Serial murderers' spatial decisions: factors that influence crime location choice
✍ Scribed by Brent Snook; Richard M. Cullen; Andreas Mokros; Stephan Harbort
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 138 KB
- Volume
- 2
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1544-4759
- DOI
- 10.1002/jip.35
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The outcome of German serial murderer spatial decision making was measured as the straight-line distance (km) between murderer home locations and each crime location (i.e. body recovery location). Geographic and series development data, as well as information on age, intelligence, motive, marital status, employment status, and mode of transportation of 53 German serial murderers was collected from police and prosecution service files and judicial verdict records. Potential effects of the aforementioned factors on spatial decisions were assessed. Results showed that 63% of the murderers lived within 10 km of their crime locations. Home-to-crime distance was negatively correlated with murderer age and positively correlated with murderer IQ score. Results also showed that the mode of transportation used by murderers had an effect on their spatial decisions. Results are discussed in terms of understanding serial murderer spatial decision-making and implications for police investigations.