出版社：International Medical Journal Management and Indexing System
摘要：Sexual homicide is set apart from other forms of homicide because of its primary sexual intent. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate sexual homicides with regard to forensic and criminological aspects, using findings on the crimes, perpetrators, victims, their relationships, motifs and sequence of events to provide an in-depth analysis of sexual homicide in Berlin. Methods Sexual homicides in a 20-year period were examined in a retrospective analysis of autopsy reports and, if available, police and prosecutor investigation files, and court documents (n=43,450). Results Forty-one sexual homicide cases (0.09%) were identified, with 41 victims and 31 offenders. Ten cases remain unsolved. In most cases, a single offender killed a single victim. It was found that 48.8% of the victims and 54% of the offenders were intoxicated at the time of the offence. In 48.4% of cases in which perpetrators were identified, the victims and offenders had known each other for a long period prior to the crime. Victims The victims were 31 women (76%), five men (12%), and five children (12%; 3 girls and 2 boys [517 years]); 85% were German. The average age was 37.8 years, and 46.3% of the victims fell into a category of low risk of becoming a victim of a violent crime. In 80.5% of cases the victim was found at the crime scene, and more than one third of victims were killed in their own home. In the majority of cases, death was caused by multiple injuriesmost commonly blunt trauma (66%), penetrating trauma (46%), strangulation (44%), and genital and anal injuries. The majority of extra-genital injuries were to the head and neck. Offenders Of the offenders, 78% were aged between 2035 years. Four offenders sexually manipulated the victims body after death. In nine cases, the victims injuries indicated a pattern of overkill. Offenders frequently displayed unfavorable social background characteristics. Conclusions Sexual homicides are still rarely encountered in forensic autopsies. Certain patterns of offenders behavior can be highly characteristic, i.e., carrying the murder weapon before the incident, using excessive force (overkill), sexual manipulation of the body, removal of evidence, purposeful alteration of the crime scene (staging), expressions of remorse (undoing), or disposal of the body. Appropriate interpretation of these behavioral patterns can aid offender profiling and identification.
