Reference no: EM132250932
Discussion :
It appears the suspect is targeting elderly women within the same neighborhood. This could suggest the suspect is limited in transportation or is comfortable within this setting. Because there wasn't any unusual vehicles documented, the suspect may walk to the location or possibly live within the neighborhood. The latter would give the suspect knowledge of the sex, age and patterns of neighbors. This clue could also help narrow down the age of the suspect. A witness said he spotted a young male, this could possibly put the suspect under the legal age to drive which would explain why no suspicious vehicles were spotted.
The suspect is only concern with contents within the victim's purse. There is a modus operandi (MO) beginning to reveal itself with the burglaries being a forced entry. Snook et al (2008) suggests that humans tend to follow certain patterns that they know works for them. This could suggest the victim and suspect did not know each other or that there was any contact between the two. It can be assumed that if the suspect ‘sweet talked' his way inside the homes that there would not be forced entry.
Based on evidence from the two crime scenes, the suspect tends to hit the homes during hours of darkness. This would aid in concealing his movements in and out of the residences. An interview with the elderly woman would need to be conducted to see if the medication was prescribed by her doctor as part of a normal daily routine or administrated by the suspect. From face value, the murder appears to be from a surprise.
The murder weapon, if established is from the residence, is one of opportunity; suggesting further that a murder was not planned. There is a single wound, suggesting the attack was not out of personal vindictive emotion as those attacks typically have multiple stab wounds backed by extreme emotion. Crimes of passion are aggressive acts that are triggered by emotion and/or trivial events; these types of acts are committed in the spur of the moment and typically by someone who has not attacked before or who will attack again (Guan et al, 2017).
From an amateur eye, I would put the suspect as a young (13-18) white male who lives within the neighborhood seeking easy break and enter houses looking for small items or money.
References:
Guan, M., Li, X., Xiao, W., Miao, D., & Liu, X. (2017). Categorization and Prediction of Crimes of Passion Based on Attitudes Toward Violence. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(15), 1775-1790.
Snook, B., Gendreau, P., Bennell, C., & Taylor, P. J. (2008). Criminal Profiling. (cover story). Skeptic, 14(2), 42.
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