Child abduction murder: the impact of forensic evidence on solvability

This study examined 733 child abduction murders (CAMs) occurring from 1968 to 2002 to explore the influence of forensic evidence on case solvability in CAM investigations. It was hypothesized that the presence of forensic evidence connecting the offender to the crime would enhance case solvability in murder investigations of abducted children. This study examined the impact of CAM of different types of forensic evidence and the impact of the summed total of forensic evidence items on case solvability by controlling for victim age, victim race, victim gender, and victim-offender relationship. Time and distance theoretical predictors were also included. Binomial logistic regression models were used to determine whether forensic evidence was a critical solvability factor in murder investigations of abducted children. This research indicated that, while forensic evidence increased case solvability, the impact of forensic evidence on solvability was not as important as other solvability factors examined.     

精神病人凶杀案的作案特征与刑事责任能力问题

探讨精神病人杀人的作案特征与刑事责任能力问题。以精神病人 ( 74例 )与非精神病人 ( 77例 )的案例资料进行对照研究。精神病人杀人具有突发性、公开性、残忍性 ;妄想 ( 4 7 2 % )、幻听 ( 31 3 % )是其促发杀人的主要危险因素 ;犯案以精神分裂症居首位 ( 4 0 5 % ) ,其次是躁狂抑郁症 ( 14 8% )。作案特征与作案动机是精神病人凶杀案刑事责任能力鉴定的重要依据     

The presence of low IQ and mental retardation among murder defendants referred for pretrial evaluation

After an overview of definitions of mental retardation and recent case law regarding mental retardation and the death penalty, this paper presents a study of factors associated with a mental retardation (MR) diagnosis among murder defendants. Subjects with a full-scale IQ< or =70 (n=42) were compared with other pretrial murder defendants (n=228) referred for forensic evaluation over a 5-year period. Subjects with an IQ< or =70 who were diagnosed with MR were compared with subjects with an IQ< or =70 who did not receive this diagnosis. Female murder defendants were more likely to receive a diagnosis of MR (p=0.03). MR was also more commonly diagnosed in subjects with an Axis I cognitive disorder (p=0.018). Having an IQ< or =70 was more common in subjects with a psychotic and substance use disorder (p=0.03) and did not necessarily lead to a diagnosis of MR in this subgroup. Implications for diagnosing MR among murder defendants are discussed.     

Defining and classifying serial murder in the context of perpetrator motivation

The last several decades have seen increased research attention to the subject of serial murder. Unfortunately, an empirical understanding of serial homicide continues to be impeded by difficulties in establishing a working definition for serial murder. Current definitions for serial homicide tend to focus on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, and thus leave some confusion as to which groups of individuals should be included under the heading of serial murders. This article suggests alterations to the definition of serial murder, which focus not only on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, but also on the motivation and context of those behaviors.     

A female mass murder

A case study of a 44-year-old woman who committed a mass murder is presented. Following a chronic course of psychotic deterioration, and a likely diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia that remained untreated, she returned to her workplace after 3 years from her termination and killed seven people and herself. Her history is reconstructed through investigation of primary and secondary source materials. Although there are very few female mass murderers in recorded criminal history, this case is quite similar to the known research on mass murderers in general. Such individuals often have a psychotic disorder evident in violent and paranoid delusions, show a deteriorating life course before the mass murder, intentionally plan and prepare for their assault, and methodically kill as many individuals as possible before taking their own lives. They typically do not directly threaten the target beforehand, but do leak their intent to third parties--however, in this case, leakage and other obvious warning behaviors did not occur. Such acts are impossible to predict but depend on threat management and target security for risk mitigation.     

Mass murders in Germany – classification of surviving offenders based on the examination of court files

Personality, psychopathology, and motives of 44 surviving offenders committing mass murder in Germany over 25 years (1984–2009) were analyzed using court files and psychiatric expertises. Initially, 123 mass murders in Germany were detected in the time period 1980–2010 (inclusive deceased offenders). Using a data entry form based on ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System), we categorized the 44 surviving mass murderers into three prototypes using the ‘TwoStep Cluster’-method (separation of the offenders in different groups depending on their similarity of specific items): 1. Narcissistic or aggressive men suffering from addiction or affective disorder, committing mass murder out of rage/hate when being intoxicated by alcohol, 2. Psychotic offenders with schizophrenia and comorbid substance abuse. 3. Aggressive, narcissistic or anxious adolescents, half of them suffering from affective disorder or ADHD, committing mass murder out of rage/hate. Not included are such events where the offenders died and therefore no court files or psychiatric expertises were available. Classification and subtyping of the offenders’ personalities and psychopathological conditions might help to improve the chances for an early detection of persons at risk.     

An Analysis of the Effects of Subjective and Objective Instruction Forms on Mock-Juries' Murder/Manslaughter Distinctions

Defendants' emotions at the time of their crimes may potentially serve as mitigating circumstances in murder/manslaughter cases. The present study examined whether differences between two forms of instructions given juries in such cases affected mock-juries' murder/manslaughter distinctions. Jurors' reasons for their verdicts and definitions of murder and manslaughter were also compared. In addition, three factors found to be predictive of murder/manslaughter distinctions in previous research were evaluated. It was found that, though instruction forms affected jurors' stated reasons for their verdicts and their definitions of murder and manslaughter, they did not significantly affect murder/manslaughter distinctions. Defendants were most likely to be convicted of murder if they had a history of violence with the victim and dwelt upon their emotions. We suggest jurors likely construe instructions given them to fit their a priori understandings of murder, manslaughter, and the potentially mitigating role of defendants' emotions.     

Cross‐Cultural Comparison of Two Serial Sexual Murder Series in Italy and the United States

Abstract: There have been few documented comparisons of serial murder cases committed in the United States with cases occurring internationally. The authors contrasted two unique serial murder series: one in Italy and one in the United States by examining the details of both series, including the M.O., motivation, crime scene interactions, sexual acts performed, and the general backgrounds of both offenders. The comparison revealed a number of similarities. Both offenders specifically targeted elderly women, who were attacked in their residences. The two series involved sexually motivated crimes, although the sexual interactions were different. Both offenders stole objects from their victims after the murders and each kept newspaper accounts of their crimes. In addition, both offenders claimed to have abusive upbringings, including sexual abuse.     

Three different mechanisms of death: an unusual form of a child murder by asphyxia

We report a very unusual case of murder of a 4-year-old male white child who died of asphyxiation. Asphyxia occurred due to 3 factors: manual strangulation, hyperextension of the neck, and atlantoaxial subluxation. The offenses were carried out by a single assailant (the stepfather of the child) who strangled the child with his right hand, using his left hand to pull the hair of the child, forcing the head back and causing hyperextension of the neck, thereby dislocating the first and second cervical vertebrae.     

Rethinking Community Organization and Robbery: Considering Illicit Market Dynamics

In this investigation we examine the relationship between the certainty of execution and murder in the District of Columbia, 1890–1970. By examining a small political/geographic unit like the District, we avoid the aggregation problems of previous time-series analyses at the national level, and time-series and cross-sectional investigations of states as the unit of analysis. At odds with the deterrence argument, we find no evidence of a substantial and/or statistically significant inverse relationship between the certainty of execution and murder rates when multiple execution and murder rate variables are considered, when various time lags are examined, and when five time periods are examined between 1890 and 1970. In contrast, there is some suggestion that the immediate effect of executions may be to increase, not decrease, murders. This possible effect is extremely slight and short-term, however, with murder and executions being largely independent factors in the District.     

精神病杀人的行为特征与刑事责任能力评定的影响因素

目的探讨精神病凶杀行为特征，分析精神病杀人责任能力评定的影响因素。方法对2002年至2006年72例进行司法鉴定的凶杀案件资料分项列表调查，所得数据用SPSS11．0统计软件对神病杀人的行为特征与刑事责任能力评定影响因素进行相关分析。结果作案行为特征以地点、动机、罪错认识、行为隐蔽性、潜逃、自我保护与责任能力评定结果显著相关；暴力作案刑事责任能力评定量表与々家鉴定结论之间有较高的一致性。结论对凶杀案件行为特征的综合分析，町作为责任能力评定的客观参考依据；暴力作案刑事责任能力评定量表的应用为责任能力评定提供了，相对可靠的客观依据。     

Working Smarter on Cold Cases: Identifying Factors Associated with Successful Cold Case Investigations

Cold case squads have garnered much attention; however, they have yet to undergo significant empirical scrutiny. In the present study, the authors interviewed investigators and reviewed 189 solved and unsolved cold cases in Washington, D.C., to determine whether there are factors that can predict cold case solvability. In the interviews, new information from witnesses or information from new witnesses was cited as the most prevalent reason for case clearance. The case reviews determined that there were factors in each of the following domains that predicted whether cases would be solved during cold case investigations: Crime Context, Initial Investigation Results, Basis for Opening Cold Case, and Cold Case Investigator Actions. The results suggest that it is possible to prioritize cold case work based on the likelihood of investigations leading to clearances.     

An archival exploration of homicide--suicide and mass murder in the context of 19th-century American parricides

There has been little attempt to integrate contemporary studies of suicide and mass murder to homicide-suicides. The current research attempts to do so in the context of 19th-century parricides in America. This project uses archival records from The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, 1851-1899, resulting in a total of 231 incidents. Our results indicate that parricides, mass murders, and suicides tended to originate as spontaneous acts, usually during the course of an argument, gathering momentum as the interaction unfolded. We contend that suicide is one way of alleviating threats to offender's loss of self-identity.     

The patterns and prevalence of mass murder in twentieth-century America

Even though previous research has not examined mass murder prior to 1965, scholars have asserted that the mid-1960s marked the onset of an unprecedented and ever-growing mass murder wave. Using news accounts and the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) as sources of data, this study analyzes 909 mass killings that took place between 1900 and 1999. Although the mid-1960s marked the beginning of a mass murder wave, it was not unprecedented, because mass killings were nearly as common during the 1920s and 1930s. The results also show that familicides, the modal mass murder over the last several decades, were even more prevalent before the 1970s. Moreover, mass killers were older, more suicidal, and less likely to use guns in the first two-thirds of the 20th century. Although some have claimed that workplace massacres represent a new “strain” in mass murder, the findings suggest that the only new type of mass killing that emerged during the 20th century was the drug-related massacre.     

The rarity of "unusual" [corrected] dispositions of victim bodies: staging and posing

The act of leaving a victim's body in an unusual position is a conscious criminal action by an offender to thwart an investigation, shock the finder and investigators of the crime scene, or give perverted pleasure to the killer. The unusual position concepts of posing and staging a murder victim have been documented thoroughly and have been accepted by the courts as a definable phenomenon. One staging case and one posing case are outlined and reveal characteristics of those homicides. From the Washington State Attorney General's Homicide Investigation and Tracking System's database on murder covering the years 1981-2000 (a total of 5,224 cases), the relative frequency of unusual body dispositions is revealed as a very rare occurrence. Only 1.3% of victims are left in an unusual position, with 0.3% being posed and 0.1% being staged. The characteristics of these types of murders also set them apart: compared to all other murders, in staged murders the victims and killers are, on average, older. All victims and offenders in the staged murders are white, with victims being disproportionately white in murders with any kind of unusual body disposition. Likewise, females stand out as victims when the body is posed, staged, or left in other unusual positions. Whereas posed bodies are more likely to include sexual assault, often in serial murders, there is no evidence of either in the staged cases. Lastly, when a body is left in an unusual position, binding is more likely, as well as the use of more "hands on" means of killing the victim, such as stabbing or cutting weapons, bludgeons, ligatures, or hands and feet.