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5
The Analysis of the Crime
Scene

Beyond the Physical Evidence

Psychological Profiling Typology
The Disorganized Asocial Offender
The Organized Nonsocial Offender
Crime Scene Differences
Conclusion

O bviously, some crimes are more appropriate for profiling than

others. We have listed these crimes in Chapter 1: sadistic torture
in sexual assault, evisceration, postmortem slashing and cutting,
motiveless fire setting, lust and mutilation murder, and rape (stranger
rape, not date or acquaintance rape). Such crimes as check forgery,
bank robbery, and kidnapping, in contrast, are usually not appropriate
candidates for profiling, nor are smoking gun or dripping knife

78
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The Analysis of the Crime Scene 79

murders. In this chapter we focus on those crimes to which the process

of profiling is directly applicable.

 BEYOND THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Perhaps one of the most difficult things for investigators to accept is the
need to look beyond the physical evidence. Homicide detectives are
generally trained to reconstruct a crime based on the physical evidence
found at the scene, such as blood spatters, fingerprints, and semen.
This kind of evidence is often mistakenly thought to hold the key to the
successful resolution of any criminal case.
While lecturing in classrooms and across the country on psycho-
logical profiling we repeated tell our students that when they begin to
profile a case, they should disregard the physical evidence and concen-
trate on nonphysical factors. Often times, students and law enforcement
officials are reluctant to do so. We say this, however, because it helps the
investigator tie the nonphysical evidence with the physical evidence,
once introduced, to produce a total picture of a crime scene. We have
found that many people become too caught up in the physical evidence
and it limits their ability to think outside the box to reconstruct the total-
ity of a crime scene. However, once they are able to ignore the physical
evidence, they can oftentimes deduce information about a suspect,
including race, sex, employment status, residence, and so on. Thus from
our point of view, it is the interrelationship of physical evidence and
nonphysical evidence that is the key to the profiling process.

 PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING TYPOLOGY

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has developed a typology of lust

offenders that many profilers find particularly useful; it divides offend-
ers into two categoriesdisorganized asocial offenders and organized
nonsocial offenders. In their book Sexual Homicide, Ressler, Burgess,
and Douglas (1988) delete the labels asocial and nonsocial in
describing this typology. (We believe this is unfortunate, because the
descriptive nature of these words is useful. There is a fundamental dif-
ference between nonsocial and asocial behaviors, and these adjectives
add valuable information that can help clarify the differences between
organized and disorganized offenders. For the purposes of this text, we
use the full original label to identify each type of offender. (The FBI also
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80 PROFILING VIOLENT CRIMES

has dropped the words nonsocial and asocial from the labels in its typol-
ogy, but, as explained, we retain both terms here because we believe
they have important meanings.)
This typology can be useful when the crimes at issue involve sex as
a primary motive. The offenders who commit such crimes as rape,
sexual assault, mutilation, necrophilia, and picquerism are particularly
amenable to categorization as organized nonsocial or disorganized
asocial offenders.

 The Disorganized Asocial Offender

Personal Characteristics
As the list of characteristics in Table 5.1 shows, the personality of
this kind of offender is reflected in the label. The disorganized asocial
offender, who is almost always male, is disorganized in his daily activ-
ities as well as in his general surroundings, including home, employ-
ment (if he is employed), car or truck, clothing, and demeanor. In other
words, he is a totally disorganized person in all areasappearance,
lifestyle, and psychological state. We should note that this is a general
description, and it has not been empirically validated. Nonetheless, in
the cases where a pure such personality has been found, these gen-
eral characteristics have proven to be amazingly accurate.
According to the FBIs research data, the typical offender with a
disorganized asocial personality tends to be a nonathletic, introverted
White male. As children, many of these offenders have been victims of
physical or emotional abuse. Their fathers were often absent; if the
fathers were present and employed, their work was unstable. During
their childhoods, these offenders had few real playmates; they tended
to have solitary hobbies, to have imaginary and secret playmates, and
to take part in few social activities. The disorganized asocial offender is
a loner. The reason for this aloneness, however, is fundamentally dif-
ferent from that behind the aloneness of the organized nonsocial
offender. The disorganized asocial offender is a loner because he is per-
ceived by others to be weird or strangehis neighbors are often
aware of his strangeness.
This perpetrator has usually experienced a great deal of difficulty
in educational pursuits. While in high school, he participated little in
extracurricular activities, and he probably dropped out of school as
soon as legally possible. He is possibly below average in IQ (the FBI
estimates the IQ of the typical disorganized asocial offender to be
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The Analysis of the Crime Scene 81

Table 5.1 Profile Characteristics of Disorganized Asocial Offenders

Personal Characteristics Post-offense Behavior Interview Techniques

Below-average Returns to crime scene Show empathy

intelligence
Socially inadequate May attend victims Introduce
funeral/burial information indirectly
Unskilled worker May place in memoriam Use counselor
in newspaper approach
Low birth-order status May turn to religion Interview at night
Fathers work unstable May keep diary or news
clippings
Received harsh/ May change residence
inconsistent discipline
in childhood
Anxious mood during May change job
crime
Minimal use of alcohol May have a personality
change
Lives alone
Lives/works near
crime scene
Minimal interest in
news media
Significant behavioral
change
Nocturnal
Poor personal hygiene
Secret hiding places
Usually does not date
High school dropout

between 80 and 95), but this may be more a product of his social and
cultural experiences than his native intelligence.
His status in his community is the product of several components
of his personality. Limited intelligence, involvement in unskilled work
(often as a menial laborer), and few dates or other social contacts with
women all reflect a person who is alone not by choice but because of
societal segregation.
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82 PROFILING VIOLENT CRIMES

Because of the combination of components described above, the

disorganized asocial offender lacks the ability to plan out his crimes
efficiently, and the crimes tend to be spontaneous acts. This kind of
offender does not feel comfortable venturing far from his home or
work, so he often commits crimes in his own neighborhood. He may
walk or ride a bicycle to his crime sites (Crime Scene, 1985).
Generally, this kind of offender does not feel the need to follow his
crimes in the news media.
The disorganized asocial offender normally lacks the initiative to
practice good personal hygiene. This same characteristic carries over to
his domicile, as well as to any car or truck he may own. This trait, then,
may theoretically carry over into the crime scene. Finally, as with all
lust offenders, be will repeat his crimes.

Post-offense Behavior
According to the researchers at the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU)
of the FBI, the disorganized asocial offender will tend to exhibit certain
behavior patterns after he has committed a crime. First, he will need to
return to the scene of the crime relatively soon afterward, to envision
and relive what has taken place. He may attend the funeral services of
his victim, even the burial ceremony. It is not unheard of for such an
offender to place an in memoriam message in the newspaper for
his victim.
This offender may keep a diary in which he records his activities
and victims. With the widespread availability of instant photography
and videotape equipment, this type of offender will often keep visual
collection collage of his criminal events. Included in collage may be
pictures or videos he took of the victim before, during, or after the
crime. A part of this type of offenders diary, in addition to accounts of
his acts, may be devoted to stories of his fantasies. One serial rapist
related the following fantasy:

My preference is for tight teenage girlsthe tighter the better.

[Talking with another rapist] Weve got to do this the right way.

You really blew it, but you were inexperienced. The first thing is to
get a house with a windowless, underground basement. Equip it
with steel cages [for holding victims], and make sure to sound-
proof it. Only then will we go out and hunt.

But not just for anyone. Take your time, and find exactly what you
wantyou dont want to be attracting attention by snatching up a
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The Analysis of the Crime Scene 83

new one every little while. Find one thats perfect. Then well keep
her locked up before you kill her and grab another. But if we tor-
ture, wed best grab two so that we will always have one recover-
ing while were busy on the other. (Authors files)

After an offense, the disorganized asocial offender may change his

address, but it would be unusual for him to move to a far different
environment, because he feels comfortable only with the familiar. If he
moves to an area that is drastically different, he may suffer great feel-
ings of anomie. He may therefore move to a similar domicile in a sim-
ilar area. He may even change jobs. Some may try to enlist in the
military, but this is usually unsuccessful, because they either cannot
pass the physical or psychological tests or, once enlisted, receive a gen-
eral discharge.

Interviewing Techniques
Once in custody, the disorganized asocial offender may respond
differently to questioning than would the organized nonsocial
offender. This perpetrator may be more likely to respond to an inter-
rogator who uses a relationship-motivated strategy. It may be a good
idea for the interrogator to appear to empathize with him. For example,
if an offender says that he has seen a demon and that the demon
demanded that he kill, it might be wise for his questioner to tell him
that although the questioner has not personally seen this demon, if the
killer says it exists, it does indeed exist.
Because this kind of offender is not used to lengthy personal con-
tacts with others, it may be beneficial for interrogators to keep up a con-
stant stream of conversation, perhaps introducing something into the
conversation that has to do with the crime scene. The establishment of
a positive personal relationship may also prove beneficial in securing
some statement concerning the involvement of the suspect in the case.
Another characteristic of the disorganized asocial offender that
may be useful for interrogators to know is that he tends to be a night
person. Considering this, the interviewer might take the opportunity to
interview this person when he is at his bestat night.

The Organized Nonsocial Offender

Personal Characteristics
The organized nonsocial offender is the disorganized asocial
offenders opposite. He has an organized personality that is reflected in
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84 PROFILING VIOLENT CRIMES

his lifestyle, home, automobile, and personal appearance. This kind of

offender may suffer from some type of obsessive compulsive disorder
in his life, in that there is a place for everything, and everything must
be in its place.
Ted Bundy is an example of such an offender. Because of his per-
sonality, Bundy would have found it very difficult to deviate from his
accustomed way of doing things. As a result, he was connected with at
least four murders because he charged his gasoline and signed receipts
for his purchases. He was placed in Golden, Colorado, on the day Suzy
Cooley was abducted and killed; in Dillon, Colorado, when Julie
Cunningham was murdered; and in Grand Junction, Colorado, when
Denise Oliverson was reported missing. Michael Fisher was able to
secure a murder indictment against Bundy in the Caryn Campbell case
when Fisher was able to place Bundy in the immediate vicinity of the
Snowmass Ski Lodge because of his gasoline purchases.
As Table 5.2 shows, organized nonsocial offenders are basically
organized in everything they do. They are nonsocial because they choose

Table 5.2 Profile Characteristics of the Organized Nonsocial Offender

Personal Characteristics
Personal Characteristics Post-offense
Post-offense Behavior
Behavior Interview Techniques
Interview Techniques

High intelligence Returns to crime scene Use direct strategy

Socially adequate Volunteers information Be certain of details
Sexually competent Police groupie Be aware that offender
will admit only to what
he must
Lives with partner Anticipates questioning
High birth order May move body
Harsh discipline in May dispose of body to
childhood advertise crime
Controlled mood
Masculine image
Charming
Situational cause
Geographically mobile
Occupationally mobile
Follows media
Model prisoner
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The Analysis of the Crime Scene 85

to be so. These offenders solitariness is different from that of disorga-

nized asocial offenders, who, as noted above, are loners because they
appear to be strange. Organized nonsocial offenders are loners because
they often feel that no one else is good enough to be around them.
In addition, there are precipitating factors involved in the crimes of
the organized nonsocial personality (Crime Scene, 1985, p. 19). These
precipitating factors may be either real or imagined. As one serial killer
told us:

One night I finally got a date with a young woman I had been try-
ing to date for 6 months. We went out for a drink before dinner. We
were sitting at the bar when a guy walked by. She watched him as
he walked down the bar. I felt that she should not look at him
while she was with me. So, what could I do? I killed her.

The young woman who was this killers victim had challenged his
sense of self-importance. The killer believed he had no choicehe
had to kill to regain his rightful position. Although the damage this
offender perceived the woman had done him was only imagined, it
was enough.
Another attribute of the organized offender includes average intel-
ligence; some such offenders may have done well in school, and many
are at least high school graduates. (Ted Bundy was a college graduate
and a law school student.) These offenders are socially competent, have
sex partners, and some are married. Many come from middle-class
families and are high in the birth order. Their fathers held stable jobs
and were often inconsistent about discipline. For many such offenders
there is a history of some drug use, especially alcohol and marijuana.
Bundy, again as an example, was a heavy user of alcohol and marijuana
during his crimes.
The organized offender feels comfortable venturing away from his
home. He is able to work and carry on personal, although superficial,
relationships. He also is psychologically able to widen his network of
relationships and can travel farther and farther away from his home
and work to cruise for victims, and, more important, to hinder his
apprehension.
Because of his personality, this type of offender has no trouble
making friends. He is also able to change employment as often as he
chooses because he makes such a good impression and appears to have
qualifications that he may in reality not possess. Many have good posi-
tions. John Gacy owned a construction company. Chris Wilder was a
race car driver. Ken Bianchi was a psychologist and security officer.
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86 PROFILING VIOLENT CRIMES

The organized nonsocial offender has a masculine personality. He

often dresses in a flashy manner and drives a car that reflects his per-
sonality. As mentioned above, unlike the disorganized asocial person-
ality offender, he feels comfortable in widening his range when
cruising for victims, or when trying to avoid detection. Using Bundy
again as a prime example, he was suspected of abducting Roberta
Kathy Parks from the campus of Oregon State University. He drove her
(apparently still alive) almost 300 miles back to Seattle. This was not an
isolated incident. He also was alleged to have driven from Seattle to
Ellensburg, Washington, for the abduction and murder of Susan
Rancourt. The disorganized offender, in contrast, ranges only within
his immediate neighborhood, because this is the only place he feels
comfortable.
With a positive self-image bordering on egomania, the organized
nonsocial offender may be said to have a character disorder.
Commonly, he is termed a full-blown sociopath. He believes that he
knows best, not only for himself but for everyone else as well. Because
he is always right, he is reluctant to accept criticism, even when it is
meant constructively; this offender perceives any kind of criticism to be
destructive.

Post-offense Behavior
For the organized nonsocial offender, the crime becomes, at least
partially, a game. Such an offender will often return to the scene of the
crime for the purpose of reliving the sensations he felt there. Some, like
Edmund Kemper, will be tempted to return to the scene but will not
because they have seen one too many stories of one too many people
who have been caught by the police when they did soa piece of infor-
mation Kemper picked up from watching television. The organized
nonsocial offender often learns many details of police work from tele-
vision and other sources. He may even associate with police or other
law enforcement agencies, because the police talk about the cases that
are special to them. As Kemper said of his relationships with police, I
became a friendly nuisance (Horvath, 1984).
In interviewing one serial killer, we mentioned to him that
although the man was suspected of killing scores of young women,
only a few of the bodies had ever been found. The killers reaction was,
You only find the bodies they [the serial killers] want you to find.
When asked why a killer would want some bodies to be found and not
others, he said, To let you know hes still there.
Because of his charm and charismatic personality, this person may
be the last to be suspected of a crime. Even if suspected, because he often
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The Analysis of the Crime Scene 87

possesses intelligence and social graces, he may be able to anticipate

investigators questions and prepare responses to suit his own situation.

Interviewing Techniques
The BSU recommends that this kind of offender be confronted
directly during the interviewing session. Offenders of this type respect
competence, even when it may lead to their arrest and conviction.
However, when using such confrontation in the interrogation, the
interviewer must be absolutely confident about his or her information.
If the interviewer presents the facts, he or she must be certain that
they are true and accurate. This type of offender will know immedi-
ately when he is being conned, and he will understand immediately
that if false evidence is presented to him the police actually have no
case. This can close the door on the successful resolution of a case,
because the offender will never volunteer any information that can be
taken as any kind of admission of guilt. This type of offender will
admit to only what he must. The interrogator should not hope that
once he is confronted with all the known facts the floodgates of infor-
mation will open.
Some believe that a single-interviewer strategy is best. In the Ted
Bundy case, Donald Patchen and Steven Bodiford (personal communi-
cation, 2000) interrogated Bundy frequently during a short period. The
interviews took place mostly at night. Finally, after several sessions,
Bundy admitted, Theres something deep inside me, something I cant
control. However, after he had the chance to sleep and psychologi-
cally regroup, Bundy denied having admitted even that.

 CRIME SCENE DIFFERENCES

It has been theorized that the crime scenes of organized nonsocial

offenders and disorganized asocial offenders will differ along the same
lines as the differences in their personalities (see Table 5.3). That is,
those who are organized in their lives in general will also be organized
in the perpetration of their crimes, and those who are disorganized in
their everyday lives will be disorganized in the perpetration of their
crimes, and so differing degrees of organization and disorganization
should be evident in crime scenes.
The organized nonsocial offender takes great care in the perpetra-
tion of his violence. This offender makes certain that the evidence will
be destroyed. Also, in the case of homicide, he will often kill at one site
and dispose of the body at another site. The disorganized offender, on
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88 PROFILING VIOLENT CRIMES

Table 5.3 Comparison of Crime Scenes of Organized Nonsocial and

Disorganized Asocial Lust Killers

Organized Nonsocial Kilter Disorganized Asocial Killer

Planned offense Spontaneous event

Targeted stranger Victim unknown
Personalizes victim Depersonalizes victim
Controlled conversation Minimal conversation
Controlled crime scene Chaotic crime scene
Submissive victim Sudden violence
Restraints used No restraints
Aggressive acts Sex after death
Body moved Body not moved
Weapon taken Weapon left
Little evidence Physical evidence

the other hand, attacks his victims suddenly, in unplanned or barely

planned violence. The surprise, or blitz, attack results in a crime scene
that holds a great deal of physical evidence.
The following case provides an example.

Case study: A 75-year-old widow had lived in the same housing

project since 1937 and had been living alone since the mid-1960s.
On July 4, when her son came to pick her up to spend the holiday
with his family, he found his mothers body in her bed. She had
been stabbed repeatedly and decapitated. The weapon was a
butcher knife that had belonged to the victim. Blood spatter was
found on the walls by her bed as well as on the ceiling, showing
that the attack had been carried out in a frenzy. The woman had
been sexually assaulted, and semen was found in her vaginal vault
as well as on the bedspread and in the bedclothes.

There was a great deal of physical evidence at the scene. No other

murders similar to this one were known, and a profile was
requested.

The profile suggested that the offender was a Black male, early
20s, single, living within the immediate neighborhood, and living
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The Analysis of the Crime Scene 89

with his mother or alone. He probably had a history of mental ill-

ness and probably had been hospitalized or institutionalized for
his mental condition. In addition, the profile suggested that once
the offender was apprehended, the interrogators might try to
establish a personal relationship with him.

Within 6 weeks, three other elderly women were attacked. All had
lived within a 1-mile radius of the original attack. Of these three
women, the first was 70 years old. She was stabbed 21 times in the
neck with such force and rage that a half-inch of the scissors was
left lodged in her neck. The next victim, who was also attacked in
her home, was stabbed in the neck 11 times. The last victim suc-
ceeded in warding off the attacker and called the police. A suspect
was apprehended.

In the course of the interrogation, the suspect admitted that he had

been in the homes of the victims. In the case of the decapitated
victim, he denied stabbing her but did say that he had killed a
demon that had been chasing him. Elaborating on his story, he
stated that the only time he was safe from the demon that had
been after him was when he was on a city bus or in jail. On the
evening of the first attack he got off a bus, and the demon was
there waiting for him. He ran and entered the house at the first
door he came to. The demon ran past him and then into the
victims bedroom. The killer grabbed a butcher knife from the
kitchen, ran into the bedroom, and repeatedly stabbed the demon.

The profile in this case was accurate. The amount of evidence, the
chaos evident in the crime scene, the weapons belonging to the
victim as well as its being left at the crime scene, the violence done
to the victim, the lack of restraints, the body left at the death
sceneall suggested a profile that did indeed narrow the scope of
the investigation. (Authors files)

Organized nonsocial offenders and disorganized asocial offenders

also tend to have different relationships to their victims. Both types
select strangers as victims, but the character of the strangers is dif-
ferent. The disorganized asocial offender may be aware before the
crime of the existence of his victim, but he has no personal relationship
with that person. In the case related above, for example, the killer lived
in the neighborhood and knew the addresses and locations of the apart-
ments in which the murders occurred. For the organized nonsocial
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90 PROFILING VIOLENT CRIMES

offender, however, the victim is a targeted stranger. One offender told

us in an interview about his typical choice for a victim:

If I had made a composite of my typical victim, it would read

like this: The individual would be White, female, between the ages
of 13 and 19, given the adolescent dress and manner. I would say
that perhaps 75% of my victims fell under this general description.
Obviously there is a pattern of selectivity here, else this large per-
centage figure would not so closely fit the description Ive laid
forth. Just as obviously, it wasnt a matter of my victims just
being there.

But just how conscious was this selectivity and why did roughly
three-quarters of my victims fit this mold? In answer to the first
question, I would have to say that it was not entirely conscious in
that I didnt hold a general picture of an 18-year-old adolescent,
White female in my mind. Certainly more and more often than
not, I was roaming the streets in search of females in general, but
with no specific age group in mind. Yet 75% of the time the person
who clicked and registered in my mind was the girl I
described above. More accurately, I was reacting to the click in
my gut, more so than to predetermined, sought-after characteris-
tics. Yet the predisposition toward victims of that general descrip-
tion, subconscious or not, was there. (Authors files)

This violent personal offender seemed to have some understand-

ing of the reason for his selection of young White females. He went on
to discuss how very popular female students rejected him in high
school. Of another nationality, he was averse to dating young women
of his own ethnic group, and he provided some insight into this reluc-
tance, citing some shame about his own background. The slightest
resistance to his social overtures met with rage.
Minimal conversation takes place usually between the disorga-
nized offender and his victim. It is a blitz attack, and the establishment
of any relationship is not a requirement. In contrast, conversation
between the organized offender and his victim is a language of intimi-
dation once the victim is within the offenders comfort zone. The
vehicle for the initial contact now becomes the vehicle for control. The
organized nonsocial offender appears able to assay the vulnerability of
his stalked victim. One serial killer remarked, I can tell by the way
they walk, the way they tilt their heads. I can tell by the look in their
eyes (authors files).
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The Analysis of the Crime Scene 91

Victims of organized nonsocial offenders often suffer vicious

attacks prior to death. Sometimes these offenders use restraints to ren-
der their victims helpless and to heighten victims fear, which the
offenders may need to see to gain full satisfaction. Disorganized
offenders, in contrast, usually have no need for restraints, because their
purpose is not to intimidate or to instill fear. One organized offender
described to us his reaction to one victims failure to show the fear he
wanted to see:

When I sighted the women [his two victims] they meant

absolutely nothing to me as human beings. Indicative of the
worthlessness they held in my eyes was my extreme rage toward
the first woman, who I felt was defying me through her unwill-
ingness to suffer well. Undoubtedly she was instead paralyzed
by cold and fear, but, in my own distorted mind, her silence and
lack of struggling was a defiant sign against being reduced to bro-
kenness and worthlessness, and therefore, the contempt I felt for
her defiance was such that I killed her right away, forgetting her
almost instantly as I went to the second woman. (Authors files)

In an organized nonsocial crime scene, normally the weapon not

only belongs to the offender but is taken from the crime scene. This is
not true of the disorganized asocial offender. This violent personal
offender does not think through what he is about to do; the act is spon-
taneous. Bringing a weapon to a crime scene shows at least some form
of rudimentary planning, and this offender does not think ahead.
The moving of a body from the crime scene may be an indication
that the unknown suspect is an organized nonsocial type. The disorga-
nized type has no desire or need to move the body. Once the killing has
been accomplished, his mission is over.

 CONCLUSION

In this chapter we have discussed a typology of offenders that has

important implications for law enforcement profiling of lust killers. We
have addressed the typical personal characteristics and post-offense
behaviors of disorganized asocial and organized nonsocial offenders,
as well as the interviewing techniques recommended for use with each
type of suspect. We have also discussed the differences that may be
found in the crime scenes associated with the two types of offenders.
Investigators will find the guidelines laid out in the typology dis-
cussed here to be useful in their profiling of violent crimes, as they take
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92 PROFILING VIOLENT CRIMES

into account the chaos or lack of chaos in a crime scene, the presence or
absence of a weapon, the presence or absence of mutilation of the
victim, and other details. Of course, not all crimes are lust killings. In
the next chapter we will address arson and the types of individuals
who commit these crimes.

 REFERENCES
Crime scene and profile characteristics of organized and disorganized murders. (1985).
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 54, 1825.
Horvath, I. (Director). (1984). Murder: No apparent motive [Motion picture]. United States:
Vestron Video.
Ressler, R., Burgess, A., & Douglas, J. (1988). Sexual homicide: Patterns and motives.
Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.