯罪的整体基础,从脱逃越狱犯罪的整个发展过程来看,本案应该定性为故意杀人罪、组织越狱罪及后续行为构成的诸多罪实行数罪并罚。以此案来审视我国现行《刑法》的相关规定,应设立越狱罪。     

The catathymic crisis: An explanation of the serial killer

Various explanations have been proposed to explain the motivation of serial killers. This article proposes that the theory of the Catathymic Crisis is an explanation that adds light to the “serial” nature of serial murder as well as an explanation of why and how a person can become a serial killer. The theory of Catathymic Crisis was presented in 1937 by Dr. Frederic Wertham as an explanation for some types violent and seemingly motivationless crimes. Dr. Wertham's theory describes a five stage process in which (1) a thinking disorder occurs within the mind of the criminal, (2) a plan is created to commit a violent criminal act, (3) internal emotional tension forces the commission of the criminal act, which leads to (4) a superficial calmness in which the need to commit the violent act is eliminated and normal activity can be conducted and (5) the mind adjusts itself and understands that the thinking process that caused the commission of the criminal act was flawed and the mind makes adjustments in order to prevent further criminal activity. The serial killer never reaches the fifth stage but returns to the second and operates in a cycle between stage two and four. This article advocates that the Catathymic Crisis explains why the serial killer needs to commit murder, why that need develops and why there is an escalating nature of the criminal activity by the serial killer.