School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby (British Columbia), V5A 1S6, Canada.
Terrorism, Violence and Security Institute Research Centre, Simon Fraser University and International Centre for Comparative Criminology, University of Montreal, Canada.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2023 Feb;94:102488. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102488. Epub 2023 Jan 30.
Although most homicides involve the use of a weapon, some offenders still prefer killing with their own hands, using strangulation. In fact, when disaggregating the various types of homicides, sexual homicide offenders appear as having a preference for "personal weapon" to kill the victim. Personal weapons, such as strangulation, asphyxiation, and beating, are the most commonly used killing methods in sexual homicide. Using a sample of 451 cases of sexual homicide of adult female, the current study examines three hypotheses as to why strangulation is the method of choice to kill in sexual homicide: 1) weapon of opportunity, 2) victim's vulnerability, and 3) sexual sadism. Results from logistic regressions and artificial neural network analysis show that all three hypotheses are supported, sexual homicide offenders using strangulation being less likely to target a victim with a strong build, to bring and use a weapon. However, strangulation is more likely to be used to kill the victim when the offender is characterized with sadism. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of our understanding of the crime-commission process involved in sexual homicide.
尽管大多数杀人案涉及使用武器，但一些罪犯仍更喜欢用手杀人，采用勒杀的方式。事实上，在细分各种类型的杀人案时，性杀人案罪犯似乎更倾向于使用“个人武器”来杀害受害者。个人武器，如勒杀、窒息和殴打，是性杀人案中最常用的杀人方法。本研究使用了 451 例成年女性性杀人案的样本，检验了三个关于为什么勒杀是性杀人案中首选杀人方法的假设：1）机会性武器，2）受害者的脆弱性，3）性施虐狂。逻辑回归和人工神经网络分析的结果表明，所有三个假设都得到了支持，即使用勒杀的性杀人案罪犯不太可能针对体格强壮的受害者，也不太可能携带和使用武器。然而，当罪犯具有施虐狂特征时，更有可能使用勒杀来杀死受害者。根据我们对性杀人犯罪过程的理解，讨论了这些发现的意义。
