Crime Classification Manual Part I 3

A STANDARD SYSTEM FOR INVESTIGATING AND CLASSIFYING VIOLENT CRIMES

SECOND EDITION

 

John E. Douglas, Ann W. Burgess, Allen G. Burgess, and Robert K. Ressler,

Editors

 

THE SIGNATURE ASPECT

The violent serial offender often exhibits another element of criminal behav- ior during an offense: his signature, or calling card. This criminal conduct goes beyond the actions necessary to perpetrate the crime—the MO—and points to the unique personality of the offender.

Unlike MO, a serial offender’s signature will never change at its core. Certain details may be refined over time (for example, the lust murderer who performs greater postmortem mutilation as he progresses from crime to crime), but the basis of the signature will remain the same (performing post- mortem mutilations, in this example).

What makes up this signature? Surviving victims or witnesses some- times attest to the behavioral elements of the signature. For example, a rapist may demonstrate part of his signature by engaging in acts of domina- tion, manipulation, or control during the verbal, physical, or sexual phase of the assault. Exceptionally vulgar or abusive language or scripting is a verbal signature. When the offender scripts a victim, he demands a particu- lar verbal response from her (for example, “Tell me how much you enjoy sex with me” or “Tell me how good I am”). A rapist might also stick to his own sort of script by engaging in phases or types of sexual activities in a set order with different victims.

The crime scene can include aspects of an offender’s signature in, for instance, evidence of excessive force. A large amount of blood ranging around the home in which a violent crime occurred might demonstrate that the victim was moved or dragged around the area as the offender used more force than necessary to subdue (in the case of rape) or kill (in the case of murder).

The signature is not necessarily evident in each of a serial offender’s crimes. Contingencies can arise, such as interruptions or unexpected victim responses, that cause the offender to abandon these unnecessary steps. In such instances, the offender will be much less satisfied or gratified by his offense.

 

Why is this? Violent crimes often originate with offender fantasies. This is particularly true for serial offenders. As they brood and daydream, they de- velop a more and more compelling need to express their violent fantasies. When they finally act out, some aspects of the crime will demonstrate their unique personal expression based on these fantasies. This is personation. As an offender acts out again (and again), this personation will be repeated and is his signature. The elements that comprise signature are the most specific manifestations of his fantasies; they are therefore the most meaningful to him. Another reason for the absence of signature elements in some crimes committed by serial offenders is that the investigator does not always have a surviving victim or even a crime scene to work with. Violent offenses often involve high-risk victims, which may mean no one reports them miss- ing, so there is no search for them or their bodies. Many offenders dump bodies outside, away from the scene of the crime and in an isolated spot. This may result in a great deal of decomposition, which obscures signs of signature on the victim’s body and clothing. And if the body has been dumped, the actual crime scene is somewhere else, along with most of the indicators of signature.

 

Nevertheless, although detecting a signature or calling card is a challenge, it can be the biggest piece of the puzzle in identifying a serial offender. It is an unfortunate truth that the more victims there are, the more indicators of signature there are. Investigators want to stop violent serial offenders, but it often takes evidence gathered from multiple victims, crime scenes, dump sites, witnesses, and so on to identify signature elements that will link the crimes to a serial offender.