| Chapter 1: | Profiling Erotophonophilia |
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a person acting at random nor as symptomatic of a disorganized mind or psychological deficiency; rather, contemporary researchers suggest that the actions and behaviors of lust murderers satisfy their psychosexual needs.
The primary purposes of the development of the characterizations and typologies of an offender profile are to assist in the identification of a suspect pool, to focus the criminal-investigative process, and to increase the likelihood of the offender's apprehension. Jackson and Bekerian (1997) provided the most illustrative definition and value of an offender profile, stating:
Offender profiling represents the creation of an empirically and descriptively based arrangement of available facts, evidence, and information concerning a type of homicide offender based on available evidence and its interpretation. Crime scene evidence includes, but is not limited to, physical evidence, victim injuries and wounds, victim identification, and the behavior of the offender at the crime scene.
The earliest theoretical model for serial and lust murder that was used as a tool in the identification of suspects came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and was based on interviews conducted with 36 serial murderers and lust murderers incarcerated in the 1980s. The model has since been discredited.
Contemporary research on lust murders has indicated that the offenders’ criminal activity is planned and repetitive, and, in the instance of serial predation, the offenders appear to gain in their sophistication of tactics in acquiring and disposing of the victims. Moreover, that increased