法律心理学第四章

1RECOGNITIONANDACKNOWLEDGMENTOFSERIALMURDERRecognitionWhenRecognitionisImpossibleFindingSimilarCasesCharacteristicsofSerialMurderInformationSourcesTheViolentCriminalApprehensionProgram(VICAP)TracKERSHITSScottWilliamCoxAcknowledgmentReferencesHowinvestigatorssurvivethepsychologicalrigorsofinvestigatingserialmurdercasesdependsonthethreemainfactorsofrecognition,acknowl­edgment,andcontrol:(1)aquickandvalidinterpretationthatonemurderisrelatedtoanother,(2)areliableadmissiontoothersthataserialkillerisinoperation,and(3)astrategythatproperlycommands,staffs,andfundstheinvestigativeeffort.Thesefactorswerefirstpubliclysetforthinapro­fessionalforumbyretiredLieutenantRayBiondioftheSacramentoSheriffsDepartmentinhispresentationontheInvestigationofSerialMurdersattheFifthNationalConferenceonHomicide,UnidentifiedBodies,andMissingPersonsinNashville,TN(Biondi,1987).AmongtheissuesmosttroublesomeforLt.Biondiwasthathediscov­eredproblemsroutinelyassociatedwithrecognition,acknowledgment,andcontrolthroughoutthecountry.HeexplainedwhyserialmurdersarethetcLROBERTD.KEPPELANDWILLIAMJ.BIRNESworstscenariofortheallocationofresourcestosolveacaseandarguedthatbecausemostdepartmentsknewthisandwereawareofthecostsassociatedwithpreviousserialmurdercases,thereisoftenalotofresis­tancetotheacknowledgmentthatahomicidemightproperlybelongtoalargerserialmurderinvestigation.Thisresistanceengendersacollectivedenialthatultimatelycanpervadetheentireinvestigativestaff.Therefore,Biondiemphasizedthatbecausetheprimarygoalofsupervisorsandman­agementpersonnelistocatchthekillerbeforehekillsagain,theymustcreateanatmosphereintheorganizationwherethereislessbureaucraticwheel-spinningandallowthepersonswhowillsolvethecase,thedetectives—thosewhodothespade-work-theresourcesandfreedomtoinvestigate.Forinvestigators,realizingthattheirdepartmenthasaserialcasecanbeextremelydifficult,eveninthebestofcircumstances.Apoliceagencyinves­tigatingonevictimmaynotknowfromwhattheyimmediatelyseeatacrimescenewhetherthatvictimisthebeginningorjustonecaseinaseriesofmurders.Thecaseathandmaybeinthemiddleofakiller'sseries.Unlesstheagencyisorhasbeenmadeawareofaseriesofcrimeswithvictimswhofitthesameprofileasthevictimattheircrimescene,thepolicemayknownothingmoreaboutthehomicidethanwhattheycanfigureoutfromwhattheysee.Sotheinvestigationmay,rightfromtheoutset,lagbehindtheongoingeventsofthecase,withinvestigatorsunawarethattherehavebeenpreviousvictimsofthesamekiller.ThishappenedintheTedBundycasesinthePacificNorthwestin1974.TwoyoungwomenwentmissingfromLakeSammamishStateParkinJuly.ThesecaseswerewithintheKingCountySheriff'sjurisdiction.Inactuality,astringofsixdisappearancesandkillingshadalreadybegunasearlyasJanuaryofthatsameyearinOregonandWashingtonpriortoanyinvolve­mentfromtheKingCountySheriff'sdetectives,oratleastbeforeaposi­tiveconnectionhadbeenmadeamonganyofthelawenforcementagenciesinthearea.Itwasn'tuntilbonesidentifyingthreevictimswerefoundjusteastofLakeSammamishStateParkandskullpartsfromfourmorevictimswerediscoveredabout6monthslater11milesfurthereastintheTaylorMountainareaofthefoothillsoftheCascadesthatanyonelinkedthemissingcoedstothesamekiller.SointheTedBundycases,interagencyrecognitionandacknowledgmentthatanewkindofkillerwasontheloose,murderingyoung,pretty,whitecollege-agedwomen,didn'ttakeplaceuntiltwobodyrecoverysiteswerediscovered,andafterthediscoveryofthehumanremainsatthesites,itwasconfirmedbythehomicideinvestigatorsthatatleastsevenofthevictimsdiedatthehandsofthesameperson.Priortothistime,theinvestigationwasnotheadedinthedirectionofinvestigatingalleightvictimsasvictimsofthesamekiller.EachjurisdictionwasoperatingindependentlyandnotpursuinganyleadsthatwouldhaveleadtoTheodoreRobertBundy.What-CHAPTERl.RECOGNITIONANDACKNOWLEDGMENTOFSERIALMURDEROeverfrustrationtheindividualdepartmentsmighthavefeltattheirinabil­itytosolvethemysteriousmurdersofyoungwomenorthemissingpersonscasesintheirjurisdictionssuddenlybecame,ontheonehand,compoundedbytherecognitionthatthesamekillermightbeoperatingina300-mileradiusacrosstwostates,butrelieved,ontheotherhand,bytheunder­standingthattheindividualagencieswerenotalone,andthattheremightbeasolutioninajointtaskforceinvestigation.Theinabilityofofficerstolinkmurdersormissingpersonstothesameoffenderisreferredtoaslinkageblindness(Egger,1984,1990).Specifi­cally,linkageblindnessoccurswhenpoliceadministratorsandinvestigatorsrefusetoadmitordonotknowthataserialkillerisoperating.Thereasonforthisblindnesshasbeenattributedtoofficersnotrecognizingthechar­acteristicsofaserialvictim,andmoreimportantly,nothavingtheabilitytotrackmurdersinacentralrepositoryofinformation.Atworst,youcannottelluntilthekillertellsyou.WewillseemoreofhowdevastatinglinkageblindnesscanbeinourexaminationoftheYorkshireRippercasesinEnglandwhenpoliceinunrelatedagencies,butpartofthesamelargetaskforce,couldnotidentifyaserialkillerduringhis4-yearskeinofmurders,eventhoughtheywereactivelyinterviewinghimfromtheperspectiveoftheirseparatepointsofentryintothecase.Aswewillsee,eventhoughaseriesofmurdersislinkedtothesamekiller,ahomicidema