Homicide: a Forensic Psychology Casebook

FORENSIC & CRIMINAL JUSTICE HOMICIDE | Mellor Swart A Forensic Psychology HOMICIDE CaseBooK HOMICIDE A Forensic Psychology Forensic psychology plays an increasingly important role in criminal investigations and legal decision-making. Homicide: A Forensic Psychology Casebook guides readers through the practical aspects of homicide cases across the entire criminal justice system, from the investigative process to the criminal trial process, and beyond. Each chapter contains a description and analysis of selected cases and offenders, and provides a crime narrative and offender narrative to illustrate the underlying theory and practical considerations of homicide investigations. Criminal justice students and practitioners alike will benefit from the comprehensive scope of this text. CaseBooK Features: • Only forensic psychology casebook with this comprehensive scope • Provides timely and relevant case studies, from revenge killings to ideological offenders • Offers chapters by many renowned experts on homicide In order to ensure fair and efficient criminal justice practices in the field of forensic investigation, there is still a need for conformity and standardization of sound protocols and approaches based on improved knowledge and education. This book is part of that effort to understand homicidal behavior and offenders better in order to prevent similar crimes. Edited by Joan Swart K26192 Lee Mellor 6000 Broken Sound Parkway, NW Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487 711 Third Avenue New York, NY 10017 an informa business 2 Park Square, Milton Park www.crcpress.com Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK www.crcpress.com K26192_cover.indd 1 7/19/16 10:21 AM HOMICIDE A Forensic Psychology CASEBOOK HOMICIDE A Forensic Psychology CASEBOOK Edited by Joan Swart Eisner Institute for Professional Studies Encino, California, USA Lee Mellor Concordia University Montreal, Canada Boca Raton London New York CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2017 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed on acid-free paper Version Date: 20160322 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-3152-2 (Hardback) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Swart, Joan, editor. | Mellor, Lee, 1982- editor. Title: Homicide : a forensic psychology casebook / editors, Joan Swart and Lee Mellor. Other titles: Homicide (CRC Press) Description: Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016007288 | ISBN 9781498731522 (alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Homicide--Psychological aspects. | Criminal psychology. | Psychology, Forensic. Classification: LCC HV6515 .H636 2017 | DDC 614/.15--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016007288 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com To my friend and mentor, Jack Apsche: Your memories will forever remain in the hearts and minds of those your kindness touched. —Joan Swart This book is dedicated to my grandmother, Dorothea, across the ocean but always in my heart. —Lee Mellor In memory of the victims of homicide: What though the radiance which was once so bright be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower. We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind. —William Wordsworth (1837) Contents Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Editors xiii Contributors xv 1 Introduction 1 Lee Mellor Section I Reactive and Belief-Oriented Offenders 2 Reactive Aggressive Offenders 15 Joan Swart 3 Domestic Homicide 35 Michelle Wright and Nicola Manning 4 Disgruntled and Revenge Killers 55 Joan Swart 5 Hate Crimes in America and the Slavery Paradigm 71 Allan L. Branson Section II Sexual Homicide Offenders 6 An Introduction to Sexual Homicides 83 Lee Mellor 7 Necrophilic Homicide Offenders 97 Lee Mellor vii viii Contents 8 Sexually Sadistic Homicide Offenders 125 Lee Mellor Section III Personality and Mentally-Disordered Homicide Offenders 9 Psychopathic Homicide Offenders 165 Lee Mellor, Katherine Ramsland, and Michel Funicelli 10 Psychotic Homicide Offenders 187 Michael H. Stone Section IV Homicide Offenders in Special Populations 11 Battered Women Homicide Offenders 207 Joan Swart and Lenore E. A. Walker 12 Child and Adolescent Homicide Offenders 235 Joan Swart 13 Intellectually Disabled Offenders 257 Joan Swart 14 Intrapsychic Motivations in Stranger Homicides Involving Gay or Bisexual Males 275 Dallas S. Drake Section V Epilogue: Investigative Considerations 15 Cold Case Homicides: Challenges and Opportunities 299 Michael Arntfield and Kenneth L. Mains 16 Piecing It Together: Using Crime Scene Reconstruction and Behavioral Profiling to Elucidate Homicide and Offender Characteristics 315 Laura G. Pettler and Joan Swart Index 331 Foreword hen I started teaching forensic psychology 20 years ago, students who took the course were often Wsurprised at the diversity of topics that were discussed. To offer a course in forensic psychology was a rather new endeavor (at least in my department) and even my colleagues looked at the topic with raised eyebrows. Twenty years later, forensic psychology has become one of the most sought courses in the department. However, students registered for the course out of mere curiosity and as a break from their heavy science courses; today, they register out of interest, looking at this topic as a potentially career-orienting course. Most of the students are already familiar with many of the topics to be covered and delve into the course wanting to know more about this fascinating field. If anything, knowing more about criminal behaviors has become a timely topic, and more importantly, a topic rooted in scientific knowledge. There is no doubt that this, rather amazing, change over the years has been fueled by a parallel enthusiasm for “forensics” in the media. Whether it is through films, series, documentaries, or the potentialities provided by the Internet, students and the lay public have acquired through the years a familiarity with the field, which was inexistent a few years back. What is portrayed in the media however, represents, at best, a mix of facts and fictions difficult to disentangle. Of all the topics covered in an undergraduate forensic course, homicide is often the most popular and paradoxically the most apprehended one, most likely because it represents the ultimate criminal offense; the taking of one’s life in all cultures remains a social and personal taboo. Homicides confront people in their understanding of life and death, trying to instill meaning in what is too often an incomprehensible act. As the present book demonstrates, homicide is indeed an extremely complicated, tortuous behavior that often escapes common comprehension. From manslaughter to sexually sadistic murders, from domestic violence to child and youth murderers, the panoply of homicidal behaviors raises important social, political, cultural, and personal questions. No matter how Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot seems to magically weave their way out of inextricable cases, the understanding of homicidal behavior required to investigate a crime or to simply learn about its underpinnings demands a close, often intimate, venture into the biosocial–psychological makings of the homicidal brain. Joan Swart and Lee Mellor’s book is a welcome addition to this field and will be, I am convinced, an ines- capable reference in years to come for the student, researcher, or investigator of homicide. Within its covers, it proposes an interesting mix of science, informed “intuitions,” and practicality that will promote new ideas and understanding about homicide. As the authors

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