Sexual Murder - Justicia Forense

a catathymic homicide are not resolved, possibly by the murder itself orthrough some type of intervention, the likelihood for repetition is high.The type of offender who clearly has the worst prognosis is the individualwho has already committed a compulsive sexually motivated murder. Theseindividuals do not kill in response to hallucinations or because of socialinfluence, circumstantial pressure, or even the triggering of unresolved sexualconflicts that overwhelm their psychic homeostasis. Compulsive murderershave a need to kill that drives them to seek out victims. Consequently, theyare the most dangerous and present the highest risk for repetition.10.1.2 Prediction Based on Ominous SignsExperience with sexual murderers, particularly compulsive murderers,reveals some common characteristics in their backgrounds and prehomicidalbehaviors. Therefore, the presence of such signs should serve as a red flag orshould raise what Mulvey and Lidz (1995) refer to as “clinical concerns” aboutthe likelihood that such individuals will commit a sexually motivated compulsivemurder in the future. Schlesinger (2001b) has described 10 suchominous signs to be used as a guideline for practitioners confronting potentialsex murderers. Although not yet empirically grounded, these signs canprovide a direction for research with this relatively small criminal population.In fact, Douglas et al. (1999) have pointed out the heuristic benefit of thistype of clinical finding; they call for a “collaboration among researchers andclinicians [where it is hoped their partnership will] benefit some patients,convicted persons, and even young children inclined towards early aggressionand violence” (p. 149).The usual signs and behaviors that the violence-prediction research hasfocused on — mental disorder, threats, prior violence — are not applicableto the potential compulsive sex murderer. Compulsive murderers rarely havea major psychiatric disorder like an overt psychosis (Meloy, 2000; Revitch,1965; Revitch and Schlesinger, 1981, 1989; Schlesinger, 2000a). In fact, Meloy(2000) notes that “with few exceptions … most sexual homicide perpetratorsare not psychotic and do not have a diagnosable psychotic disorder if evaluated”(p. 7). In addition, as Rappeport (1967) has pointed out, most psychotics,contrary to popular belief, are not particularly prone to commithomicide and are rarely assaultive.Unlike psychiatric patients who are involuntarily committed because theyhave made a threat to commit violence, compulsive murderers rarely threatento kill. Unfortunately, the important relationship between threats to kill andcarrying out such warnings has rarely been studied except for some earlywork by MacDonald (1963, 1967, 1968). In one of the few studies of its kind,MacDonald (1967) found that out of 100 patients admitted to a psychiatrichospital because of homicidal threats, four committed suicide, and only three