Profiling Serial Murder: The Investigation of Violent Sexualized Homicide

The book examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the typologies of violent, sexualized homicide (lust murder…erotophonophilia) advocated by four contemporary researchers, specifically, Godwin, 2001; Holmes & Holmes, 2002; Keppel & Walter, 1999; Kocsis, Cooksey, & Irwin, 2002. The behavior and activities exhibited by offenders to distinguish violent, sexualized homicide from other types of serial murderers are presented through multiple case studies analysis of the offenders’ psychosocial histories and offense patterns. The serial murderers examined include detailed accounts of those committed by Theodore Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, and Dennis Rader. The results of the research indicate that when the stand-alone typologies of Godwin, 2001; Holmes & Holmes, 2002; Keppel & Walter, 1999; Kocsis, Cooksey, & Irwin, 2002 are used they may not be reliable or dependable tools in the development of a suspect offender profile. Moreover, within the case studies examined, the typologies created by those researchers were not fully capable of identifying characteristics of serial murderers. Therefore, the book presents a composite typology technique for a much more promising approach in determining a suspect pool from a broader range of psychosocial, offense activities, and particular characteristics of an offender to aid in an investigation.