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This paper aims to explore the presence of overkill in sexual homicide. More specifically, the study examines whether overkill is a valid indicator of an organized or disorganized sexual homicide. Moreover, the study tests the presence of various patterns of sexual homicide involving overkill.

The sample used in this study consists of 662 cases of extrafamilial SHs with (n = 145) and without (n = 517) evidence of overkill, respectively. A binomial regression was used to compare at the multivariate level the two groups of crimes, while a latent class analysis was used to determine whether overkill could be associated with different patterns of sexual homicide.

Findings from bivariate and logistic regression analyses show that the presence of overkill may be associated with both organized and disorganized sexual homicides. Moreover, latent class analysis suggests that there are three distinct patterns of overkill in sexual homicide: impulsive, sadistic and personal.

This study is the first to empirically analyze overkill in sexual homicides and to propose a classification using crime-commission process characteristics.

The anger/sadistic model is one of several typologies proposed for sexual homicide events. This paper aims to empirically test this model by examining sexual homicide cases. Empirically validating these typologies provides greater validity and reliability toward the sexual homicide classification systems that are useful in police investigations.

Secondary data analysis was conducted using police data on 249 solved sexual homicide cases in Canada from 1948 to 2010. Through a robust classifying method, latent class analysis was used to examine variables from the anger/sadistic typology. Additionally, variables from the pre-crime, crime and post-crime phases were examined in relation to the classes’ external validity.

Three classes emerged, namely, expressive, methodical and instrumental. Expressive and methodical were similar to the anger/sadistic model in terms of the presence of premeditation, victim-offender relationship and body disposal location. Instrumental was characterized by the absence of mutilation on the victim’s body, targeted acquaintances and the use of physical restraints. The three-class typology resembled evidence found in a previous systematic review and also reinforced the notion of heterogeneity in sexual homicide offenses.

This is the first study to empirically test the anger/sadistic typology. Such validation is important given that sexual homicide classification systems can aid in police investigations (e.g. narrowing down the list of potential suspects). Replication of studies is needed to lend credibility to research processes, which, in turn, allows practitioners and policymakers to integrate the results into policies effectively.

The analysis of previous studies showed that research pertaining to the examination of the crime scene and Modus Operandi variables in intimate partner homicide (IPH) is scarce. Additionally, to our knowledge, there are no studies investigating sexual homicide perpetrated by intimate partners. This study aims to address that void. Thus, the study examined various components of the crime event and as such, it was exploratory in nature.

The study consisted of male sexual killers, who perpetrated against pubescent female victims (14 years old and over) and served a custodial sentence within Her Majesty’s Prison Service in England and Wales. Variables for the study were chosen on the basis of previous research examining IPH and sexual homicide. Descriptive analyses were used in this exploratory study.

Descriptive analyses indicated that the most prevalent aggravating circumstances in the lead up to the killing included conflict with the victim before the offence and substance use by the perpetrator around the time of the killing. Stalking was present in approximately a quarter of cases. The results of the analyses of sexual behaviours showed that in 54.9% of the sample the act of killing was purely instrumental whereas in 39.4% of the sample the underlying drive of the act of killing was closely related to the sexual aspect.

This is a unique study on a topic not yet explored.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of a variety of developmental factors on sexual homicide offenders (SHOs), while taking into account other components of sexual homicide theoretical models.

A series of logistic regression models are performed using a total of 616 incarcerated adult male sexual offenders from Canada to distinguish between three groups of sexual offenders, SHOs, violent non-homicidal sex offenders (NHSOs) and NHSOs.

Results indicate that contrary to theoretical models, experiences of victimization are not central to the development of SHOs. Instead, it is the adoption of various problematic behaviors in childhood that appear as most important in the etiology of this particular type of sexual crime. This suggests that the various existing theoretical models of sexual homicide need to be revised and/or tested with additional empirical data.

This is the first study to look at developmental factors using two control groups of NHSOs and violent NHSOs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine temperament differences, notably effortful control and negative emotionality, and correlates that distinguish between homicide, violent sexual and other violent juvenile offenders. Exploring heterogeneity among violent offenders is relevant to intervention strategies and policy implications.

Demographic measures, temperament constructs and individual risk factor indicators were assessed across 30,303 violent juvenile offenders (including 397 homicide offenders) in Florida to assess their ability to distinguish among violent juvenile offender subgroups.

Analyses demonstrated temperament constructs distinguish among classifications of violent juvenile offenders with effortful control differentiating homicide and violent sexual offenders from other violent offenders, and negative emotionality distinguishing violent sexual from other violent offenders, with youth having greater negative emotionality and less effortful control being non-sexual violent offenders. Homicide offenders were more likely to be older, male and had histories of gang membership and weapon/firearm offending than other violent offenders, and evidenced greater negative emotionality than violent sexual offenders.

The differences across violent youthful offender subtypes suggest heterogeneity among violent offenders with distinct correlates more predictive of some subtypes than others. Additionally, the temperament constructs of effortful control and negative emotionality are useful in distinguishing violent offender subtypes, which points toward differing intervention/treatment strategies.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether sexual homicide offenders (SHO) who dispose of the victim’s body naked present with particular crime scene characteristics.

This study aims to answer this question through the use of a sequential logistic regression to test the individual effects of each set of crime scene variables against the manner of disposal using a sample of 662 solved cases of extrafamilial sexual homicide from an international database.

Results demonstrated that the modus operandi behaviors of sexual penetration, asphyxiation, dismemberment and overkill were significantly associated with the body being disposed of naked. In addition, removing or destroying evidence from the scene was also significantly associated with a naked victim. In contrast, the body was more likely to be dumped clothed if the contact scene was deserted and the victim was a stranger. These results suggest that SHOs who dispose of the body naked are more in line with the sadistic sexual murderer, while clothed victims are often disposed of by angry offenders.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the particular manner of disposing the victim’s body naked in cases of sexual homicide.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences (if any) between serial and hard-to-solve one-off homicides, and to determine if it is possible to distinguish the two types of homicides based on offence behaviours and victim characteristics.

A sample of 116 Italian serial homicides was compared to 45 hard-to-solve one-off homicides. Hard-to-solve one-off homicides were defined as having at least 72 hours pass between when the offence came to the knowledge of the police and when the offender was caught. Logistic regression was used to predict whether a killing was part of a series or a one-off offence.

The serial killers targeted more strangers and prostitutes, displayed a higher level of forensic awareness both before and after the killing, and had more often an apparent sexual element in their offence. Conversely, the one-off homicides were found to include more traits indicative of impulsive and expressive behaviour. The model demonstrated a good ability (AUC=0.88) to predict whether a homicide belonged to the serial or one-off category.

The findings should be replicated using local homicide data to maximise the validity of the model in countries outside of Italy.

Being able to distinguish between serial and one-off homicides based on information available at a new crime scene could be practically useful for homicide investigators managing finite resources.

Studies comparing serial homicides to one-off homicides are scarce, and there are no studies explicitly trying to predict whether a homicide is an isolated case or part of a series.

This paper aims to provide a critical review of the psychopathy literature, with a particular focus on recent research examining the relationship between psychopathy and various forms of criminal behaviour.

The authors provide an overview of the studies conducted to date. To identify relevant published studies for this review, literature searches were completed using Web of Science, Scopus, PsychINFO, and PubMed.

Substantial empirical research exists to suggest that psychopathy is a robust predictor of criminal behaviour and recidivism. Furthermore, considerable support for the assertion that the violence perpetrated by psychopathic offenders is more instrumental than the violence committed by other offenders was found. In addition, some research suggests that the greater use of instrumental violence among psychopathic offenders may be due to the interpersonal/affective traits of psychopathy, and not the impulsive/antisocial traits.

The current paper is the first to provide an in‐depth review of the literature examining the association between psychopathy and criminal offending with a particular focus on violent and homicidal behaviour.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the evidence base by analysing the characteristics and motives of homicides involving acts of dismemberment.

The current study explored offence, victim and offender characteristics and the motives for 71 homicides involving dismemberment using open source data. All cases included in this study were investigated in the UK between 1970 and 2016. A non-metric multi-dimensional scaling procedure smallest space analysis (SSA) was used to explore the characteristics and motives derived from a content analysis of homicide data sourced online.

A distinction between expressive and instrumental characteristics was observable with three thematic regions identified: instrumental – defensive, instrumental – predatory and expressive – affective. Support was found for previously identified motives for criminal dismemberment, with defensive being the most common motive identified in 63% (N = 45) of the cases.

The implications of the findings are discussed with suggestions made for future research. The findings have practical implications for assisting law enforcement and forensic and clinical practitioners in further understanding offenders who engage in homicidal dismemberment. This includes aiding homicide investigations, in terms of supporting investigators to draw upon offence, victim and offender characteristics and motives for homicides involving acts of dismemberment. Differentiation between cases of dismemberment and understanding of motives also has practical implications for the development of interventions and treatment pathways for homicide offenders who dismember victims.

Sexual sadism is a well-known risk factor for severe forms of sexual violence including sexual homicide and serial sexual homicide. The research is decidedly mixed about the association between sexual sadism and other, nonsexual forms of criminal conduct. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Drawing on data from a census of 225 federal sex offenders from a jurisdiction in the Midwestern USA, the current study examined whether sexual sadism had a spillover effect into nonsexual crimes using correlation, ANOVA, and negative binomial regression models.

Sexual sadism was strongly associated with diverse forms of nonsexual criminal behavior, and sexual sadists had more extensive and versatile criminal careers than sex offenders without a formal diagnosis.

Practitioners should be aware of sexual sadism as a criminogenic risk factor. Sexual sadism is associated with sexual deviance and sexual violence. Sexual sadism also has spillover effects where it is associated with nonsexual offending.

Sexual sadism can be a useful risk factor for other forms of crime and recidivism and has broad application in applied correctional and research settings.