Journal Published Online: 01 July 1995
Volume 40, Issue 4

Signature Murders: A Report of Several Related Cases

CODEN: JFSCAS

Abstract

Three female patrons of singles bars were murdered in separate events in Bellevue, Washington in 1990 within sixty-seven days of each other. An evaluation of those murders revealed that all the murders were linked by a distinct personal “signature” or “calling card” left by the killer. As reported in the literature, the modus operandi of a killer frequently changes from one murder to the next and is different from the killer's signature, which is a permanent psychological imprint at each scene. The murder cases reported here demonstrate an elaborate signature of one killer who engaged in a rare personalization of his necrophilic fantasies by posing, openly displaying, and sexually inserting foreign objects into each one of three victims' bodies.

Author Information

Keppel, RD
Washington State Attorney General's Office, Seattle, WA
Pages: 5
Price: $25.00
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Details
Stock #: JFS13848J
ISSN: 0022-1198
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13848J