Ritual and Signature in Serial Sexual Homicide
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REGULAR ARTICLE Ritual and Signature in Serial Sexual Homicide Louis B. Schlesinger, PhD, Martin Kassen, MA, V. Blair Mesa, MA, and Anthony J. Pinizzotto, PhD Ritual and signature are fantasy-driven, repetitive crime scene behaviors that have been found to occur in serial sexual homicide. Notwithstanding numerous anecdotal case reports, ritual and signature have rarely been studied empirically. In a national sample of 38 offenders and their 162 victims, we examined behavioral and thematic consistency, as well as the evolution and uniqueness of these crime scene actions. The notion that serial sexual murderers engage in the same rituals and leave unique signatures at every scene was not supported by our data. In fact, the results suggest that the crime scene conduct of this group of offenders is fairly complex and varied. Implications of these findings for forensic assessments and criminal investigations are discussed. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 38:239–46, 2010 Since the early case studies of sexual murder by von sies,8,13–15 wherein the murder and the repetitive acts Krafft-Ebing,1 offenders have been reported to en- are parts of the offender’s sexual-arousal pattern.16,17 gage in various crime scene behaviors that are unnec- In empirical studies, some have investigated the con- essary in the commission of the homicide. For exam- nection between offenders’ deviant sexual fantasies ple, several of the individuals von Krafft-Ebing cited and how their crimes were carried out. For instance, not only killed their victims, but filled their mouths MacCulloch et al.18 found that 81 percent (n ϭ 16) with dirt, pulled their hairpins out, pressed their of men (identified in a British forensic hospital) who hands together, subjected them to humiliation and had committed a sadistic sex crime admitted that torture, and often took something from them of little their masturbatory fantasies were related to their de- value. Authors of other early publications2–5 found viant crime scene behavior. Similarly, Burgess et al.19 similar behavior in sexual murderers. Many investi- found that 80 percent (n ϭ 36) of sexual murderers gators concluded that these seemingly unnecessary (identified by the FBI in various U.S. prisons be- activities (i.e., unnecessary for successfully accom- tween 1979 and 1983) reported masturbatory fanta- plishing the crime) served a psychological purpose. sies directly connected to how their offenses were The offender needed to engage in such actions to feel enacted. A relationship between (n ϭ 25, using some sexually gratified1,6–10; killing the victim was not of the 1979–1983 FBI sample) fantasies and crime sufficient.11,12 scene actions has been found by Prentky et al.20 in a Such crime scene behaviors, which more often slightly higher number (86 percent) of serial sexual than not are repetitive, have been found to be an killers. outgrowth of the perpetrator’s deviant sexual fanta- The question has never been whether these seem- ingly unnecessary repetitive crime scene actions oc- Dr. Schlesinger is Professor of Forensic Psychology, and Mr. Kassen cur, since they have been described in various case and Ms. Mesa are students in the Doctoral Program in Clinical- reports for well over a century. Instead, the questions Forensic Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City Uni- versity of New York, NY. Dr. Pinizzotto was Senior Scientist, Behav- are how consistently they occur across crimes, how ioral Science Unit, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Quantico, VA, at unique they are, and how they might serve as an the time of this research and is now in independent practice in Chan- tilly, VA. The author’s opinions, statements and conclusions should investigative aid. In the early 1980s, the FBI’s Behav- not be considered an endorsement by the FBI of any policy, program, ioral Science Unit began studying the crime scene or service. Address correspondence to: Louis B. Schlesinger, PhD, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 445 W. 59th Street, New York, NY behavior of sexual murderers, with particular empha- 10019. E-mail: [email protected]. sis on serial sexual murderers, to help in the construc- 21,22 Disclosures of financial or other conflicts of interest: None. tion of profiles of unidentified offenders. They Volume 38, Number 2, 2010 239 Serial Sexual Homicide differentiated an offender’s modus operandi (his con- nizing ritualistic behavior are instances where “one or scious technique of committing a crime) from the more ritualistic aspects of the crime remain known repetitive behavior (unnecessary for the successful only to the offender” (Ref. 30, p 590) and may be completion of the crime and often similar among recognized only after the subject is apprehended and crimes, appearing to be ritualistic) that was fantasy- examined and his records and belongings analyzed. driven. Because the repetitive-ritualistic acts stem In addition, these authors found that serial sexual from the offender’s fantasies, which are somewhat offenders who act impulsively with little planning distinctive for each individual,23,24 it has been sug- often do not engage in ritualistic (or signature) be- gested that fantasy-driven rituals are also unique, per- havior because of the undifferentiated nature of their haps as unique as an individual’s signature.25 Ac- fantasy lives. In contrast, offenders who plan their cordingly, this type of signature behavior had been crimes and who have detailed and elaborate fantasy termed the perpetrator’s calling card26 and can be lives engage in distinct ritualistic or signature acts. used to connect or link a series of crimes to the same Most of our knowledge of ritualistic and signature individual.25,27,28 behavior has been gained from clinical practice expe- Douglas and Munn explained that the modus ope- rience through the evaluation of offenders6,13,14,31 randi (M.O.) and from criminal investigations.32–35 The incidence “...isalearned behavior that...evolves as an offender of ritualistic behavior in some cases of serial sexual gains experience and confidence [by committing more homicide has been found to be as high as 95 per- crimes,...while]...thesignature [a term that, unfortu- cent,17 but the consistency with which offenders ex- nately, has been often used synonymously with ritual] as- hibit this behavior in a series of victims is unclear. pect stays the same, whether it is the first offense or one 36 committed ten years later. The ritual may evolve, but the Recently, Bateman and Salfati studied behavioral theme remains constant” [Ref. 25, pp 3–4]. consistency in a sample (obtained from the Homi- For example, Hazelwood and Warren found that the cide Investigation and Tracking System in Seattle) of “ ‘signature’ ritualistic aspect of the crime...does 90 offenders, each of whom had committed at least not change dramatically; it is designed to meet the five homicides. These researchers found a relatively offender’s motivationally driven fantasy and, there- high level of behavioral consistency in what seemed fore, remains psychosexually arousing to him over to be ritualistic acts: a 72.8 percent incidence in those time” (Ref. 29, p 127). In fact, ritualistic behavior offenders who disfigure, 83.7 percent in those who serves such strong emotional needs of the offender engage in antemortem sex, 85.6 percent in those who that it may increase his chances of being appre- torture, 85 percent in those who have the victim hended. He may, for example, leave additional evi- perform oral sex, and 88.3 percent in those who en- dence behind, spend unnecessary time at the crime gage in vaginal sex. These results lend some empirical scene, or return to the scene to carry out additional support to the notion that there is consistency in acts with the body. repetitive-ritualistic behavior; however, the study did Hazelwood and Warren30 drew a distinction be- not use a homogenous sample of serial sexual mur- tween ritual (repetitive acts at the crime scene) and derers and did not address the question of whether signature: “a unique combination of behaviors that these ritualistic acts are unique and can be legiti- emerges across two or more offenses” (Ref. 30, p mately considered to be an offender’s signature. 590). They were quite deliberate in their discussion of ritual. For instance, they argued that the ritual may Method not occur in every crime in a series because of several This study was an empirical examination of ritu- factors, such as time availability, the offender’s alistic and signature behavior in serial sexual-homi- mood, and various external circumstances that could cide offenders, in which six questions were posed: Do dilute, modify, or interrupt the commission of a perpetrators of serial sexual homicide engage in ritu- crime. Moreover, “some [features] of the crime may alistic behavior? Do these offenders engage in ritual- serve as part of the ritual and not be recognized as istic behavior consistently with every victim? Is the such...or[may be] mistakenly taken to be part of theme of the ritual consistent across victims? Is there the M.O., while in other cases some element of the evolution or elaboration of the ritual across victims? crime...may function as both M.O. and ritual” Is the ritual not only consistent but also unique, so (Ref. 30, p 590). Adding to the complexity of recog- that it can be legitimately referred to as signature? Do 240 The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Schlesinger, Kassen, Mesa, et al. offenders experiment at a crime scene and do something fenders in the sample. In the other half, several dis- unique with one, or more than one, victim in a series? orders were noted: substance abuse (n ϭ 4), To answer these questions, we studied a nonran- antisocial personality disorder (n ϭ 5), a psychotic dom national sample (with its inherent limitations) condition (unspecified psychotic disorder and of 38 sexually motivated serial homicide offenders schizophrenia) (n ϭ 2), a history of conduct disorder and their 162 victims.