A Multidisciplinary Approach in a Sexual Homicide Scene

A 76-year-old man, obese, with a diagnosis of “psychotic disorder of the paranoid type, with depressive episodes, social maladjustment and sexual identity disorder,” was found dead in the bedroom of his apartment. The body was completely naked, except for a scarf around his neck, and lying in a supine position on his bed. On external examination, three scalp lacerations on the right parietal side (4cm in length), on the occipital side (3cm in length), and skin abrasions on the chin were found. The cause of death was related to the combined effects of positional asphyxia (smothering with a pillow) and blunt head injury. At the death scene, women’s clothes were found next to the body. In the bedroom, a coffin lid was leaning against the wall, with a nude male porn star poster attached on it. There was no sign of forced entry or burglary in the house; the deceased’s wallet was in the house. A pillow with bloodstains was found beneath the victim’s head. Forensic investigators collected several DNA profiles from the coffin, which the victim used for his sexual intercourse fantasies of killing his partners. Surveillance cameras showed a young man entering the victim’s apartment before his death, eventually identified as a 28-year-old drug addict and prostitute with a criminal record. Four days later, police arrested the man while he was trying to escape with the victim’s laptop and phone. He was charged with murder. The prosecutor assumed that the killer lured the victim on dating apps, and killed him during an attempted robbery. The killer confessed the homicide, but he claimed self-defense. He had gone for a massage, but the old man sexually assaulted him. He hit him on the head with a bottle and the victim fell onto the bed with his face pushed on the pillow, dying shortly after by smothering. Obesity and pre-existing pulmonary diseases had contributed to the death from asphyxia. The findings from the crime scene investigation and the criminological evaluation permitted his murder charge to be reduced to manslaughter during the criminal trial. The in-depth behavioral analysis of the relationship between the victim (a psychotic patient with a perverse and destructive sexuality) and the murderer (suffering from a personality disorder with antisociality and sexual promiscuity) played key roles in influencing sentencing law changes. Reference: 1. Geberth V. J. Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation: Practical and Clinical Perspectives, Second Edition (Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations) 2nd Edition, Published June 30, 2010, by CRC Press.