Psychological Profile Report - Case Study Example

Offender profile Name Institution The Chief Investigator Major Crimes Squad Western Australia Police Ground Floor, 144 Stirling Street PERTH WA 6000 Psychological Profile Report This report is confidential and must not be shared without the permission of the author. The opinion contained in this report is limited to the evidence available at the time of preparing this report. 1. Case: ‘The Perth Strangler’ 2. Statement of Qualifications I am a psychiatrist who has practiced in Western Australia for the past 25 years. In those years, I have developed an interest in criminal matters and have studied criminal cases and tendencies for the last 10 years. I have also testified in criminal cases and prepared 5 psychological profile reports for the Western Australia police which have helped in the arrest and conviction of the offenders. 3. Instructions/Purpose of the report This psychological profile report has been requested by WA Police for the purpose of providing a psychological analysis of a possible offender responsible for three murders of young women. The cause of the death is strangulation often committed after the offender has sexually assaulted the victims. The purpose of this report, therefore, is to provide an analysis that will help the WA police in identifying the offender. 4. Sources of Information and Inference The opinions and conclusions contained in this report are based on the following sources of information: a) WA Police Case Summary; b) Maps of the body disposal sites, crime scene evidence reports, autopsy information and reports and victim information. c)Research and other literature concerning offender profiling including past psychological profiling by certain key psychiatrist-criminologists such as James A. Brussel. 5. Case Details Condition of the victims The Perth Strangler case involves a series of murders committed presumably by one offender. The victims are young Caucasian women between the ages of 23 to 26 years. All the three victims are discovered when they are stripped naked and placed lying on their backs while their faces are facing upwards. The hairs of the three victims are cut short in a haphazard way and severe bruises can be seen on the faces and around the necks of the victims.Lacerations and bruising are consistent in all the victims’ breasts, wrists and ankles. There are also bruises on the victims’ genital region. There were public hairs found in the victim’s mouth and the victims were left naked and in public places where people could find them. Crime scene indicators- modus operandi and signature The modus operandi of an offender refers to the actions taken by the offender in the process of perpetrating the crime. (Turvey, 2011) These are the set of behaviors developed by the offender in the course of committing the crime. In this case, the Perth Strangler begins with abducting the victims from their cars or as they approach their cars. The offender then rapes the victims, and in the process, due to the resistance of the victims, uses force causing injuries and bruises on the bodies of the victims. Once the offender is done with the victim he goes on to kill them and leave their bodies lying in a place different from where the crime was committed. Signature In this case, a common feature in all the victims is that the offender uses a knife to make cuts on the women’s breasts. This is done before the victims are finally murdered. As the number of victims’ increases, the offender seems to be perfecting his signature. Not only is the offender making knife cuts on the victims’ breasts but also leaving biting marks. This started with the second victim where the bite marks were on her left breast and further escalates in the third victim where the bite marks are on both the left and the right breasts.The offender has a common way of murdering his victims which is by strangling using a rope. There are also burn marks that the offender inflicts on the victim possibly through the use of a lit cigarette. Autopsy information The autopsy information for the victims shows that they were all Caucasian females between the ages of 23 and 26. The autopsy shows that the victims were strangled to death after the offender was done with them. All the lacerations and the bruises on the victims were inflicted before their death. From the information provided, the victims were hit severally on their faces using a fist and on their chest, back and abdomen using a blunt force trauma possibly on the first day of being abducted. The cuts on the breasts and the bruises around the victim’s genital region are similar in all the victims. Crime scene evidence The offender’s first victim wasfound in a public car park under a street lamp. This is the same case for the third victim who was also found in a public car park early in the morning. The second victim, however, was found on the outskirts of a Bushland Reserve. In the first and the third crime scene, the offender ensures that the victims are found in public car parkswhere it is likely that the victim will be found. In all the crime scenes, there were traces of motor vehicle oil found in the victims’ hair. The offender ensured that the crime scenes were similar in that the victims were left lying on their backs with their faces facing upwards. 6. Victimology First victim- Samantha Williams Samantha’s body was found under a street lamp in a public car park early in the morning. The victim had blonde hair and brown eyes. The victim had been stripped naked and was lying on her back with her head facing upwards. From the information gathered from the autopsy, Samantha appeared to have been in good health before her death. Samantha had died of strangulation through the use of a rope which was done from the front. The bruises found on the face of the victim that suggested possible beating using a closed fist shows that it was a personal act by the offender. (Kocsis et al., 2002b)This is further elaborated by the kind of force that was used to strangle the victim that caused the crushing of the wind pipe. Other than the strangulation, the victim was sexually assaulted as evidenced through the bruises that were seen on the genital areas of the victim. The purpose of the offender, it seems, was to demonstrate that he had control over the situation and the authority over the victim. (Kocsis et al., 2002a) This is indicated by the bruises on the victim’s chest, back and abdomen resulting from a blunt force trauma. The offender used force and beating on the victim as he continued to perpetrate the crime. There were also burn marks on the victim’s arms that are consistent to those caused by a lit cigarette. Other than the rape, it seems that the offender wanted the victim to be in pain during the whole process to show control. All this happened while the victim was tied as is evidenced by the bruising and abrasions on the victim’s wrists and ankles. The deep cuts on the victim’s breasts reveal that the offender hesitated, which shows that Samantha was his first victim. Samantha was described as an outgoing person and one who was good with people. There was nothing to suggest that she had any grudges or conflicts with any one. She was a student at Edith Cowan University doing Psychology. She was described by her friends as person who enjoyed having fun. At the time of her death, she was out with her friends to see a movie. Second victim- Erin Davis The victim was a Caucasian female 26 years of age. Like the first victim, Erin was abducted at night after she had left her parent’s house and was heading to her house. Just like Samantha, Erin had blonde hair and brown eyes. She was beautiful and outgoing as well as fun-loving. Erin had already completed a degree in Children and Family Studies at Edith Cowan University. Just like Samantha, Erin was loved almost by everyone and there was nothing to suggest that she was having troubles with anyone. The cause of death was, however, similar to the first victim’s. Erin had died of strangulation that was done by the use of a rope. The period between the abduction and when the victim was found dead was approximately two days which was similar to that of the first victim. The bruises on the face and around the victim’s neck were the same as well as the bruises on the chest and abdomen inflicted by using a blunt force trauma. The burn marks were also similar to those inflicted using a lit cigarette which is the case for the first victim. A notable difference in the second victim is that the offender did not hesitate when making the deep cuts on the breasts. These cuts were made while the victim was alive as was the case in the first victim. There were also bite marks on the victim’s left breast which shows that the victim was escalating. The bruises on the genital regions were the same as for the first victim. The offender seems to be carrying out the crimes in a systematic way for both victims. This suggests an organized sexual homicide. (Canter & Heritage, 1990) Third victim- Jessica Mitchell The victim was 25 years of age and, like all the other two victims, was a Caucasian female with blonde hair and brown eyes. Like all the other victims, Jessica was abducted at night after having a walk with a friend. She was outgoing, always happy and fun to be around. This was a common characteristic of the other victims too. She also attended Edith Cowan University but had already completed a degree in Sports Science and was currently a fitness instructor. In regard to the abduction and, later, her death, Jessica was missing for three days before her body was found in a public car park just like the first victim. The cause of death was strangulation which led to the crushing of the wind pipe due to the force that was applied. The bruises on the chest, abdomen, arms and the face were similar to those of the other victims. The burn marks were also similar which shows a systematic and planned execution of the offender’s crimes. The severe bruising outside the genital area, the upper thighs and the anal cavity show that the victim was raped just as was the case for the other two victims. The offender did not hesitate in making the deep cuts on the victim’s breasts. He went ahead to leave bite marks on both breasts of the victim. The bite marks were not there for the first victim while for the second victim they were on the left breast. Unlike the other victims who went missing for 2 days, the third victim went missing for three days which shows escalation of the commission of the crimes. In an organized sexual homicide, the victim is often an interracial female. (Canter, 2010) This is the case since the victims are Caucasian while the evidence collected from the victims reveals that the offender is Caucasian too. Just as is the case in an organized sexual homicide, there are multiple crime scenes involved. In this case, the place where the victims are found is not the place of death. They are abducted in a different place, taken to another place where they are raped and killed and then dropped in the areas where they are found. (Flowers, 2001) There is a general tendency to use restraints by the offenders in an organized sexual homicide. (Canter & Heritage, 1990) In this case, the bruises on the arms and ankles of the victims suggests that the victims were restrained using a rope. The staging of the crime scene is in an organized way where all the victims are made to lie on their backs with their heads facing up. 7. Offender Characteristics Gender The offender in this case is most likely male. This is because the kind of force used to strangle the victims is consistent to a person of the male gender. Further, the bruises on the genital areas of the victims that are consistent with rape show that there was penetration using a penis hence the offender is male. Age The offender in this case is approximately 32 to 34 years old. Heng Choon (2015),states that the average age for most homicidal sexual offenders is 34.35 years old. A total of 77% of the first time sexual offenders are between the ages of 18 and 40 years. Koch et al. (2011), in a study conducted involving 166 homicidal sexual offenders states that the average age of the offenders was 32.8 years. This supports the discussion that most of the homicidal sexual offenders are between the age of 18 and 40. (Koch et al., 2011) Race The offender is most likely white. The evidence analysis in the Perth Strangler case shows that there wereskin samples in the first victim’s finger nails which were consistent with the DNA of a Caucasian male. These skin samples may have reached the victim’s nails as a result of a struggle with the offender. Heng Choon (2015), states that most of the homicidal sexual offenders are white. This is consistent with the samples collected from the first victim’s finger nails which show that the offender is a white male. (Heng Choon, 2015) Marital status/Relationships The offender is most likely single and lonely. Beauregard & Proulx (2007a) state that most of the homicidal sexual offenders have interpersonal relationship issues such as loneliness, idleness and marital difficulties. Grubin (1994) states that, at the time the offenders are committing the crime, they are most likely living alone. Homicidal sexual offenders have few intimate relationships. Place of residence and living arrangements There are several principles that are used to come up with geographical profiling for offenders. These are least effort, distance decay and rational choice. ( Chamikara & Jayathilake, 2015) The principle of least effort suggests that many criminals stick to the areas where they have power. They will, therefore, move less especially if they are inexperienced. The routine activity principle suggests that the victims are connected to some routine activity of the suspect. This based on the assumption that the criminal plans the crimes during his normal routine. The distance decay principle on the other hand suggests that criminals do not move far away from their living areas to commit crimes. This therefore means that the suspect in this case may have been targeting the victims who are closer to where he lives.(Richard, 2015) A common feature of all the crime scenes is that they are along the coast. The first and second crime scenes are actually in a public car park near a beach. This means that there is a connection between the suspect and the coast. He either lives somewhere along the West Coast or works there such that the crimes are planned in the course of the routine. Education The fact that the suspect is targeting victims who are either studying or have studied at the Edith Cowan University suggests that the suspect may have studied there. This would make it easier for the suspect to choose its victims. It may also be likely that he had an unpleasing encounter with a beautiful and outgoing lady with blonde hair and brown eyes as this would explain why he targeted only those victims that met this criterion. (Swigert et al., 1976) Occupation The suspect is very keen in the instruments he uses in committing the crimes. There is the use of the hunting knife to make the cuts on the victim’s breasts and the nylon rope that is used to strangle the victims. This means that the suspect may be a hunter. This would explain his ability to strangle the victims from the front without remorse. (Folino, 2000) Transportation and type of vehicle The fact that the suspect would abandon the victims’ vehicles means that he had his own. Since there is likelihood that the suspect may be a hunter, it is possible that he would use a truck to carry his victims. To ensure that nobody noticed the victims after abduction, he must have ensured that the victims were unconscious as he transports them to where he carried out the crimes. Relationship with victims The offender seems to be connected to the victims through the fact all of them have studied, at one time or another, at the Edith Cowan University. This means that the offender is selecting his victims from people who are either studying or have studied at the institution. It is, therefore, likely that the offender is a person who has worked, is working or is at the university and was able to meet the victims. Other than the fact that the victims have studied or are studying at Edith Cowan University, there are other common characteristics for example the fact that the victims are outgoing and loved. The offender is, therefore, someone close to them who has studied their daily routine. Level of intelligence Based on the similar details in the way the suspect commits the crimes, the suspect is quite intelligent. This can be seen in the way he conducts the abductions where he waits until when the victim is alone and no eye witnesses. Further, the execution of the crime itself shows that the suspect was keen on the details of the crime. He had to ensure that the victims had bruises as a result of blunt force trauma and had to use a strong rope to restrain the victims as he carried out each step of the process of committing the crime. His intelligence can also be seen in the choice of the time to drop the bodies when nobody can detect him. (Canter, 2004) Salient personality features The suspect must be a strong, left-handed man. The suspect must be psychopathic and sadistic. (Hill et al., 2007) This is expressed in the fact that the suspect is after having sexual pleasure while at the same time enjoying the victim’s physical suffering. The bruises in the victims suggest that the suspect was cruel and enjoyed watching as the victims were in pain. The psychopathic characteristic of the suspect can be seen from remorselessness and the lack of empathy that is seen in the way the suspect inflicts pain on the victims while they are still alive. (Porter et al., 2003) Family, Social and possible Psychosexual development There is research that suggests that the deviant sexual and violent pattern in sexual homicidal offenders is learned, partly, from the observations made from the parents’ aggressive behavior. (Heng Choon, 2012) It may also be learned from past experience with family violence, whether physical or sexual. The suspect’s behavior may also be influenced by close family or siblings past violent and sexual criminal history. (Chan et al., 2011) It is, therefore, likely that the suspect learnt such behaviors from close family members or parents. Criminal History It is possible that the victim may be a repeat sexual offender but was a first time offender in relation to the homicidal sexual assault. This is evidenced by the fact that the suspect hesitated when making deep cuts on the first victim’s breasts. This is to suggest that it was his first time to kill the victims he had sexually assaulted. This hesitation is, however, missing in the second and third victims, which means that the suspect had mastered his way of committing the crime. (Beauregard & Proulx, 2007b) Other salient information The escalation in the way the suspect commits the crime as can be seen from the fact that the third victim had been missing for 3 days as compared to the other two victims who had been missing for 2 days shows that the suspect has every intention of continuing with the crimes. The detailed selection on the women shows that this might be a personal vendetta or revenge for the suspect. (Wilson & Kocsis, 1997) 8. Conclusions From the above discussions, the suspect is most likely a Caucasian male aged 32 to 34 years. The suspect most likely lives along the West Coast which makes it easier to locate and abduct his victims without having to travel long distances. The suspect is most likely living alone and has no family ties which give him enough time to plan and execute the crimes without having people asking about his whereabouts. The victim possibly drives a truck and may be a hunter which explains the selective and careful use of tools during the crimes. The suspect is an intelligent man in that he is able to rape the victims and ensure that no traces of semen are found which could make it easy to trace him. This supports the assumption that the suspect is well educated, possibly with a degree from Edith Cowan University which would explain the choice of victims. 9. References Beauregard, E., Proulx, J., & St-Yves, M. (2007). Angry and sadistic: Two types of sexual murderers. In J. Proulx, E. Beauregard, M. Cusson, & A. Nicole (Eds.), Sexual murderers: A comparative analysis and new perspectives(pp. 123-141). Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. Koch, J., Berner, W., Hill, A., & Briken, P. (2011). Sociodemographic and diagnostic characteristics of homicidal and nonhomicidal sexual offenders. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 56(6), 1626-1631. Grubin, D. (1994). Sexual murder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 624-629. Chan, H. C., Heide, K. M., & Beauregard, E. (2011). What propels sexual murderers: A proposed integrated theory of social learning and routine activities theories. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55(2), 228-250. Richard N. (2014). Criminal profiling: Principles and practice. Springer Science and Business Media. M.A.P Chamikara & A.A.C.A Jayathilake (2015). Geographic offender profiling. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from: http://www.pgis.lk/yrf/sci2015/map_chamikara.pdf Porter S., Woodworth M., Earle J., Drugge J. & Boer D. (2003). Characteristics of sexual homicides committed and psychopathic and non-psychopathic offenders. Law and Human Behaviour, Vol. 27, No. 5. Heng Choon Chan (2012). What propels sexual homicide offenders? Testing an integrated theory of social learning and routine activities theories. University of South Florida. Heng Choon Chan (2015). Understanding sexual homicide offenders: an integrated approach. Palgrave Macmillan. Swigert, V. L., Farrell, R. A., & Yoels, W. C. (1976). Sexual homicide: Social, psychological, and legal aspects. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 5(5), 391-401. Folino, J. O. (2000). Sexual homicides and their classification according to motivation: A report from Argentina. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 44(6), 740-750. Hill, A., Habermann, N., Berner, W., & Briken, P. (2007). Psychiatric disorders in single and multiple sexual murderers. Psychopathology, 40(1), 22-28. Beauregard, E., & Proulx, J. (2007). A classification of sexual homicide against men. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 51(4), 420-432. Flowers, R. B. (2001). Sex crimes, predators, perpetrators, prostitutes, and victims: An examination of sexual criminality and victimization. Charles C Thomas Pub Ltd. Canter, D., & Heritage, R. (1990). A multivariate model of sexual offence behaviour: Developments in ‘offender profiling'. I. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 1(2), 185-212. Canter, D. V. (2010). Offender profiling (pp. 236-241). Cambridge University Press. Salfati, C. G. (2000). The nature of expressiveness and instrumentality in homicide implications for offender profiling. Homicide Studies, 4(3), 265-293. Canter, D. (2004). Offender profiling and investigative psychology. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 1(1), 1-15. Wilson, P., Lincoln, R., & Kocsis, R. (1997). Validity, utility and ethics of profiling for serial violent and sexual offenders. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 4(1), 1-11. Kocsis, R. N., Cooksey, R. W., & Irwin, H. J. (2002). Psychological profiling of offender characteristics from crime behaviors in serial rape offences. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 46(2), 144-169. Turvey, B. E. (2011). Criminal profiling: An introduction to behavioral evidence analysis. Academic press. Kocsis, R. N., Hayes, A. F., & Irwin, H. J. (2002). Investigative experience and accuracy in psychological profiling of a violent crime. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17(8), 811-823. Read More