The purpose of this work was to compare serial homicides committed by interstate and intrastate offenders and to determine differences in behavior between them. Knowledge of such differences would enable the trained homicide detective to structure his investigation according to the killer's inferred range of action.
This study used homicide data collected by the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP), of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC). VICAP's data was voluntarily submitted by investigators working at the state, local, and federal levels. The VICAP database had information on more than 804 cases of homicides committed by 241 different, serial offenders.
The VICAP data was examined in order to learn whether offender behaviors could reveal a distinction between the
interstate serial offender and the intrastate serial offender. Five variables of conscious or unconscious offender behavior were selected: (1) the victim's occupation, (2) the victim's last known location, (3) the type and kind of restraints used on the victim (if any), (4) the victim's cause of death, and (5) the level of concealment of the victim at the body disposal site. Information from the attributes in these variables could be helpful to the homicide detective in an early determination of the types and kinds of investigative resources that should be applied to the case for a successful resolution.
A hypothesis was formed: there is a detectable difference on the five variables in the behaviors of interstate and intrastate serial killers. The findings supported the hypothesis that there was a detectable difference between the two types of serial killers. An unexpected finding revealed that one type of offender was more deadly than the other, and thus less
likely to leave behind surviving victims. viii interstate serial offender and the intrastate serial offender. Five variables of conscious or unconscious offender behavior were selected: (1) the victim's occupation, (2) the victim's last known location, (3) the type and kind of restraints used on the victim (if any), (4) the victim's cause of death, and (5) the level of concealment of the victim at the body disposal site. Information from the attributes in these variables could be helpful to the homicide detective in an early determination of the types and kinds of investigative resources that should be applied to the case for a successful resolution.
A hypothesis was formed: there is a detectable difference on the five variables in the behaviors of interstate and intrastate serial killers. The findings supported the hypothesis that there was a detectable difference between the two types of serial killers. An unexpected finding revealed that one type of offender was more deadly than the other, and thus less likely to leave behind surviving victims.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-6637 |
| Date | 01 January 1995 |
| Creators | Witzig, Eric W. |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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