Aults driving school homework answers

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3 ~ Killer Profiles

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The murderers we interviewed were not representative of men who kill ~~I their partners in one important respect: none of them had also killed them-

selves. For two of the men, this had not been for lack of trying. Immedi- ', ately after strangling and stabbing his partner, one man had plunged the

same knife into his neck and slashed both wrists. In an attempt to finish Himself off, he had then attempted to stab himself in the chest. By that point, however, he had been too weak from loss of blood to penetrate his rib -cage and passed out. This man had survived only due to the rapid re- sponse of the EMTs. I will describe this man, Allen, in more detail in the later section about the suicidal type of killer. The other killer who had attempted suicide had shot himself in the chest immediately after shoot- ing his partner in the neck and head. He was hospitalized for two months in recovery. In profiling the suicidal type of killer, I will draw from other research findings.

Including the men who we characterized as suicidal, I found all thi~-ty- one killers could be classified under at least one of five broad types. These types were jealous, substance abusing, materially motivated, suicidal, and career criminal. I also found that there was considerable overlap among these types. We classified more than half of the men as belonging to more than one of these types. The laxgest overlaps were between the jealous and the substance abusing types. There was also a considerable overlap between the career cruninal and the materially motivated types. I will say more about these overlaps in the section about men who pose multiple threats.

'There are any number of alternative ways that killers, like any other individuals, could be classified. One possible classification scheme would

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be according to personalit

y type. I did not undertak

e to classify t he killers

in this manne r because it

is already lrn own that murd

erers have m any per-

sonality type s. I wished i

nstead Co foc us on assess

ments of beh avior and

attitude. Tho ugh there mi

ght be some value to asse

ssing which pexsonality

types are mos t common; th

e added time it would hav

e taken to ad minister

personality a ssessment too

ls would hav e been at the

expense of t he struc-

tured intervi ews and the a

ttitude and be havior measu

res.

~

Similarly, I d zd not attem

pt to categori ze the killers

formally acc ord-

ing to mental health diagn

oses. One re ason was tha

t this also wo ald have

been time co nsuming and

at the expen se of other i

nformation. S econdly,

:̀~ classification

s based on ps ychopatholo

gy are notor iously hard

to under-

stand and im practical for

those who i ntervene in d

omestic viole nce cases,

_~ and even mo

re so for the general publ

zc. For insta nce, to say th

at some

l

killers have narcissistic pe

rsonalities o r even anti-s

ocial ones is useless as

' ' a guide for a

ssessing dan gerousness s

ince most pe ople charged

with as-

k: '

~~'

sessing dange r do not use,

and are not q ualified or tra

ined to use, p sycho-

_ .l diagnostic me asures. One

such measure , for instanc

e, is the psych opat,~ic

4. ; checl~list.l Th

is is used by farensic psy

chologists a nd other trai

ned crimi-

;; . nal justice w

orkers to ass ess for psych

opathy, one major aspec

t of anti-

,.~~ ' social person

ality disorde r. It is know

n that high p roportions o

f violent

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offenders, pa rticularly kil

lers, have su ch traits.2 Wh

ile some of these are

~, ~' behavior trait

s, such as chr onic lying an

d exploitativ e behavior, ot

hers are

more subjec tive, such as

the Lack of r emorse or gu

ilt for one's actions,

t glibness or s

uperficial cha rm, having a

grandiose se nse of self-w

orth, be-

f

~ ~ >, ing irrespons

ible, and hav ing shallow

affect. Discer ning these tr

aits is not

,~w~ ~ only difficul

t for the Iay public but als

o among law enforcemen

t profes-

'~~~ sionals, and

among train ed therapists

as well. Ev en the short

ened ver-

~x;-:" ' sion of the p

sychopathy checklist tak

es at least on e hour to co

mplete b}~

'~a ; a trained pro

fessional. Us ually those j

udged to be high in p

sychopathic

~2~ - traits have a

lready amply demonstrate

d their high potential fox

violence

~< and fox other

crimes agai nst people. P

erhaps the m ost useful

aspect o'

~ off~;

such diagnos tics is to ma

tch the indi vidual with

the form of treatmer~,

z ~ ~ ~1iat might b e most effect

ive. It is comm only advise

d that indivi duals wt,~

t ~~.i ~~

F> , ~.. ~'

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eo be high in psychopath

y will not be nefit from

outpatie,~~

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therapy and should only r

eceive treatm ent in a highl

y structured enviro ~'

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ment. Furthe r discussion

of psychopat l~y will be pr

ovided in th e sectic

r ;;

~̀~:~ ~,~ ~ ;.~;n- about materia

lly motivated and career c

runinal types of fillers.

36 ( TNhy Do They Kill?

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relationship histories more than on their psycholo gical cliaracteris- k r, ;;' " w ~'

and

Tics. These behaviors are easily di scernable for victims of abuse as well ~ ~ ".

as those who work with them. In classif ying each killer, I relied upon ; , ~ ,'

has own testimony as well as police repor ts and newspaper accounts of I:~ ' ~`~.

murders. Such accounts often provided backgroun d information, such

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as quotes from witnesses and friends and relative s of the victims. These i ~ ;

witnesses often had informarion about the perpetrator's prior abuse of the

deceased. I also had access to each killer's criminal record, as well as trial

transcripts in some cases. To confirm the validity of each of the categories

of killer, I relied upon information from the victims of attem pted homicide

that we interviewed. From these interviews, a more detailed picture of

perpetrators of near-fatal abuse emerged. Demographically, the perpet ra-

tors of attempted homicide were very similar to the killers. Judging fro m

their victims' accounts, they also exhibited similar attitudes, expectations,

and patterns of abuse. The killers and near-killers were also similar in

their rates of substance abuse and mental health problems, as well as their

exposure to violence in their upbringings. The more detailed information

provided by victims of attempted homicide, particularly about perpetra-

tors' abusive behavior, was indispensable in. completing the picture of

men who kill. In this way, the victims of attempted homicide served as

"stand-ins" for those women who could no longer speak.

Each of the five types of killers profiled had somewhat distinctive

ways of meeting women and of forming intimate relationships. I found

that each type also had unique patterns of behavior within those relation-

ships, as well as unique complaints and grievances toward their part-

ners. Though all five types of perpetrators exhibited abusive or coercive

behavior toward their partners, it seemed to be motivated by factors that

were unique to that particular style. Moreover, the fatal and near-fatal as-

saults appeared to be triggered by these same factors. For each type of

killer, I found that the man's short-term triggers were not new but were

consistent with his longtime grievances toward the woman he killed.

Jealous Type

Most of the killers carne across as extremely jealous. This was the largest

category of killers, with seventy-one percent fitting the criteria for mem-

Killer Profiles ~ 37

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bership. It is probabl

e that the a ctual perc

entage is h igher, but

we did not

have suffi cient infor

mation ab out some o

f the kille rs to scree

n them in a s

jealous typ es. Accord

ing to info rmation fr

om the vic tims of att

empted ho-

nnicide tha t we inter

viewed, ezg hteen of t

he twenty p erpetrator

s (or 90% )

were extr emely jeal

ous, The c ziteria I u

sed for cat egorizing

a killer as a

jealous ty pe include

d the follo wing four

characteris tics and be

haviors:

1) The pe rpetrator f

requently had jealou

s suspicio ns that his

partner wa s sexually

involved o r intereste

d in others. He was

preoccupi ed with th

ese jealou s thoughts.

2) He fre quently ma

de jealous accusation

s to his pa rtner, and

frequently asked jea

lous quest ions.

3) He oft en made a

ttempts to confirm hi

s suspicio ns by moni

toring

the victim' s whereabo

uts and ac tivities.

4) He'd c ommitted

at least on e act of ab

use oz vio lence towa

rd the

victim or t oward her

alleged ro mantic par

tner in res ponse to hi

s

jealous su spicions a

r beliefs.

All twenty -two of the

killers wh om we cha

racterized as extreme

ly jealous

e~ibited at least th

ree of the a bove chara

cteristics. It is impor

tant to not e

that criteri a number t

hree by its elf did not

qualify a k iller as be

ing jealou s

since his m onitoring

may have had anothe

r motive be sides jealo

usy. Some

of the kill ers, especi

ally the m aterially

motivated ones, mon

itored the ir

victims' a ctivities n

ot with an y jealous n

otions but with inten

t to over see

their activ ities. The

purpose w as not to

confizm o z disconfi

rm a jeal ous

suspicion but to dete

rmine whe ther the vi

ctim was f ollowing

through o n

things tha t he expec

ted of her. For examp

le, several killers ad

mitted th a(

they often monitored

their part ners' spen

ding. Othe r killers s

aid that they

often moni tored thei

r partners' social act

ivities to ensure tha

t they w e+ -

not associ ating with

people th e znen con

sidered to be "a bad

in8uen cc

Often thes e "bad infl

uences" m eant peopl

e who migh t seek to t

ake steps ~~

end the rel ationships.

One killer admitted

that he for bade his

partner fro,

seeing cer tain relati

ves whom he said h

ad "put id eas in her

head a bs~-

being a ba ttered wom

an." Seve ral of the

ottzer kill ers said t

hat they ~~ ',~

often liste ned in on t

heir partne rs' teleph

one conver sations

with frie ' ''s

and relati ves to moni

tor what might be d

isclosed a bout the

women's

tivities an, d plans. So

me killers seemed n

ot to worr y about

tl~e ex iste L°

38 ( Wh y Do The

y Kill?

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we did not r them in as m ted 'P ho- (or 90%) ~ killer as a ~viors:

~~ s !'i , was

d ~

~itoring i E.

u'd the to his

jealous to note jealous ~. Some d their >versee ealous igh on ~d that ~t they

were :nce." eps to from about ~ had

of another man as much as the possibility that the victim would end the

relationship. These men could be said to be possessive more than jealous.

] will say more about possessive control and stalking in later chapters.

In many cases, the killer's monitoring of the victim appeared to have

a dual purpose: to confirm a jealous suspicion and also to look for signs

of compliance or noncompliance on her part. In determining whether

certain killers fit the jealous profile, it was necessary to go beyond their

self-assessments about jealousy since many downplayed any jealous ten-

dencies. Even some of the men who claimed to have killed their partners

in a "jealous rage" avowed not to be abnormally jealous individuals. As

one killer put it, "I'm a reasonable man but she drove me to be jealous

with what she was doing." This man cited no solid evidence that his part-

ner was being unfaithful, though he had continuously spied upon her and

sought to verify her accounts of her activities. During this man's murder

trial, the victim's family and friends strongly refuted his claims that she

had been having an affair and said that the victim had often complained to

them about his jealousy.

Killing from Jealous Rage?

One of the most popular and persistent ways that the media portray do-

mestic homicides is as "crimes of passion" in which a jealous husband

kills an unfaithful .wife and sometimes her lover as well. Unfortunately,

both investigators and reporters sometimes glibly offer this phrase as an

explanation, as if to distinguish these killings from others that are por-

trayed as more "heinous" and "cold blooded." But is that ever the whole

story? When a murderer claims to have killed out of jealous rage, this

should never be accepted at face value. When domestic violence has been

part of the equation, the man's accusation of the woman's infidelity must

be examined within the context of an abusive relationship. Was the killing

a moment of "temporary insanity" prompted by the killer's discovery of

an affair? Or was it the final culmination of possessive control and escalat-

ing violence within the relationship?

To answer this question, I examined each case in which the killer :ends claimed that the murder had been primarily prompted by his partner's in- s ac- i volvement with another person. Thirteen of the thirty-one killers (65% ence ~ of the jealous type of killers and 41% of the total) made such claims. It

E Killer Profiles ~ 39

should be no ted, howevex

, that twelv e of Chese m

en said that the warder

also had bee n prompted

by the victi m's decision

to end the relationship.

Seven of th ese victims h

ad already separated fro

m their futu re killers an

d

an. eighth, w ho had neve

r lived with him, had br

oken off any contact wit

h

him. Interes tingly, only o

ne of the thi rteen men wh

o claimed to have killed

out of a jeal ous rage had

been convic ted of mansl

aughter. Sev en were con-

a

victed of fir st degree mu

rder while the remaizun

g five were convicted of

second degr ee murder. T

his means th ere was ove

rwhe3ming evidence tha

t

these men, c laiming to ha

ve killed in a jealous ra

ge, had in fa ct acted with

considerable premeditatio

n.

One killer, Dennis, cla

imed to hav e found an

unused cond om on

his estrange d wife's nig

ht table, pro mpting him

to stab her i n the chest.

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Strong evid ence of prem

editation, h owever, was

presented at Dennis's

murder trial. The couple

had separa ted a year e

arlier when his wife, Su-

F

san, took ou t a restrainin

g order and f iled for div

orce. Over th e year befor

e

her death, Su san had acc

used Dennis of violating

her restzain ing ordex by

entering her house on th

ree different occasions wh

en she wasn 't there and

by making t hreatening p

hone calls o n two other

occasions. Susan had b

e-

gun dating a nother man

shortly befor e her divorc

e fxom Denni s was final-

ized. Meanwh ile, Dennzs'

s gambling problem ha

d escalated t o the point

where he was tens of thou

sands of doll ars in debt.

According t o the police

investigatio n of Susan's

homicide, D ennzs carri

ed a hunting knife with

him when he broke into h

er house on the evening

he killed he r, There was

also eviden ce that Dennz

s had made several pho

ne calls to tr ack Susan's

whereabouts that day. Th

e medical ex aminer repo

rted that Sus an had been

stabbed at l east nine tim

es.

In eight of t he cases whe

re the killers claimed to

have killed o ut of a

jealous rage , there is no

independen t evidence t

hat their part ner had been

involved wit h someone el

se. In four o f these cases

, friends and lor zelatives

of the decea sed provided

strong test imony to tb.e

contrary, sa ying that aa

y

rnfzdelzties o n the victim

's part had b een solely i

n the imagin ation of th

e

jealously po ssessive perp

etrator. Tab le 3.1 summa

rizes our fin dings abou

t

this.

In some cas es, it was ha

rd to discern whether th

e killer since rely be-

lieved that h is partner ha

d been inv olved with s

omeane else or whethe

r

his 'allegatio ns were fabr

icated in ord er to win s

ympathy fro m others, i

n-

cluding cour t juries. Far

some of the killers, their

continual allegations

of

infidelity ap peared To hav

e been a ma jor part of

their attempt s to cont

rol

40 ~ tivtzy Do ~Q y Wit?

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Table 3.2: Find ings relevant to the kill

ers' claims

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of killing out of a jealous rage

A

Total number of men claiming to

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have killed out of a jea lous rage

13 (42%) ~ ~ kS

N=31 ~ c z~r

Of these thirteen man:

Number convicted of fir st degree murder

7

Number convicted of se cond degree murder

5

Number convicted of mansl aughter

1

There is evidence the victim was involved with

someone else 5 (38%)

There is no evidence the victi m was involved with

~

someone else 8 (62%) ~

and to isolate their partners socially. Many victims o

f severe abuse said I'

that their abusers' frequent allegations had caused them

to curtail or cease

contact with friends and rela tives. One victim said, "I

just gave np with

my friends anyway because if I did make an effort to see th

em, he would

always badger me with questio ns and make my life miserab

le."

For battering men, their jeal ousy provides a nearly per

fect excuse

for their abusive behavior, maki ng it appear "crazy" or irr

ational rather

than deliberate or calculating. Some batterers go so far as to

proclaim that ~

their extreme jealousy is evid ence of their deep devotion a

nd passion for

their partners. In explaining hi s jealous rages, one young m

an told his

girlfriend, "I wouldn't do the se things if I didn't love you so

much:'

Jealous Thoughts and Behav iors

According to the victims of sev ere abuse that we interviewed

, the vast ma-

jority of their abusers displa yed extremely jealous behavi

or. Nearly 90%

of the women said that they we re subjected to frequent jeal

ous questions

and accusations, often accomp anied by abusive behavior su

ch as monitor-

ing, stalking, and threatening o r committing vzolence. At l

east half of the

women said that their partners checked their clothing for

signs of sexual

activity. Table 3.2 presents fi ndings about how victims ra

ted the jealous

feelings of their abusive part ners.

In some instances, the abusi ve men's lists of imagined r

omantic rivets

KiIler Profiles ~ 41 i

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■

Table 3.2: SeYiously ba ttered women's ratings

of their partners' jeal ousy

Percentage

of victims

who said "yes"

How jealous did your partner He was very

get of your relationships with jealous or 89

members of the opposite sex? extremely jealous

In general, how jealous of a He was very

person do you think your partne r jealous or

7

was? extremely jealous

In response to the following

scenarios, how jealous do you

think your partner would be

— We were at a bar together and He would be

another man invited me to dance moderately to 83

but I politely said no. extremely jealous

—When buying something at a He would be

convenience store, I laughed at moderately to 69

something the store clerk said. extremely jealous

N=35

are very long, extending even to members of the victims'

families. Nearly

one-quarter of the victims we interviewed said that thei

r abusers had ac-

cused them of sexual interest in their own relatives. The

women said they

found this particularly distress ing since these accusations

were sometimes

accompanied by demands that they stop having contact w

ith the relative.

Three women said that they regretted telling their abusers

about their past

traumatic experiences with incest since it subsequently le

d to allegations

that they had been complicit with the sexual acts or tha

t they continued

to have interest in the relat ive who abused them. In on

e case, the bat-

terer beat up the vicfiim's fat her who had sexually abused

her as a child.

This led to the victim beco ming further alienated from

her mother and

siblings.

42 ~ why Do zney emu?

■

Case Exam

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