Patterns of Necrophilic Behaviors in Sexual Homicide: A Criminological Perspective.

Abstract

This study aims to empirically explore the patterns of necrophilic behaviors in sexual homicide. More specifically, the study investigates offender, victim, and crime characteristics of sexual homicides where necrophilic acts were perpetrated, to determine whether the primary motivation to kill is associated with the attainment of corpses or whether the post-mortem sexual acts were secondary deviant behaviors. The sample used in this study consists of 109 cases of extrafamilial sexual homicides where post-mortem sexual acts were committed by offenders. Latent class analysis was used to examine each step of the crime-commission process of sexual homicide offenders involved in necrophilic behaviors. Our findings suggest that there are four different patterns of necrophilia in sexual homicide: Opportunistic, experimental, preferential, and sadistic. Preferential offenders are the only ones who specifically kill their victims in order to have sex with their corpses, while for sadistic, experimental, and opportunistic offenders post-mortem sexual acts were part of a secondary deviant process. Practical implications in terms of criminal investigations and offenders' treatment are discussed.