NCJ Number
177177
Journal
Sheriff Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: January-February 1999 Pages: 28-31
Date Published
1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines a four-state program to pool homicide information.
Abstract
Law enforcement agencies in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada collaborated in an attempt to solve a series of murders. They used the criminal profiling approach, analyzing criminal behaviors in the cases and looking for similarities. The filters of profiling which the group outlined for each case included: (1) the relationship between victim and offender and the probability that they knew each other; (2) identification of the possible initial contact, where the victim was last seen, relationship of the offender with that location; (3) answering those same questions with regard to the crime scene and the body disposal site; (4) the position of the body, which can help determine whether the disposal site was planned or opportunistic; (5) physical injuries on the body; (6) evidence of sexual assault, including DNA tests; (7) what is known about the suspect; (8) whether the killing was a method of operation or signature killing; and (9) whether the offender's behavior was organized or disorganized.