Homicide Exam #2

Crim4400

Define mass murder

Mass murder: Defined as…three, four, or more victims killed in one place at one time or over a relatively short period of time. It is the rarest in a workplace setting.

Define school shooting

No single profile for shooters

•Incidents rarely sudden or impulsive

•Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea

•Most do not threaten targets directly prior to the incident

•Most do not have a history of disciplinary problems, substance abuse, or a mental health disorder

1986 Dietz's typology of mass murderers: Family Annihilator

targets family members often in the home

1986 Dietz's typology of mass murderers: Pseudo commander

military type fascinated with firearms

1986 Dietz's typology of mass murderers: Set and Run Killer

murder remotely (i.e., bombs or poison) and are at a safe distance when killings occur

2001 Holmes and Holmes' typology of mass murderers: The disciple

influenced by a charismatic leader to kill

2001 Holmes and Holmes' typology of mass murderers: The disgruntled employee

retaliate for bad treatment by an employer

2001 Holmes and Holmes' typology of mass murderers: The disgruntled citizen

frustrated or angry (sometimes at the world)

2001 Holmes and Holmes' typology of mass murderers: The psychotic killer

suffers from significant mental disorder that may affect perception of reality

Explain the Gun-Free Schools Act

Gun-Free Schools Act (1994): public schools must expel a student for min. 1 year if they have a firearm on campus

Explain the Gun Free School Zones Acts (1995)

Gun Free School Zones Acts (1995): crime to possess or discharge a firearm in a school zone

Explain why there is not a single profile for a school shooter (consider the variety of risk factors)

The reason for a lacking of a single profile because when we acknowledge risk factors such as: Demographic factors (male, teenager, white, middle class)

•Social life (outcast)

•Personality (disengaged)

•Mental health (mental illness)

•Home/school life (bullying, abuse)

•Behavior prior to the incident (secretive)

•Weapon (access to firearm)

These can vary considering where their profile may stem from. Maybe they were outcasted, maybe their demographic is different some police tend to have bias about “school shooter”, their behavior could’ve been blaring in social media and not so “secretive”

Identify the common motivations for school killings

Motivations may be unknown or obscured, but are still important to assess threats

• Common explanations: Revenge for being bullied, ignored, marginalized, or rejected. Desire for attention or recognition

Explain how school design can increase school safety (what aspects must be considered)

School design is an important consideration (e.g., population density, exits, security features, building size + layout) When considering these aspects this can allow for responses to be rapid and effective with the inclusion of safety. If having a design where density inflicts on this, how can we respond, with a shelter in place or fleeing?

Consider reasons why a school may use shelter in place versus leaving a school when there is an active shooter

Policies may be for shelter-in-place or fleeing

•K-12 schools craft policies that attempt to identify troubled students and intervene early

•Colleges use crisis teams and protocols to prepare for crises

These reasons may vary, let’s say with the previous prompt about density population, with the layout and other factor of police, they may want to preserve life and well being, this way. If we were to have an active shooter and leaving the school, there has to be proper coordination and being able to detect quickly where the location is.

Explain how law enforcement prepares for incidents of school violence

Law enforcement agencies often work together to plan responses

•Considerations: number of officers on duty at one time, chain of command

•Training and planning should be continuous

•Not always immediately apparent where or who the threat is

Explain what it means for a mass murder to be bifurcated

If the killer changes location, the event may be classified as continuous

Describe what a rampage is in the context of mass murder

Mass murder is perpetrated using firearms in the majority of recorded incidents and this has come to be known as a rampage

Describe the typical relationship between a mass murderer and their victims

Mass murderer may intend to kill many people but has no relationship with the victims

Explain what forms workplace violence can take place

Workplace violence takes many forms

•Any act that hurts or threatens to hurt a person in a workplace setting.

Explain who accounts for most non-fatal workplace violence

Females account for most non-fatal workplace violence

•2021-2022: 72.5% females vs. 27.5% males

Explain who accounts for most fatal workplace violence

Males account for most fatal workplace violence (homicide)

•2021-2022: 84.7% males vs. 15.3% females

Identify which workplaces (industries) have the highest rates of workplace violence, and reasons why this might be

Healthcare and social assistance, reasons could be the encounters of different people. Whether other employees (I know it gets messy up there), whether people that circulate in and out of healthcare locations. Second being education, I think that consists of juveniles, you might tussle one out with them not intentionally but to stop it.

Describe the differences between a workplace killing committed by an employee and non-employee (e.g., typical profile, motivations)

May be an employee, non-employee, or stranger
• Among employees, most frequent killer is a
middle-aged white male seeking revenge
• Ex) Got fired, demoted, or had an argument
• Among non-employees, killing most likely to
occur during a robbery incident

Explain what a threat assessment is, and why it is important for workplaces

involves the analysis of the specific individual who made the threat. Assessment of risk is a common concept and practice in many industries.

Define gang

FBI definition: “association of 3 or more individuals who adopt a group identity to create an atmosphere of fear or intimidation”
• Defining feature is the use of violence

Identify to what extent gangs are responsible for murders in the United States

Gang-related killings make up est. 10% of homicides in the U.S.
• Gang-related killings most likely to occur in large cities (100,000+)
• Homicide may occur in the context of recruitment, membership, or leaving a gang

Explain the use of violence in gangs (why it’s used, when it’s used)

use of violence by gang members is well documented. Motives or instrumental use of violence is typically to intimidate, eliminate competition, or send a message to another gang or their own members.occasionally kill while conducting drug or other illicit business, to declare a territory as their own, or to further their reputation.

Explain who is most likely to be recruited into a gang and why

Target vulnerable people
• Seeking identity or belonging
• Needing protection
• Seeking excitement, power, respect,
or money

Describe why there are different definitions of cults and how the term new religious
movement came to be used instead

Definition varies depending on
viewpoint and interest(s)
• “Small religious group, not part of
larger or more accepted religion,
holds extreme or dangerous beliefs”
• “Group of people that loves
something”
Term “new religious movement” is used in place of “cult”. New religious movements (NRMs), which are considered by some as cults, are often simply groups with (largely religious or spiritual) views different than those of the majority in a community. The followers may see themselves as following the individual or following a philosophy.

Define millenarianism

Belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement there
will be a major transformation of society
• Often refers to apocalypse or utopian eternity of paradise

Explain common recruitment strategies and targeted members for new religious
movements

conduct many of the same types of recruitment tactics as other more accepted groups. They go on to talk about the impression some people may have that anyone who seeks to join or joins a NRM must have been manipulated, rather than be motivated by the benefits the group members perceive they gain by joining.

Explain why having charisma is important for a cult leader

Often described as a charismatic leader (e.g., charming,
captivating)
• Charismatic leadership is not in itself unusual, suspicious, or dangerous but leads people to questionable undying devotion

Describe why unconditional devotion of followers can be problematic in the context of
violence

Followers often have an unquestioning devotion to the leader, The leader may instruct followers to kill themselves and order the murder of the unwilling members of the group. that is problematic.

Define serial murder and explain how frequently this type of homicide occurs

Serial murder is rare but has happened throughout history
• Various definitions of serial killing: Two or more, three or more, or four or more people
killed over at least one month with a “cooling off”
period between each murder

Explain the significance of the cooling off period between serial killer murders (what
happens in-between)

Key feature: “cooling off” period
• Time for an offender to reflect, reevaluate, plan. The interim period allows and ensures that the person has the opportunity to reflect on what he did. We know that for many serial killers, this period of reflection may include a number of different emotions and thoughts. The killer may dwell on the pleasure he felt at his treatment of and ultimate murder of another human. Further, he may contemplate the effectiveness of his approach to his victim and the tactics he used to achieve the ends he desired.

Compare and contrast organized and disorganized serial killers

• Organized: planned crime, evidence disposed of to avoid
discovery
• Disorganized: spontaneous crime; evidence may not be
concealed

Explain the similarities between gangs, organized crime, and individual serial killers

Gangs and organized crime members do
commit serial murder, but infrequently
• Most killing organized by one person
• Killing takes place over time

Describe the MacDonald Triad

The behaviors, known as the MacDonald Triad, are chronic bed-wetting, fire-starting, and abuse of animals.

Explain the typical relationship between a male serial killer and their victim, and how this
differs from female serial killers

Make up a small percentage compared to males
(about in 1/5th of serial killers)
• Difficult to locate and study female serial killers. Relationship is typically close and out of gain. For males its more stalkerish but not as close.

Describe the circle hypothesis

to find or narrow the likely region where an offender is based is referred to as the circle hypothesis or theory. Known offenses of a suspected serial killer are plotted, and the area where the killer may reside is approximated by a circle drawn with a diameter based on the two offenses or body dump sites farthest apart (Canter, Coffey, Huntley, & Missen, 2000). This area can be further reduced by door-to-door questioning of residents about suspicious activity in the area.

Serial Killer: Visionary

May be psychotic, experience breaks with reality, Hears voices or hallucinates they are told to kill, Murder is not planned

Serial Killer: Mission

Victims perceived as useless to society, Offender may seek to cleanse society, Rarely commits suicide if caught

Serial Killer: Hedonistic

Hedonistic killers perceive murder as “fun and enjoyable”
Three types of hedonistic killers
• Lust killer: sexual pleasure is the goal
• Thrill killer: excitement is the goal
• Comfort killer: material gain is the goal

Serial Killer: Power/control

• Killer needs to be in control
• May manipulate the victims
• If killer cannot find an ideal victim, next
person they encounter who is vulnerable
may be selected

Explain the main responsibilities of the primary officer after arriving at the scene of a homicide

Arrive Safely: Determine nature of the incident and the level of response necessary

Ensure Safety at the Scene: Identify and defuse any potentially dangerous situation

Medical Assistance: Aid injured victim or suspect

Apprehend Suspects: Take into custody anyone who has committed a crime against the laws
of the jurisdiction

Secure the Scene: Identify persons present, and limit access to the scene

Call for Assistance: Request personnel for crowd control, maintaining the perimeter,
gathering witness information, searching the scene, canvassing the area

Identify what the single most important piece of evidence at the crime scene is

the ones that are the most fragile or prone to destruction are the most important pieces to a scene.

Explain the importance of conducting a neighborhood canvas for a homicide investigation

Locate and identify possible witnesses. Assess condition, location, and position of the
body and other evidence in the crime scene
• Why?
• Determine how a murder occurred, why it happened,
who was responsible

Justify the importance of documentation (how this could affect a case)

documentation is important considering that if evidence obtained could be tainted, or if they did not do a good canvasing or even the officer responding did not go well. Defense could have upper hand like the oj case were essentially there was lack of assessing evidence. A guilty man can wind up free if the conduct of an investigation went poor.

Rationalize why DNA samples may not always be a reliable source of information

Limitations
• DNA evidence is not an exact science, measured in probabilities
• DNA can be compromised by human error
• Ethical concerns about sampling

Identify when the first crime scene laboratory was established by the FBI

The FBI established a laboratory in 1932 to make forensic science available to law enforcement agencies around the country.

Explain how the CSI effect impacts the jury’s decision-making process

the CSI effect leads jurors largely to mistakenly believe they possess thorough knowledge about the methods of crime scene and laboratory investigation and analysis. This state of affairs creates a need for prosecutors to thoroughly explain this effect and disabuse jurors of the notion that all crime investigations are capable of providing conclusive physical evidence (Lovgren, 2004).

Define primary scene

in discussing preliminary investigation. This will be the location where the deceased victim is found.

Define cold case

Of the crime that is reported to authorities, much presents little in the way of physical or witness evidence. When this happens, police may have little recourse but to await information to come in from the victim or another source. Frequently that help never comes, and a case is closed or held inactive. In cases of homicide and sexual battery.

Define biometrics

Identify people on measurable biological criteria

Define crime scene technician

Collects and analyzes evidence

Define medical examiner

Examines bodies postmortem, determines cause and manner of death

Define criminalist

Works in the crime laboratory, identifies evidence from the crime scene

Define death scene investigator

Responds to scene of death to perform an investigation into the death and collection of evidence