InsaneJournal

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Dr. Spencer Reid (thisiscalm) wrote in marinanova,
@ 2013-05-02 21:33:00

Entry tags:

:class, artemis crock, damon salvatore, dawn summers, derek morgan, elena gilbert, kitty pryde (aoa), peggy carter, piter de vries, saitou yakumo, sam winchester, spencer reid

217 // Criminology Class // Open to all!
[ There's a sense of calm professionalism over the young Doctor today. Sure, there's tentacles in the sky and he's not sure where he's standing with his BAU family just yet but that's what work is for. To be a refuge when everything else is unsure. Needless to say he's happy to be here and will most likely linger extra-long after the lecture. ]

HISTORICAL SERIAL KILLER – The Black Dahlia murder

Instead of talking about a serial killer this time, we'll cover a specific case that has some relevance to today's topic: the murder of Elizabeth Short or The Black Dahlia as the press nicknamed her.

The body of Elizabeth Short was found in the Leimert Park district of Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. Her remains had been left on a vacant lot on the west side of South Norton Avenue midway between Coliseum Street and West 39th Street. The body was discovered by local resident Betty Bersinger, who was walking with her three-year-old daughter around 10 a.m. Bersinger initially mistook the body for a discarded store mannequin. Upon realizing it was a corpse, Bersinger rushed to a nearby house where she phoned the police.

Short's severely mutilated body was severed at the waist and completely drained of blood. Her face had been slashed from the corners of her mouth toward her ears, creating an effect called the Glasgow smile. Short also had multiple cuts on her thigh and breasts, where entire portions of flesh had been removed. The body had been washed and cleaned and had been "posed" with her hands over her head, her elbows bent at right angles, and her legs spread.Near the body detectives found a cement sack which contained droplets of watery blood, as well as a heel print on the ground amidst tire tracks.

The autopsy stated that Short was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 115 pounds, and had light blue eyes, brown hair, and badly decayed teeth. There were ligature marks on her ankles, wrists, and neck. Although the skull was not fractured, Short had bruising on the front and right side of her scalp with a small amount of bleeding in the subarachnoid space on the right side, consistent with blows to the head. The cause of death was hemorrhage from the lacerations to the face and shock due to blows on the head and face.

[ Wiki ]

PSYCHOLOGY — Geographic profiling

Geographic profiling is a criminal investigative methodology that analyzes the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most probable area of offender residence. By incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, it assists in understanding spatial behaviour of an offender and focusing the investigation to a smaller area of the community. Typically used in cases of serial murder or rape — but also arson, bombing, robbery, and other crimes — the technique helps police detectives prioritize information in large-scale major crime investigations that often involve hundreds or thousands of suspects and tips.

In addition to determining the offender's most likely area of residence, an understanding of the spatial pattern of a crime series and the characteristics of the crime sites can tell investigators other useful information, such as whether the crime was opportunistic and the degree of offender familiarity with the crime location. This is based on the connection between an offender's hunting behavior and his or her non-criminal life.

[ Wiki ]

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Those of you who were here for the victimology lecture might remember the roleplaying we did then — this is something similar. I want you to pair up and discuss amongst yourself what a crime scene says about the perpetrator. You can either make one up like we did during victimology, or use one of the examples of serial killers that we've gone over in previous lectures.

Remember the central concepts of geographic profiling as you analyze your mental crime scenes — the journey to the crime, routine activity, rational choice and crime pattern. The best way to catch a killer is to be able to think as one, and that is what this class is for.

Good luck.

Q&A

[ A Q&A thread can be found here for all your question-based needs! There is also a suggestions box available — just note that your character is dropping a note in the box in the subject header and it will be brought up during the next class! ]

(( The Criminology Class is held in an open lecture format, meaning that there's no ic signup process involved! Feel free to mingle at your leisure — email notifs are off but Reid has a thread HERE if you wish to hit him up. For more information about the setup and purpose of the class, go HERE. The attached links are a full account of the entire lecture so feel free to use them as topics of discussion! ))

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the_dawnster
2013-05-10 09:03 pm UTC (link)

She actually kind of wishes that she'd had all this knowledge before. If she had accurately profiled Twilight, Giles might still be alive. As it is, she couldn't go back and get a re-do on that one. But she nods, understanding what he's saying.

Dawn isn't done yet though. She has another question. "Okay so this is me with my brain space doing a left turn. The Black Dahlia. They never caught the killer. I bet you have some cool theories about it though. Like how does a person go from doing that kind of despicable mutilation to living in hiding or any semblance of a normal life? Is it possible that whoever did it was a repeat offender and we just don't know it?"

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thisiscalm
2013-05-10 11:13 pm UTC (link)

"It's certainly possible... take the most famous serial killer of all time, for instance: Jack the Ripper. There are five murders attributed to him, but some theories believe it might be much more than that. Killers evolve over time and it's not always so clear that it's the same person who committed the murders, especially over a longer period of time."

And then there are cases like Foyet where he got away for different reasons. Let's not go there. Not today.

"There are many reasons for why a killer never gets caught. It could be that they've moved over state lines or even to a different country entirely, which makes it harder to compare cases and find a pattern. There's also a chance that they quit for any number of reasons — for instance, old age or injuries can sometimes change a killers methods or stop him or her completely. Then there's the obvious — they died before we had a chance of discovering their identity."

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the_dawnster
2013-05-11 12:05 am UTC (link)

She nods, finding this conversation way cooler than she probably should. Her interest is obvious. "Would you consider it a form of MPD for people who do the Brady Bunch thing during the daytime and then turn all Jack the Ripper by night?"

She pauses briefly before her eyes grow wide in her excitement and she tosses another question his way. "Oh! And what about the spouses and kids who say they had no clue a homicidal maniac was sleeping in the same bed with them? Do you buy that? Can people really get away with that kind of double life without the family members ever knowing? Cause... clueless much?"

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thisiscalm
2013-05-11 12:57 pm UTC (link)

"It can certainly be a sign of a dissociative personality disorder, but it's rare to find that kind of organization when dealing with mental illnesses of that kind. "

So many questions, Dawn! This is good though. These are all basic points that they needed to hit sooner or later and he sure as hell prefers answering these questions over theorizing over vampire rights.

"It's actually not uncommon for a profile to state that the friends, family and neighbors of the killer may not suspect him or her at all. Depending on their methodology and where they hunt, some killers can get away with leading perfectly average lives on the side without anyone suspecting a thing. This is something we find more with organized killers that carefully keep these aspects of their lives separate, but there are of course instances where the UnSub has displayed violent or sadistic tendencies towards their family or friends and they simply never realized just how bad it actually was."

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the_dawnster
2013-05-12 05:00 pm UTC (link)

"What do you mean that kind of organization? Wouldn't they have to be at least sort of organized in order to pull these kinds of crimes off? Like with the Black Dahlia. The guy, or gal, was never caught. So maybe he or she went on to live an ordinary life after that and I'd think that would take some serious mental organization on his or her part." It may sound like she has no clue what she's talking about. But she makes a lot of sense to herself in her own brain space.

She shrugs. "It's all hypothetical, yeah. But... you know. Curious."

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thisiscalm
2013-05-12 11:26 pm UTC (link)

"When we talk about organized versus disorganized killers, it has more to do with premeditation than what you'd normally associate those words with. An organized killer plans ahead, usually taking time to study their victim and fantasize about the act before making it into reality, whereas a disorganized killer is more ruled by the moment. For instance, a messy crime scene would point towards a disorganized killer while a victim that has been tortured before death would belong to an organized UnSub."

Another aspect he really should cover better. Maybe he could do a follow-up class to catch all these little details?

"Whether or not they get caught does have something to do with how well they can plan ahead and predict our moves, but luck is just as important. For instance, Ted Bundy might've not been caught if he hadn't been pulled over for a broken tail light. "

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the_dawnster
2013-05-13 12:46 am UTC (link)

She nods, understanding now that she had been looking at organized and disorganized from the wrong angle. But then that still didn't explain the psychology behind someone who could life a normal life on one hand and still commit these crimes on the other hand. But right now, she's quiet for a few seconds to take in what Professor Reid had just explained.

"Okay I'm gonna have to think about that for a little bit. Plus this entire class is probably sick of hearing me..." She glances awkwardly around the room. "...say words." She knows she asks a lot of questions. And it has been pointed out to her before how annoying that can be. So for now, she's done. Maybe she can catch Professor Reid at some other point not in front of everyone to ask even more questions that she has.

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	thisiscalm 2013-05-13 10:52 am UTC (link)
	"If you have any more questions, just ask. That's what I'm here for." Maybe a one-on-one wouldn't be so bad at some point, but most of the questions she's asking are important to bring up in class. It's things he's missing, details he's skipping because he's not entirely used to teaching a class with no prior experience. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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