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Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 21110th International RAIS Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (RAIS 2018)Criminal Profiling in Homicide OffensesPetronela Diana Ferariu“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, Faculty of Law, Romania, [email protected] EuroAsia of Iași, RomaniaABSTRACT: The behavioral investigation of homicide crimes involves a thorough activity to identify thepsychological trail left by the author at the crime scene, during committing the deed. This research methodprovides details of the typology of the person who committed the murder offense and reduces the number ofsuspects. Identifying the traits of the psychological profile of the killer is particularly effective and can proveitself valuable in investigating homicides with unknown authors, especially in those involving various forms ofpsychopathology, expressed through mutilation, multiple postmortem stabbing, sadism, evisceration, ritualcrimes, burning of the corpse and so forth. The scientific progress of society, through its strongest propulsionpower, respectively the technological development, provides a source of information for many offenders bysuggest alternatives to alter the crime scene, so that the traces of the act are altered or even lost. This aspect isone of the reasons why the profiler should carefully analyze and investigate the scene of the crime in order todiscover and fix all traces and subsequently to be able to reproduce the events scene as accurately as possible.Psychological profiling is an important component of forensic research, given its role in the reconstitution ofthe crime scene, the discovery, fixation and interpretation to traces and, last but not least, the identification ofthe perpetrator. The research highlights the need to have a clear view of homicides, in a national context andthe general objective is to highlight the characteristics of the murders committed by Romanian perpetrators.KEYWORDS: crime scene, criminal profiling, forensic, homicide, investigation, Romanian perpetrators, tracesIntroductionIn the investigation of crimes, regarding especially to homicide, the psychological analysis of criminalbehavior and profiling is increasingly used globally. Over time, the Romanian judicial practice has faced alarge number of complex cases, which have presented different modes of operation, sometimes specific,with a bizarre motivation to commit murder, with multiple victims or authors who have committed morehomicide, where behavioral analysis could be realized and useful to investigators during the investigation,to decipher and understand how the person who committed the crime thought and acted, reason whyharmonization of the Romanian legislation with the UE Member States in terms of behavioral analysis hasbecome more than necessary. In order to increase performance, Romanian legislation has been amended toalign with European legislation and was approved by issuing the Order by Ministry of Internal Affairsnumber I/2507 from 27th of January 2014 and the legislative provision of the General Inspectorate ofRomanian Police the establishment of the Behavioral Analysis Service at the level of the CriminalInvestigation Division where sociologists, psychologists and criminal investigation officers are working inthe investigation offenses of great violence, homicide and sexual assault. Thus, in Romania criminalinvestigation from the point of view of the behavioral analysis is legally regulated by Law no. from 19th ofJuly 2013.Homicide InvestigationThe result of the author's criminal profile in the case of homicide crime is not his name or robot portrait,but rather a kind of psychological footprint of the perpetrator describing his personality. This descriptionprovides information about the crime author, regarding age, gender, ethnicity, physical features such asbirth marks or signs, weight, height, professional training, marital status, behavioral disorders, possiblespeech defects or difficulties in dealing with other people, and so forth (Butoi T., Butoi I., and Butoi A.2011, 32). Profiling ratings are used in two distinct stages of the criminal process, namely in the criminalinvestigation phase and in the trial phase. In the criminal investigation phase, the main purpose of profilingis to reduce the number of suspects, to provide support in establishing the links that may exist withcommitting other antisocial crimes, and to provide authorities with viable strategies in conductinginvestigations. In the trial phase, the court may be helped to understand and better clarify the causes thathave led to criminal behavior.Copyright 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license 58
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 211In case of murder, the author’s personality analysis and psychological features suggests how toidentify the criminal’s general profile aspects, as anatomical, psychological, sociological,physiological, cultural, economic, and so forth., which all of them may indicate and lead intocommitting homicide (Raine 2014, 143). Individuals whom commit crimes of great violence, oftenpresent a great deal of behavioral diversity and are part of a particular social category. Everyonecommitting a homicide crime is a particular case and presents a series of social attitudes,psychological and physiological characteristics that are not to be found specific to all offenders,although the reason for proposing a typology to people committing murder is difficult. The reason andpurpose of committing murder followed by the author’s internal impulse which triggers the criminalact are different from person to person and may be multiple, and also, the psychological mechanismthat contributes to the decision to act needs to be analysis and understood very well as this is one ofthe basic conditions in the killer’s psychological profile (Raine 2014, 143).Crimes against individuals represent almost one third of the criminal phenomenon in Romania,in the following order by frequency: physical injuries, homicides, threats, false imprisonment andblackmailing. In the case of homicide crimes, it is noticeable that they predominate in urban areas, andthe causes that lead to the victims of these crimes are various, such as murder for reckoning, murderfor the purpose of purchasing money or valuables, murder of alcoholism, dementia, passion or sexualintercourse, racial causes, and so forth. A particularly important aspect in the fight against crime as asocial phenomenon is the analysis of the crime as an individual factor, aiming mainly at identifyingthe facts that determine and tends into committing homicides (Turvey 2011, 302). The offender'sbehavior should be thoroughly analyzed, paying attention to the psychological determinations andexternal factors that cause his actions, in order to indicate the impulses that generate his negativemanifestations and to choose the most efficient means of reeducation (Lăpăduși and Iancu, 2004, 57).The murderer manifests discontinuity in his behavior, change in mood, inconsistency andunpredictability in reactions to external stimuli. At the same time, it has difficulty in approaching orcomplying with the social requirements expressed by legal rules that need a certain conduct. Amurderer is inappropriate, rejects any organized social and educational influences, is difficult to adapt,creating many problems in the social groups of belonging. In family relationships, they have littlepreoccupation in properly education of their children because of their low cultural and material levels,chronic alcoholism, labor shortages and criminal activities. This lack of concern in educating theirown children is automatically taken over from the model of the family in which the murderer hasgrown, a model of a disorganized family, low affection towards the child, poor education and training,sometimes even infant psychological trauma (Tandin, Ștefan and Țupulan 2014, 237).The criminal personality profile is a scientific conclusion that provides to authoritiesinformation about the type of person who could have committed the homicide. This involvespreparing a biographical sketch based on crime scene information and victim particularities, thenintegrating psychological theories (Cartwright 2010, 211). The psychological analysis of the crime,consists in investigating the way in which the offender, through his/her wisdom, affectivity,motivation and will, manifests himself/herself in preparing, committing and attitude towards thecommitted act (Yablonsky 1990, 87).Regarding the psychological evidence, everything is reduced to the behavior of the personcommitting the murder, to his/her way of acting and expelling, the psychologist being called tointerpret and reconstruct these manifestations by assigning a certain meaning to the fragments ofinformation present at the crime scene. A behavior similar to the one from the time of committing thecrime may be similar to the whole of the daily manifestation of some subjects, but in other situationsthis behavior may change significantly. In Romania, violent crimes imply, perhaps the most, thedynamic side of human behavior. From the author’s point of view, this behavioral particularity thatleads to the manifestation of violence is normal, thus feeding its inner needs of a conflictual nature atan unconscious level, where for the specialist, the crime scene will contain clues of certain behavioralmanifestations that will illustrate those criminal needs (Paraschiv G., Paraschiv D., and Paraschiv E.2014, 73).159
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 211After the detailed analysis of personal characteristics and criminal behavior, two portraits orgeneral profiles were drawn, namely the typology of the organized criminal and the typology of thedisorganized criminal. Thorough planning of crime is the feature that radically distinguishes theorganized criminal by the disorganized one. The murderer who fits in this typology has a goodintelligence, above average, good communication skills so he is capable of thorough crime planning.In the case of organized homicide crime, the victim is often a known person. To hinder his capture,the murderer tries not to leave traces of criminal activity, by transporting the body to another place,hiding the murder weapon and deleting the traces from the crime scene (Ionescu 1997, 60). From theoutside, this type of killer carries that “mask of mental health” related to a psychopath: he seems to bea good guy, he is perfectly adapted, usually having a good job and a normal family, he is appreciatedby his friends, colleagues and neighbors.The disorganized criminal is the opposite of the one organized, and what makes it labeled asunorganized, is that it usually commits impulsive crimes, unpremeditated crimes, and is often a personwith mental disorders of psychotic intensity. This type of criminal often disfigure their victim byapplying excessive hits or by mutilation of the corpse. Impelled by impulsivity, the author of thehomicide crime, acts quickly, extremely violently and attacks the victim by surprise. The murder isusually committed to known persons and the method of action is brutal, without preparatory acts,using objects nearby. The offender disappears from the scene, leaving more evidence like the bodybeing left at the crime scene, or hiding it in a hurry or superficially.As a response to the precise needs of investigating cases involving homicide crimes,psychological profiling has three main objectives, namely to provide a psychological and socialassessment of the potential murderer. The profile will include the key elements in the identificationprocess: age, religion, profession, marital status, education, habits, hobbies, and so forth. This willreduce the area of investigation, which will directly influence the total resources allocated includingthe duration of the settlement. Future attacks can be anticipated, both in terms of the act type and thepossible location. The second objective is to indicate the types of objects the offender possesses. Atthe suspect's home, searches can be targeted on different objects categories: "Trophy objects" acquired after committing the murderer: magazines, literature, which serve to remembrance, "reliving"the violent episode. The third objective is to target tracking and interrogation strategies. In the case ofthe disorganized criminal typology, it is recommended: empathizing, counseling and indirectpresentation of evidence. For organized criminals, is indicated a direct strategy, questioning and a firmattitude.The crime scene investigation seeks to identify the existence of signs of struggle between thevictim and the perpetrator. Blood stain analysis is considered one of the best ways to reconstruct thecourse of events. Along with this, the presence of plucked hair, moving or tearing down pieces offurniture, injuries, complements the investigative picture, and can support the hypothesis that therehas been an altercation (Mitrofan, Zdrenghea and Butoi 1992, 53). Compared to inside homicides,open-space killings are not so easy to investigate. In the case of homicide committed in open space,signs of fighting can be identified, the soil is shattered and there are distinct footprints in differentposition to each other, indicating a fight between the two persons and the victim may have injurescaused by self-defense.Identifying of the murder weapon represents a priority of the investigators and judicial practicein our country confirms that the absence of the weapon defines a murder. Respecting existing nationalrequirements for on-site research, if the murder weapon is at the scene of the crime, it is first observedby legal authorities, photographed and picked up to be analyzed. Examination of the corpse at thecrime scene is done with caution, and any suspect positioning or any unnatural repositioning thatwould indicate a scenario should be observed, photographed, and measured. Behavioral analysis ofthe crime scene involves distinguishing the psychological evidence left by the author along thecriminal act, recognizing the criminal characteristic and differentiating the behavior of the author fromthat of the victim (Crețu 2010, 112).Starting from this principle, it is ensured the fidelity of interpretations associated with certainbehavior and, on the other hand, directing the investigation into a certain type of offender. In order to160
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 211achieve the criminal profile in the investigation of great violence murders, the following aresignificant: the purpose of the crime, the reason for choosing the place of deed, the risk associatedwith entering and leaving the criminal field, the characteristics of the victim, the particularities of thebehavior traces present at the crime scene, the mode of operation and the criminal signature (Budăiand Gavriș 2006, 21).Taking into account the victim's approach, in some cases investigated in Romania, there was anoverwhelmingly violent characteristic of both the aggressor who attracts the victim throughmanipulation and the type of aggressor who is acting immediately. The killer may use his arms andlegs as a weapon and when he possesses a firearm, the author takes a considerable distance from thevictim. Using a knife or sharpened objects, hitting it repeatedly or twisting a knife into the wound is asign of a violent altercation (Vasile 2013, 17).Regarding the characteristics of the lesions, the impacts are directed to the vital areas of thebody or focused on a particular area. The victim is depersonalized by disfigurement, the homicidemurderer inserts objects into the victim's body, “creatively causes pain” and internal lesions aredetected without external bleeding (Vasile, Tandin and Ștefan 2014, 82). At the crime scene,screening for misleading investigators, rearranging the furniture and the room where they penetrated,surrounded by the clutter of objects, is commonplace. The chronology of the events described by thekiller in the hearings does not correspond to the scene of the crime. As for the behavior of the author,it moves from anger to calm in a second, stops the pain, letting the victim agonize, returns, consumesfood and alcohol at the scene, defecates/urges on/near the corpse, kills the animals that “witness” thecrime, sits above the body as a gesture of supremacy, uses multiple methods of inducing pain, spendsa lot of time with the victim during its agonization and possibly post-mortem, and participates in thereconstruction of the facts, sometimes being present even at the victim's funeral.ConclusionsWithout trying to give a definitive judgment on the issue, I believe that, for the time being, the profilinginvestigation in Romania, is on the rise to gain a well-established, efficient and undisputable investigationplace with extrajudicial character. Using this method, acts of unknown author's homicide could beresolved more quickly, identifying and capturing the perpetrator, allowing for a comparative assessment ofthe criminal profile made prior to the suspect's detention and after his arrest.Starting from the social risk presented by the structures with the behaviors similar to those of thecriminals, preventive actions can be organized by reducing the possibilities of manifesting the criminaltendencies, both through the creation of crimino-inhibiting mechanisms and as a result of informationactions of possible victims in order to avoid encouraging victimizing situations. The attempts to portrayand classify offenders are important both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, it helps to elaboratesome explanatory models on how to structure the personality of criminals and at the same time, tohighlight some aspects regarding the evolution of such structures in time. From the practical point of view,it helps both on the line of organizing preventive social actions, as well as on the development of socialrecovery and reintegration programs.In the cases of murders committed by Romanian authors, it is noted the existence of profoundinjuries, which target the vital areas specific to the perpetrator who consumed alcoholic beverages orwho had a personal connection with his victim, a link with negative feelings like jealousy,abandonment, fear of separation, and so forth. In cases investigated on Romanian territory, thespontaneous conflict becomes an outdated expression that does not provide enough details about thevictim-author relationship. The research indicates that behind the hits and the lesions, there are strongmotivations about the frustration of the author for whom he has not identified optimal ways ofsatisfaction. In most cases of murder committed on our territory, the lack of burglary, trampling, ordestruction behavior confirms the presence of a criminal who is familiar with his victim. The crimeweapon, whether the author carries it with the intention of killing, whether it is within its reach and isused impulsively to commit the act, is abandoned at the scene in most cases or thrown near thecriminal field, too few are the ones that keep the murder weapon on them.161
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 211Another finding refers to the relationship between the victim and the offender. The more therelationship between the author and the victim is farther, the more the killer's tendency to physicallymove away from the crime scene by hiding or leaving the city. If the relationship between the twopeople is closer, the author of the crime in our country remains closer to the crime scene or even he isthe one who calls and announces the authorities.ReferencesBudăi, Remus, Gavriș Radu. 2006. Ghidul anchetatorului de omoruri (Guide to the Murder Investigator). Pitești: ArgessisPrint Publisher.Butoi Badea, Tudorel, Butoi Ioana Teodora and Butoi Alexandru. 2011. Psihologie judiciară-Victimologie (Judicialpsychology-Victimology). Bucharest: Solaris Print Publisher.Cartwright, Duncan. 2010. Minți criminale-Psihanaliza violenței și crime (Psychoanalysis, Violence and Rage-TypeMurder. Murdering Minds). Bucharest: Trei Publisher.Crețu, Romeo Zeneo. 2010. Amprenta Comportamentală și evaluarea personalității (Behavioral Mark and PersonalityAssessment). Iași: Polirom Publisher.Ionescu, George. 1997. Tulburările personalității (Personality Disorders). Bucharest: Asklepios Publisher.Lăpăduși, Vasile and Iancu Ștefan. 2004. Investigarea criminalistică a locului faptei (Forensic Investigation of the CrimeScene). Bucharest: Luceafărul Publisher.Mitrofan, Nicolae, Zdrenghea Voicu and Butoi Tudorel. 1992. Psihologie Judiciară (Judicial Psychology). Bucharest:Casa de Editură și Presă „Șansa” Publisher.Paraschiv, Gavril, Paraschiv Daniel-Ștefan and Paraschiv Elena. 2014. Criminologie-Evoluția cercetărilor privindcauzalitatea și prevenirea infracțiunilor (Criminology-Evolution of Research on Causality and Crime Prevention).Bucharest: Pro Universitaria Publisher.Raine, Adrian. 2014. The Anatomy of Violence. The Biological Roots of Crime. United States of America: Vintage BooksPublisher.Tandin, Traian, Ștefan Cristian Eduard and Țupulan Marin Claudiu. 2014. Discipolii crimei pe mapamond (The Murderersof the Globe). Craiova: Sitech Publisher.Turvey, Brent. 2011. Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis, 4th Edition. London: ElsevierScience Publisher.Vasile, Viorel, Tandin Traian and Ștefan Cristian-Eduard. 2014. De la dispariție la crimă-Cazuri judiciare celebre (Fromto Disappearance to Murder. Famous Court Cases). Bucharest: Ministry of Internal Affairs Publisher.Vasile, Viorel. 2013. Investigarea şi cercetarea infracţiunilor îndreptate împotriva vieţii, integrităţii corporale şi sănătăţiipersoanei (Investigation of the Crimes against the Life, Body Integrity and the Health of the Person). Bucharest:Ministry of Internal Affairs Publisher.Yablonsky Lewis. 1990. Criminology, Crime and Criminality. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.162
2011, 32). Profiling ratings are used in two distinct stages of the criminal process, namely in the criminal investigation phase and in the trial phase. In the criminal investigation phase, the main purpose of profiling is to reduce the number of suspects, to prov
