Forensic case profiling aspects on multiple homicides from the Cologne-Bonn metropolitan area 1985-2000

The medicolegal and subsequent criminologic interpretation of forensic and pathological findings in cases of homicide makes up an important tool of case profiling. In a retrospective study of 26 cases of "multiple homicides" involving 31 perpetrators (30 males, 1 female, mean age 33.5 years) and 73 victims (33 males, 40 females, mean age 36 years, 68 fatalities, 5 survivors), autopsy reports and prosecution authorities' files were investigated with regard to individual characteristics of victims and offenders, circumstances as well as mode of commitment. The major aim of this study was to comprehensively elucidate and characterise relevant forensic and criminologic features, which may gain importance for forensic case profiling. Forty-six victims were found in the close social environment of the perpetrator and 45 homicides were committed either in the victim's, the perpetrator's or the shared domicile. The main motives included concealment of a crime (n=13), personal conflicts/domestic arguments (n=7) and greed (n=12). The relevant injuries with regard to the cause of death were attributable to sharp force (n=13), blunt force (n=7), gunshot wounds (n=24), ligature strangulation (n=3), smothering (n=5), fire/carbon monoxide (n=4) and combined impacts (n=11). In 15 cases, so called defence injuries were found. In 5 victims a post-mortem blood alcohol concentration >1.5 g/l was determined. In six perpetrators, a severe psychiatric impairment of juridical responsibility was ascertained (Section 20 German criminal code, n=2, psychosis; Section 21 German criminal code, n=4, acute alcohol intoxication). As far as conviction data were available, 27 crimes were juridically assessed as murder, 12 as manslaughter and one as bodily harm with fatal consequences.     

Multiple homicides--forensic and criminologic aspects

The interpretation of medicolegal findings in homicide is an important tool of case profiling (so-called "operative case analysis"). In 17 cases of "multiple homicides" involving 22 offenders (21 males, 1 female; mean age 33 years) and 45 victims (21 males, 24 females; mean age 35 years; 41 fatalities, 4 survivors), the autopsy reports and the prosecution authorities' files were retrospectively analysed with regard to individual characteristics of perpetrators and victims, circumstances, and mode of commitment in order to comprehensively characterise relevant forensic and criminologic aspects. 31 victims were found to belong to the close social environment of the perpetrator, and 32 killings were committed in the victim's, perpetrator's or the joint flat. The main motives included greed (n = 7), personal conflicts (n = 5) and concealing of a crime (n = 9). The relevant injuries were attributable to gunshot wounds (n = 13), sharp force (n = 11), blunt force (n = 3), ligature strangulation (n = 3), smothering (n = 6), fire/carbon monoxide (n = 2) and combined impacts (n = 7). In 12 victims, defense injuries were found. The blood alcohol concentration exceeded 1.5 g/l in 5 victims. In 5 offenders, a psychiatric impairment of juridical responsibility was assessed (and 20 German criminal code, n = 1, psychosis; and 21 German criminal code, n = 4; acute alcohol intoxication). As far as data were available, 16 crimes were judged as murder, 12 as manslaughter and one as physical injury with fatal outcome.     

A retrospective analysis of alcohol in medicolegal postmortems over a period of five years.

Violence and violent death are everyday events in present-day South Africa. Although this phenomenon may be attributed in great part to the sociopolitical environment, the single most important underlying common factor is the presence of alcohol in both the perpetrators of violence and their victims. We retrospectively studied 948 cases of 2,980 medicolegal autopsies done over a 5-year period. We found that 52.5% of cases tested positively for alcohol, with blood alcohol concentration varying from 0.008 to 0.048 g% (mean = 0.18). Male patients were more common and more likely to be positive than female patients. Breakdown of the cases into various modes of death showed that homicides, vehicular accidents, and suicides predominated. The results are in agreement with earlier studies done locally and elsewhere.     

The Unusual Victim: Understanding the Specific Crime Processes and Motivations for Elderly Sexual Homicide

Sexual homicides involving elderly victims are rare and unusual crimes, and research specifically focusing on these homicides is almost inexistent. The current study investigates the crime commission process as well as the motivations underlying elderly sexual homicides. The sample comes from the Sexual Homicide International Database (SHIelD) including sexual homicide cases from Canada and France. A total of 56 cases involving victims aged 65 years or more were compared with 513 cases involving victims aged between 16 and 45 years old. Bivariate analyses and two-step cluster analysis are performed. Findings show major differences in the crime commission process of the two groups of offenders. We also identified a four-cluster typology of elderly sexual homicide offenders based on their motivations (sexual, robber, sadistic, experimental). Although sexual homicides involving elderly victims are rare, these crimes are different, presenting specificities and should be studied as a group on its own.     

Perpetrator related analysis of intentional homicides in the Genf canton (1971-1990)

A retrospective offender-related analysis was conducted on all deliberate homicides committed in the canton of Geneva between 1971 and 1990. The cases analyzed included 97 convicted single perpetrators or accomplices and 93 victims. 21 further homicides remained unsolved. 86.6% of the offenders were male; foreigners were over-represented in comparison with Swiss citizens. The average age was 35 years. In a majority of the cases the offender and the victim were partners, came from the same family or were acquainted with each other. Guns or knives were the most frequently used weapons. The criminal offences tried in Geneva were evaluated also with regard to their legal qualification.     

Death caused by sharp injury. Criminologic and criminalistic aspects

From 3497 obductions during the ten years between 1979 and 1988 100 homicides and 18 suicides were caused by sharp trauma. Homicide by sharp trauma is the most frequent method for killing. These 100 homicides were analysed in relation to the age and nationality of victims and perpetrators, place of action, number and localisation of wounds, cause of death. The main results are discussed, particularly those which vary from the results of other authors.     

Inmate homicides: Killers, victims, motives, and circumstances

Despite popular media depictions, prison homicides are quite infrequent, averaging only four per one hundred thousand inmates annually in U.S. prisons during the current decade and declining over 90 percent in the past thirty years. Only a handful of studies had examined this most serious form of institutional violence. This study examined thirty-five inmate homicides, involving fifty-two perpetrators, occurring in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 2000-2008. The majority of homicides occurred in inmates’ cells, involved a single assailant, resulted from beatings, or was cross-racial. Often multiple motivations for the homicides were present. Hispanic inmates were overrepresented as perpetrators and victims. Perpetrators and victims were overwhelmingly male, and likely to have records of violent arrests and problematic prison adjustments. A substantial proportion of both perpetrators and victims had suspected or confirmed gang affiliations. Perpetrators were differentiated from victims by younger age, higher IQ scores, greater educational attainment, and sentences for armed robbery.     

Dismemberment and mutilation (2)

31 cases of criminal dismemberment or mutilation were investigated in the period from 1959 to 1987 at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Hamburg. With regard to all legal autopsies the average frequency was about 1:500. A distinct increase of the number of cases is noticeable within the last years; i.e. 1984 there were 6 victims. Our study enclosed the autopsy findings, the police investigations and the available court records. 12 cases were classified as defensive and 14 cases as offensive dismemberment of bodies; 2 cases of necrophilous dismemberment occurred after stealing the corpse and 3 victims were killed by intravital decapitation or mutilation. The victims were of all ages, but mainly between 20 and 60 years old; 22 of them were female and 9 male. 23 perpetrators could be identified; 18 of them were male and 5 female, most of them were between 30 and 40 years of age. The psychiatric expertises classified 17 of the perpetrators as "normal", 3 as abnormal and 3 as psychotic. Many morphological and criminological details concerning victims, perpetrators, used instruments for killing and dismembering, elimination and identification of the dismembered bodies and some juridical aspects are presented.     

Homicide–Suicide in Cuyahoga County,Ohio, 1991–2016

Research on homicides followed by suicides has relied heavily on small samples and relatively short time spans of data. This study helps to fill this gap by examining 26 years of homicide–suicide data from Cuyahoga County, Ohio, between 1991 and 2016. The main data source for the study is medical examiner files. Analyses of the data indicate the rate of homicide–suicide in Cuyahoga County is consistent with other studies but fluctuates considerably across years studied. The majority of victims are female while perpetrators are overwhelmingly male. Black people are overrepresented as victims and offenders. Use of drugs and/or alcohol leading up to the incident is common among perpetrators. Both the homicides and suicides were overwhelming committed with firearms. When comparing our results to the typology of murder–suicides developed by Marzuk, Tardiff, and Hirsch (JAMA 1992;267:3179), we find amorous jealousy is a significant motivating factor in a many cases, including those involving nonintimate partners. Our findings underscore the importance of widespread use of lethality assessment instruments.     

Pediatric homicides related to burn injury: a retrospective review at the medical university of South Carolina

Many burn injuries are mistakenly referred to as "accidents" because they occur suddenly and seem unpredictable and uncontrollable; however, injuries often occur in predictable patterns. We reviewed all pediatric forensic cases referred to the Medical University of South Carolina Forensic Pathology Section over a 28-year period from January 1975 to December 2002. There were 124 cases with 121 fire-related fatalities and three scald fatalities. Ninety of the burn victims were in the 0-5-year age group. The manner of deaths showed 108 accidents and 12 homicides (four undetermined). Eleven of 12 burn-related homicides occurred at the home with all of the victims in the 1-8-year age group. The perpetrator of the home fire homicides was the mother in five cases and the sister in one case (two undetermined). Homicide involved a vehicle fire in one case in which the father caused an explosion with an accelerant. The three scald death perpetrators were the father, mother's boyfriend, and an aunt.This retrospective study and review of the literature may reveal patterns useful for evaluation of manner of death. By recognizing scene characteristics, potential perpetrators, and children at risk, we can better classify pediatric burn-related fatalities.     

Asphyxial homicide in two Scandinavian capitals

In the Oslo and Copenhagen capital areas, 94 asphyxial homicides were committed in the 10-year period 1985-1994, accounting for 22% of all homicides in that period. Sixty-nine (73%) of the asphyxia victims were female. The most common method of asphyxiation was manual strangulation. Seventeen (18%) of the victims were below the age of 10, accounting for 59% of all homicides in that age group. Whereas 38% of the female victims were killed by their spouse, this was the case for only one male victim. The motive was not known in a great proportion of cases. Fifty-seven percent of the victims had been subjected to additional violence, and in this respect there was no difference between the sexes. In 12 of the cases the offender was female; in 9 such cases the victim was her offspring. More than half of the victims had no blood alcohol. When disregarding the victims less than 10 years of age, 33% of the male and 49% of the female victims had no blood alcohol. The crime scene was the victim's domicile among 72% of female and 52% of male victims. Forty-two percent of the female and 11% of the male victims above the age of 10 years were married or cohabitant.     

Kicking to death - forensic and criminological aspects.

A total of 36,274 forensic autopsies was performed in Berlin, between 1980 and 1987, including 152 cases (0.42%) in which death had been caused by blunt violence due to kicking. Data were collected on both victims and offenders, postmortem findings, causes of death and the way violence had been perpetrated. The greater part of victims and offenders had been males originating from lower social strata. Most of the victims and offenders had been in relationship with each other prior to the offence. Typical course of events: Victims and offenders, under influence of alcohol, became involved in a brawl, usually for trivial reasons, which soon led to physical fighting. When the victim had been knocked to the ground, the offender started forceful kicking. Bleeding to death and head injury were frequent causes of death. More than 50% of all offences were committed by single offenders. The diagnosis of kicking to death can at best be derived from presence of boot traces leaving shaped injuries. The trace-generating boot can be identified as offending tool by means of comparative police investigation. In addition to evaluation of shoe sole profiles, there is other trace-relevant material that may be sampled from a suspected offender's footwear (skin cells, hair, blood, body tissue) and used to identify findings by DNA analysis. There may be injuries with visible patterns supporting suspicion of kicking and trampling, although conclusive confirmation can be obtained only by testimony by a witness or confession by the offender.     

Blood alcohol concentrations of sudden unexpected deaths and non natural deaths.

This study reports on the relationships between the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the cause of death - which is of course common knowledge for forensic scientists! Our special aim was to gain unselected data for generalizing conclusions. The blood of 2465 consecutive cases (86% of all 2852 sudden unexpected and unnatural fatalities investigated at the Institute for Legal Medicine in Hamburg during the year 1989) was analysed. The BAC was evaluated according to sex, age, cause of death and place of death. In natural causes of death there were 80% cases under 0.05% BAC. Endocrine and digestive system diseases in particular were associated with positive BAC values. In unnatural death cases the BAC under 0.05% was found in 64% of the suicides, 62% of the accidents, 54% of the homicides and 51% of the drug intoxications. The drowning cases showed higher BAC's than traffic accidents. In suicides middle aged males had high BAC's.     

Patterns in sharp force fatalities--a comprehensive forensic medical study

A ten-year series of 142 homicidal fatalities caused by sharp force injury was studied with the aim to systematize information inherent in the characteristics of the victim and the pattern of injuries. The population of victims consisted of 112 males (79%) and 30 females (21%); among perpetrators, 125 (88%) were males. Among victims as well as among perpetrators, persons of non-Swedish origin were overrepresented in relation to their share of the nonselected population. In 82 cases (58%), one or two wounds had been inflicted; in 23 cases (16%), ten or more wounds. In the latter group, eleven victims but no perpetrators were female. In the majority of cases victim and perpetrator were known to each other, and in instances of multiple wounding, a close relationship between the two was clearly more common than in the group of one- to two-wound fatalities. Tests for blood alcohol were positive in 86 of 116 victims (74%), the majority being in elimination phase. Furthermore, 96 of 120 perpetrators (80%) had positive tests or were known to be drunk at the time of the killing. In multiple wound fatalities, alcohol inebriation was less common both among victims and perpetrators. In these cases, the two persons involved were usually closely related or intimately known to each other, and in the absence of psychiatric disorder in the assailant, the motive was of a passionate type.     

Victim-related aspects of homicide of elderly persons in the catchment area of the Bonn Forensic Medicine Institute]

The present study examines the circumstances of 19 homicides involving 10 males and 9 females 60 years of age or older, which were submitted to the Bonn Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsy. The incidence of these homicides sharply decreased by age. The causes of death were blunt force injuries alone or in combination in 8 cases and strangulation in 5 cases, thus reflecting the importance of the direct physical assault. Defense wounds were found in only 6 cases. The deceased unexceptionally suffered from diseases of the cardiovascular or respiratory system. Robbery or family/partner conflicts accounted for the vast majority of motives. Both, the most common location for homicide being in the victim's own residence and the high proportion of neighbours, acquaintances and relatives among the assailants underline that violence in the close social context endanger the elderly more than conventional violent street crimes. In the victims of homicide the elderly were represented in a smaller proportion than their percentage in the population at large. Over the 8 years of the present study there was no increasing tendency in the homicide rate in the elderly population.     

Alcohol-Related Mortality Risk in Natural and Non-Natural Death Cases

Abstract:  Determination of the associations between alcohol influence and sudden natural death represents challenges for medicolegal investigations. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of alcohol influence in medicolegal autopsies. In our study of natural and non-natural deaths cases (5496 total: 4045 males, 1451 females) were examined. Blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were detected by headspace gas chromatographic method. We investigated the alcohol-related mortality using hierarchical log-linear statistical models. Severe BACs were detected among suicidal victims in the oldest age group (>65 years) (In F  = 0.442) and among the homicide victims between the age of 40–65 years (In F  = 0.234). Correlations we found between manner-of-death and sex suggested that the rate of males in accidents (ln F  = 0.140) and the rate of females in homicides (ln F  = 0.193) were higher. It was concluded that the accurate statistical mortality database may provide a huge support for the determination of alcohol effects on human health and mortality.     

Epidemiology of homicide-suicide events: Oklahoma, 1994-2001

In Oklahoma, all nonnatural deaths must be reported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (ME), whose trained investigators report cause of death using a centralized, statewide, standardized reporting system. The purpose of this study was to determine temporal trends of Oklahoma homicide-suicide events and characterize the epidemiology of these events. By reviewing all ME reports of homicides and suicides from 1994 through 2001, we identified 73 homicide-suicide events resulting in 73 suicides and 89 homicides. Suicidal perpetrators of homicide-suicide events were most often white men aged >or=30 years who killed a current or ex-spouse or intimate partner. Homicide victims tended to be younger women the same race as their killer. Firearms were the predominant method of death in both homicides and suicides, with handguns used most frequently. Divorce/estrangement was the main contributing factor to these events, and the most common relationship type was possessive. The existence of a statewide, centralized, and computerized ME system and the ability to access the detailed information in the ME narratives were critical to identifying homicide-suicide events and obtaining the type of detailed information necessary to fully investigate these events.     

Weapon Use in Korean Homicide: Differences Between Homicides Involving Sharp and Blunt Instruments

On the basis of information regarding 276 homicides committed in South Korea between 1987 and 2008, we compared offenders’ and victims’ characteristics, injury locations, weapon‐related behavior, and offending behavior between homicides involving sharp and blunt instruments. The victims of sharp‐force homicide were much younger relative to those of blunt‐force homicide. In addition, homicides involving blunt instruments were more likely to be committed by offenders who lived with the victims. Most sharp‐force homicides involved injuries to the torso, while blunt‐force homicides involved mainly head injuries. Furthermore, perpetrators of sharp‐force homicides tended to preselect their weapons, while those of blunt‐force homicides were likely to use weapons of opportunity. Logistic regression analysis identified a number of factors, including injury location and body transportation, which significantly predicted weapon type. As this was the first South Korean study to compare sharp‐ and blunt‐force homicides, the results have practical implications for homicide investigations.