Sexual Murder - Justicia Forense

ecame friendly with a sadistic dog catcher who tortured dogs. DuringKürten’s adolescence, he had sex with animals while stabbing them. Resslerand Shachtman (1992) reported the case of a compulsive murderer who,as a child, cut a dog’s stomach open to see how far it could run beforedying. Revitch and Schlesinger (1989) also reported the case of a sadisticcompulsive murderer who, from an early age, tortured animals. He cut offcows’ udders, inserted lit firecrackers into horses’ rectums, and enjoyedwatching these animals in pain. Brittain (1970) also observed extremeanimal cruelty in the childhood backgrounds of sadistic murderers. “Suchcruelty is particularly significant when it is related to cats, dogs, birds, andfarm animals” (p. 202). Felthous and Keller (1987) advise those who treator observe children “to be alert to the particularly ominous significance ofthis behavior [animal cruelty] in childhood and the advisability of concerned,helpful intervention” (p. 716).Revitch and Schlesinger (1981, 1989) and Schlesinger and Revitch(1997b) noted that cruelty to cats, in particular, was in the backgrounds ofindividuals who committed compulsive homicides. Perhaps this is becausecats are a female symbol more than other animals such as dogs, and theyarouse anger in the potential sex murderer. Tapia (1971) found that out of18 subjects with a history of violence, only one had not hurt a cat. Felthous(1980) concluded from his research on animal cruelty that “cats more thandogs seem to induce a child’s sadistic projections and cruel behavior. Anumber of subjects in this study who had tortured cats admitted an intensedislike of this animal, in particular, but disclosed no insight into the animosity”(p. 175). Revitch (1978) reported the case of an adolescent who set catson fire and experienced a euphoric feeling while watching them burn. Hecompared cats to women, observing similarities in their looks and behavior.Ressler and Shachtman (1992) described two serial murderers who had torturedcats when they were children. One individual “attached cherry bombsto cats’ legs and made many cats in his neighborhood three-legged” (p. 96).Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler, tortured cats during his childhood, anddescribed his attitude on this topic: “I don’t like cats. … I used to shoot catswith a bow and arrow, put it right through their belly, and sometimes theyran with the arrow right through them, yowling, and I don’t recall being tooupset by that. … Sometimes when I would see them, before the shoot, I’dget such a feeling of anger that I think I could tear those cats apart with mybare hands. I don’t understand this, but just that I hated them and they haddone nothing to me” (quoted in Rae, 1967, p. 61).10.1.2.6 Need to Control and Dominate OthersThe need to control others is a major aspect of compulsive murderers’ gratification;in fact, it is at the core of their motivational dynamics. Krafft-Ebing