Homicide Profiles Based on Crime Scene and Victim Characteristics.

María Del Mar Pecino-Latorre,María Del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes,Rosa María Patró-Hernández

doi:10.3390/ijerph16193629

Abstract

One of the current trends in homicide research includes developing works based on scientific study and empirical evidence, which offer conclusions that can be used in an operational manner during police investigations. The objective of this study was to identify homicide characteristics from behaviors carried out on the crime scene and victim characteristics associated with those of the perpetrators of these crimes in Spain. The sample consisted of 448 homicide cases from the database of the Homicide Revision Project led by the Office of Coordination and Studies of the Secretary of State and Security. After creating six classification tree models, it was found that the modus operandi of the aggressor and the victim characteristics may permit hypothesizing about the demographic characteristics of the perpetrator (gender, age, and country of origin), his/her criminal record, and the type of relationship with the victim. Furthermore, the importance of the study of victimology during a criminal investigation is highlighted, as it may indirectly offer information about the potential perpetrator. The findings of this study suggest that criminal profiling contributes notably to the decision-making process to establish more rigorous suspect prioritization, improve the management of human resources and materials, and increase the efficiency of criminal investigations.

Highlights

Homicide investigation has gained considerable academic and professional interest, because homicide is the most violent of the criminal behaviors and because it impacts on the psychosocial, political, and socio-economic aspects of a country [1]
The results obtained in this study are consistent with the central postulate of criminal profiling, that is, the basis of homicide elements, it Theonresults obtained in this study are consistent withmodus the central postulate of criminal profiling, is possible to hypothesize aboutelements the potential characteristics the perpetrator, which helps make that is, on the basis of homicide, it is decisions to hypothesize establish more rigorous suspect prioritization possible to about the potential characteristics of the perpetrator, which helps make
The results obtained indicate that it is more likely for the perpetrator to be over 51 years of age when the victim in their study than were included in this study and that we solely focused on homicide and not on attempted murder/manslaughter, which was included in their study

Summary

Introduction

Homicide investigation has gained considerable academic and professional interest, because homicide is the most violent of the criminal behaviors and because it impacts on the psychosocial, political, and socio-economic aspects of a country [1]. Investigative trends have evolved significantly, especially with regards to the study focus, ways to perceive homicides, and methodology and statistical procedures used. In this sense, homicide is considered to be an extremely complex phenomenon, since it is a criminal category that includes distinct variants with dynamic characteristics and specific psychological processes, as well as distinct characteristics related to the criminal act and its participants [10,11,12,13].

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion