J Police Crim Psych (2008) 23:8189 DOI 10.

1007/s11896-008-9027-6

Body Disposal Patterns of Sexual Murderers: Implications for Offender Profiling

Eric Beauregard & Jessica Field

Published online: 26 August 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008

Abstract Offender profiling postulates that crime scene behavior should predict certain offender characteristics. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between offender characteristics, situational factors, and body disposal patterns. Sequential logistic regression analysis on a sample of 85 sexual murderers shows that those who were in a relationship at the time of the crime and who present organized psychological characteristics are more likely to move the victims body after the homicide. However, when the victim is older and a conflict with the offender occurred prior to the crime, the body is more likely to be left at the crime scene. Implications for offender profiling are discussed in light of the results. Keywords Body disposal . Criminal investigation . Offender profiling . Sexual homicide

Introduction Offender profiling is one of the investigative tools used to assist in cases of sexually violent crime. It uses crime scene characteristics to generate descriptive information about the behaviors and personality of a potential offender, thus narrowing the field of suspects and aiding in apprehension efforts (Cook and Hinman 1999; Davies 1992; Douglas et

The views expressed in this study are not necessarily those of the Correctional Service of Canada. E. Beauregard (*) : J. Field School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada e-mail: ebeaureg@sfu.ca

al. 1986; Egger 1999; Knight et al. 1998; Woodworth and Porter 1999). Alison et al. (2002) argued that offender profiling rests on two major assumptions. The consistency assumption suggests that offenders will repeat offenses in a similar fashion. The homology assumption suggests that the manner in which a crime is committed is associated to particular background characteristics of the offender. Both assumptions are needed to account for the contextual elements of the crime. Several studies have demonstrated the impact of situational factors on the offending pattern of criminals (Beauregard et al. 2007a; Bennell and Canter 2002; Goodwill and Alison 2007; Taylor et al. 2002). For example, the dynamic nature of the modus operandi has been illustrated by a recent study that investigated the scripts in the hunting process of 72 serial sex offenders (Beauregard et al. 2007b). The results showed how important situational and environmental variables (e.g., indoor versus outdoor location, familiarity of location) are in the formation of crime scripts. For instance, the identified scripts showed that certain types of location are related to the types of strategy exhibited by an offender during the hunting process and conversely, certain strategies are influenced by the types of location where the offender and the victim meet. Although some studies failed to confirm the homology hypothesis (e.g., Mokros and Alison 2002), a recent study by Goodwill and Alison (2007) showed that the victims age was a significant predictor of offender age, but only where the offender showed evidence of planning in the attack or acted in a gratuitous manner. Goodwill and Alisons evidence suggests that although some homology is possible between behavior and offender characteristics, the real challenge is to identify what kinds of behavior should be used to profile what kinds of characteristics.

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One potentially useful, but underexplored, possibility is to profile offender characteristics based on the spatial behaviors of offenders. Body disposal sites are the most objective crime scene location available, given that it is the last known whereabouts of the victim (Lundrigan and Canter 2001b). Additionally, offenders are the most vulnerable when they dispose of the victims body, because the risk of being seen during disposal is high (Holmes and Holmes 1998). Research has suggested that disposing of the victims bodyas opposed to leaving it at the crime scenedemonstrates criminal experience, intelligence, and forensic awareness (Fox and Levin 1994; Rossmo 2000). However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on whether sexual murderers who move the victims body present personal and situational characteristics different from those of sexual murderers who leave the victims body at the crime scene. Patterns of Body Disposal Previous research demonstrates that body disposal locations reflect conscious spatial decisions of murderers (Godwin and Canter 1997; Hkknen et al. 2008; Lundrigan and Canter 2001a, b; Nethery 2004; Snook et al. 2005). These studies have examined the distance patterns related to body disposal, and some have also attempted to link specific offender characteristics (e.g., intelligence, personality disorder) to the distance patterns. However, other studies have emphasized the fact that not all offenders move the body when disposing of the victim, suggesting that measures of distances might not always be helpful. For instance, the expressive-instrumental dichotomy has been investigated in various samples of homicide offenders (Salfati 2000, 2003; Salfati and Bateman 2005; Salfati and Haratsis 2001; Santtila et al. 2001). These studies show that offenders who transport or hide the victims body usually exhibit an expressive crime scene, indicating an impulsive and personal aggression. Offenders who cover the victims body or leave it as is usually display an instrumental crime scene, indicating prior planning. Similarly, Kraemer et al. (2004) found that single homicide offenders were more likely to have the initial contact, murder, and body disposal site in the same location, whereas serial offenders were more likely to use many different locations for their crimes and to dump the body to a remote location. The body disposal of certain types of victims has also been investigated. Hanfland et al. (1997) found that child abduction killers were more likely (52%) to conceal victims bodies than murderers in general (14%). Child murderers deliberately chose body disposal sites 49% of the time. These killers chose a site at random 37% of the time, and in 14% of the cases the killer was forced by external circumstances to choose a certain site, hence the importance

of situational factors. Moreover, a recent study showed that child sexual homicides are characterized by hiding of the victims body, as compared to sexual homicides of women, where hiding the body is not as common (Beauregard et al. 2008). Although the type of homicide and the type of victim seem related to body disposal behaviors, typological studies of sexual murderers provide further details on the offender characteristics associated with such behavior. Classifications of Sexual Murderers and Body Disposal One of the most commonly cited typology regarding sexual homicide is the FBIs organized-disorganized dichotomy. According to the FBI, organized sexual killers are more likely to transport their victims and to have multiple crime scenes farther away from their homes, and they will usually conceal the victims body. Conversely, disorganized offenders are less likely to plan or to use a vehicle to transport the victim; they will usually leave the victims body at the crime scene (Ressler et al. 1986, 1988). Departing from the organized-disorganized dichotomy, Holmes and Holmes (1998) proposed two major types of serial killers according to their mobility. Geographically stable offenders live, kill, and dispose of the victims body in the same or nearby area. The bodies are usually transported from the crime scene to a disposal site, and the killing is thought to be carefully planned with the method, location, and dump site chosen before abduction is attempted (Holmes and De Burger 1988). The geographically stable offender is usually thought to be young, socially immature, and of average intelligence and is characterized by psychopathic personality traits. He usually lives alone and has a criminal career indicating his antisocial nature. According to recent research, the crimes of the geographically stable offender are typically spontaneous, and he most often encounters his victims, who are usually known to him, during his routine activities (Beauregard et al. 2005b). Conversely, the geographically transient or mobile offender travels during his murderous career, transporting the victims body to hide it (Holmes and De Burger 1988). He is generally older, of aboveaverage intelligence, and socially competent, with no criminal career or with one that reflects sexually related offenses. The geographically mobile offender tends to target a stranger victim, and considerable precautions are taken against being caught (Beauregard et al. 2005a). Keppel and Walter (1999) found that two of their four rape-murder categories, the power-assertive and the angerexcitation rape-murderer, had different characteristics when disposing of the victims body. The power-assertive rapemurdererwho is characterized by heavy use of drugs and alcohol, antisocial personality, and being very sensitive to his masculinity characteristicsoften leaves the body as it

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falls, but only if the victim is assaulted in his or her own home. However, if the victim was abducted elsewhere, the killing and disposal sites vary and the body is typically dumped. Alternatively, the anger-excitation rape-murderer, who presents characteristics typical of sadistic and organized offenders, often transports the body to a second location in order to conceal it. A different four-type model of sexual homicide was empirically identified by Kocsis et al. (2002) for offender profiling purposes. In crime scene behaviors labeled as perversion the body is not hidden, and offenders exhibiting such a profile of crime scene actions are usually employed, use drugs or alcohol, possess a collection of pornography, and have homosexual or bisexual sex habits. Sexual murderers of the fury type show an apparent lack of concern over victims body display, and they tend to live with someone and speak with an accent. Offenders who correspond to the rape profile typically leave the victims body supine; they generally show evidence of mental illness, are non-White, and need to rely on others for their transportation. Finally, the predator profile is not characterized by any particular body disposal behavior. Beauregard and Proulx (2002) classified nonserial sexual murderers into two distinct profiles. Sexual murderers of the sadistic type tend to commit premeditated crime; the victim is selected and subsequently humiliated and mutilated. These offenders generally move or hide the corpse after the death of the victim and are characterized by a schizoid-avoidant-dependant personality. Offenders corresponding to the angry profile act completely the opposite of the sadistic offender, leaving the corpse in plain view at the crime scene, and are characterized by a borderline personality type (Beauregard et al. 2007c). Similarly, an analysis by Gerard et al. (2007) of 33 Belgian French-speaking nonserial sexual murderers identified two distinct templates. In the opportunistic-impulsive sexual homicide the victims body is left outdoors, whereas in the sadistic-calculator sexual homicide the body is openly positioned in a sexually explicit manner. However, only the offenders age distinguishes the two templates; offenders displaying sadistic-calculator sexual homicides tend to be younger. Although typological studies of sexual murderers indicate some link between offenders characteristics and variations in body disposal patterns, to our knowledge no studies have directly investigated the relationship between specific characteristics and the decision to move or leave the victims body at the crime scene. In addition, even though sexual murderers body disposal is subject to several constraints (e.g., time, distance, geographical area; Hkknen et al. 2008) situational factors have been overlooked in most studies. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to further test the homology assumption by

investigating whether offenders characteristics and situational factors distinguish sexual murderers who move the victims body from those who leave it at the crime scene.

Method Participants To be included in this study, offenders had to commit crimes that met at least one criterion of the sexual homicide definition used by Ressler et al. (1988): (a) victims state of dress; (b) exposure of the sexual parts of the victims body; (c) sexual positioning of the victims body; (d) insertion of foreign objects into the victims body cavities; (e) evidence of sexual intercourse (oral, vaginal, anal); or (f) evidence of substitute sexual activity, interest, or sadistic fantasy, such as mutilation of the genitals. All sexual murderers incarcerated in the province of Quebec (Canada) between 1998 and 2005 were identified1 and contacted. Of the 100 offenders identified, 85 agreed to participate in the research project2 and signed a consent form. Most of the participants were Caucasian (89.6%), and the average age at the time of the intake assessment was 33.9 years (SD=10.6). Only 22.1% of these offenders were married or in a relationship at the time of the sexual homicide. None of the participants were mentally disabled, and none had major mental disorders such as psychotic or mood disorders. Of the 85 participants, 64.5% murdered an adult victim (18 years or older), and the majority of victims were female (88.3%). Participants had on average 5.9 (SD=8.5) previous charges for nonsexual nonviolent crimes, 2.6 (SD=5.7) for nonsexual violent crimes, 0.4 (SD=0.8) for hands-on sexual crimes, and 0.07 (SD=0.3) for hands-off sexual crimes. Procedure Information about offenders was gathered by a criminologist and a psychologist in a semi-structured interview using the Computerized Questionnaire for Sexual Aggressors (CQSA; Proulx et al. 1994). The CQSA includes information on different aspects of the offenders life and criminal activity, such as correctional information; pre-crime, crime, and post-crime factors; attitudes regarding the offense;

1 All senior case management officers of each institution were contacted and asked to identify in their current caseload all offenders who had committed a crime that corresponded to the sexual homicide definition used in the current study. 2 Only three offenders had committed two murders so it was decided to analyze the information concerning the first crime.

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apprehension; victimology; developmental factors; and diagnostics. Police records, victim statements, and the institution case file were consulted to establish details about the criminal activities. When available, autopsy reports and crime scene photographs were also examined. In case of disagreement between self-reported data gathered using the CQSA and the official data (police record, victim statement, and institutional files), the official data was used. Inter-rater agreement was measured on the basis of 16 interviews (and consultation of official documentation) conducted jointly by two raters. Ratings were done independently following these interviews, which were conducted by one interviewer in the presence of the other. The mean Kappa was .87, which represents very strong agreement. Variables The dependent variable of the study was body disposal, and it was dichotomized (0 = left at the crime scene, 1 = moved). A body was considered left at the crime scene when the murder occurred at the same location as the body dump site. For the victims body to be considered moved, the offender had to intentionally transport the body to a different location from the murder scene. As to the independent variables, 18 variables in total were considered. None of the dichotomous variables selected showed a distribution with more than 85% of the sample in one of the two categories. Seven of the 18 variables were related to offender characteristics, among which five were dichotomous (0 = no, 1 = yes): offender was in a relationship at the time of the crime, offender had a job at the time of the crime, offender was a sexual recidivist, offender presents an antisocial personality disorder, and offender presents a borderline personality disorder. Personality diagnostics were made by the psychologist using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association 1994) criteria during the intake assessment. The two nondichotomous variables included the age of the offender when committing the crime, and a new variable measuring the degree of organization. This variable was created because prior research has shown that themes of behavior or characteristics can be more effective than individual variables in some cases (Salfati and Bateman 2005). This new variable was created by cluster analyzing four dichotomous (0 = no, 1 = yes) offender characteristic using a 2-step cluster analysis. The variables were: (a) exposure to psychological violence during childhood, (b) victim of psychological violence during childhood, (c) regular abuse of alcohol, and (d) drug dependence. Using the automatic clustering option, the analysis identified three clusters that were labeled organized, disorganized, and mixed, because

the characteristics coincide with Ressler et al.s (1988) sexual murderer typology. Cluster 1, mixed (N = 47), is characterized by individuals who rarely have been exposed to or victims of psychological violence; half of them exhibit regular alcohol abuse and drug dependence. The sexual murderers in cluster 2, organized (N = 19), have all been exposed to or victims of psychological violence but have not developed substance abuse problems. Finally, cluster 3, disorganized (N = 19), describes individuals who have been exposed to or victims of psychological violence and who have developed problems with alcohol abuse and drug dependency. Eleven variables were related to situational factors, among which 10 were dichotomous (0 = no, 1 = yes): (a) offender used alcohol prior to the crime, (b) offender used drugs prior to the crime, (c) offender had deviant sexual fantasies prior to the crime, (d) offender was in a negative emotional state prior to the crime, (e) offender had a conflict with the victim prior to the crime, (f) victim was a stranger, (g) victim was a prostitute, (h) victim was living alone, (i) crime was committed at night, and (j) risk of apprehension was high. Examples of high risk of apprehension were committing the crime outside on the street, at the offenders place of residence, or where witnesses could interfere. Finally, the victims age was also included in the study. Situational factors related to the victimology were included, as these were found to be helpful in offender profiling (Goodwill and Alison 2007; Santtila et al. 2004) and may influence the offending process. Data Analysis Bivariate statistics (Chi-Square and One-Way ANOVA) were first performed to test the relationships between offender characteristics, situational factors, and sexual murderers body disposal patterns. This step allowed selecting only the most significant predictors for multivariate analyses. Second, the most efficient and parsimonious model was determined through using logistic regression on one block of predictors at a time. Such analysis follows a logic essentially intended to assess the relative weight of various predictors, in order to quantify their main effect on the occurrence of a dependent variable. Third, a sequential logistic regression analysis was conducted on the most significant predictor identified for each block, allowing to control for offender characteristics while introducing the situational factors in the analysis. Subsequently, the predictive power of the models was estimated by using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis to calculate the Area Under the Curve (AUC). The AUC coefficient varies from 0.5 (chance discrimination accuracy) to 1.0 (perfect discrimination accuracy).

J Police Crim Psych (2008) 23:8189 Table 1 Bivariate analyses of offender characteristics and situational factors on sexual murderers body disposal Offender characteristics Age of the offender Degree of organization Mixed Organized Disorganized Offender presents an antisocial personality disorder Offender presents a borderline personality disorder Offender was in a relationship at the time of crime Offender had a job at the time of crime Offender was a sexual recidivist Situational factors Offender used alcohol prior to crime Offender used drugs prior to crime Offender had deviant sexual fantasies prior to crime Offender had negative emotional state prior to crime Offender had a conflict with the victim prior to crime Victim was a stranger Victim was a prostitute Victim was living alone Victims age High risk of apprehension Crime committed at night Body moved (N=32) Body left (N=53)

85 Cohens d

32.13 (31) 37.5% 43.8% 18.8% 43.8% 25.0% 34.4% 46.9% 28.1% (12) (14) (6) (14) (8) (11) (15) (9)

34.60 (52) 66.0% (35) 9.4% (5) 24.5% (13) 22.6% (12) 24.5% (13) 15.1% (8) 43.4% (23) 24.5% (13) 75.5% (40) 45.3% (24) 22.6% (12) 73.1% (38) 30.2% (16) 35.8% (19) 17.0% (9) 39.6% (21) 32.83 (53) 35.8% (19) 83.0% (44)

0.2319

0.88*** 0.46* 0.01 0.46* 0.07 0.08 0.21 0.09 0.26 0.35 0.69** 0.41 0.43 0.78*** 0.96*** 0.54* 0.47*

* p<.05. ** p<.01. *** p<.001. p<.10 Asterisks are linked to the Chi-Square and One-Way ANOVA analyses, not the effect size.

65.6% (21) 40.6% (13) 34.4% (11) 56.3% (18) 3.1% (1) 56.3% (18) 3.1% (1) 6.3% (2) 19.29 (31) 62.5% (20) 62.5% (20)

Results Table 1 presents the bivariate analyses of offender characteristics and situational factors on sexual murderers body disposal. Cohens d are reported to account for the effect size. Only 8 of the 18 variables included in this study were significantly related to sexual murderers body disposal. With regard to offenders characteristics, significant results show that offenders with organized psychological characteristics (X2 = 13.75, p <.001), presenting an antisocial personality disorder (X2 =4.19, p<.05), and who were in a relationship at the moment of the crime (X2 =4.27, p<.05) were more likely to move the victims body after the murder. As to the situational factors, sexual murderers were more likely to leave the victims body at the crime scene when they had a conflict with the victim prior to the criminal event (X2 =9.13, p<.01) and when the crime was committed at night (X2 =4.52, p<.05) on an older victim (F =17.92, p< .001) living alone (X2 = 11.26, p<.001). Sexual murderers who targeted a prostitute (X2 =3.69, p=.055) tended also to leave the victims body at the crime scene. In cases where the targeted victim was a stranger (X2 =3.38, p=.066), there was a tendency for sexual murderers to move the body after the murder. In order to restrict our final model to the best predictors, logistic regression analyses were performed on each block of predictors individually. All variables that showed a significant or marginally significant relationship with

sexual murderers body disposal at the bivariate level were included in these analyses. Table 2 shows that the logistic regression of offender characteristics is significant (X2 = 21.67, p<.001) and moderately predicts sexual murderers body disposal (AUC=.77, p<.001).3 Being in a relationship at the time of the crime (OR=4.67, p<.05) and presenting organized psychological characteristics (OR=8.72, p<.01) were both positively related to moving the victims body after the murder. The logistic regression of situational factors was also significant (X2 = 30.52, p <.001) and moderately predicts sexual murderers body disposal (AUC=.84, p<.001). Sexual murderers who targeted an older victim (OR=.95, p<05) were less likely to move the victims body after the crime. Following Hosmer and Lemeshows (2000) recommendation, it was decided to retain the variables that showed a p value equal to or less than .25 for the final model. Table 3 presents the results for the sequential logistic regression analysis of offender characteristics and situational factors on sexual murderers body disposal. Table 3 shows that the first step of the sequential logistic regression of offender characteristics is significant (X2 = 21.27, p < .001) and explains 22.4% of the variance, with an overall classification percentage of 73.8%. As in the previous analysis, both
3 Swets (1988) proposed that AUCs between 0.50 and 0.70 indicate low accuracy, AUCs between 0.70 and 0.90 indicate moderate accuracy, and AUCs between 0.90 and 1.00 indicate high accuracy.

86 Table 2 Logistic regression analyses of offender characteristics and situational factors on sexual murderers body disposal B Offender characteristics Degree of organization Disorganized Mixed Organized Offender presents an antisocial personality disorder Offender was in a relationship at the time of the crime Situational factors Offender had a conflict with the victim prior to crime Victim was living alone Victims age High risk of apprehension Crime committed at night Exp(B) Sig.

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Offender Characteristics Sexual murderers presenting organized psychological characteristics are more likely to move the victims body after the crime, compared to offenders presenting disorganized characteristics. This finding coincides with previous literature in which offenders who are impulsive, unstable, and excessively violent, and who lack organization in their crime scenes, are more apt to leave the body at the crime scene (Beauregard and Proulx 2002; Beauregard et al. 2005b; Proulx et al. 2007; Ressler et al. 1986, 1988). The finding is also consistent with the organized offender in Ressler et al.s (1988) model; according to Ressler et al., organized sexual murderers are in control during the crime, making sure not to leave evidence at the crime scene and transporting the victims body to a different location to hide it. Consistent with the organized sexual murderer (Ressler et al. 1988), offenders who present organized psychological characteristics are also socially competent, and thus they are likely to be living with a partner. This apparent organization in their lifestyle seems to be reflected also in their criminal lifestyle. As shown in the sequential logistic regression, sexual murderers who are in a relationship at the time of the crime are more likely than those who are not in a relationship to move the body to a different location. It can be hypothesized that offenders who are in a relationship when committing their crime know that they must hide every piece of evidence that could link them to the crime, not only to avoid being apprehended but also to make sure that their partner does not get suspicious. As suggested by
Table 3 Sequential logistic regression analysis of body disposal Model I Offender characteristics Degree of organization Disorganized Mixed Organized Offender presents an antisocial personality disorder Offender was in a relationship at the time of the crime Situational factors Offender had a conflict with the victim prior to crime Victim was living alone Victims age High risk of apprehension X2 Variance Explained (Cox and Snells R2) Overall Classification Percentage * p<.05. ** p<.01. *** p<.000. p<.10 Model II

.06 2.17 .74 1.54

1.06 8.72 2.09 4.67

.004 .931 .009 .188 .014

2.14 1.35 .05 .91 .57

.12 .26 .95 2.47 .57

.059 .120 .041 .106 .371

organized psychological characteristics (OR=7.95, p<.05) and the sexual murderer being in a relationship at the time of the crime (OR=3.97, p<.05) were positively related to moving the victims body. When introducing the situational factors, the second step of the sequential logistic regression was also significant (X2 =33.19, p<.001), explaining 47.7% of the variance, with an overall classification percentage of 84.5%. Presenting organized psychological characteristics (OR=16.26, p<.05) and being in a relationship at the time of the crime (OR=9.02, p<.05) were still positively related to sexual murderers moving the victims body. Interestingly, the offender having an antisocial personality disorder approached statistical significance (OR=4.02, p=.089). Victims age (OR=.91, p<.01) remained significant, but having a conflict with the victim prior to the crime became negatively related to moving the victims body (OR=.08, p<.05). Moreover, the victim living alone approached significance (OR=.13, p=.081). ROC analysis performed on the sequential logistic regression model showed that the model predicts with high accuracy the decision of sexual murderers to move or leave the victims body at the crime scene (AUC=.92, p<.001).

.93 7.95* 2.19 3.97*

.41 16.26* 4.02 9.02*

.08* .13 .91** 3.13 33.19*** .48 84.5%

Discussion Our results from the sequential logistic regression analysis indicate that specific offender characteristics and situational factors can be used to effectively predict which sexual murderers are more likely to move the victims body away from the crime scene and which offenders are more likely to leave the body at the crime scene.

21.27*** .22 73.8%

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Ressler et al. (1988), organized sexual murderers are more in control at the crime scene and will display a greater forensic awareness. Therefore, transporting the victims body to a different location may serve the purpose of both delaying the discovery of the body and obscuring any potential connections between the offender and the body dump site. Situational Factors With regard to situational factors, sexual murderers who had a conflict with the victim within 48 hours prior to the crime were more likely to leave the victims body at the crime scene. Kraemer et al. (2004) reported that single homicide offenders commit more emotionally based crimes, typically killing out of anger people they know and leaving the victims body at the crime scene. Even though Kraemer et al. did not specifically examine having a conflict with the victim prior to the crime, their results suggest that offenders who know their victims are more prone to having conflict with them prior to the crime, compared with those offenders who do not know their victim. Other studies also demonstrate that those offenders who know their victims are more likely to leave the body at the crime scene (Hkknen and Laajasalo 2006; Ressler et al. 1986; Salfati 2003). Again, these studies do not specifically address conflict with the victim prior to the crime; however, we hypothesize that those who experienced a conflict with the victim prior to the crime possibly knew the victim and were more inclined to leave the body at the crime scene. Additionally, our findings suggest that older victims are more likely to be left at the crime scene after the murder. Young victims are more readily transportable from the crime scene to the disposal sites and are easier to hide because they are smaller and easier to control. This illustrates the importance of the inertia of target as proposed in routine activity theory (Cohen and Felson 1979; Felson 2002). The fact that some targets are less likely to be transported from one location to another because of their size and shape is consistent with findings showing that sexual murderers of children are more prone than sexual murderers of adult females to move the victims body and hide it in a different location (Beauregard et al. 2008). Offender Profiling Implications This study presents both theoretical and practical implications for offender profiling. Theoretically, the findings support further the homology assumption of offender profiling (Alison et al. 2002). Our results, and those of previous studies, indicate that significant relationships between crime scene behaviors and offender characteristics do exist. Not only were these relationships statistically identified, but they are also congruent with previous

typological studies, thus reinforcing their external validity. Moreover, the results confirm the importance of considering situational factors in offender profiling (Alison et al. 2002; Beauregard et al. 2005a; Bennell and Canter 2002) and of selecting behaviors that are the most profilable (Goodwill and Alison 2007). The importance of variables such as having a conflict with the victim prior to the crime emphasize the modus operandi as a dynamic process and not as something static that is repeated by offenders without taking into account the situation and the victim. Indeed, previous research (e.g., Beauregard et al. 2007b) has demonstrated that contextual factors of the crime influence not only the opportunities to offend, but also the strategies that are adopted by offenders to successfully commit their crimes. For example, sexual murderers may be predisposed to commit their crimes in a particular way, including the methods they prefer to use to dispose of their victim, but this decision may be constrained by situational factors such as the size and shape of the body to be transported. Practically, the findings provide further validity to the organized-disorganized model (Ressler et al. 1986, 1988) for offender profiling, albeit it in only a limited way. This model has been the object of many criticisms since its first publication (Beauregard and Proulx 2002; Canter 1994; Canter et al. 2004; Godwin 1998; Kocsis et al. 1998; Rossmo 1997; Turco 1990; Wilson et al. 1997; Wilson and Soothill 1996). However, our results suggest that the organized-disorganized model shows some usefulness, especially when looking at offenders characteristics. Presentation of organized psychological characteristics is a strong predictor related to body disposal even when controlling for situational factors. Thus investigators confronting a crime scene where the body has been moved from its original location should be looking for a suspect who presents organized characteristics and who is in a relationship. This information may help investigators to prioritize their list of suspects. Moreover, information regarding the situational factors may also serve to establish some of the circumstances of the homicide and could be used by detectives during the police interrogation or to reconstruct the event. In addition, the offender characteristics associated with transporting the victims body are consistent with the geographically mobile offender (Beauregard et al. 2005b; Holmes and De Burger 1988). These offenders are socially competent and of above-average intelligence, and if they possess prior convictions, these will include convictions for sexual crimes. As with the organized sexual murderer, these offenders present more organized psychological characteristics. This combination is of particular interest, as body disposal may be seen as both a crime scene behavior and a spatial behavior, emphasizing the need to incorporate offender and geographic profiling into one single investigative tool.

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J Police Crim Psych (2008) 23:8189 American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn. Author, Washington, DC Beauregard E, Proulx J (2002) Profiles in the offending process of nonserial sexual murderers. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol 46:386399 Beauregard E, Lussier P, Proulx J (2005a) The role of sexual interests and situational factors on rapists modus operandi: implications for offender profiling. Legal Criminol Psychol 10:265278 Beauregard E, Proulx J, Rossmo DK (2005b) Spatial patterns of sex offenders: theoretical, empirical, and practical issues. Aggress Violent Behav 10:579603 Beauregard E, Lussier P, Proulx J (2007a) Criminal propensity and criminal opportunity: an investigation of crime scene behaviors of sexual aggressors of women. In: Kocsis RN (ed) Criminal profiling: international theory, research, and practice. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, pp 89113 Beauregard E, Proulx J, Rossmo K, Leclerc B, Allaire J-F (2007b) Script analysis of the hunting process of serial sex offenders. Crim Justice Behav 34:10691084 Beauregard E, Proulx J, St-Yves M (2007c) Angry or sadistic: two types of sexual murderers. In: Proulx J, Beauregard E, Cusson M, Nicole A (eds) Sexual murderers: a comparative analysis and new perspectives. Wiley, Chichester, UK, pp 123141 Beauregard E, Stone MR, Proulx J, Michaud P (2008) Sexual murderers of children: Developmental, precrime, crime, and postcrime factors. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol 52:253269 Bennell C, Canter DV (2002) Linking commercial burglaries by modus operandi: tests using regression and ROC analysis. Sci Justice 42:153164 Canter DV (1994) Criminal shadows. Harper Collins, London Canter DV, Alison LJ, Alison E, Wentink N (2004) The organized/ disorganized typology of serial murder: myth or model? Psychol Public Policy Law 10:293320 Cohen L, Felson M (1979) Social change and crime rate trends: a routine activity approach. Am Sociol Rev 44:588608 Cook PE, Hinman DL (1999) Criminal profiling: science and art. J Contemp Crim Justice 15:230241 Davies A (1992) Rapists behaviour: a three aspect model as a basis for analysis and the identification of serial crime. Forensic Sci Int 55:173194 Douglas JE, Ressler RK, Burgess AW, Hartman CR (1986) Criminal profiling from crime scene analysis. Behav Sci Law 4:401421 Egger SA (1999) Psychological profiling: past, present, and future. J Contemp Crim Justice 15:242261 Felson M (2002) Crime in everyday life, 3rd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA Fox JA, Levin J (1994) Overkill: mass murder and serial killing exposed. Plenum Press, New York Gerard F, Mormont C, Kocsis RN (2007) Offender profiles and crime scene patterns in Belgian sexual murderers. In: Kocsis RN (ed) Criminal profiling: international theory, research, and practice. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, pp 2747 Godwin M (1998) Reliability, validity, and utility of extant serial murderer classifications. The Criminologist 22:194210 Godwin M, Canter DV (1997) Encounter and death: the spatial behavior of US serial killers. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategy and Management 20:2438 Goodwill AM, Alison LJ (2007) When is profiling possible? Offense planning and aggression as moderators in predicting offender age from victim age in stranger rape. Behav Sci Law 25:823840 Hkknen H, Laajasalo T (2006) Homicide crime scene behaviors in a Finnish sample of mentally ill offenders. Homicide Stud 10:3354 Hkknen H, Hurme K, Liukkonen M (2008) Distance patterns and disposal sites in Finnish wooded area homicides. Manuscript submitted for publication Hanfland KA, Keppel RD, Weis JG (1997) Case management for missing children and homicide investigation. Attorney General of Washington, Olympia

Conclusion Despite the limited empirical evidence that offender profiling is effective, the use of it in criminal investigations continues to grow (Snook et al. 2007). The aim of the present study was to empirically identify offender characteristics and situational factors that are linked to sexual murderers body disposal patterns. Results showed that offenders with organized psychological characteristics and who were in a relationship at the time of the crime were more likely to transport the victims body to a different location after the homicide. However, in cases where the victim was older and the offender had a conflict with her, sexual murderers were more likely to leave the body at the crime scene. Thus, the study yielded further support for the homology assumption of offender profiling, suggesting that body disposal is a useful crime scene behavior that may be linked to different offender characteristics. Moreover, the results showed that the organized-disorganized dichotomy still has potential for linking crime scene behaviors to offender characteristics. Instead of discarding completely the organized-disorganized model as some authors have done, a more fruitful approach would be to continue testing its validity and evaluating the components that prove useful for offender profiling. Although interesting, this study is not without its own limitations. First, the small sample size may have prevented some results from reaching the significance level. Even if this sample is representative of the population of all the sexual murderers in the province of Quebec, Canada, the significant results should be interpreted with caution given the small sample size. Second, as this study is exploratory in nature, there is a need to replicate the findings in order for them to be operationally useful for offender profiling. Body disposal is a very clear indicator that is easily observable by detectives when first looking at a sexual homicide crime scene. Surprisingly though, the research looking specifically at body disposal is scarce. Researchers in the field who study sexual murderers need to take into account the entire criminal event. It is imperative that future studies investigate body disposal in sexual murders with a larger sample that will allow the exploration of some interaction effects.
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article and Patrick Michaud for his continuous effor in collecting some of the data.

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