NOTICE AVPS The quality of this rnicrofm is La qualit6 de cette microforme heavily dependent upon the ddpend grandement de la qualit6 quality of the original thesis de la thbe soumise au submmed for microfilming. microfilmage. Nous avons tout Every effort has been made to fait pour assurer une qualit6 ensure the highest quality of supOrieure de reproduction. reprodudon possible. If pages are missing, contact the S'il manque des pages, veuillez university which granted the communiquer avec l'universit6 degree, qui a confhrh le grade. Some pages may have indistinct La qualit6 d'impression de print especially if the original certaines pages put laisser B pages were typed with a poor dkirer, surtout si les pages typemiter ribbun or if the originales ont 6t6 university sent us an inferior dactylographiks I'aide d'un phatacopy- tuban us4 ou si I'universitb nous a fait parvenir une photocopie de qualit4 infbrieure. Reproduction in full or in part of La reproduction, dmepartielle, this microform is governed by de oette microforme est soumise the Canadian Copyright Act, B la Loi canadienne sur le droit R-SIC. 1970, c. C-30, and d'auteur, SRC 1970, c. G30, et subsequentamendments. ses amendements subs6quents. TIIE SERIAL RAPIST'S SPATIAL PATTERN OF TARGET SELECTION by Jonathan Douglas Alston B.Sc. Brigham Young University 1992 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILPENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the School of Criminology Copyright Jonathan D. Alston SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 1994 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. L'AUTEUR A ACCORDE UNE LICENCE IRREVOCABLE EI'NON BXCLUSlVE PERME'ITANT ALABlBLIOTHEQrn NATIONALE DU CANADA DE REPRODDUIRE, PRELps DEERJBUER OUVENDREDESCOPIESDESA mEsEDE~haANIERBET WSQUELQUEFORACBQUECESOIT POUR METIRE DES EXIMPLAIRES DE CETTE THESE A LA DISPOSITION DES THE AUTHOR RETAINS OOWNERSHIP L'AUTEUR CONSERVE LA PROPRIETE OFTHECOPYRIGHTINHISMER DU DROlT D'AUTEUR QUI PROTEGE THESIS.mTHETHESISNOR SA THESE M LA THESE NI DES SUB!3TANTUK EXTRACT'S FROM IT EXilWTs SUBSTANTIElS DE CEUE MAYBE~OROTLiERWISE CINEDOIVENT~IMPRIMESOU REPRODUCED~OUTIIIS/HER AUTREMENT REPRODUiTS SANS SON BERMISSION. AflTORISATION. Approval Jonathan Douglas Alston Degree : Master of Arts Pitfe af Thesis: The Serial Rapist's /Pattern of Target Selection Chaler : Ezzat Fattah, Phd. $gtfia%i'mntinghi Phd .. ~eniod~trpe'rvisor Professor School of Criminology Sfwn Fraser University pat1 J. Bkantin , J.D., Dip-Crim. (Cantab) Professor School of Criminology Simon Fraser University - --dngs tad, W. A. External Examiner Director Coordinated Law Enforcement Unit (CLEU) Victoria, B.C. I fiereby grant ?a Sirrua Frassr UniversiTy the right to Iecc my thesis, project or extendea esscj <the title of which is skw below) to users of the SEmFraser University Lifirary, and to rake psrtisl cr single copies oaly for sucn tisets of in response to a reqbest frm the fibrary of any other university, or other ecfuca*iortal institution, oh its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that pemissic;l fw multiple copyirig of this mrk fcf schofariy purposes my be granted by me or the Gear, of Graduate Studies. It is underrtd that copying or publication of this work fsr financial gain shalt no) h allowed uithout cy written permission. Abstract This thesis exaaines the victim selec~ionpattern of serial rapists in British Columbia against several models derived from Environmental Criminology- Information about offender activity nodes and routine pathways was compared with information about the location of initial contact scenes of the offenses. The comparisons were made using Canter and Larkin's f1993) circle and Tange tests and the underlying Geometry of Crime Model of Brantingharn and Brantingham (1981, 1991). Rossmots (1993) Criminal Geographic Targeting model was used to answer a number of subsidiary questions, Data for a population of thirty British Columbia series were selected from case files held by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RW) at "Em division headquarters in Vancouver. The files contained sufficient information to permit recreation of portlons of each offender's routine activity space. Each file provided information about the offender's residence at the time an offence occurred and about the initial contact scene of that offence. Additional information collected for many of the offenders included routes commonly taken by the offender and the location of past residences, work locations, friendst residences, family members' residences, and places of vorship. The location of the initial contact scene for each rape was compared via measured distances to the imputed routine activity area or awareness space of the offender. These distances iii - constituted the unit cf analysis used in the research. Results of the research support the importance of the serial rapist's avareness space in shaping victim selection patterns. The initial contact scenes were consistently found to be close to the activity nodes and especially the routine pathways of this serial rapist population. Although this thesis is a pioneer study and is essentially exploratory in nature there appears to be great potential for studying the relationship between initial contact scenes and the awareness space of violent serial criminals. This research suggests that the target selection process used by serial rapists is not random and may be predictable. If these hypotheses could be verifiedby additional research, it would h~lpidentify information that, if accurately collected, would greatly enhance the investigative and linkage analysis capabilities of crime analysis units. A number of people were instrumental in assisting me complete this work. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Patricia Brantingham who provided considerable guidance and invaluable support. I would als~like to acknowledge Dr. Paul Brantingham for his assistance and guidance. The Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (VICLAS) unit consisting of Cpl. Keith Davidson, Cpl. Rob Lamb, and Cpl. Yme Smid offered invaluable support and suggestions on how to write a thesis that would have practical usefulness. The victims of these terrible crimes and their accounts offered the constant inspiration to complete a work that would assist law enforcement personnel jn the investigation of these crimes and the quick apprehension of these criminals. A number of others offered great support, most notably my wife Jenny who makes all the effort worthwhile. Table of Contents ApprovaI Page i i Abstract iii - iv Acknowledgemen ts v Table of Contents iri Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Review of Literature Chapter Three: Research Design Chapter Four: Results of Research Chapter Five: Subsidiary Questions Chapter Six: Conclusion Bib1i ography Appendix A: Series Classification Appendix B: Series Types Appendix C: Frequency Tab1es vi Chapter One: Introduction A great amount of connotative baggage is carried with the I term "serial rapist" - A common conception of such a person is that he2 is a lonely, sexually frustrated individual who suffers violent, obsessive fantasies to the point of psychosis- This offender is thought to stalk his victims like a hunter stalks his prey and to be remorseless, cruel, and unfeeling. John Horace Oughton was just such a character. Known as the 'Taperbag Rapistw\ Oughton terrorized the lower mainland' of British Columbia from 1977 to 1985. He was involved in at least 81 sexual assault incidents, although police investigators believe he may have been responsible for something between 150 and 200 separate sexual assault incidents. Oughton's offenses were particularly cruel in that his preferred victims were young girls between 10 and 15 years The term "serial sexual assa~lter*~is technically more accurate for such offenders in Canada. Rape legislation in the United States and sexual assault legislation in Canada, as defined in sections 271-273 of the Criminal Code of Canada, are largely consistent although there are important differences. Few researchers differentiate between the terms and in this thesis they are used synonymously. Ply own definition of a serial rapist will be outlined in chapter 3. Of the 13,416 adult persons charged with sexual assault in Canada in 1992, 98% were male. Of those 2,072 youths charged with sexual assault, 97% were male. Therefore, referring to the rapist as "hen is appropriate (Source: Canadian Crime Statistics, 1992, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, p . 29). me lover mainland is a large geographical region which encoapasses the city of Vancouver and its suburbs- of age. His attacks usually involved two or three victims. In the 81 confirmed sexual assault incidents there were almost 140 victims. Oughton had a well-developed modus operandi, He would attack his victims in parks and wooded areas alongside roadways or school yards. Once he had decided when and where to initiate his attack Oughton would hide himself where he could see potential victims. After selecting his -rictim(s) Oughton would entice tha into the bush area away from sight. He often asked his victim(s) to help him look for his dog that, he claimed, was lost in the bcsh. At other times he was more direct and would threaten to kill the victims if they did not follow him into the bush. Once the victim(s) were away from direct view Oughton would force them to perform and submit to sexual acts, threatening to kill them or their family members if they refused to cooperate. Oughton was given the moniker "Paperbag Rapist" when, in a few of the cases, he wore a paperbag over his head to disguise himself. He often blindfolded his victims as well. Oughton further disguised himself with wigs, coloured contacts, and theatrical makeup. This was at least part of the reason why he was able to avoid suspicion for such a long time- The Oughton series is of special significance because of the large number of offenses attributed to him. The series and his story, will be discussed in more depth in Chapter 5.