Understanding Sexual Homicide Offenders

An Integrated Approach

O. Chan

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781137453723
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book offers a comprehensive understanding of sexual homicide. It includes a thorough survey of offender classifications, and analyses current theoretical explanations and understandings of sexual homicide from a criminological perspective. It proposes an important new integrated theoretical understanding of sexual homicide offenders.

1

Introduction

The cases where sexual assaultive behavior leads to the death of the victim have always concerned the public. However, this distinct type of murderous behavior is not something new to society: It has occurred and has alarmed people throughout the centuries. The earliest recorded rape-murder cases can be traced back as far as the 15th century (e.g., Gilles de Rais). According to Wilson and Seaman (1996), another infamous case involved an 8-year-old girl who was murdered in 1867 in Hampshire in the United Kingdom (UK) by Frederick Baker. This recorded case of sexual killing predated the gruesome career of Jack the Ripper, the most infamous British sexual serial killer whom law enforcement agents believed killed and mutilated five London prostitutes in 1888 (Marriner, 1992). Although the 19th century provides periodic recorded examples of sexual homicide comparable with the evidence documented in current times, it is arguably the 20th century that has attracted the most public attention with the most published individual case studies and empirical research on this topic (Carter & Hollin, 2010).

Fundamentally, sexual homicide, sexual murder, sex-related homicide, sexually motivated murder, and rape homicide are common terms that are used to refer to a homicide that occurs in concurrence with a sexual assault or to signify that a particular homicide was sexually motivated (Chan & Heide, 2009; Henry, 2010; James & Proulx, 2014). The sexual activities that occur before, during, or after a killing can be contact (e.g., oral, vaginal, and/or anal penetration of the victim) and/or noncontact (e.g., masturbation by the offender) in nature. In addition to the overt sexual assault against the victim, sexually symbolic behavior, such as the lack of clothing on the victim and the sexualized positioning of the victim’s body, is also frequently observed at the crime scenes of sexual murders (Myers, Burgess, & Nelson, 1998). Despite manifest differences in crime scenes and the offender’s behavior, there is a consistent theme that exposes the sexual nature of these offenses.

1.1 Organization of the book

This book consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the sexual homicide phenomenon. In this chapter, the rarity of the occurrence of sexual homicide is first discussed. One of the possible reasons for the low documented occurrence of this crime is the inconsistency in defining and detecting sexual murder. Within this chapter, the various definitions and criteria of sexual homicide are outlined. Because most of these definitions overlap to a large extent, proposed sexual homicide criteria are offered with the aim of standardizing the definition of sexual murder in order to reduce confusion among scholars and practitioners and to maintain consistency in the characterization of sexual murder. This is an attempt to advance the literature by offering a comprehensive definition in order to better understand sexual murder. Next, a brief overview of the dynamics of offending from the homicidal perspective is presented to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive examination of sexual homicide from the offender’s standpoint. The findings of comparative studies between homicidal and non-homicidal sexual offenders are detailed. The differences between these two distinct groups of sexual offenders in terms of demographic characteristics, childhood and adolescence psychological and behavioral development, and crime phases are also described in this chapter.

In order to systematically study sexual homicide offenders (SHOs), clinicians and researchers have attempted to categorize sexual murderers into different types on the basis of their developmental, pre-crime, crime, and post-crime profiles. Therefore, in Chapter 2, 13 offender classifications of sexual homicide are discussed in detail: the widely cited Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) motivational model of sexual homicide published in the mid-1980s and 12 other scholarly classifications of SHOs published during the period of 1985 to 2014. Some of these SHO typologies are empirically generated, while others are merely based on the authors’ personal clinical or investigative experiences. These offender classifications are categorized into four different types of classification approaches: (a) pragmatic, (b) theory-led, (c) clinical, and (d) statistical. Although numerous SHO typologies have been developed over the years, with some of their offender profiles overlapping to some degree, none of them are above criticism. Thus, in the final section of Chapter 2, these different offender classifications are critically reviewed to determine their strengths and weaknesses in terms of understanding different types of SHOs.

Many studies on sexual homicide have been published over the years. However, most of these studies are either descriptive in nature because of using different samples of sexual murderers or comparative studies of sexual murderers and other types of offenders. Little is known about the underlying theoretical conceptual accounts of the etiology of sexual homicide. Hence, in Chapter 3, four widely cited theoretical models of sexual homicide (i.e., Burgess et al.’s motivational model, Hickey’s trauma-control model, Arrigo and Purcell’s paraphilic model, and Mieczkowski and Beauregard’s crime event perspective model) are discussed at length. Theorizing different socio-psychological and situational factors, these theoretical frameworks offer distinct explanations of the dynamics of offending in sexual homicide.

To complicate matters further in terms of studying sexual homicide, the theoretical propositions from a criminological standpoint have yet to emerge to advance a more complete understanding of the offending process in sexual homicide. In Chapter 4, two criminological theories that have been commonly used to explain sexual violence and sex-related offenses, namely Akers’ (1985) social learning theory and Cohen and Felson’s (1979) routine activity theory, are reviewed on the basis of their theoretical propositions and applicability in elucidating sex-related offenses. Next, the incompleteness of applying only a single theory (social learning theory or routine activity theory) to the understanding of the complete sexual homicide offending process is highlighted.

As the limitations of using only a single theory to explain the offending phenomenon of sexual homicide are apparent, Chapter 5 subsequently goes on to outline at length the integrated theory of the offending perspective of sexual homicide recently proposed by Chan, Heide, and Beauregard. This theoretical integrative model is discussed in terms of its empirical validity and reliability in understanding the offending process of sexual homicide from a criminological perspective. Due to its unexplained variance, a revised theoretical model is proffered with the inclusion of pre-crime precipitating factors to better explain the offending phenomenon. In order to validate the utility of both Chan et al.’s original model and their revised model, a secondary analysis of an empirical study (via semi-structured interviews) is conducted on a Canadian sample of 230 incarcerated non-serial male sex offenders who targeted female victims (55 homicidal and 175 non-homicidal sex offenders). In order to be considered a homicidal sexual offender, the subject has to meet at least one of the six criteria of the sexual homicide definition set forth by Ressler and colleagues (1988): (a) victim’s attire or lack of attire; (b) exposure of the sexual parts of the victim’s body; (c) sexual positioning of the victim’s body; (d) insertion of foreign objects into the victim’s body cavities; (e) evidence of sexual intercourse (oral, anal, or vaginal); and (f) evidence of substitute sexual activity, interest, or sadistic fantasy. Non-homicidal sexual offenders (NHSOs) are those convicted of sexual assaults or sex-related offenses other than sexual homicide. In the latter part of Chapter 5, the research methodology used in this empirical study is discussed at length. Different measures are used to examine the theoretical propositions of (a) a motivated offender, (b) an attractive and suitable target, (c) the absence of a capable guardian, and (d) pre-crime precipitating factors. Bivariate (i.e., chi-square analyses) and multivariate (i.e., logistic regressions) analytic approaches are utilized to test the proposed integrative theoretical models. Following the discussion of the research methodology, the study’s findings from both integrative theoretical models are discussed.

Chapter 6 provides an overview and the conclusion of this book. Within this chapter, the implications stemming from the findings, such as crime prevention measures to reduce the potential shaping of a SHO and the occurrence of sexual homicide, are examined on the basis of Chan et al.’s revised theoretical model. This theoretical model contributes to the literature in two key areas: (1) theoretical implications and (2) implications for crime prevention measures and offender profiling. For instance, the presence or absence of a capable guardian or guardianship in the immediate crime scene surroundings (i.e., formal and/or informal social control) is, from the environmental perspective, a critical factor in determining the survival rate of the victim. The extra self-protection measures are also important in reducing the probability of being sexually victimized. From the individual perspective, sexual homicides could potentially be prevented from the outset: Adequate childhood and adolescence psycho-sociological development (i.e., parenting style, skills development programs, and prosocial peer group association) is crucial in shaping an individual with positive and constructive behavioral and attitude patterns toward sex and the avoidance of violence. This chapter concludes with a summary of the study along with its methodological limitations and future research directions.

1.2 Sexual homicide: the definition and classification dilemma

Notwithstanding the great interest in sexual homicide from law enforcement agencies, academic scholars, and the general public, sexual homicide is a relatively rare crime of violence. The reporting rate of sexual murder documented by law enforcement agencies constitutes between 1% and 4% of the overall annual homicide rate in the United States (US), Canada, and the UK (Chan & Heide, 2009). This percentage has remained relatively stable over the years. In the studies with representative data sets for at least three decades, sexual homicide accounts for approximately 0.6% of the total individuals arrested for homicide in the US. (Chan, Frei, & Myers, 2013; Chan, Myers, & Heide, 2010).

The overwhelming majority of sexual homicides are perpetrated by males (Chan, Myers, et al., 2010; Myers & Chan, 2012). Close to 95% of those arrested for sexual homicide are males and the remaining less than 5% are females (Chan, Frei, et al., 2013; Chan & Heide, 2008; Myers, Chan, & Mariano, 2014). Although female SHOs are identified in several studies (Chan & Frei, 2013; Chan, Frei, et al., 2013; Gacono, Meloy, & Bridges, 2000; Harbot & Mokros, 2001; Myers & Chan, 2012), this subpopulation of sexual murderers has been understudied due to its rarity. Relative to male murderers, the lower rate of female murderers are also documented in other nonsexual homicides (e.g., Heide, Roe-Sepowitz, Solomon, & Chan, 2012; Heide, Solomon, Sellers, & Chan, 2011; Mariano, Chan, & Myers, 2014). The sexual homicide studies indicate that 88% of the male SHOs are adults and 12% are juveniles under the age of 18 (Chan & Heide, 2008; Chan, Heide, & Myers, 2013; Chan et al., 2010), with the offenders’ mean age at arrest is about 27 years (Chan & Beauregard, 2014; Myers et al., 2014). The research finds that most of the victims are females (Van Patten & Delhauer, 2007) and a large proportion of the victims, from 73 to 80% in the most recent empirical studies (Chan & Heide, 2008; Chan et al., 2010; Greenall & Richardson, 2014; Henry, 2010; Smith, Basile, & Karch, 2011), is at least 18 years old. The mean age of victims is about 33 years (Chan & Beauregard, 2014; Myers et al., 2014).

Although numerous definitions of sexual homicide have emerged over the years, the lack of a standardized definition has hindered the accurate classification of sexual homicides and the accuracy of the reporting systems for national crime statistics (see Chan & Heide, 2009; Kerr, Beech, & Murphy, 2013). Sex-related killing is frequently classified as simply a homicide in official crime statistics in both North America and the UK (Adjorlolo & Chan, 2014; Burgess, Hartman, Ressler, Douglas, & McCormack, 1986; Milsom, Beech, & Webster, 2003). Due to the classification dilemma, the documented statistics on this distinct type of violent crime are often misleading, difficult to estimate, or simply unavailable (Ressler, Burgess, & Douglas, 1988). Specifically, the official US national crime statistics source – the Uniform Crime Reports (UCRs) – indexes sexual homicide under the “unknown motive” category, reflecting the uncertainty regarding the nature of this type of crime within the US criminal justice system.

Notably, Burgess and colleagues (1986) were among the first to attempt to classify sexual homicide and to distinguish a sexual homicide from a homicide resulting from a sexual assault. They maintained that sexual homicides “result from one person killing another in the context of power, control, sexuality, and aggressive brutality” (p. 252). To simplify the classification, Holmes and Holmes (2001) define sexual homicide as the combination of lethal violence with a sexual element. Although succinct, these definitions seem too overly simplistic to accurately characterize the offending dynamics of sexual homicide.

In terms of clearly characterizing sexual homicide, the criteria proposed by Ressler, Burgess, and Douglas (1988) is considered to be one of the most complete and widely used definitions. In order for a homicide to be considered sexually motivated, it has to fulfill at least one of the following criteria: (a) victim’s attire or lack of attire; (b) exposure of the sexual parts of the victim’s body; (c) sexual positioning of the victim’s body; (d) insertion of foreign objects into the victim’s body cavities; (e) evidence of sexual intercourse (oral, anal, or vaginal); and (f) evidence of substitute sexual activity, interest, or sadistic fantasy (e.g., mutilation of the victim’s genitals). Although this definition for classifying sexual homicide seems comprehensive, with detailed criteria for the physical evidence of sexual assault or of sexual activity, it nevertheless oversimplifies the nature of this crime. Clear evidence of sexual assault or sexual activity, which may not be readily available at the immediate crime scene surroundings, is not sufficient (Clarke & Carter, 2000). The true motive of the offender is also an important aspect that needs to be considered in order to classify a homicide as sexually motivated.

Gacono and Meloy (1994) and Meloy (2000) further revise Ressler and colleagues’ (1988) defining criteria for sexual homicide. In order to classify a homicide crime scene as sexually oriented, there needs to be (a) physical evidence of sexual assault or sexual activity (e.g., masturbation) in the immediate area of the victim’s body should be present and/or (b) the offender should have made a legally admissible confession of the sexual nature of the homicide. When clear physical evidence of sexual assault or sexual activity is not readily available at the homicide crime scene, it is the offender’s confession that becomes the determining factor of whether to categorize the homicide as sexually motivated. However, obtaining an offender’s confession of committing a sexually motivated homicide is not easy. The denial of responsibility is often observed among suspects who are accused of committing sexual violence, including a sex-related killing. Some offenders attempt to deny responsibility for their behavior and to suggest that their crime was an accident by reporting drug or alcohol intoxication as an excuse (Folino, 2000).

1.2.1 A proposed standardized definition

On the basis of the previous efforts to define sexually motivated murder, a revised definition of sexual homicide is proposed with the aim of accurately classifying this distinct type of offense and offering a standardized definition. In order to classify a homicide as sexual, one of the following criteria has to be met: (a) ph...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• 1  Introduction
• 2  Sexual Homicide Offending: Offender Classifications
• 3  Sexual Homicide Offending: Theoretical Explanations
• 4  Sexual Homicide Offending: In Search of a Criminological Explanation
• 5  Sexual Homicide Offending: Toward an Integrative Theoretical Explanation
• 6  Implications and Conclusions
• Notes
• References
• Index