Citation

Chopin J, Beauregard E. J. Forensic Sci. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.14208

PMID

31573076

Abstract

Sexual homicides involving elderly victims are rare and unusual crimes, and research specifically focusing on these homicides is almost inexistent. The current study investigates the crime commission process as well as the motivations underlying elderly sexual homicides. The sample comes from the Sexual Homicide International Database (SHIelD) including sexual homicide cases from Canada and France. A total of 56 cases involving victims aged 65 years or more were compared with 513 cases involving victims aged between 16 and 45 years old. Bivariate analyses and two-step cluster analysis are performed.

FINDINGS show major differences in the crime commission process of the two groups of offenders. We also identified a four-cluster typology of elderly sexual homicide offenders based on their motivations (sexual, robber, sadistic, experimental). Although sexual homicides involving elderly victims are rare, these crimes are different, presenting specificities and should be studied as a group on its own.

© 2019 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

comparison; crime commission process; elderly victim; modus operandi; motivations; sexual homicide; typology