Erotophonophilia: Investigating Lust Murder By Janet McClellan

Chapter 1

Profiling Erotophonophilia

Erotophonophilia: Lust Murder

Current research defines lust murder (erotophonophilia) as a type of murder involving apparent sadistic actions based on sexually motivated behavior and its associated psychological desires (Arrigo & Purcell, 2001; Beauregard & Proulx, 2002; Brittain, 1970; Ferguson, White, Cherry, Lorenz, & Bhimani, 2003; Money, 1990). Therefore, the acting-out of sexually motivated behaviors and desires results in the murder of the victim. A number of contemporary researchers in homicide studies employs lust murder as a subtype of serial homicide, which is itself a subcategory of homicides (Arrigo & Purcell, 2001; Purcell & Arrigo, 2006). The subclassification, whether a single incident or a series, is distinguishable from other forms of murder through the modus operandi (MO) and signature of the offender, including (1) violence committed against the victim and (2) indications of offender psychological construct determined through the analysis of the crime scene and offence objects. Lust murder is most frequently described not as the behavior of