The Preference for Strangulation in a Sexually Motivated Serial Killer

Abstract

The existing literature on the killing method of choice for sexually motivated serial killers suggests strangulation as the preferable means of homicide, when the victim is female. When homicide victims are male, however, existing research suggests that firearms and blades are preferable methods of causing death. A case is presented here of a sexually motivated male serial killer who exclusively targeted males and who chose strangulation as his means of killing. Analysis suggests that not only is the psychological constitution of the killer an important factor in understanding how they kill victims but, also, the nature of the sexual act is an important determinant in the method of killing in male on male sexually motivated killing.

Staged body disposal sites and homicide: Investigating the multivariate approach of a serial killer

“…The statistical analyses of sexual homicide, and of serial killing, could benefit from an illustrative case example of the diversity of body disposal site staging. Indeed, the case study approach has been successfully utilised by others in their investigation of sexual homicide (see eg., Carabellese et al., 2011; Culhane et al., 2011; Karaski et al., 2017; Laurema et al., 2010; Pettigrew, 2019; Schlesinger, 1998); an approach particularly useful when the case examined is a ‘rare, extreme or unique’ example (Gray, 2014, p. 275). The case reviewed here highlights a new variant of crime scene staging, the staging of the body disposal site in homicide.…”