A New Classification of Sexual Homicide Offenders: When the Heterogeneity of Types Allows the Detection of Potential Serial Offenders

Abstract

The aim of this study was to detect nonserial sexual-homicide offenders whose profile indicates a potential to become serial sexual-homicide offenders. Two Two-Step Cluster Analysis were performed, one for the nonserials ( n = 87), and one for the serials ( n = 33). Six types of sexual murderers were identified: four types of nonserials ( sexual nonsadistic, sadistic, angry, and sexual opportunistic), and two types of serials ( severe sadistic and psychopathic). These analyses indicated a perfect match between the sadistic and the severe sadistic. The identified types were subjected to comparative analyses (Chi-Square, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney U tests) based on modus operandi characteristics and were compared to previous sexual-offender typologies.