Book Review: “Camouflaged Killer” by David A. Gibb

Those of you who have been reading my all too infrequent blogs are aware that I have never before authored a book review.  During my studies on the subject of murder I have read hundreds of books, scholastic journals, law enforcement training publications, and other sources.  There’s a lot of great material out there on the subject, as dark and disturbing as it can be, but I want to take this opportunity to recommend to you my most recent read, “Camouflaged Killer” by David Gibb.

The subject is Canadian serial killer and former Canadian Air Force Colonel Russell Williams.

I became fascinated with the Williams case from the beginning.  Here is a serial killer who seemed to have begun his rapid and progressive degeneration into a sexually-motivated serial offender much later in life than average.  He also seemed to have progressed very quickly from being a voyeur (peeping tom),  to a fetish-burglar (women’s panties), to a home-invader/sexual attacker, and finally to a murderer acting out his violent, controlling fantasies all while unbelievably maintaining a stoic mask of normalcy as the local Canadian Forces Air Base Commander.

At first, when the book was released a little more than a year after Williams was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, I was skeptical that this was some quickie pulp-sensation book full of speculation and based entirely on media reports.  I was, happy to say, quite wrong.

David Gibb has clearly been deeply involved in investigating this case as a journalist from the very beginning.  Using police investigative reports and the input of witnesses, law enforcement sources, criminal profilers and psychologists, he has written a chronological description of the events that occurred and provided insightful analysis into just how Russell Williams may have developed into a cruel and sadistic rapist and murderer.

The Author recreates the crimes in detail, a process made fairly easy by the fact that Williams kept video, photographic, and written records of all of his crimes. The reader is taken through Williams’ life story and his stellar rise through the ranks of the Canadian Air Force.  The police investigation and the subsequent arrest and interview of Colonel Williams are recreated.

For me, however, the best part of this book begins with Chapter 24, entitled “Character Unbecoming.”   In this chapter the Author uses experts such as former FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood (The Evil that Men Do) to meticulously dissect and analyze Williams criminal behavior to closely examine his motivation.  It is, to me, the most enlightening part of the book and, quite interestingly, the part of the book Mr. Gibb’s publisher suggested that he not include.

If you are one of my “Study of Murder” students, or if you are a student of criminal behavior, I commend this book to you as an extremely well-written and though provoking case study of an absolutely fascinating, and at the same time, evil, serial murderer.

 

Murders, the Media, and The Long Island Serial Killer

Since late 2010, the New York press has been reporting on an apparent serial murderer they have dubbed “The Long Island Serial Killer.”  It began with the discovery, in December, 2010, of the bodies of four women, all found in burlap bags and about 500 yards apart from one another in the thick brushy area off a Long Island beach.  The women were apparently prostitutes who used Craigslist to find their clients.  Since then, at least four, and possibly six more bodies have been found along the beach, spread out over an area of about 3.5 miles.  As of the writing of this blog, not all of the victims, including the body of a child, have been identified.  The cause of death for several of the victims has been reported as “homicidal asphyxiation” which could be manual strangulation, ligature strangulation, or smothering.

Serial murderers are rare and they always seem to stir intense interest, especially among people who, for some reason or another, seem to get a thrill out of gruesome murder mysteries.  In fact, I have to confess that these cases interest me as well for I have spend a good deal of my life studying murder in its many iterations. Each semester I teach a class called, “The Study of Murder” and each semester, sadly, there are always new cases to study.

In our class discussions on criminal profiling (I do not present myself as a trained criminal profiler, but as someone who is familiar with the process), I always point out to my students the folly of generalizing, of using inductive logic to try to solve any crime or series of crimes.  In most high-profile cases such as the Long Island Serial Killer (LISK), law enforcement officials, of necessity, always hold back as much significant information as they can.  They do not want information published in the media that might (1) aid the serial killer in avoiding detection, or (2) encourage “copycat” killers from using the opportunity to try and disguise their murder as the act of another.  In case after case, such as the Atlanta Child Killer or the Night Stalker, information that was leaked to the press and subsequently published assisted the murderer and potentially delayed his capture.  As a result, homicide detectives tend to keep sensitive information close and usually only release it when they feel it might help their investigative efforts.

Based on limited information…and speculation….and “highly-placed sources close to the investigation”…and, frankly, rumors…members of the print and television news media begin to seek out “experts” to provide their opinions.  These experts are typically retired FBI agents, some profilers, retired homicide detectives, and college professors like myself who have spent years studying homicide in all its many forms.  These experts then provide intriguing soundbites that are used to spice up the retelling and re-retelling of all of the limited information that officials have released.  While I have no quarrel with these experts and their opinions (after all, I have mine as well), the real purpose of this blog is a cautionary one.  Since none of these experts, despite some of their so-called “connections”, have all of the information that would be required for a professional criminal profile, it is important that you know that, for the most part, they are using what a former instructor of mine called the S.W.A.G. method…….the Sophisticated Wild-Assed Guess.  Retired FBI agents and retired homicide detectives present their opinions because active-duty agents and cops will not.  And that, in part, is because these SWAG generalizations can often be wrong.  Dead wrong.

Wally Zeins, a former NYPD homicide detective is quoted as saying, “He could be a copycat of the BTK killer.”  Really?  The BTK (Dennis Rader) killer did not prey on prostitutes.  The BTK killer invaded women’s homes, killed them, and left them all (except one) behind; he didn’t dump their bodies anywhere, much less along a beach.  None of BTK’s victims were found in burlap bags.  Other than that, though, he might be a perfect match.

Another uncredited report surfaced last week that “authorities” are considering that the offender might be a cop, or an ex-cop, because he appears to be familiar with police procedures and leaves no evidence behind.  Really?  BTK wasn’t a cop or ex-cop (though he was a code enforcement officer) but he did have a degree in Criminal Justice from Wichita State.  Ted Bundy wasn’t a cop, but he read everything he could find about serial killers.  Danny Rolling, the Gainesville, Florida, serial killer of the early ’90s was an organized murderer who wasn’t a cop (but his father was). The Hillside Stranglers weren’t cops, but they used phony badges to gain control over their victims by pretending to be cops.  And Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer who killed around 50 prostitutes and who was active for many years not only wasn’t a cop, he wasn’t what you call extremely intelligent, either.

In fact, throughout the history of organized, intelligent serial killers very few of them had any connection to law enforcement at all.

And, finally, we come to the actual criminal profile itself.  The basic profile being provided by the experts in this case is a white male, 25-45 years old, intelligent who is socially competent and not a loner.  Really?  This would be the same profile generated by any one of my college students or, quite honestly, by anyone who has been a consistent reader of John Douglas, Robert Ressler, Gregg McCrary, or other former FBI Criminal Profilers who have published their memoirs….and they did not have a 100% success rate when they were profilers.

The SWAG method of criminal profiling has been around for years and is always an interesting conversation starter.  But it is almost never accurate.  Remember the D.C. Snipers back in 2002?  The media brought dozens of high-profile “experts” to their news and talk shows for their opinions.  As I recall, however, not a single one of them said, “You know, it’s probably two black guys in a modified sedan.”  The cops caught Malvo and Muhammed, not based on the televised “expert” profiles, but because of their diligence in following the evidence they discovered and did not share with the media.

Is there one LISK, two, or more?  I don’t know.  Is he white, black, asian, hispanic?  I haven’t a clue.  Do I know what his motivation is?  Nope.  I can only hope that this guy (or these guys) are caught soon.  And when they are, the arrest will most probably have nothing to do with the efforts of the media and their “experts” but they’ll always be out there.

As always, I welcome your feedback.

People Don’t “Snap” – Part II

In my first blog I opined that people do not “snap”, but that they often make rash and foolish decisions.  I realize that it sometimes seems that people fall prey to what some psychologists have called “temporary insanity” but, quite frankly, that’s a large load of crap.  ”Insanity” is a severe mental illness and mental illness does not come upon one suddenly.  Mental illness is generally a slow degenerative process.  Take a chronological look at the paintings of Vincent van Gogh and you can see how, near the end, his mental illness is reflected in his brush strokes.

On Friday, February 12, 2010, University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) Professor Amy Bishop stood up at a faculty meeting, took out a pistol, and began shooting people in the head.  In the end, three people were dead and three people wounded, two in critical condition as of this writing.  It was revealed shortly thereafter that Dr. Bishop had apparently been denied tenure earlier that same day at UAH and it was then speculated that she had “snapped” and shot her colleagues.

Bullshit, I told myself, people don’t snap.  Rather than writing a blog response at the time, I awaited further developments and information about Professor Bishop’s background.  The results were, to quote Mr. Spock, “Fascinating“.

The first revelation was that, in 1986, Professor Bishop had shotgunned her 18-year old brother to death in what was, at the time, considered an accident even though two rounds had been fired.  The case was investigated but, for some reason, the case file has disappeared.  An investigation into the decision not to charge Bishop at the time and the surprising disappearance of the case file is ongoing.

In 1993, Professor Bishop and her husband were both questioned regarding a pipe bomb which had been sent to one of Dr. Bishop’s colleagues at the Childrens’ Hospital in Boston.  The pipe bomb did not explode and no charges were ever filed.

Now we learn from Professor Bishop’s husband that, just days before the shooting at UAH, she decided to go to the pistol range to practice her shooting.  The pistol range.  For no apparent reason, he said.  Right.

Professor Joseph Ng who was present during the deadly UAH faculty meeting last Friday, said that everything was going along like a typical faculty meeting until Amy stood up, took out a 9-mm pistol, and began “shooting her targets in the head” until her gun jammed. (Apparently, no one taught Professor Bishop that you’re supposed to clean your weapon after visiting the rage to avoid blockages.  A fact that may have actually saved some lives.) Afterwards, Bishop then left the room and discarded the pistol in a bathroom trash can.  She was taken into custody a short time later.

Amy Bishop has a history of dealing with problems with force.  She killed her 18-year old brother with a shotgun and probably sent a pipe bomb to a “colleague” she was undoubtedly having some sort of dispute with.  While she may have made stupid, rash decisions, she nonetheless made decisions; she did not “snap.”

Now she finds herself in the position of probably losing her teaching position at UAH.  She was denied tenure which, in academe, generally occurs for good reason.  She had engaged an attorney to fight her tenure denial but the odds were against her.  Her response was to go to a pistol range and practice loading and shooting a 9-mm pistol.  She then attended a faculty meeting where, after 30-40 minutes, she took out the pistol and began deliberately shooting her colleagues in the head.  Those same colleagues who, earlier in the day, had voted not to grant her tenure.

The two most glaring bits of information that point to the fact that Professor Bishop did NOT “snap” are the facts that (1) she had gone to the pistol range only days earlier, and (2) she had a pistol with her during the faculty meeting.  Basically, everything points to the fact that this was a premeditated and calculated murder.  Was this the wrong way to handle the situation?  Absolutely!  Were her emotions involved in making this decision?  Clearly.  But did she suffer from “temporary insanity” when she brought a loaded pistol to a faculty meeting where she methodically began shooting her colleagues in the head?  Not only NO! but HELL NO!

Dr. Bishop’s mass murder makes her eligible for the death penalty.  Alabama is a state with a history of using the death penalty.  To give this murderer anything less than she deserves would be……insane.

As always, I welcome your response.

“Safe Haven” Laws and Murdered Babies

On December 23, 2009 – just two days before Christmas – Stanton, California, police discovered the body of a full-term infant in a trash dumpster behind a restaurant.  As of this writing, they have not yet released a cause of death but it does appear that the baby was born alive.  Sadly, this type of tragedy occurs all too often and media reporters are always amazed at these incidents in light of the so-called “Safe Haven” laws.

“Save Haven” laws have been around for more than a decade.  In most states, as in California, a person can bring an infant to either a hospital emergency room or a fire station and drop the baby off without question or identification.  These laws were designed to prevent exactly what happened in Stanton…..the death of an unwanted baby.  So, one might ask, if all a parent has to do is take the infant to a “Safe Haven” location and give the child up, why would anyone kill an infant and risk going to jail?  The answer is frighteningly simple; these parents simply do not care about their baby.

In a previous blog I mentioned that one of the difficulties I have with students in my “Study of Murder” class is convincing them that there really are evil people in this world who care for absolutely no one but themselves.  These individuals will break into houses, steal from their relatives, and rob anyone, anyplace, and anytime if it is in their own perceived best interests.  Some of these evil persons get themselves pregnant and the prospect of having to deal with the care and feeding of a baby just does not fit into their plans.

Take the case of Melissa Drexler.  In 1997, Melissa went into labor while driving to her high school Senior Prom.  While at the prom, she went into the bathroom where she delivered her baby.  She then placed the baby in a trash bag, knotted the bag closed, and threw it into a trash dumpster.  She then went back to her prom.  In the statement she read at her sentencing she stated, “I knew I was pregnant.  I concealed the pregnancy from everyone.” She then went on to describe how the baby was born alive in the bathroom. “I knowingly took the baby out of the toilet and wrapped a series of garbage bags around the baby. And I was further aware that what I was doing at the time…would most certainly result in the death of the baby.”

In other words, Melissa’s High School Senior Prom was more important to her than the life of the baby she had carried for nine months.  In November of 2001, after having served just three years of a 15-year sentence, Melissa Drexler was released on parole.

It is very difficult for the average person to believe, especially a parent, that anyone could possibly harm a child.  That’s because the average person would not intentionally do so.  But evil people would.  And evil people do.

People (mostly biological mothers) who kill newborns do so in most cases because the life of the child would be a burden to them and simply does not fit into their personal future plans.  They have no difficulty in murdering their child because they have not formed any emotional attachments to the baby.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  They usually want the pregnancy to end, not to enjoy the birth of their child, but to put an end to the inconveniences they have suffered throughout their pregnancy.

Lest I am misunderstood, please understand that if the life of just ONE BABY is saved through “Safe Haven” laws, then the laws have been successful.  The sad reality, though, is that the parent who brings their baby to an emergency room or to a fire station to give up their child probably would have found another way for the child to survive and be cared for had the “Safe Haven” law not existed.  We know this because they took efforts to ensure the child’s survival.  They cared for the baby enough, at least, to try to find a place for the child to live and grow up.

One of the basic tenets of criminal profiling, and the one stated by Criminal Profiler John Douglas over and over is that “Behavior reflects personality.”  In the case of the parent who brings their baby to a “Safe Haven” their intentions are clear – please care for my child.  In the case of the parent who kills a newborn and tosses the body into a trash dumpster, their intentions are just as clear – let me get rid of something that I no longer need in my life.

I hope and pray that in 2010 there are fewer and fewer discarded innocent lives.

As always, I welcome your responses.

The Mind of a Child Murderer

Shaniya Davis

Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, has been charged with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 5-year old Shaniya Davis in North Carolina.  According to the coroner, the probable cause of death was asphyxiation.  Earlier in the week Shaniya’s mother, Antoinette Davis, was charged with human trafficking, child abuse, and prostitution.  Law enforcement officials have not released all of the details, but it appears that, after selling her daughter to McNeill for sexual purposes and not getting her back, Davis reported her missing.

Meanwhile, in St. Martins, Missouri, 15-year old Alyssa Bustamante has been arrested and charged with the murder of 9-year old Elizabeth Olten.  According to police reports, Olten was reported missing and, a few days later, Bustamante led them to her body that she had buried in the woods nearby.  The victim had been strangled, had her throat slashed, and had been stabbed.  According to police investigators, Bustamante told police that she committed the crime because she “wanted to know how it felt to kill someone.”  She also indicated that, earlier in the week, she had dug two holes in the woods in anticipation of having someplace to bury Elizabeth’s body after she killed her.  Due to the nature of the offense, Bustamante has been charged as an adult.

When tragedies like this occur one of the first, and most natural, reactions is one of disbelief.  Honest, decent people can not begin to understand how anyone could, in cold blood, viciously take the life of an innocent child.  We begin to search for logical excuses.  Perhaps, during his sexual assault of Shaniya, McNeill somehow “snapped” and killed her.  Maybe her mother was a brain-addled drug addict who didn’t really know what she was doing when she “sold” her daughter.  And certainly no sane 15-year old could ever plan and follow through with the execution of another child.  Surely she is suffering from some severe mental illness that clouds her judgement.  We reason that, since WE are sane and would never contemplate such brutality, anyone who does must, therefore, be INsane.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

One of the most difficult concepts for me to get across to my students each semester is that there are people in this world who happily exist in a different moral universe than the rest of us.  There are those who think only of themselves and their personal pleasures and who care not the least about the care or comfort of others.  These people are called “sociopaths” or “psychopaths” or are said to have an “antisocial personality disorder.”  Oh, we can accept the fact that monsters like Ted Bundy and Aileen Wournos existed, but they were both adults when they committed their murders.  How does that explain 15-year old Alyssa Bustamante?  How could a mere child be a murderer?

It might help for you to understand that, at one time, both Bundy and Wournos were 15-years old as well.  They didn’t suddenly “snap” when they became adults.  Both Ted and Aileen were involved in self-pleasing criminal and anti-social activities when they were young.

The main point of this post is to reinforce one very important point: these murderers are NOT ill.  There is no known treatment for their condition and they can NOT be rehabilitated.  Face it, how can you possibly REhabilitate someone who has never been habilitated to begin with?

It is indeed a tragedy that all of these lives have been destroyed, in one way or another.  And it is only human nature that we look for explanations and a way to make things “right” again, especially for the 15-year old murderer who will undoubtedly spend the rest of her natural life in prison.  But, while medical science has provided us a preventative vaccine for the H1N1 flu and a laser-cure for nearsightedness, there is nothing that can be done to change the moral universe of a sociopath.  Nothing.

I welcome your responses…

Mass Murder – Reflections on the Ft. Hood Shooting

Please note that this blog is based upon the limited information that has been obtained from news media resources over the past 24 hours and is, of course, subject to change.

INITIAL REPORTS – The initial reports regarding the Ft. Hood shooting were, as expected, confusing and contradictory.  I was listening to the original radio reports while driving home and there were some “facts” that, quite frankly, did not make sense.  “Initial reports” indicated that there were possibly two or three shooters and that they were armed with M-16 rifles.  There were, however, no reports of any explosions.  This struck me as odd because, if this was a coordinated terrorist attack on a U.S. Army base by multiple attackers I would have expected the use of explosive devices in an attempt to maximize the body count.  In fact, I really can’t think of any terrorist attacks on government facilities where explosives weren’t used.  When it became clear that the attack was focused on a facility used to prepare soldiers for deployment, this started to sound like the “Disgruntled Employee” Mass Murderer.  I originally felt that this was probably a soldier who did not want to be deployed, perhaps for the second or third time, and had become so frustrated that his objections were not being taken seriously that he decided to “make his point” by shooting people at the location that most threatened him.  In the end, I think my conclusions were only partly correct.

THE SHOOTER – Major Nidal Malik Hasan is being described as a 39-year old Army Doctor/Psychiatrist who was born in the United States (Virginia) and was raised as a Muslim.  After joining the Army as an enlisted soldier, he spent 8 years before, after completing his Bachelor’s Degree at Virginia Tech, he was sent to Medical School and then completed his internship and residency in Psychiatry.  Some reports have indicated that he has had some “difficulties” which may have required counseling and extra supervision. Relatives have indicated that Major Hasan had reported being “harassed” about being a Muslim since September 11th and had wanted to be discharged from the Army and not be deployed to the Middle East. (Initial responses from the Army indicate that Major Hasan had not filed any complaints of harassment.) It has further been reported that he was vehemently against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and openly criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East. Another important fact is that, as a psychiatrist, Major Hasan had been treating numerous soldiers for post-traumatic stress symptoms and had undoubtedly heard many, many horror stories about combat activities in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

PRE-SHOOTING BEHAVIOR – News outlets have spoken with Major Hasan’s neighbors who report that recently he has been giving away his possessions telling his neighbors that he was about to be deployed.  This is not an uncommon behavior for someone who has decided to commit suicide.  One of the common traits among most mass murderers is that they expect to die at the scene, either at their own hands or the hands of the police.

THE SHOOTING (based on initial reports) - Major Hasan was seated at a desk at the Soldier Readiness Center where approximately 300 soldiers and civilians were in various stages of being medically examined for deployment.  At some point around 1:30 p.m. Major Hasan took two firearms out of the desk (two privately-owned and not military firearms) and began calmly and methodically shooting people.  With that many people in the building, he could hardly miss. It has also been reported by multiple sources that, during his shooting spree, Major Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Great).  He then moved outside to continue shooting before being confronted by two civilian police officers.  There was an exchange of gunfire and a female police sergeant, Sgt. Kimberly Munley, and Major Hasan, were both wounded.  In the end, Major Hasan fired more than 100 rounds, killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others.

MASS MURDER TYPOLOGY AND MOTIVATION - This case is an excellent example of how one offender can have multiple motivations.  One one level, Major Hasan is an example of a “Disgruntled Employee Mass Murderer.” This type of offender blames others for his own problems and, in the end, feels that the only way to “get his message across” or “make a statement” is for him to go out in a blaze of glory.  Again, these offenders usually expect to die at the scene and view this as a form of suicide. (There are exceptions, of course, like Jason Rodriguez who, the very next day, killed one person and wounded five at an Engineering firm that had fired him.  He was arrested without incident at his mother’s home.) What is important in this type of shooting is not only who was shot but WHERE the shooting took place.  In this case, Major Hasan shot people at the Soldier Readiness Center, a location which represented to him the impending deployment that he had been unsuccessful in getting out of.

At the same time, Major Hasan has some of the attributes of the “Ideological Mass Murderer.” This type of mass murderer kills to further his religious and/or political agenda (i.e. Timothy McVeigh, or a suicide bomber).  Again we need to look at the target location, a U.S. Army base.  Major Hasan seems to have demonstrated that his actions were designed to support the radical Islamist belief that by killing others while giving up his own life, he would become a martyr to Islam.  Killing soldiers about to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan would make his actions that much more beneficial.

CONCLUSIONS – In the end, it is my opinion that, first and foremost, Major Nidal Malik Hasan was a coward.  Perhaps, after hearing so many horror stories from returning soldiers, he became deeply afraid of what might happen to him during a deployment, especially if he was captured. He made every effort not to be deployed even going so far, apparently, of offering to repay the Army for his medical education.  In the end, it became apparent that he would rather die than be deployed.  His anger and frustration at the Army for wanting to send him to the Middle East against his will helped him to reach the decision to become a mass murderer.

But even though he, himself, was a trained psychiatrist, he apparently could not come to grips with his own cowardice and had to find another reason to justify his murderous attack.  That reason seems to have been the defense of Islam.  While he could not envision coming face-to-face with his God and explain that he had died a coward, he could very easily convince himself that God would welcome a martyr with open arms.

Major Hasan is currently expected to survive his wounds.  The analysis, and criticism, of this event will go on for months.  He will be described as someone who has “snapped” (see my first blog for my perspective on that) and who suffered from depression and other forms of mental illness.  There will undoubtedly be an effort to invoke the insanity defense.  It will be difficult, in my opinion, for the insanity defense to prevail for it will be hard for a jury, and it will be a military jury in this case, to conclude that a man who would purchase two handguns and over a hundred rounds of ammunition, and who then secretively brought these weapons to Fort Hood, and who then methodically shot over 40 people, was insane at the time.

But, I guess, stranger things have happened.

The Cleveland Serial Killer

Fifty year-old Anthony Sowell is in custody in Cleveland, OH, charged with forcible rape and suspected of the murder of at least six women.  This is not Sowell’s first arrest for rape.  In 1989, Sowell lived in East Cleveland where he lured a 21-year-old woman into his bedroom where he choked her and repeatedly raped her.  He was convicted and spent 15 years in prison.  He was released in 2004.

Sowell was required to register as a sex offender and to check in with authorities every 90 days.  On September 22, 2009, Sheriff’s Deputies went to Sowell’s home to do a “spot check” to make sure that he was, in fact, living at his registered address.  Eight hours later a woman told police that she had been inside Sowell’s home drinking with him when he punched her in the face, choked her with an extension cord, and raped her.

Police officers investigated the reported rape and, on Thursday, October 29, went to Sowell’s house with both arrest and search warrants.  Officers entered the home and, while Sowell was not present, the officers discovered two decomposing bodies.  Over the next two days officers discovered the remains of at least six women, all of whom had been strangled.  After a massive search of the city, Sowell was quietly arrested while walking down the street about a mile from his home on Saturday, October 31st, almost fittingly on Halloween.

MOTIVATION – While the investigation is continuing, it seems clear to me that Sowell is driven in large part by anger with much of his anger directed towards women. The Anger-Retaliatory Rapist is usually motivated by the anger felt towards a specific woman, or group of women, that he feels has done him wrong in the past.  In some instances it is an angry encounter with one of these women (mother, wife, authority figure) that serves as a trigger causing him to go out and seek another victim upon which to vent his built-up anger. (It would be interesting to find out whether or not one of the deputy sheriffs that went to do the spot check on Sowell just eight hours before his last reported rape was a female deputy.)

A sketchy family history that has emerged indicates multiple female authority figures in Sowell’s past.  Sowell’s brother Allen, 66, indicated that he has not had contact with Anthony from some time but, while they had the same father, they had different mothers.  The home where Sowell was living was being rented from Segerna Sowell, a woman who was a stepmother to both brothers indicating at least three different “mothers” that he has had.  Interestingly, Segerna Sowell seems to be missing.  When Allen last spoke with her in 2008, she indicated that she was in the process of evicting Anthony because of his drug use and failure to pay rent.  Neighbors have said that they believe she is in a nursing home, but Allen feels that Segerna would still maintain contact with him and he is worried.

Another woman from the neighborhood, Nancy Cobbs, 43, has been missing since April.

The expression of anger through rape is also about control.  An individual who, for most of his life has felt that he has NOT been in control and feels that he has been subjugated by women, or at least one specific woman, wants to be able as an adult to have control and to express it without contradiction or opposition.  In fact, resistance makes this individual even angrier.  A telling comment was made by Teresa Hicks who, apparently, has known Sowell since high school.  ”He was crazy,” she said. “Sometimes he would just go off if he didn’t get his way.”

Based on the information released by the police so far, it would appear that Sowell’s M.O. (Modus Operandi, Method of Operation) hasn’t changed much over the years. He probably lured most of his victims into his home with the promise of drugs or alcohol and then attempted to sexually assault them.   If it does turn out that he is a serial killer, he is not the most organized of serial killers.  Rather than being planned, these murders have all the markings of spontaneous bursts of anger, most probably while overcoming resistance to the act of rape.

In the end, if Sowell does decide to speak with the police and he confesses to his crime, he will not take full responsibility for his actions.  He will undoubtedly place some of the blame on the victims themselves.  He will rationalize, I’m sure, that if these women had only submitted to his sexual assault, they would probably be alive today.

And please don’t think that such a position is a symptom of insanity, for Mr. Sowell is not insane.  He is simply a cold-blooded rapist/murderer.

The Murder of a Priest

Father Ed Hinds was murdered inside his parish rectory and the church’s long-time janitor, Jose Feliciano, is in custody for that murder.  In the end, this was not a difficult murder to solve.

In broad terms, there are “Organized” murderers and “Disorganized” murderers.  Organized offenders are generally intelligent people who take the time to plan their offenses.  They are less likely to leave physical evidence behind, they bring their weapons with them and take them away when they are done, and they often follow stories in the media about their offenses.  A classic “organized” offender would be the BTK killer, Dennis Rader of Wichita, Kansas.  Dennis carefully stalked his victims, learning their daily habits, and took with him all of the “tools” he would need to overpower, control, and kill his victims.

“Disorganized” offenders are just that – disorganized.  These are people who are of average intelligence and who generally fail to plan their crimes.  In many cases, their offenses are spontaneous and triggered by events in their lives.  They often use a weapon of opportunity and don’t often do a very good job of cleaning up after themselves.  Investigators may find fingerprints, DNA, or even the identification of an offender at the scene of the crime.

It is speculated that, in this case, Mr. Feliciano and Father Hinds were involved in some sort of argument.  Feliciano then picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed Father Hinds at least 32 times in the upper torso and the back.  One news report indicated that Father Hinds may have used his cell phone to call 9-1-1 but was interrupted.  When the 9-1-1 operator called back, Feliciano told the operator that everything was O.K.  Since it was a cell phone, however, the 9-1-1 operator did not have an actual address to send officers to.

Feliciano was one of two people who “found” Father Hind’s body.  He even tried to give Hinds CPR but it was noted that he quit after just a few moments.

The investigators noted the absence of Father Hind’s cell phone at the crime scene.  They were apparently able to trace it to Feliciano’s house.  When they arrived there, they also found bloody clothing and bloody towels in Feliciano’s home.

Mr. Feliciano was obviously a spontaneous, disorganized offender.  In his panic after the murder he made an effort to clean himself up but failed to get rid of the incriminating evidence.  He even tried to make himself appear innocent by helping to “find” Father Hind’s body, a not too uncommon behavior for disorganized offenders.

A neighbor described Feliciano this way: “Jose is a very nice guy who has been around for many years.  He’s the last person I would have suspected.”

In homicide investigations, however, we need to remember those wise words of Inspector Clouseau.  ”I suspect everyone, and I suspect no one.”  No one is ever eliminated as a suspect until a thorough investigation is conducted.

The Somer Thompson Murder – What We DON’T Know

On Monday, October 19th, 7-year old Somer Thompson disappeared on her way home from school in Orange Park, Florida.  She was last seen less than a mile from her house and, apparently, was walking alone as she had been involved in some sort of argument with other students.  On Wednesday her body was discovered in the local landfill when police decided to check on the trash from all the trucks that service her neighborhood.  Her mother has made several angry public statements to the “killer” that he will be found and brought to justice.

There will, undoubtedly, be a significant amount of speculation in the media by “experts”.  As I pointed out in a previous blog, this speculation is fairly worthless unless it is based on a review of all of the facts of the case.  While we know about Somer’s abduction and murder, there is significant information that we do NOT know, such as:

1.  The Mode of Death.  How was this young girl killed?  Was she strangled?  Stabbed?  Shot?  Were there signs of torture on her body or evidence of sexual assault?  This type of information can provide law enforcement significant information on the personality of the offender.  If an offender’s DNA was found on her body, this would also be an invaluable lead towards identifying the killer.

2.  The Location of Death.  Somer was last seen, by at least one witness, standing in front of a vacant house.  The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has been processing that house for possible clues. If she was taken to that house, and killed there, it raises some interesting questions.  Was she lured into the house or abducted outside?  How did she end up in a trash truck (abandoned houses normally aren’t serviced by trash trucks)?

3.  Victimology.  Just because we have an apparently grieving mother making public statements doesn’t mean that she can be removed from our list of suspects.  Remember Susan Smith?  She was the woman who claimed to have been car jacked and her two small sons abducted.  It turned out that she had killed her sons by pushing her car into a lake with them strapped into their car seats.  The FDLE will take a close look at the relationship that Somer had with her mother and any other members of the family. (A recent news report said that police took “evidence” from Somer’s home.  If she was abducted before she got home, what evidence would they have found?)

4.  Registered Sex Offenders.  It was quite a surprise for people to learn that there were over 80 registered sex offenders living within five miles of Somer Thompson’s home.  Of course, not all registered sex offenders must register because of crimes against children, but this is a very provocative fact.  As of this writing, however, the police claim that ALL of these registered sex offenders have been interviewed and that none is currently considered a suspect.

5.  Motive.  There is no such thing as an “accidental” murder.  There is always a motive, even though it may only make sense to the offender.  Hopefully, after a careful review of all of the circumstances surrounding this little girl’s tragic death, police will be able to develop a theory on “Why” she was killed.  ”Why”, after all, is one of the quickest ways to determine “Who” it was that killed her.

So, until we know more, or until an arrest is made, any speculation made about mode of death or motivation are purely speculative.  This case will be a great topic of discussions for the “experts”.  That is, until the next case comes along.

Criminal Profiling, The News Media, and the “Expert Effect”

In the course I teach called, “The Study of Murder” we spend a lot of time talking about rapists, sexually-motivated offenders, serial killers, and mass murderers.  Since the main thrust of my course is an understanding of motivation, it is necessary to explore the many and varied reasons that lead people to commit the crime of murder.

We spend a lot of time dealing with typologies.  Many people believe that there is only one type of serial murderer, or one type of mass murderer, and that is simply not true.  The famous FBI profiler John Douglas said it best when he said that “Behavior reflects personality.”  Different murderers kill for different reasons, but they ALL have their reasons.  These identifiable reasons lead to the development of typologies.

In studying the various typologies of serial murderers or mass murderers, however, unless we are closely examining a specific case study, we are dealing with averages.  In other words, experts such as John Douglas, Robert Ressler or Stephen and Ronald Holmes have examined multiple cases of the same typology of murderer and created an “average” set of characteristics.

For example, it is pretty well accepted that the “average” male serial killer is white and kills white females.  That is not an absolute, however, it is only an average.  There are black male serial killers, and asian male serial killers, and some of them kill other males and some of them kill interracially. While understanding these average characteristics is educational, this becomes a problem when it comes to the analysis of major homicide cases by the news media.

Whenever there is a major homicide or series of homicides, local and national news commentators will jump on the story with a ratings-driven intensity.  The higher the body count, the greater the fervor to “get the story” and grab the audience.  Retired FBI profilers, homicide detectives, and pathologists are put on camera to provide their “expert” opinion on each and every gory detail.  While there is no doubt whatsoever that these men and women are highly experienced and knowledgeable about homicide investigation, the reality is that, for the most part, they are all guessing when they give their opinions.  These are educated guesses, to be sure, but they are guesses nonetheless and should be taken cum grano salis and not accepted as fact.

The first thing to keep in mind when listening to these experts is that they are NOT the primary case investigators.  They do not know all the facts of the case.  They have not seen the crime scene photos, nor read the police reports, nor have any insight into either the m.o. and/or signature of the offender or the detailed victimology of the deceased.  In most cases, they are going on previously published news reports, “inside” information which may or may not be valid, and their detailed knowledge of the averages of homicides.

Any criminal profiler will tell you that, in order to complete a criminal profile, the profiler must have access to all pertinent material and that means crime scene information, autopsy information, and each and every report written.  Obviously, until a case has been brought to trial, the public will not have access to this information so any media profiles will be purely speculative…and sometimes grossly wrong.

A good case in point occurred in October of 2002.  Over a span of a couple weeks, 10 people were killed and 3 seriously wounded in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland by someone the media dubbed “The Beltway Sniper.” At one point, a witness told police about a white van that was seen fleeing from the scene of one of the shootings.

News media experts, mostly former FBI profilers and retired homicide detectives, went with the averages and speculated that the suspect was a disgruntled white male.  A few offered various versions of his probable background and motivations, but they all pretty much stuck with white male.

Of course, nothing was farther from the truth.  First, the information on the white van was completely wrong and wasted probably hundreds of hours of law enforcement time.  In the end, two black males, John Allen Mohammed and Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested while sleeping in their 1990 Chevrolet Caprice.  Both were subsequently convicted and Mohammed is on death row.  After the trials, significant investigative information was released that pointed to the two black males and not to a single white female.  But the news media didn’t have that information.  Nor did their experts and they were just guessing.

Criminal profiling is an important investigative tool that, when used properly, can assist law enforcement in solving homicide cases.  It requires, however, a thorough knowledge of all of the facts of a case before a profile can be completed.  Any criminal profile constructed with less than all of the available information, no matter how newsworthy and interesting it might be, is nothing more than speculation.