AP PSYCHOLOGY
TRAILS OF EVIDENCE: How Forensic Science Works –
Profiling Lecture 27 - Who, How and Why?
Name_____________________________________
Period_____
Dr. Elizabeth A. Murray, Ph.D , College of Mount St. Joseph
Controversial Topic in Forensic Science.
Federal Bureau of Investigation admits it is more of an art than a science- intriguing aspects of Forensic Science.
Different meanings over the years:
 Screening tool— Identifying airline hijackers by how they act
--Law enforcement traffic stops –use race and other characteristics—may be legitimate if a
Hispanic female left scene of a crime;
--Also alleged to be prejudicial
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1960s: An attempt began to identify characteristics of a perpetrator—Example: lone assassin or serial rapist;
Hugely popular in books, movies, TVs: Silence of Lambs, Law and Order- Criminal Intent, Criminal Minds – depictions, be all and
end all of solving crimes! An F.B.I. profiler is not a mind reader and magician rolled into one!
“Profiling applies only to the interpretation of the offender’s behavior in the commission of a crime,
to determine the unknown offender’s personality traits and characteristics…Profiling is an art, not
a science.”
~ Federal Bureau of Investigations~
Evolution of Criminal Personality Profiling:
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Small team of FBI analysists first began to infer who a perpetrator might be;
Better term Criminal Personality Profiling- Behavioral Scientists or Behavioral analysts
Interdiscipline:
Academic background in psychology – to understand human behavior
Forensic science – to process, evauate physical evidence of crime scene
Extensive Experience – to put aspect together to see how it went awry in criminal mind; to understand
human nature to understand how this may have gone astray;
Detectives have always used their past experience and gut to identify criminals and their motives by looking at crime
scenes, victims, and other clues.
FBI- national academy at Quantico, VA – Research Conference on Violent Criminal Behavior
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Invited experienced investigator, law enforcement, agents with experience in violent criminal behavior
Scientific technology and techniques
Abnormal __________________________________________________
Develop new hypotheses of motivation
Encouraged to bring in most challenging unsolved casesSpecial FBI agents: Behavioralists – formal studied violent criminal behavior in the following areas:
rape, murder,_________________________________, _______________________________________,
______________________________________________, ____________________________________ arson, and bombing.
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Equivocal deaths- ____________________________________________________________________________
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Qualitative and Quantative Research is conducted: Create Personality Profiles of Criminals
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Face to face interviews over days with offenders
Standard protocols developed guide interview process (likely all male offenders)How each criminals’ behavior began
Criminal history
Maturation
Escalation
Mastery
Conducted such extensive studies of offender in advance that agents had better recall of facts than offender did!
Results: Quantative Research: Found commonalities and patterns that were compared and contrasted;
Melded qualitative and quantative data and criminal personality profiles evolved!
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Validated antidotal experiences- Data did fit hypotheses!
Criminal Investigative Analysis: Crime from behavioral perspective-More scientific than ‘profiling’- has
research behind it.
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Ties both investigator and psychologist research together- understand violent crimes, solve cases;
National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime NCAVC
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Successor to FBI’s Behavior Science Unit
Unsolved cases:
Terrorism
Threats to use WMD
Homicides
Rapes
Arsons
Bombing
Extortion
Kidnappings
School violence
Missing persons
NCAVC ‘s Criminal Investigative Analysis:
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Development of suspects
Interview and Interrogation of suspects
________________________________________________________________________________________
Apply Behavioral Theories Applied to Identify Suspect
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Offender’s motivation
Offender’s criminal sophistication
________________________________________________________________________________________
Criminal Investigative Analysis: Study the crime scene and victims
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Consider physical objects or property
Profile perpetrator
Evaluate the Victim to learn who the perpetrator might be:
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Example: Evaluate risk: Woman is raped- Is she a prostitute at 3 am? Woman at home in bed with husband out of town?
(No judgments, just using this to evaluate risk)
Seeks high risk behavior
High Risk
Sees victim as available is opportunistic
Outgoing?
Tough or mean
Personal Security Measure
Handles stress
Reaction when confronted
Relationships
Sexuality
Low risk
Prior association?
Knew husband out of town
See victim as vulnerable
Criminal Investigative Analysis: When Perpetrator takes something from Crime Scene
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Item has evidentiary value – Might catch him! Towel? Ski Mask?
__________________________________________________________________________- watch jewelry, watch?
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Item has psychological value- quirky value- may not be missed when agents work seem
Victim might not even miss it
Called trophy- small, non-valuable item
A souvenir that provides perpetrator with a sense of accomplish, victory, way to fondly remember event
Criminal Investigative Analysis: Evidence left as the crime scene
Example: Homicide- why did perpetrator smear blood on wall of bathroom when victim was killed in bedroom?
What does this mean?
EX: Man kills his wife and stages scene to look like a robbery.
Look at crime scene from a behavioral perspective. Investigators see that the wife was stabbed 32 times- does not fit a run of the mill
robbery scenario. 32 stab wounds comes from anger, not robbery!
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Homicides: Organized or Disorganized Perpetrators
Example of an Organized Perpetrator: Organized- planned out, tools needs to carry out the crime, victims and their locations, what
does he need to take away from scene to not be identified?
1946-1989
Ted BundyDisorganized- impulsive, use whatever tools available: Example: lamp off bedside table, break a bottle
Tend to leave a lot of evidence behind.
They may mature and become more organized if not caught early.
Criminal Investigative Analysis: Behavior al Clues at Homicide Criminal Scenes
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Body moved to another location
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Body left where it could be found
Body left where it would not be found: Woods? Scattered bones? Assumption:Knew this victim could be associated
with him reasonably- identity of victim would lead to killer!
Criminal Investigative Analysis: Posing of Body (such as in movie- Seven)
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Body posed to express thoughts toward victim or who victim represents
(Mother? Prostitutes? Priests?)
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Criminal Investigative Analysis: Analysing Violent Crime Scenes
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How victim was approached or controlled – how perpetrator works?
How the victim may have been targeted. (Specifically targeted, or wrong place or wrong time?)
Rule the offender may have had to choosing victims – not uncommon for serial killers!
EXAMPLE: Ted Bundy had an idealized standard for his victims-- Had to be worthy of selection; Several survived because they did
not meet his criteria- they lived! Physically: He choose women with long dark hair parted down the middle;
Bundy’s M.O.: Put arm in sling, cast- he needed help getting item in or out of car. If they helped and met this internal criteria, he
took them and dragged them off to their deaths. If not, he drove away.
He was profiling his own victims!
Criminal Investigative Analysis: Method of Operation
Can helps Link Serial Offenses- Modus Operandi- M.O. or the Method of Operation
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Perpetrators- Modus Operandi – M.O.:Have a pattern that serves one or more functions;
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Helps them complete their criminal act
Helps prevent their identification
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Can change over time- but investigators can use it to link single individual to crimes
Criminal Investigative Analysis: Criminal Personality Profiling
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Signature- Is not necessary to accomplish any particular purpose, like a M.O.
May reveal the inner psychological drive from inner fantasies of the perpetrator;
Ex: Black prostitutes that wore blue jeans—strangled them, removed blue jeans, ripped jeans at the crotch- that is his signature
the torn jeans.
Criminal Personality Profiling: Narrows down the field of potential suspects to a select pool of individuals.
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Possible suspects becomes more manageable, select pool of individuals
Interactions with victims are known;
Certain traits or characteristics can be attributed to a certain offender
Criminal Personality Profiling- Understanding of Perpetrator’s fantasies
Examples: (+) loves beautiful African American boys
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(-) Power, control, or domination
Vague, repeated thought
Elaborative, well thought out plans—related to signature he will leave behind (not all do);
More imagination, more considered and premeditated,
More criminal sophisticated = less evidence he will leave behind – more difficult it will be to catch him;
Investigators can also surmise clues as to the perpetrator’s personality by things such as:
 Concern for personal risk?
 Time of day?
 Witnesses?
 Conceal identity?
 Wary alarms, security cameras?
From research, Typologies have developed - all types may not have all the characteristics of the type, but should have a good
number of them to be considered IN that type.
ULTIMATE GOAL: Identify the perpetrator!
Developing a profile will depend on the amount of information authorities have.
PROFILE GOAL- released to public and will sufficiently describe offender in a way that his own associated recognize him and bring
their suspicious to the authorities
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Valid profile includes:
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Sex
Race
Approx age
Education level
Criminal history
Employment history
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Where he lives
Social adjustment
Interpersonal skills
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11. ___________________________________________
Strategy for series of media releases
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Sequencing- most confident information first;
Examine impact on public’s eyes and ear and perpetrator is evaluated
Add additional detail in subsequent releases
Example of profiling gone bad
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October 2001: Washington DC Beltway Sniper – variety of settings
Victims- Doing simple everyday tasks, 3 weeks, 10 people were killed; 3 injured
Sites of shooting are along the I-95 corridor;
Suspicion settles on a white van- likely vehicle
On TV: “Profiles” jump out of woodwork after 4 killed in 2 hours morning Oct 3rd.
Profile released: Loner, while male, background in military, white box truck, or van
Illl-founded media accounts drove the perpetrator’s actions
Only kills adults—Results in the shooting of a 13 yr old
Only kills on week- Results in shooting and killed during weekend
After Arrest: Everything about profile was deadly wrong!
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It mislead public and delayed the capture—terrorized nationArrested: An adult black male, young black accomplish, blue Chevy sedan;
They changed M.O. and victims based on what they heard in the media!
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Law Enforcement: Had tunnel vision by focusing on past victims, incidents—not on the current situation.
Profile- one size fits all;
All they really knew was marksmanship!
Motive of the criminals? Nothing really in common!
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Young man-Lee Boyd Malvo: Shooting would lead to kidnappings that would lead to ransoms and lots of $!
Evidence at crime scene: A note demanding $10,000,000 or lives of children would be at stakewas found at one shooting
scene.
Adult Male- John Allen Muhammed: Target was his ex-wife- killed all these other victims to include her among the others;
Profiling motive is not permitted as part of courtroom;
Function is to narrows list of suspects!
However: Expert witnesses can testify about evidence they have collected; John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo
Signature that links multiple crimes;
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Profiling Got things Right!
John Douglas- FBI agent 1970-1995; Author of The Anatomy of Motive; “Mindhunter” – 1st criminal profiles- Inspired the character
of Jack Crawford- in books/films Silence Lambs and Red Dragon;
1978-1998: Spree at the UNAbomber: American terrorist Ted Kaczynski- 20 yrs.
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16 bombing- home made devices, increasing sophistication over years; Mailed or delivered by hand;
Targeted individuals associated with Universities and Airlines = “UNAbomber”;
Motive: Recluse, with grudge against whole world-- Big corporations and modern technology are destroying personal
freedoms
Killed 3, injured 23 others; No witnesses;
Not great death toll, however -- number of attacks that is significant, 20 years, terrified nation!
1980: Douglas Profile of UNAbomber:
White male, late 20- early 30, loner, obsessive compulsive loner, connections to academia, above average intelligence;
Wood components of pipe bombs, wood related to names of victims = ties to wood
(fact- solitary life of woods- reign of terror due to destruction of life around cabin)
Expands Profile: Issue with authority, paranoia, blend in at a university;
Other FBI argued disgruntled airline mechanic—
Douglas- NO—An intelligent man could better make bombs than a blue collar mechanic and walk around a university comfortably.
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1995: UNAbomber begins communicating w. the media- beginning of the end
Escalation—35,000 word manifest- Published in the Washington Post, New York Times—
Verified all Douglas believed and had profiled!
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Media strategy works to profiles advantage = Kaczynski’s brother came forward- the UNAbomber is my brother, Ted
Kaczynski!
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